This guidance is only applicable for specific pilot opportunities. Use this guidance if you are applying for, or reviewing for, one of our pilots.
This document provides criteria and guidance for embedding consideration of support for people and teams in our assessment and award processes. UKRI is piloting several funding opportunities to evaluate the effectiveness of our approach. Find more information on the pilots, and the outcomes we want to achieve.
The pilot forms part our people and teams action plan which is designed to strengthen support for people and teams and incentivise organisations in receipt of UKRI funding to consider the development of their research and innovation (R&I) workforce strategically.
Embedding consideration of people and teams in application and assessment
This people and teams guidance sets out criteria for assessing support for people and teams against the existing application questions, enabling consideration of how we would like people and teams to be considered in the design and assessment of applications to our pilot opportunities. You will have an opportunity to feedback on this approach as part of your involvement in the pilot.
Application scoring
For the purposes of this pilot, assessors are asked to consider if the people and teams aspects of the proposal are adequately addressed, whether this is the right team, whether they are adequately supported and whether this will support UKRI’s investment strategy of:
- building sustainable and resilient national specialist and technical capabilities
- enhancing connectivity and knowledge exchange across the R&I sector through the movement of people and teams within and across research organisations and parts of the sector
- enhancing leadership and management capability within R&I
This should form part of your overall score for each proposal using the 1 to 10 scoring criteria provided.
Moderating for the size of the opportunity
We recognise that this may be a big cultural shift in some areas, and that not every expectation in the guidance is achievable by individual applicants. This programme aims to catalyse change at the organisational level, encouraging institutions to take strategic ownership of their R&I capability and how they support people and teams.
For the purposes of this pilot, we ask assessors to consider the means of applicants and the size of the application in making their assessment. Leads of larger applications are expected to be able to do more to support their people and teams than leads of smaller ones.
How to assess people and teams
Section: Approach
Support for people and teams should be embedded in the design of the project, recognising the importance of supporting staff, the environment they work in, and the relevant expertise to the:
- effective and efficient delivery of research projects, which could be enhanced by the provision of project management, specialist and technical expertise
- quality, reliability and usability of project outputs, which can be negatively affected by precarious employment or environments where the career options of team members are limited
- dissemination, transfer and exploitation of knowledge generated which require research data to be FAIR (findability, accessibility, interoperability and reusability) and likely require the inclusion of expertise in data curation, knowledge exchange and commercialisation
Sufficiently addressed
- the proposal will provide development for team members through the course of the project, opening opportunities to pursue a range of R&I careers whilst enhancing the translation and impact of outcomes
- the applicants make use of cross-cutting technical, specialist and professional capability to mitigate the risks of staff turnover, embed cross-silo working mitigate the risks of precarious employment for team members
Not sufficiently addressed
- the proposal makes little or no consideration of the development of team members within and beyond academic careers
- the proposal makes no, or limited, use of cross-cutting capability, with consequent risks to the quality of outputs and of entrenching disciplinary siloes
Section: Applicant and team capability to deliver
People and teams are core to delivery of the proposed project. Assessors should be mindful that even the best idea is not deliverable if the team is inadequately resourced and supported. Assessors should therefore carefully consider if this criterion is met in agreeing their overall score.
Sufficiently addressed
- the applicants have identified and requested sufficient technical and specialist expertise to deliver the project, including credibly mitigating against potential skills shortages in high demand areas
- the proposal’s use of technical, specialist and professional expertise is likely to support building the relevant capability sustainably within the research organisation
Not sufficiently addressed
- capability to deliver relies on single point failures or recruiting rare expertise, presenting a risk to the delivery of the proposal
- the proposal makes limited or no use of cross-cutting capabilities, leading to risk of loss of skills and expertise at the conclusion of the project
Section: Resources and cost justification
In considering resources and cost justification, assessors should be mindful that sustainability of R&I capability, appropriate cost recovery and the viability of the project can be undermined by perceived incentives to undercost applications. Some traditional methods of staffing projects can also lead to less optimal use of resources and embed inefficiencies. These can manifest in a range of ways that assessors should consider.
Sufficiently addressed
- adequate technical and specialist expertise is costed onto the proposal to enable cost recovery and improve sustainability for the research organisation
- the proposal makes use of in-house expertise at the right level that reduces recruitment delays and mitigates against productivity loss due to staff turnover
Not sufficiently addressed
- proposal has under-resourced technical or specialist capabilities, or both, and is likely to exacerbate financial sustainability issues if awarded
- the proposal relies on recruiting new, temporary, expertise to the research organisation, leading to likelihood of delays to project start, long lead times and staff turnover