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1. Background
2. Who is eligible to be listed as an international Co-Investigator?
3. How do international Co-Investigators register with the ESRC?
4. What costs can be associated with an international Co-Investigator?
5. Can international partners be included under the heading of Consultants rather than Co-Investigators?
6. How will funds associated with an International Co-Investigator be disbursed?
7. Can an international collaborator be listed as a Co-Investigator if they have secured their own source of funding?
8. Can an international Co-Investigator supervise a Research Grant Linked Studentship?
9. Can Co-Investigators be included in cross-Council applications?

1. Background

International Co-Investigators from anywhere in the world can be included in the majority of ESRC research funding schemes, excluding fellowships, unless otherwise stated by the scheme guidance. Some specific schemes may, from time to time, specify that International Co-Investigators may not be included.

Please see the Research Funding Guide, section 1.11 for further information.

* Please Note: Other funding schemes and strategic calls may currently exist or be set up in the future. The scheme specific guidance for these calls should confirm whether International Co-Investigators can be included 

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2. Who is eligible to be listed as an International Co-Investigator?

Any academic researcher (PhD or equivalent) from an established International Research Organisation of comparable standing to an ESRC recognised UK Research Organisation will be eligible. On receipt of the application, eligibility of the International Research Organisation will not normally need to be checked if it is reasonably clear that the Research Organisation has the capability to conduct the work. Where there is any doubt, Research Organisational eligibility checks will be carried out.

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3. How do International Co-Investigators register with the ESRC?

In order to add an International Co-Investigator to an application, they must be registered with Je-S.
To do this, the person will need to go to the Je-S website and select 'Create Account'; they will then need to complete their details until they reach the 'Research Organisation' screen.

Since their organisation will not be listed they will then need to contact JesHelp either by Email (jeshelp@rcuk.ac.uk) or via Phone (+44 (0) 1793 444164). JesHelp phones are manned 9am to 5pm Mon-Fri.

Once in contact with Je-S the person will need to provide details of the project they wish to be associated with (Title, Reference No.). Je-S will normally register him or her. Formal recognition of the Research Organisation will only be pursued should a positive funding decision be taken.

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4. What costs can be associated with an International Co-Investigator?

All costs must be specifically justified, and applicants must explain why such costs are required to achieve the aims of the research project. The ESRC will fund 100 per cent of justified international costs. Please note all items requested must be fully justified and eligible under Research Funding rules. If ESRC considers that certain items have not been justified or are ineligible, they will be disallowed or reduced. For further guidance on adding International Co-I information to the Je-S form, please refer to: International cost breakdown guidance (PDF)

Applicants must include:

All costs associated with the International Co-Investigator, whether salary, fieldwork, equipment or travel and subsistence should be entered as 'Other Directly Incurred' and should be marked as an 'Exception' using the tick box. All costs should also be prefixed with 'Overseas:'.

Costs associated with an International Co-Investigator's contribution to a project must never exceed 30 per cent of the overall cost of the grant at 100 per cent of FEC, and should normally be lower than this. Applicants who wish to undertake a project in which more than 30 per cent of the costs would need to be associated with an International Research Organisation should investigate whether they may be able to submit a joint proposal under one of ESRC's existing bilateral agreements with funding agencies in other countries or under the ORA scheme.

Overheads and other indirect costs cannot be claimed on any international element of the grant.

Salary costs will only be covered where these would clearly not normally be provided by the International Research Organisation. For instance, a Co-Investigator in a developing country may not have access to salary costs through their home Research Organisation. Any other direct costs may be associated with the research conducted by a Co-Investigator (but see information on studentships, below). Travel and subsistence costs, administrative support and fieldwork costs will be allowable if appropriately justified. Virement from the Co-Investigator's costs to other costs requires prior permission, and may entail a reduction in costs.

Finally, applicants who have previously applied to the ESRC-DfID joint scheme and the ESRC-Hewlett scheme should note that these schemes operated different rules about allowable costs. They do not apply here and these pages do not cover the rules of the ESRC-DfID joint scheme.

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5. Can International partners be included under the heading of Consultants rather than Co-Investigators?

Costs associated with the time devoted by International Co-Investigators may be claimed under the heading of consultancy costs, or they may be claimed as a percentage of the Co-Investigators salary (as with UK Co-Investigators). Which model is appropriate will vary on a case-by-case case basis and should be explained and justified in the Justification of Resources and/or the additional annex mentioned above, if one is provided.
For instance, if a Co-Investigator is based in a country where the level of salary costs that can be paid by the Research Organisation are clearly insufficient to support him/her, then there is a case for salary costs to be included as consultancy costs instead. Please note consultancy costs are funded at an ESRC contribution of 80% FEC.

Any funds requested for consultants should be calculated at a daily rate for their involvement, and this rate should reflect all of the expenditure associated with them, ie travel and subsistence, admin support or equipment costs cannot be separately requested for a consultant.

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6. How will funds associated with an International Co-Investigator be disbursed?

It is the Principal Investigator's UK Research Organisation which makes the application, and it is for the PI and their institution to make the commitment to work with, and pass on funding to, an international partner where this is the most appropriate partner for their particular research. As with UK based Co-Investigators, the ESRC will disburse funding to the institution of the PI, which will then be responsible for disbursing funds to the International Research Organisation. Particular attention should be paid in the case for support to the management and communication protocols in place to enable this to happen smoothly.

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7. Can an International collaborator be listed as a Co-Investigator if they have secured their own source of funding?

Yes, they can be included as a Co-Investigator. They should also be included in the Project Partners section of the application. International Co-Investigators can be named as such if this designation is appropriate given their intellectual/scientific contribution to the project, even if ESRC funding is not required. The estimated hours of such a contribution should be included in the appropriate section of the Je-S form, but their salary costs should be entered as zero.

If international co-investigators are bringing a separate source of funding to the project, this should be noted in the Project Partners section of the Je-S form.

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8. Can an International Co-Investigator supervise a Research Grant Linked Studentship?

Research grant-linked studentships may be included, but as on any application, the student must be registered for their degree with a UK-based Higher Education Institution recognised by ESRC for postgraduate funding. However, the International Co-Investigator may contribute to the supervision of a PhD student included on a grant proposal, and the student may spend a reasonable period of their studentship at the Co-I's institution. It is the responsibility of the UK Research Organisation to ensure that the student is receiving appropriate standards of supervision and training during any time spent overseas. 

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9. Can International Co-Investigators be included in cross-Council applications?

In the case of cross-Council schemes, each participating Council will be consulted over the inclusion or exclusion of International Co-Investigators. Please refer to the call for further information and in case of doubt, contact the named Case Officer in the first instance.

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Any queries can be e-mailed to international@esrc.ac.uk