Leverhulme Centre for Life in the Universe Joint Collaborative Programme
Application now closed.
To view the list of funded projects, click here.
The Joint Collaborative Programme is aimed at enabling collaboration between research groups within the University of Cambridge and partner institutes on origins of life research.
This programme offers financial support of up to £800,000 in total for this funding round for research projects aiming to address any of the Centre’s research objectives:
- What are the chemical pathways which led to the origins of life that are compatible with benign conditions for life in different planetary environments?
- How do we characterise the environments on Earth and other planets that could act as the cradle of prebiotic chemistry and life?
- What observational facilities and methods will allow investigation of bodies beyond the Solar System, the remote sensing of their atmospheres and the search for signatures of geological and biological evolution?
- How can planetary environments be shaped by life, and how do they change through major evolutionary transitions?
- How can philosophical and mathematical concepts refine our understanding of what we mean by life, leading to new interdisciplinary collaborations and modes of scientific enquiry?
Large Grant Programme Opportunity
We are offering the possibility to link different projects to form a Large Programme.
This option should be considered when the work proposed may be amplified by synergistic activity across multiple projects or projects are naturally combining resources.
If you wish to link your project with others, specific justification will be required in the proposal form for each project. The maximum budget for the Large Grant Programme is determined through the addition of single proposals but offers the possibly of mixing and sharing position between programs. For example, a larger program comprised of three single projects can request a maximum total budget of £495,000. The large program will be evaluated as a whole with the possibility to be partly funded.
Individual research projects (or each component of a Large Grant Programme) can request financial support of up to £165,000. A minimum of 75% of the total requested amount should be used to cover research staff costs, which may include, i.e. research assistants/associate, postgraduate students, research technicians and other staff, such as data scientists, who are closely involved in the conduct and delivery of research project for up to 3 years, or PhD studentship costs for up to 3.5 years. Projects requesting support for postdoctoral research associates (PDRAs; grade 7), for overseas applicants, currently the PDRA should receive salary at Grade7, sp44 (£39,347), in order to apply for visa. Please check the latest guidelines before presenting your final breakdown of costs. The remaining amount may be used for any other associated costs, including consumables, equipment, and travel. The presented budget excludes conference attendance, which applicants can apply separately when needed by sending a short statement of interest and how the money will be used with anticipated breakdown of costs (in British pounds) to se413@cam.ac.uk. The funding will be given based on value.
Who can apply
Lead applicants must either be affiliated with one of the Centre’s participating departments within the University of Cambridge or be a spoke leader at any of the Centre’s partner institutes (listed below). Lead applicants must either hold a faculty position or be a senior researcher (grade 9 and above) on a contract longer than the requested funding period. We welcome applications from supervisory teams based across different departments and involving early career researchers.
Participating Departments at the University of Cambridge
Cavendish Laboratory, Institute of Astronomy, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, Department of Earth Sciences, Department of Zoology, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, Faculty of Divinity, and the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Department of Biochemistry.
“Spoke members” of Partner Institutes
University of Colorado Boulder, University College London, ETH Zurich, Harvard University, and the Centre of Theological Inquiry (Princeton, New Jersey).
Assessment
Proposals will be assessed by a selection committee against the following criteria:
- Alignment of the proposed research with the Centre’s objectives.
- Potential of the proposed research to impact other priority research areas within the Centre.
- Feasibility and resource justification.
- Other sources of financial support.
How to Apply
When the calls open there will be a link to the application form (please see application form from previous years in the side bar).
In the application form you will be asked to provide the following:
Research proposal: a general description of the proposed research to be carried out. This should include context, objectives, methodology, key milestones, and expected results of the proposed work; a brief description of relevant expertise of the lead applicant or team proposing the project.
Relevance to LCLU aims: a brief discussion of how the proposed project aligns with any of the Centre's research objectives.
Requested resources and justification: X5 costing is not required but requested resources should include appropriate estimation of costs (In British Pounds) supporting research assistants (grade 5)/associates (grade 7) or PhD students (please refer to this link for information on salary scales); a brief justification for resources requested, and information about any other financial support that might be available to contribute to the proposed research.
Please note that this is a yearly call and subsequent funding rounds are expected to follow a similar time frame.
To access information for current award holders and forms.