Enhancing our research proposal approval process
On 12 November we held a highly productive workshop with senior leadership teams, bringing together senior professional and academic staff from across the Faculties. The session focused on reviewing and improving our research proposal approval process to ensure greater consistency, transparency, and efficiency.
We would like to extend our sincere thanks to everyone who attended and contributed their insights. Your feedback was invaluable in shaping the new streamlined process.
Streamlining processes to support successful bids
We recognised that resource checks, financial scrutiny, and quality assurance are all critical to successful research submissions. Previously, processes varied across faculties, creating complexity and potential gaps in oversight. By integrating these elements into a single, unified workflow, we aim to provide:
- Greater accuracy and accountability
- Improved collaboration between professional teams and Principal Investigators (PIs)
- A seamless experience across all faculties and research areas
This approach ensures that every proposal is thoroughly reviewed for feasibility, compliance, and strategic alignment, ultimately increasing the likelihood of winning bids and delivering impactful research.
From go-live all new proposals will follow the new process
Following the workshop and incorporating the feedback, the new approval workflow will apply to all proposals:
- Submission to the Faculty Development Officer (FDO) for initial review.
- Head of School (or equivalent) verifies resource availability.
- Faculty Operating Officer (FOO) or equivalent reviews the budget and assesses its impact on faculty operations. If the proposal meets specific financial conditions*, it is escalated to the Finance Business Partner for detailed financial scrutiny.
- Final review by the Faculty Associate Dean of Research & Knowledge Exchange (or equivalent) to ensure quality, strategic alignment, and compliance.
Click here to find out who is part of the approval groups.
*Financial conditions include if ‘Surplus/-Deficit’ is less than -£50k or if ‘Cost to Funder’ is greater than £500k.
Approvals are automated and visible to all in Worktribe
Worktribe’s pre-award approval workflow will ensure that the required sign-off stages are automatically applied to each project and assigned to the correct authority levels.
This entire process is built into the Worktribe system, providing full transparency as proposals move through the approval workflow. This means everyone involved will have clear visibility of progress and accountability at each stage.
Supporting collaboration to deliver high-quality research
With one clear process for all faculties, approvals will be more efficient and transparent. Teams will work closely with PIs to strengthen proposals, ensuring they meet institutional standards and funding requirements. This collaborative approach will help us with winning bids and delivering high-quality research.
PIs will have read-only access to budget information
PIs will continue to lead on the academic elements of proposals, while Funding Development Officers (FDO) remain responsible for budgets and compliance, ensuring sensitive HR linked data is handled securely. To maintain transparency, PIs will have read only access to budgets in Worktribe. Any updates will continue to be made through the FDO, supporting consistency and effective collaboration within a single system.
This approach has been reviewed with our Digital Champions, academic and research colleagues who will be end‑users of the system, who confirmed that it reflects existing workflows and were supportive of this approach.
Training and support will be available in the new year
- FDOs will continue to prepare and update budgets as per current practice.
- PIs will retain visibility of budgets through read‑only access.
- The update enhances compliance, data security, and clarity within Worktribe.
These updates will be incorporated into all training and support resources. Training sessions will be scheduled for the new year and made available to book through Horizon. We will share a further communication early in the new year with the confirmed dates and additional guidance.
Wishing you a wonderful break from all of us in the project team, we look forward to reconnecting in the new year.
