Trinity College Dublin
Research Committee
Pathfinder Programme
The Trinity College Dublin Research Committee Pathfinder Programme will provide seed funding to
enable and develop new and existing research, innovation and outreach activities with high potential
impact.
Objectives:
The programme is designed to support short-duration activities with high potential derived impact
and specifically to:
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encourage excellent new exploratory and developmental research, innovation and outreach
projects; and/or
to encourage colleagues to better position themselves to apply for external funding
especially leading to larger scale endeavours; and/or
to add significant value to external grants already secured.
Scope:
Given the objectives as outlined above, a variety of different types of projects might be funded
under the programme. For example, a proposed project might be to fund a new research activity
that is challenging, ambitious, and of short duration but which would open up future opportunities
with high potential impact. A project might propose to undertake a feasibility study that might
underpin a future application for external funding in a disruptive research area, or indeed to develop
the infrastructure needed to support a new research direction that would have high impact.
Application types are not limited to these examples and applicants are encouraged to be innovative
in their submissions.
Programme remit:
PATHFINDER projects may, in principle, be undertaken in any field of research, innovation or
outreach in the College. The applicant should indicate why external funding is not appropriate at
this time. The project may for example put the groundwork in place to allow a researcher to apply
for external funding (although this is not a pre-requisite of the scheme).
Funding limit:
The budget requested should be appropriate to the scale and impact of the project proposed. The
maximum funding is €20,000 per project proposal (and on that basis about 10 projects could be
funded per annum)1 but it is anticipated that not every project will be funded at this level.
Application process:
Please provide no more than 4 A4 pages addressing the headings below. Please submit your
application via e-mail to: Pathfinder2015@tcd.ie no later than 16th January 2015. In the interests of
1
If funds are not fully allocated then a second call for applications may occur.
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fairness, late applications will not be accepted. Queries should be directed to Fiona Killard at
Pathfinder2015@tcd.ie
Application headings:
1. Name of applicant.
2. Name of School/TRI/Unit.
3. Title of project.
4. Summary in lay person’s terms (½ page max).
5. Description of proposed project (1 page).
6. Anticipated outcome and impact to be derived by the project ; indicate link to your personal
career development plans (1 page).
7. Summarize what other applications have you made, if any, in support of the goal or
background to the proposal (½ page).
8. Timeline of work (½ page) clearly indicating how the work can be carried out in one year.
9. Budget table (please use template provided on website – this template is not counted in
the ½ page limit for budget justification) and justification of resources including a statement
as to why external funding sources are not suitable (½ page).
10. Signature of applicant(s) electronically. Signature of Head of School – electronically.
Notes: Teaching buy-out is not anticipated to be a cost supported within this initiative2.
It is the responsibility of the applicant to identify if their proposed research requires ethical
approval. TCD policy is that all research involving human participants requires research ethics
approval. This should be indicated in the application. Where ethical approval is required, it must be
obtained from the relevant local ethics committee prior to the start of the project. If funding
becomes available from other sources for this proposal, we would ask principal investigators (PIs) to
release the unspent funding from this scheme back to the Research Committee budget.
Eligible applicants:
The applicant must be:
- a member of the academic/administrative (research support, innovation support or
outreach) staff (permanent or with a contract that covers the period of the grant), or
- a contract researcher with a contract that covers the period of the grant, who is recognised
by the Research Body as an independent investigator.
(Please note that the grant is not to be used to pay PI salary).
Applications on behalf of more than one PI may be submitted but the proposal must be presented
with one named lead PI (the others are regarded as Co-PIs) and the budget will be transferred to
that lead PI’s School/TRI. The maximum amount remains €20,000 per project regardless of the
number of PIs involved.
2
Where an application exceptionally requests funding for buy-out of teaching time, then a strong case for
provision of same must be made and the applicant needs to also provide (in addition to the 4pages above) a
signed statement from their Head of School indicating their support for this and how it will be facilitated
within the grant duration. Applicants should approach their Head of School at the start of the application
preparation process so that time is available prior to the submission deadline to adjust the application should
teaching buy-out not be supported. It is expected that the cost of the replacement staff for teaching will be
included and not the actual cost of the academic whose time is being freed up.
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Duration of the grant:
up to one year from the start date of the award.
Budget eligible costs include:
Eligible costs include relevant research expenses, including equipment, consumables and travel and
access to necessary special facilities, which are not available in the College. Other eligible costs
include contributions to salaries/stipends for staff hired specifically to carry out the proposed work
programme. There are no overheads associated with this scheme.
Evaluation process:
The evaluation panel will consist of the Dean of Research and a representative of each faculty
assisted by a member of the Research Development Office. Project applications not in compliance
with the conditions of the Pathfinder programme as outlined above will not be eligible for funding
and will be returned without review.
Proposal review process and criteria:
The application will be checked to
- determine whether the proposal satisfies the conditions laid out in this document;
- verify that the requested budget corresponds to the proposed research;
- review the proposal and budget using the marking system below.
Proposals will be ranked and subject to budget cut off, the most highly ranked proposals will be
selected for funding.
Marking system:
 Innovative nature of the application – 10 marks
 Well planned implementation of the project idea and ability to deliver successfully in one
year – 30 marks
 Scale of derived impact of the proposal if implemented – 40 marks
 Budget justification – 20 marks.
Project start date:
Successful applicants must be in a position to start their projects by the middle of March 2015.
Reporting:
It is a condition of this grant that each successful applicant who receives funding provides a report
on the outcome of the work achieved at the end of the grant period and accepts that any unspent
balances must be returned to the Research Committee budget at that time. Project extensions will
only be provided in the most exceptional circumstances.
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