The University of Sheffield
Department of Computer Science

Funding Sources

The Departmental Grant (Core funding)

The Departmental Grant is allocated at the start of the new Financial Year (1st August), and is based on income generated by teaching and research over the previous financial year.

This can theoretically be used for any expenditure concerned with either our teaching or research. The account is used to pay everything from staff salaries, demonstrators etc. to buying lunch/covering travel costs for external examiners, seminar speakers or candidates for PhD interviews. Investments have also been made to offer PhD studentships and to support the Research and Teaching network.

Research Committee

The research committee is used to promote research. This usually means helping staff and students to attend meetings to discuss new research proposals and collaborations. You can apply to this committee for money.

Any payments must be authorised in advance by the Director of Research.

Research Grants

Grants usually specify what the money can be spent on and there may be set criteria what is an eligible cost depending on the specific funder. All expenditure on the grant must relate to the research and all spending must be authorised by the Principle Investigator in advance. If you require assistance with any research grant contact com-resadmin@sheffield.ac.uk.

Your Research Group

Your research group has a budget that can be spent on anything connected with research. e.g. travel to conferences, books, equipment, software. The head of your Research Group has to authorise any prior spending on the group account.

Staff Accounts

Staff accounts are allocated every year based on funds available on COM Core. Income generated from RNC, project surpluses and the EPSRC Referee's Incentive Scheme all contribute to your staff account.

This money can be spent on anything to do with either teaching or research.

Learned Society

Funding can be requested from the Learned Society for up to £500 to cover/contribute towards the costs of attending conferences / meetings.

Before incurring any expenditure, applicants must firstly check the specific procedures for approval and claims as determined by their Faculty. Please download and complete the Application form. This should be returned to Rebecca Brough for approval.

The following categories of staff and students are eligible to receive support

  • academic and academic-related staff
  • technical staff above the trainee technician grade
  • registered postgraduate students who are not able to obtain support for attending learned society meetings from their sponsors

Claims to be charged to the Learned Societies Fund budget are limited to three in any academic year (1 October to 30 September) and must be submitted using the Certified Claim for Expenses Form or on-line using myJob.

Claims should be submitted within two months of the expenditure being incurred. Failure to do so may delay payment, or nullify the claim.

Research Student fund

Funding for students who started after financial year 2014/15 is allocated alongside your PhD for you to purchase a PC, attend conferences or summer schools and buy any necessary consumables in order to successfully complete your studies. This is in the form of a maximum expenditure of £1,000 per year. For example, if you purchase a standard spec PC when you arrive then the cost of this is £760 which will leave you £240 to spend in your first year.

Any funding you wish to request from your allocation is to be discussed fully with your Supervisor to ensure it is an appropriate use of your resources. Once this has been agreed then you can email Research Support Team with estimated costs and details with confirmation of your Supervisor's approval and they will confirm the amount of funding that is available to you. Once you have been sent confirmation of your funding request then you can take the following steps:

Your funding will roll over to the following years of study if you do not utilise the full amount in year 1.

For students who started their studies before financial year 2014/15, please contact the Research Support Team with full details of your funding request including estimated costs and a description of your needs.