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John Fell Fund

This is a University of Oxford fund intended to foster creativity and a proactive approach to research opportunities in all subject areas, and particularly interdisciplinary fields. It will make seed corn and start-up grants, and provide funds to stimulate applications to external funding bodies.

The John Fell Fund accepts applications termly for Small (<=£10,000) and Main (>£10,000) Awards (three rounds per year). It is open to researchers from any Division (Medical Sciences, Maths, Physics & Life Sciences (MPLS), Humanities & Social Sciences), Oxford Lifelong Learning (formerly ContEd) and Gardens, Libraries & Museums (GLAM). For full information about the John Fell Fund, see the Research Services pages on OxIntranet.

MSD receives a large number of applications to each round. The success rate is around 25% on average.

The MSD Sub-committee aims to support as many researchers as possible with the available budget. Therefore applicants may be prioritised for funding but offered less budget than was requested in their application.

There is no formal application limit for Main Awards; however please be aware that applications for >£100,000 are rarely supported for funding. The average application amount for a Main Award is £45,000.

Award types

Applications can be made for any of the following purposes:


a) Pump-priming to develop a research idea and/or generate preliminary data to support external funding applications in future.

b) Early career researcher – defined as holding an independent research position for less than five years

NOTE: Applications for outright funding for small pieces of equipment are accepted under Category A or Category B.

  • Applications must make a strong case for why John Fell Fund funding is essential, including how the equipment is expected to leverage external funding in future and/or develop the research of ECRs.
  • A departmental contribution to the equipment is expected as match funding.
  • If the application is successful, the equipment will be added to an MSD register of John Fell Fund-funded equipment and must be made available for use by other groups beyond the applicant’s.

c) Networks, collaborations and partnerships – activities intended to develop a research network or collaboration that will leverage external funding in future.

  • If the Category C activity requires salary costs for a Research Facilitator, Network Manager, or similar, the application should request no more than 12 months’ salary. The application must describe how the network or partnership expects to develop the research area, including securing future funding, and how the activity will be sustained after the end of the John Fell Fund award.

d) Research facilitators (discontinued but retained in IRAMS – DO NOT USE)

e) Support related to bids for external funding (match funding for external applications)

  • Applications for Category E must be submitted by a termly deadline and will be considered alongside all other applications received to the round.
  • Category E awards aim to leverage external funding. Therefore Category E applications should be submitted and awarded prior to the submission deadline for the related external funding application, so that the institutional match funding from John Fell Fund and the department can be presented to the external funder. Category E applications may be submitted after the external funding has been applied for or awarded, provided that the application to the external funder offered institutional match funding.
  • Category E awards are made conditionally on the success of the external funding application. If the related external application is unsuccessful, the Category E application will be reclaimed to the central budget and cannot be repurposed by the applicant.

f) Strategic investment in research assets (match funding for equipment)

  • Category F applications provide match funding for external applications for mid-large pieces of equipment or other research assets.
  • To be eligible for funding under Category F, at least 70% of the total cost must be sought from external funders. Of the remaining 30% of the total cost, up to 75% may be requested from the John Fell Fund. The remaining 25% must be provided by the department, research facility or PI.
  • Costs for installation and contracts for maintenance/service can be included in the total project cost where these are included as part of the total equipment cost in the quote from the supplier. Costs for refurbishment of space to house the equipment are not eligible. Salaries for staff who are dedicated to managing or maintaining the equipment in the first 1-2 years of service may be eligible; contact the MSD Sub-committee Secretary to discuss the requirements.
  • If the Category F application will support an application to an external funding scheme where the number of applications is limited by the funder and therefore an internal coordinated bids process is required (e.g. MRC Equip), only applicants selected through the internal process to apply to the external funder should submit to John Fell Fund.
  • Applications to Category F will be accepted out of round and reviewed by Chair’s Action.
  • Applications for Category F must use the separate Business case document for Category F in place of the usual John Fell Fund Case for Support template.
  • Category F awards aim to leverage external funding. Therefore Category F applications should be submitted and awarded prior to the submission deadline for the related external funding application, so that the institutional match funding from John Fell Fund and the department can be presented to the external funder. Category F applications may be submitted after the external funding has been applied for or awarded, provided that the application to the external funder offered institutional match funding.
  • Category F awards are made conditionally on the success of the external funding application. If the related external application is unsuccessful, the Category F application will be reclaimed to the central budget and cannot be repurposed by the applicant. If the external portion of funding is sought from another funder, the Category F application may be updated and resubmitted.

Prospective applicants to Category F must contact the John Fell Fund MSD Sub-Committee Secretary (jff@medsci.ox.ac.uk) in advance of submitting their application in IRAMS.

 

For more information on applicant eligibility, please see Research Services pages on OxIntranet.

Main awards

Applicants must be independent, i.e. holding a post that includes responsibility for developing their own research agenda (e.g. an academic post as Professor or Associate Professor, or an independent research fellowship where they are driving their own research programme)

Small awards

Researchers who are not yet independent (post-doctoral researchers) may apply with the support of their Line Manager.

Researcher Co-Investigators

Post-doctoral researchers may be named as Researcher Co-Investigators (RCo-Is) on the application if they have provided ‘significant intellectual input’ to the project. DPhil students should not usually be an RCo-I, except where they are close to completing their DPhil and the proposed project builds upon their DPhil project.

Conditions

Applicants must not submit more than one application to a single round. Resubmissions of previously unsuccessful applications will not be accepted, unless explicitly invited by the John Fell Fund Committee or Divisional JFF Sub-committee. Invited resubmissions will be reviewed alongside the other proposals received in that round. Applicants may submit different applications to consecutive rounds.

If an applicant is selected for funding, and has previously held a John Fell Fund award on which final reporting is still outstanding, their new award will be made conditional on submission of the outstanding final report.

Eligibility of costs

Awards are made only for the directly incurred costs of research including staff salaries, consumables, use of facilities, equipment, etc.

Publication costs (including open access fees), conference attendance, salary for the lead or co-applicants, bridging salaries or overheads are not eligible. Costs for travel and subsistence or hosting events or workshops must be very well justified and essential for delivering the application’s objectives.

Applicants must note that the page limit for the Case for Support for Main Award applications is 4 pages. The page limit for the Case for Support for Small Award applications is 2 pages. Applications that exceed this limit may be rejected for ineligibility.

All applicants must ensure that their Plain English Summary is suitable for a broad scientific audience and for non-specialists.

If including figures or tables, ensure that these are as small a file-size as possible, readable, and add value to the narrative. Inclusion of clear work-packages, timelines (e.g. a Gantt chart) and deliverables are encouraged. Figures and tables must be included in the Case for Support page limit. References, a CV and list of other external grants may be included in addition to the page limit.

Strong applications are those which provide a clear justification for why John Fell Fund funding is essential. Applicants should describe why the project cannot be funded from elsewhere, and how specifically the John Fell Fund award will enable them to progress their career and/or secure further external funding. If the purpose of the project is to address feedback from an unsuccessful external grant, clearly state the feedback, how the John Fell Fund project will address this, and when you intend to re-apply for external funding.

Process for small and main (category a-e) award applications

  1. All applications to the John Fell Fund must be submitted online via the Internal Research Award Management System (IRAMS). Applicants must be mindful of earlier departmental deadlines for review.

  2. Applications must be approved by the department before the stated termly John Fell Fund deadline.

  3. The MSD Divisional Sub-committee reviews, scores and ranks proposals. The Sub-committee consists of researchers from across the Medical Sciences Division with a wide variety of expertise.

  4. The Sub-committee recommends applications for funding to the University John Fell Fund Main Committee, chaired by the Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research. Small Award applications are funded by Chair’s action in line with the Division’s termly Small Awards budget. Main Award applications are considered at the termly University John Fell Fund Main Committee meeting, alongside applications from all other Divisions.

  5. The central John Fell Fund administrators in Research Services will circulate the outcomes after the Main Committee meeting and set up the awards for successful applications. The central team will also deal with the post-award administration including extensions and final reporting.

Applications, scores and reviewer comments may be shared with other internal University panels to ensure maximum value for money.

Process for category F award applications

Applications to Category F will be accepted out of round and reviewed by Chair’s Action.

  1. For Category F applications please contact the John Fell Fund MSD Sub-Committee Secretary (jff@medsci.ox.ac.uk) as early as possible and before submitting in IRAMS to confirm eligibility of your application.
  2. Complete the separate Business Case document for Category F, in place of the usual John Fell Fund Case for Support template and submit in IRAMS. Departments must provide departmental approval in IRAMS.
  3. The John Fell Fund MSD Sub-Committee Secretary will review the application for eligibility and progress it to the central John Fell Fund administrators in Research Services.
  4. The application will be reviewed out of round. If approved by Chair’s Action, the central John Fell Fund administrators will circulate the outcome and set up the award, conditional on success of the related external funding application.

Please see the John Fell Fund pages on OxIntranet for the termly deadlines for Main and Small Award applications.

The application deadline is usually in week 2 of each University term. Your department may have an internal process ahead of the advertised deadline, so please check their procedure before you start writing your application.

Outcomes will be circulated after the term’s John Fell Fund Main Committee meeting, usually held in week 9 or 10 of each University term.

If you cannot find the required information on the John Fell Fund pages on OxIntranet, or have further queries, please e-mail jff@medsci.ox.ac.uk

JOHN FELL FUND MEDICAL SCIENCES SUB-COMMITTEE

Chair: Professor Gail Hayward (Primary Care Health Sciences)

Secretary: Adelyn Wise

Members:

Professor Louise Dalton (Psychiatry)

Professor Fumiko Esashi (Dunn School of Pathology)

Dr Gracia Fellmeth (Women's & Reproductive Health)

Professor Robert Hepach (Experimental Psychology)

Professor Jemma Hopewell (Population Health)

Professor Kassim Javaid (NDORMS)

Professor Thomas Milne (RDM)

Professor Simon Newstead (Biochemistry)

Professor Chris O'Callaghan (NDM)

Professor Gaia Scerif (Experimental Psychology)

University John Fell Fund Committee