In an announcement released last week the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) have set out further changes to their Responsive Mode grant schemes.
NERC previously announced the closure of its Small Grant scheme in August, along with an increase in funding for their Consortium Grants scheme. However, the latest announcement from NERC sees the Consortium Grant scheme being replaced by a new Large Grants scheme.
Consortium Grants will be replaced by a new Large Grants Scheme
NERC’s Large Grant scheme will continue to support adventurous, large-scale and complex research tackling big science questions within the NERC remit which cannot be addressed through other NERC funding opportunities.
Key changes to the scheme:
- There will no longer be a requirement for a minimum of three eligible investigators based in separate participating organisations.
- A minimum funding level of £1·2m (100% FEC) will be introduced (the maximum funding level of £3·7m remains unchanged).
- An outline proposal must first be submitted for consideration and only successful outlines may proceed to the full proposal stage.
- Outlines will be assessed by a panel comprising members of the peer review college, plus independent experts as required.
- Outlines will be assessed against the criteria ‘potential excellence’ and ‘fit to scheme’.
- There will be one outline and one full proposal closing date per year. Dates for 2012 are as follows:
- Outline Proposal Closing Date: 1 March 2012
- Full Proposal Closing date: 15 November 2012 (tbc)
In addition to these changes, and to differentiate between schemes, a maximum funding level of £1·2m (100% FEC) will be introduced for Standard Grants, with the minimum level amended to £65,000 (100% FEC).
Applicants will be able to apply for funding between £65,000 and £1.2m (100% FEC) within the Standard Grants Scheme
The Council’s New Investigator competition will also end following completion of the 2012 round, and will instead be embedded within the Standard Grant scheme rather than operating independently.
The New Investigator competition will be encorporated into the Standard Grant scheme
New Investigator status of the lead Principal Investigator may be indicated at the time of application; however how New Investigator eligibility is defined will not change. NERC has offered assurance that there will be a revised process in place to ensure New Investigator led proposals will have an increased chance of funding within the Standard Grant scheme.
Please note that the 2012 New Investigator call will proceed unchanged with a closing date of 1 February 2012. The ability to submit a New Investigator application via the Standard Grant call will be available from the December 2012 closing date onwards. All other changes will come into effect on 1 January 2012.
The full announcement can be read on the NERC website.