ODA Research Management Capacity Strengthening scheme notes
PLEASE READ THESE SCHEME NOTES CAREFULLY
INCORRECTLY SUBMITTED APPLICATIONS WILL BE CONSIDERED INELIGIBLE
Applications should be submitted well in advance of the deadline (Wednesday 30 October 2024, 17.00 UK time). We recommend at least five days prior to allow for institutional approval.
1) The British Academy is inviting proposals seeking to embed and enhance working practices and systems within and between institutions to support equitable partnerships in international research through support for skills collaboration between research offices and research management functions, including finance, HR and legal operations, between research institutions based in the UK and those based in Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and/or Least Developed Countries.[1] These proposals can be between two institutions or involve a wider consortia of institutions across different countries.
2) This call is supported from the UK’s International Science Partnerships Fund managed by the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology. In the context of this call, funding from the International Science Partnerships Fund is funded by Official Development Assistance (ODA), therefore applications for this funding must be ODA-eligible.
3) The Academy is able to offer awards of up to £50,000 for 24 months in duration.
4) Applications must be submitted by 30 October 2024, 17.00 (UK time).
[1] There are 46 LDCS and they are as follows: Africa: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia. Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Nepal, Timor-Leste and Yemen. Caribbean: Haiti. Pacific: Kiribati, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.
5) International research collaboration is a strategic priority for the British Academy, however, support for such collaboration is often focused solely at a researcher level without considering the wider context in which research and research collaboration take place, particularly within and between institutions involved in research projects. This can hinder effective collaboration and counteract equitability of partnerships.
6) Weak organisational research management is a major obstacle to flourishing research environments. Institutions are, however, the foundation from which research is built. Circumventing them will not help to create sustainable and productive research cultures. Research requires good institutional policy environments and cultures of management that create the conditions and set the rules and procedures which enable research to take place and for how researchers can collaborate internationally. Consequently, research management has to be embedded in and supported through the wider institutional context. This call aims to reach beyond individual capacity and skills development to achieve sustainable transformation at an institutional level.
7) These awards, which can be between two institutions or involve a wider consortia of institutions across different countries, are aimed at research offices and research management functions, including HR, finance, and legal operations, in Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and/or Least Developed Countries to collaborate with institutions based in the UK to enhance their ability to work together in future. The Academy would expect that the institutions involved in any application would likely be building on past and/or existing research activity and collaboration. The Academy is particularly conscious that UK-based institutions have significant areas in which they need to learn and listen to partners in these countries and that upskilling and changing practices in UK-based institutions are a key action that support of this kind should be aiming to achieve whilst ensuring that the primary benefit of any work on the award is for institutions based in ODA-eligible countries.
8) The primary intended outcome is to enhance the capabilities of institutions in Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and/or Least Developed Countries and UK-based institutions to work together in future to effectively support international research projects together. Emphasis is placed on activities that enable sustainable change that continues well beyond the life of the award in institutions, including the development and implementation of policy frameworks or training programmes, for both UK and overseas institutions bearing in mind that these are likely to need to reach beyond research offices. It is understood that needs of partner institutions might differ, and projects should reflect this.
9) Awards are expected to involve significant time devoted to dialogue and communication between the institutions involved so that links can be built and enhanced, ways of working can be adapted, and best practice can be reached for all those involved in supporting future research projects. The Academy views the involvement of financial, HR and legal functions within institutions as key to the success of any award given the significant challenges that these areas can cause in the running of international research projects. Awards that are only aiming to bring together respective research offices will be considered insufficient and not be supported.
10) Applicants are encouraged to set out clearly the following:
- The change they are seeking to achieve and the challenges they are aiming to overcome;
- How they will seek to resolve the challenge(s) they have identified and the steps/activities they will take to achieve the change they wish to achieve;
- How they will seek to implement the change during and beyond the award and the commitment they have secured from senior stakeholders to ensure real change on the ground.
11) The Academy views it as essential that the institutions involved will ensure that the actions agreed through the award will have the support of each of the institutions involved at a senior level.
12) All applicants should co-design their applications setting out the expectations and interests of all the institutions involved and provide an expected roadmap for delivering the aims of their collaboration through this call. It is expected that this is likely to involve physical workshop(s) with significant pre- and post-workshop activity to support the effective development and implementation of the proposed roadmap.
13) Applications should not be designed as a retreat where matters will be discussed at that moment in time but rather they should provide a clear, co-designed, action-oriented programme of work. Applications are for practical institutional implementation and should not be for an academic or intellectual project.
14) It is expected that this application and the activities it would undertake will be underpinned by partnerships between people with responsibility for research management, institutions and wider stakeholders. Equitability is key to ensuring that these partnerships are effective.
15) Applicants are required to justify the equity within their proposed partnerships. Any applications that are deemed to not support equitable partnerships will not be funded.
16) Applicants will be required to detail how their project will ensure equitable partnerships, including how it will take note that partnerships should: be transparent and based on mutual respect; should aim to have clearly articulated equitable distribution of resources, responsibilities, efforts and benefits; should recognise different inputs, different interests and different desired outcomes; and should ensure the ethical sharing and use of any outcomes which is responsive to the identified needs of society.
17) This Programme is supported under the International Science Partnerships Fund and this call will fund only ODA-eligible projects.
18) Only research that has a primary objective which is directly and primarily relevant to the problems of developing countries may be counted as ODA. We will require applicants to demonstrate that the proposal is ODA eligible. ODA eligibility is an essential criterion – projects will only be deemed eligible for funding if they can demonstrate that they satisfy ODA eligibility criteria.
19) You should refer to this additional ODA guidance document for applicants when developing your proposal.
20) Applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria:
- Each project will be led by a named Lead. The Lead must be based in a research office and/or research management function, including HR, finance, and legal operations in a role in an eligible university or research institute in the UK, Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and/or Least Developed Countries. The Lead’s position must last at least the duration of the grant funded by the Academy.
- The Lead is expected to direct the activity and the management of the project and has responsibility for the overall project reporting requirements.
- An individual cannot be the Lead on more than one bid under this Programme.
- Applicants can be of any nationality but they must be based in an eligible university or research institute in the UK, Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and/or Least Developed Countries.
- Awards are available to individuals, to be held in an institutional context.
- Duplicate applications to more than one British Academy funding programme will not be accepted.
21) Co-Applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria:
- Must include at least one person who is based research office and/or research management function, including HR, finance, and legal operations in a role in an eligible university or research institute in Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and/or Least Developed Countries if the Lead is based in the UK or one person based in a research office and/or research management function, including HR, finance, and legal operations in a role in an eligible university or research institute in the UK if the Lead is based in Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and/or Least Developed Countries.[2]
- No individual may be a Co-Applicant on more than two projects under this call (nor may a Lead be additionally a Co-Applicant on more than one other project).
22) Other Participants: Projects may also include any number of specified ‘Other Participants’, who may, for example, be relevant stakeholders participating in networking or dissemination events, academic or policy advisers, practitioners, industry representatives, etc.
23) Institutions: The award must be held at an institution recognised by the Academy. The following types of organisations will be eligible to apply to host the award:
- Higher Education Institutes that received funding from one of the UK higher education funding bodies.
- Research institutes (RIs), for which research councils have established a long-term involvement as major funder as part of the national research base.
- Approved relevant Independent Research Organisations.
- Public Sector Research Organisations.
- Research organisations based in Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and/or Least Developed Countries and approved as eligible by the British Academy no later than 2 weeks before the deadline of this call (30 October) and who have responded to the question in the application form related to Due Diligence.
24) All grants will be paid to the employing institution of the Lead, and not to the individual researchers involved. Institutions must be officially recognised by the British Academy prior to the proposal being submitted.
25) The International Science Partnerships Fund in the context of this call is funded by Official Development Assistance, therefore applications for this funding must be ODA-eligible.
26) Any host organisation is expected to follow the principles, standards and good practice for the management of research staff set out in the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers (2019) and subsequent amendments. Research staff should be appointed on terms that are no less favourable than those of comparable posts in the host organisation.
27) Eligible costs are:
- Staffing costs of up to £7,500 per institution involved with a maximum of £30,000 that can be utilised for this purpose (i.e. if there are more than four institutions involved it will not be possible for each to receive £7,500)
- Networking, workshop and other event-related costs
- Travel and related expenses
28) Ineligible costs include:
- Purchasing of assets
- PhD studentships
- computer hardware including laptops, electronic notebooks, digital cameras, etc.
- books and other permanent resources
- the preparation of camera-ready copy, copy-editing, proof-reading, indexing, nor any other editorial task
- subventions for direct production costs (printing, binding, distribution, marketing etc.)
- costs of publication in electronic media
- travel and maintenance expenses for purposes such as lecture tours or to write up the results of research
- overhead, estate and indirect costs
- conference fees
- secondments
[2] There are 46 LDCS and they are as follows: Africa: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia. Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Nepal, Timor-Leste and Yemen. Caribbean: Haiti. Pacific: Kiribati, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu
29) The value of the award is set at a maximum of £50,000. Funding must be used in the direct delivery of the award. Any underspend will be required to be refunded to the British Academy.
30) Awards will be paid in full on acceptance of the award from March 2025. Payment will be made to the institution where the Lead is based.
31) Projects can be for up to 24 months in duration and they are expected to be 18-24 months in duration.
32) The call is expected to be able to support around 20 awards.
33) The Academy expects applicants funded under this programme to highlight and manage any risks related to the award. We expect an assessment of any risks entailed within the programme of work to be outlined in the proposal (for example, risks associated with the delivery of the programme of work, financial management, and oversight/governance).
34) If there is a risk that the programme of work will be in an area of civil unrest, violence/crime, applicants will be required to indicate if (and where) they intend to undertake the programme of work in such areas. For countries/regions considered by the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office as a host nation of medium or high risk, applicants will also be required to demonstrate that the PI (and the PI’s host institution) understand the risk management implications and can monitor and manage the risks effectively. This should include, but not be limited to, any risks that researchers will encounter in an area of civil unrest, violence and/or crime.
35) Risk management will be explicitly covered in the approval of any application by the appropriate authorities at the Lead’s host institution, to confirm that the duty of care responsibility rests with the host institution.
36) Research and innovation (R&I) activities funded by the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), provided through Partner Organisations, comply with the requirements of the DSIT R&I Gender Equality Policy, which states that activities must tackle instances of underrepresentation, differential needs and systemic disadvantage to improve the relevance of R&I findings that support the inclusion, reduce the impact of bias, and ultimately, contribute to reducing inequalities among genders. This includes but is not limited to Official Development Assistance activities, in line with the International Development (Gender Equality) Act 2014.
37) All applications are strongly recommended to thoroughly review the above publication before designing and drafting their application.
38) All applicants must submit as part of their application a gender equality statement, which must meet compliance standards as set out in the above publication. All applications will be reviewed at the eligibility and assessment stages to ensure they meet the necessary requirements. Not meeting the necessary requirements will mean that applications are automatically not fundable.
39) Applications will be required to demonstrate the following:
- Evidence that the award is ODA eligible. Only projects that demonstrate that they satisfy ODA eligibility criteria will be eligible for funding;
- Whether the gender equality statement meets or exceeds the minimum standard as set out in the Gender Equality in Research and Innovation policy;
- Value for money.
40) Applications will then also be assessed according to the following criteria:
- The quality and significance of the proposal, in particular in relation to making a significant or transformational advance in the capabilities of the institutions involved to support future research projects equitably;
- The feasibility and sustainability of the proposed activities both during and beyond the award, including a clear track record and experience of working in this space and the clear support of senior stakeholders within the institutions involved;
- Evidenced co-design and equitability through the proposal development and planned project delivery with a clear justification for the role of each partner throughout the project.
41) All applicants must register in the British Academy’s online Flexi-Grant Grant Management System to enable the processing and assessment of their application. All applications must be submitted in English.
42) All applications will be subject to an eligibility check undertaken by appropriate British Academy staff before being put forward for assessment, and applications that are not completed correctly and on time will not be considered.
43) Applicants will not be able to submit their application on Flexi-Grant until they have completed each section in full. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that their application is submitted in good and sufficient time for it to be approved by the Lead’s employing institution. Applicants should submit their application for approval by a designated approver at the host organisation at least 5 working days before the closing date to allow for the host organisation’s administrative procedures.
44) Proposals must be completed, submitted and approved by 30 October 2024, 17.00 UK time.
45) The British Academy has a Code of Practice, setting out the principles of equity, integrity and confidentiality governing the treatment of all applications for funding. The Code of Practice also covers Data Protection, the British Academy’s ethics policy and the appeals procedure.
46) Feedback is not a feature of this programme and the Academy is, regretfully, unable to enter into correspondence regarding the decisions of the awarding committee, which are governed by the Code of Practice. Please note that by applying to this programme, applicants undertake to accept the terms under which applications are assessed.
47) Should you have any queries, please contact: [email protected]
Applications can only be submitted online using the British Academy’s online Flexi-Grant® Grant Management System (GMS) system via (https://britishacademy.flexigrant.com/). If you have not previously used the British Academy’s Flexi-Grant® GMS, please follow the registration process from the Flexi-Grant® homepage. Applications cannot be submitted on paper or in any other format. The deadline for applications to be submitted is Wednesday 30 October 2024, 17.00 UK time. The application will always be treated as confidential.
Before completing the online form, all applicants should check that they comply with the eligibility requirements and ensure all necessary information is presented in the application. These requirements are strictly adhered to, and applications without all the necessary information, or evidence to show the assessment criteria are met, will be rejected.
Registered approving organisations will be available in the search bar. If your organisation is not listed and is not affiliated with any organisations already in the system, then please contact us at [email protected] to request the addition of the organisation.
It is required that research organisations based in Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and/or Least Developed Countries that would require adding to the above list must be approved as eligible by the British Academy no later than 2 weeks before the deadline of this call (16 September). This means that they will need to be in touch with the Academy well before this date in order for the approval process to have been undertaken. We advise doing so as early as possible. In addition, these organisations must respond fully to the question in the application form related to Due Diligence when submitting their application to the call deadline.
The deadline for submissions and host organisation approval is 30 October 2024 (17.00 UK time). Applicants will not be allowed to make any changes to their applications or submit any additional information after the 30 October deadline.
When completing your application on Flexi-Grant®, it is recommended that you take particular note of the following points:
- Personal details: When registered in the British Academy Flexi-Grant® system, a user has the option to add or update personal information such as contact details, log-in details (including email address and password), interests, research, and employment details, at any time. This does not form part of the specific application form for any individual scheme, but represents a personal record of your account in the system. It is useful if this information is kept up to date, but it is not essential to the progress of an application.
- Automatic log-out: You are strongly advised to save your work regularly to prevent accidental loss of information. In particular you should be aware that if the system does not detect any activity for 2 hours it will log out and save the application at that time. Please note that moving between pages within an application form will save the page that you are exiting but completing a field on a page is not considered an activity. It is recommended that you write the text for longer sections/fields in a word processor such as Word and then copy and paste into the relevant text box to avoid being timed out in this way.
- Multiple sessions: You should not have multiple browser windows/tabs of your application open at the same time as this may cause information to be lost. Only one user should edit an application at a time, otherwise changes might be lost.
- Word limits: When completing boxes that have a restricted length (note that it refers to words) you should note that if you exceed the specified amount you will not be able to save when you press the save button. You should type the text for the longer-length boxes in a word processor. You will then be able to check the word count and paste it into the British Academy Flexi-Grant® system. You will then still have a copy of the text to return to in the word processor. The word limit applies to text boxes.
- Plain text: If entering plain text, please avoid using symbols as some may not be accepted by the British Academy Flexi-Grant® system. You should generate and view a PDF of your application to check that the application appears as you want it to by clicking on ‘print form’.
- Email addresses: The British Academy Flexi-Grant® system relies heavily on automatic email contact. It is essential that you ensure you enter accurate email addresses where requested as it may cause considerable delay in the submission/processing of your application if any of these are incorrect. You cannot make changes to email addresses after your application has been submitted for approval.
- Submission: You will not be able to submit your application until you have completed each section in full. It is your responsibility to ensure that your application is submitted in good time, and in sufficient time, for it to be approved by your employing institution. You should submit your application for approval by a designated approver at your host organisation at least 5 working days before the closing date to allow for your host organisation’s administrative procedures. Please note that the institutional approver is a person within the host organisation, usually within the central research support office, who has authority for approving all applications submitted to the British Academy. The institutional approver should not be directly involved in the proposal. If you are the registered institutional approver for your host organisation and intend to apply as the proposal Lead or Co-Applicant, please contact the British Academy at [email protected]
Once you have submitted your application for approval by your host organisation, automatic emails will be sent to your host organisation approver asking them to log on to the system. You will not be able to edit your application after it has been submitted to your host organisation for approval. The host organisation approver will either: approve and submit your application, ‘send back’ your application and contact you to request modifications (if before the 30 October deadline) or decline your application and contact you. Please be aware that it is your responsibility to ensure that you complete your application in time for your host organisation to process it (including requesting changes) and provide their approval by the closing date. It is recommended that you allow at least five working days for this process, but please check with your proposed host institution as their internal timetables may require earlier submission. If your host organisation approver requests modifications through the British Academy GMS email facility, they can unlock your application, allowing you to edit it. They can do this by selecting ‘Return to Applicant’. An automatic e-mail will be sent to you alerting you of this fact. Once you have completed and saved the requested changes, please re-submit your application for approval by your host organisation.
Once your host organisation has approved your application and submitted it to the British Academy, it will not be possible to make any changes.
- Application deletion: You can delete your application at any time although it is often a lot easier to just re-edit your existing application. We will be able to recover a deleted application for a period of 7 days after deletion. After this it will be permanently removed from the system.
- Application returned for editing: The approver can return your application to you for further editing. See ‘Submission of Application’ below.
- Guidance: In the tables below you will find in the left-hand column each question as set out in the application sections and in the right-hand column useful guidance on its completion.
- Further clarification: If any of this advice is unclear, or you need further information, please do not hesitate to seek clarification from the British Academy’s International Team (contact details below).
PLEASE NOTE THAT IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT YOU CREATE A PDF OF YOUR COMPLETED APPLICATION (by clicking ‘Download as PDF’), AND CHECK IT THOROUGHLY, INCLUDING EMAIL ADDRESSES AND UPLOADED PDF FILES, BEFORE SUBMITTING IT FOR APPROVAL BY YOUR HOST ORGANISATION. IT MAY NOT BE POSSIBLE TO RECTIFY MISTAKES IN TIME FOR THE DEADLINE.
WORD LIMITS APPLY TO PLAIN TEXT ONLY. PAGE LIMITS APPLY TO PDFs ONLY.
All FIELDS MARKED WITH AN ASTERISK* ARE MANDATORY.
YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE MULTIPLE BROWSER WINDOWS/TABS OF YOUR APPLICATION OPEN AT THE SAME TIME AS THIS MAY CAUSE INFORMATION TO BE LOST. ONLY ONE USER SHOULD EDIT AN APPLICATION AT A TIME, OTHERWISE CHANGES MIGHT BE LOST.
The application can be completed by using the navigation tabs on the application summary page, with each page categorised as follows:
Page 1: Proposal
Page 2: Financial Details
Page 3: Due Diligence
Page 4: Primary Applicant Details
Page 4: Co-Applicant Details
Page 5: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
A full list of question fields to be completed as part of the application can be found in the following table. Each box in the table represents a page of the application form: the left-hand column contains the questions within each of these pages as set out in the form; the right-hand column contains useful guidance on its completion. A red asterisk (*) indicates which questions are mandatory and therefore must be complete before the application can be submitted. Please read the guidance notes carefully before completing the form.
Summary Table
When your application form is complete, all sections on this summary table will be marked as ‘Complete’. The ‘Complete’ status will only appear when all the mandatory fields in that section have been completed. All mandatory fields are marked with an asterisk ‘*’. Only then will a ‘Submit’ button appear for you to be able to submit your application.
If you are unable to see the submit button but your application appears complete on the Summary page, you will need to check the Contributors tab to ensure that your invited contributors have completed their pages and marked them as complete. Once this has been done, and all the other pages have been completed, the ‘submit’ button should appear.
Title of Proposal*
Please state the title of your proposal
Abstract*
Please use the text box to provide a short abstract summarising your proposal in terms suitable for an informed general audience, not one specialised in your field.
(150 words)
Proposed Programme & Plan of Action*
This field should be used to describe the proposed programme of work over the course of any award.
Please set out explicitly in this field the ways in which the proposal links to the core aims and objectives of the overall call.
This field should also be used to indicate a clear timetable for your application including an outline of how the programme of work will be organised and structured.
(700 words)
Quality and Significance of Proposal*
Please use this field to detail the quality and significance of the proposal.
In particular, please indicate how the proposal will make a significant or transformational advance in the capabilities of the institutions involved to support future research projects equitably detailing the change they are seeking to achieve and the challenges they are aiming to overcome
(700 words)
Feasibility and Sustainability of the Proposal*
Please use this field to explain the feasibility and sustainability of the proposed activities both during and beyond the award.
Please use this field to enter detail on the clear track record and experience of working in the space of equitable partnership and/or internationally collaborative research at individual and institutional levels of those involved, and the clear support of senior stakeholders within the institutions involved. This should include how the proposal seeks to resolve the challenge(s) they have identified and the steps/activities they will take to achieve the change they wish to achieve, as well as how they will seek to implement the change during and beyond the award and the commitment they have secured from senior stakeholders to ensure real change on the ground.
(700 words)
Equitable Partnerships*
Please use this field to evidence co-design and the equitability of the proposal development and planned project delivery with a clear justification for the role of each partner throughout the project and the value they will gain from this application.
Please detail how this project will ensure equitability in the collaboration, including how it will take note that partnerships should: be transparent and based on mutual respect; should aim to have clearly articulated equitable distribution of resources, responsibilities, efforts and benefits; should recognise different inputs, different interests and different desired outcomes; and should ensure the ethical sharing and use of any outcomes which is responsive to the identified needs.
(700 words)
Other Participants*
Please give the names, appointments and institutional affiliation of any other participants in the proposed research. If detail is not known yet, please indicate numbers and status of people who might be involved. Projects may include any number of specified ‘Other Participants’, who may, for example, be relevant stakeholders participating in networking or dissemination events, academic or policy advisers, practitioners, industry representatives, etc.
Target Country/Countries*
Please use the drop-down lists to select which target country/countries as specified in this call will directly benefit from this proposal.
You may choose from: Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Nepal, Timor-Leste, Yemen, Haiti, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu.
ODA Justification Statement*
Please use the text box to provide an ODA justification statement.
In this statement you should indicate whether the country/countries you have selected above will continue to be ODA eligible for the duration of the research. You must also set out how your proposal is directly and primarily relevant to the development challenges (Sustainable Development Goals) of these countries and must explain how you expect that the outcome of your proposed activities will promote the economic development and welfare of a country or countries as specified in this call.
(500 words)
Start and End Date Confirmation*
Please confirm that you will start your project by March 2025 and that your research will end no later than 24 months later.
Gender Equality Statement*
The British Academy is committed to supporting gender equality in the funding it provides in accordance with this statement from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology Strategy’s publication on Gender Equality in Research and Innovation published in November 2022: “Research and innovation (R&I) activities funded by the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), provided through Partner Organisations, complies with the requirements of the DSIT R&I Gender Equality Policy, which states that activities must tackle instances of underrepresentation, differential needs and systemic disadvantage to improve the relevance of R&I findings, that support the inclusion, reduce the impact of bias and ultimately, contribute to reducing inequalities among genders. This includes but is not limited to Overseas Development Assistance [sic] activities, in line with the International Development (Gender Equality) Act 2014.”
All applicants are strongly recommended to thoroughly review the above publication before designing and drafting their application.
Please detail how the application complies with the requirements of the International Development (Gender Equality) Act 2014, evidencing the consideration of gender in the context of your research proposal, indicating clearly defined intended impacts and identified possible mitigations where appropriate, and demonstrating that you have met the required standards for compliance, as described in the Gender Equality Framework.
Is the activity Gender-specific? Please use the Yes/No question to let us know if the proposed activity relates to a specific issue of gender.
Please also answer each of the questions below. Each question is mandatory, meaning that each one requires a response, but you may enter ‘nil return’ if, depending on the nature of the project proposed, one or more questions are not applicable. Please note, however, that the questions are both an eligibility and an assessment criterion. The first 5 questions will be taken together to constitute a Gender Equality Statement as set out on page 37 of the Gender Equality in Research and Innovation document (additional criteria to consider in your statement can be found on pages 37-39).
Have measures been put in place to ensure equal and meaningful opportunities for people of different genders to be involved throughout the project? This includes the development of the project, the participants of the research, and the beneficiaries of the research. (250 words).
What are the expected impacts of the project (benefits and losses) on people of different genders, both throughout the project, and beyond? (250 words).
What are the expected impacts (benefits and losses) on the relations between people of different genders and people of the same gender? For example, changing roles and responsibilities in households, society, economy, politics, power, etc. (250 words).
Are there any risks and/or unintended negative consequences on gender equality that need to be avoided, mitigated against, and monitored? If yes, how. (250 words).
Are there any relevant outcomes and outputs being measured, with data disaggregated by age and gender (where disclosed)? (250 words).
What other structural inequalities (including, but not limited to: age, disability, ethnicity) have been identified in relation to project development, project participants and intended beneficiaries? Have measures been put in place to consider and mitigate against other structural inequalities in the course of the research? If so, what are these measures, and how will they be monitored and implemented to ensure mutual benefit? How will project participants and leaders ensure that the research will continue to address structural inequalities, including gender, beyond the lifetime of the project, across the outcomes and impacts expected? (250 words)
Trusted Research*
International research collaborations are fundamental to the equity, quality, diversity and impact of UK-based researchers and institutions. Most international collaborations will benefit all those involved and the expected usual status for this question is likely to be a null response, however, there will be cases where there are risks.
Research funded through this programme needs to take account of security-related considerations. UKRI, Universities UK and the National Protective Security Authority amongst others have published relevant guidance in this area. It is important to ensure that the research funded through this programme has undertaken relevant assurance related to reputational, data, financial, ethical and security risks.
Please use this field to detail any research security risks that the application may encounter and how these will be mitigated. It should be noted that such risks could include the potential dual application of the research, the management of information, data and other knowledge sharing, and activities that could utilise the research to target people in other countries such as through internal surveillance and repression. A set of questions suggested by the NPSA to consider in relation to this issue is as follows:
- Are there any potential ethical or moral concerns for the application of the research? If so, what are they?
- Could the research be used to support activities in other countries with ethical standards different from the UK, such as internal surveillance and repression? If so, how might this be possible and how is it proposed this risk is mitigated?
- Could the research be of benefit to a hostile state military or be supplied to other state actors? If so, how might it be of such benefit and how is it proposed this risk is mitigated?
- Are there any dual-use (both military and non-military) applications to the research? If so, what are they?
- Do you need to protect sensitive data or personally identifiable information? This may include genetic or medical information, population datasets, details of individuals or commercial test data. If so, how will you do so?
- Is your research likely to have a future commercial or patentable outcome which you or your organisation would want to benefit from? If so, what is this outcome?
- Is any of the research likely to be subject to UK or other countries' export licence controls? If so, what aspects of the research will be subject to such controls?
As highlighted by UUK in its above guidance it is important to be aware that failure to comply with export control legislation is a criminal offence and the terms ‘technology’ and ‘information’ have much broader definitions in legislation than might ordinarily or commonly be understood. To maximise compliance with export control legislation, individuals should:
- consider potential end-use possibilities of technology: it is the duty of researchers and their institutions to monitor potential end-uses of research, throughout the research life cycle. In some cases, research will have end-use applications that are unidentifiable in the early stages of development and continued monitoring is required
- inform researchers about the implications of intangible technology transfer: researchers must be aware that controlled sensitive information transmitted electronically (e.g. via social media, fax and email, videoconferencing, sharing screens remotely) and verbally (e.g. in telephone and face-to-face discussions) may still be subject to export controls.
There is also the Research Collaboration Advice Team, which is a collaboration between the UK Government and academia that can provide advice to institutions on national security risks to international research.
Applicants should be aware that government guidance and UK legislation may change, and they will need to take account of any such changes that may affect their proposed research. (750 words)
Ethical Issues*
This field is mandatory and must be addressed by all applicants.
Are there any special ethical issues arising from your proposal that are not covered by the relevant professional Code of Practice? Have you obtained, or will you obtain, ethical approval from your employing institution or other relevant authority?
It is not expected that any special ethical issues will arise that are not already covered by relevant professional Codes of Practice. The normal expectation, therefore, will be that applicants should answer the pair of questions with the answers no and no.
If there are any special issues arising, but they have already been cleared by approval from a relevant authority, please answer yes and yes.
If any special issues arise and approval has not yet been obtained, please answer yes and no, and provide more explanation.
Risk Management*
Please use this section to address any issues related to risk management.
(750 words)
Other Relevant Information
Please use the text box to enter the details of any other relevant information.
Financial Details/ Justification*
*Please refer to page 5 above for a full list of eligible costs.
Please use the table to indicate the figures for such costs (in GBP) between the various headings.
Lead and Co-Applicant Costs: Please include costs of up to £7,500 per institution involved with a maximum of £30,000 that can be utilised for this purpose (i.e. if there are more than four institutions involved it will not be possible for each to receive £7,500)
Travel Costs: please include all costs associated with travel, whether by the Lead, Co-Applicants or other participants. Please also include all costs associated with accommodation for any participants in the project.
Other Costs: please include in this section any other eligible costs, including consumables, workshop cost (such as venue hire and AV) and any other meeting or networking related costs.
In the justification box, please make a clear statement about the expected division of costs between the headings – indicating, for example, the expected costs of travel, networking, related expenses and so on.
Please do not use ‘£’ signs in the amount boxes
Value Sought*
Please enter the total amount of funding sought for your workshop(s). Please ensure that this matches the grand total of your budget table. The total amount requested must not exceed £50,000.
Applications to other funding bodies*
The British Academy does not require applicants to demonstrate that the research has also attracted funding from other bodies, but please use this space to indicate if it has done so.
(250 words)
Due Diligence Documentation
The British Academy overseas payment policy requires several supporting documents to be submitted for review. Individuals and organisations not based in the UK will be required to provide this information. Please ensure that these documents are uploaded via the file upload feature below. The documents required are listed as follows:
- Evidence of legal status
- Organogram
- Anti-fraud, corruption & bribery policy
- Travel & subsistence policy
- Conflict of interest policy
- Safeguarding policy
- Health and Safety policy
- Risk Management policy
- Ethics policy
- Recruitment and Selection policy
- Financial Procedures
- Research Misconduct policy
- Previous 3 years audited financial statements
- Delivery Chain Map regarding the management of incoming funds*
- Letter from organisation bank account confirming the account details and individuals responsible.
Each of these documents should be provided from the host institution.
*For the Delivery Chain Map, this will need to visually set out the full process flow. The ‘delivery chain’ refers to the full set of financial processes, from receiving funds, approving expenditure, recording expenditure and the institutions involved. Processes and individuals involved in the delivery chain will need to be clearly mapped out for our record. Once completed, the delivery chain mapping document will be signed and dated by the award-holder. This document will be reviewed annually and updated if there are any relevant personnel or process changes.
Primary Applicant Contact Details*
Please take care to review and complete your personal details accurately. Errors in this section can cause difficulties in the processing of your application.
You can update your personal details by checking ‘my account’ and selecting the link to ‘my contact details’ and ‘my organisation’ and ensuring the relevant details are up to date.
Primary Applicant Current Location*
Please select the country in which you are based from the drop down list provided.
The PI must be based in the UK, Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and/or one of the Least Developed Countries.
Employing Organisation*
Please be aware that it is your responsibility to ensure that you complete your application in time for your host institution to process it and provide their approval by the closing date.
Please use the search bar to find your home institution and add the organisation to your application. If your organisation is not available, then it may not be registered in our system. This will likely be the case if the home institution is based outside the UK. Before requesting the addition of a new organisation, please check that it is not affiliated with any organisation that is already registered. If it needs to be added, please email us at [email protected] as soon as possible. Any organisation being added must be approved as eligible by the British Academy no later than 2 weeks before the deadline of this call (16 October). This means that they will need to be in touch with the Academy well before this date in order for the approval process to have been undertaken.
All applications must be approved by the host organisation authorities e.g. research grants office, finance department, etc. The approving department will receive email notification once you have completed your application and submitted it. They will be asked to provide approval and then submit the application to the British Academy. It is strongly recommended that the applicant maintains an open dialogue with the approving department at the host institution as the British Academy cannot be held responsible for emails being caught in spam filters or not being received. It is recommended that you allow at least five working days for this process. Once the host institution has checked your application, they will contact you if any changes are required; please note that if changes need to be made, these will have to be done before the 30 October deadline as they cannot be done afterwards.
Nationality*
Please use the drop-down list to select your nationality. Additional nationalities can be added after the initial selection if required by selecting ‘Add Row’.
Employment Status*
Please confirm that your current position is either permanent or that your current employment will extend beyond the lifetime of the award.
Present Appointment, Employing Institution and Department*
Please give details of your current appointment. The Lead must be based at an eligible university or research institute and must be either in a permanent position at the institution or have a fixed-term position for the duration of the award.
Personal Statement
The Academy is aware that individuals will have had different opportunities to balance their work with other commitments during their career or may come from diverse or non-traditional career backgrounds. For example, having taken extended leave including parental or medical leave, or having returned to work following time in other roles that may have impacted on the applicants’ career. Please use this question to provide further information, so that the Academy can take this into account when assessing applicants’ track record.
(400 words)
Key Career Appointments and Posts*
Please provide your key career appointments and posts as a list. (250 words)
Key Career Experience and other Career Highlights*
Please use this field to provide a list of key career highlights and other experience, particularly related to international research collaboration (250 words)
Where did you hear of this scheme? *
It helps the British Academy to target appropriate resources towards the promotion of the scheme to know where an applicant hears about it. As appropriate, please state: BA website; BA literature; PhD supervisor; Institution Research Office; Twitter, colleague, etc.
Co-Applicants*
Please note that it is mandatory to include at least one named Co-Applicant who is based in Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and/or Least Developed Countries if the Principal investigator is based in the UK or at least one named Co-Applicant who is based in the UK if the Principal Investigator is based in Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and/or Least Developed Countries.
Please detail the title, name, employing institution and nationality of any co-applicant(s) on the project. You may include up to six co-applicants.
Please confirm that each Co-I’s current position is either permanent or will extend beyond the lifetime of the award.
Other participants in a project, whose involvement does not equate to being a ‘co-applicant’, should be named in the relevant section (‘Other Participants’) in the Workshop Proposal section.
Personal Statement
The Academy is aware that individuals will have had different opportunities to balance their work with other commitments during their career or may come from diverse or non-traditional career backgrounds. For example, having taken extended leave including parental or medical leave, or having returned to work following time in other roles that may have impacted on the applicants’ career. Please use this question to provide further information, so that the Academy can take this into account when assessing applicants’ track record.
(400 words)
This page is not mandatory; however, the Academy is committed to supporting diversity in our funding and would appreciate applicants completing the following details to enable us to monitor and analyse how inclusive our processes are.
The information provided will be treated as strictly confidential and will be used for statistical purposed only. It will not be seen by those involved in the selection process and no information will be published or used in any way which allows any individual to be identified.