All applications must be made by email to: informatics@mrc.ukri.org by 09:00 on 11 November 2021.
You must include ‘DARE UK’ as the first word in the subject title.
The application submitted through this email address will be taken to be the final version and will be the version used for assessment.
Submission of an application indicates the lead organisation’s formal acceptance of the proposal, approval of salaries and resources sought, as well as their acceptance of the terms and conditions of the award.
Applicants will be required to submit one bookmarked PDF, comprising all the following details and documents as well as the completed budget Excel spreadsheet and DARE UK Industry Partner Finance Form. Each document should start on a new page.
Text should be single-spaced, with page margins of at least 2cm, using Arial 12 Font.
Please note that any documents that exceed the guidelines on length, above, may be automatically truncated before being submitted for review.
The PDF should include the following.
Consortia details and project summary
Maximum one page.
For the consortia details, please include the names of:
- the lead organisation
- the lead applicant
- any co-investigators or collaborators and their affiliations.
Only a single lead organisation and lead applicant is permitted.
For the project summary, please provide the:
- long title (max 120 characters including spaces)
- short title (max 30 characters including spaces)
- start and end dates
- total funding request for the project
- keywords (approximately 10 words).
Lay summary
Approximately 200 words, max 1,500 characters including spaces.
Please provide a lay summary of your project with a clear statement of the relevance and benefits to the public and cross section impact, suitable for a general audience.
If your application is successful, this lay summary will be used in communication materials for the DARE UK programme.
Scientific and technical abstract
Approximately 400 words, max 3,500 characters including spaces.
Please provide a scientific and technical abstract of your project, suitable for expert review.
If your application is successful, this scientific and technical abstract will be used in communication materials for the DARE UK programme.
Impact statement
Approximately 300 words.
Please provide an impact statement for your project. We define impact as the contribution of the proposed Sprint Exemplar Project to individuals and organisations who may participate in the subsequent phases of the DARE UK programme.
The Impact Statement should clearly describe how the proposed project will drive impact across two or more UKRI sectors.
Please consider:
- the beneficiaries, end-users and stakeholders of the prototype or demonstrator
- benefits that might be co-produced with the DARE UK community, including exploitation and commercialisation.
Sprint exemplar project proposal
Maximum four pages, covering:
- a case for support structured with the following headings, in order:
- background
- aims and objectives (approximately 400 words, maximum 3,500 characters including spaces)
- relevance and potential impact to the DARE UK programme, including evidence of user defined needs
- alignment with scope for the Sprint Exemplar Projects specified in this guidance
- proposed tools and methods
- data access agreement status and confirmation of governance arrangements where appropriate
- capturing and dissemination of lessons learnt
- a work plan covering timeline, milestones and deliverables
- evidence of project management capabilities and experience of having run similar sized projects in the past
- a track record in leading similar consortia and delivering on time.
An additional single page appendix may be included to provide references or other supporting materials if needed. A single page Gantt chart may also be provided.
Summary budget
A one page summary (in addition to completing the Excel template provided).
Please provide financial details of the project, with the following individual expense lines shown:
- direct staff costs (for example staff salaries, employers’ national insurance, subcontractors or seconded staff), indicate percentage of time for all staff, and name of staff where known
- travel and subsistence expenses (identify the meetings and travel planned for)
- computing costs (for example data access costs, hardware and software purchases)
- other direct costs (itemised)
- indirect and estates costs and overheads
- industry partner costs (if applicable)
- other (please specify).
Applicants cannot apply for costs that are already covered by other funding sources.
Applicants’ CVs
Please combine the CVs of all investigators and collaborators, in the following order:
- lead investigator (maximum two pages)
- other investigators (maximum one page each).
Heads of terms
Maximum six pages.
Please submit heads of terms. They should be compliant with UK Subsidy Controls (and in this regard must meet the intellectual property (IP) requirements specified in the ‘additional information’ section) and cover:
- scope and aims of the proposed project
- duration of project
- key tasks and responsibilities of the partners
- project management arrangements
- financial and resource contributions
- data management and governance
- publications and announcements
- withdrawal and change of control
- termination.
If your consortium includes industry participation, your application should explain how you will satisfy UK Subsidy Controls both in terms of the funding that you are applying for and the relationship between consortium members.
Heads of terms are not legally binding but should be substantially similar to the Consortia Agreement (see ‘additional information’ section) that would be signed if the project were funded.
If the application is successful, you will be expected to complete contracting by 17 December.
Ethics and data: governance approval
Maximum one page (an additional single page appendix may be included for a data flow diagram if needed).
This section is only required for Sprint Exemplar Projects that are proposing to make use of data such as those addressing cross-council use cases. If no ethics approvals are needed, please include a statement detailing that no sensitive data will be used.
All data that is to be used in the Sprint Exemplar Projects must be operated in line with robust governance and ethical standards that satisfy (amongst others) guidance provided by the:
- Health Research Authority
- Information Commissioner’s Office
- National Data Guardian.
Please identify the lead contact with responsibility for data governance on behalf of the consortia. Provide details of the status of your governance arrangements, with clarity and assurance that the necessary approvals are in place to deliver the proposed project on time.
A statement is required to confirm that you have considered and agreed within the consortium:
- how to manage ethical, legal and governance issues relevant to the project (for example data protection, research approvals and meeting information governance standards)
- that the responsibilities of each consortium member are clearly established.
Where relevant, a data flow diagram should be included to demonstrate that these legal, ethical and governance issues have been identified and will be robustly managed.
Please note that given the time constraints of the Sprint Exemplar Projects proposals must utilise existing data and should not be reliant on new data collection.
Letter from employing organisation
Maximum one page.
The proposal should include a letter of support from the individual in the lead organisation (for example research office, financial director) authorised to confirm that they:
- have read this application
- have approved the costs submitted
- are willing to host and manage the project and the grant should this application be successful.
Each letter must confirm that:
- if not already covering the entire period of the project, then the contract of employment for the lead investigator will be amended or extended as necessary to enable the successful completion of the project
- the project will be given full access to the facilities, equipment and personnel as required by the application
- the indicative costs included in the application have been correctly calculated with the support of the research office (or equivalent)
- the letter signatory is authorised to approve the submission of applications for funding
- the application has met all internal approval procedures.
Please note that letters from collaborators are not required.
Declarations of interest
Maximum one page.
Please outline any private, personal or commercial interest relating to the application that the lead applicant, co-applicants or any collaborators have. These could include shareholdings in or research support received from any industry partner.
Details should be provided on how any conflicts of interest will be managed.
Risk register
Maximum one page.
Please provide a risk register identifying the key risks associated with the proposed project covering:
- level of risk
- potential impact
- proposed mitigations
- residual risk.
