Call for Proposals: Platform Grants (New Zealand)

Scope

• A five-year grant for a platform that provides nationwide access to resources enabling research into neurological conditions
• Directorship that includes early/mid-career researchers/clinicians with succession planning
• An advisory board/steering committee
• A business plan that considers fees for service (where appropriate) and options for charity/government/industry/pharma partnership
• Involves an educational aspect (i.e., student or trainee involvement, teaching, engaging with patients or community groups)
• Partnership with Māori (Māori consultation or participation, Māori team members, alignment with Māori research principles and ethics, significance to Māori health.

Funding Information

• Grant amount: Maximum value $1,000,000.

Eligible Expenses

• Salaries for post-doctoral research fellows
• Salaries for named investigators
• Salaries for research assistants and technicians
• Salaries for administration and support staff
• Working expenses, including publication costs
• Equipment
• Travel for conferences and training courses directly related to the programme, this should be included in the programme budget

Ineligible Expenses

• Institutional overheads
• Salaries for those whose salary is funded by their institution

Eligibility Criteria

• Post-doctoral researchers, clinicians, academics.

Application Requirements 

• Applicants submit a two-page expression of interest (EOI), focusing on what they plan to do, how it fits with the funding criteria and what impact it will have. A full budget is not required at this stage.
• Complete the application form, including signatures from your host institution. The Neurological Foundation will only accept applications sent by the host institution’s research office.
• If more than ten applications are received, EOIs may be triaged through pre-scoring. Any applications that are not deemed to fit the purpose of the available funding will also be triaged out at this stage. The Foundation will provide feedback to those that are unsuccessful at the EOI stage.
• For applicants invited to submit a full application, the deadline will be three months after the announcement of the EOI outcome. The full application will require a budget and supporting documentation.
• The budget requested should be in NZD. The Neurological Foundation will not award more than is requested in the budget and does not fund institutional overheads. Only actual costs for ACC and superannuation should be included in salary associated costs.
• Supporting documentation:
  • NZ Standard CVs for all named investigators, including research assistants and subcontractors, using the template available
  • Partial funding and ethics approval letters, as required
  • Quotes for items of equipment or subcontracts, and letters of support for collaborations, should be attached at the end of the research proposal
• Full applications will receive up to four external reviews, which will be made available to applicants prior to interviews. Applicants will be invited to provide rebuttals to referee comments. If the average of the referee scores is Satisfactory or less, applications may be triaged at this stage after the committee review the referee reviews and applicant rebuttals
• The committee will interview remaining applicants via videoconference. Up to three of the investigators may be involved in the interview, and at least one of the principal investigators must be present. Each interview will be strictly half an hour. Questions will be structured around the written application, scoring criteria and points raised by external referees.
• Applicants will also be given time to ask questions of the committee.
• The committee will make funding recommendations to the National Council of the Foundation. The final decision will be made by the Council.
• Successful applicants will work with the Foundation and their host institution(s) to create a Memorandum of Understanding.

For more information, visit Neurological Foundation.