Precision Neurotechnologies

Is there a maximum % variation in budget from the estimate at concept paper to the full application stage? For example if a concept paper estimate was £2.5m, would a full application budget of >£3m or <£2m (>20% variation) be accepted?

There is no maximum variation in budget from the concept paper to full proposal stage.

If there is a large variation between the project budgets at the two stages, it would be helpful to include information in your full proposal application to explain the variation, or, we may ask you some clarifying questions on your application as part of our review process.

For the concept paper proposals that are due the 29th of July, should the concept papers just be for TA1 or should we include anything for TA2 and 3?

Concept papers for all TAs should be submitted by 29th July.

Please see the eligibility section of the call for proposals document for more information on which combination of TAs you can apply for.

Is it possible to submit the concept paper before we select our final collaborator? 

Yes, it is possible to submit the concept paper before you select your final collaborator. Please give as much information as possible in your concept paper about the collaborations and the current status of these. For example, if you have identified collaborators but do not yet have an agreement formalised, or you are still looking for collaborators. There will be an opportunity to provide more detail, or a status update if applicable, in the full proposal. 

If you are still looking for collaborators, we have created a teaming request form to facilitate finding potential team members who have registered their interest in this programme. Please see page 18 of the call for proposals document for more information.

Example calculation error.

An error was identified in the example precision calculation on Page 13 where the volume of tissue activated had not been converted to cm^3. The calculation should instead read:

P=\sqrt{|0.9Log10(4)|^2+|0.5Log10(0.07/1200)|^2}
P=\sqrt{|0.54|^2+|-2.12|^2}
P=2.19

The example calculation has now been updated (V1.1 updated on 23rd July 2024) and Figure 3 has been replotted. 

I’m unlikely to be able to meet the full proposal deadline as I will require my organisation to approve the project costings. Are you able to extend the deadline? 

Unfortunately, we aren’t able to extend the deadline for the full proposal submission.

However, we don’t require a fully costed proposal at concept paper stage, nor do we require you to have your organisations consent in submitting a concept paper. We encourage you to submit a concept paper to get feedback on your idea, costs are only included as an indicator and can change between concept paper and full proposal stage.

We would however suggest you start the process of getting your costings approved in the background during the concept paper phase to meet the deadline for full proposals even if the budget is not perfect. 

If you were to be selected for an award, there is further opportunity to refine the costings during the negotiation phase and have the cost reverified by the university.

ARIA’s Research and Innovation Involving Animals Policy

We have now released our policy on Research and Innovation Involving Animals, which can be found here. The call for proposals document and full proposal guidelines have been updated on 30th July to include links to this policy.