Budget Estimation
The PI shall identify which of the budget items listed below is applicable to the project. Normally, no additional funds are granted once the research proposal has been approved.
The following shall be considered when requesting capital equipment:
1) In cases where the specified equipment is available at one of the colleges/research centres, the proposal shall justify the request for purchase of additional items.
2) Capital equipment items acquired for consultancy services and other projects shall become the property of the University.
3) The Deanship of Research shall enter the equipment into the inventory.
4) The equipment shall be put under the responsibility of the department or research centre that initiated the project, including responsibility for operation and maintenance.
5) The home department shall make equipment available for loan to other research centres or departments, but may charge service fees for usage to cover the costs of maintenance and replacement. The cost will depend on the type of equipment, consumables needed for its operation and other service charges. The costs shall be covered by the research or consultancy funds.
This is to compensate the department or research centre in charge of existing facilities and equipment for the cost of maintenance and replacement plus any expenses related to the use of the same.
This includes all items to be purchased or consumed specifically for the project, such as consumable materials and disposable instruments.
This includes specialised software and hardware purchases and online subscriptions to electronic databases.
(e) Printing, Publications & IP Protection
This includes the costs of printing study reports, scientific books, time-limited journal subscriptions, protecting any generated IP, and getting research results published.
This covers the cost of insuring personnel and material employed for the project.
This includes items not belonging to any of the above cost categories.
The following shall be considered during the estimation process:
1) Personnel cost for manpower shall include university, college, centre and department overheads.
2) Personnel costs shall be agreed with the sponsor up-front.
3) Actual time spent shall be recorded on a weekly timesheet by each SQU staff member to form the basis for invoicing the sponsor on the SQU personnel costs, and calculating the portion to be paid to SQU personnel.
4) SQU personnel may not undertake paid consultancy work (including overtime) in excess of 10 hours per week. If this limit is to be exceeded approval must be obtained to use consultancy funds to cover replacement staff.
5) Consultancy work will be based on hourly minimum rates as indicated in Table 1 for various personnel categories, including overheads.
6) The University charges overhead for using its name, personnel and facilities. This does not include the use of specialized equipment.
7) Government organizations and other public organizations may be exempted from University overhead charges.
8) The sums are distributed among personnel working in the consultancy service, the Department and the College, the Centre and the University as indicated in Table 2.
(i) Consultancy Costs Administration
College and departmental shares of consultancy costs shall be administered by the College Board and the Department Board respectively.
(j) Cost of Contracted Personnel
All contracted personnel costs shall be included upfront; this shall be the responsibility of the PI. The following shall be maintained throughout the duration of the project:
1) Contracted personnel shall cover research assistants, post-doctoral fellows and other jobs required to provide support for the project.
2) Availability of funds in the project.
3) A contract agreement form shall be used for contracting any personnel.
4) If a non-Omani staff member needs to be contracted, the appropriate form shall give reasons for not hiring an Omani.
5) SQU students will be given priority when employing research assistants.
6) University non-academic staff and/or students may also be contracted for specific tasks on an ad hoc basis.
7) Personnel employment shall be in one of the following categories:
a. Full time: shall work not less than seven (7) hrs/day and will be paid a monthly-fixed lump sum amount
b. Part time: shall work defined hrs/day, or days/week, but less than full time and be paid a monthly-fixed lump sum amount.
c. On-Request: shall work upon the request of the PI; unspecified hrs/day, or days /week. On-request research assistants can be contracted to do specific tasks and paid after performing the task.
8) For expatriates, the contract shall specify clearly whether the employee shall be granted housing, medical care, children’s school expenses or any other benefits.
9) Contracted personnel shall be granted access to University facilities as appropriate in accordance with the regulations.
10) Contracted personnel shall complete departure clearance procedures before final departure.
11) Expatriate contracts shall be signed after the administrative procedures have been finalized with the Personnel Affairs Department.
(k) Student Training
Scholarships should be an important component of research grants and consultancies.
Approval of such training and/or research visits shall be subject to the following:
1) Investigators may apply for funds in the project budget to travel or acquire training related to their project.
2) Travel expenses shall cover costs of transportation, registration, subsistence and per diem allowances.
3) Conference attendance shall not be included while budgeting for internal grant projects; instead this shall be obtained from the central conference budget.
When consultants and visiting researchers are needed for scientific advice, improved implementation of research, and technology transfer, the following conditions shall be maintained in hiring a consultant for a research project:
1) The proposal shall clearly indicate the consulting period.
2) Description of the consultant’s task shall be outlined in the proposal.
3) The allowable consultancy visit shall normally be one week; this can be extended only if it is deemed necessary, and for this extension a prior approval of the DVCPSR's must be obtained.
4) Consultant and/or visiting researcher’s travel expenses (airfare and per diem) shall be covered by the project.
New proposals can seek external collaborators, where appropriate. When visiting SQU, such co-investigators/collaborators shall:
1) Be entitled to 50% of the allowance paid to a consultant.
2) Duration of stay per visit will be determined by the needs of the project execution.
1) Contracted work for any company or personnel shall be signed for using appropriate forms.
2) SQU contracting rules and regulations shall be observed.
3) The Deanship of Research shall obtain legal advice for any contract terms and conditions.
1) Any construction made within the University’s vicinity for a research project shall be in accordance with the University construction specifications and standards.
2) Approval of the Technical Affairs Department shall be obtained for any research project construction within the University.
3) All project construction shall be the University property once the project is completed.
The following shall be implemented for reallocation applications:
1) The PI may apply to reallocate fund distribution from one item to another within an IG, JG and HMTF research project.
2) Reallocation requests for EG and RCG are made to the Deanship of Research and, where applicable, the sponsor.
1) Each year the DVCPSR shall determine the amount allocated to each research project and specifies an upper limit on the cost of a single purchase.
2) Research projects shall be granted a lump sum amount at the start of the financial year for use as petty cash to meet urgent research requirements.
3) The PI shall be responsible for petty cash expenditures and may obtain cash advances with the approval of the ADPSR, providing receipts for all purchases made under the project.
4) Periodically, the Deanship of Research shall reconcile against the petty cash expenses, by debiting the amounts spent from the respective research project accounts, and then reimbursing the same amounts to the petty cash account.
5) At the end of the financial year any remaining petty cash shall be returned to the Deanship of Research under the project budget.
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