UCL Health of the Public Small Grants Scheme FAQs.
What do you mean by cross-disciplinary research collaborations?
Collaborators should be from distinctly different disciplines. Be clear in your application how the disciplines are different, what they each bring to the proposed project, and how working together will be innovative.
There is no requirement for applicants to be from different UCL Departments, Institutes or Faculties, as this could potentially rule out collaborations of distinct disciplines just because researchers are housed in the same area of UCL.
Does this grant cover salary costs?
Unfortunately we cannot cover Directly Incurred / Directly Allocated staff costs for First and Second Applicants. However, Health of the Public Small Grants are able to cover directly incurred staff costs for your project’s researchers who are already in post, or where recruitment is already underway and staff will be in post by January 2022.
What are Directly Incurred and Directly Allocated costs?
Take a look at the UCL Research and Innovation Services webpage for a definition. Directly Allocated salary costs are generally salary costs of academic staff on core contracts (usually lecturers or above). Directly incurred salary costs are the salary costs of staff who are grant funded. Check with your departmental or financial administrator if you have any questions.
I would like to include a PhD student or temporary member of staff for some aspects of my project. Can include these costs?
We recognise the need for access to short term support and expertise, and that this isn’t always possible using existing UCL staff. If you need to pay PhD students or recruit temporary staff this needs to be done via Unitemps. Please contact them in advance of submitting your application, to seek guidance on costing and the likely availability of staff with the skills you require.
I am grant funded (or hold a fellowship), but would like to apply as a First or Second Applicant. Am I eligible to apply and would the scheme cover a percentage of my salary cost?
You are eligible to apply as the First or Second Applicant if you are grant-funded post-doctoral research staff or hold a fellowship. However as stated in our Financial Requirements and Restrictions, we are unable to cover any Directly Incurred staff costs for First and Second Applicants..
Therefore if you wish to apply, you would need to ensure that your line manager and the Principal Investigator of any grants covering your salary are happy for you to undertake this project. This may be possible if the small grants project is relevant to the work you are conducting on these other grants, or your fellowship.
Who should sign my application form?
For applicants based in the Faculties of Life, Brain, Medical or Population Health Sciences, applications should be signed by your Institute Director and Departmental Manager. For applicants based in the Faculty of the Built Environment, the IOE, or the Faculties of Engineering Sciences, Mathematical & Physical Sciences, Laws, Arts & Humanities or Social & Historical Sciences, your application should be signed by your Head of Department and Departmental Manager.
If the First Applicant is an Institute Director based in the Faculties of Life, Brain, Medical or Population Health Sciences, your application should be signed by your Dean. If the First Applicant is a Head of Department in the Faculty of the Built Environment, the IOE, or the Faculties of Engineering Sciences, Mathematical & Physical Sciences, Laws, Arts & Humanities or Social & Historical Sciences, your application should be signed by your Dean.
Does the worktribe costing need to be submitted to Research Services for approval?
No, your worktribe costing should not be submitted to Research Services for approval. However it should be reviewed by your Departmental/Division Manager and Head of Department/Institute Director when you send them your application for approval and signature.
I’ve submitted my application. Should I receive a confirmation email?
Yes. You will receive a confirmation email from UCL Health of the Public. If you have not received a confirmation email by 19 October please contact healthofpublic@ucl.ac.uk.
In the eligibility criteria what do you mean by ‘UCL academic staff’
An applicant's status and period of employment at UCL must enable them to receive UCL Health of the Public funding into an account that will be administered by their department.
By academic staff we mean all academic roles (as opposed to professional services roles) across UCL, whether on the teaching, research or academic career track.
Who will assess my application?
The Health of the Public Small Grants Review Panel comprises Vice-Deans of Research and Health and members of the Health of the Public Delivery Group, representing every UCL Faculty. The panel will be chaired by Graham Hart (Faculty of Population Health Sciences).