Funding opportunity

Funding opportunity: Partner with researchers in Canada on antimicrobial resistance (AMR)

Apply for funding to establish new partnerships or develop pre-existing collaborations with researchers in Canada on a project relating to combating antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

You must be based at an eligible UK organisation. Standard BBSRC eligibility criteria applies.

Your project must:

  • be primarily relevant to combating AMR in both the UK and Canada
  • last between 18 and 24 months.

We expect your project to start from January 2023.

The full economic cost may be up to £187,500. BBSRC will fund 80% of the full economic cost.

Who can apply

You must be based at a UK institution eligible for funding in accordance with standard UKRI practice. Standard eligibility criteria as set out in the UKRI-BBSRC research grants guide applies.

Institutions normally eligible for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funding include:

  • UK higher education institutions
  • research council institutes
  • UKRI-approved independent research organisations
  • UKRI-approved public sector research establishments (PSREs).

Check if your institution is eligible for research and innovation funding.

To be eligible as a principal investigator or co-investigator you must meet at least one of the following criteria:

  • be resident in the UK at the time of the application (meaning you spend 183 or more days in the UK in the tax year)
  • be moving to the UK to take up an already agreed contract at an eligible organisation and remain in the UK for the duration of the proposed project (the contract must not be dependent on the outcome of the application).

You must also:

  • be employed by (or scheduled to move to) the eligible research organisation submitting the proposal
  • hold a research staff appointment at the organisation at academic lecturer level or equivalent, resourced from the central funds of the organisation.

If you are not employed by the submitting organisation (and not in receipt of funding by non-eligible organisations) you may still apply, but only if you have an existing written formal arrangement with the organisation confirming that the research will be conducted as if you are an employee at lecturer level or equivalent, but without salary costs.

Applications from organisations or individuals that are not eligible will be rejected.

If you have a question about eligibility you should email your query to eligibility@bbsrc.ukri.org

Partner criteria

You must partner with a researcher at a research organisation in Canada.

BBSRC does not fund the research costs of Canada-based partners, except travel and subsistence.

You may also partner with:

  • business and industry
  • practitioners such as farmers or veterinarians
  • policymakers including regulators, charities, government departments.

What we're looking for

The International Partnering Award Plus (IPAP) scheme aims to:

  • pump prime collaborations between the UK and Canada in antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
  • build readiness in the community to take on future joint opportunities.

Funding is available to build links with overseas researchers and technical specialists and for UK research costs. The IPAP funding opportunity is conceived to facilitate partnerships beyond what is possible with the International Partnering Awards (IPA) scheme.

Scientific scope

Proposals are welcome in both fundamental and applied bioscience that aim to combat AMR in collaboration with partners in Canada.

Cross-disciplinary proposals that have the potential to enhance impact arising from the research are welcome. However, a significant majority of the proposal must be within BBSRC remit.

In particular, BBSRC encourages applications in the priority areas listed below.

All applications should describe a credible route to translation within the case for support, which may either form a part of the proposal, or be subject to further research and funding beyond the lifetime of the proposal.

Projects must be primarily relevant to combating AMR in both the UK and Canada.

Proposals should involve at least one or more of the following microbial reservoirs:

  • farmed animals, including fish
  • companion animals
  • crops, including trees
  • managed agricultural environments, including farm soils and animal housing.

BBSRC encourages the active involvement, including through proposal co-design, of UK and Canadian:

  • industrial partners
  • practitioners, such as farmers or veterinarians
  • policymakers, including regulators, charities, government departments and industry associations.

Priority research areas

We encourage proposals in the following priority areas:

  • magnitude and trends in the AMR burden in farm animals, crops and their associated environments
  • identification of drivers for antimicrobial usage (AMU)
  • antimicrobial and AMR transmission between animal, plant, human and environmental reservoirs, including determinants of transmission and the impact of alternatives to antimicrobials
  • impact of transmission on human health; risk analysis of acceptable AMU and AMR transmission levels in livestock agriculture and its environment, including in relation to food safety
  • impact of AMR on food security
  • comparative research in the above topics between the UK and Canada.

Proposals may involve the use of existing or new data. Technological advances in support of the priority research areas are in the scope of this funding opportunity but this is not a priority area in itself.

Research areas that are out of scope

Research areas that are out of scope include:

  • anthelmintic drugs and resistance
  • projects which primarily consider wild animals or wild plants (except as transmission vectors).

Early career researcher and technician collaboration

Collaborative activities are not limited to the principal investigator and we encourage the involvement of early career researchers and technicians within the project.

UKRI aims to enable a dynamic, diverse and inclusive system of research and innovation in the UK, that gives the opportunity for everyone to participate and to benefit.

People are the heart of this system. We encourage principal investigators to consider the involvement of the broader research base when developing applications for this funding opportunity, explaining their approach in the case for support.

Further detail on the breadth of the technical, practical, analytical and management skills which technicians contribute, may be found within the UKRI Technician Commitment Action Plan.

What we will fund

The full economic cost of your collaboration may be up to £187,500. BBSRC will fund 80% of the full economic cost, so your award will not exceed £150,000.

The collaborative activity must last for 18 to 24 months.

You are encouraged to obtain additional funding to complement this award. This could be direct funding from other sources, or funding in-kind from host organisations or collaborators.

The award may be used to fund costs associated with collaborative research activities.

For UK participants, the grant will cover:

  • UK research costs
  • facilities costs in the UK and Canada.

The grant may be used to fund partnership building costs for participants in either country, such as:

  • travel between the UK and Canada, including subsistence and accommodation costs
  • venue hire, workshops and networking costs.

In addition, direct research costs that may be covered in the UK include:

  • consumables
  • salary costs.

Costs to cover additional caring responsibilities are also eligible.

What we will not fund

We will not fund:

  • international project partner costs such as salary and estates costs, except for travel and subsistence
  • conference attendance. Award funds cannot be used to pay for conference accommodation and costs such as registration, but for convenience and cost efficiency BBSRC does allow award holders to arrange collaborative meetings alongside conferences at which their partners are already present.

Support available for people with caring responsibilities

You can request additional care costs as part of an IPAP grant proposal. These may cover the additional care requirements for visits, meetings and overseas travel undertaken as part of the supported activity.

Costs which form part of someone’s normal care arrangements must not be included and making arrangements for the care to be provided is the responsibility of the carer themselves.

Costs should be reasonable and outlined in the ‘other directly incurred costs’ section of the Je-S application. Funds for supporting people with caring responsibilities should form part of the overall budget envelope.

COVID-19 travel implications

You must follow the travel advice set out by your institution and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office before departure and should check Canada’s travel guidance when preparing an application.

BBSRC will not cover the cost of any time spent in quarantine due to travel on an IPAP.

How to present costs

Applications should be made at current costs in accordance with subsistence and travel regulations at the applicant’s institutions.

For each main activity, indicative costs should be shown within the Je-S form being submitted.

How awards will be paid

BBSRC may index approved costs, therefore awards made will include an allowance for inflation. All resources requested in the application must be fully justified.

BBSRC will pay the award directly to the lead UK organisation, which, where necessary, will be responsible for disbursing the funds to the co-investigators.

Reporting requirements

All grant holders must use Researchfish to record key findings and specific outputs from their grants. Grant holders can enter information into Researchfish at any time throughout the year and submit during the annual submission period.

Further details are available in our information on reporting your project outcomes.

UKRI may contact the grant holder and request more information on their grant for use in UKRI publicity or for use in ongoing office projects. Grant holders should make reasonable efforts to provide UKRI with information where requested.

Data sharing

BBSRC carries out the processing of personal data in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The information you provide will only be used by BBSRC for the purpose of carrying out reviewing and assessment for making a funding decision. By providing your information you are consenting to its use as detailed above.

BBSRC is committed to protecting personal information and will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect the information supplied by the applicant. Further relevant information is available in the privacy notice and the data protection policy.

How to apply

You should ensure you are aware of and comply with any internal institutional deadlines that may be in place.

Applying using Je-S

UK applicants must apply using the Joint Electronic Submission (Je-S) system.

We recommend you start your application early. You can save completed details in Je-S at any time and return to continue your application later.

When applying select ‘new document’ then:

  • council: UKRI BBSRC
  • document type: standard proposal
  • scheme: small grants
  • call/type/mode: International Partnering Awards Plus (Japan and Canada).

All applications must be submitted using a single Je-S form.

Titles of applications must start with ‘Canada_IPAP’.

Once you have completed your application, make sure you ‘submit document’.

You can find advice on completing your application in the Je-S handbook.

Your host organisation will also be able to provide advice and guidance on completing your application.

BBSRC must receive your application by 6 September 2022 at 16:00.

You will not be able to apply after this time. Please leave enough time for your proposal to pass through your organisation’s Je-S submission route before this date.

Attachments

In addition to the Je-S proforma, your application should also include following attachments:

  • case for support (up to three sides of A4)
  • justification of resources (up to two sides of A4)
  • data management plan (one side of A4)
  • CV (up to two sides of A4)
  • cover letter (up to one side of A4)
  • workplan (a one page diagrammatic Gantt chart)
  • overseas animal use forms (if applicable)
  • project partner letters of support (no more than one side of A4 each)
  • equality, diversity and inclusion document (one side of A4). This is optional.

Case for support

The case for support should be a maximum of three sides of A4. It should be written in single spaced Arial, Helvetica or Verdana typeface, font size 11 and margins must not be less than 2cm. The case for support must contain the following:

  • the main scientific objectives
  • a summary of previous contact or links with proposed partners
  • details of the work to be carried out
  • an explanation of how the consortia have ensured an appropriate team, and the steps taken to consider equality, diversity and inclusion. Further information may be included within an optional, additional attachment (no more than one side of A4)
  • an indication of the benefit of the proposed collaboration to UK science
  • information to demonstrate how this award will facilitate longer-term collaborations between the UK and Canada.

Justification of resources

The justification of resources (JoR) should be a maximum of two sides of A4.

The JoR should explain why the resources requested are appropriate for the research proposed, considering the nature and complexity of the research proposal. It should not be simply a list of the resources required as this is already given in the Je-S form.

All items requested in the Je-S form must be justified in the JoR. Costings should be justified on the basis of full economic costs of the project, not on the costs expected from the research council.

Data management plan

The data management plan should be a maximum of one side of A4.

This should include concise plans for data management and sharing as part of the research grant proposal or provide reasons why data sharing is not possible or appropriate.

BBSRC recognises that plans for sharing data will vary according to the type of data collected. Data sharing should be driven by scientific benefit and should also be cost effective. Data should be shared using established standards and existing resources where this is possible.

You may wish to include details of:

  • data areas and data types: the volume, type and content of data that will be generated, for example experimental measurements, models, records and images
  • standards and metadata: the standards and methodologies that will be adopted for data collection and management and why these have been selected
  • relationship to other data available in public repositories
  • secondary use: further intended or foreseeable research uses for the completed datasets
  • methods for data sharing: planned mechanisms for making these data available, for example through deposition in existing public databases or on request, including access mechanisms
  • proprietary data: any restrictions on data sharing due to the need to protect proprietary or patentable data
  • timeframes: timescales for public release of data
  • the format of the final dataset.

See our data sharing policy for full guidance.

Cover letter

A short cover letter must be included in the application.

Work plan

This should be no more than one side of A4.

A Gantt chart or diagrammatic action plan which outlines the activities and timelines for the work to be carried out must be included in the application.

Overseas animal use

This additional attachment only needs to be included if applicable.

For studies using non-human primates, cats, dogs, equines, and currently pigs, an NC3Rs review of research proposals will be carried out to determine whether research conducted overseas is carried out to the welfare standards consistent with those in the UK.

In some circumstances, proposals involving the use of other species may also be referred to NC3Rs at the discretion of BBSRC.

All applications involving animal research conducted overseas are required to submit a signed statement to confirm the research will be conducted in accordance with regulatory systems in the UK and applicable regulation in the host country.

For studies using rodents, rabbits, sheep, goats, pigs, cattle, xenopus, you must complete the relevant NC3Rs checklist and include it in the Je-S application as a “letter of support” for consideration by the peer review panel (NC3Rs).

See our information on animals in research for more details and guidance on where to find the relevant forms.

Section 4.14 to 4.40 of the BBSRC research grants guide has detailed information about how to approach the use of animals in research in your application and where to include this information in Je-S.

Project partner letters of support

A letter of support of up to one side of A4 must be provided by the proposed collaborators. This should include the level of in-kind contributions, for example:

  • training
  • access to facilities or specialist equipment
  • access to new expertise
  • knowledge, skills, data and resources.

For a full list of information required for collaborative grants with industry and other users, please refer to section 2.9 to 2.18 of the BBSRC research grants guide.

Project partner letters of support should be uploaded to the project partners section of the Je-S application.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

This is an optional attachment of no more than one side of A4.

You may wish to include further details about the steps taken to ensure equality, diversity, and inclusion in an optional additional attachment (under ‘other attachment’ in Je-S).

Within this document, you may wish to include an outline of how you have taken a meaningful, yet proportionate consideration of the steps taken to ensure an inclusive partnership. You may find the following resources useful:

How we will assess your application

Applications will be assessed by an expert panel. The panel will assess the applications against the criteria for assessment and provide a recommended rank-ordered list of applications.

Assessment criteria

Benefits to UK research

Benefits brought back to the UK, for example, through access to new facilities or unique partnerships that would have been otherwise unavailable.

Uniqueness of the opportunity to work with Canadian partners in ways that would otherwise be unavailable.

Level of contribution (access to facilities or in-kind) of the Canadian partners in addition to the amount sought from BBSRC.

Partnership working

An explanation of why this particular collaboration has been chosen and how it adds value to UK research.

An explanation of how an appropriate team has been selected for this partnership and the consideration given to ensuring equality, diversity and inclusion of participants.

Opportunities for the exchange of researchers and technicians, with a balance of activities that are appropriate to the topic area.

Opportunities for early career researchers that will benefit their future career.

A detailed breakdown of the project workflow (for example, a Gantt chart).

Scientific merit and strategic vision

Fit to the scope of the funding opportunity.

Scientific merit as determined by peer review.

Timeliness and promise.

Industrial stakeholder relevance including practitioners such as farmers or veterinarians, policymakers including regulators, charities, government departments.

Pathway to translation.

Contact details

Get help with developing your proposal

For help and advice on costings and writing your proposal please contact your research office in the first instance, allowing sufficient time for your organisation’s submission process.

Ask about this funding opportunity

Email: ipap@bbsrc.ukri.org

Include ‘Canada IPAP’ in the subject line.

We aim to respond within 14 working days.

Get help with applying through Je-S

Email

jeshelp@je-s.ukri.org

Telephone

01793 444164

Opening times

Je-S helpdesk opening times

Additional info

BBSRC is keen to increase focused collaborative engagement with Canada in the area of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Through bilateral country dialogues with Canadian funding agencies and community building workshops, we have identified common research needs and opportunities for collaboration.

The International Partnering Award Plus (IPAP) scheme is a new international pilot scheme, created to promote collaborations with Canada in AMR.

The standard Canada IPA scheme will be running as usual later in autumn 2022. IPAP is based on this scheme, but with the following additional features in that:

  • the scheme is open to eligible UK researchers, not necessarily BBSRC grant holders
  • it provides pump priming funds to cover preliminary research costs for the UK researchers.

This scheme provides an opportunity for UK researchers to establish new partnerships or to develop pre-existing collaborations with researchers in Canada.

Supporting documents

BBSRC grants guide
Equality impact assessment form (PDF, 219KB)

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