Pushing the frontiers of environmental research

What the assessor looks for

• is of excellent quality and importance within or beyond the field(s) or area(s)
• has the potential to advance current understanding, or generate new knowledge, thinking or discovery within or beyond the field or area
• is timely given current trends, context, and needs
• impacts world-leading research, society, the economy, or the environment

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

What the assessor looks for

• is effective and appropriate to achieve your objectives
• is feasible, and comprehensively identifies any risks to delivery and how they will be managed
• uses a clearly written and transparent methodology (if applicable)
• summarises the previous work and describes how this will be built upon and progressed (if applicable)
• will maximise translation of outputs into outcomes and impacts
• describes how your, and if applicable your team’s, research environment (in terms of the place and relevance to the project) will contribute to the success of the work
• demonstrate access to the appropriate services, facilities, infrastructure, or equipment to deliver the proposed work
• provide a detailed and comprehensive project plan including milestones and timelines in the form of a GANTT chart

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

What the assessor looks for

• the relevant experience (appropriate to career stage) to deliver the proposed work
• the right balance of skills and expertise to cover the proposed work
• the appropriate leadership and management skills to deliver the work and your approach to develop others
• contributed to developing a positive research environment and wider community
• contributions to the generation of new ideas, tools, methodologies, or knowledge
• the development of others and maintenance of effective working relationships
• contributions to the wider research and innovation community
• contributions to broader research or innovation users and audiences and towards wider societal benefit

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

What the assessor looks for

• the relevant ethical and RRI considerations, including both the research or topic area itself and the design and delivery of the project
• the wider implications of the proposed work, and how you will maximise the positive societal, environmental, and economic benefits arising from the project, while minimising unintended negative impacts, such as research misuse or accidental harm
• how you will manage these considerations throughout the lifecycle of the project
• any legal and ethical considerations of collecting, releasing and storing the data (including consent, confidentiality, anonymisation, security and other ethical considerations and, in particular, strategies to not preclude further reuse of data)
• formal information standards that your proposed work will comply with
• human participants
• genetically modified organisms

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

What the assessor looks for

• project staff
• significant travel for field work or collaboration (but not regular travel between collaborating organisations or to conferences)
• any equipment costing more than £25,000
• any consumables beyond typical requirements, or that are required in exceptional quantities
• all facilities and infrastructure costs
• all resources costed as ‘Exceptions’
• confirm that the piece of equipment is not readily available for use within your host institution, or any other assessable location (for instance referring to any asset registers consulted – NERC’s equipment data website , for example)
• provide evidence that all other reasonable options have been considered
• if the equipment requested will replace existing equipment, then explain what will happen to the existing equipment (if relevant)
• set the contribution your research organisation will be making towards the cost of the equipment (if relevant)
• are comprehensive, appropriate, and justified
• represent the optimal use of resources to achieve the intended outcomes

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

What the assessor looks for

• which NERC data centre is required to archive the data
• whether the total volume of data is likely to be larger than 1TB
• any other detail on how you will comply with NERC data policy

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

What the assessor looks for

• name of facility, copied and pasted from the facility information list (DOCX, 43.1KB)
• proposed usage or costs, or costs per unit where indicated on the facility information list
• confirmation you have their agreement

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