Quick Reference
Please note that you must read the full Call document for guidance
before submitting your proposal
Call for Mid-range Facility Statements of
Community Need
Call type: Invitation for proposals
Intent To Submit deadline for new facilities: 07 June 2017 at 16:00
Closing date: 30 August 2017 at 16:00
Funding Available: No direct funding is available through this call. Where a
clear need for a facility has been identified, the responsible EPSRC theme will
develop a plan to support this type of facility, for example by initiating an open
tendering process under OJEU rules.
How to apply: Intent to submit for new Facilities, followed by the submission of
full Statements of Community Need.
Assessment Process: Intents to submit for new facilities will be considered by
an internal panel. Full Statements of Community Need will be sent out for
external peer review and where sufficiently supportive reviewers’ comments have
been received, Principle Authors will be asked to submit a response. A
prioritisation panel covering a wide range of expertise, across the EPSRC remit
will meet in December 2017 to assess the Statements of Need for both new and
existing facilities according to the published assessment criteria.
Key Dates:
Activity
Date
Intent to Submit (new facilities only)
07 June 2017
Feedback of internal sift decision (new facilities only)
21 June 2017
Call Information Day
05 July 2017
Submission deadline
30 August 2017
Authors Response to reviews (10 working days)
Early November 2017
Prioritisation panel
December 2017
Contacts:
For any questions regarding the general process, please contact:
[email protected]
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Call for Mid-range Facility Statements of
Community Need
Call type: Invitation for proposals
Intent To Submit deadline for new facilities: 07 June 2017 at 16:00
Closing date: 30 August 2017 at 16:00
Summary
This is the third call for Statements of Community Need for new and existing
Mid-range Facilities that will support excellent engineering and physical sciences
research.
Statements of Community Need should be led by an individual but co created by
a research community. Research communities are asked to submit one
Statement of Community Need only for any proposed facility.
All Statements of Community Need, for both new and existing facilities, will be
tensioned against each other and the current EPSRC Mid-range Facilities
portfolio. At the end of this process, the Statements of Community Need will be
prioritised and EPSRC will decide which facilities will be supported, for example,
through an independent Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) tender
process.
Communities who wish to apply for a new Mid-range Facility should work with
the appropriate EPSRC theme/s from an early stage. Any new facilities must
register their intent to submit using the electronic “Intent to submit” form
provided in this call document. The form must be submitted to EPSRC by 16:00
on 07 June 2017.
Full Statements of Community Need for new facilities will not be accepted where
EPSRC has not received and approved the “Intent to submit”. The appropriate
EPSRC theme may contact applicants at this stage, and work with them to avoid
duplications and ensure that the proposed facility would optimally support
excellent quality research in engineering and physical sciences, as well as fit the
overall strategy of EPSRC and the respective theme.
Current Mid-range Facilities with contracts coming to an end in 2017 and
2018 must submit a Statement of Community Need in order to be
considered for renewal, but do not need to register their intent to submit. All
Statements of Community Need will be tensioned according to the same
assessment criteria.
Background
In 2014, EPSRC developed a new strategy for Mid-range Facilities:
http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/research/ourportfolio/themes/researchinfrastructure/sub
themes/access/midrange/
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Mid-range Facilities provide a service to the engineering and physical sciences
research community on a scale where there is limited availability in the UK for
reasons such as:
•
The relative cost of the equipment;
•
Efficiencies of scale;
•
The expertise needed to operate the equipment and interpret results;
•
It makes sense to share information or software.
The current EPSRC Mid-range Facilities portfolio can be found here:
http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/research/facilities/access/currentmidrangefacilities/
EPSRC is offering research communities regular opportunities to submit
Statements of Community Need for Mid-range Facilities. Submissions are
restricted to one statement per given type of facility per call.
In addition to a description of the proposed services that the facility would offer
the community, Statements of Community Need must be able to put forward
convincing evidence that there has been strong engagement and community
support during the development of the submission. It must be clear how the
proposed facility complements and adds value to the existing and future research
landscape. The Statement should also describe how it aligns with EPSRC’s
strategic priorities as well as broader policy initiatives:
http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/about/plans/strategicplan/
It is also crucial that the Statement of Community Need addresses the question
of why the Mid-range Facility model is the most appropriate, as opposed to other
approaches. We encourage applicants to think about this question particularly
with respect to the Strategic Equipment process:
http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/research/ourportfolio/themes/researchinfrastructure/sub
themes/access/midrange/mrfvsse/
The balance of facilities funding as part of the entire EPSRC portfolio is an
important consideration within the assessment of the Statements of Community
Need. For more information about EPSRC’s portfolio and strategies, see our
website: http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/research/ourportfolio/
Funding available
No direct funding is available through this call. Where a clear need for a
facility has been identified, the responsible EPSRC theme will develop a plan to
support this type of facility, for example by initiating an open tendering process
under OJEU rules: http://www.ojec.com/Directives.aspx. There is no guarantee
that funding for the facility would be awarded to the lead author(s) of the
Statement of Community Need.
In the Statement of Need we ask for a rough estimate of the likely cost of the
facility. Requirements should be prioritised in terms of “must have” and
“desirable” and split into capital and recurrent costs.
In cases where there are existing UK capabilities or equipment that the proposed
Mid-range Facility could utilise, the Statement of Community Need should
describe both:
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•
The costs of supporting the facility if the existing capabilities or equipment
did not exist.
•
The costs of the facility if it were to use existing capabilities and
equipment.
Funding for facilities, for which a need has been identified, can be deferred if the
budget is not available at this point in time or further consultation is required to
ensure maximum benefit for the UK engineering and physical sciences research
community.
Equipment
Equipment (including upgrades or renewals of existing equipment) above the
current OJEU threshold can be suggested in the Statement of Community Need
where appropriate. An estimate of the costs should be included.
Eligibility
EPSRC asks research communities to submit only one Statement of Community
Need for a particular facility. The majority of use for the proposed facility
should be within the EPSRC domain.
Repeat applicants: Statements of Need for Mid-range Facilities are not
considered as part of EPSRC’s policy towards repeatedly unsuccessful candidates
(see http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/howtoapply/basics/resubpol/). However,
EPSRC reserves the right to reject resubmissions without substantial changes.
For information on the research communities eligible for EPSRC support, please
refer to http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/research/ourportfolio/
How to apply
Intent to submit
Applicants for new facilities must register their Intent to submit via the electronic
“Intent to Submit” form, using the following link:
https://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/calls /midrangestatementsofneed2017/
The form must be completed by 16:00 on 07 June 2017. The Intent to Submit
should contain the following information:
•
Suggested title for the facility.
•
Name, institution and e-mail address of the Principle Author of the
Statement of Community Need (the person who is coordinating and
leading in the submission). The Principle Author does not have to be the
Director of a current facility, but must be eligible for EPSRC funding.
•
A one paragraph summary explaining the type of facility proposed, how
the proposal fits into the current facilities landscape in this area and the
reason for supporting it as a centrally funded Mid-range Facility as
opposed to any other mechanism of funding (e.g. strategic equipment or a
standard research grant):
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http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/research/ourportfolio/themes/researchinfrastructu
re/subthemes/access/midrange/mrfvsse/
o
(1,500 characters incl. spaces).
•
The EPSRC themes that are most relevant to this facility:
http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/research/ourportfolio/themes/
Please list only the most relevant ones.
•
A short statement on how the proposed facility will deliver benefit
primarily to research communities within EPSRC’s remit (1,000 characters
incl. spaces).
•
A short statement on how the proposed facility will help to deliver against
EPSRC strategic priorities (1,000 characters incl. spaces).
•
Evidence of community support for a facility of this nature (1,000
characters incl. spaces).
Statements of Community Need from new facilities will not be accepted
without a prior submission of an Intent to submit. EPSRC will confirm with
the Principle Authors that a full Statement of Need submission will be accepted
within two weeks of the intent to submit deadline.
Information Day
A mandatory information day will be held on 05 July 2017 for authors of the
Statements of Community Need that have successfully passed the Intent to
Submit stage. Where the Principle Author is unable to participate, a substitute
may be nominated. The information day will include information on the existing
Mid-range Facilities portfolio, the call and the submission process. Further details
of the information day will be sent to Principle Authors after the Intent to submit
stage.
Statements of Community Need
All Statements of Community Need must use the electronic “Statement of
Community Need” template provided as a webform, using the following link:
https://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/calls
/midrangestatementsofneed2017/statement/
The form must be submitted by 16:00 on 30 August 2017.
Applicants should carefully read the guidance provided in this call document and
address all assessment criteria. EPSRC will not accept more than one Statement
of Need per type of facility. EPSRC will not accept a Statement of Need for a
facility where an existing Mid-range facility is already providing services to the
community, unless the contract for the existing facility is about to expire in 2017
or 2018:
http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/research/facilities/access/currentmidrangefacilities/
Guidance on writing the full Statement of Community Need
The questions you will be asked when filling in the “Statement of Community
Need” template are as follows:
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1. Description of the Facility: A description of the type of facility service
proposed and its primary function, including an indication of what the
facility should provide to be of maximum benefit to the research
community (what technologies and capabilities should be available, what
services should it provide, what type and number of staff would it need).
(6,000 characters incl. spaces)
2. Users: A description of the UK communities that will benefit from the
usage of this facility, including the number and type of users (both
academic and industrial). Specific information should be provided on key
research groups and their underpinning funding portfolio. Projected
growth of the user base over the next 5 years should be indicated. (6,000
characters incl. spaces)
3. Context: A clear explanation of the existing UK and international
landscape, in terms of the available facilities and equipment, and how
the proposed facility will add value to this landscape. The Statement of
Community Need should look to address the following questions:
What facilities or equipment of this type already exist (this could
include sector or industry based capabilities):
•
a) At the local level (e.g. University),
b) At the national or regional level,
c) At the international level?
• How accessible are these existing facilities / equipment to UK
academics?
• How will the proposed facility compliment or enhance local, regional
and/or national research capability?
• If EPSRC was unable to support this facility, what would the research
community do (for example, in terms of seeking access to non-UK
facilities)?
Reference should be made to any relevant roadmaps, for example the
EPSRC equipment roadmaps:
https://www.epsrc.ac.uk/research/ourportfolio/themes/researchinfrastruct
ure/strategy/equipmentroadmaps/. (4,500 characters incl. spaces)
4. National Importance and Strategic Case: An indication of which EPSRC
strategic priorities would be met and delivered through the research
enabled by the proposed facility including:
•
A community perspective of the additional research that would be
enabled by the proposed facility and the value added to existing
research programmes and research priorities.
•
An explanation of why this facility is now needed or will be needed
in the future.
If the facility would enable cross-disciplinary research, please state under
which other council’s remit this would fall.
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The strategic case should also provide information and evidence on the
level of community engagement and support that has led to the Statement
of Community Need. (9,000 characters incl. spaces)
5. Resources: All resource requirements should be clearly justified and
prioritised in terms of “must have” and “desirable”. Indicative costs should
be split into capital requirements and yearly recurrent costs.
In cases where there are existing UK capabilities or equipment that the
proposed facility could utilise, the Statement of Need should describe
both:
•
The costs of supporting the facility if the existing capabilities or
equipment did not exist.
•
The costs of the facility if it were to use existing capabilities and
equipment.
Where appropriate, please indicate the need for remote access and any
other specific access requirements in order for the research community to
get optimal benefits from the facility. (4,500 characters incl. spaces)
6. Impact: A description of the potential impact the proposed facility would
have on the research community, across the range of types of impact
(scientific/academic, people, economic, skills and training, socioeconomic etc.), and a clearly thought through pathway for expanding the
user base and accelerating the identified impacts. For further guidance,
please refer to:
http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/howtoapply/preparing/impactguidance/
(4,500 characters incl. spaces)
7. Justification: An explanation of why the Mid-range Facility model is the
most appropriate, as opposed to other approaches (such as local
provision / strategic equipment, etc.). Reasons to be considered may
include the need for specialised expertise in the technique, a new
technique that is still at the early stages, unique capabilities (rather than
just extra capacity), efficiencies of scale, fostering new communities or
any other well founded and clearly explained justifications for a Midrange Facility. (4,500 characters incl. spaces)
8. Sustainability: A description of how the facility would ensure its future
sustainability, especially taking into account the following aspects:
o
Financial sustainability: What is the long-term financial vision of a
facility of this type? What costs can realistically be recouped through
charging? Can any other potential sources for financial support be
identified?
o
Sustaining leadership: How will the facility assume a leadership
role in sustaining excellent quality research in this field in the UK?
(4,500 characters incl. spaces)
9. Access and Charging: Please describe and justify your preferred access
model. The following principles should be kept in mind:
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•
Mid-range Facilities must not undercut local provision by cheaper
delivery.
•
The access model must ensure a high level of quality assurance for the
supported projects.
•
The access model should be appropriate for a certain type of user; i.e.
student and pump-priming access could be treated differently to large
scale access for experienced users or access for private sector clients.
(4,500 characters incl. spaces)
10.Authors and Community Engagement: A list of who was directly
involved in writing the Statement of Community Need (name, institution /
company and research interests). (4,500 characters incl. spaces)
We suggest that you prepare your answers in a separate document and ensure
the character count does not exceed the limit for each section, before copying
them into the web-form.
Assessment
Assessment process
Intent to Submit
Intents to submit will be checked by EPSRC and where necessary further
guidance will be given to the applicants to ensure the proposed Mid-range Facility
is appropriately placed within the research equipment and facilities landscape.
EPSRC reserves the right not to invite a full Statement of Community Need based
on the Intent to submit if the proposed facility is outside EPSRC’s remit, does not
fit the EPSRC definition for a Mid-range Facility or is a resubmission of a previous
Statement of Need that has not been substantially changed (see background).
EPSRC will confirm with the Principle Authors that a full Statement of Community
Need submission will be accepted within two weeks of the Intent to submit
deadline.
Statements of Community Need
Submitted Statements of Community Need will be sent out to external peer
reviewers for their comments on the assessment criteria relating to quality,
usage, national importance, strategic case and context and impact. Where
sufficiently supportive reviewers’ comments have been received, these will be
sent to the Principle Authors who will have the opportunity to submit a response
within ten working days. Responses must not exceed two A4 pages (minimum
font size 11).
A prioritisation panel covering a wide range of expertise, across the EPSRC remit
will meet in December 2017 to assess the Statements of Need for both new and
existing facilities according to the assessment criteria published below. The panel
will take the reviewers’ comments and the response into account, but will also
take a strategic view across the whole EPSRC portfolio in order to judge the
merit of each case. The panel will produce a prioritised list of Statements of
Community Need.
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Following the panel, EPSRC will decide which facilities will be taken forward for
support.
Assessment criteria
Reviewers
The reviewers, who will be experts in fields relevant to the proposed facility’s
user base, will be asked to assess the Statements of Community Need according
to the following criteria:
•
Quality: How would a facility of this type enable and support a range of
excellent science?
•
Usage: What evidence does the Statement of Need provide for a strong
demand for the proposed facility? What range of users would the proposed
facility serve? Is a strong user base emerging? How have the specific
access requirements of the main user communities been taken into
account?
•
National Importance, Strategic Case and Context: Taking into
account the existing landscape of Mid-range Facilities and other existing
capability provision in this area, would support of this proposal be justified
in terms of alignment of the Mid-range Facilities portfolio to EPSRC
priorities? Has sufficient evidence been provided that a Mid-range facility
will provide added benefit to the existing landscape and how does this
deliver against EPSRC strategic priorities? Has there been strong
engagement from the research community during the development of the
Statement of Community Need?
•
Impact: How would a facility of this kind have benefits beyond the core
science community? Would it for example support training of skilled
people, aid collaborations with industry and the third sector, or enable
potentially transformative research with impact on the society and/or the
economy? What are the plans to accelerate the identified impacts?
Panel
The panel, which will have a broad range of expertise and a strategic overview of
the EPSRC facility landscape through their involvement in the evaluation of the
Mid-range Facility annual reports, will prioritise the proposals based on the
following criteria:
•
Quality and Usage: Based on the reviewers’ comments and the
response, is it clear that a facility of this type would enable and support a
range of excellent science? Does the Statement of Need provide evidence
of a strong demand for the proposed facility? Would the proposed facility
serve a wide range of users or is a strong user base emerging?
•
Impact: Based on the reviewers’ comments and the response, have the
relevant potential impacts been identified? Is the pathway to accelerating
these impacts realistic and clearly described?
•
National Importance and Strategic Case and Context: Taking into
account the existing landscape of Mid-range Facilities and other existing
capability provision in this area, would support of this proposal be justified
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in terms of alignment of the Mid-range Facilities portfolio to EPSRC
priorities? Has sufficient evidence been provided that a Mid-range facility
will provide added benefit to the existing landscape and how does this
deliver against EPSRC strategic priorities? Has there been strong
engagement from the research community during the development of the
Statement of Community Need?
•
Justification for a Mid-range Facility: Is it clear that running this
service as a Mid-range Facility offers maximal benefits to the user
community and EPSRC? For instance, does the Statement of Need show
the need for specialised expertise in the technique, a new technique that is
still at the early stages, unique capabilities (rather than just extra
capacity), efficiencies of scale, fostering new communities? Why do other
funding routes (Strategic Equipment, University support etc.) not offer the
best support of the scientific community and value for money? Can
support for a Mid-range Facility be justified in view of the overall EPSRC
portfolio? Do the proposed resources represent good value for money?
•
Sustainability: Have the applicants considered how they would ensure
the future sustainability of such a facility? In terms of financial
sustainability, has a credible vision for the future been identified? Have the
applicants identified ways in which support for a facility of this type would
contribute to the sustainability of excellent quality research in this field?
•
Charging and Access: Is the proposed access and charging model
sensible for this type of facility? Have the following principles been
adhered to:
o
Mid-range facilities must not undercut local provision by cheaper
delivery.
o
The access model must ensure a high level of quality assurance for
the supported projects.
o
The access model should be appropriate for a certain type of user.
Moving forward
After the prioritisation panel, the final decision on how to take the advice from
the panel forward lies in the remit of the respective EPSRC themes. Feedback will
be sent to all full Statement of Community Need Principle Authors and
information from the prioritised Statements of Community Need will be published
on the EPSRC website. EPSRC themes will work with the individual research
communities on the appropriate downstream process for prioritised facilities that
EPSRC decides to support.
In some cases an OJEU tender process will be used to procure the required
facility services. Please be aware that this process takes a minimum of 6-8
months to complete. EPSRC may prioritise re-tendering existing prioritised
facilities that are close to the end of their current contract in order to ensure
continuity of service. All tenders will be published in the OJEU journal and
advertised on: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/
Funding for facilities for which a need has been identified can be deferred if the
budget is not available at this point in time or further consultation is needed.
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Future prioritisation panels will be given information about existing facilities and
those currently going through a tendering exercise.
Key dates
Activity
Date
Intent to Submit (new facilities only)
07 June 2017
Feedback of internal sift decision (new
facilities only)
21 June 2017
Call Information Day
05 July 2017
Submission deadline
30 August 2017
Author’s response to reviews (10 working
days)
Early November
2017
Prioritisation panel
December 2017
Contacts
For any questions regarding the general process, please contact:
[email protected]
For theme specific questions, please contact the respective EPSRC theme:
•
Physical Sciences: Christina Turner, e-mail:
[email protected] or telephone: 01793 44 4541.
•
Engineering: Carol McAnally, e-mail: [email protected] or
telephone: 01793 44 4242
•
ICT: Matthew Scott, e-mail: [email protected] or telephone:
01793 44 4551
Existing facilities should use their established EPSRC contacts for any facility
specific questions.
Change log
Name
Date
Version
Louise Tillman
19/04/2017 1
Change
Final version for publication
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