Scope
The BBSRC Infrastructure Strategic Framework highlights the fundamental importance of supporting a diverse range of infrastructure to ensure the continued success of the UK biosciences. A key component of this is advanced, multi-user equipment that addresses the shared needs of research organisations, industry and end user communities.
We recognise that new technologies, tools, and approaches, often spanning several disciplines, are revolutionising biology. They are providing unprecedented opportunities to:
- advance understanding of the complex, dynamic processes that govern life
- apply that knowledge for the benefit of society and the economy
To support this approach, this funding opportunity encourages you to apply for:
- equipment that is widely used and underpins capability across all scientific areas within our remit (relevance to the priority areas in BBSRC’s strategic delivery plan is particularly encouraged)
- the use of emerging advanced research technology or utilisation of equipment in new ways, specifically ‘lab-to-field’ equipment which enables the translation (or applied use) of laboratory scale experiments to real-world settings or environments
- equipment that promotes collaboration and increased access to users within industry, public sector, and other institutes, for example equipment sharing and access to equipment
Read more about the BBSRC remit.
Duration
The maximum duration of the grants is 12 months and grants must start by 1 August 2025 at the very latest.
No slippage will be allowed to this date, and grant extensions will not be allowed under any circumstances.
Funding available
The indicative budget for ALERT 2024 is approximately £20 million.
You may seek the cost of capital equipment between £200,000 and £1.5 million in value, including VAT if applicable.
The funding requested should be the costs being sought from us, net of any discounts and contributions from elsewhere. It may include other eligible one-off costs such as initial service and maintenance contracts. Costs should be requested at 100% full economic cost.
Funding must be requested under the ‘Exceptions – Equipment’ heading only. No other cost types are eligible under this funding opportunity. Any applications submitted with costs in any other heading will be rejected without consultation.
Contributions from host research organisations and other external sources are encouraged but not mandatory. These may take the form of cash contributions, running costs or staff resourcing associated with the equipment, for example, managing, operating, or providing training on the equipment. Any contributions from elsewhere must be secured at the time of application.
What we will fund
Only one piece of capital equipment may be funded. However, this can include equipment that requires assembly or involves several components (not necessarily physically linked) provided they constitute one of the following:
- a pipeline: an end-to-end experimental process made up of several components that may require assembly
- a platform: a single piece of experimental equipment that may be constituted from multiple parts
If you plan to request several components that could constitute a pipeline or platform, your application should provide robust justification for why it should be considered as such. Relevant applications considered not to meet either of these definitions will be rejected. If you are unsure whether your proposed application meets either of these definitions, please contact us at bbsrcalert@bbsrc.ukri.org
Costs such as initial installation or service maintenance contracts can be included if they are one-off costs and part of the manufacturer’s offer. These costs should be included in the equipment quotation.
Refurbishment or installation costs may be eligible under the scheme providing these are an absolute requirement for the proper functioning of the equipment, for example, a ventilation system or cold room. These costs must be itemised in the application and fully justified.
In a large multi-component application that is otherwise in scope, one or more small components costing under £10,000 may be requested. These must be from the same supplier with all components forming a single invoice. If they cannot be sourced from the same supplier, your research organisation will need to fund each component under £10,000 separately.
All equipment must be on the market at the time of the funding opportunity closing date.
What we will not fund
Applications in the following areas are excluded from ALERT 2024 and will not be accepted. We withhold the right to reject these applications without consultation:
- applications where the principal beneficiaries are outside our remit
- applications that request any other costs apart from capital funding (for example running costs, staff costs, consumables, estate, and indirect costs)
- equipment requested with a total value below £200,000 including VAT
- applications that exceed 12 months in duration
- unsolicited resubmissions of proposals that have previously been considered by us or any other funder
- applications requesting contributions to large facilities, purchase of equipment that constitute common elements of a well-found laboratory (such as centrifuges, fridges, incubators and so on) or for buildings and other types of infrastructures
- applications where the specified equipment is scheduled for market release after the funding opportunity close date
- multi-component applications that do not meet our pipeline or platform definition
- applications where the principal beneficiaries are outside the UK
- applications for technology development (although the use of new or emerging technologies is encouraged)
- applications to develop software packages
- applications for single-user or single-project equipment
- applications of the same nature that are currently under consideration by other funding opportunities
- applications where additional contributions are dependent on the outcome of requests to other funders still under consideration
- applications that include general maintenance costs (other than those detailed in the Additional funding considerations section) or depreciation costs
Additional funding considerations
Service maintenance contracts may extend a maximum of 24 months past the end date of the award (36 months in total), but the contract cost must be paid within the lifetime of the grant (12 months). Where a compelling case can be made for warranties and service contracts extending beyond 36 months, these will be considered if appropriately justified.
We expect that institutions will make longer-term arrangements to ensure appropriate ongoing support over the lifetime of the equipment. Separately negotiated service contracts are not eligible for this funding opportunity.
The application must not request costs for staff or other ineligible costs. However, you should indicate the % Full Time Equivalent (FTE) allocated to each applicant named on the project within the application.
We recommend applicants make use of equipment databases when deciding on what equipment to request, such as the Equipment Data service operated by Jisc.
Managing VAT exceptions on equipment is the responsibility of the research organisation. If the research organisation is confident that they meet HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) criteria for exemption, then they can submit without VAT. In such cases, if the value is pushed just below the minimum £200,000 threshold because VAT has been excluded then this will be accepted.
Open Research and ALERT
Open research is integral to UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)’s mission to deliver economic and social benefit. BBSRC aims to promote open sharing of all research data, including data arising from ALERT-funded equipment.
To help maximise the impact of our funding, we encourage you to consider manufacturers who provide openly accessible data formats with your equipment.
Use of open formats ensures that deposition of data in public data repositories is as easy as possible and eliminates the need for costly and time-consuming data conversion steps when data is submitted to public repositories. Using these formats helps to enhance transparency, openness, verification, and reproducibility in research supported by ALERT.
Equipment access, and equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI)
Our action plan for EDI outlines our commitment to removing barriers to participation in our programmes, ensuring investments do not inadvertently prevent access or usage by individuals from minority groups for example, disabled researchers.
You may wish to reference relevant research organisation strategies and policies which support equality, diversity, and inclusion as they relate to access to equipment and facilities. You should indicate how your proposed project has been designed and will be delivered with broad access in mind.
Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)
UKRI is committed in ensuring that effective international collaboration in research and innovation takes place with integrity and within strong ethical frameworks. Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) is a UKRI work programme designed to help protect all those working in our thriving and collaborative international sector by enabling partnerships to be as open as possible, and as secure as necessary. Our TR&I Principles set out UKRI’s expectations of organisations funded by UKRI in relation to due diligence for international collaboration.
As such, applicants for UKRI funding may be asked to demonstrate how their proposed projects will comply with our approach and expectation towards TR&I, identifying potential risks and the relevant controls you will put in place to help proportionately reduce these risks.
See further guidance and information about TR&I, including where you can find additional support.
