How to go about…

Purchase Goods or Services 

1 - Standard Purchasing Procedure
To request the purchase of goods or services, you must complete the STG Order form, indicating the funds to which the expense will be charged and attaching any quotations already received. or guidance and support, you may contact your reference STG (Struttura tecnica di gestione/technical management structure) depending on your scientific area.
Your STG will then proceed with the purchase following the standard procedures.
If the value of the item to be purchased is equal to or greater than €500.00 (VAT included), it must be inventoried by the STG handling the purchase, with a procedure on Elixform. If the good is to be assigned to a person other than the holder of the funding, the latter will need to sign a declaration to be transmitted by the STG via the  U-Sign.
IIn the case of a temporary work relationship, the good must be restored to the Scuola Normale on termination of the contract.
Regulatory references:Regolamento per le attività negoziali

2 - Extraordinary Purchasing Procedure
To request the purchase of editorial services, you must follow the procedure described on the webpage How to publish Open Access at SNS.
If the author has to pay in advance and then requires reimbursement (exceptional derogation from standard purchasing procedures), prior authorization from the Economa (Treasurer) is required before following the procedure, as described below under “Extraordinary Purchasing Procedure (exceptional derogation, non-programmable purchase, unforeseeable event).”

3 - Extraordinary Purchasing Procedure (Exceptional derogation, non-programmable purchase, unforeseeable event)
If it is not possible to proceed with the purchase of goods or services through the standard procedures described above, a direct purchase with subsequent reimbursement through the fondo economale may be allowed, subject to the following requirements and procedures.
Requirements:

• Purchase of goods or services of limited value (maximum €999.00 VAT included);
• Non-programmable purchase not covered by existing supply contracts (in case of doubt, verify with your reference STG);
• Purchase arising from unforeseeable needs where payment in cash or by credit card is urgent or represents the only available payment method.

Request Procedure:

• Prior authorization request - Any advance purchase made in the employee’s own name for institutional reasons due to necessity and urgency must be authorized in advance by the Economa (Treasurer) .
To request authorization, complete and sign the dedicated form, providing justification for each of the required conditions (exceptional derogation, non-programmable purchase, unforeseeable event) and indicating the accounting details after verifying fund availability on the research project. IThe document, signed by the fund holder, must be sent to the Economa (Treasurer) (Barbara Gradara) for signature via the  U-Sign platform before making the purchase. Users who do not have access to U-Sign or need support with accounting data may contact their reference STG.
• Purchase - Once authorization has been obtained, the purchase may proceed.

• Reimbursement request - The authorization of the Economa (Treasurer), together with all digital receipts proving payment, must be emailed to your reference STG. All documentation must be retained until reimbursement has been received and, in any case, until approval of the final annual financial statement for the year in which payment was made (usually April 30th of the year following the purchase).

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Institutional Travel (Missions)

1.    Before departure, complete the mission authorization form in U-Web Missioni.
For insurance purposes, the mission must be opened in U-Web before departure; otherwise, both financial and insurance coverage will be invalid.
For healthcare expenses abroad, the Scuola Normale provides insurance coverage. Therefore, privately purchased insurance policies are not reimbursable, except where the Normale’s coverage is not operative.
2.    Upon return, complete the reimbursement request in  U-Web Missioni by uploading all the following supporting documents, both on paper and digital:

• Scanned or photographed paper receipts;
• Digital receipts (boarding passes may be submitted as a screenshot from a mobile device);
• All electronic payment receipts.

In order to receive reimbursement, all documentation must be uploaded exclusively through the application and may no longer be submitted in paper format.
However, all receipts must be retained until April 30th of the year following the mission, as random checks may be conducted, in addition to standard administrative and accounting controls.
If the mission is selected for verification, the person concerned will receive an email from the Missions Office(stipendi@sns.it) with further instructions.
The mission will be reimbursed only after completion of the required checks.
To report Missions Funded by External Projects (EU, PNRR, etc.), the scientific link between the mission and the funding project must be demonstrated. 
Additional documentation must be attached to the reimbursement request in U-Web Missioni (top left button of the platform: Allegati-attachments):

• Participation in conferences/workshops: Event programme featuring your presentation (or link if available online); Abstract of your talk, explicitly referencing the project and including the following sentence: “The activities mentioned herein are performed in the framework of the project xxx, title … code xxx…”. For research project meetings, attaching the meeting agenda is sufficient;
• scientific collaboration: invitation letter or email exchange with host institution (contact lecturer or researcher), briefly describing the activities to be carried out and their relevance to the project; attach to your reimbursement application a short report on the activities carried out with express reference to the project; (on termination of the collaboration, insert the following sentence: “The activities mentioned herein are performed in the framework of the project xxx, title … code xxx…”);
• research in libraries/archives or fieldwork: Short report describing achieved objectives in relation to project activities, including the following sentence: “The activities mentioned herein are performed in the framework of the project xxx, title … code xxx…”.

If documentation cannot be produced, the mission cost will be charged to non-reportable “overhead” funds (if available). Contact the Research and Technological Transfer Service.

PhD Student Missions: PhD candidates may be authorized to carry out missions funded by faculty or research staff.
If the fund holder is not the same person as the supervisor, the supervisor’s agreement is required.
In this case, a copy of the prior email exchange with the supervisor must be attached to the reimbursement request.

Regulatory reference: Regolamento missioni

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Invitations for Seminars or Study Meetings Funded by Research Funds

The invitation procedure for seminar or study activities depends on funding type:

1. Research funds: 1 invitation managed by the relevant STG
2. Research funds: 2 or more invitations managed by the Cultural Events Service (eventiculturali@sns.it)
3. Institutional funds: organised by the three Faculties (didattica@sns.it/didattica.firenze@sns.it) and by the Cultural Events office (eventiculturali@sns.it)

This section describes 1 invitation funded by Research Funds (type 1):

1. In the ‘inviti' section’, select (Form for invitations to seminars and/or study meetings funded from research funds)
2. Click “Start new request”
3. Log in with institutional credentials
4. Complete the form, including:
   - Type of initiative;
   - Speaker’s name, affiliation and contacts;
   - Estimated compensation and/or travel, board and lodging reimbursement;
   - reference STG;
   - Research funds to be used (up to two funds; a third from another faculty member requires written authorization).
5. Confirm and proceed.

The request is validated by the Dean of the relevant Faculty (at this point you are requested to check that the procedure has gone through successfully) and then handled by the competent STG, which prepares the invitation form [B2].
The STG verifies fund feasibility and the amounts included in the request. The B2 form, which may contain variations on the initial amounts, is then sent to the fund holder for final authorization.
The fund holder may: authorize, authorize with reservations, or reject with justification.
Once authorized, the form is signed by the Area Manager and registered. 

Important Notes:

• The request must be submitted at least 15 days before the guest’s arrival or seminar date.
• For seminars, room availability must be checked via the planning platform before submission of the request. Where space is available, book subject to confirmation by the faculties, the management (for Sala Azzurra and Sala Stemmi), or the Florence STG (in the case of invitations using research funds, of a maximum of one speaker).
• Under Italian law, if compensation is provided, both compensation and expense reimbursement are taxable (however, reimbursement alone is not taxable).
• The guest’s CV is mandatory: please recover it before filling in the form.
• If third-party funds are used, written authorization is required. An authorization document can be provided by the relevant STG.
• The Dean, fund holder and Area Manager may authorize, authorize with reservation, or reject with justification.
• Accommodation in the Collegio Puteano or hotels and related arrangements are handled by the STG. Please do not make any reservation personally.

Regulatory Framework:

Seminars fall under Article 16(1)(a) of regolamento per il conferimento a soggetti esterni di incarichi di prestazione d’opera (collaborazioni occasionali) , which specifies the following:

1. Who may make a request?

Faculty and research staff (including contract staff) may invite qualified Italian and non-Italian scholars to take part as speakers in conferences, workshops and study meetings, or to give seminars or seminar cycles (invitations for seminars and cultural activities);

2. Who validates for the Scuola Normale Superiore?

The relevant Faculty Dean and the Area Manager in the case of institutional funds; the relevant Faculty Dean, the fund holder and Area Manager in the case of research funds.

3. Duration and activities required

Seminar cycles may last up to one month, with a contribution of a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 5 hours per week.;

4. What the invitation may involve

A remuneration, reimbursement for travel expenses and board and lodging may be awarded depending on the criteria and expenditure cap specified in the regulations and on specific decisions by the SNS authorities.
Currently, the following maximum coverages apply: 
- Gross compensation may amount to up to €400 per seminar (or study meeting) (max 4 seminars per invitation); for additional seminars the maximum compensation is €300 gross each, pursuant to the deliberation of September 27th, 2022 of the Executive Council. 
- Reimbursement expenditure cap according to regulations: travel, board (max €40,00 per meal, max € 80,00 per day), and lodging (max. €200,00 per night per person, VAT, breakfast and city tax included), in compliance with the Regolamento per le attività negoziali (regolamenti amministrativi e contabili).

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Who to contact for any queries:

• For information regarding the reimbursement procedure, write to the e-mail address aba.personale@sns.it
• For information regarding the use of funds and the accountability of expenses, write to the e-mail address ricerca@sns.it or ricercaeuropea@sns.it.
• For information regarding the missions, write to the Salary Service (Servizio Stipendi) (stipendi@sns.it).

For information regarding purchases and all else not expressly indicated above, your reference STGs will give you support, collaborating with the other relevant offices of the SNS.

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