Applications open for ISPF Research Collaboration Grants Programme

The Research Collaboration Programme is designed to be flexible and responsive to in country needs, allowing applicants to establish collaborations on specific areas linked to country priorities and development needs, and to bring in relevant private and third sector partners, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs), nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), technology transfer offices, and other not-for-profit organisations.

Programme Information

• ISPF Research Collaboration grants provide small scale seed funding for collaborations between the UK and the participating ISPF countries in each call to:
  • Initiate new research and innovation collaborations between academic groups, departments, and institutions in partner countries and the UK
  • Develop existing collaborations at group, departmental, and institutional level
  • Encourage these collaborations to work with non-academic organisations and individuals to support the exchange of research and innovation expertise and the translation of research knowledge into tangible benefits
  • Establish local hubs for joint UK-partner country/activity in a particular area, enabling engagement from the wider research and innovation community.

Themes

• The ISPF themes are:
  • Resilient Planet – Leading the green industrial revolution to protect the planet
  • Transformative Technologies – Developing responsible technologies to secure the place in tomorrow’s world
  • Healthy People, Animals and Plants – Researching and Innovating for secure and healthy populations
  • Tomorrow’s Talent – Nurturing talent to drive inclusion, research, and innovation.

Scope

• Grants under the ISPF Fund Research Collaboration programme will fund bilateral research and innovation collaborations under the ISPF themes, with priorities set with partner countries and territories at call design.
• The call will fund Global Challenges Research Grants to support and facilitate research that tackles global challenges. Wherever possible, Research Collaboration should demonstrate how they will benefit the wider research and innovation community in the partner country/territory.
• Collaborations may also be established as UK-partner country/territory centres of excellence, based in the partner country/territory, in a particular research area, acting as a resource hub for the wider research community in country and a focal point for other activities, (e.g. seminars, technical training workshops).

Funding Information

• A total of £1.9 million in a total of 6 countries/territories for UK institutions to fund up to 24 bilateral projects.
• Grants typically range from £80,000 up to £160,000 for up to two years, dependent on the country.

Eligibility Criteria

• Proposals must fulfil the following criteria to be eligible for funding under this Programme:
• Each proposal must have one Project Leader from the UK and one Project Leader from the specified Partner Country/Territory.
• Both Project Leaders must be Leading Researchers1 or Established Researchers.
• UK Project Leaders must be permanent employees of one of the following (this means that Emeritus and Honorary Professors may not apply as lead):
  • A not-for-profit higher education institution with the capacity to undertake high-quality research.
  • Eligible higher education providers (HEPs) take part in the Research Excellence Framework and receive recurrent annual funding from one of the UK’s higher education funding bodies.
  • A not-for-profit research organisation with the capacity to undertake high quality research.
• Both Project Leaders’ institutions (the ‘Lead Institutions’) must have the capacity to administer the grant.
• Individual departments within a single institution can make multiple applications per call provided that the proposed activities are clearly different.
• Not-for-profit higher education institutions and publicly funded research organisations are eligible to apply as Lead Institutions.
• For-profit organisations and not-for-profit organisations are not eligible to apply as Lead Institutions for Research Collaboration grants.

For more information, visit British Council.