UCL-IIT Delhi Strategic Partner Funds

UCL and IIT Delhi are funding collaborative and interdisciplinary education and research activities in any field

University College London (UCL) and Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IITD) are contributing matching funds to support collaborative and interdisciplinary education and research initiatives, through a joint call for proposals, for the development of collaborative activities that will lead to impactful research outcomes.

This is similar to the Multi Institutional Faculty Interdisciplinary Projects (MFIRP) programme at IITD. It is expected that the faculty members of IITD and UCL, will jointly prepare a suitable full proposal for further, possibly external, funding within the project duration.

This is in addition to other measurable research output(s) such as publications, technical workshops, IRP. These are important measure of success for the project in order to ensure its viability, sustainability and impact.

Projects

1. This call invites research proposals in areas of mutual interest and complementarity that strengthen partnership between UCL and IITD.
2. Proposals must include participants from both institutions; be interdisciplinary in nature; demonstrate a pathway to impact and focus on Sustainable Development Goals.
3. Proposals from all fields and thematic areas are welcome, including but not restricted to, the following:

4. Up to six joint projects will be selected for funding.
5. Proposals will be assessed by a committee composed of members from both institutions.
6. Proposals that require projects to be undertaken in sensitive and restricted areas will require pre-authorisation and approval from both IITD, UCL and all relevant authorities, prior to initiation of the project.

Eligibility

i) Applications are open to UCL staff members with the following roles:

• Professor / Professorial Research Fellow/ Professor (Teaching) or equivalent
• Associate Professor / Principal Research Fellow / Associate Professor (Teaching) or equivalent
• Lecturer / Senior Research Fellow / Lecturer (Teaching) or equivalent
• Research Fellow / Associate Lecturer (Teaching) or equivalent
• Research Assistant or equivalent are eligible to apply provided their contract covers the spend and activity period
• PhD students are not eligible to apply, but PIs are encouraged to include PhD students in their project

ii) For IITD the call is open to all the faculty members.

Collaborative activities

Collaborative activities may be based on joint projects set up by faculty/staff members of both institutions, including:

• Joint research projects
• Doctoral student mobility
• Any other form of partnerships, to be promoted and implemented jointly when both UCL and IITD find it mutually beneficial

Value and duration

Up to six successful proposals will receive up to £10,000. Each successful proposal will receive up to £5,000 per year for UCL faculty and up to Rs 5 lakh per year for IITD faculty, for 1 year.

Funding will be jointly provided by UCL and IITD, with 50% going to the academic at each respective institution.

One principal investigator (PI) should submit only one joint-proposal. IITD will take the lead on this, as submission will be via their on-line portal. The PIs will need to sign the joint application, or the IITD PI will need to confirm that the UCL counterpart has agreed to the joint submission of the application.

Projects will be selected by the start of November 2022 and must begin shortly thereafter.

The budget provided by IITD and UCL may be spent as per norms and regulations followed in each institute. 

For UCL funds allocated must be consumed before 31^st July 2023.

Timeline

Identifying academics at IITD and UCL

1. In order to identify academics at either institution, please refer to the institutional websites in the first instance. These are www.ucl.ac.uk and www.iitd.ac.in.
2. If further help is required, then UCL applicants should contact Professor Sunil Khare (deanrnd@admin.iitd.ac.in) whilst IITD applicants should touch base with Dr Amit Khandelwal at (amit.khandelwal@ucl.ac.uk) to seek help. We will help where practicable and possible.

Submission of proposals

1. Proposals are to be prepared and submitted jointly, and please ensure that all project costs are provided for the Panel’s consideration.
2. Compilation of the proposal will be handled by IITD. It is therefore crucial that UCL academics, in particular the lead Principal Investigator, liaise closely with their IITD counterparts as they will be responsible for filling an on-line form, a copy of will need to be shared with you share with you prior to populating the form. An example of the form that your IITD counterpart will fill is attached here for your information.
3. If you are seeking ‘additional or a continuation of funding’ having received monies from a previous joint seed fund call, please apply using the existing form, https://ird.iitd.ac.in/sites/default/files/ird_circulars/MFIRP.pdf. Any additional information to support your application can ‘uploaded using the tab for attaching additional files.
4. IITD counterpart will be responsible for submitting the final proposal on Monday 17^th October 2022 by 9am UK time, 13.30 hrs Indian standard time. It is vital that both the IITD and UCL counterparts are in full agreement on all aspects of the proposal prior to formal submission.
5. IITD Dean R&D office will forward all the proposal received before the deadline to UCL Global Engagement for adjudication.

Adjudication

1. Proposals received by IITD and UCL’s Global Engagement Office will be evaluated by a separate review at each institution.
2. Selection Criteria: Both internal review committees will assess each proposal according to the following criteria:

• Project design and rationale (how clearly presented and justified is the design and basis for the collaboration)
• Pathway for Project impact (how clearly linked are the outcomes to the planned activities and performance indicators, such as joint papers, external funding applications, joint research with industry and proposal for policy recommendations.
• Interdisciplinary nature of the project (the aim of the funding is to encourage academics to collaborate in a project that will require a range of disciplines for successful delivery of the project)
• Impact of collaboration (is there a distinct advantage provided by this collaboration that is not possible by the two institutions working individually?)
• Capacity for future collaboration (what is the extent to which future collaborations are possible as a result of the proposed activities.)

3. Please state which of the seventeen UN Sustainable Goals your project will fall under. The information sought here is for mapping purposes. It is not part of the selection criteria.
4. A joint committee will convene to select up to six final proposals.

Communication of results

Final results will be announced by means of a communication to the successful faculty members or PI’s by each institution, during week commencing 14^th November 2022.

Reporting after project completion

All awardees must, as a condition of receiving an award under this call, complete a narrative report of achievements (of between 1 and 2 pages), and how they intend to take the research forward beyond the funding period. This should be completed within 3 months of completion of the project.

Contacts

For any clarification points or questions on the joint call, please do not hesitate colleagues listed below:

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