British Council announces Newton Fund Institutional Links Grant Programme

Deadline: 12 June 2020

The British Council is seeking applications for its Newton Fund Institutional Links to provide grants for the development of research and innovation collaborations between the UK and partner countries.

The British Council runs Institutional Links in partnership with research and higher education institutions globally.

The Fund aims to promote the economic development and welfare of either the partner countries or, through working with the partner country, to address the problems of low-income and vulnerable populations.

The Newton Fund 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 research and innovation collaborations between academic groups as well as with the private and third sector.

All research and innovation collaborations funded by this programme will:

Establish new research and innovation links, or significantly develop existing links, between research groups, departments or institutions with the potential for longer term sustainability. A key aim of the collaboration will be to support research and innovation capacity building in the partner institution, as well as to stimulate longer term links between the UK and partner countries for research and innovation. They encourage applicants to use this as an opportunity also to engage with the commercial and not-for-profit sectors.
Focus on topics or themes which have relevance to the economic development and welfare of the partner country. Institutional Links grants are intended to support areas relevant to the economic development and social welfare of partner countries.

Funding Information

Grants typically range from £50,000 to £300,000 for up to two years, dependent on the country.
The maximum duration of the proposed collaboration is 24 months.

Partner Countries

Eligibility Criteria

Proposals must fulfill the following criteria in order to be eligible for funding under this Programme:

Each proposal must have one Principal Applicant from the UK and one Principal Applicant from the partner country
Both Principal Applicants must be Leading Researchers or Established Researchers
Principal Applicants must be permanent employees of one of the following (this means that Emeritus and Honorary Professors may not apply as lead)
A not-for-profit higher education institution with the capacity to undertake high-quality- research.
A UK higher education institution (all UK higher education institutions are eligible).
A not-for-profit research organisation with the capacity to undertake highquality research A Catapult Centre (in the case of the UK Principal Applicant).
Both of 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.
Principal Applicants may only submit one Institutional Links application per Institutional Links call.
Principal Applicants that have received Institutional Links grants in previous years can submit further applications for Institutional Links provided the proposed activities are clearly distinct from, or build on, any already funded through the Newton Fund. Principal Applicants may not apply if they have already received an Institutional Links grant that year. In all cases the additionality must be clearly articulated in the application.
Organisations affiliated to higher education institutions in the UK or any other country and based in the partner country, (e.g. an overseas campus) are not eligible for Newton Fund awarded grants.
To support the translation of research and innovation into benefit, Principal Applicants are encouraged to include in their proposals Associated Partners affiliated with:
- Other research or higher education institutions
- Technology transfer offices
- Not for-profit organisations (including NGOs)
- For-profit/commercial organisations (including SMEs)
Not for-profit higher education institutions or publicly funded research organisations are eligible to apply as Lead Institutions.
For-profit organisations and not-for-profit organisations can participate in but are usually not eligible to apply for Institutional Links grants. Furthermore, for-profit organisations are not eligible to receive any grant funds except to cover travel associated costs.