• Pre-award process

Applications are in response to a Call from the NRF. Funding instruments are then circulated to the university community with a schedule of all programmes available for funding in that current year with specific deadlines.

The applicant is expected to be registered on the NRF Connect and be able to access any application by go to https://nrfconnect.nrf.ac.za and login using Open Researcher Contributor ID (ORCID) credentials.

A list of different programmes available for funding with specific Frameworks and Guideline documents is accessible at https://www.nrf.ac.za/funding/

The application is submitted via the NRF portal https://nrfconnect.nrf.ac.za and then notification is received by grant administrator for action- i.e for pre-screening and online validation/processing after checking the eligibility criteria and other required documentation.

Yearly Information sessions through internal workshops and institutional visits by the funder are conducted to assist and provide guidance to potential applicants for submitting high quality proposals.

• Post-award process

Activation of research grants

The Conditions of Grant and the Award letter are accepted by the grantholder via the portal https://nrfconnect.nrf.ac.za then by the grant administrator for forwarding to the NRF. The grantholder is required to open a cost centre for the grant awarded and this is done through relevant Institutional College Accountants who manage NRF grants.

The College Accountants work together with the Grant administrators to claim and disburse funds for use by the grantholders and follow- ups with the funder regarding unreleased funds must be done by grant administrators.

• College of Health Sciences: Mr Kumanran Thevadasan Thevadasank@ukzn.ac.za
• College of AES: Ms Caryn Devries: Devriesc@ukzn.ac.za
• College of Humanities: Ms Amy Ramsamy: Ramsamya1@ukzn.ac.za
• College of Law and Management Studies: Mr Arvin Gareeb: Gareeba@ukzn.ac.za

Adjustment of funds

The grantholder is allowed to request the adjustment of funds online, the motivation is required and must be processed first by the grant administrator https://nrfconnect.nrf.ac.za prior approval by the NRF.

Compliance

The awarding of grants is subject to full compliance by the grantholders as specified in the Conditions of Grant. Compliance is achieved through the submission of the yearly progress report by the grantholder via the portal https://nrfconnect.nrf.ac.za and is critical for release of further funding particularly for the multi- year grants.

Carry-forward of unspent funding

Carry forward of unspent funds will only be allowed if less than 60/% is spent in case of all other grants and 70% of the total awarded operating costs in case of SARChI grants.

Transfer of grants

Change of Leadership: This is applicable when the grant-holder leaves the institution and the grant administrator then notifies the NRF and complete the process online. https://nrfconnect.nrf.ac.za> grant management > change of the grantholder. On approval, an amended award letter is issued by the NRF and to be signed by the nominated grant-holder.

Change of Institution: As per the funder’s policy, when the grant-holders move to another institution, they are entitled to move with their grants, however such depends on the type of grant the want to move. Example of immovable grants are (SARCHi, NEP, and COE grants. The process followed is the same as the transferring of grant (above).

Calls

Calls for Self -initiated research grants to support original research and the applications are done online by accessing https://rims.samrc.ac.za/

The Call is circulated to the research community with an internal deadline.

Compliance

A yearly progress report is completed manually by the grantholder and then forwarded to the MRC as part of compliance and for the release of the rest of the funds for the grant which runs to a maximum funding of 2 years.

For Additional support for the potential applicants in relation to the system, kindly send an email to rims.support@mrc.ac.za

Assistance or further information regarding National funding opportunities available (NRF and MRC) please liaise with the designated individuals listed below for support and guidance.