伦敦大学学院 - 上海交通大学国际合作与交流处

UCL-SJTU Joint Call for Collaborative Projects and Exchange Activities

Guidelines for Applicants

The Office of the Vice-Provost (Research, Innovation, Global Engagement) at University College London (UCL) and Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) are contributing matching funds to support education and research initiatives through a joint call for proposals for the development of collaborative activities.

1. Projects

This call invites research proposals in areas of mutual interest and complementary strengths that will strengthen the partnership between UCL and SJTU.
Proposals must include participants from both institutions.
The initiative seeks to build on existing links and stimulate new ones between UCL and SJTU. Successful applicants will clearly outline in their proposal a specific project, workshop or joint research activity that they would like to explore with their SJTU counterpart.
Proposals from all fields are welcome but proposals relating to Sustainability, Climate Crisis and Global Health and Wellbeing will be encouraged.
Applications must demonstrate how the proposed activity will provide a platform for longer-term, larger-scale collaboration between UCL and TU in the relevant field, for example, by providing a basis for ongoing joint research and education activity and / or applications to external bodies for research grant funding.
Up to eight joint projects will be selected for funding to a maximum total value of £10,000 per project. Proposals will be assessed by a committee composed of members from both institutions. Previous recipients of UCL-TU Strategic Partner Funds may apply again. If the funds are for a related or follow-up activity, applicants should explain how the proposed project (which is the subject of the new application) builds on previous outcomes.

2. Eligibility for participants within the scope of this call

Applications are open to UCL staff members in the following roles:

Professor or equivalent
Associate Professor / Reader or equivalent
Senior Lecturer / Principal Researcher / Principal Research Associate or equivalent
Lecturer / Senior Research Associate or equivalent
Post Doc / Researcher / Research Associate or equivalent
Applicants from UCL must have an open-ended UCL contract or a fixed-term contract which lasts until at least July 2024.
Applicants are not required to have a doctorate to apply but do need to hold a role at one of the levels described above.
PhD students are not eligible to apply but are encouraged to take part in the project.
UCL Professional Service & VP Office staff are not eligible to apply but can take part in the project where this supports the aims and objectives.

3. Collaborative activities

Due to high rate of inflation and considered environmental impacts by international travels, it is encouraged to conduct meetings online as much as possible. Funding can support a broad range of activities as appropriate to the aims and objectives of the collaboration. This includes, but is not limited to:

Organising a joint seminar/workshop with international partners (remotely or in person) which would lead to joint publications, future research collaborations, grant applications, or other follow-up activity. Funding might be used for any external services required to facilitate the event, e.g. professional moderation or technical support.
Meetings, or preliminary scoping work and baseline research/data gathering, to underpin the preparation of a long-term collaborative partnership (e.g. preparation of a PhD summer school, double degree, future exchange agreement, etc)
Stipends for research assistant and interns. UCL student casual wage costs for working on the collaboration can be covered, as can travel, accommodation and subsistence essential to the activity, in line with UCL’s expense policy, sustainability agenda and coronavirus guidance. Please note that teaching buyouts are not eligible.
Limited expenses on relevant research materials and supplies.

What cannot be funded by the UCL-SJTU Strategic Partner Funds?

Activity which does not involve UCL and SJTU partners; work for which there is already a significant existing funding stream; activity that has already happened.
Costings should be appropriate and relevant to the activity, for example the provision of alcoholic beverages for partners is not considered a valuable use of funds, unless it can be described how hospitality is critical for the building of this relationship or necessary/culturally significant for an event e.g. a public exhibition.
Items which would normally be included in a research or teaching grant. This seed funding supports and develops UCL and SJTU collaboration and lacks the scale and resources to support the core components of a research or teaching project.
Please note, for UCL applicants, a Worktribe costing is NOT necessary for the UCL-SJTU Strategic Partner Fund.
Teaching time buyout cannot be funded.

4. Value and duration

Up to £10,000 is available per successful proposal. Funding will be provided jointly by UCL and SJTU, with approximately 5,000 GBP from UCL going to the UCL academic and 50,000 RMB from SJTU going to the SJTU academic. However, only one proposal should be submitted.

Please note that UCL and SJTU have different financial years and this will have an impact on the

funding schedule. Funds provided by UCL must be spent by 31 July 2024 (activities for which the funds are allocated must take place before 31 July 2024), whereas funds provided by SJTU can be spent for 1 year from the start date of Awards. Applicants should take this into account when planning their proposed activity.

5. Timeline

Call for proposals 17 July 2023

Deadline for submission of proposal 6 October 2023

Communication of Results to applicants November 2023

Start date of Awards November 2023

6. Submission of proposals

Proposals are to be prepared and submitted jointly. Each proposal must be submitted by the lead SJTU academic by midnight (CST), 4pm (GMT), 6 October 2023 .
The SJTU PI should upload the joint proposal through http://my.sjtu.edu.cn/ . (Please note that this hyperlink can only be accessed by PIs from SJTU using their jAccount.)

7. Ethical approval

Please check UCL’s guidelines regarding research ethics. Applicants are responsible for reading these guidelines and ensuring projects adhere to UCL’s ethical approval policy and process.

UCL’s ethical guidelines can be found here:

8. Adjudication

Proposals are received by SJTU and forwarded to UCL for separate review at each institution.
Selection Criteria: Both internal review committees will assess each proposal according to the following criteria:

Project design and rationale (how clearly presented and justified is the design

and basis for the collaboration?)

Project impact (how clearly linked are the outcomes to the planned activities

and performance indicators, such as joint papers, external funding applications,

joint research with industry and proposals for policy recommendations?)

Impact of collaboration (is there a distinct advantage provided by this

collaboration that is not possible by the two institutions working individually?)

Capacity for future collaboration (what is the extent to which future

collaborations are possible as a result of the proposed exchange activities? Applicants are encouraged to consider the long-term impact of this seed fund for further opportunities to apply for larger funding)