Guidelines
for Operation of Projects for Researchers of STAR Research Projects
The Medical Research Council Of
Maharashtra provides financial assistance to promote health research.
1.
Research grants from the MRC are essentially intended to
supplement the research facilities available with the host institutions.
All facilities for the conduct of research, such as basic equipment and
ordinary laboratory chemicals, glassware, furniture and other assistance as may
be required for the smooth working of the project shall be provided by the
Institute.
2.
No
Staff should be employed on any MRC project.
3.
Once a project is approved for funding, MRC would inform
the Principal Investigator (PI) the decision that the project has been
technically approved for funding and communicate the budget including the
details of the equipment(s), contingencies, etc.
4.
The PI is expected to inform the concerned MRC about
a. His/Her acceptance of the budget.
b. For all equipment approved in the project, the PI is required to give a
certificate from the Head of the Institute to the effect that equipment is not
available/accessible/cannot be spared for this project work.
c.
The name of the statutory auditor of the
College/Institute.
5. On receipt of the above information the Scientific
Advisory Board of MRC would process for release of grant.
6.
Auditors
The
MRC would normally accept audited report from statutory auditors. The MRC may
also accept statement of accounts audited by Chartered Accountants approved by
or registered with the CAG and /or Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. The
necessary registration number should be provided for record.
7.
Release
of grants
The
funds are released as 1 yearly installment. The first installment is released
along with the sanction
letter. It would include the entire grant for purchase of equipment, and
recurring grant for the period of 1 year. The next installment would be for the
remaining period. Steps to procure the approved equipment should be initiated
immediately (to avoid escalation of cost) following the prescribed norms of the
host institution.
8.
Re-appropriation
of funds
Expenditure
should on no account exceed the budget sanctioned for the project. No
expenditure shall be incurred on items not sanctioned by the MRC.
9.
Date
of start
The
sanction letter would specify the date of start. It can only be a prospective
date. If however no date is mentioned in the sanction letter, the project would
deemed to have become operative on the day the grant is received by the
Investigator. This date would have to be communicated by the host Institute to
the MRC. It will in no case be later than one month after the receipt of the
draft by the Institute. The date of start of a project can be changed on the
request of the PI provided no expenditure has been incurred from the grant
released by the MRC.
10.
Utilizing the contingent grant
This
is meant for recurring as well as non-recurring expenditure. The contingent
grant can be utilized for purposes like, but not limited to:
a.
Acquisition of books and documents of relevance to the
research topic in case these are not available in the library, these would
become the property of the Institution library and after purchase and accession
may be issued to the Department/ Scientist till they are needed.
b.
Chemicals/consumable items required for research work
c.
Charges for specialized investigations for which
facilities do not exist in the host institute
d.
Publication charges/ reprints/ off-prints of research papers published as
an outcome of the research
e.
Data entry charges
f.
Printing of questionnaire
g.
Computer utilities, charges for analysis of data (computer charges)
h.
Typing of research reports including preparation of the final report
i.
POL
j.
Communication charges
k.
The grant cannot be used for purchase of furniture
items/office equipments such as telephone, fax machine, computers etc.
11.
Contingency grant
For
contingency grant exceeding Rs.25,000/- per annum detailed breakdown should be
given.
All
expendable and non-expendable articles acquired for work of the project should
be purchased in accordance with the procedure in vogue in the host institutions.
For permanent and semi-permanent assets acquired solely or mainly out of the
grant, a separate audited record in the form of register shall be maintained by
the Institute. The term "assets" means moveable property where the
value exceeds Rs.1000/-. Separate assets registers for items costing more than
Rs.20,000/- and less than Rs.20,000 may be maintained.
12.
Equipment
a. The
MRC would also provide equipment(s) for conduct of the study provided it has
been
approved. There is no upper ceiling on the amount to be sanctioned for
purchase of equipment(s). This
would vary on the nature, scope and need of the project.
b. All
equipments should be purchased according to the rules and procedures of the
Institutions where the project is to be carried out
c.
Equipment procured through the MRC grant should bear a label "MRC
funded"
d. On
completion of the study a list of all equipments procured from the project funds
along with their cost, date of purchase, and suggestions for disposal should be
sent to the MRC head office.
e.
Equipments costing less than Rs 20,000 are generally allowed to be
retained by the Institute, while for those costing more than Rs 20,000 the MRC
would take decision on case to case basis.
13.
Annual Progress Report
a.
The Annual Report is to be submitted annually in the prescribed format.
(Annexure-3).
The
first progress report should be submitted about three months prior to the
completion of the annual period so as to enable the evaluation and provide the
grants within the completion of one year from the starting date. The subsequent
annual report will be for a period of one year.
b.
The progress of the project would be evaluated by the MRC through
appropriate peer review/Expert Committees.
c.
The scheme will not be renewed for the next financial
year unless the MRC receives the progress report on time.
d.
A delay in receipt of the report on time for consideration by the
Committee may lead to termination of the project
e.
The PI may be asked to present the progress at the
meeting of the Committee, if considered necessary.
f.
The suggestion and views of the Committee and mid-course
correction, if any, would be conveyed to the PI from time to time for effective
conduct of the project. This would
be binding on the PI.
14.
Annual utilization certificate (Annexure
4a)
a. Each year a simple statement of accounts giving the funds received and
expenditure incurred by
b. Unspent
balance would be adjusted in the first installment for the next year
c An
audited statement would be essential for release of the second installment of
the annual grant
15.
Final Project Completion Report
a. At the completion of the project, the final report should
be sent in the prescribed format. (Annexure-5).
b. The report should be submitted not later than three months from the date
of completion of the project.
c. 10% grant would be withheld for release after receipt of
the final report.
16. Final
settlement of the Accounts
The
final settlement of the Accounts will be done only after the receipt of the
following:
a. Final audited
statement of expenditure (Annexure-6).
b Final
utilization certificate (Annexure -4 a).
c List of
equipments procured from the project along with their cost, date of purchase,
and
suggestions for disposal
17. Duration
of project
Extension
beyond the approved duration normally would not be entertained. If
interesting/important leads emerge that need to be followed-up, a separate
proposal may be submitted. Only in exceptional cases, where a valid
justification exists, an extension can be considered to complete the project.
18.
Change of PI
PIs are encouraged
to have a co-investigator in the project.
If for any
reason the PI leaves the project, an eligible co-investigator could be
considered as the PI
In case the PI
is shifting to any other Institution, the co-investigator could be made the new
PI, or the project could be transferred to the
new Institution with the mutual agreement of both Institutions and the approval of the
MRC.
The host Institution
has an important role to play in the above contract. The Institute/Principal
19.
Number of projects with the PI
Under
normal conditions, a PI should not be implementing more than three research
projects at a given point in time. While submitting an application for a
research project, the PI should give in detail all the research projects
(completed, on-going). Fresh research proposals can be considered only when the
on-going research proposals are about to conclude.
20. Budget
The
budget would be sanctioned under broad sub-head as under:
i.
Contingency
recurring
non-recurring(equipment)
ii.
Overhead charges
21.
The grant paid by the MRC shall be refunded by the institution as and
when the investigator discontinues a scheme midway or does not follow the
detailed technical programme as laid down and approved by the MRC.
22.
All raw data (in all forms) should be made available/accessible to MRC if
needed.
23.
Publication of
Results/Presentation of Papers:
The
research papers and publications based on the results of the research project
should acknowledge assistance by the MRC. It would be binding on the PI to
publish the paper in the “Milestone Journal” being published quarterly by
MRC. Copies/reprints of papers published should be sent along with the
progress/final report.
24. Intellectual
Property Rights
All
new intellectual property viz., patents, designs etc. generated as part of the
research supported by the MRC would belong to the Council.
The Council shall have the right to take up patent/design in respect of
inventions/discoveries made in research schemes financed by the Council.
The project
investigators shall not apply or obtain patents without the approval of
MRC. All patents shall be
registered in the name of Medical Research Council, Maharashtra.
25. Conflict
of interest
In
order to maintain the objectivity in the conduct and reporting of research, it
is imperative that the investigators should not have any interests that
undermine scientific integrity while recording and reporting their data.
Any research or other links of the investigators with industry are
discouraged as such a link would compromise or likely to compromise unbiased
reporting of research data. In
addition, such a financial conflict of interest could lead to loss of public
faith on the credibility of data being reported, especially in the light of
recent reports of financial conflict of interest of investigators in drug and
other clinical trials. All
investigators, desirous of MRC support should declare financial conflict of
interest, if any, before submitting the project for support.
They should also ensure that during the conduct of the project, they
would also observe the same code of conduct.
If the Council comes to know of any unethical conduct on the part of
investigator including improper/incomplete declaration, the project is liable to
be terminated immediately.
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