Research Coordination and Support Office – Guide

Research Coordination and Support Office – Guide

This guide has been prepared to provide detailed information about the existing practice concerning the Office’s (RCSO) key areas of activity. All types of applications related to the activities listed under the ‘General Information’ tab must be submitted to the Office.

General Rules :

•  It is important to select the “Project Code” or “Thesis Code” options when submitting forms to reimburse expenses associated with Scientific Research Projects (SRP) and Co-Supervision (CS).
•  To obtain reimbursement of expenses associated with any travel undertaken as part of an SRP or a CS work, either with a scientific or a work-related focus, for which funding was requested, the applicant must submit a completed Duty Leave Request Form (F-07) or an Invited Speaker and Duty-Assigned Visit Request Form (F-03), and select the budget code FB-13-04 on the list provided.
•  Appointments made via F-01 (Travel Support Application Form for Scientific Meetings) and F-07 and visits approved via Form F-03, in cases where an advance of funds was received, must be closed within two weeks via F-17 (Travel/Designation Closure Form).
  • Proof of payment is submitted online via the system. Upon approval of the submitted form, original receipts attached to the approved form are submitted to the Directorate of Financial Affairs.
  • Even in the event that a staff assignment process results in failure due to various reasons, Form F-17 must be submitted and this must be stated in the “Explanation” column.
• Form F-04 (Leave of Absence Request Form) must be filled out and submitted to participate in scientific meetings, for which any funding request was not submitted to the Campus Fund. In such cases, the Research Coordination and Support Office must be informed of the participation. (A copy of the form, an abstract of the paper and meeting information can be submitted via e-mail).

Procedures for Scientific Research Projects (SRP) supported by the Campus Fund:

1. The Research Coordination and Support Office announces the application dates.
2. Project proposals, which are prepared in accordance with the format specified, must be submitted via an SRP Proposal Form.
3. Applications should be submitted both electronically and in hard copy.
4. Applicants will be informed of the outcome of their proposal in writing.
   
   a) If the project proposal is rejected, a revised version may be submitted within the following semester.
   b) If approved, a SRP Approval Form is submitted to the applicant along with a Letter of Notification. The approval process is completed when the Project Approval Form, signed by the applicant, is sent to the RCSO.
5. At the end of each calendar year, the Project Manager must submit a progress report providing details of the project work and all expenditure incurred before December 31 to the RCSO by the announced date (mid-January).
6. Allowance is suspended as of January 1, until the date when the Progress Report is approved. Purchasing and expense processing also ends when the fiscal year closes on December 31. Therefore, purchasing requests covering this period must be submitted before December.
7. Upon approval of the Progress Report, the leftover allowance, which belongs to the previous fiscal year, is transferred to the year concerned. Project Managers are notified of the outcome of the evaluation. Suspension ends and allowance is made available.
8. All work and expenditure involved in the execution of the entire project should be reported and sent to the RCSO within a month from the end of the project period. All existing outputs must be attached to this report and others must be submitted when they are available.The Project Manager will be notified of the outcome of the evaluation process in writing.The notification should include the details regarding the further use of equipment purchased under the project. If needed, the project manager must include a request to have further use for the equipment concerned, in the report. If the request is approved, the project manager may retain the equipment for other uses in the post-project period. If the request is rejected, or if any such request is not made, the equipment must be handed back to the Directorate of Procurement and Movable Property.
9. All type of changes to the SRPs (including expenditure items, supplementary budget, transfers, additional time, title/content/team, etc.) are subject to opinion of the Scientific Research Commission and approval by the Office of Campus President. Applications should be made directly to the RCSO. The related forms are available under the ‘RCSO-Forms’ tab.

Procedures for Scientific Research Projects Funded by Outside Bodies:

METU NCC academic staff can undertake projects funded by the TÜBİTAK or the industry.

A. TÜBİTAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) Projects:

A protocol titled “Cooperation Concerning the Support Provided by the Republic of Turkey to Scentific and Technological R&D Projects Initiated by the TRNC Universities” was signed in 2009. As of 2010, researchers affiliated to the TRNC universities are entitled to apply for the “Scientific and Technological R&D Projects Support Program-1001”, in accordance with this cooperation protocol.

1. Applications are accepted twice a year, in March and September.
2.  Application dates are announced at the Campus when declared by the TÜBİTAK.
3.  Research Coordination and Support Office may provide assistance in the project application review process. Further help (e.g. when preparing the required documents or obtaining legal opinion on the contracts),  can be provided by the Project Support Office at METU Ankara Campus.
4.  Applications are sent to the RCSO to get approval by the Office of Campus President. Upon approval, the project manager must submit the application to the TÜBİTAK.
5.  Following declaration of the results by the TÜBİTAK, the Turkish Aid Commission is informed of the evaluation of the projects initiated by the TRNC universities. The applicants, therefore, should contact the Commission to keep track of the result if the notification is delayed.
6.  Once a project has been approved, the project manager, the authority of the institution concerned (Campus President) and the Chair of the Aid Commission are authorized to sign a contract.
7.  For each project that has been approved, an account is opened at the bank located on the Campus. Allowances are deposited into these accounts as they are approved, and all expenses are paid from these accounts.
8.  The project cost management, the reporting and all other activities are conducted in line with the cooperation protocol signed between the TRNC and Turkey, the project contract, the TÜBİTAK regulations concerned, and in line with the Campus practice.
   To submit requests related to the TÜBİTAK-funded projects, relevant forms, which are available under the ‘External-Forms’ tab, should be completed and sent to the RCSO.

B. Procedures for Industry Funded Scientific Research and Development Projects:

The authority of the industry institution concerned and the Campus President, or the researcher, are authorized to sign industry-funded project contracts. In cases where off-campus researchers are involved in the project, an additional service contract is signed by the researcher and the Campus President. Industry-funded projects are also Circulating Capital Enterprise projects. Therefore, these projects are subject to both established procedures of the enterprise involved and the project contract.

Procedures for Scientific Meeting Participation Support:

1. The Campus Administrative Board reserve the right to establish funding limits and the list announced is updated by the RCSO when these limits are changed.
   The announced amounts of fundings will only be available if the grantee’s contract covers Fall and Spring semesters. Those with a one-semester contract (excluding summer semester) are eligible to receive the half of the amount that was announced.
2. The use of support is tracked in the periods between July 1 and June 30 (contract year).
3. Staff members wishing to make a request for this fund should submit a completed Form F01, accompanied by the following documents:
   • Acceptance Letter
   • Abstract of the paper
   • A copy of the conference program
   • Conference website URL
4. Affiliation of the staff member should be indicated as “Middle East Technical University Northern Cyprus Campus” in all related documents (conference program, proceedings book, web page of conference, etc).
5. Upon returning from the conference, the applicant must send the cover page of the proceedings book and the pages that include the funded paper to the RCSO.
6. Upon their return from an official travel/visit supported by the Research Fund, travelers must submit all documentation proving their expenditure, as specified under the “GENERAL RULES” section. Cash advances, if received, must be repaid to the University.

Procedures for Publication Award:

1. The University Administrative Board reserve the right to specify the amounts of publication award funds. The announced amounts/lists of publishing companies and journals are updated by the RCSO when they are changed.
2. The applicant must submit a completed Publication Award Application Form (F05/F06), relevant for his/her publication (journal article/ book/chapter in a book) which is in accordance with the METU Publication Award Scheme. The application form must be accompanied by the published material.
   Name of the publication or publishing company must appear on the list, valid on the date of application.

Procedures for Co-Supervision:

1. The staff member, appointed as a co-supervisor by the Institute where the thesis work is carried out, submits a completed Co-Supervision Application and Approval Form, accompanied by the appointment document, to the RCSO.
2. The support fund will be made available upon completion of all required procedures, after it is approved by the Office of Campus President. A specific budget is not allocated for this category of support, however, expenses that will be reimbursed to the applicant are specified in the directive concerned.
3. The application must be made by the Co-Supervisor in order for expense payments to be made.
4. Upon their return from an official travel supported by the Fund, travelers must submit all documentation proving their expenditure, as specified under the “GENERAL RULES” section. In addition, the Co-Supervisor will be required to supply a brief report about the work carried out.
5. The support fund will terminate when the thesis work or supervision ends.

Procedures for Research Grants awarded to students holding a Graduate Assistant Scholarship:

Throughout their scholarship period, students holding a Graduate Assistant Scholarship are entitled to have a research grant of 500 TL for each of the Fall and Spring semesters, as well as a yearly leave of absence of 15 working days and a research leave of 20 working days per academic year.

1. To be eligible for a research grant support, the applicant must submit the following documents:
   
   a) A completed Teaching Assistant Leave of Absence Form, accompanied by related documents, stating the reason for his/her request
   b) A completed F01 form (printed) if the applicant is to participate in a scientific meeting. This form will be accompanied by related documents, if requested.
2. The form is then forwarded to the RCSO for budget-related and research leave-related procedures, after being approved by the Program Coordinator and the Chair of the Academic Board concerned.
3. If the research grant has been used by the applicant, a Travel Expense Claim Form (F02 – printed), accompanied by the expense documents, must be submitted to the RCSO upon return from the travel.

Procedures for other research activities (e.g. surveys, etc) :

1. The researcher-instructor submits a completed Application Form to Conduct Research at METU NCC to the RCSO and informs the Chair of Academic Board concerned of his/her submission.
2. The applicant is notified of the outcome upon approval of the form by the Office of Campus President.
3. If the research work, for which the application is submitted, necessitates approval of the Ethics Committee, the applicant must apply to the Ethics Committee. The RCSO must be informed of the approval of the Committee.
4. When the research is fully completed, all findings must be submitted electronically to the RCSO.