Important Points of Research Funds Spending

How to Spend Research Funds?

In light of the various regulations and rules at Ritsumeikan University, we are carrying out appropriate management and spending of research funds. Research Office is in charge of the Research Funds Management Office, so please go through the Research Office for various procedures.

For further instructions, please refer to Research Fund Spending Guidebook.

Important Points

Please read the following instructions carefully:

Purpose	Points of attention	Reference
	Rules are decided for each stage in the purchase of goods, namely, “Ordering”, “Delivery Confirmation/Acceptance Inspection”, “Payment”, and “Management”. Please understand the overall picture and flow and take the necessary procedures.	Chapter 3
Travel Expenses Transportation expenses, accommodation fees and daily allowances for the Investigator and research collaborators engaged in overseas or domestic travel to collect materials, conduct surveys, attend meetings, present research achievements, and other purposes.	-Travel expenses are calculated according to the most economical and rational travel path and means according to the route, based on the "Rules for the Provision of Travel Expenses for The Ritsumeikan Trust", and the traveler is paid accordingly. -Business travelers covered and paid travel expenses through the "Rules for the Provision of Travel Expenses for The Ritsumeikan Trust" include not only full-time faculty members and administrative staff who work at a campus but also part-time lecturers and other faculty members and administrative staff who hold two posts, persons affiliated with other research institutions, and others who do not have an employment relationship with the University (including students). -Reduced payments of travel expenses can be provided to business travelers if they apply themselves (or at the discretion of a Research Representative or other faculty member and administrative staff having authority to disburse corresponding research funds). Furthermore, if an organization other than the University will be paying all or a portion of the travel expenses of a given business trip, our University will provide travel expenses, subtracting the said portion (duplicate payments prohibited). If this applies, be sure to inform the affiliated Research Office. -For public research funds that established different standards for the payment of transportation expenses, daily allowances, accommodation expenses, and the like in the rules of a granting organization, those standards shall apply for the payment of travel expenses.	Chapter 4
Personnel Costs and Remunerations Remunerations, wages and salaries payable to persons, researchers belonging to an overseas research institution) participating in research for document creation/management, experiments, translation, proof-reading, provision of specialized knowledge, distribution and collection of questionnaires or the collection of research materials; and money payable to temporary workers, etc.	-Consideration for labor is classified as either "salary" or compensation (with/without tax withholding)", depending on whether the labor is based on an employment relationship. If the labor is based on an employment relationship, it is "salary", and if there is no employment relationship and the labor is subcontractor, it is "compensation (with/without tax withholding)". Payment "if not corresponding to employment" (such as receiving payment for piecework or deliverables, compensation for providing specialized knowledge, or reward for participation in experiments or other research) is made in the form of compensation and honorarium/remuneration. -The following personnel expenses and honorarium/remuneration payments are prohibited: • A researcher (representative or project member) provides honorarium/remuneration to himself/herself. • The representative provides honorarium/remuneration to a project member of the corresponding research project, or a project member who received a share of the grant-in-aid provides the honorarium/remuneration to the representative or another partner of the same project. • Honorarium/remuneration is paid to a person who is in a relationship of employment with the University under MEXT-Supported Program for the Strategic Research Foundation at Private Universities.	Chapter 5
Others Costs that are intended for implementing the research. Examples: Other costs that may be incurred through printing, creating reproductions, developing and printing photos, communication (such as stamps and telephone bills), transportation, leases for research venues (only if none of the affiliated institution's facilities are adequate for conducting the funded project), meetings (e.g., rental of the venue and meals (excluding alcoholic beverages)), equipment rental and leasing (e.g., computers, automobiles, experimental equipment), equipment repairs, transportation other than travel expenses, presentation of the research achievements (e.g., contributions to academic journals, website creation, preparation of pamphlets to publicize the research achievements, and PR activities disseminating research achievements to the general public), and disposal of experiment wastes, etc.	-The followings are examples clearly indicated in the rules for the spending of direct expenses for KAKENHI, and do not guarantee that spending is permitted with all research funds. Whether spending is permitted varies with each individual research fund, so be sure to check in advance with the affiliated Research Office. -For other types of expenses, rules identical to those in "Chapter 3 Goods" must be applied for ordering, delivery /acceptance inspection, and payment.	Chapter 6

Spending of "Special Daycare Expenses" Involved in Participation in an Academic Conference, Workshop, etc. Using Research Funds

As part of our efforts to achieve gender equality and a work-life-balance, we are advancing flexible operation, such as approving the spending, application, and reception of research funds during pre-birth / post-birth maternity leave, childcare leave, and care-giving leave under certain conditions. The following organizes the handling of spending of "special daycare expenses" involved in participation in an academic conference, workshop, etc., using research funds, primarily assuming situations where it is difficult to achieve both childcare and research activities (faculty members / researchers who are raising pre-schoolers or children in early elementary school and whose spouse is normally working a full-time job, or faculty members / researchers who handle childcare everyday as a single-parent).

For further details, please refer to Research Fund Spending Guidebook.

[Procedures]
If researchers would like to spend their research funds from their research budget, please fill out a form called “Statement of Reasons for Spending /Description” and submit it to the Research Office. The form will be provided by the Research Office.
For further details, please refer to Research Fund Spending Guidebook.

Indirect Expenses under Competitive Public Funding Program (KANSETSU KEIHI)

All indirect expenses under the competitive public funding program are to be transferred to the research institution where they belong. Ritsumeikan University manages the indirect expenses in accordance with the following rules:

Indirect Expenses (KANSETSU KEIHI)	Indirect expenses	The Research Environment Enhancement Funds (KENKYU KANKYO SEIBIHI) = A Half (1/2) of Indirect Expenses	[The fund is allocated to Researchers] To improve the R&D environment of researchers who acquired competitive research funding.
Indirect Expenses (KANSETSU KEIHI)	Research Support and Maintenance Expenses for Research Environment (KENKYU SHIEN, KENKYUKIBANSEIBIHI) = A Half (1/2) of Indirect Expenses	[The fund is allocated to Research Institution/The University] To improve the research support functions of the overall research institution.

Important Points of Research Environment Enhancement Funds

Researchers must submit a form called “Application to Use Research Environment Enhancement Funds” to use Indirect Expenses and can only spend the amount that has been approved by the Research Office.
This fund cannot be used for items that require execution by direct expenses.

For further details, please refer to Research Fund Spending Guidebook.