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Research Project Grants

APPLICATIONS FOR FUNDING IN 2010

Applications Closed 17th March 2009

Following is information regarding:
 
A.General Information about Project Grants

B.Instructions for applicants including
 
1.How to apply
2.Supplementary Questions
3.Duration of project and amount of funding
4.Multi-state research grants
5.Summary of key dates for project grant process in 2009


A. GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT RESEARCH PROJECT GRANTS

Research Project Grants will be for one or two years, beginning 1 January 2010. Two years of funding will generally be awarded for the more competitive grants.

Cancer Council SA (CCSA) will only fund one project per Chief Investigator (CI). It is permissible to submit the same grant for funding requests to the NHMRC and CCSA, but funding would be forthcoming from only one source if the grant is successful.

Applications follow the NHMRC format which includes the requirement for lay and scientific summaries, aims, methods and expected results.

The relevance of the research to cancer must be explicit in the application, under the aims and significance of the project section.

Research must be carried out in South Australia with the exception of non South Australian components of multi centre studies.

Funding available for a given grant
CCSA research project grants are not a source of ongoing salary funding for senior career scientists. Please ensure your budget is prepared using the Personnel Support Package (PSP) levels defined by the NHMRC. In general no more than one FTE salary will be provided, equivalent to PSP4. CCSA will not fund the salary of a principal investigator.


CCSA does not fund items of capital equipment. Applicants should be aware that funds for equipment will be considered only in most exceptional circumstances.

CCSA generally funds justified maintenance costs up to $25,000.

Payment of funds
The Cancer Council will make grant payments to the Administering Institution nominated in the successful grant application. Grant payments commence no earlier than January of the year following the successful application. Grants are paid in quarterly instalments on receipt of a tax invoice from the Administering Institution. Amounts granted are exclusive of GST.

Use of Research Funds
The funds offered are a grant-in-aid and will not be supplemented. CCSA does not guarantee to provide extra money to meet national salary awards or those given by government funded research bodies (e.g. NHMRC; ARGC; NBCF). It is the responsibility of the grant holder to manage salaries and other expenditure within the limits of the grant.

Unspent Funds
Near the end of the calendar year of the grant period, CCSA will require from the finance officer of the applicant's host institution, a statement of expenditure on salaries and consumables. Unexpended money must be returned to CCSA. Funding may not be carried over into the following year.

Specific Objectives
CCSA reserves the right to fund grants with specific objectives that are aligned with its strategic directions and priority areas for research (refer below under Supplementary Questions).

Final decisions on funding
The final decision is made by CCSA Board of Directors on advice from the Research Committee.

Tobacco Policy
CCSA will not support individuals or institutions who receive support directly or indirectly from, or are involved with organisations that are part of or funded by, the tobacco industry. This position is in line with that adopted by other members of the Cancer Council Australia and the National Heart Foundation.


Intellectual Property Policy
     
Publicity
CCSA commits a sizeable proportion of donations received from the community to cancer research funding. Therefore we may ask from time to time for your assistance to promote Cancer Council funded research in South Australia. It is possible that you will be asked to participate in interviews or provide information and we hope that you will be able to make yourself available as these opportunities arise. We also ask that if you are planning any promotion of your work through your institution that you first advise the CCSA Public Relations and media unit.

Annual Report
At the conclusion of the project, a full report is to be forwarded to CCSA. If the project continues for more than one year, a progress report summarising important findings/results and future directions of research is required. A short 'lay persons' summary is also required so that feedback can be provided to those who donate funds to allow research to be undertaken.

Failure to submit a report may render investigators on the grant application ineligible for further funding from CCSA until the report is received. A reporting template will be provided.

B. INSTRUCTIONS FOR APPLICANTS FOR RESEARCH PROJECT GRANTS TO COMMENCE IN 2010
 
The same application ID must be used on both the NHMRC application form and the Supplementary Questions document.

CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS: TUESDAY 17TH MARCH 2009

The closing date is the same for both Research Project Grants and Multi-State Project Grants.
Late or incomplete applications will not be accepted.
 
Cancer Council applicants will submit their applications to the NHMRC, adhering to NHMRC guidelines. All cancer research project grant applications will be assessed and ranked via the NHMRC project grant process. Applications will be allocated to Grant Review Panels (GRPs) based on the Field of Research selected by applicants.

Whilst all cancer research project grant applications will be assessed via the NHMRC process, the Cancer Councils will continue to make the funding decisions, as is current practice.

Background Information
 
The National Cancer Research Grants Secretariat will continue to be hosted by the Cancer Council Victoria on behalf of the Cancer Council Australia. The Secretariat is the link between the NHMRC and Cancer Councils.
 
1. HOW TO APPLY
 
Visit the NHMRC website for information about applying and to download the latest version of the NHMRC application form.

A number of options will be available on the NHMRC application form for choosing which funding body (or bodies) your application is to be submitted to.

In addition to the NHMRC application you will need to complete a set of Supplementary Questions, which is to be emailed to the National Cancer Research Grants Secretariat 
(CancerCouncilGrants@cancervic.org.au)
  
2. SUPPLEMENTARY QUESTIONS

All applicants applying for Cancer Council funding must submit a Supplementary Question form.


The Supplementary Questions document identifies which funding body you are submitting your application to for funding consideration and seeks information specific to Cancer Council applications.

The Supplementary Question form must be submitted as a seperate PDF file to the National Grants Secretariat (CancerCouncilGrants@cancervic.org.au ). The file name must be: ‘[App ID]_SuppQs_[CIA Family Name]’ eg. ‘123456_SuppQs_Smith’.

The Supplementary Questions will not be available to the NHMRC Grant Review Panels (GRPs) but will be for the exclusive use of the Cancer Councils to assist them in their funding decisions. Applicants are strongly advised to familiarise themselves with the Eligibility Criteria and the Guidelines of the cancer funding body they are applying to. See  Cancer Council Australia website for links to all Cancer Councils.

Cancer Council SA has Specific State Criteria listed below. These criteria will need to be addressed in the Supplementary Question form under Specific State Criteria.
 
The Supplementary Questions document is also available from CancerCouncilGrants@cancervic.org.au upon request.

Specific State Criteria
Applicants whose proposals are aligned with the Priority Research Areas and /or a New Investigator are asked to complete Question 8 - Specific State Criteria (in half a page or less).
 
a. Priority Research Areas

The priority research areas are: -
 
- Cancer Prevention
- Early Detection
- Supportive care, including palliative care
- Epidemiology
- Community education


Applications in these priority areas are encouraged. These research areas are not listed in order of priority. Please describe how your proposal relates to one or more of the research priority areas. 

Research project grant proposals in areas of cancer research which are not included in the priority research areas will still be eligible for funding and applications in these areas should be submitted.

b. New Investigator

Researchers would be eligible for a New Investigator Grant if they: -

- have not been awarded a previous NHMRC or Cancer Council research grant as a designated Chief Investigator. Applicants must indicate if they have applied for any other research project grants as a Chief Co-Investigator in the current round. Please provide application ID where possible.
- have not have received funding of $55,000 or more from another competitive peer-reviewed research funding source as a designated Chief Investigator.
 
Researchers who had received research funding as an Associate Investigator, but not as a designated Chief Investigator, would continue to be eligible. Please note that if Associate Investigators of the proposal have previously received funding this does not affect the eligibility of the New Investigator to be classified as such.

If the Chief Investigator meets the above definition, they are asked to indicate this in the Specific State Criteria section of the Supplementary Question form.  
 
Eligibility Criteria and Guidelines for Applicants
 
Applicants ineligible to apply for NHMRC Project Grant funding are still entitled to apply via the NHMRC process for Cancer Council funding.
Applicants need to adhere to the Cancer Council eligibility criteria as well as that of the NHMRC if they are applying for funding from both organisations. These are available on their respective websites.

3. DURATION OF PROJECT AND AMOUNT OF FUNDING 

Cancer Council SA predominantly funds one-year grants. A smaller number of two-year grants may also be funded. Funding is capped at a single salary plus maintenance of up to $25,000 per year.
 
(i) Applicants will need to explain this in the body of their application. Ensure that it is clear in the Research Plan and Budget section of your application that one-year funding is the maximum that can be applied for.
(ii) Applicants applying for a one-year grant from Cancer Council SA but a three-year grant from NHMRC will need to respond to Question 10 & 11 on the Supplementary Question Form.

4. MULTI-STATE RESEARCH GRANTS

Multi-state grant applications will also be submitted via the NHMRC Research Project Grant Application form.

Multi-state research grants are ONLY available for clinical trials or epidemiological studies that:
 
a) involve patient or participant recruitment from at least two states.
b) require funding from at least two states to be viable, and
c) have a Chief Investigator named for each participating state.
 
There are no funds specifically earmarked for multi-state projects. Multi-state projects will compete for funding against state-based projects in each state. 

The overall Chief Investigator for the project should submit the application in accordance with the guidelines of their local Cancer Council. National project tasks should be clearly identified as well as the responsibilities of each participating state in which the research is carried out.
 
Note 1: Applicants need to clearly explain, in the budget for Cancer Council applications, what funds are being requested from individual Cancer Councils and how the funds will be utilised within each state. Cancer Councils will be reluctant to provide funds for work to be carried out in States other than their own.
 
Note 2: Grant administration - All multi-state grants will be administered locally ie each Cancer Council will enter into a funding agreement with the chief investigator for their state and the funds will be paid to that investigator's administering institution. The reporting requirements and conditions in each participating state will need to be complied with and the overall chief investigator is responsible for providing a national progress report for all participating states.

5. SUMMARY OF KEY DATES FOR PROJECT GRANT PROCESS IN 2009 
 
Dec 2008 NHMRC Project Grant process opens and Cancer Councils advertise that application process now open

17 Mar 2009 Closing date for applications to the NHMRC and submission of Supplementary Questions to the National Grants Secretariat. Check with your institution if they have an earlier closing date for submission to their Research Office.

April/May 2009 NHMRC will forward copies of Applications to the National Grants Secretariat for distribution to Cancer Councils

May / June 2009 Assessment of applications by one Grant Review Panel member and two external assessors

June / July 2009 Applicants will be given one week to respond to the Grant Review Panel questions and the external peer assessment

Aug 2009 Grant Review Panels meet to rank applications

Sept 2009 NHMRC will provide the National Cancer Research Grants Secretariat with ranking information for distribution to Cancer Councils
 
Oct 2009 Applicants advised of NHMRC funding outcomes

Oct/Nov 2009 Cancer Councils Research Committee meetings
   
Nov/Dec 2009 Cancer Councils advise applicants of funding outcomes


Contact for further information:
Further information is available from either the NHMRC Liaison Officer (National Cancer Research Grants Secretariat) or from CCSA: -
 
Cancer Council / NHMRC Liaison Officer     
Josie Italia     
Tel:  03 9635 5028     
Email:  
Josie.Italia@cancervic.org.au

Cancer Council SA
Nicole Sargent, Executive Assistant Research Innovation
Tel: 08 8291 4297
Email
: nsargent@cancersa.org.au

Information regarding submission of applications to the NHMRC can also be obtained from the GrantNet Help Desk: -
Tel: 1800 500 983
Email
: grantnet.help@nhmrc.gov.au







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