The iPACT funding scheme is looking for proposals for projects in the range of £50,000 to £100,000.  These projects can include any eligible person (see below) but pilot projects can only be led by people who have attended an iPACT sandpit event.

Eligibility

We are using the EPSRC rules for eligibility

www.ukri.org/councils/epsrc/guidance-for-applicants/check-if-you-are-eligible-for-funding/

We have the following modifications from the standard eligibility criteria

Principle Investigators: All pilot projects must be led by someone who attended one of the iPACT sandpits and meets the eligibility criteria.

Co-Investigators: Pilot projects can include any partners (academic and non-academic) who are eligible, these are NOT restricted to the people who attended a sandpit.

Post-Doctoral Researchers may be part of a pilot collaboration but not as the lead person. Their contract needs to extend beyond the end of the pilot project at the time that funding is awarded. 

Non-academic partners may be co-investigators if the case is made that this is an essential component of the pilot project.

Pilot Project Selection Criteria

We will be assessing pilot applications on the following criteria

  1. The project proposal articulates a clearly defined research question and context that identifies an engineering, science or arts and humanities infrastructure challenge relevant to coastal communities.
  2. The proposal connects with, and responds to, the social / human landscape in the test bed as well as the material landscape.
  3. The proposal includes at least one non-academic partner who plays a significant role in the collaboration, with contributing in-kind or cash matched funding if appropriate.
  4. The pilot project is feasible within the restrictions of time, resources and access in terms of its ambition, scope and measurable outputs.
  5. There is a clear path from pilot research to larger scale research through a follow-on project funded, for example, through a subsequent UKRI funding application. 
  6. Research excellence is demonstrated, as understood by research councils. We particularly encourage interdisciplinary applications and applications led by academics who do not have prior experience of leading multi-partner UKRI projects.

We particularly encourage interdisciplinary applications, as well as applications led by academics who do not have prior experience of leading UKRI projects.

Documents Required for Submission

The submission consists of 3 components. All of these must be A4 size documents with 2cm margins and a sans serif font (e.g. Arial or Calibri) of size 11pt or over.

  1. A 1-page description of the track record and publications of all the academic applicants. Note the primary selection process will be undertaken without looking at this document.  We will rank applications without knowing the name and institution of the academics involved. The selection panel will use this document to assess whether the academics involved have the necessary experience and research background to complete the proposed project. This will be a simple yes/no assessment.
  • A 2-page case for support, this should address the criteria directly. Please note that academics and institutions should not be named or identifiable in this document, although non-academic partners and non-academic Co-Investigators should be indicated.
  • A 1-page justification of resources. This should summarise not only the costs of the project (including staff time at the relevant full economic costing for your institution(s)) but also provide a rationale as to why these costs are necessary for the success of the project.

Submission Process

You will need to email your application with all the necessary documents by 13th February 2023 to Jenny Knight (ipact@soton.ac.uk)

If you have any questions, please contact the iPACT Network Manager Jenny Knight (ipact@soton.ac.uk )

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