UCL GRAND CHALLENGES

UCL Grand Challenges

• UCL Grand Challenges Small Grants 2013-2014
  • Apply for a small grant
  • Small Grants Guidance Notes
  • Posters
• 2013 UCL Grand Challenges Small Grants awards
• UCL–French Embassy science and technology workshops 2012–2013

Small Grants Guidance Notes

Apply for a Grand Challenges Small Grant

• Up to £3,000 available for applications led by UCL staff
• Support for a wide range of societally relevant cross-disciplinary activities
• Pay for activities over the 12 month period 1 August 2013 to 31 July 2014
• Applications led by early career researchers at UCL are encouraged
• Application deadline: midnight, Monday 10 June 2013
• All applications must be submitted using the online form.

UCL Grand Challenges invites applications to its Small Grants Scheme. A Small Grant provides funding for projects, or other activities, that lead to, or support, cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Eligibility

The application’s ‘Lead Applicant’ and ‘Main Collaborator’ must be UCL staff members based in different departments, with priority given to those from different faculties.  The ‘Lead Applicant’ must be an academic member of staff (i.e. lecturer level or above).  The ‘Main Collaborator’ can be either an academic member of staff or a non-academic (e.g. administrative) member of staff. 

Applications can involve external partners as ‘Additional Collaborators’.

Priority will be given to collaborations between staff based in different UCL faculties. Involvement of external partners is welcomed, as described in point 4., below (under "Application guidance and eligibility criteria").

We encourage applications led by early career researchers at UCL (e.g. recently appointed lecturers or research council funded senior fellows).

In this round, the Small Grants Scheme offers awards up to £3,000 for cross-disciplinary activity under any one of the  UCL Grand Challenges:

Global Health addresses issues of global health equity, preventable disease and social determinants of health to tackle the root causes of health inequality across the world. Previous GCGH Small Grants Sustainable Cities finds ways to address issues including climate change, food production and economic pressures in order to help our cities become better for the people who live and work in them. Previous GCSC Small Grants Intercultural Interaction examines the causes and features of social and cultural diversity, considers their implications and devises novel strategies to address them.  Previous GCII Small Grants Human Wellbeing fosters exciting responses to questions about the nature of being human and the nature of wellbeing. It considers issues such as healthy ageing, behaviour change, and the social and ethical issues raised by advances in medical technology. Previous GCHW Small Grants

Examples of current themes

Impact

As well as being relevant to a UCL Grand Challenge, proposals should be innovative, cross-disciplinary, have societal relevance and aim to achieve impact. ‘Impact’ can be achieved through:

• scholarly outputs (in peer journals)
• pilot studies that catalyze large grant applications
• outputs from peer and public engagement events/workshops (e.g. reports in broadcast or print media, UCL and other websites)
• influence upon policy and practice (e.g. manifest through published reports)
• enterprise activity or translational research

Key dates 2013

Monday, 8 April	Launch of Small Grants Scheme
Midnight, Monday, 10 June	Deadline for small grant applications
Monday, 1st July	Winning applications announced
Early August	Transfers made to successful applicants to pay for cost incurring activities up to 31 July 2014

What kinds of activities does the scheme support?

Typically funding can be for (but not limited to):

• conferences, seminars, workshops, symposia or public engagement activities (including performance-based or art installations)
• a specific project, e.g. a pilot study or development of an application for the funding of a major research project, which may require research assistant time (N.B. HEFCE staff cost replacement is not eligible)
• collaborative activities undertaken during a sabbatical period spent at UCL

What kinds of activities are not supported by the scheme?

• Studies in basic science or for research that is mainly lab-based
• Activities which will incur costs after 31 July 2014. Our scheme can only pay for activities in the 12 month period 1 August 2013 to 31 July 2014. Use of awarded funds can not be deferred to a later period

Reporting requirements

• Submission of a brief progress report will be required by the end of July 2014. The GC team will review these
• The holders of two or three of the awards made will be invited to participate in a filmed interview in August/September
• Some award recipients may also be asked to discuss their work at a meeting of the UCL Grand Challenges Executive Group during the autumn

Application guidance and eligibility criteria

• NB: A Grand Challenges Small Grant can only pay for activities in the 12 month period, 1 August 2013 to 31 July 2014. After 31 July 2014 the funds will expire.

Application forms must be completed in full using the online form Applications will not be successful if they do not make clear how the proposed activity: will enhance the impact of current or newly-proposed research supports or develops cross-disciplinary engagement relevant to their research is relevant to one of UCL’s four Grand Challenges The application’s ‘Lead Applicant’ and ‘Main Collaborator’ must be UCL staff members based in different departments, with priority given to those from different faculties.  The ‘Lead Applicant’ must be an academic member of staff.  The ‘Main Collaborator’ can be either an academic member of staff or a non-academic (e.g. administrative) member of staff Applications may include, as Additional Collaborators: other UCL staff or students academic partners (at other UK or overseas universities) a collaborator based at an institution with which UCL has a major strategic link, e.g. the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Institute of Education, Institute of Zoology, Yale University, the Max Planck Society, INSERM external non-academic partners (e.g. a non-governmental or community-based organisations, private or public sector organisations) Priority will be given to collaborations between staff, across UCL faculties, who have not worked previously together Priority will be given to proposals that are innovative, cross-disciplinary, have societal relevance and aim to achieve impact Applications including early-career staff as Lead Applicant or Main Collaborator are encouraged Applications led by Arts & Humanities staff are encouraged Funds may be used to meet staff costs or salaries (but not to replace UCL HEFCE staff costs/salaries, or to pay bench fees) A maximum of £3,000 is available per project

All applications must be submitted using the online form at www.ucl.ac.uk/grand-challenges/small-grants. Once an application has been submitted you will receive automatic email confirmation. If you do not receive confirmation please contact Michael Reade (m.reade@ucl.ac.uk / 020 7679 8713), or one of the contacts given at the bottom of this page.

Applications will be assessed by ad-hoc panels comprising staff of Office of the Vice-Provost (Research) and representatives from the UCL Grand Challenge Executive Group or Steering Group.

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Contacts

If you have any further questions about applying for funding, please contact one the people indicated below:

• Grand Challenge of Global Health - Helen Hopkins (h.hopkins@ucl.ac.uk)
• Grand Challenge of Sustainable Cities - James Paskins (j.paskins@ucl.ac.uk)
• Grand Challenge of Intercultural Interaction – Michael Reade (m.reade@ucl.ac.uk)
• Grand Challenge of Human Wellbeing – Michael Reade (m.reade@ucl.ac.uk)
• UCL Grand Challenges Principal Facilitator - Ian Scott (ian.scott@ucl.ac.uk)