In my last post, ‘Transferring your funding’, I talked in general about the things to consider for your grants when you move universities.

This post covers the questions that I ask when someone says “I’m coming to your university and I need to transfer my grant”.

As I said last time, it is worth remembering that my experience is based on what happens in Australia. While much of this advice may hold true for you, always check with your local research whisperer because things might be different where you are.

For each of these questions, a different person in the university will need to help you. Sometimes, it will be a finance person; sometimes, it will be someone from human resources or the ethics team. I wasn’t asking the questions so that I could do the work. I was asking the questions so that I could alert others that there was work that needed to be done.

Is this your only grant?

People often think about their ‘big’ grant, but then I discover that they have a few other smaller grants as well. In addition to current grants, do you have applications pending or outstanding final reports? As I said in the last post, we also need to think about applications that have been submitted, and grants that have been spent down but still haven’t quite finished.

Are there any non-monetary agreements that need to be transferred?

These might be intellectual property agreements or agreements with partners that provide you with in-kind access to specialised equipment or data. These will need to be updated, too.

Are you taking a break between finishing at your current university and starting at your new university?

This might have an impact on salaries and stipends coming from the funding. If you are taking a break, you might want to suspend your grants while you aren’t working on them. However, if there are staff salaries or graduate stipends coming out of the funding, you may need to make sure that the grants don’t get suspended as that will mean that the salaries suddenly stop.

What is happening to the graduate students that you are supervising?  

Will they come with you, or will they stay behind? If they are coming with you, they will need to be enrolled. If they are staying behind, they will need a new supervisor.

Ditto for staff you have employed.

If they are coming with you, they will need new employment contracts. If they are staying behind, what happens to their jobs?

Do you need specialised lab space, animal facilities, greenhouse facilities, etc?

This has usually been discussed when you are being hired – I just want to make sure that all the relevant people have been informed. If it hasn’t been discussed, then it needs to be discussed right now – you don’t want to start your new job only to find that it will take six months to refurbish the lab that you need.

Are you transferring any equipment that you have purchased from the grant?

Sometimes you can, sometimes you can’t – as always, read the guidelines. Small bits and bobs usually stay at your current university but you might need to negotiate the transfer of unique equipment that is vital to your project. Any equipment needs to be removed from the asset register of your current university and added to the asset register of your new university.

Do you have samples or any other items that need special transfer clearances?

This generally includes anything radioactive, anything highly infectious, or any noxious pests or weeds. You may need special import / export licences between countries, or special permits for the state you are moving to, and you may need specialised couriers to move them. Note that laws vary between jurisdictions so something that might not be a controlled substance or species where you are now still might need a permit where you are going. If in doubt, ask.

Do you have data that requires special treatment?

There are two different issues here:

1. Some jurisdictions (e.g. Indonesia) have limits on what data can be moved out of the country. You may need a permit.
2. Some data needs to be curated in a particular way – large datasets may need additional server space, for example.

Does your research require ethics clearances?

You might need to submit your ethics clearance again, although if you’ve been awarded ethics clearance at your current university it should (in theory) be easier at your new university.

Is your new university providing you with any funding?

There might be an establishment or starting grant, or an arrangement to match internal funding that was being provided by your old university. These sorts of agreements need to be documented and set up in the internal system of the new university so that you have access to these funds.

I’m sure that I’ve missed some things. I feel like every time I’ve done this, I’ve added a new question to this list, so do not consider this to be comprehensive. Your mileage may vary. If there are things that I have missed, let me know, and I can add them in.

Good luck with your move!