Awards can be used to fund the following collaborative activities in emerging areas of science relevant to BBSRC’s strategic priorities:
- travel for one or more investigators in either direction
- visits to overseas institutions
- access to facilities
- exchange of personnel for scoping studies and skills exchange
- workshops and networking
- researcher exchanges
- other collaborative activities.
Collaborative activities are not limited to the principal investigator and we encourage the involvement of early career researchers and technicians within the project.
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) aims to enable a dynamic, diverse and inclusive system of research and innovation in the UK, which gives the opportunity for everyone to participate and to benefit. People are the heart of this system and we therefore encourage principal investigators to consider involvement of the broader research base when scoping projects, 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.
Partnering award funds can be used to support student exchanges, however, applications will not be accepted where this is the primary aim of the project.
It is acceptable for the proposed partnering award to outlast the associated research grant however the associated BBSRC grant must have started before the application deadline and must have at least six months remaining from the start of the award. The earliest start date for any award is 1 April 2023.
Funding available
The full economic cost of your project can be up to £50,000. BBSRC will fund 100% of the full economic cost.
Applications should be made at current costs in accordance with subsistence and travel regulations at the applicant’s institution. For each main activity, indicative costs should be shown.
BBSRC may index approve costs so awards made will include an allowance for inflation. Any award made will be cash limited, and whilst funds should be used for the activities requested, the use of funds to allow activities that were not originally envisaged will be allowed as long as they are in pursuance of the overall objectives of the partnering award and within the guidelines.
You must follow travel advice set out by your institutions and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office before departure and should check travel guidance for countries of interest when preparing an application.
BBSRC will not cover the cost of any time spent in quarantine as a result of travelling on an International Partnering Award grant. To manage risks associated with travelling, you should make optimal use of remote working solutions.
Support available for access to overseas facilities
Funds may be used to support access to specialist equipment and facilities overseas. These direct research costs may not account for more than 20% of the total value requested from BBSRC, and cannot be used to support salary costs, consumables, overheads or items of equipment. Costings should be outlined on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system in the ‘Other Directly Incurred Costs’ section.
Support available for people with caring responsibilities
You can request additional care costs as part of an International Partnering Award 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 on Je-S in the ‘Other Directly Incurred Costs’ section. Funds for supporting people with caring responsibilities should form part of the overall budget envelope.
Ineligible costs
No indirectly incurred costs can be applied for under the partnering awards scheme.
As partnering awards are based on currently funded BBSRC research, they are not a vehicle for supporting single research projects and partnering awards cannot be used to fund:
- salary costs
- overhead costs
- consumables
- items of equipment
- other research costs
- conference attendance.
For convenience and cost efficiency, BBSRC does allow award holders to arrange collaborative meetings alongside conferences at which their partners are already present. However, the award funds cannot be used to pay for the additional conference accommodation and costs such as registration.
The funding should be seen as a ‘pump-priming’ award. Research groups will be expected to access other sources of funding. This could include a monetary contribution from your institution or department or an in-kind contribution such as venue hire or accommodation costs.
