The following guide is intended for individuals who are looking to complete any of the following actions:

• Request Reimbursements for a Postdoctoral Scholar (PDS)
• Request Reimbursements for a Postdoctoral Fellow (PDF)

Keep in Mind

• The process for requesting reimbursements for Postdoctoral Researchers may differ across units. Some units may require Postdoctoral Researchers to submit their own requests, while others may have someone handle submissions on their behalf.

Terminology

• Postdoctoral Researcher: An individual who has received a doctoral degree (or equivalent) and is engaged in a temporary and defined period of mentored advanced training to enhance the professional and research independence needed to pursue his or her chosen career path. For more information, refer to the Postdoctoral Researcher Policy Manual.
  • Postdoctoral Scholar (PDS): A University employee with a divisional appointment for postdoctoral training, typically supported by the University’s restricted funds. 
  • Postdoctoral Fellow (PDF): An individual who is not a University employee but has a divisional appointment in formal postdoctoral training programs, funded by training grants or fellowships paid by external agencies, either directly or through the University.
• Chart of Accounts (COA): Oracle's string of numbers that will house all financial activity for the University within the General Ledger (GL).  The COA is comprised of 10 segments and categories in three buckets:  Primary (Entity, Organization, Account, Fund, Purpose); Secondary (Program, Activity, Site), System-Populated segments (Affiliate, Future). 
• Project Portfolio Management (PPM): A module that houses aggregated information on Sponsored Awards, Capital Projects, Individual Award & Discretionary Awards (IADF), and Clinical Research Studies.  Integrates with other modules to collect costs and fee accounting to the GL.  
• POETAF: Most granular level of detail within a project.  Combination of value segments that describe a PPM expenditure (Project – Expenditure Organization – Expenditure Type – Task – Contract/Award, Funding Source).

Request Reimbursements for a Postdoctoral Scholar (PDS)

1. As University employees, Postdoctoral Scholars (PDSs) have access to Concur, where reimbursements can be requested by creating a Non-Travel Expense Report (Out-of-Pocket Expense). For details on this process, please refer to our Create an Expense Report Knowledge Base Article.
2. For additional information, review the following resources:
   1. GEMS & Concur Knowledge Base Articles
   2. GEMS & Concur New User Training
   3. What's Changing in Concur

Request Reimbursements for a Postdoctoral Fellow (PDF)

1. As Postdoctoral Fellows (PDFs) are not University employees, reimbursement requests should be submitted via a Payment Request in Oracle.
2. Before creating the Payment Request in Oracle, PDFs must be set up as suppliers by submitting the Supplier Set-up or Modify ServiceNow form. The PDFs will be onboarded through a third-party validation tool called PaymentWorks. After submitting the ServiceNow form, the PDF will receive an email with instructions to provide necessary details, such as banking information, addresses, and contact information. Once the PaymentWorks application is submitted, the Payment Services team will review and process the data into the University of Chicago Payment System. Any future modifications after onboarding should be made directly in the PaymentWorks portal.
3. After the PDF is set up as a supplier, a Payment Request should be completed and submitted in Oracle. For details on this process, please refer to our Create a Payment Request in Oracle Knowledge Base Article.