The Warwick Research Development Fund (RDF) 2012/13

Please note that the Development Awards 2011/12 scheme is now closed for the remainder of this financial year

The purpose of the University's Research Development Fund (RDF) is to increase the University's capacity and capability to undertake world-class, innovative and exciting research. In addition to providing support for the University's Global Priorities Programme (GPPs), there will be two competitive elements to the fund during the academic year 2012/13:

1. Strategic Awards

2. Development Awards

Purpose
Eligilibity
Criteria
Types of Award
Eligible Costs
How To Apply
Declaration of Support From The Head of Department
Assessment Process
Reporting Requirements

1 Purpose

The RDF will provide:

a) Strategic Awards - An annual competition to provide pump-priming support for the development of new research initiatives which are creative and innovative and clearly of a strategic nature. Projects should ideally be of an inter- or multi-disciplinary nature and must show clearly that they will lead directly to future bids for external funding. Applications which relate specifically to the University Strategy are particularly encouraged.

b) Development Awards – Rolling funds available for modest support for research activity specifically related to the University Strategy. Applications which seek support for the development of larger scale European funding bids are particularly encouraged, and some RDF funds will be ringfenced to support this activity.

The RDF will be administered through Research Support Services.

2 Eligibility

The RDF is open to all academic Departments, Research Institutes, Centres, GPP research themes and groups, with particular encouragement given to inter- and multi-disciplinary proposals that foster collaboration between Departments and Faculties.

Applicants should normally be a University employee in a full-time academic post, or be the holder of a personal research fellowship awarded competitively. Applicants must have at least 12 months left to run on their employment contract as of 1st August 2012. Fellowship holders will not usually be permitted to apply for RDF support within the last 12 months of their fellowship.

3 Criteria

Strategic Awards:

There will be five main criteria used to evaluate Strategic Award proposals to RDF:

a) Is the project of excellent quality and timely?

b) Is the project part of a realistically ambitious research programme that, depending on the nature of the project, fits in well with the strategic research priorities of your group, Centre, Department, Faculty and/or the University?

c) Will support from the RDF contribute to the generation of research income from external agencies and are those involved in the project capable of achieving this? Is there a fit between the project and the priorities of external funding agencies? It is essential that there is a clear indication that activities conducted under the RDF award will lead to an application for external research funding. The RDF committee will expect to see details of specific external funding schemes and deadlines to which the applicant will eventually apply.

d) Are the objectives and methodology clearly stated?

e) Does the project represent value for money? It is not the purpose of RDF to replace external funding. The RDF Committee must be convinced that RDF pump-priming support has the potential to attract significant external funding in the future.

Development Awards:

Does the proposal relate directly to one or more elements of the Vision 2015 Strategy?

4 TYPES OF AWARDS

a) Strategic Awards – Applicants may bid for pump-priming funds of up to £25,000.

b) Development Awards – There is no formal limit attached to this scheme but this is a smaller scheme than the Strategic Awards and applicants are encouraged to be measured in their requests.

Awards under both schemes will be made on the basis that:

They are non-repayable grants (except in the case of conferences or other events which make a profit);
Individuals and Departments can prove that they cannot support the project or activity from existing individual or departmental discretionary funds;
The applicant’s/applicants’ Department(s) will make a contribution to the cost of the project;
Funds will be spent during the current financial year (1 August 2012 - 31 July 2013);
Appropriate ethical approval has been sought and granted where necessary;
There are no significant additional space implications that cannot be accommodated within the Department(s) involved.

5 Eligible Costs

Eligible costs include direct staff costs, some specialist equipment, consumables, travel and accommodation, and all other items required for the project.

Building and refurbishment costs will be ineligible under this scheme.

The applicant’s Department (and those of all co-applicants) must detail what contribution they will make to the direct costs of the project and must also confirm that the costs requested from the RDF cannot be met from existing individual or departmental discretionary funds. Applications must include a completed budget section and all costs should be justified in the Case for Support.

Organising and hosting seminar series, conferences or other showcasing events which facilitate collaborations and foster international partnerships leading to significant bids for external money or that raise the research profile of an individual or group will be considered for support. Such events are expected to break even and in the event that they make a profit, the RDF award will be repaid up to the amount of the original grant.

Projects that facilitate greater engagement with wider user communities, such as business and industry, or which otherwise demonstrate the impact of the research (e.g. through knowledge transfer activities) will be particularly welcomed.

6 How to Apply

Deadlines:

1) Strategic Awards – Thursday 31 May 2012

2) Development Awards – Closed for the remainder of the 2011/2012 financial year. Will re-open from 1 August 2012.

It is anticipated that applicants will be informed of the outcome of the Strategic Awards by the last week in July 2012. Awards may start from 1 August 2012 and must be spent by 31 July 2013. There will be no exceptions to this rule and funds unspent by 31 July 2013 will no longer be available to awardees. For queries concerning applications, please contact: Dave Duncan (D.Duncan@warwick.ac.uk or ext. 75515) or Katie Klaassen (k.klaassen@warwick.ac.uk or ext. 50379).

Submission:

Strategic Awards - Applications for Strategic Awards should be made electronically using the online application form

. Applicants and Heads of Departments should read the Guidelines for completing the application form carefully. A User Guide for completing the application form are available here

Completed applications must be submitted from the Head of Department of the principal investigator by no later than 5pm on the day of the deadline.

Development Awards - Applications for Development Awards should take the form of an initial email, outlining your proposal and providing a total figure to be requested along with a Case for Support attached. The Case for Support should include the following information:

Brief background/context
Aims/objectives – this should include an indication of how the project fulfils the criteria for funding as listed above:
Methodology
Brief timetable
Excellence and timeliness of the project; fit of project with strategic priorities of your group/Centre/Department/Faculty/University; ability of project to contribute to a step-change in external research income generation; fit of project to priorities of external funding agencies; enhancement of applicant’s research profile. There should be a clear indication of the applicant’s intention to apply for external funding.
Project management – this should include an indication of the role(s) to be played by applicants and co-applicants in the project
Outcomes – this should include information on any applications which you intend to make to external funding agencies, with an estimated date of application, name of external funding agency and estimated value where possible. In the case of Small Grants, applicants should state how their research profile will be enhanced as a result of the project.
Details & Justification of costs – Please provide an adequate level of detail about costs sought. This should include a justification of applicant/co-applicants’ time on the project rather than a justification of the amount of applicant/co-applicants’ salary. The salary levels of other staff employed on the project should be justified. Please itemise travel costs and provide sufficient detail of any consumables. See page 8 for further details.

These emails should be sent to Dave Duncan and Katie Klaassen.

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7 Declaration of Support from the Head of Department

Please note that all applications must be endorsed and submitted electronically by the relevant Head of Department. Applications that do not include a statement from the Head of Department will not be supported by the RDF. Applications involving more than one department must be submitted by the Head of Department of the Principal Applicant. The Declaration of Support should contain a statement confirming that the Heads of Departments of each co-applicant also support the application. Co-investigator Heads of Department should liaise with the Principal Applicant and/or the Principal Applicant's Head of Department to ensure the Co-investigator's departmental declaration of support is fully included within the application. The declaration should also include information regarding:

Why the project/activity costs cannot be met from existing individual or departmental discretionary funds

How the application reflects and supports the achievement of present and future strategic research plans (with reference as appropriate to Departmental/Institute/Centre five-year plans and Research Planning)

How the application reflects the strategic plans, funding priorities and future calls for proposals of a major funding body and/or how the application will enhance the research profile of the individual or group concerned

Please note that Heads of Department may, at a later stage, be asked to rank applications for Strategic Awards from their department in order of priority.

8 Assessment process

Applications for Strategic Awards will be reviewed by a sub-group of the University Research Committee or their nominees. Strategic Awards may also be reviewed externally, if required. The rankings from Heads of Departments will be taken into account. Applications will be ranked at Faculty level before a final decision on funding is made. Development Awards will be reviewed by the PVCs for Research or their nominees. The decisions of the PVCs and the University Research Committee are final. The University Research Committee and the PVCs will endeavour to provide feedback to all unsuccessful applicants and to successful applicants where appropriate.

9 Reporting Requirements

All successful applicants will be required to provide a brief report within 1 month of the end of the funding period. This report should detail the use of the funds; achievement of outputs and outcomes from the award; how the activities have contributed to the strategy; future plans to build on the work done and further funding applications made or planned. A second report will be required 1 year after the end of the funding period in order to further assess outputs from the RDF grant. Report forms are available here.