Purchase mid-range equipment for biomedical research: MRC Equip (Grant)

About this opportunity

Word limit: 550 In plain English, provide a summary we can use to identify the most suitable experts to assess your application. We usually make this summary publicly available on external-facing websites, therefore do not include any confidential or sensitive information. Make it suitable for a variety of readers, for example: opinion-formers policymakers the public the wider research community Guidance for writing a summary Clearly describe your proposed work in terms of: context the challenge the project addresses aims and objectives potential applications and benefits relationship with MRC priority areas or highlights alignment with MRC mission Core team List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following: project lead (PL) project co-lead (UK) (PcL) project co-lead (international) (PcL (I)) specialist professional enabling staff research and innovation associate technician visiting researcher researcher co-lead (RcL) Only list one individual as project lead. If you include more than one project lead your application will fail at the checking stage. UKRI has introduced a new addition to the ‘Specialist’ role type. Public contributors such as people with lived experience can now be added to an application. Find out more about UKRI’s core team roles in funding applications . Application questions Purpose Word limit: 1,000 What is the equipment, why is it needed, and why should UKRI support it? What the assessors are looking for in your response Explain how the proposed equipment: is timely, given current trends and context delivers an unmet need meets national needs by establishing or maintaining a unique, world leading activity or both meets community demand and need from a diverse and inclusive user base enhances and complements existing research capability at a local, regional, or national scale meets the strategic aims of UKRI or the government will help deliver MRC’s mission Please describe alternative plans for how the research would be achieved should the equipment not be funded. The plans should reflect: host organisation strategies for this equipment host organisation commitment to the equipment landscape a summary of existing facilities beyond the host organisation, including identification of similar instruments overseas or in industry, outlining reasons why they cannot be utilised for the intended research Vision Word limit: 4,475 What are you hoping to achieve with the proposed equipment? What the assessors are looking for in your response Explain how the proposed equipment will: enable high quality, novel or transformative research offer training opportunities for the wider community if applicable, have measurable impact beyond the immediate team, including on world-leading research, society, the economy, or the environment has the potential to advance current understanding and generate new knowledge, thinking or discovery including mechanistic understanding of human disease is relevant to identified stakeholders, including users identifies the potential local, regional and or national impacts, both direct and indirect, and who the beneficiaries might be enhances the UK’s research and innovation capabilities through local and or regional activity be of international importance (if applicable) References may be included within this section. You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service. Please also provide a detailed plan of research which includes a description of the projects that will be supported by the equipment, with sufficient experimental detail to allow the panel to assess the quality of the research, including preliminary results where possible. Approach Word limit: 2,200 What are your plans to manage the proposed equipment? What the assessors are looking for in your response We expect you to show how your approach: is feasible, identifying any risks to delivery and citing appropriate mitigation provides details of access and usage estimates, particularly where a culture of equipment sharing may extend use to external users provides long-term technical support which will be available for the requested equipment provides training and development of technical staff describes how the research environment (in terms of the place, its location, complementary expertise, facilities and relevance to the proposal) will contribute to the successful utilisation of the equipment has been designed so that it will generate local, regional or national impacts Complete and paste the Timeline and Usage tables (see ‘Supporting documents’ in the ‘Additional information’ section) into the text box. These should be pasted in separately. References may be included within this section. You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service. Please also provide a plan for prioritising access to and maximising usage of the infrastructure. This should include any application and assessment processes and an estimate for the balance of users from the host institution, academics from external institutions and industrial users. Guidance Your approach to managing the equipment will be a key consideration in the assessment of your application. You should give due consideration to the technical support that we will be in place to support the equipment and engage technical staff in putting together the application. When outlining the usage for your application, you should ensure that your figures are realistic and based on user demand. The usage figures should be based on this specific equipment and specification and not broader use of the facility. Ensure that you have sufficient users that need the specifications of the requested machine. Sustainability Word limit: 500 What steps have you taken to ensure the sustainability (economic, environmental and social) of your proposed asset? What the assessors are looking for in your response For the sustainability, explain how the proposed infrastructure: is as economically, environmentally and socially sustainable as possible delivers large scale societal, environmental and economic benefits will have its lifetime maximised, including stating what the expected lifetime is and, where relevant, how the asset will be sustainably decommissioned will address the priority areas and objectives set out in the UKRI environmental sustainability strategy Within the Sustainability section we also expect you to explain: how long-term operational and maintenance costs, including staffing, will be supported how the proposed asset will be integrated into an existing UKRI service, facility, equipment pool, or similar how the proposed asset is complementary to UKRI or host institute carbon reduction targets if relevant, how the proposed asset contributes to a broader approach to environmental sustainability, such an enhancing biodiversity or clean air, as well as reducing carbon emissions your plans for sustainability and legacy beyond the end of UKRI funding. These could include cost recovery models, securing additional funding, development or expansion after the initial period of funding how you have considered equality, diversity and inclusion, including equitable access, in the design and planned use of the asset to maximise benefit to the UK environmental sciences community Guidance The equipment requested will hopefully run for many years. This will have cost implications for regular maintenance and consumables. Show you understand the cost implications of having the equipment and have put in place good practice to manage it. Environmental sustainability will be one of the assessment criteria and applicants must show that they have provided due consideration to a move towards lower impact solutions and that the choice of equipment and the proposed management plans will aim to minimize the environmental impact of the equipment. You should ensure that your plan addresses the specific considerations for this equipment and not just the broader environmental strategy of the facility or department. Applicant and team capability to deliver Word limit: 2,200 Why are you the right individual or team to procure and manage the proposed equipment? What the assessors are looking for in your response Evidence of how you, and if relevant your team, have: the relevant experience (appropriate to career stage) the right balance of skills and expertise the appropriate leadership and management skills and your approach to develop others contributed to developing a positive research environment and wider community You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service. The word count for this section is 2,200 words: 1,700 words to be used for Résumé for Research and Innovation (R4RI) modules (including references) and, if necessary, a further 500 words for Additions. Use the R4RI format to showcase the range of relevant skills you, and if relevant, your team (project and project co-leads, researchers, technicians, specialists, partners and so on), have and how this will help to deliver the proposed work. You can include individuals’ specific achievements but only choose past contributions that best evidence their ability to deliver this work. Complete this section using the R4RI module headings listed below. You should use each heading once and include a response for the whole team, see the UKRI guidance on R4RI . You should consider how to balance your answer, and emphasise where appropriate the following key skills each team member brings: contributions to the generation of new ideas, tools, methodologies, or knowledge, this may include your previous funding and key outputs such as publications the development of others and maintenance of effective working relationships contributions to the wider research and innovation community contributions to broader resear