What to cost into an Antarctic logistics funding proposal
The following specific costs are the responsibility of the Principal Investigator and should be included in all full proposals that require Antarctic logistic support. Neither BAS nor NERC is responsible for these costs if you do not include them in your proposal.
It is very important that you follow this section carefully. NERC research grants are ‘cost limited’, which means that costs overlooked at the proposal stage cannot be recovered at a later date from NERC. Only in very exceptional circumstances, usually associated with Antarctic logistic support problems that could not have been avoided, will NERC consider a request for additional funds to be awarded to an existing grant.
Full Economic Costing (fEC)
Depending on the funding call, applications must be made through either the UKRI Funding Service or the Joint Electronic Submission (Je-S) system, and must comply with the conditions set out in the latest edition of the NERC Research Grants Handbook – Research Grants Awarded on Full Economic Cost Basis. Since 1st September 2005, NERC research grants have been awarded on the basis of a proportion of the full economic cost, calculated in accordance with the TRAC (Transparent Approach to Costing) methodology (Universities and other Higher Education Institutes), or by an equivalent methodology in the case of Research Council component bodies or other academic analogues. The proportion of fEC awarded is currently 80%.
The fEC of a project is calculated as the sum of three separate components:
- Directly Incurred Costs
- Directly Allocated Costs
- Indirect Costs
Note that the term ‘overheads’ is no longer used by the UK Research Councils, although many other funding bodies still use it.
Directly Incurred Costs
These include the salaries of additional staff employed specifically for the project; also the costs of equipment, travel and subsistence, and consumables used by the project.
Directly Allocated Costs
These consist of:
(a) payments for Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator staff time (on a pro rata basis);
(b) costs of using major items of equipment or facilities.
Indirect Costs
Indirect costs are intended to be a contribution towards the project costs incurred by the institution which is in receipt of the Award. These costs are determined by the respective Finance department as a single figure applied per full-time equivalent post involved in the project.
Estate Costs
These may include building and premises costs, basic services and utilities and any clerical staff and equipment maintenance/operational costs not already included under other cost headings. As for Indirect Costs, Estate Costs are determined by the respective Finance department as a single figure applied per full-time equivalent post involved in the project.
Exceptions
The Research Councils will pay 100% of the cost for certain items of expenditure, including research student stipends and tuition fees. With regard to capital equipment (i.e. equipment valued at >£10k), please see the guidance in the NERC Research Grants and Fellowships Handbook (paragraph 144, page 31 to paragraph 156, page 33) for further information.
More detail:
Travel and accommodation
| What | Include? | Notes, including amounts where applicable |
|---|---|---|
| Flights, to and from the Falkland Islands (or Punta Arenas), for the science and technical personnel | Y | £3000 return, per person ( BAS Business Plan 2017). These costs will be ‘top-sliced’ from your award by NERC.
For fieldwork based at Halley Research Stations flights between the gateway (Cape Town) and Halley are provided by commercial carrier. Therefore, in addition to £3000 return per person for flights to/ from the gateway, flight costs to/ from Halley must also be included in the grant. Contact Antarctic Access Office (email: afibas@bas.ac.uk) for information on costs. |
| Travel costs for Field Assistants supporting the project | N | These costs will be covered by BAS. |
| Travel (outward and return) between your institution and BAS Cambridge for onward travel to connect with intercontinental flights | Y | BAS provides minibus transport from Cambridge to RAF Brize Norton or Heathrow, at no cost to the user, to connect with departing and arriving flights. |
| Living and accommodation costs whilst on board ship, at a research station or in the field, after departure from Stanley (or Punta Arenas) southbound, until return to Stanley (or Punta Arenas) at the end of the fieldwork | N | If additional time is requested in the Falkland Islands for example, the additional costs are the responsibility of the person(s) concerned and may not be charged to the NERC Award. However, if the additional time is due to a scientific requirement as part of your project this can be charged to the NERC award. Contact the Antarctic Access Office (email: afibas@bas.ac.uk) for further guidance. |
| Meals and accommodation costs in Stanley (or in Punta Arenas). Transport between Mount Pleasant Airport (East Falkland) and Stanley (or between Punta Arenas airport and Punta Arenas city) | Y | £620, per person, per field season. These costs will be ‘top-sliced’ from your award by NERC. |
| Cost of travel (standard class rail fare) to BAS Cambridge to discuss support requirements | Y | Newly-awarded Principal Investigators should arrange to visit BAS Operations and Logistics staff, to discuss their support requirements for the proposed fieldwork. This is intended to ensure that BAS staff who will be supporting the project in the field are well briefed, at an early stage, with detailed logistics information about the project requirements. |
Clothing
| What | Include? | Notes, including amounts where applicable |
|---|---|---|
| Specialist ‘clothing’, e.g. diving suits (if required) | Y | Up to maximum of £800. Diving suits can be supplied by the Principal Investigator – but will need to be approved by BAS. These costs will be ‘top-sliced’ from your award by NERC. |
| Other dive equipment, e.g. cylinders and demand valves | N | These will be provided by BAS as part of the logistic overheads. |
| Antarctic fieldwork clothing provision for BAS personnel | N | |
| Costs of Antarctic fieldwork clothing provision for non-BAS personnel | Y | See table below. These costs will be ‘top-sliced’ from your award by NERC. |
The costs of Antarctic fieldwork clothing provision for non-BAS personnel should be included and charged according to the following rates:
| Location | Cost |
|---|---|
| Rothera short term visitor (<30 days) | £917 |
| Rothera visitor (>30 days) | £1262 |
| King Edward Point/Bird Island summer visitor | £1703 |
| Signy summer visitor | £1793 |
| Halley visitor | £1469 |
| Field (<60 days) | £2177 |
| Field (>60 days) | £2521 |
| Vessel cruise participant | £607 |
| Arctic visitor | £1438 |
These costs are based on the requirement that all issued items remain the property of BAS at the end of the field project. Note that Antarctic clothing for fieldwork personnel will be re-issued, at no extra charge, to individuals who will be making multiple visits to the field. It is therefore not necessary to cost fieldwork clothing more than once, for any of the fieldwork personnel, if multiple seasons are involved. Together with air fares, the costs of provision of polar clothing to non-BAS personnel will be ‘top-sliced’ from your award, by NERC.
Medical
| What | Include? | Notes, including amounts where applicable |
|---|---|---|
| Full Antarctic medical examination (non-BAS personnel only) | Y | The costs of a full Antarctic medical examination conducted to BAS specifications and performed by a GP should be in the region of £140. |
| Vaccinations (for example, Yellow Fever) | Y | Please see BASMU’s Immunisation Policy for further information. |
| Diving medical examination (if required) | Y | A Diving medical assessment will start at around £65, depending on circumstances. It will replace the full medical and not be an additional charge. |
| Dental check | N | Dental examination and dental treatment of fieldwork personnel prior to deployment are not eligible costs on the grant proposal. |
Cargo
| What | Include? | Notes, including amounts where applicable |
|---|---|---|
| Transporting equipment and other cargo between the UK and Antarctica on BAS ships and/or aircraft | N | Charges apply. |
| Costs of freighting equipment from the UK to the Falklands or Punta Arenas, if the equipment needs to arrive before ‘first call’ of a BAS ship. | Y | Charged directly to the consignor. Contact the Antarctic Access Office (email: afibas@bas.ac.uk) for further guidance. |
| Transporting your equipment to the BAS packing agents within the UK and for collecting equipment and/or samples from BAS Cambridge at the end of the season | Y | |
| Transportation of equipment/cargo to the BAS commercial stores prior to shipment to Antarctica, and for the collection of cargo and/or samples from BAS Cambridge following the field season | Y |
Geology equipment
| What | Include? | Notes, including amounts where applicable |
|---|---|---|
| Durable items: e.g. hammers, chisels, and binoculars | Y | Please note: BAS will supply rock boxes (on loan only) for the packing of field samples. |
Training
| What | Include? | Notes, including amounts where applicable |
|---|---|---|
| Antarctic pre-deployment training course at Girton College, First Aid course and Field Training course (if applicable) | N | However, travel costs to attend should be included (see below). |
| Travel to and from Cambridge at the beginning and end of the Antarctic pre-deployment training course at Girton College, First Aid course and Field Training courses | Y | |
| Specialist safety training | Y | If this cannot be provided on the BAS course, including SCUBA training, up to a maximum level of £750. |
| STCW 95 certificate in Personal Survival Techniques (required for ALL personnel travelling on a NERC ship) | Y | You should budget for £210 per person (plus travel costs). |
| Any additional expenditure attributable to a project and incurred during fieldwork | Y |
Staff costs and recruitment
| What | Include? | Notes, including amounts where applicable |
|---|---|---|
| Antarctic allowance payments for BAS staff conducting scientific or technical support work as part of the project | Y | Costs are pro rata.Please contact the Antarctic Access Office (afibas@bas.ac.uk) for further information on BAS support staff costs. |
| Recruitment – any costs associated with recruitment, including advertising |
Y | Please ensure that each partner is clearly aware of which Institution will be responsible for recruitment. BAS will not be responsible for recruiting, unless this has been specifically agreed with BAS. |
NERC rules relating to the eligibility of individuals as Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator are given in the Summary of eligibility conditions. Further details are available in the current version of the NERC Research Grants Handbook.
A Post-Doctoral Research Assistant (PDRA) who is not eligible to be a Principal or Co-Investigator, but has made a substantial contribution to the formulation and development of the application and will be closely involved with the project (if funded) may be identified as a ‘Researcher Co-Investigator’. A Researcher Co-Investigator must:
- Be the named researcher on the project and seek his/her salary as a Directly Incurred cost.
- Be employed by the same Research Organisation as the either the Principal Investigator or one of the Co-Investigators.
- If applying from a NERC or BBSRC Research Organisation, be employed at Band 6 or higher.
Technical support
| What | Include? | Notes, including amounts where applicable |
|---|---|---|
| Significant level of development of equipment software and instrumentation | Y | The level of resource must have been agreed in principle with BAS. Please discuss your requirements with the Antarctic Access Office (afibas@bas.ac.uk) in the first instance. These costs will be top-sliced’ from your award by NERC. |
| Significant level of support (such as 20% full-time equivalent or greater) by any specific BAS technical or scientific personnel in the UK or in Antarctica | Y | As above. |
BAS-operated Facilities
| What | Include? | Notes, including amounts where applicable |
|---|---|---|
| Polar infrastructure (use of research stations, ships and aircraft within Antarctica) | N | The usual costs for supporting a project within the existing BAS infrastructure (use of research stations, ships and aircraft within Antarctica) will be covered by BAS. |
| Aircraft positioning costs (outside of normal BAS theatre of operation) | Y | Please contact the Research Development and Support Team (afibas@bas.ac.uk) for advice. Normally, no cost will be incurred, unless BAS would need to purchase additional aviation fuel (beyond that provided for National Capability operations), in order to reach the proposed fieldwork locality. If fuel purchase is necessary, you will be advised of the associated cost to include in your funding bid. This sum will then be ‘top-sliced’ from your award by NERC. |
| Modifications to a BAS-operated ship or aircraft | Y | May require extended preparation time. |
| Modifications to a laboratory or facility | Y | May require extended preparation time. |
| SAN storage enhancement (in BAS Cambridge building) | Y | First 5TB data storage is supplied by BAS. Storage exceeding >5 TB should be included at £400 per TB. |
| Workstation above and beyond BAS IT provision | Y | Agreement by BAS ICT required. Additional SciHub node is £7800. |
| Software Licences | Y | e.g.MATLAB and specialist software |
| Use of PASIN radar | N | This will come with engineering support. Requirements for field and UK scientific support (data manipulation, value added products, interpretation etc.) should be costed as for Co-I science time. |
| Use of MASIN instrument suite | N | This will come with engineering support. Requirements for field and UK scientific support (data manipulation, value added products, interpretation etc.) should be costed as for Co-I science time. |
If you propose to be working away from a field station, you should assume for costing purposes that you will provide everything needed to run and maintain your equipment, including the supply of portable power.