BBSRC - Specific Requirements

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Case for Support and Attachments - BBSRC Specific Requirements

BBSRC recommend that you use typefaces Arial, Helvetica or Verdana and a strict minimum font size of 11 must be used for the entire Case for Support, Justification of Resources and CVs (excluding text on diagrams and the use of mathematical symbols). A minimum of single line spacing and standard character spacing must be used. Margins must not be less than 2cm. Proposals will be checked for faults by BBSRC Administrative staff soon after the closing date to ensure that relevant aspects of the proposal are legible and comply with the formatting rules. Any component(s) of a proposal which do not meet these rules will be returned for amendment before being validated for peer review. A late response in amending returned elements of the proposal will result in the proposal being withdrawn from the round.

Further information on BBSRC requirements can be found at https://bbsrc.ukri.org/funding/apply/. Please see here for cross council guidance on attachments.

Call specific guidance can be found here: https://bbsrc.ukri.org/

Use of animals in research

If your proposal involves the use of animals you should familiarise yourself with the funders’ expectations as set out in the ‘Responsibility in the use of animals in bioscience research’ document which can be accessed at https://bbsrc.ukri.org/research/briefings/animals-in-bioscience-research/

Overseas animals use

If your proposal involves the use of animals overseas, please refer to the UKRI guidance https://www.ukri.org/funding/how-to-apply/ and submit a signed statement from both UK and overseas Principal Investigators as a Letter of Support attachment. For overseas research involving rodents, rabbits, sheep, goats or pigs, the 'Additional Questions' must also be attached as a Letter of Support.

BBSRC International Schemes:

For specific guidance on how to complete a proposal to the BBSRC International Schemes, applicants should refer to the individual International Schemes guidance notes which can be found in the downloads section of each International Scheme. Guidance notes are available for:

International Partnering Awards:

International Workshops:

https://bbsrc.ukri.org/funding/filter/international-workshops/

International Travel and Awards Scheme (ITAS):

https://bbsrc.ukri.org/funding/filter/itas/

Responsive/Managed Mode Only

Case For Support and Track Record

The page limit for the combined track record and case for support is maximum 8 sides of A4.

Proposals exceeding the 8 page limit, or not adhering to the specified format, will not be considered. More specific instructions relating to format of the Case for Support may be detailed for some strategic programmes. These will be set out in the relevant call for proposals.

Previous research track record (suggested one to two pages within the overall eight page limit) should:

Provide a summary of the results and conclusions of your recent work in the technological/scientific area which is covered by the research proposal. Include reference to both BBSRC funded and non-BBSRC funded work. Details of past collaborative work with industry and/or with other beneficiaries should be given.
Indicate where your previous work has contributed to the UK's economic competitiveness or to improving the quality of life.

Outline the specific expertise available for the research at the host organisation and that of any associated organisations.

The information provided should relate to all applicants involved in the project.

Case for support which (suggested up to seven pages within the overall eight page limit) should provide a description of the proposed research and its content. Lists of references and illustrations should be included in the page limit and should not be submitted as additional documents or as an annex. The description should include the following sections:

Background

Introduce the topic of research and explain its academic and wider context
Demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of past and current work in the subject area both in the UK and abroad

Programme and methodology

Identify the overall aims of the project and the individual measurable objectives against which you would wish the outcome of the work to be assessed. This should refer to the objectives set out in the proposal form (Objectives section).
Detail the methodology to be used in pursuit of the research and justify this choice
Explain why the proposed project is of sufficient timeliness and novelty to warrant consideration for funding
Describe the programme of work, indicating the research to be undertaken and the milestones that can be used to measure its progress. The detail should be sufficient to indicate the programme of work for each member of the research team. Explain how the project will be managed

References should appear in a list at the end of the case for support and be linked to relevant text by, for example, sequential numbering and superscript reference numbers embedded in the body of the document. The citation of preprints is acceptable. Only one publication should be listed for each number. Within the list of references, URL links to relevant publications or online resources are permissible. The case for support should be a self-contained description of the proposed work with relevant background, and should not depend on additional information. Applicants must not include URLs to web resources in order to extend their case for support. The inclusion of such URLs will result in your proposal being withdrawn for correction.

Note: Justification of Resources should be completed as a separate item. See below:

Attachments

CVs

Proposals without CVs for applicants and named research staff, or with CVs that exceed the 2 page limit, will not be considered.

CVs are required for all named applicants and named research staff only. These must be no more than 2 sides of A4 per person and should be submitted as attachment type CV. The CV should include details of

Employment history (give dates and details of position held including the nature of your current employment)
Qualifications (state subject, class of degree with university dates)
Patents
Most recent publications, within the last 5 years, in refereed journals or preprint servers relevant to the project.
Please note that any lists of publications should be included within the CV and not submitted as a separate document. Separate lists of publications and other unsolicited documents will not be included in the peer review process.

Letters of Support

Letters of support should be submitted as attachment type ‘Letter of Support’ with no limitation on page length. Letters of support must be included to confirm an active collaboration or contribution to a project in terms of resources or expertise, and may be included where a statement from a third party is necessary to enable the informed assessment of a proposal. Applicants are asked to note that members of an institution which has provided a letter of support will not in general be used as referees for that proposal. Therefore, including more than a few carefully chosen letters can be detrimental to the peer review process. Letters of support are required for the following types of proposal;

New Investigator scheme – a letter of support from the Head of Department describing the financial contribution from the institution to the start-up of the applicant’s laboratory.
Proposals with project partners – a letter of support from each project partner, confirming its support for the research, confirming any financial contributions to be made, and outlining the expected benefits to the organisation.

Proposal Cover Letter

Inclusion of a cover letter is mandatory. Letters should be submitted as attachment type ‘Proposal Cover Letter’ with no limitation on page length.

Applicants Declaration of Interests are now required to be added to the Proposal Cover Letter – Please Refer to the guidance on declaring any interests in your application in the UKRI website section on research integrity under Research council guidance and policies.

Applicants may use the cover letter to list reviewers that they would prefer BBSRC do not approach, but BBSRC reserves the right to make the final selection.

Facility Form

If facility access is being requested (Primarily Earlham Institute and HECToR). Failure to include the required forms will result in withdrawal of the proposal.

Final/Interim report

Principal Investigators and Co-Investigators on a proposal must submit an interim report on any related BBSRC research grant that they have held or completed in the last twelve months (excluding those under six months old and training grants) on which they have been the Principal Investigator. The interim report should use the form on the website: https://bbsrc.ukri.org/ and the summary report section should be a maximum of two sides of A4. Submit as ‘Final/Interim Report’

Diagrammatic workplan

The workplan is mandatory with a maximum one side of A4. Submit as ‘Workplan’.

Justification of Resources

The Research Council guidance notes for the completion of the Justification of Resources attachment in JeS. Details are available here.

Head of Department statement

The Head of Department statement is generally optional, but must be included in certain circumstances (see the BBSRC Grants Guide). Statements should be submitted as attachment type ‘Head of Department Statement’ with no limitation on page length.

Data Management Plan

Please include a statement on data sharing as attachment type ‘Data Management Plan’. A maximum of one side of A4 is allowed for this and must not be used for any other purpose. This statement must clearly detail how you will comply with BBSRC’s published Data Sharing Policy, including concise plans for data management and sharing as part of research grant proposal, or provide explicit reasons why data sharing is not possible or appropriate.

The policy, and detailed guidance notes, can be viewed at https://bbsrc.ukri.org/documents/data-sharing-policy-pdf/ Comprehensive data sharing plans will be expected, in particular, in the “data sharing areas” highlighted in the policy. More succinct plans may be appropriate for proposals outside of these areas.

Data sharing plans may include details of:

Data areas and data types - the volume, type and content of data that will be generated e.g. experimental measurements, records and images;
Standards and metadata - the standards and methodologies that will be adopted for data collection and management, and why these have been selected;
Relationship to other data available in public repositories;
Secondary use - further intended and/or foreseeable research uses for the completed dataset(s);
Methods for data sharing - planned mechanisms for making these data available, e.g. through deposition in existing public databases or on request, including access mechanisms where appropriate;
Proprietary data - any restrictions on data sharing due to the need to protect proprietary or patentable data;
Timeframes - timescales for public release of data;
Format of the final dataset.
Applicants may claim justifiable costs associated with data sharing activities, which should be captured in the proposal proforma and in Justification of Resources statement.

Important - This page should be used only for the statement on data sharing. Any information included other than that relating to data sharing statement requirements, as prescribed above, will result in your proposal being rejected. Only one statement is required per project.

Please note that preliminary data and descriptions of the proposed work belong in the Case for Support and should not be included in the data sharing statement.

Additional information

Where you have a proposal for a project involving work at more than one eligible institution you may request funding by either submitting one joint proposal from the lead institution or by completing separate proposals from each institution. Where multiple proposals are submitted only applicants directly working on each institution's component of the project should be entered on that institution's proposal, and the principal applicant on the lead part will be the lead applicant for the entire project to whom all correspondence will be directed. The following information should be common to all the proposals: case for support, beneficiaries, summaries, objectives, title and proposal type. The project partner details, letters of support and nominated referees must be attached to the lead proposal only.

Resubmitted proposals – a covering letter explaining the circumstances of the previous proposal, its outcome, and the modifications subsequently made to the proposal.

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