Grants for Research and Innovation
Guide for applicants (updated 13 May 2014)
Contents
1.
Introduction
2.
How and when to apply
3.
Writing the application
4.
Budget guidelines
5.
Communicating outcomes
Appendices
A.
Terms and conditions
B.
Checklists for submission of Outline and Full applications
C.
Front page summary sheet for Outline and Full applications
The Front page summary sheet is included in this guide for reference only. An electronic
version is available to download from our website.
1. Introduction
We currently have four grant programmes to support research and innovation:
•
Children and Families - helps to ensure that the legal and institutional framework is
best adapted to meet the needs of children and families.
Programme Director : Teresa Williams
Administrative contact: Alison Rees
•
Education - supports innovative research and development in specific priority areas.
Programme Director: Josh Hillman
Administrative contact: Kim Woodruff
•
Law in Society - promotes access to, and understanding of, the civil justice system.
Programme Director: Teresa Williams
Administrative contact: Alison Rees
•
Open Door – for projects that improve social well-being, and meet Trustees’ wider
interests, but lie outside the three programme areas above, including poverty and
disadvantage; financial circumstances of older people; and evidence for policy.
Programme Director: Sharon Witherspoon
Administrative contact: Rocio Lale-Montes
This Guide applies to these four programmes only. Our capacity-building programmes
have different application guidelines. These can be found on the Apply for funding section of
our website.
BEFORE YOU APPLY
1. Read this Guide for applicants.
2. Visit the how to apply section of our website and read the substantive guidance in
each of the four programme areas to see what we are looking for in applications.
3. Look at grants we have recently funded in the relevant programme. These can be
found in the Social policy and Education sections of our website. This will give you a
sense of the range of our interests and ensure that your project does not duplicate
work we have already funded.
Our aims
The Nuffield Foundation’s fundamental aim is to improve social well-being through
education, research and innovation. We place particular emphasis on funding work that
combines rigorous research or reflection on topics that have fundamental implications for
policy or practice. Many of our grants are for research, (usually carried out in UK-based
universities or independent research institutes) but some are made for practical innovations
or pilots (often in voluntary sector organisations or relating to professional practice), which
will often be evaluated.
We do not fund the ongoing costs of existing work or services, or provide core funding for
voluntary sector bodies.
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Types of projects
The projects we fund involve at least one of three types of activity: primary or secondary
research and analysis, practical experiments, or development work. About two-thirds of our
funded projects have a significant research element. All projects must be self-contained: we
do not fund centres or longer-term programmes of research except in our capacity-building
programmes.
•
Research projects must have implications for policy or practice in at least the
medium term. Trustees do not normally support research that aims only to
accumulate knowledge or to produce academic publications, which is properly the
responsibility of the research councils or to the Leverhulme Trust, unless it is
particularly innovative, will set an agenda for policy-relevant research, and is central
to our current areas of interest.
•
Practical experimental projects involve trying something new and evaluating the
outcomes in a robust way which ideally enables them to be attributed to the
intervention being tested. These projects must have significance beyond the local,
with the potential for wide application and a significant evaluative component. We do
not fund projects that simply involve ‘rolling out’ a well-known way of working to new
local areas.
•
Development projects involve development of something of practical value.
Examples include new approaches or tools for the classroom, guidance about
technical issues for a wider audience, or new service development where
experimental results are not relevant. Funding of these projects is rare, and they
must be of wide significance and in one of our areas of interest.
RESEARCH REVIEWS
In all of our areas of interest, we will consider funding research reviews. By this we
mean analytic syntheses that bring together a disparate body of research evidence
and evaluate it critically, particularly drawing out the implications for policy
developments, practical improvements, or in order to inform a wider audience.
We only fund reviews if there is an important policy or practice question at stake, and
preliminary work has been done to establish that there is sufficient literature for
review. In addition, it should be clear that the findings of a review will inform policy
makers or practitioners or result in a new research agenda that will do so.
Grant Criteria (see also ‘Exclusions’ and ‘FAQs’)
•
Your project must be innovative in that it will consider a topic from a genuinely new
angle. We will not fund ongoing costs or services, or routine research. We are
looking for research that tackles important issues with implications beyond the
academic. We welcome cross-disciplinary collaborations or applications that straddle
our own areas of interest (see Section 3: Writing the application for what to do if your
project meets criteria in more than one programme).
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•
The project should have clear aims and objectives and seek to have an impact
beyond its immediate beneficiaries or the academic community. It should be of more
than local or regional interest, with general implications.
•
We give preference to projects with outcomes which will be important and useful to
practitioners and policy makers or result in some sort of social or policy change.
•
The proposed methods should be appropriate, robust and proportionate to the
project aims, and described in sufficient detail for us to assess their suitability to
address the stated questions. For research projects in particular, in addition to clear
aims and objectives, we need information about:
o
o
o
o
o
The population of interest: who will be included in this study and why? Are
there any important groups that it is not possible to include and what impact
will that have on the validity of the findings?
Methods of data collection and analysis and why they have been selected.
For evaluations, we particularly need to know how the ‘counterfactual’ (what
would have happened without the intervention) will be assessed – this is
usually by means of some sort of comparison group.
Sampling and sample sizes: For quantititative work, are the sample sizes big
enough to test the key relationships and/or detect effect sizes (for
evaluations) with sufficient confidence, including subgroup analysis where
needed? For qualitative work, will the sampling strategy ensure an
appropriate range of experience is accessed?
Are there any likely sources of bias - e.g. non-responders to surveys,
published literature tending to have positive findings etc.)
Whether the necessary legal, ethical and practical aspects of the study have
been worked through, particularly in relation to research access, maximising
participation, data protection and ethical scrutiny.
•
We will look for evidence that you have identified those to whom the outcomes of the
project will be most relevant, and have engaged them where possible from the early
stages of the project, and that some of the possible pathways to impact have been
considered at the outset. This might be in the form of an advisory group, or in helping
to scope a project before you apply; it does not mean that we expect users to
become researchers.
•
Your project should include a discussion of how you will assess the success or
otherwise of the project, and what outcomes might be relevant in judging whether the
desired impact was achieved (see Section 5: Communicating outcomes).
Exclusions
We do not fund:
- contributions to general appeals for pooled funding
- local charities, replacement for statutory funding, or local social services or social
welfare provision
- projects led by schools, undergraduates, masters students or work towards a PhD
- projects led by individuals unaffiliated to any particular organisation
- school or higher education fees, or other course fees
- gap year projects
In addition, we do not fund any projects in the following areas:
•
Animal rights or welfare
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The arts
Conservation, heritage or environmental projects
Housing
Medical or health or health services research
Museums, buildings or capital costs
Religion
Sports and recreation
FAQs
Will you help to fund the running costs of my charity, volunteer or community group?
We do not make grants for the running costs of voluntary bodies or to support the continuing
provision of a service, however worthwhile.
Do you fund overseas organisations or projects abroad?
We do not usually make grants to organisations outside the UK or fund projects outside the
UK. However we welcome proposals for collaborative projects involving partners in
European or Commonwealth countries, or because it meets the aims of our Africa
programme – especially where these have a capacity building dimension, or which provide
useful comparators for UK experience in our areas of substantive interest
Do you make capital grants?
We do not make grants for capital or building costs. Grants for equipment are allowed when
they are part of a project that is otherwise acceptable. We do not make grants solely for
purchase of equipment (including computers).
What size grants do you make?
Grants normally range in size from £10,000 up to £250,000, with most lying between
£50,000 and £150,000. We may exceptionally make grants larger than £250,000 but these
may take longer to process and are very rare. Occasionally we fund small pilots or other
pieces of work that cost less than £10,000.
How long are the projects you fund?
Most of the projects we fund last for less than four years, but occasionally we fund projects
of longer durations.
Can I apply for funding if I am also applying to another body, e.g. a Research
Council?
Unless we give special permission we will not consider projects that are being considered
by another funder at the same time. Failure to tell us that an application is being considered
elsewhere may lead to an automatic refusal. We are unlikely to fund projects that have been
unsuccessful elsewhere unless the project is truly outstanding and central to our areas of
interest. In some circumstances we will consider partnership funding with other funders, but
this too requires explicit discussion in advance.
Can I get help to attend a conference?
No, we do not give grants simply to attend conferences.
Will you help to fund a conference or seminar?
No, we do not usually give grants simply to support conferences or seminars, though we
may fund conferences or seminars which build on work we have previously funded or as part
of the communication of outcomes of our grants.
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Can you fund a Chair or other academic post?
No, we do not fund the establishment of Chairs, or other permanent academic posts.
I want to make a film or video. Can you help?
No, we do not give grants simply for the production of films or videos, or for exhibitions.
Can I get help towards school fees, a university course, a PhD or a gap year project?
No, we do not fund individuals for any of these activities.
I need money – can you help?
No, we cannot respond to requests for financial help from or on behalf of individuals in
distress, however sympathetic we may be.
2. How and when to apply
The application process is in two stages:
•
•
Stage 1: Outline application
Stage 2: Full application
Full applications are considered at Trustee meetings, which take place in March, July and
November each year. The application process is likely to take about four months (or up to
six months for larger grants). Very small grants are occasionally considered outside
Trustees’ meetings.
Stage 1: Outline application
If you are thinking of applying for a grant, the first stage is to send a written Outline
application of no more than three pages. This ensures that only applications with a
reasonable chance of success reach the full application stage. For guidance on what to
include see Section 3: Writing the application.
We will consider your Outline and advise you whether the proposal has been short-listed for
consideration by Trustees and whether there are any particular questions or issues you
should take account of in the Full application.
To give time for consultation and discussion we allow about eight weeks between the due
date for outlines and the deadline for full applications, and we try to give at least four weeks
for you to digest and respond to any comments we make on your outline proposal. If you
have been shortlisted but need longer to address our points, it is usually possible to submit
the full application to a later meeting but you should alert the relevant grants administrator to
this as early as possible so that we may make space on our agenda.
PLEASE NOTE
We receive more outlines than we can fund, and we have to make choices between
them. Even if your application meets our formal criteria, there is no guarantee that we
will be able to take it forward to a full application.
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Stage 2: Full application
If your proposal is taken forward for formal consideration by Trustees, we will ask you to
submit a Full application of no more than 10 pages. We send all applications to
independent external referees before they are considered by Trustees and this process
usually takes two months. Shortly after the Trustees’ meeting we will notify you of their
decision. Occasionally, Trustees request further clarification about an application, or specify
conditions that must be met before a grant can be made. If your application is approved, or if
we write to confirm that any conditions have been satisfactorily met, we will write to you with
a formal offer. Once the offer has been accepted, work on the project can begin straight
away.
For guidance on what to include in a Full application see Section 3 - Writing the Application.
Timetable for applications 2014
Outline deadline
Full Application deadline
For decision at meeting
(1 November 2013)
(3 January 2014)
(March 2014)
(14 March 2014)
(9 May 2014)
July 2014
4 July 2014
29 August 2014
November 2014
For our latest deadlines, please see www.nuffieldfoundation.org/application-timetable.
3. Writing the application
WHO SHOULD WRITE THE APPLICATION?
Applications should be written by those who will be carrying out the research or
leading the practical project rather than fundraisers, research administrators or other
third parties. This applies to both Outline and Full applications.
Before submitting an Outline, you should read our Terms and conditions of award and
check they are acceptable to you and the organisation that will be administering the
grant. It is your responsibility to identify any potential difficulties in complying with
the Terms and conditions at the Outline stage.
Stage 1: Your Outline application
There is no application form (apart from the Front page summary sheet). Your Outline must
be no more than three pages in a legible font, but you are welcome to include reasonable
additional supporting information about yourself and your organisation.
Outlines should be submitted by e-mail, and should be in the form of one single merged
document, not multiple attachments. Your Outline application must include:
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•
A completed Front page summary sheet containing a 250 word summary of the
project, written in non-technical language. You must answer all the questions on
the page, including whether or not you are seeking funding elsewhere. The cover
sheet does not count as part of your three page limit. The Front page summary
sheet should be downloaded from our website (a version is included in Section 8 of
this guide for reference).
•
A three page outline of your project, which should include:
o
General background needed to understand your application.
o
A description of the issue you wish to address, including a statement of your
research questions if relevant.
o
What you will do to achieve your aims, including an outline of the
methodology if it is a research project, or of the activities you will undertake.
This should be the largest section of the outline and should provide
sufficient information about the proposed approach, and why it has been
selected, to show that key design considerations have been anticipated.
o
The expected outcomes of the project, including identification of the relevant
audiences, an explanation of how you will engage with them, and initial
thoughts on the most likely pathways to impact.
o
An outline of the budget and the timetable (see Section 4: Budget guidelines).
We do not need a detailed costing, but we need to have an indication of the
total sum of money you are seeking, and a rough allocation between staffing,
research assistance and direct costs.
o
A short selected CV of the primary applicants. This should be no more than
one page per applicant, and no more than two pages in total , but it does not
count towards the three page limit for the Outline. The main focus of this
section should be to demonstrate that the applicant(s) have the necessary
skills and experience needed to deliver a project of the nature proposed. It is
also helpful if you can set out generally the proposed division of
responsibilities for the main project staff. At outline application stage,
bibliographic references, or supporting information about your organisation
should not exceed one page (e.g. half a page of references and half a page of
supporting information).
Outlines are considered by senior staff and Trustees, and occasionally we seek confidential
external advice. Outlines are judged against our criteria and also against other applications
before us.
If your Outline is short-listed to proceed to a Full application, our letter may set out various
questions that you may wish to consider in planning the Full application, or we may pass on
other comments that have arisen in our deliberations. Comments made at this stage reflect
issues that have arisen in our deliberations about your outline, and it is important that you
address them so that you can anticipate areas of likely concern for our Trustees or referees
when you submit your full application.
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Cross-disciplinary projects
We welcome cross-disciplinary collaborations or applications that straddle our own areas of
interest. If your application meets the criteria of more than one programme, then submit the
Outline to what you think is the most suitable category and note if you think there is an
overlap. You do not need to submit it to more than one programme. We will ensure that
any overlaps are dealt with at our end.
WHERE TO SEND YOUR OUTLINE APPLICATION
See Section 7 for where to send your Outline application. Please use the checklist to
make sure your application is complete. We will not accept partial or incomplete
submissions.
Stage 2: Your Full application
There is no application form (apart from the Front page summary sheet), but the main
section of your application should not exceed 10 typed sides of A4 in a legible font size
(equivalent to Times New Roman 12), including the budget and timetable. The Front page
summary, short CVs of the main applicants and bibliographic references may be submitted
outside this 10-page limit but are subject to their own page limits, as set out in the table
below. The pages of your application must be numbered.
Your application must be sufficiently detailed to satisfy experts about your knowledge and
grasp of the subject and the appropriateness of your chosen methodology, while at the same
time being comprehensible to lay people. Unavoidable technical appendices (e.g. details of
statistical modelling) may fall outside the 10-page limit, but should be kept to a minimum.
We will consult independent referees and these may include those who can judge the
practical importance of a project as well as academic experts.
Your Full application must include the following:
Section
A completed Front page summary sheet containing a 250
word summary of the project, written in non-technical language.
The summary should be suitable for a wide audience and
explain what you will be doing and why it matters. You must
also tell us if you have applied unsuccessfully elsewhere. We do
not allow concurrent applications to another funder without
special permission.
Page limit / comments
No more than 1 page.
The Front page summary
sheet should be
downloaded from our
website (a version is
included in Section 8 of
this guide for reference).
The main section of your application, including the budget and
timetable. Guidance on the content can be found on the
following page.
No more than 10 pages
Short selected CVs for the named people who will be working
on the project, focused on demonstrating their skills and
experience in delivering a project of this sort. It is also important
to clarify the proposed division of roles and responsibilities
across project staff and to clarify the relative input from each
contributor.
Bibliographic references cited in the application
No more than 1 page per
applicant and no more
than 3 pages in total
(both limits apply).
No more than 3 pages
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A statement from you confirming your own acceptance of our
Terms and conditions.
No more than 1 page
A statement from your institution confirming that:
- it is prepared to administer any grant awarded according
to our Terms and conditions
- it will assume responsibility for the ethical conduct of the
research
- it has approved the budget.
No more than 1 page
If there is more than one applicant, we ask that you nominate
one applicant’s institution to handle administration of the grant.
How to submit your Full application
You should send one electronic copy to the Foundation by the deadline you are given. It is
not necessary to submit a hard copy.
Your application may be in Word or PDF format, but we will accept only one merged file
containing the summary sheet, the main section of the application, CVs, references and any
appendices in a single file. The statements from the PI and institution may be submitted
within this file or as a separate file. Please note that we cannot accept any revisions to your
application after this has been submitted except in exceptional circumstances.
WHERE TO SEND YOUR FULL APPLICATION
See Section 7 for where to send your application. Please use the checklist to ensure
your application is complete. We will not accept partial or incomplete submissions.
Content of your application
There is no set format for applications, but the following guidance will be useful in preparing
your application.
Background
What is the issue or problem that the project will tackle? What other recent or current
developments are there in the field? What is new about the project? Why is it important? To
what extent does it build on previous work by you and by others? We do not want an
exhaustive review of the literature, but need reassurance that you are aware of existing
relevant work, both academic and practical.
Aims
What are the objectives of the project? What might the outcomes be? What are the
implications for policy and practice, and how and by whom might these be taken up? Is there
a particular need for this project now – how does it relate to policy or practice developments
in the relevant field?If your application is a research project, what are the research questions
that you will be able to answer if your application is funded?
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Methods
How will you achieve your aims? What will you do in the course of the project? What
activities will you undertake and when? What methods of data collection and/ or analysis in
the case of research projects) will you apply, and why have you chosen these? For research
projects, is it clear how the methodology will enable you to answer your research questions?
Is the methodology described in full? We will be looking closely at whether the methods
chosen are appropriate and sufficiently rigorous to produce clear answers to the questions
you are asking. You should ensure you have clarified the population of interest, how any
sample will be selected (including justification for sample size, and any particular groups that
need to be included) for both qualitative and quantitative research studies. It is also
important to address issues such as ethics, data protection, and research access. Where
you will need to gain access (for example to data, case files, or personnel) to deliver your
study, you should set this process in train prior to submitting your application and tell us
what you have done and what the likely timetables are.
This section, discussing what you will do if you are funded, should be the most substantial
part of your application and should be detailed.
Legal and Ethical aspects
The Foundation requires the research it funds to be conducted in an ethical manner, and to
comply with the relevant legislation (e.g. data protection) and therefore expects all applicants
for research grants to have given serious consideration to these aspects of their projects.
This is especially so where the research involves children or other vulnerable groups.
Particular legal and ethical issues raised by a research project should always be discussed
in an application, and in doing so applicants should illustrate what the issues and likely
responses are likely to be as well as the process by which they will be resolved.
In addition, research applications submitted to the Foundation for projects that involve
contact with human participants (‘primary research’) are required to pass through
independent ethical scrutiny. It is the responsibility of the applicant to meet this requirement
and the responsibility of the supporting institution first to make sure that appropriate
provision for scrutiny is in place, and second to accept responsibility for the ethical conduct
of the research.
Trustees expect that the larger research institutes and universities will have standing
arrangements in place for ethical scrutiny. In such cases, the institutional statement that
accompanies your application should include a signed declaration from a senior member of
the organisation to the effect that such a review has happened, or will happen, and that it
accepts responsibility for the ethical conduct of the research. Where there is no standing
arrangement (for research carried out by smaller institutes or charities), Trustees are willing
to consider alternative arrangements, for example an independent advisory committee
convened specifically for the purpose or use of a scrutiny committee from another institution.
Applicants are welcome to ask the Foundation staff for advice about this.
Evaluation
You should include a discussion of how you will assess the extent to which your project has
succeeded. If it is a research project you should consider what effects the research might
have and how you will maximise its potential to achieve positive outcomes. What policies
might it alter if taken up? Who might you want to listen to it, and to take it seriously? How
would you demonstrate that your project had made a difference to anybody? What outputs
(other than journal articles or conference presentations) would you want to see? What
outcomes might they lead to?
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If you are seeking funding for a practical project, you may need to consider a formal process
of evaluation, to examine the results of your project. It is often helpful to distinguish between
monitoring a process, which is part of the management of the project, and evaluation, which
is a more formal assessment of the outcome of a project, often carried out independently of
the applicant. Any evaluation should be proportionate to the money spent on the practical
project and it is helpful to think early about whether and how the design of the project might
facilitate evaluation.
Showing that you have thought about what the outcomes (not the outputs) of your project
might be is an increasingly important criteria for the Foundation.
Communication, engagement, outputs and outcomes
We want to fund projects with outcomes that will be important and useful to practitioners and
policy makers, and that inform wider public discussion. Projects usually have more impact
when those who are likely to be interested in the results are engaged at early stages, and
are certainly more likely to have impact if the applicant understands the underlying policy
timetable and the issues that policy or practical change are seeking to address. We expect
all projects to produce at least one overview report, and most will also generate one or more
journal articles. We are keen to encourage innovative approaches to dissemination of
findings above and beyond reports, conference papers and journal articles, and are often
able to help with this, by hosting seminars, producing non-academic summaries and so on.
We look for evidence that you have identified those to whom the outcomes of the project will
be most relevant, and have thought about how you will engage them. Will you convene an
advisory group? Will you hold seminars for policy makers or practitioners, and if so how will
you get their attention? Do you need to do so when you have preliminary findings or would it
be better to wait until you have a final report?
You should indicate what kinds of communication activities you will need to maximise the
chance of your project having a positive outcome, and budget for the estimated cost of these
activities.
We recognise that some applicants may need to work closely with the Foundation to hold
seminars or issue press releases, while others may work in institutions that have their own
in-house capacity for communication support. Other organisations may also be able to help,
and we are happy to discuss this with successful applicants.
Staffing
It is important that the application is clear about the roles and division of responsibilities of
the different contributors to the project. This section should include the level of expertise
and input of each member of staff, whether new staff need to be recruited, the use of any
subcontracted staff/organisations and/or consultants, and the proposed arrangements for
project management and supervision of more junior staff. This information is necessary
even for staff where there is no request for funding from the Foundation, but where their
involvement is important.
Budget and timetable
Your application should contain a budget showing annual costs and a total, following the
guidance given in Section 4. The budget headings you use in your application should
be compatible with those that will be used in invoicing. You should also include a
timetable showing the duration of major activities and important interim dates (for preliminary
reports, completion of interim stages of a project, etc.).
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Technical appendices
Normally, the 10-page limit is sufficient to give all the details that are needed to ensure
referees and Trustees understand what it is you want to do. However, there may be
occasions when a technical appendix is needed, for details of statistical models or
exemplary materials (for curriculum projects or guidebooks). If this is the case, this material
should be put into a technical appendix, outside the 10-page limit. You should however
describe what you will do, and give some sense of the practical implications of the modelling
in the body of your application.
4. Budget guidelines
General
Outline applications do not require a full budget. However, you will need to provide an
estimate of the total sum of money you are seeking, and a rough allocation between the
various costs such as staffing, research assistance and direct costs.
If you are invited to submit a Full application, this should include an itemised budget of the
costs of carrying out the work, set out separately for each year that the project will run. You
should also show the total amount requested from the Foundation.
If you expect your project to become self-financing once the Foundation’s support has
ended, you should explain how you plan to achieve this, and what steps you will take in the
course of the grant to make this more likely.
Your application should provide an explanation of the items for which you are seeking
funding and a clear justification for any unusual requests, including consultancy fees or high
salary levels.
For information about allowable salary costs, see the separate sections below for universitybased and non-university applications. Other headings covered in this section apply to both
university and non-university applicants.
Consultancy fees
We will meet reasonable costs of specialist consultants but subject these requests to special
scrutiny. Such cases usually involve a relatively small self-contained task requiring specialist
or technical knowledge. A typical case would be the provision of statistical advice.
If possible, you should include full details of any named consultant(s), together with their
CV(s). If the consultant has not yet been selected, details of the skills required should be
included. In either case, the number of days and the daily rate should be clearly stated.
Equipment
We will fund equipment specially required for the projects it supports, as a ‘directly incurred’
cost. Office equipment is generally assumed to have a life-span of three years, and
equipment on projects with a time-scale of less than three years will generally be eligible for
part-funding only. For projects of less than three years, the budget should include only the
proportionate cost of any equipment (e.g. 50% of the full equipment cost for a project lasting
18 months). Exceptions may be made for projects carried out in the voluntary sector.
Travel and subsistence
Give full details if travelling costs exceed £1,500. Travel costs for Advisory Groups are
eligible costs, and an estimated cost should be included in the budget.
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International conferences
We do not usually fund the cost of attending conferences outside of the UK, which we
consider an institutional overhead. On occasion, we may agree to this once it is clearer
what the project outputs are, and whether a specific conference offers a particular
opportunity to showcase the work. This is not usually possible to assess at the outset of a
project.
Survey, fieldwork or interviewing costs
Where a project includes a survey, the application must give details of the work and the
costs at each stage of the work. Where the project includes a commissioned or subcontracted survey, the application must provide an up-to-date quotation from a named
organisation, and describe relevant methodological details.
On small-scale projects, where payments for interviews will be made to individuals whose
salaries are not funded by the application, the number of interviews and the cost per
interview should be clearly shown.
Any request for making incentive payments to ensure respondents’ participation needs to be
clearly justified with evidence that these are necessary to the delivery of this specific project
with any advantages in improved participation outweighing potential risks (such as concerns
about professionalisation of focus group respondents, potential influence on responses, and
the research relationship, and impact on wider willingness to participate without incentives).
We are more likely to be sympathetic to a case for incentive (or ‘thank you’) payments in
qualitative research, research with professionals, and survey work which includes
particularly onerous demands on respondents (e.g. completing a diary).
Direct administration and office expenses
Postage, telephone, stationery, photocopying and other direct office costs attributable to the
project are eligible for funding. Where the total of such costs exceeds £1,500, details should
be given.
Dissemination, communication and publication
Your application should include a discussion of what kind of dissemination might be
appropriate and how you plan to carry this out, including any proposals for conferences,
launch events or seminars or the production of publications aimed at wider audiences. The
estimated costs of these activities should then be included in the budget. Grant holders may
request use the rooms and facilities of the Foundation for their projects free of charge.
Please note that our facilities are very popular and it may not be possible for us to
accommodate your request if you have restricted dates.
We can also consider requests for supplementary grants for dissemination, where plans
change or new ideas arise in the course of the project.
Administrative costs of preparing academic publications are not generally eligible. We are
aware of the debate about various models of open access, but as matters are not currently
settled, we will only make express payments for this under exceptional circumstances.
Advisory groups
Travel and other expenses for advisory groups may be claimed for in the application. In
exceptional cases we may allow modest payments to cover the time of advisors in the
voluntary sector who would not otherwise be able to take part.
Page 14 of 25
For applicants working in universities
Full Economic Costing (FEC)
This guidance clarifies where our rules are the same as or different from the funding rules of
the Research Councils.
In summary, applicants may seek funding from the Foundation for all ‘directly incurred’ and,
subject to certain conditions, most ‘directly allocated’ costs (except the estates costs of
permanent university staff). We will not fund ‘indirect costs’.
When we make an award, we fund 100% of eligible costs, not the 80% funded by the
Research Councils.
Salaries - general
Annual staff salaries must be shown, net of National Insurance and superannuation, which
should be separately itemised. If staff will not be working full-time on the project, the
proportion of time they will spend on the project should be stated. You should show salaries
separately for each named member or category of staff to be funded. As a charity, we do
not fund salaries (including retirement income) above £81,500 per year.
We will meet the costs of recruiting new staff where required, provided this has been agreed
in advance.
In the case of longer projects, during which staff may receive incremental pay rises, we
expect these to be built into the project budget wherever possible.
For annual cost of living increases we may be prepared to meet these at the end of the
grant, but these should not be included in the budget, and the costs will be met after the
grantholder’s institution can inform us of the details of the changes.
We will meet the ‘directly incurred’ salary costs of staff on projects (usually these will be
research assistants). We will also meet ‘directly allocated’ costs of support staff such as
secretaries and administrators where these are specifically needed for the project. These
should be separately itemised.
We may consider payments for salaries of retired people in receipt of a pension, or other
forms of partial income (like part-time income) but will abate any salary to take account of
the pension being received or the source of the income.
Salaries – Principal Investigators and other Category A Staff
A particular issue arising from the FEC arrangements is the reimbursement of time spent by
permanent academic staff on research (“PI costs”). We accept the principle that PI costs of
staff in receipt of research grants are eligible costs, but as a charity, we will not fund projects
in which the main cost is for desk research by the Principal Investigator, whose expertise we
would normally assume is covered by the dual support system.
We will fund salaries for Principal Investigators and other Category A staff, subject to the
following provisos:
•
The time requested should not be less than ½ day a week over the life of the grant.
Smaller amounts are sufficiently small to be covered by existing funding streams.
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•
The time requested should not be greater than two days a week over the life of the
grant. In exceptional circumstances we will consider requests for longer proportions,
but a special case would have to be made, including full details of the arrangements
for teaching and administrative replacement and a supporting letter from the
university to show there is a reduced load.
•
We will pay the required proportion up to a maximum salary of £81,500 a year for
any single member of staff.
Applicants seeking funding for PI or Category A staff costs should:
•
Make the case in the application that the project needs the amount of time
requested. Peer reviewers will be asked to comment explicitly on whether the time
requested is reasonable and necessary. They will also be asked to comment on the
overall value for money of the application.
•
Provide a statement about the nature of their employment contract, in order to show
whether or not they are Category A members of staff and what proportion of time is
currently being paid for by other research funders, either on projects or as part of
core support.
Research fellows and other staff who are required to raise their own salary (i.e. those who
are not in Category A) are eligible to apply for their salary costs, up to the £81,500 annual
limit. They should also provide the information set out in the above bullet point.
Estates costs
The Foundation will pay the estates costs of research assistants working on the project or
any other staff specifically appointed to the project for whose salary it pays. It will not pay the
estates costs of Principal Investigators, Category A staff, or of permanent university
secretarial or administrative staff.
Indirect costs
We will not contribute to “indirect costs” (i.e. university overheads). University applicants will
be aware that the government has established a revenue stream (the Charity Support Fund)
to contribute towards the indirect costs of research funded by charities at universities. These
funds are distributed through the QR element of the higher education funding councils.
Grants from the Nuffield Foundation are eligible for this QR funding; the Foundation’s grant
funding meets the eligibility and income criteria, and in addition the Foundation is a member
of the Association of Medical Research Charities, and therefore is recognised by HEFCE as
meeting the criteria.
For non-university applicants
Unless mentioned below, the rules listed above under ‘General’ apply.
Salaries
Annual staff salaries must be shown, net of National Insurance and superannuation, which
should be separately itemised. If staff will not be working full-time on the project, the
proportion of the time they will spend on the project should be stated. You should show
salaries separately for each category of staff that will be funded. We will also meet the costs
of recruiting new staff where required; details of the post to be filled should be included in
the application. We do not usually fund salaries at a rate higher than £81,500 a year.
Page 16 of 25
We will meet increased costs arising from nationally negotiated pay awards arising during
the project and these should not be included in the budget. However, if you wish to seek
funding for cost of living increases that are not part of a nationally negotiated scheme, or to
meet the costs of incremental pay rises or promotions, these must be specified in the budget
at the time you apply; we are unable to meet such costs if we are notified
retrospectively.
Indirect costs
Trustees will consider contributing towards the reasonable indirect costs (‘overheads’) of
voluntary organisations or independent research institutes. In these cases the indirect costs
should be expressed as a proportion of salaries, and the percentage used should be clearly
stated. The budget should give details of the services included (accommodation,
management, central services and so on).
5. Communicating outcomes
About your project
Section 3 provides guidance on what to include in your application, including
communications, engagement and outcomes.
We recognise that it is not always possible to plan all the details at the early stages of a
project but we encourage applicants to think as early as possible about the potential
audiences for (and contributors to) the work, how they can best be engaged and pathways
to impact. We are happy for you to have discussions with senior Foundation staff should you
be successful in securing grant funding from us.
The interim reports required for longer projects are often an appropriate time to update and
refine engagement and dissemination plans. There are ways in which we may be able to
help, for example, by stimulating ideas of what sorts of activities might be useful, by calling
on our own networks and contacts, by making supplementary grants to support
communication activities, or simply by making our meeting rooms available for seminars and
launch events.
Most projects that we fund are featured on our website, with links to grant holders’ websites
where appropriate. We ask grant holders to keep us up to date with information about their
projects, including interim publications and events.
Formal reporting to the Foundation
Interim reports (for projects of one year or more)
For grants lasting one year or more, interim reports must be submitted annually. They
should be no longer than three pages and should give an account of progress to date,
problems and successes, and any circumstances that have led to a departure from the work
specified in the original proposal. Interim reporting is a good opportunity to have an informal
discussion about any issues.
End-of-project summary (all projects)
We require a two to three-page end-of-project summary prepared specifically for Foundation
staff and Trustees to inform periodic reviews of the impact of the Foundation’s programmes
of work. These are therefore different in nature from the main substantive outputs – such as
Page 17 of 25
published reports, books or journal articles. We are aware that not all projects succeed and
prefer grant holders to write an objective account of problems and failures as well as
successes, rather than pretend all went well or delay sending a report. We are particularly
interested in understanding what happened during the research, what was learned and what
subsequent impact there may have been.
The end-of-project summary should be completed using the end-of-project summary form,
which can be downloaded from our website. This should be submitted within six months of
the end of the grant. The Foundation recognises that there may be occasions where a
longer period is appropriate to help capture impact. In such cases any extension to the
deadline needs to be formally approved by the Foundation in writing.
Grant holders should also send copies of all reports or publications arising from work funded
by the Foundation, as set out in the Terms and conditions of award.
Grant holders who do not fulfil the reporting requirements will not be eligible to apply
for further grants from the Foundation.
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Appendices
A. Terms and conditions of award
The following are the Foundation’s standard Terms and conditions for grants for research
and innovation. Before applying for a grant you should check that these terms are
acceptable to you and to the organisation that will be administering the grant. In applying for
a Nuffield Foundation grant you are deemed to have accepted them unless you raise any
issues beforehand. These will be sent to you again at the time of the written offer of a grant
to ensure you are aware of them.
These conditions are intended to ensure: that grants are spent for the purpose for which
they were requested; that the Foundation is informed promptly of any significant changes in
the project being supported and permission is sought where necessary; and third, that the
Foundation receives a proper account of the outcomes of the project.
General
1. Grants must be used solely for the purposes set out in the application made to the
Foundation, subject to any further modifications agreed by the Foundation.
2. It is the responsibility of the grant holder to keep the Foundation informed of all relevant
issues that arise during the grant. This includes, but is not limited to, discussion of
changes to the programme of work, important problems or difficulties of any sort,
changes to the timetable or budget (including revising expenditure), and advance
warning of publications and dissemination. The grant holder should also ensure that
the Foundation is consulted in advance on proposed changes to the project team
or the research design. Failure to keep the Foundation informed of progress, problems
and difficulties, or changes in personnel may result in termination of an award.
3. The grant holder will be responsible for the conduct of the work in accordance with
normal standards of research practice. The host organisation is responsible for the
employment of any staff associated with the grant and for their terms and conditions of
employment, for providing appropriate facilities for the work, and for the financial
management of the grant.
4. The host organisation must ensure that all necessary ethical committee approvals,
agreements about access, animal licences and requirements of regulatory authorities
and other local governance frameworks are in place before the work begins and are
maintained for the duration of the grant.
5. Any financial support of the project obtained from other sources must be made known to
the Foundation as soon as possible.
6. The Foundation reserves the right to withhold funding or terminate an award at its sole
discretion if the grant holder or staff funded by the grant are in breach of any of the
conditions of award or become unfit or unable to pursue the work funded by the grant.
Page 19 of 25
Changes to the project
7. The Foundation should be informed immediately if the grant holder(s) intend to move to
another institution during the course of the grant or if there is any change in the
personnel working on a project who are specified in the application. Decisions about the
transfer of the award rest with the Foundation. If the decision is that the grant may be
transferred, the grant holder must arrange for the original institution to send a closing
financial statement to the Foundation, and for the new institution to provide a statement
agreeing to the Foundation’s prevailing conditions of award and to administer the
remaining grant. Only then will the Foundation make a new formal offer of award to the
new institution for the balance remaining in the budget. This new award may be subject
to different conditions to the original award.
8. The Foundation's agreement must be sought in advance before any research worker
supported by a grant is registered for a higher degree or other qualification. The
Foundation will not normally pay for staff to be appointed at a higher level than that
approved by Trustees. Staff may be appointed at lower levels, in which case the
Foundation reserves the right to decide that the balance will be retained by the
Foundation.
9. The permission of the Foundation must be sought in advance where significant changes
are necessary to the work that will be carried out, whether or not these are judged to be
advantageous. A significant change is anything that may materially alter the design or
outcomes of the work described in the application. The Foundation reserves the right to
judge if any project would be so compromised by the changes that the grant should be
stopped. This includes changes to the starting and end dates, even if there are no
budgetary implications.
10. We may be prepared to consider requests for reasonable no-cost extensions. Grantholders who wish to extend the end date of the grant should submit this request in
advance of the agreed end date in writing (i.e. by email), detailing the reasons and
implications, as well as the proposed revised end date.
11. The Foundation should always be consulted in advance on changes to the named staff
on a project, or of failure to gain access to research facilities or samples, or to gain
ethical approval. If appropriate, revised proposals may be required, and the Foundation
reserves the right to revise, retain or terminate grants if changes are significant.
12. The Foundation may make a contribution to reimburse the host institution for the
financial consequences (for example the costs of replacement staff) of research staff
who are absent from the project as a result of parental leave, caring responsibilities or
long-term sickness. This only applies to research staff who are not ‘category A’ staff
within universities if staff fulfil qualifying requirements. Any of these should also trigger a
discussion with the Foundation about the timetable and budget of the grant.
Budgets and financial monitoring
13. Within the limits of the total budget, the spending under different heads must conform
broadly to the original estimates in the application approved by the Trustees. Invoices
must be accompanied by a table setting out expenditure against the same budget
categories used in the full application. If grant holders wish to make any substantial
variation of expenditure (i.e. in excess of 20% of non staff expenditure) between heads
of the budget set out in the application, they must seek the Foundation's permission in
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advance before doing so. Increases or reductions in staff headcount must be
specifically approved.
14. The Foundation will honour nationally or regionally agreed salary increases. Grant
holders can notify the Foundation of the additional sum required once this is known.
15. Equipment funded by a grant is donated to the host institution for the use of the project
funded by the grant. The host institution is responsible for its housing, maintenance and
insurance; the Foundation normally assumes at least a 3 year life of equipment and will
pay proportionately for equipment depending on the length of the project. If the project
moves to another institution during the grant, the Foundation expects the equipment to
move with the project at the cost of the new host organisation. In cases where the
equipment costs more than £5,000 and was purchased exclusively by the Foundation,
the Foundation retains the right to be consulted about its disposal, and in any disputed
case will have the final say. This requirement lapses on completion of the grant. Assets
with a value of less than £5,000 remain the property of the institution.
16. In the rare cases (with voluntary sector bodies) where grant payments are paid in
advance, the end-of-project summary should be accompanied by a full financial
statement, which relates actual expenditure to the original budget described in the award
letter.
17. Where grants are not paid in advance, grant claims should be submitted quarterly in
arrears. Final claims must be submitted no later than 6 months after the end date of the
grant. At the end of the grant any outstanding balance should be returned to the
Foundation. Grants balances that are not claimed within one year of the agreed end date
of the grant will normally be withdrawn and the grant terminated.
Intellectual property, copyright and acknowledgement of the
Foundation
18. Grant holders must inform the Foundation of all published outputs relating to the grant.
This includes presentations, journal articles and any other print and electronic
publications. All outputs must include acknowledgement of the Foundation’s funding. Our
standard acknowledgement (below) is usually sufficient:
The Nuffield Foundation is an endowed charitable trust that aims to improve social
well-being in the widest sense. It funds research and innovation in education and
social policy and also works to build capacity in education, science and social
science research. The Nuffield Foundation has funded this project, but the views
expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Foundation.
More information is available at www.nuffieldfoundation.org
We usually expect our logo to be included on any publicly available outputs, but grant
holders should contact us before using the logo. The Foundation is happy to advise on
the most appropriate form of acknowledgement and grant holders should get in touch if
unsure.
19. The Trustees do not allow the title “Nuffield” to be attached to a post, unit or project paid
for from a Nuffield Foundation grant without their express prior written agreement.
20. Grant holders must acknowledge the Foundation’s funding in all media releases related
to their project. Draft media releases should be sent to the Foundation in advance of
them being issued, so that we have a reasonable opportunity to comment on the draft;
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we need as much notice as possible. The Foundation’s support should be acknowledged
in the body of the release, and our standard acknowledgement (see above) should be
used in the notes.
21. Where a project involves collection of original data, the grant holder must liaise with an
appropriate archive about deposit of the data arising from the grant. The Foundation
requires all social science survey data collected in the course of a project to be
deposited at an archive within a year of the completion of the grant.
22. The host institution is responsible for the identification, protection and exploitation of any
intellectual property rights arising from the grant. The Foundation must be consulted in
advance about the disposal of any significant intellectual property rights of £10,000 or
more, and in these cases normally expects to share in any income generated by
intellectual property rights in proportion to its share of the full costs of the original
research, up to the cost of the original grant. In exceptional circumstances, we may seek
to recoup more than the cost of the original grant. Where intellectual property rights of
more than £10,000 are expected or likely, or arise unexpectedly, the grant holder should
contact the Foundation to discuss this issue as early as possible.
23. Where the Foundation makes a grant for the writing of a book or other scholarly work,
the copyright is usually held by the author. In the case of joint funding the assignment of
copyright should be agreed before a grant commences. The Foundation must be
consulted about significant royalties arising (those totalling more than £10,000), and
separate arrangements will apply.
Reporting to the Foundation
24. It is the responsibility of the grant holder to keep the Foundation informed of progress of
a project and particularly of important findings or emerging problems.
25. Projects often produce reports and publications to disseminate their results. In addition to
these the Foundation requires the following reports:
•
Interim Reports (for projects of one year or more)
For grants lasting one year or more, interim reports must be submitted annually.
They should be no longer than three pages and should give an account of progress
to date, problems and successes, and any circumstances that have led to a
departure from the work specified in the original proposal.
•
End-of-project summary (for all projects)
We require a two-page end-of-project summary prepared specifically for Foundation
staff and Trustees, using the end-of-project summary form (which can be
downloaded from the Foundation website). This should give a brief account of the
project, the main findings and an assessment of how far it has achieved its
objectives. It should be submitted within six months of the end of the grant. (Please
see also point 9 about requests for no-cost extensions.)
26. The Foundation must be sent a copy of all publications (papers, conference papers,
books, articles, monographs, reports or other material) produced by a project within three
months of their publication.
27. Grant holders who do not fulfil the reporting requirements will not be eligible to apply for
further grants from the Foundation.
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Data protection policy
28. The Nuffield Foundation is registered under the Data Protection Act 1998 and complies
with its principles and provisions. It is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
29. Applicants will understand that it is necessary for us to store and process information
sent by applicants and referees, so that the Foundation may assess applications and
review our own grant-making activity. Data are held securely and lawfully processed, and
all those handling applications are aware of the confidentiality of the data. Records are
retained for no longer than necessary. General information about applications is held and
used in the reviews we carry out of own grant-making activities. Data are also used to
compile lists of award-holders which are publicly available. Unsuccessful applications
and grants are held for only a few months in case of queries, and are then destroyed.
30. Applicants and their institutions are deemed to have given consent to the Foundation to
process data related to applications either by signing an application form or by signing a
letter of application for a grant.
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B. Checklists
If you are submitting an Outline application please check you have included:

A completed Front page summary sheet.

An application of no more than three pages, including an estimate of the
amount of money requested and a brief budget (see section 4).

Short CV section (maximum two pages in total; not included in the three page
limit).

A covering letter raising any questions (if needed).
You should submit by e-mail, with everything merged into a single document. There is no
need to submit a hard copy of your outline application.
If you are submitting a Full application, please check you have included:








A completed Front page summary sheet.
The main section of your application, including the budget and timetable (no
more than 10 pages)
Bibliographic references (no more than three pages)
Short CVs (no more than three pages in total, and no more than one page per
applicant)
A statement from the applicant confirming acceptance of the terms and
conditions.
A statement from your institution agreeing to administer any grant awarded
according to our terms and conditions, including responsibility for the ethical
conduct of the research, and confirming that it has approved the budget.
You may also include a technical appendix and/or a covering letter raising
any questions, but should only do so if these are needed.
Please submit:
• One electronic copy with the full application (as above) merged into one single file. (If
necessary, the statements from the PI and institution may be submitted as separate
documents, but all other items should be merged into one file.)
Submitting your application
Outline applications and electronic copies of Full applications should be submitted to:
Education: Kim Woodruff (kwoodruff@nuffieldfoundation.org)
Children and Families / Law in Society: Alison Rees (arees@nuffieldfoundation.org)
Open Door: Rocio Lale-Montes (rlale-montes@nuffieldfoundation.org)
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C. Front page summary sheet
This version is for reference only. When you submit your application, download the Word version
from our website and complete it electronically. You can delete the guidance notes (in italics) to
give you more space.
Grants for Research and Innovation
Front page summary sheet for Outline and Full applications
Is this your Outline application or your Full application (tick one box)?
Outline application
Full application
Please note the PI should handle discussions with the Foundation. Only ONE institution may administer a grant.
Name of Principal Investigator (PI):
Organisation (including university department name, if applicable):
Address for correspondence:
Telephone No.:
Email address for the PI:
Joint applicants (if applicable): (Please state the names and email addresses of any joint applicants. You should
also state their organisations/university departments where these differ from the PI’s organisation/department.)
Title and summary of project:
NB The title should be short and descriptive. The summary should be written in non-technical language, and
should give a clear account of what you intend to do in the course of the project. It should not exceed 250 words
and be suitable for wider dissemination. (You may delete this text.)
When would you like the grant to begin?
When would you like the grant to end?
Total amount requested from the Nuffield Foundation (to the nearest £):
Have you applied, or are you applying, elsewhere for funds for this project? Please give details below.
Please do not exceed one page