Travel - How to Claim Expenses or Seek Observing Support

 

Travel Expenses

Some information on how OPTICON funds are used to support travel:

Travel for Networking or JRA meetings

Travel budgets for networks and JRA meetings are held by the person resonsible for that activity (or by an organisation which they have nominated). These institutes will be using whatever rules they normally use for travel claims. Therefore you should contact the organiser of the meeting, before you spend any money, to establish what rules you should use and how to make a claim. Click on the links for more information. OPTICON makes no commitment to refund travel claims not pre-approved by the budget holder.

OPTICON FP7 (2013-2016) Travel Rules
Activity WP Leader / Contact Note
WP1 Jean-Luc Beuzit (CNRS)
WP2 Philippe Feautrier (CNRS)
WP3 Roger Haynes (AIP)
WP4 Eric Thiebaut (CNRS)
WP5 Lars Venema (ASTRON) UK ATC Rules apply
WP6 Filippo Zerbi (INAF)
WP7 John Davies (STFC) UK ATC Rules apply
WP8 Gerry Gilmore (UCAM) UK ATC Rules apply
WP9 Phil Rees (STFC) UK ATC Rules apply
WP10 E-ELT Science Case - Isobel Hook (INAF)/HTRA - Andy Shearer (NUIG)
WP11 Lukasz Wyrzykowski (UNIWARSAW)
WP12 John Davies (STFC)
WP13 Michel Dennefeld (CNRS) UK ATC Rules apply
WP14 Paulo Garcia (UPORTO)

 

Travel for Trans-National Access

With the advent of the OPTICON Common TAC, travel grants for OPTICON sponsored observing are now handled via the UK ATC using the new rules detailed below .

Rules for travel refunded by the UK ATC

Travel must be pre-approved. An estimate of the cost of the trips is required when requesting the travel. An e-mail request and e-mail confirmation is sufficient at this stage.

The options for refunding your travel costs are set out below. Please determine which option you will use prior to your trip and inform the Project Office.

1) If your organisation cannot process your travel claim and you pay all the bills yourself then, upon incurring the expense, you may claim from the Project Office and we will refund your actual expenses provided they are judged to be reasonable and economic. As a general rule, this excludes business class and fully flexible air tickets and very expensive hotels unless there is some special justification (e.g. no practical alternative, or the cheap option requires extra constraints such as inconvenient schedules or unnecessary overnight stays).

NB:Your costs must be set out clearly and be supported by receipts. We cannot pay per-diems under this scheme, just those costs set out on the receipts which you should send us with a completed 'Non-Employee Claim Form' which you can obtain from the Project Office by email. Also note there is a 3-month time limit for claiming and alcohol will not be reimbursed.

2) If your own organisation can process your travel claim, then make a claim to them in your usual way. The 'Non-Employee Claim Form' cannot be used to refund third parties. An invoice would need to be raised. In the event the claims are not fully supported by receipts but we agree to pay a claim to your institute then the amount must be fully agreed up front and a Purchase Order number obtained prior to the institute issuing an invoice.

(* See our Rules for Invoicing page)

In the event of perceived difficulties with these options or if you have any questions, contact John Davies, Project Scientist, or Saskia Brierley, in the Project Office.