The SWDTC-ESRCcollaborative studentships, facilitated by GWR
Eligibility and Application Guidelines
Please note : some minor aspects of these guidelines may be modified in the light of on-going discussions within the SWDTC AAB. Please check the GWR website regularlyto ensure you are working from the latest version and again before finally submitting your application.
Updated-Sept 2012
Table of Contents
Introduction and context
Aims of the initiative
Eligibility and Commitments
Research Focus
SWDTC Pathways and External Partners
Students
External Partner, Funding and involvement
Application Process
Submitting a full application
Method of submission
General guidance
Host Institution
The Research project
Submitting more than one application
Question-specific guidance
Resubmission of an application
Confidentiality and use of the information supplied
Application deadlines
Application Assessment and Award Process
Assessment criteria
Award announcement
Monitoring
Complaints procedure
Appendix 1: Data Protection
1
Introduction and context
1.These guidelines describedoctoral level funding for collaborative projects availablethrough the ESRC-SWDTC facilitated by Great Western Research. It contains details of theStudentshipscheme including aims, eligibility criteria, details of how best to apply,the evaluation process and procedures, and expected timing.
2.Higher level skills have an important role to play in the economy and the role of higher education in the transformation of the UK economy is recognised by the research councils as being important in this, hence these collaborative awards.
3.A total of up to 16 PhD collaborative Studentships will be availableeach year from 2012, each co-funded by the ESRC-SWDTC and one or more External Partners (see point 4),and managed by GWR, providing full funding for PhD level research programs.
4.Two types of studentships will be offered, each of which will require an External funding Partner who agrees to co-fund the project. Single DisciplinePathwaysmay involve only a single SWDTC supervisor (this is currently under consideration by the Academic Advisory Board, and also assumes that your institution/college/school allows this), whilst projects proposed for theInterdisciplinary Pathwaysmust involve 2 SWDTC partners at different institutions. All projects require working together with an External funding Partner (External Partner in this context includes businesses, not for profit organisations, Public Sector Research Establishments, such as the NHS Trusts, charities, cultural bodies, museums, archives, NGOsand social enterprises). Applications for both types of studentships will be equally welcomed.
5.You are strongly advised to read this document,in full, prior to submitting an application. GWR will accept initial outline applications where an external partner is yet to be identified which may then be subsequently developed with our assistance into fully detailed applications for consideration for funding by the AAB.
6.GWR has previously been involved in over 170 PhD level projects across the South West in collaboration with the South West Regional Development Agency and the European Social Fund, and 20 research Fellowships, in collaboration with HEFCE. Details of the projects we have previously funded may be found on the GWR website :
Aims of the initiative
7.These ESRC collaborative studentships facilitated by Great Western Research aimto build a strong cadre of research students and staff and to ensure the sustainability of internationally-excellent research in South-West England.
8.The funded research projects willalso encourage growth in business funded R&D in the South West. The provision of research studentships is seen as an effective way to catalyse research partnerships between University research groups and external partner organisations.
9.The collaborative research projects will be of the highest quality and standards that will lead to significant advances in the area of research, and be of interest and value to the wider research community. They will contribute to the SWDTC meeting the 20%collaborative research target which has been set by the ESRC for PhD projects, and are expected to enhance the individual institutions REF submissions.
10.Great Western Researchand the SWDTC will make awards only where the proposed research meets the aims of the scheme and is considered to be of high quality.
Eligibility andCommitments
11.Great Western Researchwill make an individual assessment ofthe basic eligibility of all applications.All applications must fulfil the essential criteria below, or they will be considered ineligible.
Research focus
12.Applications must be clearly focussed in the areas supported by the ESRC funded SWDTC to be considered for funding.
The SWDTCPathways,and External Partners
13.All studentships must be offered as a true collaborationbetween one or more SWDTC academic supervisor(s) and an External Partner.
14.The lead academic supervisor, iewhere the student is registered for the PhD, must be based at an SWDTC partner institution, and have a contract of employment that extends beyond the proposed end date of the studentship.
15.For the Interdisciplinary pathways, joint supervision by at least two SWDTC academic supervisors is required. These interdisciplinary pathway applications must also include a clear description of how the proposed joint academic supervision will work, and how the project meets the SWDTC’s definition of Interdisciplinary .
Students
16.International Students are eligible to be appointed to these studentships, however,the studentship fees contribution is fixed by ESRC andacademic applicants will need to arrange to cover any additional fees from other sources.
17.Students must meet all of the normal minimum criteria applied by the SWDTC and the host institution for registration for the degree of PhD. Students will normally be recruited through the existing SWDTC processes.
External Partners, Funding and involvement
18.All studentships applications must include an External non-University Partner. In the context of these studentships, the term External Partner includes businesses, not for profit organisations, Public Sector Research Establishments, such as the NHS Trusts, charities, cultural bodies, museums, archives, NGOsand social enterprises, all of whom are equally eligible. The External Partner may be based anywhere in the UK, or potentially abroad by prior agreement with GWR and the SWDTC.
19.The External Partner or a group/cluster of External Partners should be actively involved in developing the research proposal. There is an expectation the External Partner will be actively involved in the research, regularly taking part in meetings with academic supervisors and providing support to the researchers. The External Partner also needs to provide an outline of how the knowledge resulting from the research will be exploited and the benefitsthat the research will bring to them.
20.External Partners must contribute to the cost of the studentship and will be required to enter into a contractual arrangement with the host University which clearly specifies their commitment in terms of finance,time and resources. If necessary, this contract will also cover intellectual property issues that may arise from the research.
21.Normally the ExternalPartner’s contribution to the cost of a 3 year collaborative studentship is expected to be £11,036 pa, i.e.£33,108over 3 years,but see note 22.
The ESRC contribution to the cost of a 3 year collaborative studentship will be capped at £9,036 pa,i.e. £27,108over 3 years.
The total cost of a 3 year collaborative studentship project is therefore anticipated to be £60,216
Thistotal cost figure includesa contribution to the running costs of the GWR project of £2,000 p.a., which will be recovered from the External partner’s contribution via the host University.
Therefore the value of a collaborative studentship award to the host University is £18,072 pa or a total of £54,216 over 3 years, which is identical to the value of a directly awarded non-collaborative ESRC - SWDTC studentship.
For 3+1 projects i.e. 4 year studentships where the chosen student is required to undertake a masters degree in the SWDTC ,the annual contributions required are the same, but the overall totals increase proportionately to £44,144 and £36,144 respectively. If your institution levies an additional fee element for the “+1” masters year (eg for a mainly taught masters program) you will need to have a plan for covering this eventuality.
Higher contributions may required from External Partners for projects in the Economics pathway, please contact GWR for details.
If the anticipated overall cost of the studentship project is significantly above thestandard £60,216figure, please contact GWR to discuss.
22.Not-for-Profit organisations, Public Sector Research Establishments, such as the NHS Trusts, charities, cultural bodies, museums, archives, NGOsand social enterprises will allbe eligible as External Partners, and applications involving the above partners will be particularly welcome. In order to encourage the participation of these types of organisations the SWDTC University partner(s) may wish to contribute financially to the project by agreeing to replace a proportion of the External Partner’s contribution from University/School/College/Departmental funds . This will be allowed up to a ceiling of £6,000pa. Thus the minimumacceptablecontribution from External Partner to a project is £5,036 pa, when theSWDTC University partner(s) agrees to provide funds to subsidise the remaining £6,000pa of the External Partners contribution.
23.Any individual External Partner will not normally be able to undertake more than 6 studentships concurrently without special dispensation fromthe SWDTC.
24.TheStudentshipsawarded containa University fee element of £3,732, a fixedannual stipend to the student of £13,590 (£16,590 in economics) and an annual travel grant to the student of £750. The registering Department will be expected to cover all costs of accommodation and other overheads, and any fees above the £3,732 standard ESRC scheme allowance.
25.The full cost of some PhD programmes may be higher than the studentship’s value because of the costs of materials, extra travel and other research project costs. You may wish to use University funds or funds from other organisations such as research councils, charities or HEFCE to contribute towards the total cost of the studentship project over and above the GWR SWDTC grant, and this should be specified in the application under ”additional contribution”.
26.It is possible to have more than one External Partner in a project, and the partners do not need to contribute equal amounts. Consortia of SMEs or NGOs for example may be involved in supporting a studentship, each contributing part of the required finance, but all partners will need to agree contractually to their individual financial contributions.
Application process
27.GWR will operate a 2 stage application process, with Outline Applications being subsequently developed into Full Applications where an external partner has not already been agreed for a project.
28.Outline Applications may be submitted at anytime by eMail using the Outline Application form downloadable as a Word document from the GWR website. GWR will then discuss the proposed research with the supervisor, seek to assist in identifying a suitable External Partner, and then facilitate discussions with potential partners.
29.Once a suitable External Partner has agreed to support the project, a detailed research proposal will be developed by the lead academic in collaboration with the External Partner for submission as a Full Studentship Application using the GWR on-line application system, which will remain open until October 26th 2012.
Submitting a Full Application
30.The Full Studentship application form is designed to provide all the information needed for a rigorous peer review process. The guidelines that follow will help you prepare your full application for that process.
31.Overall, you are advised to focus your application and to provide sufficient evidence to enable a considered judgement as to the quality of your proposal, its significance and its feasibility to be reached.
32.Full Applications for studentships to begin in 2013 may be submitted at any time from the opening of the on-line system in until the close of the call at noon on the 26th October 2012 and applications will be assessedfor eligibility by GWR and funding decisions made by the end of 2012 by the SWDTC Academic Advisory Board ( AAB) .
Method of submission
33.Outline Applications may be submitted at any time, by eMail using the downloadable form on the GWR web site. If you already have an External Partner who has agreed to support the research, please still submit an outline application form giving your details and project title etc and then proceed directly to the full application.
34.Full applications may be ONLY be submitted on-line through the Great Western Research Website. Applications submitted by any other means will not be considered.
35.The website application process provides an opportunity for the applicant to begin an application, save it, and come back to it a later date. When first saved, the lead applicant/supervisor will receive an email with a password to enable them to access saved applications for future completion.
36.It is imperative that the lead applicant/supervisor inputs one valid email address on the application form. This email address is the primary route for contact between the applicant and the Great Western Research application process. Similarly, please only use numbers for telephone details.
37.Once an application form is finally submitted, you will not be able to retrieve or print its contents. ‘Submission’ means you are willing for GWR to log the application as complete and begin assessment . If, after submission, you need a printed copy or wish to withdraw the application, please contact the program manager
38.Certain questions on the application form have a word limit. Please keep to this word limit, to avoid having part of your text ignored.
39.You will not be able to submit your Full Application without all compulsory fields completed, though you can still of course save the application for completion at a later date.
General guidance
Host institution
40.Each collaborative Studentship application must have a principal academic applicant based in the SWDTC and for the interdisciplinary pathways a second academic partner based ina second SWDTC institutionis required.
41.Payment of the grant to successful projects will be made directly to the lead institution.
The research project
42.Great Western Research and the SWDTC ‘sprimary concern is to ensure that thesecollaborative research Studentshipsaddress clearly articulated research questions or problems which are set in a clear research context.
43.The application must therefore clearly define the research questions or problems that will be addressed during the award period. It must also define its objectives in terms of seeking to enhance knowledge and understanding relating to the questions or problems to be addressed.
44.There is an expectation that the External Partner will be actively involved in the research project definition, and regularly take part in meetings with academic supervisors and provide support to the researchers. External Partnerswill also need to contribute to an outline of how the knowledge resulting from the research will be exploited and to explain the benefit that the research it will bring to them.
45.The application must also specify why it is important that these particular questions or problems should be addressednow and what particular contribution this project will make to knowledge in the area, placing the project in context of the existing work in the area
46.The lead academic supervisor takes responsibility for the intellectual leadership of the research. They will be the person to whom we shall address all correspondence.
Submitting more than one application from aLead Supervisor
47.If, as a Lead Supervisor, you submit more than one application, then you must demonstrate/justify that you and your department will be able to carry out all of the projects and supervision for which you are applying.
Question-specific guidance
Please use this section in conjunction with the online application form. Questions identified with an * must be answered. Failure to provide an answer to these gateway questions will result in the application being deemed ineligiblefor assessment :
*Project Title (max 50 words) – Please enter a full title
*Lead Institution Department–Please state where and in which department the Student will be registered.
* 2nd institution–All applications for the Interdisciplinary Pathwaysstudentships must be offered as an academic collaboration, with joint supervision by at least two SWDTC partners, at different institutions.
* Lead External Partner - All studentships must include a lead External non-University partner. See Eligibility and Commitments above for details of eligible organisations, enter the full name and address including post code of the contact person.
* Nature of External Partners activities – Please enter a brief description. For exampleCharity, NGO, NHS trust, shoe manufacturer, construction industry, etc.
Charity, public sector organisations, and social enterprises are all welcome as External Partners as are Businesses and SMEs (small to medium enterprises incorporating micro enterprises) which are classed as organisations with less than 250 employees and which have an annual turnover not exceeding 50 million euro, and/or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding 43 million euro.
A Significant Regional Employer (SRE) is defined as an organisation that employs more than 250 people in the region and has an annual turnover exceeding 50 million euro.
* Has a commitment in principle been obtained and forwarded from the external funding partners?- In order to ensure proposals are quickly and effectively assessed, a signed commitment in principle, subject to contract, from the External Partner(s) is necessary. This should take the form of a letter from a person with financial authority at the External Partner(s) supporting the aims and objectives of the research, and refer to their degree of involvement both intellectually and financiallysubject to contract, for the proposed project (template available on the GWR website). Please arrange for this information to be forwarded to Paul Hudson, Great Western Research, Kay Building, North Park Rd, University of Exeter, EX4 4QF(or ) when you submit your Full application.
SupportingExternal partners – Details as above –
Financial Arrangements :
1) Total anticipated cost of Studentship –3 yearStudentship awards under this scheme have an anticipated total cost of £60,216. We recognise however that the anticipated final cost of some PhD programmes may be higher than this because of the costs of special materials, substantial travel and other research project costs, please enter the total anticipated cost of the studentship project here, see note 21 above.