These awards of up to £25,000 in value are to encourage academia and industry to work together to write impact documents.
In order to drive policy changes, evidence needs to be clearly presented to those in a position to implement change. With INFORM’s FMA-Impact awards, the idea is to gather a working group to write an impact document.
An impact document should bring existing evidence together to show the benefits of taking gut-modulating products (pre/probiotics) from already published trials. These documents should ideally include a cost exercise to approximate (based on the data) how much of a saving to the NHS (or to lost days of work) could be made by sections of the population consuming these functional foods.
As such, collaboration with an economist would be advantageous. The group should be led by an early career researcher, who is in charge of organising meetings, setting goals and facilitating document completion. The final document should be written in terms that non-scientists can understand. The teams working on these documents are expected to include Industry members and Academics, emphasising the inclusion of early career researchers on these teams.
FMA Impact Report funding is available on a rolling funding call. Applications will be reviewed in February, April, May, July and September 2024.
Who can apply?
Funding is available to staff and researchers from any public or private UK organisation with an activity in functional foods, gut health and recovery. Priority will be given to Early Career Researchers (ECRs).
You do not need to be a member of the INFORM ORIC to apply, but we would recommend it, and if you are successful, you would need to join. It’s simple to join and lets you hear about our funding calls and events before anyone else. You can be a member of other ORIC hubs, too. If you haven’t already, please sign up here.
Duration FMA Impact Reports:
FMA Placement funding will support working groups involved with completing the Impact document for up to six months.
Costs the funding will cover
Academic staff will be offered a £1000 fixed honorarium for working on the project. The ECR can claim a part-time salary for the duration to reflect the time contribution made to the project. An economist is expected to be costed in based on time contributions.
Funding should also cover expenses to support face-to-face meetings to bring the working group together to work on the document.
Projects are awarded at 100% FEC (excluding any associated estates and indirect costs).
Costs that cannot be claimed
Please note you cannot apply for:
- indirect or estate costs at the research organisation
- undergraduate or postgraduate activities, training, or core PhD training, including tuition or bench fees.
Funding – payment arrangements
Payment of the award is in arrears, as detailed below.
The Award Holder shall invoice The University of Reading quarterly in arrears based on actual expenditure. The University Reading shall pay the Award Holder within thirty (30) days of a valid invoice, subject always to receipt of funds from the Funder and subject to the satisfactory completion by the Award Holder of any due diligence checks as may be reasonably required by the Awarding Institution or by BBSRC.
The final invoice should be sent to Reading within one month of the end of the placement. The cost statement should include the breakdown of the indexed FEC figures and the actual sums claimed.
Review and assessment
When we receive your application, our Hub Manager will ensure the eligibility criteria are met, the application has been completed, and full financial information is included.
FMA Impact Report applications will be peer-reviewed by four members of our panel.
The document should support INFORM’s aims. On passing these requirements applications will be assessed across the following areas.
- Eligibility
- Status of candidates
- Project in scope
- Quality of project
- Potential outcomes (benefit to ECR, long-term collaboration, potential for policy changes)
The Hub Management Committee will further assess the applications for the awards.
Reviewers will be expected to adhere to the highest standards of scientific integrity. In the event of a conflict of interest, this must be declared to the hub manager, who will reassign the proposal to an alternative reviewer.
Before the compilation of an Impact Report commences, a start date must be agreed upon with the Hub manager. Applications close at 5 pm, 30th September 2024; however, applications received will be assessed every two months from January 2024.
A copy of the FMA Impact Report application form template and a guidance document can be downloaded below to assist with the application process.
INFORM Hub Funding Call FMA Impact Report Financial Breakdown Template
Click HERE to apply for FMA Impact Report Funding.