Travel For Trans-National Access (Optical Observing Only)

Travel grants for ORP sponsored optical observing awarded via the Common TAC process are handled via the UK ATC using the rules detailed below.

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. 

If 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.

You MUST keep copy of all travel documents and they MUST be submitted with the related expenses claim form. Travel documents include: confirmation itinerary, invoice, boarding passes, train tickets etc.

In the event of perceived difficulties with this or if you have any questions, contact:

Optical Transnational Access Lead

Dan Dicken (daniel.dicken@stfc.ac.uk)