UK-Tel Hai Partnership

GUIDELINES FOR APPLICANTS

The following notes are intended for all applicants, irrespective of which category of application you make. They provide guidance on eligibility, completion of the application form and conditions upon which the research awards are ultimately issued.

Applicants need to complete one application form in accordance with the guidance notes here and follow the instructions provided on the application form itself.

Applicants need to choose the application form which most appropriately fits their situation:

1. Application to Implement Joint Research – for teams wanting to carry out research

2. Application for Individual Researcher – for individuals wanting to undertake a research attachment

The scheme will only consider applications that have been jointly endorsed by senior authorised personnel from the participating institutions i.e. Deans of Faculty in the UK and the Research Authority at the Tel Hai Academic College in Israel.

All applications should be submitted electronically and in English

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Objective of the Scheme

The aim of the scheme is to strengthen academic cooperation between universities (or university-affiliated research institutes) in the UK and the Tel Hai Academic College (and its affiliated research centres) in Israel through the awarding of grants for joint research in all fields of science: this includes scientific research in both pure and applied science including social sciences and humanities.

Outputs of Scheme
The scheme will enable scientists in both countries to:

Carry out distinct pieces of collaborative research for wider dissemination and societal benefit   
Conduct advanced research or research training at postdoctoral level in a counterpart institution in UK or Israel   

The scheme is intended to support important and innovative lines of research with a clearly identified outcome on completion.

The scheme is not intended to simply supplement ongoing research. Neither is it intended to meet any perceived shortfalls in existing project funding from other donors, or to simply “top up” funding shortages for postgraduate students, research assistants or others working for the applicant(s).

Main Applicants
Applications for teams wanting to implement joint research (category 1 above) should clearly identify a named individual from Tel Hai Academic College in Israel and a named individual from the partnering UK university who will take the lead in managing the application and any resulting grant.

1. Application to Implement Joint Research – for teams wanting to carry out research

For applications under this category, a Principal Investigator / Coordinator must be named from the main applicant institutions i.e. Tel Hai Academic College in Israel and the partnering UK university. The Principal Investigators are the lead scientists for the project and the persons who will take responsibility for directing and reporting on progress and completion of the project. The Principal Investigators will be responsible for coordinating with any other parties listed in the application. The Principal Investigators bear overall scientific, financial and administrative responsibility for conducting the project and for meeting the terms and conditions of the award. Co-Investigators should also be named and they are formally part of the team conducting the scientific research. Summary CVs (maximum 3 pages) of all principal investigators and co-investigators named should be attached to the application when it is submitted

2. Application for Individual Researcher – for individuals wanting to undertake a research attachment at a counterpart institution eg. an Israeli researcher from Tel Hai in the UK or a British university researcher in Tel Hai. For applications under this category, the individual applicant will be clearly identified and this will be supplemented by details of the applicant’s current supervisor or research group leader and will include letters of support from both the host and sending institution.

All applications must demonstrate a British university working together in partnership with the Tel Hai Academic College and all applications should be duly endorsed by senior authorized personnel from both participating institutions i.e. Deans of Faculty in the UK and the Research Authority at the Tel Hai Academic College in Israel.

Eligibility
Participants in the scheme must be employed on a full or part-time basis by an official, recognised university in the UK (or university-affiliated institute) or at Tel Hai Academic College in Israel (or its affiliated research centres). They must be nationals of the UK or Israel or residents of the UK or Israel for a period of at least 2 years and all must have postdoctoral level qualification or equivalent status at the time of making the application. If in doubt, for a ruling on eligibility, please submit details to the British Council by e-mailing: science@britishcouncil.org.il marking the subject box “Eligibility Query”.

Dissemination
Plans for disseminating the results of the joint research and/or raising public awareness of the collaborative work supported by the scheme should be set out in the application form; these may include publishing of papers in scientific journals – which should be specified – dissemination seminars with peers or use of university networks and media campaigns to share findings with a wider audience.

Ethics
It is important that all legal or professional codes of practice are followed in conducting research supported under this scheme. Applications that involve research on animals or human patients must be accompanied by necessary permission certificates from the local ethical committee/authorities or an undertaking to obtain this permission in advance of research commencing. Failure to do this will result in any funding under this scheme being rescinded.

Timing and Duration of Award

Work should begin within 3 months of the award being granted.   
The grant is for a maximum period of 12 months.   
Grants will not be made retrospectively; this means that the work for which support is requested must not have commenced before the award is announced.   

Assessment criteria
Applications will be assessed by an Academic Selection Board made up of scientific experts from the UK and Israel according to the following criteria which will be equally weighted:

Innovation / originality of proposed research   
Quality of scientific content and delivery plan of the proposed research    
Expertise of applicants in relation to proposed research    
Quality and nature of partnership proposed i.e. level of cooperation and extent to which it “adds value”   
Potential for longer-term sustainability beyond the period of the proposed research   

Applications will also be assessed on:

Compliance with Guidelines for Applicants and the relevant Application Form instructions   
The extent to which proposed research fits with the overarching aims of scheme   

The Academic Selection Board’s decision is final and confidential and no appeals will be considered. The British Council is unable to enter into any communication on the Selection Board’s decisions.

Funding
Maximum grants available under the different application categories of the scheme are as follows:

Up to £25,000 (including VAT) for research teams to implement joint research   
Up to £5,000 (including VAT) for individuals to undertake a temporary research attachment   

It is expected that funding under category 1 will be granted to the institution where the bulk of implementation activities will be taking place and the named Principal Investigator / Coordinator from that institution will be responsible for managing and reporting on the grant.

It is expected that funding under category 2 will be granted to the named individual researcher who will be undertaking the agreed research placement and s/he will be responsible for managing and reporting on the grant.

Please note that once a grant has been awarded, there will be no possibility of increasing that same grant later in the same year.

Awards are intended to support the direct costs of conducting actual research (in teams or as an individual) i.e. costs directly related to implementing activities contained in the application. Details of funding requested should be inserted in the relevant text boxes of the application form.

The main admissible costs are:

Travel, accommodation and subsistence costs that are an essential element in research implementation or research planning. These costs should be fully itemised and the length of time for which subsistence is sought should be justified in the application; subsistence rates will be based on current British Council overnight rates for the UK and Israel i.e. £44 per night in the UK and £40 per night in Israel. Subsistence rates cover the cost of food and drink plus personal incidental expenses; they do not cover accommodation or travel.   
Other essential costs that are eligible for funding include, but are not limited to: fieldwork fees, research assistant fees (specifically for the project but not regular salary/payroll related costs), animal and plant licence fees, software licences and dedicated computing recurrent costs, essential consumable materials etc. (these should be detailed).   
Other Funding: please indicate if your institution (or the institution you are partnering with) will be contributing any of its own funds to this project. Also, please indicate if you have applied elsewhere for funds in connection with this project and clarify how much and what the status of these applications is i.e. successful – grant awarded (or awaiting receipt of funds) or pending – still awaiting decision; please indicate when you will know.   
Other Support: please indicate any in-kind contributions – with an estimated financial value – that are being offered in support of your application; such contributions might include provision of university accommodation to house visiting researchers, use of other specialist facilities, waiving of certain fees etc.    

Please note: applications that demonstrate other funding (from own or other sources) and other support (in-kind) are strongly encouraged.

Inadmissible Costs

Indirect costs and regular staff costs (including salary payments) to the applicant(s) or to other persons are not covered and so full economic costings are not sought. The main inadmissible costs are:   
Use of financial, personnel and other central or departmental library administrative services (including library and administrative services)    
General premises, running, overhead and other unspecified costs including computing, (unless directly related to research) office expenses, photocopying, publishing costs, stationery, postage, telecommunications etc    
Patents or other related costs   
Costs related to writing up previous research   
Attendance at a conference   
Costs related to an accompanying spouse or children   

Please note though that for Category 1 applications only i.e. Applications to Implement Joint Research – for teams carrying out joint research; a proportion of indirect (or overhead) costs may be included in grant applications but these estimated costs must not exceed 10% of the total of all direct expenditure.  

Final Report
Grant recipients must submit a report to the British Council within 2 months of the end of their project. The final report must include a financial summary detailing all the items of expenditure and their costs.

For research teams and research individuals a technical narrative should also be included with a short summary in plain English for lay readers that can be used to publicise the scheme and its successes to a wider audience.

For proposal teams a copy of the proposal that has been developed should be attached.

Failure to provide a report will result in the British Council seeking reimbursement of the full award plus administrative costs.

Other Compliance Matters
Please ensure that institutional authorisation has been obtained, and that the necessary signature is included on the form to validate the application before submitting it to the British Council.

Applications that are not validated and received by the specified deadline will not be accepted.

Please note that signing the application form constitutes confirmation that the information provided is complete and accurate, and acceptance of all terms, conditions and notices contained in the Guidelines for Applicants.

Subsequent discovery of any deliberate misrepresentation will automatically render the application null and void. If an award has been made, the British Council will require a full refund.

Equal Opportunities and Diversity
The British Council is committed to a policy of Equal Opportunities and we welcome applications from all sections of society. All applications will be evaluated solely on the basis of the award criteria as listed above.

Closing Dates and Results
Applications must be received by 22.00 (GMT) on 31 May 2009
Results will be announced to applicants by end July 2009

What to do next
Download from our website the application form that best fits your situation i.e. research team, research proposal or research individual, complete it as per the instructions and e-mail it to science@britishcouncil.org.il by the closing date. Do not send applications by post or fax.

You are advised to retain a copy of your application and our e-mail acknowledgement of receipt for your own records.

For application enquiries please e-mail: science@britishcouncil.org.il and mark the subject box: “Application Query”.

Thank you for your interest in the UK – Tel Hai Research Partnership and good luck!

British Council Israel
March 2009

UK - Tel Hai Partnership - Word Documents

Call for Proposals
Guidelines for Applicants
Application to Implement Joint Research
Application for Individual Researcher

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