The UK-US Partnership Development Awards Programme aims to develop new relationships in the field of microbiome research, leading to long‐term research collaborations. Applications for the current round are open to academic and innovation experts in the UK and US. Ideal outcomes include joint publications; joint or complementary funding applications; student / researcher exchange programmes; sharing of equipment, materials and facilities; knowledge exchange of skills and techniques; institutional linkages; technology transfer; and industry sponsorship. Please do not be limited by these ideas – we strongly encourage the development of innovative models for collaboration. Initial outcomes should be delivered over the first 6 to 12 months following the visit and lead to the development of long-term relationships.
Partnership Development Awards funding is available to UK- and US-based researchers (group leader or PI level) or academic leaders (directors of institutes, deans of research, etc.) from universities and non-profit research institutions. We also invite applications from academic researchers for collaborations with companies. One of the two participants must be based in the US and the other must be based in the UK. Funding through this Partnership Development Awards Programme is to support a short, 1–2 week visit between institutions, with only the applicant travelling. This program does not fund research.
Applications will be evaluated on the following criteria:
- Quality of proposed outcomes and expected ability to deliver them
- Potential for significant, long-term collaboration
- Potential to broaden the collaboration to a wider, institutional level
- Use of creative / innovative collaboration models
- Innovative use of key research infrastructure and / or facilities.
Special consideration will be given to applicants who demonstrate why the proposed research would benefit particularly from an international collaboration and those who have connected to international counterparts through projects and other interactions with the S&I Network.
Applications are due by COP 15 October 2016. Please find the link to the application here. For any additional comments or questions, please reach out to patricia.gruver@fco.gov.uk.