You must apply using the Joint Electronic Submission (Je-S) system.
We recommend you start your application early. You can save completed details in Je-S at any time and return to continue your application later.
When applying, select ‘new document’, then:
- council: MRC
- document type: fellowship proposal
- scheme: fellowships, FEC
- call/type/mode: transition support fellowship 2022.
Once you have completed your application, make sure you ‘submit document’.
You can find advice on completing your application in the Je-S handbook.
Your host organisation will be able to provide advice and guidance on completing your application.
MRC must receive your application by 13 October 2022 at 16:00.
You will not be able to apply after this time. Please leave enough time for your proposal to pass through your organisation’s Je-S submission route before this date.
This is an ongoing scheme. Application rounds open once a year, closing in October.
The guidance below is supplementary to the guidance for fellowship applicants and both should be read ahead of completing your proposal.
Je-S proposal form
Project title
The title of the project should read as follows: ‘MRC TS Award: [followed by the title of your CDA/CSF]’.
Please note, the project title name (including, MRC TS Award, cannot exceed 150 characters including spaces).
Objectives
List the objectives of your proposal for the transition support award, in order of priority.
Summary and technical summary
Information you detail within both the summary and technical summary (including your name and institution included within the application) will be published on publicly available sites including the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Gateway to Research, should the project be funded.
Please ensure confidential information is not included.
Summary
Provide a plain English summary of the proposed research that can be understood by a non-academic audience.
This summary section is limited to 4,000 characters, including spaces.
Technical summary
Provide a more in-depth summary aimed at reviewers (academic and non-academic) who have some knowledge of the areas of research involved.
This section is limited to 2,000 characters, including spaces and returns.
Other support
List any relevant financial support that has been awarded or applied for from other sources.
This should include any funding that has been obtained or requested for any aspect of the project currently being applied for.
Related proposal
Please indicate the MRC grant reference of your current career development award or clinician scientist fellowship award related to your application. You must also select the continuation option to indicate how the proposal is related (then select save).
Fellow salary costs
You are expected to spend 100% of your contracted working time on the award, however you should only request 50% of your salary costs. The host research organisation will need to provide the other 50% of your salary costs.
Enter your salary costs in Je-S, using the following guidance:
- within the full time equivalent (‘FTE %’ box) field, enter your percentage working pattern. Please do not enter 50% as a way of accounting for the 50% salary cost requirement
- your percentage would usually be 100, to represent full time working, however this percentage figure may be less if you combine your fellowship with personal or domestic responsibilities
- within the ‘Total Cost’ box, calculate 50% of the total cost of your annual salary, annual allowances (London or other), superannuation and NI contributions over the lifetime of the award.
Honorary clinical contract and clinical details
Applicants from a clinical background must also complete the ‘honorary clinical contract and clinical details’ section of the Je-S form. Applicants who are not clinically qualified should answer ‘no’ to the question ‘would an honorary clinical contract be sought?’ and enter ‘NA’ or ‘0’ in the subsequent required fields.
Supporting attachment requirements
Case for support
This should not exceed four pages of A4 and must include:
- details of the progress made to date with your fellowship, specifically the key deliverables and objectives of your fellowship, and any arising achievements, outputs and any unpublished data may be included to support your application
- why you consider that you are not yet competitive for the next funding stage, by detailing any delays or unexpected issues that have arisen during your fellowship and note any mitigating strategies taken to counter these circumstances
- the added value that a transition support award would provide you, by outlining how your proposed plans for the resources and time requested would maximise your competitiveness at the next funding stage and provide a platform towards research leadership
- how your host organisation has already and will continue to support you towards research leadership. You may choose to move institutions for the period of the transition support award. If this is the case, please explain why this will be beneficial for your career development.
Justification of resources
The role of the justification of resources is to aid reviewers when assessing proposals so that they can make an informed judgement on whether the resources requested are appropriate for the research proposed. All items requested in the proposal need to be justified in the justification of resources.
The justification of resources should not exceed two sides of A4.
Data management plan
The data management plan should demonstrate how the applicant will meet, or already meets their responsibilities for research data quality. It should refer to any institutional and study data policies, systems and procedures and be regularly reviewed throughout the research cycle.
If there are no significant differences from the data management plan in your original fellowship application, you may use the same plan.
The data management plan should not exceed three sides of A4.
Letter of support
A mandatory letter of support (maximum of two sides of A4) from a senior authority within the host organisation must summarise:
- the applicant’s suitability for a transition support award
- how they have supported the fellow to date (if applicable)
- the commitment the department will make to mentor and support the fellow
- confirmation of the commitment to 50% of the fellow’s salary
- confirmation that 100% of the fellow’s contracted working time will be protected for research, training and development
- a commitment to providing a secure open-ended position at the end of the award, in line with institutional policies.
Curriculum vitae (CV)
You must include an up-to-date CV (maximum of two sides of A4), using the MRC fellowships CV template.
Publications
The publications list should highlight relevant and recent publications. MRC welcomes the inclusion of preprints in publication lists (maximum of one side of A4).
