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• CIRC: Apply for funding

Research and technology clubs:

CIRC: Apply for funding

All CIRC calls for proposals are now closed

For more detailed information about the scope of this call and the application and assessment process please see the downloads section.

General guidelines

• Outline proposals must be submitted initially
• Funding can be for up to 5 years
• The objectives of your proposed research must fit within the CIRC research challenges and BBSRC's remit (see Funding areas)
• Four areas have been highlighted as important for the second call for applications (for more information on these please see 'Second call detailed information' in the downloads section):
• Wheat quality
• Towards a step change redesign of crops
• Crop-soil interactions
• Crop protection
• We encourage collaborative applications that bring together groups with relevant expertise, as an interdisciplinary approach will probably help achieve CIRC's aims
• Total funding of £3.5M is available for the second call to support a portfolio of projects at fEC (full economic costs)

Application procedure

Two-stage application process:

1. Submit an outline proposal through the Je-S system
• Read the outline proposal Je-S guidance notes (see Downloads section)
• Include CVs of all applicants (maximum 2 pages per applicant)
• Include completed Case for Support form (see Downloads section)
2. In September, successful applicants were invited to write a full proposal for submission by 9 November 2011
• Pathways to impact information will be required and should meet the needs of the crop breeding, production and processing industry sector

Eligibility

UK Higher Education Institutions, Independent Research Organisations and institutes of BBSRC are eligible to apply.

The contribution from the Scottish Government means that all Main Research Providers (MRPs) to the Scottish Government are also eligible. This includes the Moredun Research Institute, The James Hutton Institute and Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland (BioSS).

Assessment criteria

Primary criteria: quality of science proposed and its strategic relevance to CIRC.

We expect any proposal that goes on to be funded will be competitive against comparable international work and be aligned to CIRC's aims. Proposals will be assessed against the following criteria:

• Scientific excellence: the extent to which the proposal meets the highest international standards of current research in its field. High performance against this factor will indicate a project of the highest standard, competitive with the best activity anywhere in the world, demonstrating originality and innovative potential.
• Strategic relevance to CIRC: demonstrated alignment with CIRC research challenges, relevance to the crop breeding, production and processing industry sectors and balance of overall CIRC research portfolio.
• Timeliness and promise: the extent to which the proposal is particularly appropriate at the present time, or offers longer-term benefits over and above the direct value of the research.
• Economic and social impact: the extent to which the output of the research will contribute knowledge that shows direct potential for economic return or societal benefits to the UK.
• Value for money: the extent to which the resources requested, relative to the anticipated scientific gains, represent an attractive investment of BBSRC funds.
• Staff training potential of the project: where resources are requested for postdoctoral or other research staff please comment on the extent to which the proposed project will provide research training and development opportunities of benefit both to the individual(s) employed, and to the wider science base beyond the completion of the specific project.

Assessment

Outline proposals was  assessed by the CIRC Steering Group (not externally reviewed).

Full proposals were externally peer-reviewed before final assessment by the CIRC Steering Group. Funding decisions will be announced in March 2012 (subject to change).

The CIRC Steering Group consists of a chair, 7 academic members (nominated by BBSRC) and 7 industrial representatives (chosen by the CIRC Industry Members).

For assessments conducted by the Steering Group, each full proposal has two Introducing Members (IMs): one from academia and one from industry.

Where there is a conflict of interest (e.g. where a Steering Group member has pre-existing links to an applicant) individuals will leave the room while the proposal is being discussed.

Outline and full proposals may be circulated to company members of CIRC that are not represented on the Steering Group to seek their views. Any comments provided by company members will be taken into account by the Steering Group when the proposal is assessed.

Special conditions

As CIRC has industrial members, all research grants will have special conditions.  At the full proposal stage we will request a letter from your institution’s technology transfer office, or equivalent, acknowledging that the institution is able to accept those conditions relating to IP.

Liaising with CIRC external coordinator and BBSRC

• Grant holders should liaise with the CIRC’s external coordinator, making available progress reports as requested and participating in meetings with industrial members and other participants
• Grant holders should respond to requests from BBSRC regarding project outcomes following the end of the award

Early access

Commercial parties are entitled to early access to results from research funded by CIRC. To ensure this grant holders must:

• Give a minimum of 28 days notice of an intention to publish, outside of the Club, results from research funded by a Club grant. The material for proposed publication should be submitted to the Club coordinator along with the notice of intent to publish. The coordinator will distribute a copy of the same to each of the industrial members within seven days of receipt; who shall then have 21 days to inform the coordinator if in their view the proposed publication may:
1. dilute or prejudice the value of proprietary information of an industrial member or
2. jeopardise the application for resulting IPR protection or
3. otherwise inhibit future exploitation of the results where an industrial member has an interest in exploiting those results
The coordinator will feedback comments to the grant holders who will be expected to consider the advice with their technology transfer officer. If an industry member wishes to enter into negotiations with a grant holder regarding exploitation of IP, these negotiations may be pursued as outlined below in 'Access to Resulting IPR'
• Produce annual progress reports. A form will be available online for the grant holder to complete. The grant holder will be notified in advance when the final report is due
• Attend and present the results and progress of CIRC-funded research at 6-monthly Club dissemination events. Grant holders will be notified of the dates and format of their presentation
• Give advance notification of any opportunities to exploit intellectual property arising from their grant to the industrial members

Access to resulting IPR

Industrial members can engage in good faith negotiations with the grant holders for terms of access to resulting IPR to allow further development or commercial exploitation of results, such access rights preferably to include the right to sublicense. This must be offered before access to resulting IPR can be offered to third parties outside the Club. An interested industrial member can exercise its option right by giving notice to the grant holder within 2 months of the date of receipt of notice of results or resulting IPR.

Good faith negotiations

A willingness to reach agreement with industry members on the terms and conditions of a commercial licence, to desist from publishing results or making offers to third parties while negotiation with industrial members are ongoing and, if such agreement is not reached within a reasonable period (for example four months from the exercise of the option) the grant holder will not seek to enter into negotiations with third parties on terms substantially more favourable to such third parties.

Studentships

As part of this call, BBSRC will fund 5 4-year Targeted Priority Studentships in the area of crop improvement to foster development of research skills in the sector.

These studentships will be awarded formally as part of CIRC. Funding for awarded studentships will start in 2012/13.

The competition for these studentships will be held later in the application process when further details will be provided on how to apply. No information on potential studentship projects is required at the outline stage.

Studentships will only be awarded to applicants receiving a research grant under this call.

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