Annual Round Open for NERC Global Partnerships Seedcorn Fund
NERC initiative to support UK environmental science researchers to establish new collaborations with international partners.
The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Global Partnerships Seedcorn Fund supports UK environmental science researchers to develop new long-term, sustainable collaborations with international scientists. The aim of the scheme is to support the development of partnerships that are:
- International (from any country).
- New (ie with partners that the applicant has not collaborated with previously).
- Long-term (that will be self-sustaining beyond the lifetime of the grant).
Proposed collaborations must involve international research partner(s) from any country (outside the UK) and in any science area within the NERC remit. Although the majority of the application should lie within NERC remit, multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary collaborations with international partners are welcomed. The inclusion of one or more international project partners is mandatory and the partner(s) must have an integral role in the proposed work.
Supported activities may include, but are not limited to: programmes of exchange visits or staff secondments; establishing networks on a common research area; scoping, feasibility or proof of concept studies; and workshops. New collaborations may enable UK researchers and international partners to share unique/complementary data, skills, infrastructure and field sites.
This funding opportunity is for investigators looking to create new global partnerships across any environmental science areas in NERC’s remit. Projects are required to have a Principal Investigator based in a UK research organisation eligible for UKRI funding (ie approved higher education institutions, research council institutes, independent research organisations, public sector research establishments and catapults). NERC individual eligibility rules apply.
The total budget for this call is £1 million. Grants up to a maximum of £100,000 (100% full economic cost) over two years are available. Requested costs for UK research organisations will be funded at 80% of full economic cost.
International partners are not eligible for direct funding from NERC, however, eligible UK organisations may request up to £15,000 for international partner(s) to support their travel and subsistence costs during visits or exchanges.
This call has two application stages consisting of a mandatory Notification of Intent to submit stage followed by full proposals. The Notification of Intent to submit deadline is 2 March 2023 (16:00). The full proposal submission deadline is 30 March 2023 (16:00).
(This report was the subject of a RESEARCHconnect Newsflash.)