This section highlights the roles and responsibilities of the various individuals in the context of the proposal development and submission process only, and particularly with regards to the eRA pre-awards module.  

• Principal investigator (PI) 

  The PI is responsible for the development of the entire proposal, including all documents and forms required by UCT or the funder.  

  This includes: 

  • Developing the budget (in consultation with the budget reviewer/finance officer) 

  • Completing the UCT internal approval process (pre-awards) through the electronic Research Administration (eRA) system 

  • Submitting the proposal directly to the funder or liaising with the Research Contracts & Innovation office where submission needs to be done by an institutional official 

  • Confirming with funder that the application was successfully submitted. 

  • Making sure all project deadlines are met 

• Proposal Development Specialists 

  The international grants hub sits within the Research Office and provides both proposal development and administrative support to UCT’s academic staff seeking and applying for international funding for their research. Support is subject to availability, and proposal development support must be requested at least 3 months in advance of submission deadlines.

  This includes: 

  • Proposal development support for multidisciplinary, multinational collaborative grant applications to international funder: 

  • writing, editing and proof-reading,  

  • strategic advice on proposal content,  

  • budget development,  

  • liaising with the funder, and  

  • coordinating and integrating inputs from multiple collaborators.  

  • Administrative support services:  

  • Offering advice for the submission process and  

  • guiding researchers on internal UCT processes for submission to different funders. 

• Budget Reviewer 

  This is a staff member in your faculty or department’s finance department (typically a Senior Finance Officer) who works with the PI on budget development.  

  Their role includes: 

  • Working with the PI to develop an appropriate budget in accordance with funder rules.  

  • Completing the financial information in the eRA pre-awards approval form. 

• Finance Approver 

  This is the Research Management Accountant or Faculty Finance Manage responsible for: 

  • the internal review and approval of the budget on the eRA pre-awards approval form. 

  • Approval of cost recovery rates and waivers. 

• Final Faculty Approver 

  This is the Dean, Deputy Dean of Research or assigned delegate (the delegate cannot be the same person as the Finance Approver) in the eRA pre-awards module. Their role includes: 

  • conducting the final check of the proposal approval form to ensure key areas of risk have been thought through and planned for.  

  • Areas of risk include: 

  • Appropriate costing of a project 

  • New staff members have been adequately planned for 

  • VAT and inflation have been properly budgeted and 

  • Ethical approval has been considered.  

• Contracts Managers 

  These individuals are based in the Research Contracts & Innovation Office (RC&I) and are responsible for: 

  • Institutional sign-off, 

  • Where required, submitting funding applications and 

  • negotiating and authorising research-related contracts with external parties on behalf of the University of Cape Town.