UKRI

Collaboration for a Sustainable Future: coordinating groups

The questions, word limits and assessment criteria below are the funder’s own, taken from the published competition material. You still submit through their service; this is where the writing happens first.

7 questions, straight from the funder

Their word limits are on every box, counted live as you type, and what the assessor is told to look for sits beside it. All of that is free. The pre-sift check — every mechanical rule that rejects a proposal before anyone reads it, run over what you have written — comes with the pass.

Application questions

Q1 Summary

0 / 550 words

In plain English, provide a summary. We usually make this summary publicly available on external-facing websites, therefore do not include any confidential or sensitive information. Make it suitable for a variety of readers, for example: opinion-formers policymakers the public the wider research community

Q2 Vision

0 / 500 words

What are you hoping to achieve with your proposed work?

What the assessor looks for

aligns to the Collaboration for a Sustainable Future programme’s ambition to identify opportunities for institutional collaboration within the research and innovation system in England
clearly define the group you are coordinating and who is included within that Group’s representation. It is expected that Group’s span multiple English higher education providers.
clearly define the perspective this Group will offer and why that is relevant and of value to the ambitions of the Collaboration for a Sustainable Future Programme and this opportunity.
clearly articulate why this Group will offer insights that are unique and require coordination as a Group

A filled dot only means your answer mentions that ground. It is not a judgement of how well.

Q3 Approach

0 / 750 words

How are you going to deliver your proposed work?

What the assessor looks for

which is effective and appropriate to achieve your vision
which is feasible, and comprehensively identifies any risks to delivery and how they will be managed
for effectively and efficiently coordinating this Group and, together identifying barriers and challenges and creating proposed solutions to collaboration for a sustainable cost-effective future
to ensure those proposed solutions articulate the input(s) needed and the outcome(s) and impact(s) that you expect to be realised from those input(s)
to draw on and reflect best practices from across geographies, sectors, industry, charities, international and wider communities as is applicable to that Group.
to ensure the barriers, challenges and proposed solutions are published in an accessible output(s) which can enable others in the research and innovation system to learn from your activity and take forward ideas
to produce and publish expected output(s) from this Group, noting that we expect this to be proportionate to the size, scale and shape of the Group and the funding being requested within this opportunity
considers and understands the impact of new approaches on the culture and environment of our higher education research and innovation system for example the impact on equity, inclusion, diversity, trust and collective responsibility

A filled dot only means your answer mentions that ground. It is not a judgement of how well.

Q4 Applicant and team capability to deliver

0 / 500 words

Why are you the team and organisation(s) to successfully deliver the proposed work?

What the assessor looks for

effectively and efficiently coordinating the Group, and together identifying barriers and challenges, and creating proposed solutions
being able to draw on and reflect best practices from across geographies, sectors, industry, charities, international and wider communities as is applicable to the Group.
producing and disseminating accessible output(s) which has enabled activity or action in a structure approach that is similar to this funding opportunity

A filled dot only means your answer mentions that ground. It is not a judgement of how well.

Q5 Resources and cost justification

0 / 500 words

What will you need to deliver your proposed work and how much will it cost? Please refer to the scope for detail on costs we will and will not support. The funding is not expected to enable the delivery of the created potential solutions. We will not fund applications that should be supported through other mechanisms for example formula funding or membership subscriptions. This includes the applicant’s organisation’s business as usual activities. As such, you should clearly articulate why your application could not be supported through other mechanisms.

What the assessor looks for

costings need to be detailed as ‘exception-other’ and Research England will fund 100% FEC
detail on what these costs are, and why they are required to deliver your project. We expect an appropriate level of detail regarding breakdown of staff and non-staff costs
are comprehensive, appropriate, and justified
represent the optimal use of resources to achieve the intended outcomes
maximise potential outcomes and impacts

A filled dot only means your answer mentions that ground. It is not a judgement of how well.

Q6 Place

Is the group you are representing local, regional or national with any place-based impacts?

Q7 Project partners: letters (or emails) of support

The contribution of a partner to the Group’s time and expertise will not require formal collaboration agreements. The inclusion of project partners evidence of support should be appropriate to the size, shape and track record of the applicant and proposed Group to be represented, and the scale of funding being requested by you as part of this funding opportunity. Upload a single PDF containing the letters or emails of support from each partner you named in the project partners section. These should be uploaded in English or Welsh only.

What the assessor looks for

confirm the partner’s commitment to the project
clearly explain the value, relevance, and possible benefits of the work to them
describe any additional value that they bring to the project
have a page limit of 0.5 sides A4 per partner

A filled dot only means your answer mentions that ground. It is not a judgement of how well.

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