Deadline: 28 June 2018
Applications are now open for UK-Gulf Institutional Links programme which is part of the UK Government’s strategic commitment to strengthening partnerships with the Gulf countries to help tackle the challenges they share.
Addressing these challenges requires an integrated research and innovation approach, bringing together researchers from different disciplines, sectors, and countries in high-quality collaborations. Institutional Links aims to build UK-Gulf country collaborations centred on those shared challenges which have direct relevance to partner countries’ priorities.
The Institutional Links programme is designed to establish links beyond the level of the individual researcher and innovation practitioner, opening up opportunities for sustainable, solution-oriented collaborations between research groups.
UK-Gulf Institutional Links grants provide small-scale seed funding from the UK Government for collaborations between the UK and the Gulf to:
- Initiate new research and innovation collaborations between academic groups, departments, institutions and catapults in partner countries and the UK
- Develop existing collaborations at group, departmental, and institutional level
- Encourage these collaborations to work with non-academic organisations and individuals to support the exchange of research and innovation expertise and the translation of research knowledge into tangible benefits, and the commercialisation of research.
- Establish local hubs for UK-Gulf country activity in a particular area, enabling engagement from the wider research and innovation community.
Funding Information
Grants range from £50,000 to £125,000 for up to two years, subject to cash or in-kind matching funds of equal value provided by the Gulf applicants and Gulf associated partners.
Eligibility Criteria
Proposals must fulfill the following criteria in order to be eligible for funding under this Programme:
- Each proposal must have one resident Principal Applicant from the UK and one resident Principal Applicant from a maximum of two partner countries in the Gulf (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates)
- Principal Applicants must be Leading Researchers/Innovators or Established Researchers/Innovators
- Principal Applicants are limited to one Institutional Links application per call.
- Principal Applicants must be based at one of the following:
- A not-for-profit higher education institution with the capacity to undertake high quality research and innovation
- A UK higher education institution (all UK higher education institutions are eligible)
- A not-for-profit research and innovation organisation with the capacity to undertake high-quality research and innovation
- A Catapult Centre (in the case of the UK Principal Applicant)
- The Principal Applicants’ institutions (the ‘Lead Institutions’) must have the capacity to administer the grant.
- Individual departments within a single institution can make multiple applications per call provided that the proposed activities are clearly different and that each is led by separate Principal Applicants.
- Principal Applicants can apply for funding for the same activity in subsequent calls provided the project has not already been funded.
- Principal Applicants that have previously received Institutional Links grants can submit further applications for Institutional Links provided the proposed activities are clearly distinct from, or build on, any already funded through this programme.
- Organisations affiliated to UK higher education institutions (e.g. an overseas campus) may be the Lead Institution in the partner country provided that other eligible higher education institutions or research organisations not directly affiliated with UK higher education institutions in the country are also involved as Associated Partners. However, organizations cannot apply as Lead Institutions in Links with their own affiliates in other countries.
How to Apply
Complete the online application form via given website.
For more information, please visit UK-Gulf Institutional Links Programme.