FAQs: Current students

Please see the below FAQs which are specific to current QUADRAT DTP students. If you cannot find the answer to your question please email the DTP Coordinator at quadrat@abdn.ac.uk

Getting Started

If you are setting up a tenancy agreement for a new flat or similar, and they need confirmation of your stipend, then you can supply your funding letter as evidence of your stipend, ask the DTP Coordinator to confirm this, or contact the Infohub (University of Aberdeen) for formal evidence of your admission. Please email quadrat@abdn.ac.uk if you have any questions.

Finance and RTSG

This is your Research Training and Support Grant provided in direct support of your research activities during your PhD e.g. day-to-day running of your research project, lab consumables, non-QUADRAT conference attendance, project fieldwork expenses etc. The RTSG should not be used for the cost of supervisor travel or costs. Supervisors should find alternative sources of funding.

Your RTSG can be used to fund anything directly related to YOUR PhD project / research – that can be, but is not limited to: lab equipment / consumables, fieldwork expenses (including equipment, accommodation, travel, car rental, mileage, travel tickets, permits, subsistence), conference attendance (including travel, accommodation, registration, subsistence), shipping / storing samples, specialist training, publication/open access costs and fees, specialist software etc.

Training courses specific to your PhD project – the centralised QUADRAT training framework only covers core areas relevant to all/most of the cohort, anything more specific should be covered by your RTSG.

The RTSG should not be used to cover supervisor travel or costs unless they are assisting you in the field/lab. Typically supervisors should find alternative sources of funding.

RTSG should not be shared with any other student, this fund is specific to you and your research project under the UKRI terms and conditions of the grant award. Misuse of any grant funds could jeopardise the future of the DTP and could result in the withdrawal of funds.

These are approved by your supervisor (applicable at both Aberdeen and Queen’s). 

You may buy small pieces of kit or equipment that are not available, or your institute cannot provide if the goods or service are required in direct support of your project. This must be discussed with your supervisor, prior to purchase. Please note that all purchases must adhere to your institutions finance purchasing policy. All goods or services purchased remain the property of your institute and should remain at your institute at the end of your PhD.

No, your RTSG can only be used in direct support of your research activities during your PhD.

If the work undertaken by the field assistant is directly supporting your field work for your research project, costs may be charged to your RTSG. In exceptional circumstances, when two or more people are required for your field work e.g. health and safety, and your supervisor attends, costs of travel and subsistence may be charged to your RTSG. Your RTSG cannot be used for any work or associated costs relating to any activity that does not directly support your project.

Yes, the DTP will give you a guide budget for reasonable travel costs. Travel for compulsory training should be paid from your RTSG and will then be reimbursed (a maximum of the capped amount) to your RTSG. This is to avoid you being out of pocket while claiming expenses back. You will need to keep all original receipts in order to claim this back from the DTP.

At the beginning of your studentship you will be provided with an RTSG budget code. You can make purchases directly against this by buying through the institutional finance system. Any purchase you make against your RTSG budget code will automatically go to your supervisor for approval. The request will be checked against your project proposals, the balance of your RTSG funds, NERC rules and regulations, etc, before the purchase is approved. You will then receive confirmation of the order and a receipt. A record of all spend will be available on the finance system.

The internship time has been built in to your 42 month studentship so you should not suspend your studies, and you will continue to receive your stipend throughout your internship.

Exception: you cannot receive a salary and stipend at the same time, therefore if you accept a funded internship, you will have to suspend your studies for the duration of the internship, and your stipend will be paused.

These visits should be paid out of your RTSG budget.

COVID-19

Please notify your supervisor, your school administrator and me (quadrat@abdn.ac.uk)

QUB self-reporting portal: https://www.qub.ac.uk/ (see yellow banner)

Aberdeen self-reporting portal: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/about/coronavirus/ (scroll down ¾ of the page)

We are trying to keep accurate records of the reasons for granting extension, whether that is for direct Covid-19 mitigation (such as an inability to access labs or complete fieldwork, delay in sample collection/arrival, inability to work with international colleagues etc) or for illness (even if this is a consequence of Covid-19 it should still be processed as sick leave).

There are different processes in place for logging and recording sick leave and for processing Covid-19 extensions, but the outcome for you as a student is exactly the same regardless of which route you may take. Approved extension/sick leave requests will be ‘added on’ to the end of your studentship as a funded extension, and your end date will be recalculated. We are separating the two for record keeping purposes and for reporting to NERC.