Polaris House, North Star Avenue, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN2 1ET Tel (01793) Helpline (01793) Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Rosie Beales University Interface Manager Scotland and North East England Tel: EPSRC Polaris House North Star Avenue Swindon SN2 1ET

EPSRC MISSION  To promote & support high-quality basic, strategic & applied research & related postgraduate training in engineering & the physical sciences.  To advance knowledge & technology & provide trained engineers & scientists to meet the needs of users, thereby contributing to the quality of life & economic competitiveness of the UK.  To provide advice, disseminate knowledge & promote public understanding in the fields of engineering & the physical sciences.

Research Councils EPSRC Office of Science and Technology BBSRCESRCMRCNERCPPARCCCLRC DTI

Research Grants 76.7% Training 17.5% Operations 3.6% £498 million Planned expenditure 2002/3 Fellowships 1.7% Public Awareness 0.4%

Research Proposals  Responsive Mode (no closing dates)  Includes First Grants, Overseas Travel Grants, Visiting Researchers…  Research direction decided by applicant  Main criterion is quality  Calls for Proposals  For research in a particular subject area  Proposal must meet certain criteria to be considered against the call  Assessment criteria will be given

Peer Review Process Proposer Associate Programme Manager Referees One from proposer Two from College Peer Group Reject Feedback Comments to Applicant College Review Panel Chairman Programme Manager Council RejectAccept Rank Order NOYES Financial Allocations Proposal

Proposals include…  Proposal form (available from  Case for support (up to 9 pages in total)  Previous research track record (2 sides A4)  Description of proposed research & context (6 sides A4)  Diagrammatic Workplan (1 side of A4)  Annexes can include  Letters of support  Equipment quotes  2 page CVs for Visiting Researchers & named staff posts

Headings for funding  Staff  Travel and subsistence  Consumables  Exceptional items  Equipment  Large Capital  PCTF  Indirect costs

STAFF Payroll costs for research, technical and support staff who will work directly on the project Project students lUnnamed research assistants awarded at spine point 6 unless an overriding case is made and accepted х Salaries of investigators х Standard percentages for technical and/or administrative support All must be fully justified

TRAVEL & SUBSISTENCE lConferences should, as far as possible be individually identified and attendance justified lIdentify the purpose and destination for each journey and justify lUse most economic and suitable means for each journey lSubsistence rates should be those applicable within the host organisation lUp to £1500 may be sought to pay tuition/registration fees for an RA to attend a relevant short course

CONSUMABLES lShould be specified and justified in the case for support lEnter a description of each type or group of consumables and its cost on the form lThey may include: Page charges, fieldwork fees, survey costs, software licences, equipment items costing less than £3000, equipment maintenance, access charges, consultancy fees lMay provide for the purchase and maintenance of animals used in research

EXCEPTIONAL ITEMS lEquipment energy costs which exceed £1000 pa and are separately metered lEquipment insurance specifically related to the project which exceeds £1000 pa lEquipment procurement where other-than-normal tendering costs exceed £2500 pa lTelephone, Fax and special postal costs specific to the project which exceed £1000 pa and are separately metered lSpecialist cartography, photography and printing charges which will exceed £2500 over the full grant period lTuition Fees for Project Students

EQUIPMENT lEquipment dedicated to the project costing between £3,000 and £99,999 lComputers lLaboratory/workshop equipment lMajor equipment spares and software lInstallation costs lMust be justified in the case for support lQuotes required for items over £25,000

LARGE CAPITAL lSingle items £100,000 and over lThree written quotations are required

Public Communication Training Funds  £500 available to academics applying for research grants  Ring fenced for training in presentation to the general public, & media training.  Information on where to seek training is available from our web site

INDIRECT COSTS lThese should be calculated as 46% of the total staff cost lThis addition is intended to meet the indirect central and departmental administrative and service costs lThese include financial and personnel services, staff facilities, Public relations, recruitment costs, staff development and training, as well as Departmental clerical, technical and computing support

Inadmissible costs  Salaries for investigators  Buildings and premises costs  Recruitment/Advertising, Financial/Personnel costs  Hospitality and Public Relations  General office consumables such as photocopying or typing  Utilities costs, unless explicitly identified under exceptional items (and separately metered)  Basic laboratory consumables, Books journals etc  General computer consumables eg disks and cartridges  Central and distributed computing  Other costs not specifically related to or justified for the project

RC Funding; current position FULL ECONOMIC COSTS Direct costs Indirect costs eligible staff costs (e.g. Research Assistants, support staff) Research council contribution to indirect costs = 46% of eligible direct staff costs The institution must find the rest from other sources. other eligible equipment costs (e.g. equipment) ineligible costs (e.g. salary of the Principal Investigator) Eligible – RC will pay these costs Shaded area – what RC will fund

RC funding; proposed model FULL ECONOMIC COSTS Direct costs Indirect costs Research Council pays 60-70% of full costs The institution must find the rest from other sources.

Consider Audience  Referees  Comments sought from referees - as expert reviewers  Asked to provide detailed comments  EPSRC provides prompts to clarify criteria and help structure comments  Prioritisation Panel  Will include researchers from broader subject area  or, Managed Programme Panel

Referee Prompts  Research Quality  Methodology  Adventure in Research  Research impact  Collaboration – Academic & Non-Academic  Dissemination  Planning and project management  Justification for resources

What does a responsive mode panel do? Generate list of research proposals, in priority order for funding Based on:  Assessment of the referees  Applicants response to referees  Any technical assessment

Panel Assessment Criteria Primary criteria = overall quality of proposal Other factors taken into account, where relevant, are:  Level of adventure  Multi-disciplinarity  Involvement of new/young academics  Impact/collaboration

Panel Guidance on Resources  If the need for resources is not clear from the proposal, it should be reflected in the place in the rank ordered list  Changes should not be made to the resources requested. Ask for the level of resources you need & justify them

Good Proposals…  Are about excellent research  Are clear about the ideas & work plan (what will be done when & how the parts relate)  Justify resources  Cite all key publications

You might also consider…  What it would be like to referee the proposal  Having experienced colleagues “review” your proposal  Looking at successful proposals may help you with structure  Whether panel members will want to read your proposal (are the title and abstract well written)

Feedback before panel  You have an opportunity to respond to referee comments  Response to referees is a key input to the process  Read referee comments carefully and provide a balanced response

In summary…  Why do you want to do this research? You need to convince your peers its worth doing…  Bear in mind the assessment criteria and audiences (referee and panel prompts)  Read guidance notes for completion of the form (see