Awards - Resources:
How much funding can I ask for?
Support may be requested up to a maximum of £40,000 (Directly Incurred Costs) although it is intended that most projects will typically be somewhat smaller (£25,000). SPARC currently has about £225,000, plus some monies to contribute towards Directly Allocated Costs, to distribute for Call 2. We cannot afford to support many projects at this maximum limit and would prefer smaller bids. We hope that the funding will be sufficient for about 10 projects.
All projects must be completed by November 2007. The maximum length of project for the second call is 12 months.
How can the funds be used?
The initial application form does not require extensive financial detail. This will be requested only for those applications which are shortlisted for support. However, as it is important that projects are costed according to standard EPSRC practice it may be useful to refer to the Further Details form and to guidelines to costing proposals which can be found on the EPSRC website. Particular care needs to be paid to the handling of overhead / Full Economic Costs as for many applicants these will be unfamiliar territory.
SPARC will support:
Salary costs - Research Assistants, Technician and Clerical support specifically
for the project. SPARC follows EPSRC and BBSRC policy with respect to salary
scales for named and unnamed research assistants and other staff, but differs
in one key aspect. Costs stated in a proposal will not be reviewed in the
light of revisions to salary scales. In essence an award will be cash limited.
Following standard Research Council policy, the salary costs of an applicant (termed investigator) cannot be charged to a project. However, within the Research Councils new FEC conventions, these should be declared as a Directly Allocated Cost along with Estate Costs and Indirect Costs. Each SPARC award will include an element to contribute towards these Directly Allocated Costs costs but it will not be possible to meet Indirect Costs.
Because FEC has been introduced only recently and the Research Councils, as well as SPARC, are still developing their experience of this new approach to costing and funding, it is not possible to give explicit guidance on all possible contingencies which might arise in respect of investigators costs. For example, clarification from the funders of SPARC (EPSRC and BBSRC) is being sought on the treatment of applications which propose funding the replacement of an applicant's teaching duties in place of employing a research assistant (this approach, which currently is not permissable within established EPSRC practice, would introduce a new investigator to ageing research although it would not introduce a new research assistant).
Travel and subsistence - these should be specified in appropriate detail and should cover the cost of attendance at two SPARC workshops for the applicant and research assistants employed on the project (as these have yet to be organised we suggest a maximum of £500 to cover this item and involvement with other SPARC events), attendance at any other workshops, seminars and conferences relevant to the proposal (provided that there is an opportunity to disseminate information from the project) and any necessary other project costs.
Consumables including small Equipment Items (less than £1,000, including VAT) - any consumable item necessary to complete the project.
Equipment (items between £1,000 and £10,000, including VAT) - major items of equipment would normally be expected to be provided by a host institution but if a justification can be made and they are above £10,000 then they should be presented under Exceptional Items. Multiple minor items of equipment are acceptable.
Exceptional Items - this is for items such as consultancies, special facilities and those which do not fit naturally under the other headings.
Other costs - SPARC awards are effectively research subcontracts and because of limited funds the conventional overheads / FEC policy of EPSRC and BBSRC cannot be applied. The headings given above should be used to specify those items necessary to complete a project, even where some of the items might, under previous research council practice, have normally been attributable to overheads or, under FEC, be viewed as an Indirect Cost. Accordingly, SPARC applicants may specify and cost any items, which would conventionally be provided through general overheads / indirect costs if they can be identified and are required by their project. All items currently accepted by the research councils as being included in their definition of overheads are admissible provided that they are specified and can be clearly accounted for directly to the project. See also the section on Overheads Policy / FEC below.
Further Details Form
When developing a budget for the proposal it may be useful to refer to the headings in the Further Details form. However, only those who are short listed for support will be invited to submit this form. The headings follow those used for proposals to EPSRC.
Download Further Details as PDF-file. Note: The Further details form has been updated for Call 2 to take account of FEC.
Revision of Costs
SPARC will adopt the same regulations as EPSRC and BBSRC with respect to salary scales for named and unnamed research assistants and other staff, and in respect of other types of cost, save for one key difference. This is that the costs stated in a proposal will not be reviewed in the light of revisions to salary scales. In essence an award will be for a fixed sum. See also the later section on Full Economic Costs.
How and when do I get paid?
If an award if approved a contract between the host institution and the University of Reading on behalf of SPARC will be agreed. Payments will be made using a simplified financial procedure, typically on a six monthly basis, on receipt of a brief progress report, structured according to a standard framework, and a final report. Unless the reports are unsatisfactory, interim award payments will be authorised automatically. In the absence of these reports or if progress is unsatisfactory payment will be withheld. This is in line with standard Research Council practice. The interim progress reports will be reviewed by the SPARC secretariat. Final reports will be peer-reviewed.
Overhead Policy for the Second Call and Full Economic Costing
Building on the notion that SPARC is in partnership with the host institutions in developing the careers of those who receive awards and the wish to encourage as many newcomers as possible, we expect institutions, as part of their contribution to developing the applicant, to be generous with their support. In particular we expect institutions to meet the Indirect Costs of a project, and for this and the other support which is provided to be detailed in the case for support.
SPARC funds are so limited that in order to support as many newcomers as possible the conventional overheads / FEC policy of the EPSRC and BBSRC is not being pursued. Given that awards will be small, applicants will be asked to specify and cost those items, which would conventionally be provided through general overheads, required by their project. All items currently accepted by the research councils as being included in their definition of overheads will be admissible provided that they are specified and can be accounted for directly to the project. Thus, in effect what are sometimes regarded as overheads can be claimed provided they are obviously "consumed" by the project. However, the funds available will not cover all of the overheads attributable to a project, that is those costs which under FEC are termed Indirect Costs and it may not be possible to meet Directly Allocated Estates Costs.
It is hoped, however, that institutions will recognise the valuable opportunity for the development of their staff through becoming involved with SPARC and will not use the overheads policy of SPARC as a reason to discourage newcomers from applying for support.
In terms of the financial information requested, as far as possible SPARC will follow the same approach as the Research Councils. In order to distribute funding equitably and for audit purposes, applications should show the same information as required by the Research Councils, that is:
- Directly Incurred Costs (described above)
- Directly Allocated Costs of: i) Investigators and ii) Estates.
- Indirect Costs
However, it will not be possible for SPARC to meet the level of reimbursement of Directly Allocated and Indirect Costs provided by the Research Councils. It is probable that the sum provided to SPARC to meet FEC costs will cover a high proportion of the Directly Allocated Costs but it is highly unlikely that it will cover any Indirect Costs. This is in line with Call 1 where it was not possible to provide the 46% overheads which at that time was funded by EPSRC and BBSRC.
As a guide, we expect to be able to provide a contribution to meet the Directly Allocated Costs of a project. This will not exceed 50% of Directly Incurred Costs (but this may depend on the make up of the Directly Allocated Costs between salary and non salary items) or £20,000, whichever is the smaller. However, the distribution of the monies available for this purpose will depend on the nature of the projects shortlisted for awards, but we do have available enough funding which should meet the Directly Allocated Salary Costs.
Delays
It is recognised that projects may not be able to start immediately on the announcement of an award and that there may be some delays to starting projects, for example for recruitment, and during projects. However because SPARC has a limited life and especially because projects are small, relatively short term delays could have a significant impact on the overall success of SPARC.
Projects will be expected to start by 1st November 2006. Funding may be withdrawn from those projects for which have not started within this period. Similarly it may not be possible to continue funding for projects which experience long delays during the project and for which the end date becomes unrealistic in terms of the life of SPARC.
Additional resources
Holders of relevant awards will also be eligible to apply for the full spectrum of BBSRC International Scientific Interchange Scheme (ISIS) awards. These provide full funding for visits abroad and the opportunity to invite distinguished foreign scientists to the UK. This can provide considerable assistance to new investigators seeking to establish themselves. Similar opportunities are available through EPSRC schemes.
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