Research Funding & Development
Research Funding and Development
Identifying Funding Sources and Customers
Purpose:
- Ensure relevant individuals receive timely and accurate information on funding opportunities that have a close fit with individuals’ and institutional research strengths and mission
- Gather ‘intelligence’ on trends and changes in research and knowledge exchange funding to inform the institutional decision-making and strategy.
- Build and maintain good working relationships with national and regional funders to ensure effective communication and flow of information
Activity:
- Understand institutional, group, and individual researcher’s priority research and knowledge exchange areas
- Clarifying researchers’ objectives for seeking funding
- Disseminate information to researchers on funding opportunities, sector trends, and strategic panel membership opportunities
- Perform funding searches for researchers and help them understand requirements
- Help researchers set up funding profiles and queries in web-based systems
- Develop and maintain good relations with funders (source and verify information)
- Organise information events (including funder visits)
- Identify external funding trends and feed back to the institution (keep abreast of technological developments, AI in particular, and consider how they could be incorporated to improve the institution’s search capacity)
- Build good working relationships with researchers on external funding/strategic panels to facilitate sharing of good practice
- Identify and critically assess high quality social media channels/commentators who provide research funding development updates.
Core Skills
- Information Search – identify funding opportunities
- Training and Development – including event management
- Networking – identify and share good practice
- Analytical – understand and collate funding policy and opportunities and match research ideas to funding opportunities
Underpinning Knowledge
- Individuals’ and institution’s priority research areas / areas of strength
- Funding opportunities in the UK and overseas
- Funders’ guidelines
- Knowledge of the funding policy context and legislative processes
- Awareness of potential cross-disciplinary opportunities
Examples of behaviour:
- Listen, question and clarify in order to understand customers’ varying needs
- Ensure communications are accessible and tailored to customer needs
- Keep up to date with sector developments (blogs, newsletters, discussion boards)
- Liaise with funding bodies to understand and verify information related to a funding call
- Make use of information and resources gained through personal networks
Purpose:
- Understand the institution’s areas of research excellence and strategic priorities
- Build an understanding of potential cross-disciplinary or pan-institutional collaborations could be forged to benefit the institution
- Gather ‘intelligence’ to ensure the institution is agile in identifying and responding to funding opportunities
- Create and maintain rich information on funding sources, objectives, and policies
Activity:
- Oversee institutional relationships with suppliers of funding alerts
- Identify the institution’s target research and knowledge exchange areas
- Map institutional research priorities, strengths and opportunities for improvement
- Identify and nourish potential cross-disciplinary / cross-institutional work and collaboration with industry
- Maintain good relationships with relevant funders and partners
- Advise on institutional funding subscriptions
- Build systems to store and handle information and collect relevant data on past applications
- Identify administrative challenges in relation to potential funding opportunities
- Create mechanisms for communicating funding information (including different types of funding based on an individual’s career stage)
Core Skills
- Analytical – collect and interpret complex information and act quickly to respond effectively to funding calls
- IT – contribute to and analyse management information
- Networking – identify good practice and opportunities for cross-disciplinary/ cross-institution working
Underpinning Knowledge
- Institution’s priority research areas (and strengths)
- Funding landscape and preferred partners
- IT systems/management information system
- Key institutional stakeholders
Examples of behaviour:
- Work across conventional academic boundaries to develop relationships
- Develop cross-service collaboration and being willing to share resources
- Aggregate, utilise and interpret management information effectively
- Identify and pursue opportunities to work in partnership with external organisations to generate and develop ideas
- Suggest and experiment with new approaches
Purpose:
- Develop strategies to maximise institutional success in securing research and knowledge exchange funding
Activity:
- Identify areas of research strength/weakness and lead decision-making on research and knowledge exchange priorities (maintaining an internationally balanced portfolio)
- Prioritise key funding opportunities and ensure an institutional-wide focus on strategic priority areas
- Analyse training needs in relation to funding strategy and approach
- Develop strategies to promote research excellence in target areas and better enable cross-disciplinary working in such areas
- Build and maintain relationships with funders and partners
- Promote institutional research and knowledge exchange activities to funders
- Act as an ambassador for the institution and wider profession – support industry-academia relations, aimed at attracting private sector research funding
- Monitor and adapt strategies to maximise research-related income
- Oversee and report on technological advances to support funding activities and systems
- Help the institution/researchers to respond to consultation exercises on future funding models
- Ensure processes comply with latest regulations in relation to funders requirements for environmental suitability as well as due diligence and research security
Core Skills
- Analytical – interpret complex information
- Networking – building, maintaining and utilising professional contacts
- Decision Making – research and knowledge exchange priorities
- Marketing/PR – promoting the institution to prospective funders and customers
- Strategic Thinking – creating a sustainable and balanced funding portfolio
Underpinning Knowledge
- Institutional research priorities and strengths
- Mission, organisation, and operation of funders (UK and international )
- Key contacts in priority funding bodies and across the sector
- Potential conflicts between funder and the institution
- Institution’s financial model
Examples of behaviour:
- Break down ‘silo’ thinking and encourage an organisation-wide perspective
- Uphold considered decisions even if they prove unpopular
- Propose and negotiate mutually beneficial solutions
- Use other people’s perspectives to help reach agreement (promote inclusion and diversity in discussion and decision making)
- Develop and maintain personal networks of contacts
Preparing Proposals
Purpose:
- Gather relevant information and resources required for the proposal’s submission (e.g., submission dates, guidance notes)
- Assist with the production of a targeted, concise proposal that satisfies funder/partner requirements and is delivered to deadline
Activity:
- Assess the level of RMA input required in relation to researcher’s funding experience
- Review the funders’ guidance note to assess eligibility/ ‘fit’ with customer needs and help the research team understand the scheme
- Deliver training on how to prepare funding proposals
- Identify opportunities for cross-disciplinary working/support (uphold strong relations with peers at partner institutions and maintain beyond proposal)
- Bring potential applicants together for discussion (constructively advise the Project Lead on the demographic make-up of the research team and promote climate friendly meetings – e.g., online meetings rather than national/international travel)
- Draft a timetable for submission including responsibility for completion milestones
- Contributing to enhancing the proposal (e.g. fit to call, meeting aspects of best practice e.g. in EDI implementation or engagement activities, improvements, clarifications, climate/environmental implications, proof reading – as necessary and required)
- Collate supporting documentation (including research team biographies and, where necessary, support and advise on R4RI collation)
- Ensure researchers have considered research and development approval, ethical review, health & safety and insurance where appropriate
- Offer research teams guidance on using AI to expedite the grant writing process and improve quality
Core Skills
- Interpersonal – understand project brief, build rapport with researchers and peers at other institutions
- Analytical – assess funding eligibility, reviewing drafts, budget
- Project Management – multi-partner work, set milestones/phases, ensure review time
- Influencing – negotiation on FTE/workload distribution amongst partners
- IT – contacts database; familiarity with funders electronic grant submission portals
Underpinning Knowledge
- Unique funding requirements of each funder
- Overview of how researcher interests might fit together
- Understanding of the research process
- Customer Relations Management databases
- Funding bodies’ strategic research priorities
Examples of behaviour:
- Keep track of a number of proposals that are running simultaneously
- Embed a user-friendly data sharing method, ensuring all contributors have relevant permissions and can access the chosen sharing application (e.g, Google, Slack, Microsoft) regardless of institutional subscriptions
- Tailor communications to meet individual stakeholder needs (factoring in different institutional membership)
- Set appropriate boundaries in what you can assist with and manage expectations (equally, be mindful of colleagues’ protected characteristics and other commitments)
- Give constructive feedback of the proposal
Purpose:
- Establish and uphold effective processes and practices to facilitate high-quality and timely proposal preparation
- Implement strategies and initiatives to maximise the institution’s chances of success
- Ensure proposals satisfy institutional, funder and national commitments to the environment (natural, EDI, working conditions)
Activity:
- Maintain ‘up to date’ knowledge of the institution’s match to funders and partners
- Develop a bid preparation process and ensure it is used (including templates / exemplar text to encourage consistency in approach, e.g. justification of resources)
- Develop a repository of reference material concerning funding applications, including lessons learnt, and promote the repository to colleagues
- Establish a shared set of records and summary status information to enable applications to be accessed if staff are absent
- Use management information to monitor success rates with various funders and comparator institutions. Ensure staff and colleagues have access to relevant applications in progress
- Ensure staff are aware of each other’s commitments, for workload purposes
- Propose approach/direction for institutional bids and identify most appropriate colleagues to contribute to such bids
- Co-ordinate contribution of internal researchers / external partners
- Devise training, mentoring, and talent pipeline interventions to help maximise successful research proposals
- Create a risk assessment and management framework
Core Skills
- Training and development – facilitation, coaching and mentoring, course design etc.
- Communication – report writing, conveying information clearly, presentation
- Interpersonal – liaison with key staff, understanding the needs of others
- Analysis – identify best risk/reward opportunities for the institution
- Creativity – develop a bid preparation process
Underpinning Knowledge
- Course design principles
- What makes a good application (content, team, partners for example)
- Talent management strategies
Examples of behaviour:
- Share good practice across the organisation (including coaching and mentoring)
- Ensure staff can easily build on knowledge, skills and experience
- Recognise and respect the roles, responsibilities, interests and concerns of colleagues and stakeholders.
- Support succession planning by identifying and developing colleagues with high potential
- Working across boundaries to develop relationships with other teams
Purpose:
- Monitor institutional success rate for funding proposals
- Develop strategies and initiatives that maximise the institution’s chances of success (targeting areas of strength, identifying and nurturing talent, sharing good practice)
Activity:
- Support large, complex bids (including selection of the bid to be put forward in the case of institutional restrictions)
- Develop strategies to improve success rates
- Drive institutional strategy for cross-disciplinary working
- Identify rising stars in target (or prospective) areas and provide training and development
- Develop a Framework of preferred collaborators, partners and funders
- Agree memoranda of understanding with preferred collaborators
- Ensure colleagues are aware of preferred collaborators
- Identify new opportunities and take to senior management for review
- Develop an institutional strategy on minimising the environmental impact of research and ensure it is widely adhered to
- Ensure the institution is prepared for short-notice or rapid response funding calls
Core Skills
- Analytical – monitoring success rates, develop effective strategies
- Negotiation – Framework agreements and ’memoranda of understanding’
- Communication- present ideas to the senior management team and ensure other key stakeholders are aware of strategic approach
- Interpersonal- building relationships both internally and externally
Underpinning Knowledge
- Research environment (current and future)
- Management Information systems
- Key stakeholders, internally and externally
Examples of behaviour:
- Horizon scanning the wider environment to seek opportunities to develop the organisation
- Identify and pursue opportunities to work in partnership with external organisations to generate and develop ideas
- Identify opportunities and take decisive action to ensure institutional success
- Break down ‘silo’ thinking and encourage an organisation-wide perspective
- Promote a culture of inclusivity, diversity and extensive co-creation with a wide-range of stakeholders in the proposal preparation process
Costing, Pricing and Submitting Funding Proposals
Purpose:
- Produce realistic pricing for the proposal within the funder’s guidelines, which is cognisant of the true cost of the proposed research and accounts for institutional risk and finance policy
- Submit accurate, well-written proposals that meet funder requirements and deadlines
Activity:
- Provide clarity on funder guidelines, and financial nuances/implications, to the research team
- Meet with lead researcher to discuss initial resourcing requirements and request resource / costing information from lead researcher and partner institutions
- Confirm costings provided by the institutional costing tool and seek feedback from the lead researcher (converting currencies as appropriate)
- Review and approve costs, escalating where relevant. Ensure costs adhere to the funder guidelines (FEC, overheads, upper/lower limits etc.)
- Obtain best ‘cost recovery’ scenario
- In a timely and sequential order, arrange negotiations with Heads and institution leads regarding ’sign off’ / internal budget splits
- Proof read for funder/institutional requirements and overall quality
- Inform lead researcher of the outcome of internal peer review, gaining final approval at the necessary point, and arrange relevant follow-up meeting
- Advise staff on registration for and use of electronic submission systems
- Log applications on central database and file until outcome is known
Core Skills
- Analytical – interpret and query funder guidance
- Interpersonal – identify relevant information, provide constructive feedback
- IT – use costing tool and electronic submission
- Negotiation – where research aims/budget do not align and aid negotiations on budget split between partners
- Numeracy – apply costing model accurately
Underpinning Knowledge
- Internal finance systems
- Funders’ guidelines
- Institutional policies – salaries, costing principles, subsistence, travel, FEC, approval process, risk, ethics, data protection
- Key institutional contacts for ‘referring on’
- Funder application forms/formats/techniques
Examples of behaviour:
- Ensure the proposal is costed accurately and in the institutional interest. Plan for discussions (internal/external) and review stages, and ensure all deadlines are met
- Simultaneously lead numerous budget discussions, with different funders
- Influence outcomes when bidding or negotiating for resources
- Consider cost benefit analysis implications of decisions
- Provide constructive feedback to research team and, where necessary, funders
Purpose:
- Co-ordinate staff and activities to ensure optimal allocation to produce high-quality proposals, to schedule
- Maintain an overview of and act on the financial implications from individual proposals and the wider research portfolio
- Implement relevant policies and systems and ensure staff are equipped to use them
Activity:
- Schedule and prioritise staff workload to meet deadlines and ensure capacity for upcoming proposals
- Build strong relations between central/local support services
- Ensure the strongest applications go to the most suitable funder
- Confirm that requested resources can be allocated – match funding, facilities, workstations
- Monitor costing and reporting to ensure financial sustainability
- Implement proposal optimization policies and systems (e.g. internal peer review, costing, risk assessment) and ensure staff compliance
- Project manage the development and implementation of new systems
- Devise training and development on costing, pricing and submission systems
- Build quality assurance processes to ensure that ’lessons learnt’ are acted upon
- Encourage a culture of financially planning for carbon offsetting
Core Skills
- Interpersonal – build relationships and acting as intermediary between operational and research staff as necessary
- Numeracy – monitor costs and financial stability
- Analytical – reviewing policies/systems
- Communication – communicating policies and processes and ensuring adherence
Underpinning Knowledge
- Internal finance systems
- Costing principles
- Funder guidelines
- Peer review
- Institutional policies e.g buying out, researcher time
Examples of behaviour:
- Distinguish between important and urgent tasks and prioritise effectively
- Evaluate the success of projects and disseminate lessons learnt
- Be mindful of academic colleagues’ workload allocation and ensure their time allocation does not exceed 100% of their FTE
- Propose and negotiate win-win solutions in budget allocation
- Work across boundaries to develop relations with other teams, internally and externally
Purpose:
- Monitor existing policies and systems and develop new ones to ensure that the costing, pricing and submission of proposals is highly effective and efficient
- Co-ordinate and mobilise institutional staff to respond to large, prestigious funding calls where there is a reasonable likelihood of success
Activity:
- Act as institutional lead for large funding calls
- Ensure that appropriate resources are allocated so that research support services can meet workload – systems, IT, staffing
- Establish costing and pricing frameworks and policies
- Develop financial incentives/research income allocation models
- Develop and implementing new processes to reflect external/internal changes
- Promote good practice and ensure it is adopted in the institution
- Share good practice with colleagues within and beyond the institution
- Develop the business case for new systems/processes
Core Skills
- Strategic Thinking – develop financial incentives for research staff
- Change Management – develop new processes / approaches
- Numeracy – financial modelling
- Horizon Scanning – identify external changes early on
- Influencing – change institutional practices, implementing and communicating effectively
Underpinning Knowledge
- Financial modelling
- Risk management
- Sector trends
- Technological innovations, techniques and tools
Examples of behaviour:
- Influence outcomes when bidding or negotiating for resources
- Identify ways in which resources can be used more flexibly and imaginatively
- Identify opportunity and risk and take appropriate and decisive action
- Identify and pursue opportunities to partner with external organisations to generate and develop ideas
- Create a climate that encourages innovation and receptivity to change
Additional Resources
