RGF 5 (Tier 1 – FRC & URC) - Final Report WBS No: ______

PI Name, Dept: ______

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

Academic Research Fund (AcRF) Tier 1 – Final Report

Compiled list of clarifications frequently sought

Section in Annual Progress Report / Points to note
Section 4 b: Outcome/Output of Research Projects – List of publications with Impact Factor / “Impact factor”, as required by MOE, should be provided where possible.
PIs are required to submit one copy of all Publications (Journal articles and Conference/Seminar papers) arising from the project in the Final Report. Please provide hardcopy or softcopy. The copy may be of the original printed publication (preferred) or the version which was accepted for publication.
Section 4 b: Outcome/Output of Research Projects – List of invitations to speak at international conferences / seminars / PI should only list those pertaining to “international” Conference/Seminars, incl:
•  invitations to speak at international conference/seminar;
•  papers and posters arising from the research project which were accepted for presentation at international conference/seminar;
•  papers and posters arising from the research project which were presented (at international conference/seminar) but not published;
•  papers and posters arising from the research project which were presented (at international conference/seminar) and published;
Please distinguish between “invitation” and “participation”.
Section 4 b: Outcome/Output of Research Projects – List of Awards (National and International) / “National” and “International” awards are defined by MOE as:
•  National: awards given out by organizations registered in Singapore, including government agencies and statutory boards.
•  International: awards given out by international organizations.
Section 6: Manpower Training – (ii) the manpower training KPIs / Expected (for project) and Achieved
“Expected” – the number of students indicated in the approved project.
“Achieved” – the number of students who have submitted thesis.
Section 10: Statement of Account / The Statement of Account, for the entire project duration, should reflect the approved budget and the expenditure in terms of manpower, equipment, consumables and others, as well as the balance at the end of the project.
The Expenditure figures in the table should tally with the Statement of Account attached.
Annex A – Publications, Presentations/ Conference/ Seminar, Patents and Awards / PIs should list the Publications, Presentations/ Conference/ Seminar, Patents and Awards arising from the project only. PIs who fail to adhere to MOE’s requirement risk being disqualified from future AcRF grant calls, as MOE will consider double counting of research deliverables seriously.
Annex A – Publications / Publications must acknowledge the MOE’s AcRF Tier 1 funding support and quote the official grant number from DRA/Faculty (as applicable).
This guideline should be adhered to strictly for projects approved from FY2007 onwards. PIs who fail to adhere to MOE’s requirement risk being disqualified from future AcRF grant calls.
For Tier 1 (URC and FRC) projects approved prior to FY2007, the PI should ensure that all publications arising from the Tier 1 projects w.e.f FY2007 acknowledge funding support from an AcRF Tier 1 grant (i.e. quote the official grant number) from the MOE. Publications prior to FY2007 arising from such research projects will not be penalized if these had not acknowledged MOE’s ARF Tier 1 funding support, although it would have been correct to do so.

MINISTRY OF EDUCATIONAcademic Research Fund (AcRF) Tier 1 – Final Report

PIs who fail to submit the Final Report (for Tier 1 grant) may be disqualified from future applications for MOE’s AcRF Tier 1 grants.

Submission Requirements:

PI must submit a softcopy (MSWord) and one original hardcopy of the Final Report to Head of the Department within 1 month from project completion date.

Process / Due Dates (for FRC project) / Due Dates (for URC project) / Example
1a. PI submission to HOD / Within 1 month from project completion date / Within 1 month from project completion date / Project Completion date – 31 Dec
For FRC projects / For URC projects
1b. PI to clear any outstanding commitments incurred during project duration / Within 1 month from project completion date / Within 1 month from project completion date / By 31 Jan:
-  PI to submit Final Report to HOD
-  PI to work with finance officers to clear any outstanding commitments incurred during project duration
On 1 Feb:
VDR Office to request OFS to proceed to close project grant account after ensuring that all payment requests are processed
By 31 Mar:
Department Office to forward softcopy & endorsed hardcopy of Final Report, copies of publications and other supporting documents to VDR office. / By 31 Jan:
-  PI to submit Final Report to HOD
-  PI to work with finance officers to clear any outstanding commitments incurred during project duration
On 1 Feb:
VDR Office to request OFS to proceed to close project grant account after ensuring that all payment requests are processed
By 28 Feb:
Department Office to forward softcopy & endorsed hardcopy of Final Report, copies of publications and other supporting documents to VDR office.
By 31 Mar:
VDR Office to forward softcopy & endorsed hardcopy of Final Report, copies of publications and other supporting documents to DRA
1c. VDR Office to request OFS to proceed to close project grant account after ensuring that all payment requests are processed / End of month 1 from project completion date / End of month 1 from project completion date
2. HOD submission to Faculty Dean (via VDR office)
/ Within 3 months from project completion date / Within 2 months from project completion date
3. VDR Office submission to DRA / NA / Within 3 months from project completion date

·  Upon project completion, the project grant will be classified as “Technically Completed” and any unutilized/uncommitted funds will lapse after the project grant completion date. No expenditure should be incurred/purchase orders made after the project grant completion date.

·  PI has 1 month from project completion date to clear (i.e. make payment on) any outstanding commitments made during the grant award period (i.e. within project start date and completion date). PI should inform Office of Financial Services (OFS) if any delay is to be expected.

·  VDR Office should request OFS to proceed to close the project grant account 1 month from project completion date after ensuring that all payment requests are processed, pending Final Report endorsement.

·  The project account must be closed within 3 months of the project grant completion date during which time any outstanding claims for payment (for expenditure incurred/commitments made within the grant award period) must be settled. No claim/s for reimbursement can be made after the closure of project account. Any unutilized funds will be returned to MOE.

MINISTRY OF EDUCATIONAcademic Research Fund (AcRF) Tier 1 – Final Report

All information is treated with confidence. The information is furnished to the Ministry of Education (MOE) and its Academic Research Council (ARC) with the understanding that it shall be used or disclosed for evaluation, reference and reporting purposes.

All sections must be completed. Indicate “NA” where a particular section is not applicable.

PIs who fail to submit the Final Report (for Tier 1 – FRC and URC grants) may have their current AcRF grants suspended and denied funding approval/support for new ARF proposals until the Final Report is submitted.

Official Grant Number (Tier 1):
WBS Number for AcRF – Tier 1: / R -xxx-xxx-xxx-112
WBS Number for Co-fund, if applicable: / R -xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx / Co-Funding Agency
Project Title:
University: / National University of Singapore
Approved budget / S$
Period of funding (mm/yy to mm/yy):
Original completion date (dd/mm/yy):
Actual completion date if different from the above 1 (dd/mm/yy):

1 Based on latest approved completion date.

1 Principal Investigator & Collaborators

Title, Name / Role (PI, Co-PI, Collaborator) / Department, Faculty / University/ Institution

2 Other Professional Personnel Involved

Title, Name / Role / Department, Faculty / University/ Institution


3 Abstract of Final Report

Please provide a summary of the progress of the project: its objectives, methodology, major accomplishments and other relevant information. Pay particular attention to how the project has advanced scientific frontiers and impacted or benefited the larger scientific community.

4 Introduction and Objectives

a)  State the background and objectives of the project.

b)  Describe the extent to which the objectives of the research have been achieved and relate that to the creation of new knowledge and how it may drive future research in this field.

c)  Deviations from the objectives of the original proposal during the course of the project, if any. The reasons and justifications for the deviations should also be reported.

5 Project management and execution

a)  Provide a detailed write-up of work performed. Describe the individual and collaborative work done by the various organizations involved in the project, if the project involves more than one organisation.

b)  Highlight any problems encountered (e.g. technical or personnel problems, material/equipment sourcing problems) and how these were resolved. Include reasons for any delay if the programme took longer than the proposed time frame.

6 Project Findings

a) Findings

Please provide a succinct account of the findings and results.

b) Outcome/Output of Research Project

Please provide the following for the entire project where applicable, in Annex A:

•  List of publications with impact factor. (Publications must acknowledge the Ministry of Education’s AcRF Tier 1 funding support and quote MOE’s official grant number)

•  List of invitations to speak at international conferences/ seminars

•  List of patents filed/awarded and income derived

•  List of Awards (National and International)

•  Others – Please specify

c)  Describe any patentable/commercially exploitable results, and what follow-up arrangements have been made or are planned.

7 Manpower recruited

Please provide a list of the personnel recruited under the grant; and for each person recruited, also provide the name, post, qualification, remuneration and duration of employment below.

Name / Post / Qualification / Remuneration / Duration of employment

8 Manpower training

Please indicate

(i) whether the grant supports any undergraduate or graduate students, or post- doctorates; and whether any of the research team member pursued a higher degree (Masters, PhD) while working on the project.

For each of the graduate students, please specify Name, Qualification attained and Present employment.

(ii) the manpower training KPIs in the table below

Expected
(for project) / Achieved* / Remarks
No. of Masters Students to be Trained
(also indicate RS – from Faculty Budget, or Non-RS)
No. of PhD Students to be Trained
(also indicate RS – from Faculty Budget, or Non-RS)

*Achieved – thesis submitted. Thesis of postgraduate students must be directly related to project.

(iii) the training courses attended by the PI or collaborators specifically for the project

Course Name / Duration and Other Details / Attended by (PI, Co-PI, Collaborator, Research Staff)

9 Future Plans

Briefly describe any new research areas or product development arising from this project.

10 Final Statement of Account

Please enclose a statement of account of the above project from your Finance Department. The statement should reflect the approved budget and the expenditure in terms of manpower, equipment, consumables and others, as well as the balance at the end of the project.

EOM - excl. research scholarship ($) / Research Scholarship
($) / Equipment
($) / OOE
($) / Total
($)

Grant approved 2

Expenditure as at completion
Balance
Utilisation rate (%)
(Expenditure/Grant approved) x 100

2 To reflect current approved grant taking into account any variations approved previously.

11 Signing of Report

Principal Investigator (PI)
I declare that the information provided is true and complete to the best of my knowledge
Name / Signature / Date

Important note: Principal Investigator should also submit a softcopy of this report in MSWord format through HOD to VDR Office.

Please save MSWord file as “RGF5_T1_ PI’sName_WBSNo.doc”

For example: RGF5 _T1_Name_R000000000112.doc


12 Endorsement

Head of Department (or nominee)
Please provide comments on performance of the project, utilisation rate of grant etc.
Name / Signature / Date
Dean of Faculty / School (or nominee)
Please provide comments on performance of the project, utilisation rate of grant etc.
Name / Signature / Date
Director, Division of Research Administration (DRA), ODPRT (or nominee)
Please provide comments on performance of the project, utilisation rate of grant etc
Name / Signature / Date


Annex A

Format for reporting outcome/output of research

Note: Please complete one table for each publication / Presentation / Patent / Award. Add more tables as necessary.

Publications

#Status / Published / In Press / Accepted/Submitted
Author Names
Title of Article
Journal Name
Publisher
Year/Issue/No.
Page No.
Impact Factor
#Delete as appropriate. Please provide 1 copy (PDF softcopy or hardcopy) of published articles

Presentations/Conference/Seminar

Author Names
Title of Article
Conference Name
Page No. of Abstract
Organiser/Publisher
Country/State
Date
Please provide 1 copy (PDF softcopy or hardcopy) of published articles

Patents

#Status: Filed/Awarded
Author Names
Title of Patent
Covering Countries
Filing Office
Date of Filing
Date of Award
Income derived ($)
#Delete as appropriate.

Awards (National and International)

Name of researcher/s / Name, Department, Faculty, University/Institution
Title of Article
Name of Award
Awarding Authority
Date Awarded
#Delete as appropriate.

Wef Apr 08

Page 1 of 8