RCUK Research Outcomes System (ROS)
The data collection period for the Research Outcomes System (ROS) has now finished. However, the system is open all year round so outcomes can be added at any time.
The Research Outcomes System (ROS) is a web-based system for submitting research outcomes for grants awarded by AHRC, BBSRC, ESRC, EPSRC, NERC and NC3Rs. ROS should be used by these Research Council grant holders to input outcomes information about their research. Information reported to ROS will be used to demonstrate the impact of research funding to Government, and may be made publicly available through Gateway to Research.
Outcomes can be submitted at any time during the year, although there is an annual collection period (ending in April) which is timed to tie in with RCUK's reporting requirements to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
Ongoing grants
Outcomes should be submitted for all grants that are currently in ROS, including ongoing grants. The grant holder should use ROS to submit any outcomes which have arisen to date from the grant, e.g. publications. Please submit a 'nil report' for grants where there are as yet no outcomes to report. To do this log in to the system, navigate to the grant and click on the title, click 'New outcome +' at the top of the screen and then complete the second box down entitled 'No outcomes to submit'.
The grant has finished and all outcomes have previously been listed
If no new outcomes have arisen since the grant holder added all outcomes then a 'nil report' should be completed. The grant holder must update ROS annually with new outcomes or a nil report for 5 years after the grant end date. To submit a nil report log in to the system, navigate to the grant and click on the title, click 'New outcome +' at the top of the screen and then complete the second box down entitled 'No outcomes to submit' stating 'No new outcomes have arisen'.
What information needs to be added?
RCUK are encouraging grant holders to provide as much information as possible, but for this collection exercise are particularly interested in gathering data in the five fields on the 'Key Findings' page for grants and also in the narrative summaries of any examples of 'Impact'.
Final report data
AHRC and EPSRC have transferred data from Final Reports into ROS on behalf of grant holders - if this applies to your grant(s) please do check the new record(s) for accuracy as well as provide any updates covering the period since your Final Report was submitted. If this does not apply to your grant(s) RCUK do not require information already submitted via a Final Report to be re-entered into ROS, but it would be very helpful if you are able to do this.
PIs on maternity leave
If a grant holder is on maternity leave, the departmental administrator should notify Nicola Donkin in R&IS (n.donkin@sheffield.ac.uk), who will complete the ‘no outcomes to submit’ box on their behalf.
PI has left the University
The PI is ultimately responsible for reporting outcomes on their grant(s) in ROS, and if they have left the institution they should still do this. Please notify Nicola Donkin in R&IS (n.donkin@sheffield.ac.uk) if they are no longer at the institution as RCUK will take this factor into consideration when considering research organisation participation rates in ROS.
Which grants need to be completed?
To build up a comprehensive set of data, RCUK are asking for information on all grants in the system. The Research Councils expect outcomes to be reported for up to 5 years after a grant end date, but would also like to know about outcomes arising after this time.
Is there a bulk upload option?
Yes - users can download a spreadsheet which they can complete and then upload to ROS. This may save time if users have a lot of outcomes to report. To download the template spreadsheet and find out more, log in to the system, navigate to the grant and click on the title, then click 'Import > spreadsheet' in the top-right hand corner.
Sanctions
At present there are no official sanctions for non-completion. However, some Research Councils have been witholding final payments until outcomes are added to ROS.
Logging in
You can log-in to ROS using your Je-S username and password. You will be able to view all of the grants on which you are the named PI. You can either add single outcomes for each grant, or use a spreadsheet template to add multiple publication outcomes.
Delegating this task
PIs may give permission to a delegate to complete the information on their behalf. To do this they will need to log in to the ROS, click the 'Manage delegates' tab at the top and follow the instructions.
User guides
Comprehensive user guides are available via the 'Help' section of ROS.
Queries
If you have any queries regarding ROS please contact Nicola Donkin in R&IS.