UNIVERSITY OF GHANA OFFICE OF RESEARCH, INNOVATION AND DEVELOPMENT (ORID) UNDERSTANDING THE UG RESEARCH GRANTS ONLINE APPLICATION SYSTEM (User Guide) October 2015
1. ABOUT THE ONLINE APPLICATION SYSTEM The UGRF online application system was introduced in the 2013 2014 academic year to help address challenges related to submission of research proposals by email and in hard copy. The introduction of the online system is to make the application process much easier and to reduce the processing time for applications. 2. ACCESSING THE ONLINE APPLICATION SYSTEM The application system is accessible via a web link which is provided at the time the call for proposals in announced. The online application system is available at: http://197.255.124.90/orid/ugrfapplications/. The application system accepts only UG email addresses (including email addresses ending in noguchi.ug.edu.gh and chs.ug.edu.gh). The online application works best with the following browsers: Mozilla Fire Fox; Google Chrome and Opera. 3. STARTING AN APPLICATION To start an application, login at the above web address and register a valid UG email address is required for the registration. To begin an application, an applicant will log in with their UG email address and select the relevant call number. After logging in successfully, you will be directed to the INSTRUCTIONS PAGE as shown below. LOGIN PAGE INSTRUCTIONS PAGE At the instructions page, it is recommended that the documents listed below are downloaded. These documents need to be completed offline and shall be required at various stages during the application. These are the: Budget Workbook Work/ Implementation Plan Signature Page Ethical Clearance Assurance Form 2 User Guide for the UGRF Online Application System (Version 2)
a) Budget Workbook : this document is an Excel spreadsheet and contains 5 worksheets as shown at the bottom of the screen shot below (arrowed): The first 3 sheets provide guidance information for preparing the budget. Sheets 4 and 5 comprising the Detailed Budget and the Equipment Profile are the main templates for the budget. Both sheets need to be completed. b) Work/Implementation Plan Template: 3 User Guide for the UGRF Online Application System (Version 2)
c) Signature Page d) Ethical Clearance Assurance Form 4 User Guide for the UGRF Online Application System (Version 2)
4. THINGS TO NOTE DURING AN APPLICATION (Frequently Asked Questions) i) WHAT DOES THE SAVE AND CONTINUE TAB DO? At the bottom of each page of the application system, applicants have the option to Save & Continue. This allows an applicant to move to the next step of the application. ii) CAN I COMPLETE MY APPLICATION LATER? The Continue Later option allows an applicant to continue the application later. This will allow for the information provided to be saved if all the required fields are completed. Also note that if you click the Continue Later button without completing all the required fields, the information on that page will not be saved. It is therefore advisable not to enter data into any field if you are not going to complete the step. iii) HOW DO I KNOW THAT I HAVE NOT EXCEEDED THE MAXIMUM PAGE LIMIT? A character guide is provided on the bottom left corner of each application field. This enables an applicant to see the number of characters available for that particular section. Please use the character guide below each field (please refer to screenshot for STEP 2 on page 8 of this document) for guidance. Note that, if the maximum number of characters is exceeded, there will be a notification from the system for the necessary changes to be made. If an applicant decided to proceed to save the step and continue despite the notification, the data in the affected field will be truncated. iv) CAN I INSERT MATHEMATICAL/ SCIENTIFIC SYMBOLS/FUNCTIONS/EQUATIONS? Mathematical/ scientific symbols or equations and images cannot be inserted directly into the fields in your application. Instead, all these should be typed/inserted into a separate word document and then uploaded as an attachment at the UPLOAD OTHER DOCUMENTS field in STEP EIGHT. The formulae/images can now be referenced in their right positions in the particular field where they are supposed to be. For instance, when writing your work plan, if you need to insert say two images, you insert those images into a separate word document and name them say image 1/ fig. 1 and image 2/ fig. 2. Then in the work plan field you type image 1/ fig.1 and image 2/ fig. 2 at the locations where the images are supposed to be. v) IS THERE A FORMAT FOR NAMING FILES TO BE UPLOADED? To avoid duplication of files in the database, it is advised that all documents being uploaded as part of an application be appended with the full name of the Principal Investigator as in the examples shown below. e.g. UGRF Budget Template_Fidelia Wisdom; UGRF Signature Page_Yaw Konadu etc. vi) CAN I RESTORE DATA I HAVE ALREADY TYPED INTO A PARTICULAR FIELD? In case of a page reload during the application process, the restore icon/button (icon in the green rectangle shown in the diagram below) can be used to restore data typed into a particular field. vii) DO I NEED TO UPLOAD PREVIOUS DOCUMENTS WHEN I RETURN TO CONTINUE MY APPLICATION? NO. Any documents previously uploaded at the start of an application have already been stored in the system. These are listed under the Documents Uploaded section of any page with an upload (i.e. steps 6 8) when you return to continue your application. 5 User Guide for the UGRF Online Application System (Version 2)
WHAT TO EXPECT DURING THE APPLICATION: The UGRF online application system comprises 8 steps as follows: STEP 1: Application Information STEP 2: Project summary & Problem Statement STEP 3: STEP 4: Detailed project description (comprising goals, objectives, specific activities, methodology, expected outputs, work plan/implementation plan, administrative/ management arrangements, monitoring & evaluation). Details of other grants held STEP 5: Budget Statement (summary budget table) and justification of key budget lines STEP 6: Summary of PI s experience STEP 7: Ethical Clearance & Research Uptake STEP 8: Upload of required documents PLEASE SEE PAGES 20 21 OF THIS DOCUMENT FOR THE DETAILED PROPOSAL FORMAT 6 User Guide for the UGRF Online Application System (Version 2)
a) STEP 1: APPLICATION INFORMATION Applicants are required to select the grant type, their College, School and Department as well as any collaborating units on the application. At this stage, the Principal Investigator needs to enter their name and the project title as it should appear on all documents related to the application. Applicants are to take note that if they opt to continue their application later, they will have to reselect the Grant type, College and School/Department/Centre. The next step of the application can then be accessed by clicking on the Save and continue tab if there are no changes to be made in the remaining fields. 7 User Guide for the UGRF Online Application System (Version 2)
b) STEP 2: PROJECT SUMMARY & PROBLEM STATEMENT Problem statement Character guide 16 characters 8 User Guide for the UGRF Online Application System (Version 2)
c) STEP 3: DETAILED PROJECT DESCRIPTION 9 User Guide for the UGRF Online Application System (Version 2)
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d) STEP 4: DETAILS OF OTHER GRANTS HELD 12 User Guide for the UGRF Online Application System (Version 2)
e) STEP 5: BUDGET SUMMARY AND JUSTIFICATION OF KEY BUDGET LINES 13 User Guide for the UGRF Online Application System (Version 2)
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f) STEP 6: SUMMARY OF PI S EXPERIENCE Please take note that there are uploads in this section of the application i.e., Abridged CV of not more than 3 pages and letters of support. Please take note that multiple letters of support must be combined into a single PDF file before upload. Applicants are to take note that at the last step of the application, they would be also required to upload the abridged CV s of other key members of the project team. 16 User Guide for the UGRF Online Application System (Version 2)
g) STEP 7: ETHICAL CLEARANCE AND RESEARCH UPTAKE This section includes a mandatory upload i.e., the completed Ethical Clearance Assurance Form. Principal Investigator s whose projects are selected to receive funding will be required to show proof of ethical clearance (by a specific deadline) in order for their awards to be confirmed. Information on UG s ethical committees is available online at http://www.orid.ug.edu.gh/ethics commitees. The section on Research Uptake must include a written plan which will show clearly how the findings from the research will benefit the community and/or impact development policy. 17 User Guide for the UGRF Online Application System (Version 2)
h) STEP 8: UPLOADS All the listed documents may be uploaded in this section. Upload of questionnaires and references are not mandatory however all the other uploads are mandatory and the system will not accept a submission if these fields are blank. TO AVOID DUPLICATION OF FILES, ALL UPLOADS MUST BE SUFFIXED WITH THE FULL NAME OF THE APPLICANT. 18 User Guide for the UGRF Online Application System (Version 2)
5. SUBMITTING THE APPLICATION The submit button which shows at Step 8 of 8 will submit the application and all the documents that have been uploaded. Applicants are encouraged to check that the correct files are uploaded to their application as changes to an application are not permitted after submission. Upon successful submission, the following screen will be displayed: The final application can be viewed and printed from this section. Applicants will also receive a tracking code at this stage to enable them to track the status of their application. The tracking code can also be sent by email to the address registered for the application. 19 User Guide for the UGRF Online Application System (Version 2)
6. PROPOSAL FORMAT STEP STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP 5 STEP 6 STEP 7 SECTION TITLE Application Information Project summary Problem Statement Detailed project description Details of other grants held Budget Statement Summary of PI s experience Ethical Clearance SUB SECTION TITLE REQUIREMENT MAXIMUM CHARACTER LIMIT UPLOAD REQUIRED AT THIS STEP? NAME OF DOCUMENT Not applicable Select grant type, College, School, Department, Collaborating units (where applicable), name of project Principal Investigator (PI) and project title Not applicable No Not applicable Not applicable Brief statement of the project including what it proposes to do, what 4,100 (1 page) No Not applicable it seeks to achieve and total funds needed State how important your project is and why it should be funded in 8,200 ( 2 pages) No relation to other works done or proposed in this area. Also show how it will contribute to the University of Ghana s mission, state opportunities for post graduate training as well as how the proposed project will contribute to development issues in Ghana. Goals 4,100 (1 page) No Not applicable The goals, objectives and specific activities that will be undertaken to Objectives 4,100 (1 page) No achieve the project objectives Specific activities 2,050 ( half page) No Methodology Brief description of methods including why a particular method is 12,300 (3 pages) No selected. Details of equipment/ resources needed related to the methodology to be used should also be provided. Expected output 2,050 ( half page) No Work/ 2,050 ( half page) No How will each activity of the project be delivered and what are the Implementation timelines? plan Administrative/ management arrangements Monitoring & Evaluation Not applicable Budget Summary Justification of budget lines Not applicable Not applicable Administrative and management arrangements to ensure the project will be successfully delivered How will activities be monitored to ensure compliance to the project described and evaluated to ensure that all project targets are met? This section helps demonstrate an applicant s track record in implementing research projects This total on each budget line should tally with the detailed budget. All budget lines should be in GHC Each budget line needs to be explained to show why it is important and critical to the successful implementation of the project. The rationale behind specific budget items should also be explained here. Maximum 3 page abridged CV of the Principal Investigator highlighting their experience and expertise in delivering the proposed project. CVs of key project staff should be uploaded as a single PDF file at step 8 of the application system Upload completed ethical clearance assurance form. Information on UG s ethics committees: http://www.orid.ug.edu.gh/ethics commitees 2,050 ( half page) No 2,050 ( half page) No Not applicable No Not applicable Not applicable No Not applicable 2,050 ( half page) for each field No Yes Maximum 3 page abridged CV of PI Not applicable Yes Ethical Clearance Assurance Form (template) 20 User Guide for the UGRF Online Application System (Version 2)
STEP 8 Research Uptake Upload of documents Not applicable Not applicable Provide a plan to show how the findings from the proposed project will be used to enhance development of the community or influence national policy. Research uptake includes all the activities that facilitate and contribute to the use of research evidence by policymakers, practitioners and other development actors. Ensure that correct documents are uploaded as applications (and attachments) cannot be amended after submission. The budget template provided must not be amended new formulas must not be introduced into the template. Work/implementation plan must be provided in the template provided. Signature page must be signed and stamped as required to make the application complete. Applications without the requisite signature page may not be considered No Not applicable Yes Mandatory Docs: Signature page Work/ Implementation plan Full Budget CV s of other key project staff Optional Docs: Questionnaire References 21 User Guide for the UGRF Online Application System (Version 2)