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Research activity categories

Research includes basic and applied research as well as experimental development as per the Frascati Manual 2015: ISBN 9789264239012 (PDF).

Direct Research

Direct Research activities include the following activities which are likely to lead to a research output:

  • Fieldwork, laboratory, studio and desk research work
  • Management of research projects, informal discussions etc.
  • Recruitment and supervision of research staff
  • Preparation and production of research reports, papers and books
  • Preparing papers for publication in journals, conference proceedings, etc.
  • Attendance at conferences, seminars and meetings that are directly connected with specific research projects (if not directly connected record as Support for Research)
  • Collaboration with other departments or institutions in connection with any of the above research activities
  • Outreach where research is the underlying activity.
  • Clinical Trials where linked to a specific research project (contracts for Phases I & II work – NHS definitions. Phase III trials should be allocated under Consultancy & Other Services Rendered)

For reporting weeks before 4th August 2025

Time spent on direct Research activities needs to be split according to the type of sponsor funding the work or research project, including the region of source of funds, as follows:

  • UK Research Councils – research partly or wholly funded by UK Research Councils. Research funded by the British Academy, the Royal Society and the Royal Society of Edinburgh should also be recorded here.
  • UK Government bodies – research partly or wholly funded by UK Government Departments, including Local Authorities, Health Authorities, the NHS and British Council.
  • UK Charities – research partly or wholly funded by UK-based charities
  • UK Industry – research partly or wholly funded by UK-based industries.
  • UK Other – research partly or wholly funded by any other UK-based organisation.
  • EU government bodies –  research partly or wholly funded by any government body operating in the EU, including the European Commission, ERC, ESF and any government of an EU member state (excluding UK government bodies), including Erasmus+ for research activities.
  • EU Charities – research partly or wholly funded by EU-based charities
  • EU Industry – research partly or wholly funded by EU-based industries.
  • EU Other – research partly or wholly funded by any other EU-based organisation.
  • Non-EU government bodies –  research partly or wholly funded by any government body operating overseas that is also not based in the EU.
  • Non-EU Charities – research partly or wholly funded by charities based overseas that are also not based in the EU.
  • Non-EU Industry – research partly or wholly funded by industries based overseas that are also not based in the EU.
  • Non-EU Other – research partly or wholly funded by any other non-EU and overseas organization not already listed above.
  • College funded research  - research partly or wholly funded by a Cambridge College.
  • No specific external sponsor and University – research that is wholly funded by the University.  Includes work on research projects that have no external sponsor commissioning the work, but have specific research outputs. If there are no specific research outputs then this work should be recorded under Support for Research.

For a multinational organisation allocate time to the location of the office making the award e.g. a multinational with a US subsidiary making the award should be allocated to a Non-EU category.

For reporting weeks from 4th August 2025

Time spent on direct Research activities needs to be split according to the type of sponsor funding the work or research project, as follows:

  • University (no specific external sponsor) – research that is wholly funded by the University.  Includes work on research projects that have no external sponsor commissioning the work, but have specific research outputs. If there are no specific research outputs then this work should be recorded under Support for Research.
  • UK Research Councils – research partly or wholly funded by UK Research Councils. Research funded by the British Academy, the Royal Society and the Royal Society of Edinburgh should also be recorded here.
  • UK Government bodies – research partly or wholly funded by UK Government Departments, including Local Authorities, Health Authorities, the NHS and British Council.
  • EU government bodies – research partly or wholly funded by any government body operating in the EU, including the European Commission, ERC, ESF and any government of an EU member state (excluding UK government bodies), including Erasmus+ for research activities.
  • UK Charities – research partly or wholly funded by UK-based charities
  • Other – research partly or wholly funded by all other organisations not listed elsewhere, including non-UK Charities, Industry, Overseas funders, College paid research)

Postgraduate Research Student Supervision

All time spent on training and supervising postgraduate research students (e.g. PhD, MSc, MLitt, regardless of their year of study; a full list of courses that are classified as Research is provided below) needs to be recorded separately under this category. Excluding this time from other research activities will help improve transparency in this area, which historically has been unclear in both funding and cost terms.

This category includes training in research methodology, review and preparation of theses, and external examining. Includes support and administration work for PGR students.

Please find below a full list of courses with their classification (PGR or PGT).  The courses that are classified as Taught, should not be included here but in the POSTGRADUATE DIRECT TEACHING section.

Clinical Services

All time spent on providing clinical services to the NHS, such as:

  • ‘named sessions’ specified in your contract
  • supervision and training of research students 

Support for research

Indirect Research activities, i.e. those without an identifiable income stream or do not lead to a specific research output, should be allocated to Support for Research; this includes the following activities:

  • Drafting and re-drafting proposals for new work and bids to external bodies; negotiating contracts.
  • Time spent designing and planning postgraduate research student programmes.
  • Speculative research, e.g. to investigate new ideas or to assess their potential before preparing a grant or contract bid to a sponsor, or a publication, if expected to lead to external research output.
  • Time spent attending conferences/workshops (other than the time spent presenting research papers which should be recorded as Direct Research).
  • Scholarly work and advancement of personal knowledge and skills in relation to research, e.g. acquiring new technical skills, attendance at conferences, block time in other institutions on research exchange schemes.
  • Refereeing research reports, papers and books, and editing journals (if context is research)
  • Supervision and training of recruited research staff (note: the training & supervision of postgraduate research students should be allocated separately under Postgraduate Research Student Training/Supervision).
  • Unpaid advisory work for Government departments, or committees in relation to research matters, including Peer Review work (note: paid Advisory work should be allocated to Other Activities)
  • Unpaid work for professional bodies or agencies in relation to research matters
  • Time spent on procurement of special research equipment, e.g. liaison with suppliers over specification, installation and commissioning of equipment.
  • Administrative work including departmental, faculty and University committee work where specifically relevant to Research (note: general management or committee work not specifically supporting Teaching, Research or Other should be allocated under General Support)
  • Public engagement activity relating to Research
  • Publicity for research facilities and opportunities.

 

Teaching activity categories

Direct Teaching

Direct Teaching activities should be split according to the type of student taught, i.e. Undergraduates or Taught Postgraduates (PGT).  Note: the supervision and training of research based postgraduates should be recorded separately under Postgraduate Research Student Supervision, regardless of their year of study (including MPhil which include a thesis & all Certificates of Postgraduate Study).

All credit and non-credit bearing teaching courses can be recorded here, including:

  • University Partner Institution Exchange (UPIE), Turing, Tempus and ESF teaching activities (note: if ESF & TCS programmes are research related, please allocate to Research)
  • Teacher training
  • Full cost short courses
  • Teaching services delivered externally, including:
    • teaching on-site for a company
    • courses held overseas
    • teaching students of other Universities
    • any other "commercial teaching" for external organisations
    • veterinary school sessions for private fee-paying clients whose primary purpose is teaching (note: if primary purpose is treatment, please allocate under Consultancy/Other Services Rendered)
  • All taught postgraduate courses, e.g. LLM, MBA, Diplomas, PGCE, and some Master’s and MPhil. Check table below for classification between ‘taught’ and ‘research’.

Please find below a full list of courses with their classification (PGR or PGT).  The courses that are classified as Research (PGR), should not be included here but in the POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH STUDENT SUPERVISION section.

Time spent on Direct Teaching needs to be split between Direct Contact and Preparation/ Assessment as follows:

Direct contact

  • Time spent in direct (face-to-face) contact with undergraduates or taught postgraduates

    • Holding/delivering lectures, seminars, workshops and tutorials
    • Supervising laboratory classes, projects, workshops or fieldwork.

    Time spent with students on educational matters, including mentoring and visiting students on external placements.

    Providing formal courses to other Departments or Universities, where these are part of the Department's normal teaching programme

Preparation/assessment

  • Time spent preparing, writing and assessing course material
    • Preparing materials for lectures, seminars, workshops, tutorials and laboratory classes or projects
    • Preparing materials for agreed new courses, including course guides (note: if the course is not yet agreed, please include as Support for teaching)
    • Editing and updating current course materials
    • Organising fieldwork and external placements for students
    • Preparing and marking examination papers - includes resits and external examining
    • Oral examinations and vivas
    • Reading and assessing student projects, essays and dissertations
    • Outreach where teaching is the underlying activity

Clinical Services

All time spent on providing clinical services to the NHS, such as:

  • ‘named sessions’ specified in your contract
  • ward rounds, when students are present
  • undergraduate and postgraduate medical education, e.g. training junior doctors, pre-clinical and clinical teaching

Support For Teaching

Indirect Teaching activities, should be allocated under this category; this includes the following activities:

  • Timetabling
  • Examination boards
  • Admissions work (including admissions outreach relating to widening participation)
  • Interviewing prospective students and inductions
  • Selection process for student scholarships/bursaries
  • Preparing course prospectuses
  • Schools liaison
  • Pastoral support (outside timetabled tutorials) and counselling
  • Faculty and departmental committee work related to teaching (inc. Faculty Board, Degree Board)
  • Initial course development where future of course is uncertain (note: preparing materials for agreed new courses or updating/editing existing course material is Direct Teaching).
  • Writing text books and publications intended primarily for teaching purposes,
  • Academic exchanges involving block time in other institutions, e.g. to develop teaching materials or skills, potential collaboration on syllabus content or student exchanges.
  • Advancement of personal knowledge and skills related to teaching, e.g. through training courses, professional development courses, discussions on teaching feedback. (Where the activity benefits Research or Other activity, in addition to teaching, please try to apportion the time between these activities. If not specifically relevant to Teaching or Research, please include under Continuing Professional Development)
  • Public engagement activities related to Teaching
  • Publicity for teaching facilities and opportunities

 

Other activity categories

Any activities which are neither Teaching nor Research, but which are carried out in University time and have an identifiable income stream, should be included here under either Consultancy/Other Services Rendered or Clinical Services as follows:

Service To Society And Public Engagements

This section covers time spent on service to society and public engagements as follows:

  • Serving on government advisory committees
  • Submission to Parliamentary inquiries
  • Media presentations (TV, radio, press, online)
  • Social media engagement on research
  • Public engagement (e.g. science fairs) except where related to teaching (recorded as Support for Teaching) or related to research (recorded as Support for Research).

Continuing Professional Development/Scholarly Activity

This section includes all general scholarly work undertaken to support the maintenance and advancement of own personal knowledge and skills when not  specifically related to Teaching, Research and Other Activities.

The following activities can be included in this category:

  • Reading literature, attending professional conferences (not specifically linked to Teaching or Research), maintaining professional or clinical skills, and acquiring new skills.
  • Includes continuing professional development courses and internal training courses.

Note: if the activities are purely related to supporting either Teaching or Research, they should be appropriately allocated to the relevant Teaching or Research ‘Support’ category, e.g. a block of time spent in another institution on a research exchange scheme should go to Support for Research.

Consultancy/Other Services Rendered

  • Consultancy carried out within university working hours, in agreement with the university but not contracted to the university, e.g. maintenance and development of clinical or professional skills (note: private consultancy, carried out in private time, should not be included here or anywhere; also clinical services provided under knock-for-knock arrangements should not be recorded here, but under Clinical Services).
  • Paid advisory work for government departments or committees, professional bodies or agencies, including Research Council committees. (note: unpaid advisory work should be allocated to Support for Teaching, Research or Other as appropriate)
  • Paid professional work, e.g. journal editing
  • Feasibility studies
  • Work undertaken in University time and paid for by non-academic departments or units, e.g. residences or catering.
  • Provision of services to industry through contracts between the University and a company for the use of University expertise and/or facilities (work that is not Teaching or Research).
  • Paid Technology Transfer work if remunerated through the university, e.g. directorships of start-up companies and/or consultancy contracts for them. (note: If such work is unpaid, it should be included under Support for Other Activities).
  • Includes routine testing and non research clinical trials, i.e. activities not covered under the  Frascati manual 2015 definition of research. Includes Phase III clinical trials (note: Phase I & II trials count as Research)
  • Veterinary school sessions for private fee-paying clients where the primary purpose is treatment (note: if the primary purpose is teaching, it should be allocated as Direct Teaching)

Clinical Services

All time spent on providing clinical services to the NHS, such as:

  • 'knock for knock' arrangements
  • ‘named sessions’ specified in your contract
  • ward rounds, whether students are present or not
  • postgraduate medical education, e.g. training junior doctors, but excluding the supervision and training of research students which should be allocated under Postgraduate Research Students Training/Supervision
  • NHS administration

General Administration

This section covers time spent on support activities that cannot be attributed to Support for Teaching, Support for Research or Support for Other activities. These include general Management & Administration as follows:

  • General internal management and administration (not specifically concerned with teaching or research) e.g. safety officer, work on departmental reviews etc.
  • Membership or attendance at committees not specifically concerned with teaching or research
  • Staff management, appraisal, etc.
  • Publicity, where representing in general the University, Faculty or Department (excluding time that can be recorded as Service to Society and Public Engagements)
  • Careers advice
  • Information returns
  • Government advisory work which is not attributable to Teaching, Research, or Other activity
  • Contributions to higher education sector, e.g. attendance on national committees, QAA visits and RAE panels.

Support To Other Activities

Activities which have no identifiable income stream and are undertaken in support of Other Activities should be included here, including:

  • Drafting and re-drafting bids/proposals and negotiating contracts for Other Activities, e.g. consultancy and other services rendered activities (not research contracts – this should be attributed to Support for Research)
  • Unpaid Technology Transfer work that is not private, nor remunerated through the institution, e.g. supporting patent applications, licence negotiations, formation of start up companies.
  • Any activity listed under Consultancy/Other Services Rendered (see above) which is unpaid and which cannot be attributed to Support for Teaching or Support for Research