Opportunities

Background

Terms of Reference

•Are other groups going to contribute to this work and, if so, how?Reporting

The ESPA Directorate will require a brief completion report at the end of the project using a standard format. The final payment for the grant will not be made until the report has been submitted and approved.

The lead applicant may also be required to provide additional information for the programme’s impact and communication activities which may include material for impact or evidence notes and one or more blogs for the ESPA website and newsletter

For projects that are longer than three months, the Directorate will require a one-page progress report at the end of each quarterly period to be submitted along with the invoice for payment.

All reports and invoices should be sent to the ESPA Operations Manager (Ruth Swanney,This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Payment

Payments will be made on a quarterly basis in arrears aligned to the UK Public Sector Financial Year. (i.e. Q1 commences on 1 April). The final payment for the grant will only be made after the Directorate’s review of the final report for the grant.

Application Process

Potential applicants are welcome to discuss their ideas and any issues of eligibility by contacting the ESPA Director (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) before they prepare their proposal.

Applications must be submitted by email to the ESPA Directorate at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

This is an open-ended call. Applications can be submitted at any time up until the 1st of June 2016.

Applications must be submitted in English using the forms provided on the ESPA website for the Regional Opportunities Fund Small Grants Scheme.

Applicants are required to provide the following:

1.Completed Application Form

(the application template provided must be used)

2.Completed CV

(the CV template provided must be used)

3.Completed Financial Spreadsheet

(the financial template provided must be used)

4.Letter of Support from PI

(necessary only when the application is not submitted by the lead-PI of the associated ESPA Project)

Evaluation of Proposals

Proposals will be evaluated using only the submitted documents. Applicants should note that anycross-references to additional documentation or evidence, apart from academic references, will not be examined as part of the review process and as such will not influence the evaluation.

Stage 1. Eligibility check

Proposals will be checked for eligibility on the following criteria:

1.The required forms must be submitted and completed correctly. This will include checking that the correct online templates have been used.

2.Applications must be from individuals or groups with a link to a previous- or currently- funded ESPA project(s).

3.All questions highlighted within the terms of reference must be answered within the application form provided by the applicant.

4.Total budget for the project (including any VAT if appropriate) should not exceed £50,000. In exceptional cases the Directorate will consider awarding grants up to a value of £75,000.

5.Grants must commence within two months of the contractual start date.

6.The proposed length of grants must not exceed twelve months.

Failure to meet the eligibility criteria will lead to the proposal being rejected at this stage.

Stage 2. Final Selection

Proposals will graded according to the following criteria.

Proposals will be reviewed by the ESPA Director, Operations Manager and Impact Officer. Individual grades from these reviewers will be used to provide a grade based on consensus of the reviewer (i.e. the numeric average will not be used).

In order to be eligible for funding, the weight average grade must exceed 70 %.

Any proposal failing to meet the relevant thresholds for this stage of selection will be deemed ineligible for funding.

The decision to fund proposals will be made by the ESPA Directorate based on their grading of the proposal, the Directorate’s assessment of the potential contribution of the proposed work to the programme’s impact as well as availability of funds in any financial year.

Legal Information

All applicants should note that:

1.The call for proposals, award process and resulting contracts will be administered by Research Into Results Ltd (RIR) acting on behalf of the ESPA Directorate and ESPA’s funders. Research Into Results1 is a wholly-owned subsidiary company of the University of Edinburgh.

2.The call for proposals, award process and resulting contracts will be administered under Scottish law under a contract template to be provided by Research Into Results Ltd, which may be amended subject to negotiation between RIR and the successful applicant.

3.The ESPA Directorate is granted rights to use and publicise any reports arising from all awards under the ESPA Small Grants Scheme.

4.The ESPA Directorate may share any reports produced from these grants with ESPA’s funders (NERC, ESRC and DFID) and where appropriate store electronic copies in the funders’ own repositories. Projects will be required to inform the ESPA Directorate of the start date of their grants.

5.The ESPA Directorate will reserve the right to undertake a financial audit of one or more projects awarded under this scheme.

Please note that the ESPA Regional Opportunities Fund is commissioned from the budget of the ESPA Directorate to address impact and research into use needs, and therefore Directorate members will be involved in the selection process. The call is being managed solely by the Directorate, unlike the larger ESPA grants which are managed by the ESPA Secretariat, based at NERC.

1Research Into Results Ltd (RIR) is a company registered in Scotland. Number SC382100. VAT Registration Number 592 9507 00. Registered Office Old College, South Bridge, Edinburgh EH8 9YL.

List of Abbreviations