Apply to develop Research Ideas for addressing Endemic Diseases in Livestock (UK)

Deadline: 8-Oct-21

The UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is pleased to announce the Develop solutions for endemic livestock disease. The workshop aims to bring different communities and disciplines, such as technology companies, computer science and the social sciences, together to build up thoughts on how the UK livestock endemic disease challenge can be addressed and to develop the innovative ideas and activities into research projects.

A diverse group of participants from a range of disciplines and backgrounds will get together over two weeks to immerse themselves in collaborative thinking processes in order to develop innovative solutions.

The workshop will be an intensive, interactive and free-thinking environment. The workshop will be led by facilitators, who will be supported by a team of expert mentors.

As the workshop progresses, participants will form multidisciplinary teams and build up thoughts on how the identified ‘challenges’ may be addressed and develop their innovative ideas and activities into research projects. These projects will contain genuinely novel and speculative research and should aim to:

reduce the overall levels and impact of endemic disease on the livestock sector productivity
improve the health and welfare of animals in the UK herd.

At the end of the two-week workshop, groups will share their ideas with all workshop participants, and be provided with feedback from the mentors and director. Some participants will then be invited to develop their research proposal for submission between the end of the workshop

Themes

The scope is solutions-focused. Proposals for the ‘Priming Partnerships in Endemic Livestock Disease’ funding opportunity will be developed during the workshop.

Digital agriculture: Technology development, data generation and data platforms, and the underpinning biology necessary to apply digital technology, are all in scope for this opportunity.
Breeding for disease resistance: There are knowledge gaps that prevent the use and application of modern breeding techniques to endemic livestock disease prevention, and specific challenges relating to technology and practices for sheep and beef cattle.
Farm management: Evidence-based on-farm management practices are essential and may be the most realistic way to mitigate against certain endemic livestock diseases, which have a welfare impact on the herd.
Vaccine platforms and technologies: There are many vaccines available for livestock, however they are not all used effectively for multiple reasons
Novel approaches: Novel approaches aiming to reduce application of traditional medicines and antibiotics, including nutrition, precision and microbiome approaches, are encouraged. Research on general animal nutrition is not in scope for this funding opportunity.
Co-infection: Many endemic livestock diseases are chronic and lower the immune system, making the animal susceptible to establishing other infections that might not be severe in healthy individuals.The high frequency of co-infections also drives ineffective treatment practices, such as the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics for animals diagnosed with viral infections.

Funding Information

It is expected that up to £1.95 million will be available to fund up to 15 successful research proposals.
Participants with successful proposals resulting from this workshop should aim to start their project by May 2022 and complete their project within one year.
The full economic cost of each project can range from £125,000 to £250,000. BBSRC will fund 80% of the full economic cost (£100,000 to £200,000) of each project.
If academic applicants are part of a successful project, their institution will be required to fund 20% of the full economic cost project costs (as standard).
The workshop will be held virtually over two weeks (six two-hour group sessions with extra time for independent working) from 15 to 26 November.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible as a principal applicant and co-investigator you must be:
resident in the UK (spend 183 or more days in the UK in the tax year) at the time of application or will be moving to the UK to take up an already agreed contract at an eligible organisation (the contract must not be dependent on the outcome of the application), and will remain resident in the UK for the duration of the proposed project
employed (or scheduled to move to) an eligible research organisation submitting the proposal and hold a research staff appointment there (academic lecturer level or equivalent) which is resourced from the central funds of the organisation.
If not employed by the submitting organisation (providing they are not in receipt of funding by non-eligible organisations), the applicant must have an existing written formal arrangement with the organisation confirming that the research will be conducted as if the applicant were an employee at lecturer level or equivalent but without salary costs.
The workshop is open to a range of stakeholders within the UK who have an interest in tackling livestock endemic disease, including but not limited to:
- farmers
- businesses of any size
- innovators
- veterinary practitioners
- data management service providers
- researchers.
Grant applications resulting from the workshop must be within the standard Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) eligibility criteria.
Organisations eligible for funding include:
- UK higher education institutions
- research council institutes
- UKRI-approved independent research organisations
- UKRI-approved public sector research establishments (PSREs).