Assessment Criteria

Pilot Funding by the CRUISSE Network

The CRUISSE Project is an EPSRC, ESRC, NERC and AHRC funded network which seeks to further understanding of decision-making under radical uncertainty. It aims to facilitate communication and understanding between a wide range of researcher disciplines and end user / decision makers. The over-arching aims of the network are (i) to develop a broad and fully inclusive community of researchers and practitioners interested to use a mix of methods from the mathematical, social and psychological sciences to address real world decision-making under uncertainty and (ii) to develop a triage procedure for assessing the kind of uncertainty users face and a code of practice to help with their decision-making according to the type of uncertainty faced.

The CRUISSE network will fund pilot projects in a two-stage process.

  • Stage 1. Practitioners in industry, business, government and civil society are invited to suggest pilot projects to the Network leadership, who will work with them so that they can be developed into a call. In the event, there are more projects than the network is able to fund, prioritisation will be discussed with the network core membership. Practitioners wishing to suggest a pilot project topic have been asked via a website to contact cruisse@ucl.ac.uk  before 30 September 2017. The network will be interested in contacts after this date but may not be able to organize pilot project funding.
  • Stage 2. Calls to undertake specific projects will be made on our website with a deadline for Application. Applicants should provide:
    • A 4 page A4 document setting out how they would approach the task set by the selected practitioners and why they think they are suitable to carry it out.
    • Details relevant to grant administration (which will normally be through an eligible UK institution), finances, time line and deliverables.

Applicants must be staff (including current postdocs and PDRA’s) working at an eligible UK institution.
Eligible institutions are defined here.

 

Evaluation 

The PI in consultation with the C-I will select at least two reviewers (one from the relevant practitioner group and one academic) to write a brief report on strengths and weaknesses of each application. Reviewing should be rapid and reviewers will be blind to the identity of the applicants as far a possible. Reviews swill bear in mind the criteria below and should assess proposal strengths and weaknesses against the details of the call and focus on trying to determine if the applicant has demonstrated his or her ability to complete the project successfully in the time available.

A CRUISSE Expert Panel, working electronically or by phone, will evaluate and rank the proposals and indicate to the PI which proposal they consider most promising, noting any doubts they might have, if any.

Minutes will be kept of all decision-making and made available to the Advisory Committee as a standard part of reporting. Should any potential conflicts of interest be relevant for a given application minutes will describe how they have been handled.

 

Assessment Criteria

In addition to specific criteria in each call, proposals will be assessed by the CRUISSE Expert Panel according to the following general criteria:

  1. Alignment with the Call; how well the proposal aligns with the practitioner requirements as expressed in the call.
  2. Alignment with Network Goals: how well the proposal aligns with the goals of the network.
  3. Scientific Quality: the scientific quality of the project, including the appropriate use of methodology.
  4. Outputs: How relevant any outputs of the proposed project might be to the network, and how likely it is that these outputs are achieved.

All proposals for each call will be ranked according to these criteria and the top proposals for each call recommended to the PI and CI (up to the budget limit).

 

Additional Guidance for Proposals:

Proposals should be written according to the following guidelines.

  1. Application Cover Form making clear which call is being addressed.
  2. Principal Investigators CV (only)
  3. Project Proposal (maximum 4 pages)

Application Cover Form

  • Clearly identify the project investigators, co-investigators and (optional) named post-doc, including their respective institutions.
  • Identify the project collaborators (researchers from different institutions and end users / decision makers).
  • The proposed starting date and duration for the project
  • An itemised list of the funding items requested, including amounts and justification as space allows. More detailed justification for resources should be detailed in the proposal.

Principal Investigators CV

  • Only the Principal investigators CV is required.
  • You may either use an existing JeS CV (no more than two pages), or give a brief CV account on one, but no more than two pages.

Project Proposal

  • Proposals should be no more than four pages long (including references, figures and footnotes) and should be submitted in PDF format.
  • Proposals should contain a statement of how they will meet the practitioner objectives and which elements of the CRUISSE approach the proposal is addressing and how.
  • Proposals should provide a clear description of the proposed project, including how it addresses the assessment criteria, the method for how the project will be achieved and a list of the expected project outputs.
  • Proposals should include a statement that relevant ethical consideration will be complied with in the collection and publication of personal data.

 

Terms and conditions for funding

  1. The project must start within three months of the date of the offer letter, and finish within six months of the project start, or by 31st Dec 2018, whichever is the sooner, unless written permission has been given to vary date of commencement of duration of project.
  2. Any unspent funds at the end of the project will be reallocated to other projects.
  3. Any employment or visa compliance implications are entirely the responsibility of the project leader and their institution.
  4. Any funds spent must be used to support the named agreed project including any specific conditions in the offer letter, in addition to any requirements from EPSRC or HMRC.
  5. Any contravention of these in spirit or letter will result in a demand for return of the funds.
  6. Any research or data generated must be done in accordance with ethical standards agreed by the project’s host university or equivalent and made available per the RCUK policies on open access.
  7. Joint or partial funding of projects is permitted as long as the role of the other funding is clearly and transparently made, and funding from CRUISSE is essential for the project.
  8. Funds can be claimed in one of three ways.
    i. Individual expenses, such as travel and subsistence agreed in advance, can be claimed from the CRUISSE project manager.
    ii. An invoice for actual expenses (including PDRA costs) incurred will be sent to the project manager at the end of project.
    iii. In exceptional cases, it may be possible to invoice the project manager for up to 50% of the project costs at the start of the project, followed by an invoice for the balance after the end of the project.
  9. You cannot claim overheads or bench fees from CRUISSE, other than any exceptions mentioned above.
  10. Please note that funding for academic staff time will only be provided from CRUISSE funds in exceptional cases. Researcher time for PDRAs is eligible for funding.
  11. You must request and obtain written permission for any variation in the project.
  12. It is the responsibility of the project leader to ensure that any implied offer of time or resources are approved by their appropriate institutional processes prior to commencement of the project.

 

Terms and conditions of reporting

In agreeing to the funding, you agree to the following reporting of the results of the project:

  1. Provide CRUISSE with a brief (200 word) description of the project, which may be used on the CRUISSE website.
  2. Provide CRUISSE and the practitioner organisation originally scoping the project with an announcement of the funded research within one month after the start of the project.
  3. Provide CRUISSE and the practitioner organisation originally scoping the project with a completed end report proforma, at latest two months after the end of the project.
  4. The end report will include mention of any papers or reports in preparation, details of to what extent the stated objectives were met, a statement that necessary confidentiality has been maintained, and any plans for follow-up research or dissemination activities.
  5. If the end report is due before the 31st Oct 2018 then you should also provide CRUISSE with a final report by 31st Dec 2018 that updates any progress from the end report.
  6. You must acknowledge CRUISSE funding in any publication resulting from the project.