If a price is agreed which amounts to less than the full Economic Cost (fEC) the University will effectively be subsidising the cost of the project from other resources. The decision as to whether or not to do this will be made by the College, and ultimately by the Head of College or their delegated authority.
Factors the College should consider when establishing a policy for approving the price of research projects:
- The role of the Central Finance Office is to advise on the full Economic Costs
- It is the responsibility of the College to adopt a Pricing Policy
- The Price for any goods or services is determined by the market place and how much the purchaser is prepared to pay. This is also true for research funders
- It is advisable to take into account a variety of views before making the decision. It may be that a group can be set up consisting of academic staff, finance office staff, research managers, college managers, heads of division etc.
- A key consideration should be about the danger of setting 'pricing precedents' within the College and towards a particular funder.
- Where a funder has no rules regarding Pricing, the price should at least cover the full Economic Cost.
What next? Go to our Applications Guide