How does it work?
Understanding the Academic Consultancy Policy
Our Academic Consultancy Policy fully explains the options and support available to you. All responsibilities expected of academics when undertaking consultancy are outlined in the policy.
Who is eligible?
The policy applies to all academic staff at grade 7 or above who are involved in consultancy projects for external organisations either working individually or as part of a consultant team.
Choose your consultancy route:
1. Managed Consultancy: Your Supported Route
We provide full support and guidance throughout the process. Let us handle all the administrative details including liaising and negotiating with clients, fee setting, resolving contractual complexities, managing risks and payment of services.
2. Private Consultancy: Independent Undertaking
Conduct your consultancy independently without input from the University, while adhering to our policy obligations. The University accepts no responsibility or liability for the actions of academic staff while undertaking Private Consultancy.
The Process
Managed Consultancy: Your Supported Route
Contact Us
Contact the ACS Team at consultancy@glasgow.ac.uk as soon as your consultancy opportunity arises and we'll guide you through the full process. We’ll provide advice and support at each step of the way, including handling the fee and contract discussions so you don’t have to.
We will ask for an outline of your opportunity so our expert team can evaluate your project, ensure consultancy is the right route for your opportunity and complete all necessary due diligence/risk assessment checks to provide you with the right advice.
Notify your Head of School
Once our team has evaluated your opportunity as consultancy you should seek approval in principle from your Head of School. This involves an email or conversation to make them aware of the consultancy opportunity and gain mutual agreement to progress.
Let us know once agreed and we can then commence formal setup of the consultancy project.
Finalise the details
We will work with you and the client to finalise all details of the project, including refining the scope and deliverables, negotiating fees and agreeing any necessary IP protection or data sharing requirements.
Instruction must be provided to us at this stage (before your consultancy starts) on how you would like to handle the consultancy fee. We can provide advice on all options available to you.
Approvals
We will support you through the internal sign-off process, gathering formal approval from your Head of School and authorisation through the University’s finance system, making it as seamless as possible.
Contract signing
All terms and contractual complexities will be negotiated and finalised by our Legal & Contracts team, providing you with expert support and peace of mind.
Project delivery
We will confirm when everything is in place and you can start your consultancy project. You will be responsible for ensuring delivery of the consultancy service in line with the contract terms and for keeping records of time committed.
Payment
Once your consultancy work is complete you can email our dedicated Consultancy Finance team at finance-consultancy@glasgow.ac.uk and they will take care of all invoicing on your behalf. Be sure to include time allocated to the project to enable efficient invoicing of the client.
Once the invoice is issued, the client has a set period of time to pay (usually 30 days or as otherwise stated in the contract). Only once funds are received by the University will these be available to allocate in line with the next payroll deadline (these can be viewed at University of Glasgow - MyGlasgow - Finance: Pay and Pensions - Payroll - Payroll Deadlines)
Private Consultancy: Independent Undertaking
Review & comply with terms for Private Consultancy
Review the University’s Academic Consultancy Policy to understand your roles and responsibilities as outlined in Section 4. You must comply with all requirements as stated. The University accepts no responsibility or liability for the actions of academic staff while undertaking Private Consultancy. No reference to the University of Glasgow or use any of its time/resources must be made when undertaking or promoting Private Consultancy work.
Complete liability waiver form
A liability waiver form should be obtained from the ACS team, signed by your client and returned to us. This confirms that your client is aware that the consultancy is being completed in a private capacity, entirely independent of your role at the University.
For staff subject to visa restrictions
Seek approval from human resources and the UKVI Compliance (Staff) team if you are subject to visa restrictions and/or are a sponsored worker under the University’s sponsor license.