Pilot Project Grant

 ***You do not need to be NERC-funded to apply to this funding scheme but the proposed study must be within NERC's remit.***

NBAF is providing funding for small pilot/development sequencing and microarray projects to be undertaken at the NBAF Edinburgh and Liverpool nodes (access to Birmingham, Sheffield and Wallingford nodes is not part of the competition; limited support for no-cost access to SNP genotyping is available through NBAF-Sheffield). Pilot/development projects should be directed at generating preliminary data or demonstrations in advance of full research grant proposals, particularly when it is necessary to demonstrate the applicability or the technical feasibility of new techniques or approaches to NERC-relevant research problems. Examples could include proposals wishing to demonstrate, within a NERC context, the use of DNA capture technology for subsequent de novo sequencing of reduced genomes, ‘digital’ transcriptomics using next-generation sequencing, deep metagenomics of environmental samples, or the use of next-generation sequencing as a genetic tool in natural populations. This scheme is particularly aimed at assisting new users to exploit these technologies and develop new uses of the technology. Applicants should not therefore have already used the proposed methodology, or have existing funding to do so. Please note that past recipients of funding (as principal investigator) from the NBAF pilot projects scheme will not be eligible. Samples for analysis must be available and delivered to the relevant Facility node by December 2013.

In writing their proposal, applicants should make clear the relevance of the work to NERC’s strategic remit, and the way in which the project will lead to further work and/or proposals for full funding. Applicants should be eligible to hold NERC funding. Proposals for projects associated with PhD students (who do not themselves have to be NERC-funded) will be considered. In such cases, the application should show how the proposed work integrates within the timeframe of the doctoral project. All proposals should include a clear plan for the bioinformatic analysis of the resulting data, noting that the NBAF-L and NBAF-E nodes can offer bioinformatic and statistical support. Applications will be graded by the NBAF Steering Committee, following the usual NERC procedures, but with special reference to scientific excellence, the likelihood of the project resulting in a full-blown application, and whether the applicants are ‘new’ to the technologies proposed.

Each successful project will include access to staff and equipment at the relevant NBAF node, and sequencing consumables costs, to a value of up to £6,000. This should be sufficient, for example, to cover the data production costs of 0.8 M x 500 base reads on the 454 platform, 360 M x 100 base read pairs on Illumina or ca 2400 Sanger reads, or for microarray fabrication and assay of 24 biological samples.

Potential applicants must contact NBAF to discuss their specific requirements and to request a quotation to append to the application, at the latest by Friday 21 September 2012. In line with our standard application guidelines, only applications where consultation with the relevant nodes of the Facility has taken place will be considered. Please contact <competition@nbaf.nerc.ac.uk>.

Applications should be made on the latest Application Form that can be downloaded from here. Details of submission are included in this form and on the website. The closing date for this call is 4.00 p.m. on Friday 5 October 2012.