Overview of the application process
The ‘Future proofing plants for a changing climate’ funding opportunity is comprised of two mandatory stages. The UK project lead will be responsible for assembling all the information required for each stage from the wider team and this will be submitted using the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service by their research organisation.
At each stage of the funding opportunity you will be able to access the corresponding Funding Service page to submit your application using the ‘Start application’ button on this page.
Stage one: expression of interest stage
Details on how to submit a stage one application can be found here: Future-proofing plants to a changing climate: stage one.
Stage two: full stage
The full stage is only open to applicants who have been invited to submit following stage one. The deadline for submitting full proposals is 22 May 2024.
The research team will provide a full description of their project idea, people involved, and other information including letters of support, management plans, and full justification of resources using the Funding Service.
Separate budgets and budget justifications will be required for each agency. All budget items must conform to the national rules applicable to each applicant. Further information on what is required will be provided with the invitation to submit a full proposal following stage one.
UKRI’s Funding Service
BBSRC will run this funding opportunity on the new Funding Service on behalf of the involved funding agencies. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.
Your team can be led by either UK, German or USA applicants, or may involve co-leads from the three countries. Please indicate roles within your proposal.
For administrative purposes, the project lead (lead UK applicant) is responsible for completing the application process on the Funding Service, but we expect all international team members and project partners to contribute to the application where appropriate.
Only the lead UK research organisation can apply to UKRI, joint submissions involving multiple UK research organisations must be made using the same Funding Service application.
To apply
Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page.
- Confirm you are the project lead.
- Sign in or create a Funding Service account. To create an account, select your organisation, verify your email address, and set a password. If your organisation is not listed, email support@funding-service.ukri.org
- Answer questions directly in the text boxes. You can save your answers and come back to complete them or work offline and return to copy and paste your answers. If we need you to upload a document, follow the upload instructions in the Funding Service. All questions and assessment criteria are listed in the How to apply section on this Funding finder page.
- Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office.
- Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.
- Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI.
Watch our research office webinars about the new Funding Service.
For more guidance on the Funding Service, see:
Deadline
You should ensure you are aware of and follow any deadlines that may be in place within your research organisation.
Stage one: expression of interest
BBSRC must receive your outline by 6 February 2024 at 4:00pm UK time. You will not be able to submit an expression of interest after this time.
Details on how to submit a stage one application can be found here: Future-proofing plants to a changing climate: stage one.
Stage two: full stage
Only applicants who are invited may submit a full stage submission.
The full stage will open shortly after the expression of interest stage closes.
BBSRC must receive your full proposal by 22 May 2024 at 4:00pm UK time. You will not be able to submit a full proposal after this time.
Following the submission of your application to the funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and applications will not be returned for amendment. If your application does not follow the guidance, it may be rejected.
DFG must receive a PDF copy of the application that has been submitted to BBSRC full proposal stage, including the CVs and publication lists of the applicants, and the ‘DFG Lead Agency procedure Project Data Form’ within one week after the closing date of the full proposal submission to BBSRC, by 29 May 2024. The German project lead will upload this application to the DFG’s submission portal ‘elan’.
Personal data
Processing personal data
BBSRC, as part of UKRI, will need to collect some personal information to manage your Funding Service account and the registration of your funding applications.
We will handle personal data in line with UK data protection legislation and manage it securely. For more information, including how to exercise your rights, read our privacy notice.
BBSRC, as part of UKRI, will need to share the application and any personal information that it contains with DFG, NSF and USDA-NIFA so that they can participate in the assessment process.
For more information on how NSF uses personal information, visit NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG), Privacy Act and Public Burden Statements. In general, all proposals, reviews, and so on are confidential, only the public award abstract is published.
Please note the DFG’s data protection notice on research funding, which can be viewed and downloaded at DFG Privacy Policy.
Publication of outcomes
BBSRC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity at Awarded research grants.
If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the UKRI Gateway to Research.
Summary
Word limit: 550
In plain English, provide a summary we can use to identify the most suitable experts to assess your application.
We may make this summary publicly available on external-facing websites, so 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
Core team
List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following:
- project lead (PL)
- project co-lead (UK) (PcL)
- researcher co-lead (RcL)
- specialist
- grant manager
- professional enabling staff
- research and innovation associate
- technician
- visiting researcher
Only list one individual as project lead.
Find out more about UKRI’s new grant roles.
German Applicants
Word limit: 350
Please provide the following details of the German applicants on this application:
- name
- institute
- job title
- role in project (for example, project lead or project co-lead)
- email address
Please also indicate who the lead German applicant(s) will be.
DFG will use this information to confirm applicant eligibility.
Please do not include details of German applicants in the ‘Core team’ section.
USA Applicants
Word limit: 350
Please provide the following details of the USA applicants on this application:
- name
- institute
- job title
- role in project (for example, project lead or project co-lead)
- email address
- unique entity identifier (UEI). See Sam.gov for details.
Please indicate who the lead USA applicant(s) will be.
NSF and USDA-NIFA will use this information to confirm applicant eligibility.
Please do not include details of USA applicants in the ‘Core team’ section.
Vision
Word limit: 1,500
What are you hoping to achieve with your proposed work?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Explain how your proposed work:
- is of excellent quality and importance within or beyond the fields or areas
- has the potential to advance current understanding, or generate new knowledge, thinking or discovery within or beyond the field or area
- is timely given current trends, context, and needs
- demonstrates synergy between the applicants
- impacts world-leading research, society, the economy, or the environment
Within your vision you should:
- describe how your application addresses the ‘future proofing plants to a changing climate’ scope of the funding opportunity
- provide the overall aims and objectives of your research, typically as a small number of bullet points
- describe your aims in the context of relevant prior work by your team and how the proposed research complements (and does not overlap with) other research funded in this area internationally
- highlight features that are particularly original or unique
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.
Approach
Word limit: 4,500
How are you going to deliver your proposed work?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Explain how you have designed your approach so that it:
- is effective and appropriate to achieve your objectives
- is feasible, and comprehensively identifies any risks to delivery and how they will be managed
- uses a clearly written and transparent methodology (if applicable)
- summarises the previous work and describes how this will be built upon and progressed (if applicable)
- will maximise translation of outputs into outcomes and impacts
- describes how your, and if applicable your team’s, research environment (in terms of the place and relevance to the project) will contribute to the success of the work
- describe how the project will be managed to ensure effective working between the investigators and wider team
You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the service.
Your approach should describe how you will tackle the individual objectives, including reference to the experimental and analytical methods, tools and technologies which will be employed or developed, use of relevant facilities and infrastructures, and what model system, or systems, might be used.
Within the approach we also expect you to:
- clearly outline the role and contribution of team members to delivering each objective
- describe key synergies or interdependencies between objectives which contribute to the delivery of outcomes greater than the sum of individual objectives
- describe key milestones where you may need to make decisions, track, or evaluate progress
A project Gantt chart is compulsory and should be inserted as an image at the very end of this section. The Gantt chart should identify appropriate deliverables, responsibilities, and time points for each objective. Please make sure to check sizing and readability of the image using ‘read view’ prior to submission.
References
Word limit: 600
List the references you have used to support your application.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Include all references in this section, not in the rest of the application questions.
You should not include any other information in this section.
We advise you not to include hyperlinks, as assessors are not obliged to access the information they lead to or consider it in their assessment of your application.
If linking to web resources, to maintain the information’s integrity, include persistent identifiers (such as digital object identifiers) where possible.
You must not include links to web resources to extend your application.
Applicant and team capability to deliver
Word limit: 2,000
Why are you the right individual or team to successfully deliver the proposed work?
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) to deliver the proposed work
- the right balance of skills and expertise to cover the proposed work
- the appropriate leadership and management skills to deliver the work and your approach to develop others
- contributed to developing a positive research environment and wider community
This section should cover the whole UK-USA-German team.
The word count for this section is 2,000 words: 1,500 words to be used for R4RI modules and, if necessary, a further 500 words for Additions.
Use the Résumé for Research and Innovation (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 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. 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 emphasize where appropriate the key skills each team member brings:
- contributions to the generation of new ideas, tools, methodologies, or knowledge
- the development of others and maintenance of effective working relationships
- contributions to the wider research and innovation community
- contributions to broader research or innovation users and audiences and towards wider societal benefit
Additions
Provide any further details relevant to your application. This section is optional and can be up to 500 words. You should not use it to describe additional skills, experiences, or outputs, but you can use it to describe any factors that provide context for the rest of your R4RI (for example, details of career breaks if you wish to disclose them).
Complete this as a narrative. Do not format it like a CV.
UKRI has introduced new role types for funding opportunities being run on the new Funding Service.
For full details, see Eligibility as an individual.
Ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI)
Word limit: 500
What are the ethical or RRI implications and issues relating to the proposed work? If you do not think that the proposed work raises any ethical or RRI issues, explain why.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Demonstrate that you have identified and evaluated:
- the relevant ethical or responsible research and innovation considerations
- how you will manage these considerations
Information provided here will be reviewed by UKRI and further information may be requested if the proposal is recommended for funding.
Genetic and biological risk
Word limit: 700
Does your proposed research involve any genetic or biological risk?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
In respect of animals, plants or microbes, are you proposing to:
- use genetic modification as an experimental tool, like studying gene function in a genetically modified organism
- release genetically modified organisms
- ultimately develop commercial and industrial genetically modified outcomes
If yes, provide the name of any required approving body and state if approval is already in place. If it is not, provide an indicative timeframe for obtaining the required approval.
Identify the organism or organisms as a plant, animal or microbe and specify the species and which of the three categories the research relates to.
Identify the genetic and biological risks resulting from the proposed research, their implications, and any mitigation you plan on taking. Assessors will want to know you have considered the risks and their implications to justify that any identified risks do not outweigh any benefits of the proposed research.
If this does not apply to your proposed work, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.
Research involving the use of animals
Word limit: 10
Does your proposed research involve the use of vertebrate animals or other organisms covered by the Animals Scientific Procedures Act?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
If you are proposing research that requires using animals, download and complete the Animals Scientific Procedures Act template (DOCX, 74KB), which contains all the questions relating to research using vertebrate animals or other Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 regulated organisms.
Studies proposing to use non-human primates, cats, dogs, equines or pigs will be assessed during NC3Rs review of research applications.
Save it as a PDF. The Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply. If this does not apply to your proposed work, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.
If this section does not apply to you, please write ‘N/A’ and mark as complete.
Conducting research with animals overseas
Word limit: 10
Will any of the proposed animal research be conducted overseas?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
If you are proposing to conduct overseas research, it must be conducted in accordance with welfare standards consistent with those in the UK, as in Responsibility in the use of animals in bioscience research, page 14.
Ensure all named applicants in the UK and overseas are aware of this requirement. Provide a statement to confirm that:
- all named applicants are aware of the requirements and have agreed to abide by them
- this overseas research will be conducted in accordance with welfare standards consistent with the principles of UK legislation
- the expectation set out in Responsibility in the use of animals in bioscience research will be applied and maintained
- appropriate national and institutional approvals are in place
Overseas studies proposing to use non-human primates, cats, dogs, equines or pigs will be assessed during NC3Rs review of research applications. Provide the required information by completing the template from the question ‘Research involving the use of animals’.
For studies involving other species, select, download, and complete the relevant Word checklist or checklists from this list:
Save as a PDF. If you use more than one checklist, save it as a single PDF.
If this section does not apply to you, please write ‘N/A’ and mark as complete.
Research involving human participation
Word limit: 700
Will the project involve the use of human subjects or their personal information?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
If you are proposing research that requires the involvement of human subjects, provide the name of any required approving body and whether approval is already in place.
Justify the number and the diversity of the participants involved, as well as any procedures.
Provide details of any areas of substantial or moderate severity of impact.
If this section does not apply to you, please write ‘N/A’ and mark as complete.
Research involving human tissues or biological samples
Word limit: 700
Does your proposed research involve the use of human tissues, or biological samples?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
If you are proposing work that involves human tissues or biological samples, provide the name of any required approving body and whether approval is already in place.
Justify the use of human tissue or biological samples specifying the nature and quantity of the material to be used and its source.
If this section does not apply to you, please write ‘N/A’ and mark as complete.
Resources and cost justification
Word limit: 700
What will you need to deliver your proposed work and how much will it cost?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Justify the application’s more costly resources, in particular:
- project staff
- significant travel for field work or collaboration (but not regular travel between collaborating organisations or to conferences)
- any equipment that will cost more than £10,000
- any consumables beyond typical requirements, or that are required in exceptional quantities
- all facilities and infrastructure costs
- all resources that have been costed as ‘Exceptions’
Assessors are not looking for detailed costs or a line-by-line breakdown of all project resources. Overall, they want you to demonstrate how the resources you anticipate needing for your proposed work:
- are comprehensive, appropriate, and justified
- represent the optimal use of resources to achieve the intended outcomes
- maximise potential outcomes and impacts
This section should be used to discuss and justify UK costs only.
Please use the ‘additional documentation for German applicants’ and ‘additional documentation for USA applicants’ for German and USA budget information.
Your organisation’s support
Word limit: 10
Provide details of support from your research organisation.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Provide a Statement of Support from your UK research organisation(s) detailing why the proposed work is needed. This should include details of any matched funding that will be provided to support the activity and any additional support that might add value to the work.
Upload guidance for the PDF will be provided in the Funding Service.
Letters of support from the US and German research organisations are not required for this section.
Additional documentation for German Applicants
Word limit: 10
Please upload a single PDF attachment with the following documents in this order:
- German budget template and justification of resources using the DFG Lead Agency procedure Project Data Form from the ‘Additional information’ section of the funding opportunity page
- German CVs
- If a German applicant is requesting a temporary principal investigator position from DFG then an employer statement should be included as part of the PDF upload.
In all other circumstances German applicants do not need to submit a Letter of Support
Additional documentation for USA Applicants
Word limit: 10
Please upload a single PDF attachment with for the following documents in this order:
- USA budget template and justification of resources using the US budget template from the ‘Additional information’ section of the funding opportunity page.
- USA biosketch
Project partners
Add details about any project partners’ contributions.
If there are no project partners, you can indicate this on the Funding Service.
A project partner is a collaborating organisation who will have an integral role in the proposed research. This may include private sector, non-governmental organisations, third parties that would not normally receive funding directly from the grant and may provide direct (cash) or indirect (in-kind) contributions such as expertise, staff time or use of facilities.
Add the following project partner details:
- the organisation name and address (searchable via a drop-down list or enter the organisation’s details manually, as applicable)
- the project partner contact name and email address
- the type of contribution (direct or in-direct) and its monetary value
If a detail is entered incorrectly and you have saved the entry, remove the specific project partner record and re-add it with the correct information.
For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made.
Project partners: letters (or emails) of support
Word limit: 10
Upload a single PDF containing the letters or emails of support from each partner you named in the ‘Project partners’ section.
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Enter the words ‘attachment supplied’ in the text box, or if you do not have any project partners enter ‘N/A’. Each letter or email you provide should:
- confirm the partner’s commitment to the project
- clearly explain the value, relevance, and possible benefits of the work to them
- describe any additional value that they bring to the project
Save letters or emails of support from each partner in a single PDF no bigger than 8MB. Unless specially requested, please do not include any sensitive personal data within the attachment.
For the file name, use the unique Funding Service number the system gives you when you create an application, followed by the words ‘Project partner’.
If the attachment does not meet these requirements, the application will be rejected.
The Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply. If you do not have any project partners, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.
Ensure you have prior agreement from project partners so that, if you are offered funding, they will support your project as indicated.
For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made.
Do not provide letters of support from host and project co-leads’ research organisations.
Data management and sharing
Word limit: 1,000
How will you manage and share data collected or acquired through the proposed research?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
Provide a data management plan that clearly details how you will comply with BBSRC’s published data sharing policy, which includes detailed guidance notes.
Facilities
Word limit: 750
Does your proposed research require the support and use of a facility?
What the assessors are looking for in your response
If you will need to use a facility, follow your proposed facility’s normal access request procedures. Ensure you have prior agreement so that if you are offered funding, they will support the use of their facility on your project.
For each requested facility you will need to provide the:
- name of facility, copied and pasted from the facility information list (DOCX, 35KB)
- proposed usage or costs, or costs per unit where indicated on the facility information list
- confirmation you have their agreement where required
If you will not need to use a facility, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.
Please note this section should only be used to discuss facilities from the linked facility information list.
