UK Obesity Research Institute: full application

What the assessor looks for

• the distinctive research challenge, or challenges, you will address initially over seven years. This should include a clear challenge statement that articulates your challenge in no more than 50 to 100 words
• what will be different as a result of your work; how it will make a difference and lead to transformative impact in biomedical or health research and place the UK in an internationally leading position
• your strategy for influencing and advancing the field and delivering impact
• how your proposed remit for the UK Obesity Research Institute (UK-ORI) is positioned in relation to other research efforts in the field, nationally and internationally
• how the challenge is aligned with the MRC mission and cardiovascular interests of BHF strategy
• how the proposed work will contribute to UK government priorities
• the bold, distinctive, disruptive, and innovative approaches you will use to achieve your ambitions
• why these ambitions are best achieved through UK-ORI funding rather than other available funding mechanisms

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)
• what is original, innovative, bold or disruptive
• how your approach will address the challenges identified and deliver transformative research and outputs
• the structure of your research activity, which could be research themes or work packages, which will operate below the challenge level; who will deliver these
• where known, the general experimental approaches, study designs, and techniques that will be used, highlight approaches which are particularly original or unique
• describing all foreseeable studies with human participants or animal experiments in as much detail as possible at this stage
• how machine learning, AI, and data approaches (if applicable) will be integrated in your research challenge, describing the scope, methodology and operational role of these approaches
• explain and justify how you will approach diversity and inclusion in the study population and follow the MRC embedding diversity in research design policy (if applicable)
• show how you will use male and female animals or tissues and cells from female and male donors (if applicable). If you are not proposing to do this, justify why

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

What the assessor looks for

• define your key objectives for the UK-ORI over the initial seven years. These should reflect your most important activities and targets and may be drawn from any area of the proposed work
• provide detailed objectives for the first four years, in line with the detailed research plans for the first four years requested in the Approach section
• describe a clear and robust framework that you will use to monitor progress against your key objectives, including defining milestones for each key objective, and the expected outcomes and success measures
• explain what you will do if progress against your key objectives is not as planned

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

What the assessor looks for

• how the translation research approach will be developed in the UK-ORI or with partners
• how opportunities for translation will be identified and pursued
• plans for translational work on the research challenge
• plans for translation to clinical testing, uptake or product development
• approaches to and support arrangements for exploitation and commercialisation of results
• management of intellectual property, either through protection or through planned release into the public domain

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

What the assessor looks for

• identification and engagement with key stakeholders at the appropriate time
• your approach to collaborative working with stakeholders to enable porous cross sector working
• how knowledge exchange will be enabled in practice, such as the connections and methods you will use

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

What the assessor looks for

• general environmental impacts relevant to the UK-ORI and potential mitigations
• your environmental sustainability strategy and how this aligns with the host research organisations sustainability plan and policies
• how you will consider and promote environmental sustainability and appropriately reflect it in your research design and operations
• what sustainability standards you will adopt
• your targets, aligned with the greening government commitments 2021 to 2025
• the reporting systems you will use

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

What the assessor looks for

• population cohorts, longitudinal studies, genetic, omics and imaging data, biobanks, and other collections that are potentially a rich resource for the wider research community: maximum of 1,500 words
• all other research, less complex, the plan may be as short as 500 words

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

What the assessor looks for

• will be effectively and inclusively managed, including describing the experience of the director and their leadership team and how leadership will be drawn from participating organisations in addition to the director, has clear leadership team roles and responsibilities.
• has clear plans for communication across the UK-ORI to ensure the leadership team benefit from the breadth of thought and ideas available
• will approach decision-making and agility in response to new scientific developments, and the processes and criteria to take decisions on future research directions, including to discontinue activity if required and to manage conflicts and agreements
• has clear governance plans to successfully function as a research entity, and coordinate activities across multiple sites

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

What the assessor looks for

• committed leadership
• support for career development paths
• leadership training
• mentoring, supervision and pastoral care
• building and strengthening effective collaboration across multidisciplinary teams, wider stakeholders and public contributors, drawing on the whole talent pool
• establishing common understanding and effective communication plans for collaborations beyond the UK Obesity Research Institute (UK-ORI) and across sectors
• developing creative approaches to leadership
• the use of space and support staff to create opportunities for interaction and outreach
• sharing of facilities and specialist equipment
• relevant tools, such as electronic lab books and platforms to facilitate collaboration
• demonstrating best research practice
• adoption of open research practices as the default way of working

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

What the assessor looks for

• support training, careers and capacity building, in line with the overall strategy of the UK-ORI
• provide the innovative training and capacity building needed to deliver on the research challenges
• through training, enhance equality, diversity and inclusion of the UK-ORI’s people across career stages and job roles
• through training, support interdisciplinary research
• recognise the range of people, skills and career pathways required to deliver innovative training
• ensure an inclusive and progressive research training environment free from unnecessary barriers to entry and progression
• support all career stages, pathways and types
• add value by convening and aligning existing training activity across the UK
• share good practice in training and careers
• prepare trainees for the challenges and opportunities available to them after their time at the UK-ORI
• provide robust management and governance structures for training activities, including a named training lead

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

What the assessor looks for

• confirm that the UK Obesity Research Institute (UK-ORI) students will be managed as part of an existing MRC DTP
• include a statement of support from the relevant MRC DTP lead
• explain how the existing MRC DTP will accommodate these additional studentships and continue to deliver high quality training experience for all students

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, including details on the tools and methods that different individuals will contribute
• how the skills of the team will be effectively used and integrated
• 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, this may include your previous funding and key outputs such as publications
• 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, including public partnerships

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

What the assessor looks for

• how the strategies of the organisation(s) and the UK-ORI research challenge align (research, research culture, training, sustainability)
• evidence of sustained commitment to the UK-ORI, from the outset and for the duration of the initial 7-year funding period, including enabling access to the appropriate services, facilities, infrastructure, or equipment to deliver the proposed institute
• how the organisation(s) will help the UK-ORI meet funder expectations and tackle its research challenge, including through cooperation and the agile use of resources
• how you will manage the partnership between research organisations (as applicable), to support delivery of the UK-ORI’s activities across organisations
• how the UK-ORI will be governed within your organisation or the partnership
• how your host support will contribute to a collaborative and stimulating multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary research environment
• name and position of all contributors to the statement
• laboratory space
• access to facilities and equipment
• access to necessary digital support infrastructure
• support to manage estates
• human resources services

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

What the assessor looks for

• provide distinct and beneficial support to the UK-ORI
• provide specialist input that aligns with the UK-ORI team in addressing the research challenge and achieving objectives
• increases capability to deliver this UK-ORI
• add value in allowing research to be undertaken, or undertaken to a quality level or timescale not otherwise possible
• promote translational objectives
• contribute to a stimulating multi or interdisciplinary research environment In the response you should also:
• describe the timeline for collaborative research activities with project partners and collaborators named in the application
• describe how relationships with partners and collaborators and risks relating to partnerships will be managed
• explain your approach to developing new opportunities and establishing additional partnerships and collaborations arising during the life of the UK-ORI

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

What the assessor looks for

• collaboration agreements
• definitions of basic or applied research
• internationally based companies
• subsidy control
• intellectual property (IP) arrangements
• fully flexible and gated contributions
• the ICF assessment criteria
• Name the industry or company project partner considered under ICF.
• Indicate whether your application is basic research or applied research.
• Explain why, in the absence of the requested UKRI funding, the collaboration and the planned research could not be undertaken.
• State whether your application is under the category of fully flexible contribution or gated contribution (based on the IP sharing arrangements with the industry or company partner).
• Outline the pre-existing IP (‘background IP’) that each partner, including the academic partner, will bring to the collaborative research project and the terms under which partners may access these assets.

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

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

What the assessor looks for

• UK Obesity Research Institute (UK-ORI) staff
• any equipment that will cost more than £25,000, including routine equipment and mid-range or large equipment considered at outline stage
• significant travel for field work or collaboration (but not regular travel between collaborating organisations or to conferences)
• any consumables beyond typical requirements, or that are required in exceptional quantities
• resources for translational research and commercialisation
• activities to increase impact, for public partnerships and related activities, including public engagement and involvement and payments to public contributors , knowledge transfer and exchange or to support responsible innovation
• training, careers and capacity building, justifying why this cannot be addressed through existing funding routes
• resources developing or enhancing research culture
• initiatives to improve environmental sustainability
• all facilities and infrastructure costs
• animal costs, such as numbers that need to be bred or maintained and to maintain high welfare standards
• preserving, long term storage, or sharing of data, including open science

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

What the assessor looks for

• justify why the equipment is needed to address the research challenge
• justify why existing or shared equipment cannot be used or accessed through collaboration
• explain how the equipment will be managed and potentially shared
• provide details of any discounts, or other factors that make this good value for money

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