Closing date for outline bid proposals: 16:00 BST on 15 May 2019

Closing date for invited full bid: early September 2019

NERC, on behalf of UK Research & Innovation (UKRI), invite outline bid proposals for international, interdisciplinary, collaborative research projects under the UKRI Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) Multi-hazards & Systemic Risks research call. This call forms part of the UKRI GCRF Collective Programme.

GCRF is a £1·5 billion funding stream to support research which addresses problems faced by developing countries. GCRF forms part of the UK’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) commitment, and funding under this call will be awarded in a manner consistent with ODA guidelines– external link.

Low and middle income countries are especially vulnerable to multiple and cascading hazards, and associated systemic risk where cumulative costs may be thousands of deaths each year, extensive disruption and high economic losses. The aim of this programme is to provide a better understanding of the drivers of multi-hazard events, and how the impacts of these events cascade through socio-economic systems and to use this knowledge to determine which interventions and policies are effective at mitigating the risks, particularly for vulnerable groups. The focus is on multiple natural hazards and the interrelated environmental, social, economic, cultural and health risks, and effects that can be triggered by these events, or can amplify or compound their impacts.

This call will aim to support a small number of large, international collaborative research projects with a value of up to £3·5 million (cost to UKRI); UK institutions are eligible for 80% full economic cost and overseas organisations are eligible for 100% direct project costs. It is anticipated that two projects will be funded and that projects will start in April 2020 and have a maximum duration of three years.

All projects are required to have a principal investigator based in a UK research organisation eligible for UKRI funding. Projects with co-investigators and researchers based in low and middle income countries are strongly encouraged, but will receive funding via a UK research organisation.

The submission of an outline bid proposal is a requirement of the call, and only those successful at the outline bid stage will be invited to submit a full proposal.

A live online webinar will be held in early April for potential applicants to learn about the call details and have the opportunity to pose questions to the UKRI staff who are leading the call. The webinar will be held twice to allow for potential applicants in different international time zones to dial-in, the dates / times are as follows:

• webinar 1 – 09:00-11:00 BST/GMT+1 on 5 April 2019
• webinar 2 – 14:00-16:00 BST/GMT+1 on 8 April 2019.

The webinars will begin with a presentation, followed by a question and answers session. If you are interested in attending one of the webinars please hold the preferred time slot. Details about how to register / dial-in will be provided on 1 April 2019.

UKRI is also holding regional GCRF engagement events– external link across the UK in early 2019 as a way for potential applicants to engage further with calls launched under the Collective Programme, and with GCRF in general.

The Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) is administering another resilience-themed UKRI GCRF Collective Programme call for research and innovation projects entitled ‘Equitable resilience: ensuring resilience enhances the Sustainable Development Goals– external link‘. The multidisciplinary call is being administered on behalf of UKRI, with projects expected to start in November 2019.

How to apply

Further information on the Multi-hazards & Systemic Risks call and how to submit an application can be found in the Announcement of Opportunity document below.

Announcement of Opportunity (PDF, 176KB)

Outline bid proposals must be submitted via the UK Research Councils’ Joint Electronic Submission (Je-S) system before 16:00 BST on 15 May 2019.

Contacts

Sarah Blackburn
01793 411921

If you experience difficulties using Je-S or have questions regarding its use, please contact the Je-S helpdesk:

01793 444164