UKRI Interdisciplinary Assessment College

Closing date: 20 June 2023
Number of positions: 200
Length of term: Two years
Time commitment: Four to eight days per year
Remuneration: Yes £160 per day of panel attendance (£220 per day for Chairs)
Interview date: Not applicable
Outcomes communicated date: 21 July 2023

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) are inviting applications for a new Interdisciplinary Assessment College to support the new cross research council responsive mode pilot scheme.

This a unique opportunity to be part of an important new approach to funding interdisciplinary research.

Applications are open to everyone with experience of interdisciplinary research, from academic and non-academic backgrounds (including business, public and third sector organisations), and from across the diverse range of roles needed for successful research (for example, technicians and professional services).

Colleagues from early, mid and late career stages are welcome to apply.

Who we’re looking for

UKRI are inviting applications from across the research system for panel chairs and panel members for a new Interdisciplinary Assessment College (the college). This a unique opportunity to be part of an important new approach to funding interdisciplinary research.

The college will support the new cross research council responsive mode pilot scheme, which is designed to support new interdisciplinary ideas emerging from the research community outside current disciplinary boundaries. This will open a new route for research ideas that transcend, combine or significantly span disciplines.

The new funding opportunity is being piloted over an initial two rounds of funding, allowing us to assess demand and test and refine our processes.

We will work closely with the college to learn and apply lessons between rounds.

For more details about the scheme see the funding opportunity pre-announcement.

Who we are looking for

Outstanding interdisciplinary ideas, and their assessment, depend on interdisciplinary expertise from across the full range of research roles and career stages.

Our panel membership will reflect the breadth of disciplines and subjects across UKRI, including those working in new and emerging areas.

Colleagues from early, mid and late career stages are welcome to apply.

We welcome and encourage applications from international colleagues. As panels will be run using online platforms, there will not be a requirement to travel. Please note that any international college members would be required to attend virtual panel meetings at UK times outlined in the ‘what you’ll be doing’ section.

UKRI is committed to the principles of fair and transparent decision making, promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion. We welcome applications from everyone and particularly encourage applications from groups currently under-represented in our peer review processes, including women, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities.

As this is a new scheme, UKRI will provide preparatory support and guidance to enable you to understand the aims of the scheme and assess interdisciplinary proposals. Participants will have the opportunity to contribute to, and learn from, UKRI assessment processes and be part of the evaluation process for the scheme.

Members of the college will still be eligible to apply for funding through the UKRI cross research council responsive mode pilot scheme.

As this is a pilot scheme, we are initially seeking around 200 members, and around 20 chairs, to enable us to respond to the potential demand and breadth of applications. The number of college members who are used as assessors for the first funding round will depend on the applications received.

This is an open recruitment call and UKRI is inviting direct applications from individuals. We are not accepting nominations, if you know someone who would be excellent at this or might like the opportunity to contribute, please alert them to this call.

We are looking for individuals who:

understand interdisciplinary research and have experience of one or more of the following:
- undertaking interdisciplinary research
- working in interdisciplinary environments
- developing, managing, working with or supporting interdisciplinary research
- assessing interdisciplinary research
can contribute to a positive peer review culture for interdisciplinary research, and are willing to work collaboratively with others, providing their views and listening to diverse opinions
are willing to contribute to helping evaluate the pilot, providing feedback to UKRI on the process and helping identify key learning points

The full person specification and essential criteria are set out in annex A under the ‘further information’ section.

We will hold detailed briefing sessions for all panel members, to explain the specifics of the call, ways of working and assessment processes.

What you’ll be doing

This is a new pilot scheme, and we will be responding to community feedback and developing processes over the two funding rounds. For more details see the pre-announcement.

Panel members will assess each proposal on its own merits, providing an expert, objective and evidence-based assessment using the scheme assessment criteria. Per round, this equates to approximately four or eight days panel meeting work for both panel members and chairs (chairs will not be directly assigned proposals). Members may be required to assess either the outline applications or the full applications.

To help maintain consistency and fair assessment of applicants across all panels we will ask some college members to act as roving members.

We will also ask panel members to provide feedback and help us evaluate elements of the scheme and contribute to our long term thinking.

Other points:

you will receive a remuneration fee of £160 per day of panel meeting work (£220 per day for Chairs)
the longest our virtual meetings are timetabled for each day is about 9.30am to 4:30pm, with several breaks
college members will need to be able to attend one half day training session on either 20 September 2023 (am), 26 September 2023 (am) or 5 October 2023 (pm) for the outlines and another training session to be held between 15 January and 16 February 2024

We aim to make any reasonable adjustments to support your full participation on panels, please contact us if there is anything that may impact on your involvement.

How to apply

Applications are invited from individuals who can demonstrate that they meet the essential criteria for membership (see appendix A in the ‘further information’ section).

Applications should be submitted via UKRI Engagement Hub for this recruitment. Your application will be submitted upon seeing the final screen ‘your response has been submitted’. You will also receive a separate email confirmation with your response ID.

Applications must be submitted by 4:00pm on 20 June 2023. Late applications will not be accepted.

How we’ll assess your application

Step one

Applications will be assessed against the stated eligibility criteria based on the evidence provided within application forms. There will be a need to create a balanced Panel College, which reflects the breadth of expertise required among college members applications received by UKRI.

Individual equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) data will be used for monitoring purposes.

Step two

Assessment outcomes will be reviewed by a panel, who will consider the balance across college membership and may, where applications are of equal merit, prioritise applicants where their characteristics or expertise or organisational experience is underrepresented within this college.

Individual EDI data provided by you will only be used during this step of the process.

Step three

A list of recommended appointments will be provided to the senior responsible owner for the scheme, Professor Alison Park (Economic and Social Research Council, Interim Executive Chair) to ratify decisions and provide assurance that appropriate processes have been followed.

Step four

Once ratification has taken place, successful and unsuccessful applicants will be notified of UKRI’s decision. This is expected to be by the 21 July. We regret that individual feedback on applications will not be provided.

Further information

Webinar

We held two webinars on 16 May and 18 May 2023, for prospective college applicants, where they learned more about the Interdisciplinary Assessment College.

View the webinar slides and question and answer documents.

Watch the video recording of the webinar held on 16 May 2023.

Annex A: detailed person specification

Person specification for all members

We are looking for individuals who:

have experience of one or more of:
- undertaking interdisciplinary research
- working in interdisciplinary environments
- developing, managing, working with or supporting interdisciplinary research
- assessing interdisciplinary research
understand interdisciplinary research, and are supportive of new and emerging research ideas and fields of study
can contribute to a positive peer review culture for interdisciplinary research, and are willing to work collaboratively with others, providing their views and listening to diverse opinions
are willing to help evaluate the pilot, providing feedback to UKRI on the process and helping identify key learning points
can commit to the role, engaging proactively in the process and meeting key deadlines
maintain a high degree of professionalism, upholding the Seven Principles of Public Life
can commit to a two-year term on the college
can commit the time to the panel meeting work and training as outlined in the advert

Additional person specification for chairs

All chairs must have:

demonstrable track record of leadership in your field of expertise
deep knowledge and understanding of the research and innovation landscape in the UK and internationally (both broadly and in your own area of expertise)

Essential experience for all members

All members must have:

experience of activities relating to interdisciplinary research
domain expertise and evidence of relevant outputs and outcomes
evidence of providing advice at a strategic level, for example, policy documents, contributing to peer review processes, managing research and development or research and resource investments, expert groups, liaison roles, panels and more
an appreciation of interdisciplinary collaborative research

Desirable criteria for all members

Members should have:

experience of international collaborative research and agendas

Additional essential experience for chairs

Chairs should have:

successful senior level experience of leading research in higher education, industry or another sector, or leading the commissioning and application of research
experience at a senior level of chairing committees, groups or panels for UKRI or other funding organisations
demonstrable ability to lead diverse groups and to achieve consensus across research disciplines, recognising the need for different approaches where appropriate
experience of managing conflicts of interest in line with policies
proven ability to champion diversity and promote inclusive behaviours on panels, supporting a culture that respects and listens to a diversity of views in reaching a consensus
experience of challenging behaviour displaying a lack of regard for agreed ways of working
ensure that decisions are robust, credible and made in an evidence-based, objective manner

Supporting documents

UKRI Interdisciplinary Assessment College applicant survey questions

Last updated: 7 June 2023