General Guidance
One of the documents attached to the outline proposal form must be classified as type Case for Support. An outline proposal without a Case for Support will not be accepted.
Additional document files may also be attached (as separate attachments and classified appropriately). Mandatory Council attachment guidance can be found in subsequent Council specific helptext. Please also consult initiative specific guidance notes located on the appropriate Council's website.
Councils operate a 'page' restriction policy on attachment length. To ensure no one is disadvantaged by this restriction, minimum margins in all directions of 2cm must be used for all councils/funders when attaching documents. Please see here for cross council guidance on attachments.
Also, please note that on submission to council ALL non PDF documents are converted to PDF, the use of non-standard fonts may result in errors or font conversion, which could affect the overall length of the document. Unless specified otherwise in Council-specific guidance, it is recommended that a standard 'Arial' or other standard san-serif type font is used, restricted to size 11 or higher. Please note that, except where stated otherwise in the guidance on the following pages, Research Councils cannot guarantee that documents will be reproduced in colour.
To delete an attachment that has been uploaded into the Je-S proforma, select the 'Delete' option, which will be to the right of the individual form in the Attachments section.
To delete an uploaded Project Partner Letter of Support, you need to delete the LoS directly from the Project Partner section of the Je-S proforma.
- THE FOLLOWING IS COUNCIL SPECIFIC GUIDANCE -
Proposals containing attachments exceeding the stated limits, or not adhering to the specified format, will not be considered.
Attachments should be in an Arial or other standard san-serif type font no smaller than size 11. Individual attachments are restricted to 10MB for Case for support and 5MB for other types of attachments. Please see here for cross council guidance on attachments.
Requirements for the Case for Support and other attachments vary according to the call to which the outline proposal is being submitted. Applicants should refer to the appropriate call guidance documents available in the Funding Opportunities area of the AHRC's website: http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/funding/research/researchfundingguide/
The attachment types usually available are as follows:
Case for Support
The Case for Support should outline the rationale for the proposed activity, a description of the proposed activities to be undertaken, and an outline of the expected outputs and dissemination plans as appropriate.
Justification of Resources
Justification for the costs associated with the project.
CV
Summary CVs for the Principal Investigator , all Co-investigators and any named postdoctoral researchers.
Other
This attachment type should only be used if it is expressly requested in the scheme or call guidance document.
The case for support should be submitted as a single document containing a description of the proposed research, how it would address the aims of the initiative and its potential impact, along with any references. The case for support should not be more than two pages in length (including references), except where the further information for the specific initiative below states otherwise. Applicants must not include URLs to web resources in order to extend their case for support.
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. 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.
The preferred typefaces are Arial, Helvetica or Verdana and a strict minimum font size of 11 must be used (excluding text on diagrams and the use of mathematical symbols). In addition, a minimum of single line spacing and standard character spacing must be used, with margins of no less than 2cm.
A CV is required for each named applicant and co-applicant. CV's must be no more than two 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 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 taken into account in the peer review process.
Further information relating to specific outline calls is as follows:
Diet and Health Research Industry Club (DRINC)
Applicants must supply a case for support document with their application. Further guidance is provided in the call text which is available from the BBSRC website in the downloads section from: http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/business/collaborative_research/industry_clubs/drinc/apply.html
Crop Improvement Club (CIRC)
Applicants must use the standard CIRC case for support template which is available from the BBSRC website in the downloads section from: http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/business/collaborative-research/industry-clubs/crop/crop-index.aspx
1. Case for Support (mandatory)
Some initiatives may require more specific instructions relating to the format of the Case for Support. If so, these instructions will be detailed within the relevant call for proposals and guidance for applicants on the ESRC website, and should be adhered to. In all other cases the following guidance will apply.
The Case for Support should be a self-contained description of the proposal work with relevant background and references and should not depend on additional information such as the inclusion of external links. Peer reviewers are advised to base their assessment on the information contained within the application and are under no obligation to access such links (so they should not be used to provide critical information).
This section must not exceed three sides of A4. Each side should be numbered.
Any materials that extend beyond this limit will be removed from the application prior to peer and merit review. All materials must be produced in font size 11 or above. Each page should be numbered. Minimum margins in all directions of 2cm must be used for all councils/funders when attaching documents. Please see for cross council guidance on attachments.
The case for support should cover the main features of the research. Include details of any potential for linkages to other research activities (for example, those supported by other funding bodies in the UK or overseas) or for international collaboration.
There is no standard way to present the details of the research, but the following points must be covered:
Indicate which of the research areas highlighted in the initiative specification your proposal relates to.
State briefly how the proposed research fits into the initiative specification and what contribution it will make to the initiative.
ESRC is committed to funding excellent research which is also adventurous, speculative and innovative, and with the potential for high scientific and/or user impact. Where there are risks associated with such research, please outline any measures which will be taken to mitigate them.
ESRC recognises that in generating new knowledge, it may be most appropriate for research on some topics to be multi-disciplinary and harness and/or combine different disciplinary perspectives, while others will be based on a single discipline. Applicants are asked to state clearly their chosen approach, which should match the discipline(s) indicated in the proposal, and to provide justification for that choice.
It is vital that the economic and social impact of all projects funded by ESRC is maximised. Consider potential beneficiaries and users involved in the development of the proposal and the delivery of the grant where appropriate. This should cover who will benefit from the proposed research, and the relevance of the research to these beneficiaries.
Explain what steps you will take, to provide opportunities for users to benefit from your research, and to ensure that your research has maximum economic and societal impact.
You should cover the following points:
What are the objectives of the research?
How will the research be done? What techniques will be used? Why will these methods and techniques be used? Will the research innovate or advance methods and techniques? How do the methods promise to deliver on the objectives
How does it relate to other research in the same field that is either current or has been completed?
What contribution if any will the research make to the development of theory in the subject?
How will the research be organised and phased over the duration of the award? In particular how much time will be allowed for communicating writing-up results of the research and securing their impact?
2. Justification of Resources (Optional - maximum 1 A4 side)
This statement should be used to justify the resources required to undertake the research project and is a mandatory addition. Applicants should:
Explain why the indicated resources are needed, taking account of the nature and complexity of the research proposed. Note that it is not sufficient merely to list what is required.
Have regard for the breakdown of resources into the summary fund headings Directly Incurred, Directly Allocated and (where appropriate) Exceptions.
In some cases, such as investigator time, use of internal facilities and shared staff costs (all likely to be Directly Allocated costs), the basis of the costing need not be justified, but the need for the resources does need justification.
Try to be explicit about the need for the level of investigator time sought, bearing in mind the complexity of the research, the need to manage the project and supervise staff and any wider considerations such as collaboration or facilities usage.
Estates and indirect costs do not need to be justified.
3. Curricula Vitae (Optional)
Summary CVs for the PI, co-applicants and named researchers should be attached. The CV should be no longer than two sides of A4, size 11 font. It should contain basic information about education, employment history and academic responsibilities.
4. Other
If the scheme-specific guidance requires the submission of additional material not covered by other named attachments, please use the this category.
|
Document Type |
Requirement |
Page Limits |
Je-S Attachment Type |
|
Cover Letter |
Optional |
2 sides of A4 |
Proposal cover letter |
|
Case for Support |
Mandatory |
2 sides of A4 |
Case for Support |
|
CV's |
Mandatory |
2 sides of A4 |
CV |
Case for Support: This document should contain a brief background of the scientific aims, describe the experimental plan of the proposed project and include preliminary data. Please avoid repetition of information included in other sections of the outline application.
CVs: Please provide CVs for the Principal Investigator and Co-Investigators only. CVs should not exceed 2 sides of A4 in length, including a list of the most relevant publications within the last five years.
STFC require one attachment on outline proposals; the case for support. This document should be no more than 2 pages long.
Attachments (including references provided as part of the Case) should be written in one of the following fonts:
Standard Arial 11pt (please note that this is the preferred font for STFC)
Helvetica Regular 11pt or
an equivalent regular 11pt sans serif universal font e.g. FreeSans
with a minimum of 2 cm margins around each page. You do not need to number attachment pages as this will be done automatically on import to the STFC Back Office. Please ensure that file names do not exceed 140 characters as this will cause problems on import into the STFC Back Office.