Research and Training Support Grants (RTSG) and Expenses

Research Training and Support Grant (RTSG)

To support you in your degree, you may have access to a Research Training and Support Grant (RTSG). Your RTSG will be funded either through an external research body (e.g. STFC, EPSRC), an industrial partner/ government body, the Faculty of Science, or your degree Department/School. You will be given a budget and an account number beginning with either X (called a project account) or 3xxxxx (called a cost centre). RTSGs with a X account usually have a budget that covers the whole of your studentship, whereas a cost centre will have an annual budget that runs from 1st August to 31st July. You and your supervisor will receive an email from Janice Whittaker, Finance Adviser, containing the account and budget at the start of your degree.  


Please see the University RTSG policy for further information and what it can be used for.


If in doubt please ask BEFORE you commit to any expenditure as some things are excluded. For example, it cannot be used to purchase PCs/laptops/tablets, except in exceptional circumstances.


To help you keep track of your RTSG you will receive a link to a RTSG Budget Management Spreadsheet which will be shared with you when you receive the details of your RTSG account from Janice


If you have any questions about the use of your RTSG, including how much you’ve spent and remaining balances please contact hicks-finance@sheffield.ac.uk.  The Finance Team is located in F10, in the Hicks building.


Please ensure you have the support of your Supervisor before booking or purchasing anything.



Conference Registration


If you are looking to attend a conference you need to consider the following:


You must have sufficient funding for the conference and associated travel and subsistence costs. 


Conference registration would normally involve payment of a registration fee (this could also include accommodation, conference dinner and possible optional extras) 

Options for paying fees:


Booking Travel and Accommodation


For overseas travel, please ensure you are familiar with current travel restrictions and requirements for all countries you will disembark in. 


Prior to making any booking, it is mandatory to complete an initial Staff/PGR health and safety travel assessment for ALL work activity taking place overseas. This may indicate that you also need to complete a risk assessment.  For low risk activities, such as attending conferences or meetings in the UK for which approval has been obtained and when booked using the University’s preferred suppliers, a specific risk assessment will not normally be required.


Please note that the University will not pay for accommodation booked for travelling on University business in the UK or overseas through Airbnb, Uniplaces or similar providers. The University is concerned that at present it may not be able to comply fully with its duty of care to Staff and to ensure their safety while travelling on business. PGRs must not use this type of accommodation for University business purposes. 


Travel Policy


Before making any plans or committing any expenditure, please make yourself familiar with the University Travel Policy which contains valuable information and advice - University Travel Policy


For more information and guidance on the rules when incurring expenses for University business purposes please look at Travel and Business Expenses Regulations (TBE - this link will open a downloadable PDF).


When travelling overseas on University business, it is mandatory that you obtain University Travel Insurance  to ensure that cover is in place in the event of any incident abroad.  This free and there is a self-service online form to complete on the University's insurance webpages, once completed a Travel Insurance Certificate can be downloaded automatically. You must also complete the Health and Safety Travel Assessment form


The scope of this initial assessment may include (but is not limited to) travelling overseas to: meetings and conferences, conducting research/fieldwork, teaching activities, attending training or work placements. For UK based activities, it only needs to be completed where higher risk activities are being undertaken (eg. research, fieldwork, etc.).  The initial assessment might identify hazards that need to be factored into a travel risk assessment - you will receive an automated email response of your Google form submission - use this in-conjunction with Faculty travel risk assessment template. Once completed, forward to your supervisor and departmental safety officer (DSO) for review - if you need support with this please contact the DSO, Rich Davis (r.davis@sheffield.ac.uk).


It is advised that you obtain a Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC). 


If you are travelling on behalf of the University there are several ways to organise your travel and accommodation:


Diversity Travel


All travel and accommodation should be booked through the University’s contracted preferred suppliers, unless extenuating circumstances or genuine reasons exist for not using the preferred supplier.  Diversity Travel is one the University’s supplier for booking travel and accommodation. See the link for the University’s  Contracts Database.


To use Diversity Travel we MUST set up an account for you first, so please complete your details on this Diversity Traveller Details Google form which we will send to Diversity to create your account.


Once your profile has been set up you will receive a welcome email from Diversity Travel which will give you instructions on how to log in as you will need to reset your password.


Once you have an account, booking is straightforward, as the website operates just like any other travel site, except you can book flights, trains (including Eurostar via the flights option) and hotels all in one place.  You will need an account code (usually your RTSG account).  From the drop-down select the PO relevant to your Department - for SoMaS this is the purchase order beginning with VP0, for Physics and Astronomy this is the purchase order beginning with XF0.


The Departmental Office will receive an email to approve the booking so that your RTSG balance can be checked before the booking is confirmed.

Please ensure you complete the title of your event/meeting or reason for travel. Please be specific e.g. don't put ‘meeting’ or ‘conference’. Ensure you include information such as location and dates of the trip, as well as any other helpful information, in the Approval requests remarks section.


 



Bookings expire after 24 hours if they are not approved so it is important that you take this into account when booking. (eg if you book a trip at 10pm on a Friday evening it will expire before it can be approved on Monday).


Once the booking has been confirmed, Diversity will invoice the University and the cost will be taken from your RTSG balance.


Use of Diversity Travel is not mandatory but highly recommended, as it means that you do not pay for expensive flights and accommodation yourself and then wait for reimbursement. But if you can find fares or accommodation cheaper elsewhere then please feel free to do so.


Departmental purchasing card


The Finance Team in F10 holds purchasing cards and can make a payment for you.  A purchasing card is a form of credit card and can be used to pay for online bookings for conferences, travel and some accommodation on secure sites.


If you need to call into the office to make a purchasing card booking in person, please make an appointment with either Bec.


It is important that you check that the card is not needed beyond the booking stage, for instance when checking-in to a hotel, as you cannot take the card with you.  If this is the case, we would need to make alternative payment arrangements.  Where the card has just been used as a reservation guarantee you may be asked to pay for your stay on arrival - so please check beforehand.


Reimbursement via Expenses Claim form


You can pay travel costs yourself and claim the cost(s) back along with subsistence (food and refreshments) costs via an Expenses Claim form. Please download a copy of this form, rather than amending the original document.


Expenses are processed and authorised by the Finance Team and then forwarded to the University’s central Travel and Business Expenses Team for payment. 


Complete and sign the form, making sure you include the reason for incurring the expenses (e.g. title, location and date of event). Completed claim forms should be submitted to hickspgrexpenses@sheffield.ac.uk. You should attach your claim form in either Word or PDF format (preferably Word) and attach scans of your receipts.  (Photos as attachments can be problematic due to software) and include the title of the conference/reason for expenditure and the value of the claim in the subject line of your email. (Please note this email account is ONLY for the submission of PGR expenses, queries should be directed to hicks-finance)


HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) require that all receipts given in support of a claim are itemised receipts. (TBE Regulations 2.6) These need to describe the goods or services purchased. They can't just be a Visa or card receipt, which only shows the total amount paid.


Sometimes when you make a contactless purchase, you're given a Visa receipt or no receipt. However, in most cases, the seller can provide a VAT receipt if you request one.


If you are unable to provide an itemised receipt, please note this on your claim and include an itemised breakdown of your purchase(s) with your claim.


It is recommended you keep hold of the actual receipts for your own records.


The University’s Travel and Business Expenses Regulations gives guidance on what are allowable travel and business expenses and what are not.  However, please also ensure what is allowable by your funder, as they may have restrictions you need to follow.


Important things to note



Purchasing consumables and/or equipment


If you need to order any goods or equipment for use in your research, please email your request to hicks-orders@sheffield.ac.uk with full details as follows, copying your supervisor in for approval:


If you have obtained a quote, please also attach the quote to your order request email.


CHECK



IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR ARE UNCERTAIN ABOUT ANY OF THIS GUIDANCE, PLEASE CONTACT HICKS-FINANCE@SHEFFIELD.AC.UK BEFORE COMMITTING ANY EXPENDITURE!