Research Group Allowance Policy & Process
For Research Group budgeting and spending enquiries, please contact research@law.ox.ac.uk
The Research Groups that are not also centres/institutes receive an allowance of £2,500 (budget year 1st August – 31st July), which may be spent to suitably support Research Group activities as they see fit. This applies to: Business Law, Computers and Law, Family and Medical Law, Health, Law & Emerging Technologies, International Law, Legal Philosophy, Private Law, Public Law, Tax Law. Spending plans do not need to be authorised by the Faculty but must conform to normal university and Faculty rules on expenditure and follow procurement process, which is what this page is intended to address.
Budget management & reporting
The onus will be on Research Groups to manage their Allowance budget and plan events (Research and Finance Administration can assist with budget and process queries). Each Research Group must moreover submit details of their spending in their report to Research Committee each term. Overspends should be avoided; if they do occur, they will be deducted from the Research Group’s Allowance for the following budget year.
Invoicing Costs for Activities & Events
Costs for Research Group activities and events need to be invoiced in advance by raising a purchase order with the Faculty. The Faculty will then purchase the goods and incur expenditure on the Research Group’s behalf using their assigned budget. Requests to raise purchase orders must be forwarded by the Research Group Chair or an authorised administrator to Jackie Hall. The e-mail should make clear which Research Group the request is coming from and for what activities/events. For guidance on proper process for purchasing goods and services, including from Colleges, please see: https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/content/purchasing-goods-and-services.
Note that invoices which arrive without a pre-existing purchase order will not be paid and will be sent back for the research group to sort out. For goods or services over £1,000 alternative quotes must be sought before contacting Jackie Hall unless using a University preferred supplier.
Expenses claims
Claims for reimbursement of already incurred incidental expenses related to Research Group activities will need to be submitted via E-expenses (accessible here: https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/content/e-expenses) by a staff or postgraduate student with an SSO. Claims should be coded to BA0000-S5441 and must include in the comment field the name of the research group the claim relates to or the claim will be sent back in order for more information to be added.
Visitors without an SSO hosted by a Research Group should follow the guidance set out here: https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/payment-expenses. Visitor claims, once completed, should be sent on by the Research Group Chair or an authorised administrator to Jackie Hall in order to confirm that the research group has authorised the claim. It is recommended that Chairs and administrators read the payment expenses guidance before contacting a visitor or submitting anything to Jackie, as the process can be complicated.
Casual Payroll
Should a Research Group wish to utilise its budget in order to hire a research assistant, the recruitment process should follow the guidance found here: https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/content/recruiting-research-assistants. RA contracts and timesheets submitted must quote both BA0000-S5441 and the name of the research group.