Joint BBSRC-DBT Call for Collaborative Proposals to support Sustainable Bioenergy and Biofuels (SuBB)
Closing date: 9th October 2012
The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences
Research Council (BBSRC) in the UK
http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/ and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) in India
http://dbtindia.nic.in/index.asp are pleased to announce a joint call for collaborative research proposals that underpin the generation and implementation of sustainable, advanced, bioenergy including biofuels. BBSRC and DBT have each earmarked up to £5M for this call. Projects should be up to a maximum duration of 3 years; whilst no upper cost limit per project is stipulated, BBSRC and DBT envisage funding multiple projects under this call.
The purpose of the call is to build on the combined strengths of academic research groups within India and the UK to work together on collaborative cross-disciplinary projects relevant to the biological processes that underpin the development of novel advanced (second generation and beyond) bioenergy and biofuels.
This call for collaborative proposals will require applicants based in India and the UK to work together in partnership within cross national teams on research projects where the India-based component would be funded by DBT and the UK-based component would be funded by BBSRC. Eligibility to apply will be determined by national eligibility rules. The nature of the resources requested must also adhere to national guidelines. Further information is presented within the Section: Application process including how to apply.
Priority areas for this call are:
• Identification, characterisation and improvement of novel biomass (including algal biomass) processing enzymes.
• Application of systems and synthetic biology approaches for the development of microbial strains for the production of advanced biofuels and capable of using all of the sugars derived from lignocellulosic or algal biomass.
• The improvement of algal strains suitable for biofuel applications including genomics approaches.
BBSRC and DBT will conduct an integrated peer review process involving external referees. Applications will be ranked by an international panel of experts in April 2013 and a decision for funding will be made by June 2013. It is expected that all awarded grants will commence soon after October 2013.
The deadline for receipt of full proposals is: 16:00 local time on 9th October 2012.
Eligibility to apply
Each collaborative research proposal must involve eligible applicants based in India and the UK with a minimum of one applicant per country. The principal investigator (PI) from India and the PI from the UK will act as the project coordinator for their country and the liaison point with DBT and BBSRC respectively. It is the responsibility of the project coordinators from each country to ensure that all named co-Investigators are eligible. Applications involving ineligible applicants, from either India or the UK, will result in the whole application being withdrawn.
UK based applicants will apply to BBSRC and Indian based applicants will apply to DBT for funding. All applicants must adhere to national eligibility rules for research proposals as set out by BBSRC and DBT.
BBSRC applicants:
Funding will be awarded on the basis of full economic costs as described on the BBSRC website. PhD students will not be funded as part of this call.
Special schemes such as the New Investigator Scheme, Industrial Partnership Awards and Industrial LINK will not apply to this call.
For applications involving work at more than one BBSRC eligible institution, funding for a Joint Research Project may only be requested by submitting one joint application from the lead institution. The principal applicant must be from the lead institution and will be the person to whom all scientific correspondence is directed. All other applicants and their affiliations must be entered on the application form. The lead institution will be responsible for the distribution of funds to the other named BBSRC eligible institutions. Failure to adhere to this requirement may result in the project being withdrawn.
DBT Applicants:
The standard DBT rules for eligibility will apply. DBT will fund eligible Indian academics at 100% of the full economic costing in terms of equipment, consumables, contingency, overheads and manpower salary costs employed under the project. PhD students will be funded as part of this call as per normal DBT guidelines.
Structure of proposals; how to apply and format of proposals
Both UK and Indian based applicants must complete the necessary components required to submit an application to their national funding agency. However the Case for Support submitted to both BBSRC and DBT must be identical and must be submitted using the specific template developed for this call, adhering to page length restrictions as specified within the template. The Case for Support template can be found within the related links section:
www.bbsrc.ac.uk/web/files/forms/subb-case-for-support.doc. Failure to use the specific template will result in the application being withdrawn.
Proposals must be written in English using Arial, Helvetica or Verdana typefaces (or an equivalent) and a minimum font size of 11.
BBSRC applicants must apply using Je-S by completing a standard BBSRC grant application along with their customised Case for Support document (see below). Within Je-S, under document type and scheme please select “standard”; within call / mode please select “12 BBSRC/DBT JOINT BIOENERGY”. The application should include all standard attachments (Pathways to Impact statement, Applicants’ CVs, Letters of Support; and Justification of Resources). Applicants should refer to the Je-S helptext
https://je-s.rcuk.ac.uk/Handbook/index.htm#pages/JeSHelpdesk.htm
DBT applicants: Standard eligibility norms and terms and conditions of DBT will apply. In addition to the custom case for support, DBT applicants should complete and submit both a hard copy and an electronic version (soft copy) of the DBT finance proforma:
www.bbsrc.ac.uk/web/files/forms/subb-dbt-finance-proforma.doc. The electronic version (soft copy) should be e-mailed to Dr Shailja Gupta (shailja@dbt.nic.in) by the closing date:
9th October 2012. Applicants should ensure that the DBT finance proforma is submitted as an additional attachment with the UK application via Je-S.
Case for Support
The scientific case for support submitted by Indian and UK applicants must be identical and must be submitted using the specific template developed for this call, www.bbsrc.ac.uk/web/files/forms/subb-case-for-support.doc, adhering to page length restrictions as specified within the Case for Support document. The document should be completed using: Arial, Helvetica or Verdana typefaces (or an equivalent) and a minimum font size of 11. A minimum of single line spacing and standard character spacing must be used. Margins must not be less than 2cm.
In addition to the assessment criteria set out under the section ‘Peer Review’, applicants should carefully demonstrate within the Case for Support that their projects:
• Represent true collaborative partnerships between transnational research teams; the added value of such collaborations should be clearly highlighted within the proposals.
• Highlight the relevance and benefits to both the UK and India.
• Contain an integrated workplan and an equal commitment to the project (in terms of hours dedicated to the project rather than project costs). Projects that appear to be working in parallel with little interaction between the countries will not be supported.
Projects will be funded for a maximum duration of 3 years, and applicants who receive funding from this call must be prepared to contribute to workshops and / or other dissemination type activities associated with this call.
A. General Information (up to 2 sides of A4) comprising:
• Names, full affiliations and contact details, including e-mail addresses, of the lead investigators for each country.
• Names of all co-Investigators and affiliations.
• Project Title.
• Short summary of project (up to 4000 characters).
• Project aims (up to 4000 characters).
• Total cost of project, (in £ sterling), including UK and Indian Partners.
Contacts:
For Details:
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