Apply for a Scientific Research Grant

Before You Apply:

Most agricultural crop development projects supported by the Trust are likely to be collaborations between institutes in developing and developed countries. In such cases, the Trust expects some aspects of the work to be carried out in the laboratories of the developing country partner or in that region. The Trust's objective for projects is that they should bring the power of modern genetic methods, such as marker-assisted breeding techniques, to the improvement of crops in the developing world. The Trust will work with the collaborative partners to design the project and to set in place appropriate funding for staff and consumables. There is no expressed limit to the scale of funding, but the normal expectation would be for support on the scale of one or two scientists / technologists working for a maximum of two years with appropriate training or working periods in more advanced laboratories. Where appropriate, funding for these individuals may be through the Kirkhouse Trust scholarships scheme.

The Trust's area for research support is legumes, and there needs to be an exceptional reason for it to agree to provide support for research projects on other crops. Please note that if your application is estimated to cost in total, more than £30,000 then it will require approval from the board of Trustees. Therefore, due to this and other reasons, it will take much longer for a decision to be made regarding your application.

The Trust normally only supports projects and scientists in Universities and other national agricultural institutions in countries where local support of science is weak. Most applications from institutions in countries where science is well developed will likely be rejected.

Please use the correct application forms when applying for a research grant. Applications not submitted on the proper application forms will be rejected. These forms can be found by either clicking on the link(s) at the bottom of this page, or by visiting our "Downloads" page.

Project Application Process:

The Kirkhouse Trust has a staged application process for approving research project grants:

Stage 1:

Applicants are asked initially to submit an outline application. This will include both a brief description of the scientific aims of the project together with the proposed methodology and time scale to achieve these; and an outline budget to enable the funding implications to be gauged. The Trust will review the outline application and either decide to reject it at this stage, or invite the applicant(s) to move to:

Stage 2:

Applicants will be asked to liaise closely with a Project Administrator to expand on the outline project application and to work up a more detailed budget. It is likely that a plant scientist will liaise with the Principle Investigator (PI) to discuss the proposed programme of research and firm up on a timeline and milestones.

Stage 3:

When the detailed research project and budget have been agreed, a contract document will be drawn up by the Trust for signing by representatives of the Trust and the PI's home institution.

The Trust may elect to approve the budget for the first year of the project initially, and to fix the budget for future years based on the experience of the first year. The Trust always provides grants on a 'cost recovery basis' that is, if any grant money is not spent it must be returned to the Trust at the end of the funding year or offset against the project budget for the next year.

It is Trust policy to fund only economy air travel costs.

Overhead charges on projects funded by the Kirkhouse Trust are limited to a maximum of 10% of the grant.

Items Outside the Budget:

In some cases, expenditure is approved for specific items which will be refunded directly on presentation of receipts or proforma invoices / quotations. These items should not be included in the budget but the expenditure and the refund received must be shown in the project accounts. Such items are excluded from the calculation of overheads and may include:

• Customs clearance charges for consignments sent from the UK,
• Carriage costs for consignments from port of entry,
• Approved purchase of items of equipment (eg freezers) where shipment from the UK is not feasible (NB: large items are defined as costing more than £1,000),
• External audit if requested by the Trust and,
• Travel to annual project meetings.

Download Application Forms:

• Scientific Research Grant Application Form - Once you have filled out this form in full, please e-mail your application to Sonia Morgan, along with a copy of the timeline below.
• New Project Timeline Template - The Trust would appreciate PI's filling out and submitting this form to accompany the application. All that is required is the shading of the appropriate boxes to indicate when you plan to perform certain activities. This can be done in excel by right-clicking the highlighted area and selecting "Format cells", before clicking on the "Patterns" tab.
  Please inform the Trust of any feedback you would like to offer with regard to using these forms. This timeline will soon become mandatory.

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