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--- charges-cancellation-policy [2023/06/20 11:31] – [Provisional and final bookings] carl
+++ charges-cancellation-policy [2024/02/08 12:51] (current) – [How do I book piloting and development scans?] carl
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 RHUL users with external grant funding are charged a flat rate (currently £550/h) for use of the scanner at any time (weekdays, evenings and weekends). Users without current grant funding can scan at a reduced rate (currently 10% of the full rate), subject to agreement with the CUBIC Director (please consult the Staff intranet research pages on Moodle for current policies). Normally, no charge is made for piloting and technical development scans (see the //How do I book piloting and development scans?// section below).
+The MRI Operations Officer and CUBIC director keep a record of all scan hours (required in case a grant is audited) and to enable charges to be made. How scanning time is charged at the full rate is funder specific and is specified (by R&I) at the time the grant is submitted. This can be summarised as follows:
+**i. Directly allocated funds** (‘DA’ typically UKRI) –grants are charged at a monthly flat rate from the time the grant is awarded for MRI access. The PI is able to use the facility for the duration of the grant for the number of hours that were costed.
+For example:
+A 36 month project has costed 120 hours (@ £550 ph) with £66,000 being costed as a directly allocated budget.  A monthly charge (of £1833) is setup by Research Finance from the grant start date for MRI access. The Cubic Director keeps a record of actual usage with the PI having guaranteed access for 120 hours for the duration of the grant. Any unused funds cannot be ‘banked’ as credits for future used once the grant has ended.
+**ii. Directly incurred costs** –(‘DI’ costs eg ERC, Wellcome, other charities, some US funders, etc). A verifiable auditable trail of usage and charges is required. The grant is charged (quarterly) for the actual hours used.
+For example:
+A 36 month project has costed 120 hours (@ £550 ph) with £66,000 as a directly incurred budget project.  The MRI director informs Research finance of actual usage and these hours are charged at the rate specified in the initial funding application. Any unused funds cannot be ‘banked’ as credits for future used once the grant has ended.
+**Other sources of funding**
+PhD studentships and other ad-hoc sources of scanner income will be charged in full at the start of the project if possible rather than charged by usage. The student will have access to the scanner throughout the project for the number of hours specified in the application.
 ===== Booking and cancellation policy =====
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-Scanning with the support of an MRI technician can be booked directly in the CUBIC Calendar between 9am – 4.30 pm. This is defined as **prime-time scanning**.  In Ari’s absence (usually shown on the CUBIC Calendar) users should check with him regarding an alternative Authorised Person (AP) for Tuesdays and Thursdays. Ayan may be available to act as an AP when Ari is not available (check with him to confirm). Users can also use the [[participants-APs-forum | Participants and APs wanted or available]] forum on the CUBIC Wiki to search for alternative APs, and also post in the #ap-needed channel of Slack. All bookings in prime time should be treated as firm bookings and must not be made until everything needed to perform the scan is in place, including a firm commitment from a volunteer (or at least a strong expectation that a volunteer can be found), and a finalised experimental protocol.
+Scanning with the support of an MRI technician can be booked directly in the CUBIC Calendar between 9am – 4.30 pm. This is defined as **prime-time scanning**.  In Ari’s absence (usually shown on the CUBIC Calendar) users should check with him regarding an alternative Authorised Person (AP) for Tuesdays and Thursdays. Ayan may be available to act as an AP when Ari is not available (check with him to confirm). Users can also use the [[participants-APs-forum | Participants and APs wanted or available]] forum on the CUBIC Wiki to search for alternative APs, and also post in the #ap-needed channel of Slack. All bookings in prime time should be treated as firm bookings, this includes a firm commitment from a volunteer (or a strong expectation that a volunteer can be found) and a finalised experimental protocol.
 ==== Non-Prime time bookings ====
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 Please follow the instructions in the [[booking-policy |Scanner booking policy]] document on the wiki.
-==== How do I book piloting and development scans? ====
+===== How do I book piloting and development scans? =====
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 Before starting to book participants, it is advised that you arrange a meeting with Ari in the MRI suite to set up a draft protocol for the study, and develop a detailed piloting plan that allows you to: test/develop new sequences, adequately test stimulus presentation, assess data quality/effect sizes your paradigms, and ensure participant comfort for your protocol.
+For more info on piloting, check out our [[piloting-guide|piloting guide]].
 ===== What if I need to cancel a scan? =====
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 Users can cancel a session up to **48 hours before the start of a booking without penalty** (but see below).
-a) While there will be no charges for cancellation, it is important to state that slots should be booked only when there is either a firm commitment from a volunteer, or at least a strong expectation that a volunteer will be found for the slot (i.e., based on the size of the recruitment pool for your study). Any users found to be abusing the system (i.e., by regularly over-booking and canceling many slots at short notice) may face penalty charges. Cancellation should always be the last resort, and it is the responsibility of the user who is cancelling to notify other users of this (e.g., via the forum or Slack), especially if this is within 1 week before the scheduled scan time.
+a) While there may not be charges for cancellation, it is important to note that slots should be booked only when there is either a firm commitment from a volunteer, or at least a strong expectation that a volunteer will be found for the slot (i.e., based on the size of the recruitment pool for your study). Any users found to be abusing the system (i.e., by repeatedly over-booking and cancelling slots at short notice) are likely to be charged at the full rate. Booking should be realistic and made with a collegiate spirit so that other users can make use of the scanner. Cancellation should always be the last resort, and it is the responsibility of the user who is cancelling to notify other users of this (e.g., via the Wiki forum or Slack), especially if this is within 1 week before the scheduled scan time (for advice on how to avoid cancellations, see 'How to manage recruitment and avoid cancellations' below)
 b) Bookings cancelled less than 48h but more than 24h before the scanning time slot are charged at 50% of the full rate.
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 *No credit will be given if the same participant has previously failed to turn up for a scanning session.
-_____
-<del>==== Provisional and final bookings ====
-Provisional bookings and bookings outside of prime time can be cancelled at any time without charge. A booking is considered provisional for the first 48h after the booking is made. After 48h, provisional bookings automatically become final and are subject to cancellation charges as detailed below. See below for ‘How to manage recruitment and avoid cancellations’.
-a) Final bookings cancelled more than 2 days (48h) before the scan date are charged at 10% of the full rate (at the discretion of the CUBIC director).
-b) Final bookings cancelled less than 48h but more than 24h before the scanning time slot are charged at 50% of the full rate.
-c) Final bookings cancelled less than 24h before the scanning time slot are charged at the full rate.
-d) If another user books and uses the cancelled time slot, no cancellation charges are levied. If only part of the cancelled time slot can is booked by another user, cancellation charges will be applied pro rata to the unused time.
-e) In the event of an unforeseeable and unavoidable cancellation less than 24h before the scanning time slot, such as participant or experimenter illness or participant no-show*, cancellation charges will still apply. However, the user may, at the discretion of the CUBIC Director/Deputy Director, be offered a credit for the unused scan time (unless the scanning slot is booked by another user). This credit can be used at a later date at no additional cost (up until the end of the project). However, the credit will be lost if the second scan is also cancelled, and users can only hold up to 1.5h of such credits at any one time.
-f) Excluding the above, charges will otherwise be applied for all prime-time bookings, irrespective of whether the time is used, unless cancellation is unavoidable due to a system malfunction, or in other exceptional circumstances at the discretion of the CUBIC director.
-*No credit will be given if the same participant has previously failed to turn up for a scanning session.</del>
 ==== How do I cancel a booking in the CUBIC calendar? ====
-a) If cancelling within the 48-hour period, you may delete the booking.
+If cancelling after within the 48-hour period, please edit the booking to state it is cancelled and remove the booking times selected and state the booked slots. This would enable other users to book the slot. Please see below.
-b) If cancelling after the 48-hour period, please edit the booking to state it is cancelled and remove the booking times selected and state the booked slots. This would enable other users to book the slot. Please see below.
 {{:cancelabooking.png?800|}}
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 ==== How to manage recruitment and avoid cancellations ====
+It is important that reminder emails are sent to participants at least 1 week before the scheduled scan time, and again 48 hours before. If participants are very slow to respond or show a lack of engagement, it may be sensible to cancel/rebook to avoid cancellation charges or poor-quality data.
-If the participant does not confirm promptly, the booking must be cancelled (and deleted from the calendar) without delay. If a chronically ill participant accepts an appointment, but subsequently cancels it, the scan charge may be waived, at the discretion of the CUBIC director.
 To prevent cancellation charges, we recommend that experimenters try and arrange ‘back-up’ participants, wherever possible.
 To notify other users of a cancellation, please post a note on the [[booking-forum|Scan cancellation & time swap]] forum on the CUBIC Wiki. It is also good practice to notify other users via the CUBIC Slack channel #participant-cancel, in case others can use it. Contact Carl Hodgetts (<carl.hodgetts@rhul.ac.uk>) to be added to the Slack group.
 ===== Other considerations =====