SFI Research Centres Programme 2012
Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) is pleased to announce that it will issue a Call for Proposals in 2012 under the auspices of a new ‘SFI Research Centres’ Programme.
The key features of the upcoming SFI Research Centres Programme are as follows:
- The SFI Research Centres Programme will consolidate the existing Centres for Science, Engineering and Technology (CSET) Programme and Strategic Research Cluster (SRC) Programme into a ‘single-entry’ competition. Proposals for funding will be considered with a single evaluation process, irrespective of scale of funding requested.
- The SFI Research Centres programme will solicit competitive proposals to create new research centres, or to extend the activity of existing research centres. The programme will be open to submissions from existing SRCs and CSETs that are approaching the end of their current funding cycle.
- SFI Research Centres will be eligible to receive up to six years of funding for core activities, which will include centre management, administration and core platform research.
- SFI Research Centres will also be eligible to receive funding for a number of targeted projects, each of which will include one or more industry partners.
- SFI Research Centres will have the opportunity to grow in size during their lifetime, by applying additional targeted projects.
- SFI anticipates offering funding of between €1m and €5m per annum (inclusive of overheads) for SFI Research Centres, and anticipates funding a number of centres of diverse scale, proportionate to this funding range.
- Proposals must have substantial industry participation, including, co-funding of research activities through cash, in kind contributions, or a combination of both.
- The programme will comprise a number of submissions, including Expression of Interest, Pre-Proposal and Full Proposal, and a number of evaluation stages, including strategic review, postal review and panel evaluation.
Expressions of Interest
SFI invites academic research groups to submit an Expression of Interest (EoI) form indicating their interest in participating in the 2012 SFI Research Centres programme. The EoI form can be downloaded here: - SFI Research Centres - EoI Academic
Expressions of Interest are due on or before 13.00 on 9 March 2012 and should be submitted to centres@sfi.ie.
Please note that only those academic groups that submit an Expression of Interest by the closing date will be eligible to submit a subsequent proposal.
SFI also invites companies with an interest in participating in or learning about the 2012 SFI Research Centres Programme to submit an Expression of Interest form which can be downloaded here: - SFI Research Centres - EoI Company
Company EoIs are helpful to SFI, but are not mandatory to participate in the programme. We appreciate submissions on or before 13.00 on 9 March 2012 to centres@sfi.ie.
SFI will make all Expressions of Interest available to all parties that submitted an EoI in the week of 12 March 2012. SFI will host a number of ‘town hall’ meetings in locations around the country in the week of 12 March. Further details of these meetings will be posted on this page.
Programme Outline
An information meeting was held on 26 January 2012 providing the outline to the programme. The presentations delivered at that meeting can be downloaded here:
- Introduction and Overview
- Research Centres presentation - 26th January 2012
- Research Centres presentation to Industry 10th - February 2012
Suggestions
SFI is soliciting suggestions from the academic, industrial and commercial communities in advance of finalising the details of the programme design and publishing a Call for Proposals document. Suggestions will be accepted up to close of business on 10 February 2012, and should be sent to centres@sfi.ie.
Provisional Programme Schedule
The 2012 Research Centres Programme will, provisionally, follow the schedule below:
| 10 February 2012 | Suggestions deadline |
| 9 March 2012 | Expression of Interest deadline |
| 12-18 March 2012 | Townhall meetings |
| 20 April 2012 | Pre-proposal deadline |
| 11 June 2012 | Invite to full proposal |
| 10 September 2012 | Full proposal deadline |
| 15 November 2012 | Invite to panel meeting |
| Week of 10 December | 2012 Panel meetings |
| Late January 2013 | Funding decisions |
Call Document
As indicated above, SFI intends to publish the 2012 Research Centres Programme Call for Proposals on 24 February 2012. The call document will published on this webpage.
How to Apply
All submissions to the 2012 SFI Research Centres Programme will be through email (centres@sfi.ie). SESAME will not be used for this programme at this time.
Strategic Collaborative Development Award
In parallel with the main SFI Research Centres call, SFI will issue a call for proposals for Strategic Collaborative Development Awards (SCDA). The SCDAs will be short-term awards (6-18 months) with funding in the range of €50-200k. The aim of the SCDAs will be to facilitate multi-PI clusters to engage in an exploratory collaboration with another party, such as another research centre (e.g Technology Centre) or cluster, or a new industry partner company.
Programme Outline
An information meeting was held on 26 January 2012 providing the outline to the programme. The presentation delivered at that meeting can be downloaded here: SCDA presentation - 26 January 2012
A further industry information meeting was held on 10 February. The presentation from that meeting can be downloaded here: SCDA presentation - 10 February
Suggestions
SFI is soliciting suggestions in advance of finalising the details of the programme design and publishing a Call for Proposals document. Suggestions will be accepted up to close of business on 17 February 2012, and should be sent to SCDA@sfi.ie.
The application process involves a single stage. The outline schedule for the programme is provided below.
| 17 February 2012 | Suggestions deadline |
| End February 2012 | Open call |
| End May 2012 | Proposal deadline |
| Early July 2012 | Funding announcements |
Call Document
As indicated above, SFI intends to publish the 2012 Strategic Collaborative Development Award (SCDA) Programme Call for Proposals at the end of February 2012. The call document will be published on the SFI website.
How to Apply
All submissions to the 2012 Strategic Collaborative Development Award Programme will be through email (SCDA@sfi.ie). SESAME will not be used for this programme at this time.
