Advice for academics

Understanding the consultancy process

Once an organisation has contacted you to undertake consultancy or service work, you should contact the EI Consultancy Office before negotiating the terms of any consultancy contract or agreeing to be an Expert Witness.

EI’s Consultancy team and in-house lawyers will assist with contractual obligations on your behalf, including:

• Help with pricing contracts (including VAT)
• Fee negotiation for consultancy, service work and use of facilities
• Intellectual property
• Publication rights

Once a consultancy contract has been signed, a Consultancy Information Sheet will be sent by EI's Consultancy Office to your School Administrator for completion and account code allocation for any consultancy fees.

The academic consultant(s) working on the consultancy contract must sign the Consultancy Information Sheet to confirm agreement on distribution of fees.

The Head of School (or other approved signatory) must then sign the Consultancy Information Sheet to ensure School approval for this work.

The School Administrator should the return the completed and approved Consultancy Information Sheet to EI’s Consultancy Office for processing. This will enable us to determine how any fees should be allocated as this form provides the necessary accounting instruction for financial processing.

Your duties and responsibilities

Be aware of your duties and responsibilities for any consultancy work you undertake.

When undertaking consultancy work make sure you do not have a conflict of interest with other commercial clients or research funders you may already be working with.

Some research funders limit the amount of time an academic can work on commercial work. Please check your terms of employment and if in doubt speak to your Business Development Executive or School Administrator.

Private consultancy

The University does not allow employees to undertake private consultancy that directly involves University time, resources or intellectual property from your University job role as this exposes the University, and the member of staff, to unwarranted risks without indemnification. Staff are actively encouraged to speak to EI Ltd to seek further clarity and support in the event of opportunities for private consultancy. Staff must refer to the Conflict of Interest Policy, contract of employment and relevant Conditions of Service (specifically the ‘Other Paid Employment’ section) and follow disclosure requirements and contractual obligations regarding additional paid work.

Keep us informed

We will need to know what you intend doing with the funds once they are paid.

Please remember to email one of the EI Consultancy team to let them know whether you are taking personal payment or putting the money into a School account.

Advise us of any delays there may be in the project so we can adjust your invoicing schedule if need be.

Notify us if there are changes in staff working on the project so we make sure the correct people get paid.

Please contact us if you have any questions or queries.