The Antarctic Funding Initiative (AFI) is a non-thematic Initiative of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and is supported logistically by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). Funding is awarded annually, on a competitive basis, to support field-based research conducted in the BAS operating area. An Announcement of Opportunity will usually be made in May, with funding decisions being announced the following April. AFI is subject to the usual NERC non-thematic eligibility requirements, both at individual and institutional level.
There is also a Collaborative Gearing Scheme (CGS), which offers opportunities for scientific collaboration with BAS in cases where no additional funding for salaries, grants or direct science costs is required, but where access to field activities already included in the BAS science programme can enhance the scientific outcome of the latter significantly. Applications may be submitted at any time of the year, but please note that: (1) unless there are exceptional mitigating circumstances, proposals must be submitted to the AFI Coordinator no later than 31st March in the same calendar year as the start of the intended field season; (2) contact details of all fieldwork participants must be supplied to the AFI Coordinator no later than 30th June preceding the intended Antarctic season.
News Items
Change to the NERC 1st July 2010 grants closing date
As a result of the anticipated move of the grant processing activities moving to the RCUK Shared Services Centre in the Autumn, NERC have announced that the closing date of the summer standard, partnership and consortium grants scheme will be brought forward by 3 weeks from 1st July to 10th June 2010. The deadline for receipt of completed Preliminary Request for Antarctic Logistic Support forms will remain 1st April 2010.
Proposals to NERC for funding projects which require Antarctic fieldwork support
As a result of recent changes that NERC has made to the way research is funded and delivered, proposals which require Antarctic logistic support will now be considered through the Responsive Mode standard grant scheme, rather than through a separate initiative (Antarctic Funding Initiative). It is intended that the 1st July 2010 proposal call will be the first to adopt this new arrangement, with the primary Antarctic fieldwork season for successful proposals being 2012/13.
To ensure that the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is able to consider the likely logistic support requirements at an early stage, before proposals have been developed in detail, applicants need to complete a Preliminary Request for Antarctic Logistic Support form. The completed form should be submitted to the Antarctic Funding Office at BAS (afibas@bas.ac.uk) no later than three months prior to the submission deadline of the intended call. Thus, for intended proposal submissions to the 1st July 2010 grant round, completed Preliminary Request for Antarctic Logistic Support forms need to be received no later than 4 p.m. on 1st April 2010. The requests will be considered by a logistics panel and feedback supplied to applicants.
Subject to the logistic requests receiving approval, applicants will be provided with a reference number to be entered on the detailed Antarctic Logistics Support Questionnaire along with the date that the logistics panel approval was received; further details will be provided in the feedback supplied to applicants.
The Antarctic Logistics Support Questionnaire will need to be attached to the full proposal submission to NERC, via the Je-S system. The approved Preliminary Requests for Antarctic Logistic Support will be valid for a 12 months period from the date of application. Any applications received that request Antarctic Logistic Support without having received prior logistical approval will not be accepted by NERC.
It is intended that other Responsive Mode funding opportunities (Consortium grants, Small grants, New Investigator grants, NERC Fellowships) will also be able to bid for Antarctic logistic support, using the same system, after July 2010. Furthermore, the process will also be extended (from July 2010) to enable Research Programmes to request Antarctic logistic support through this common process. For further information, contact Martin Miller mfm@bas.ac.uk or Ned Garnett nedg@nerc.ac.uk.
Future of the Collaborative Gearing Scheme (CGS)
The Collaborative Gearing Scheme is intended to provide opportunities for researchers based at higher education institutions (and academic analogues) to undertake field-based research in Antarctica, in scientific collaboration with the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and with logistic support provided by BAS. The Scheme does not provide funding for salaries, capital equipment or other direct costs, but does offer access to BAS Antarctic infrastructure, together with transport between the UK and Antarctica and the provision of fieldwork clothing. Further information about the Collaborative Gearing Scheme.
Although responsive-mode research proposals requiring access to BAS Antarctic infrastructure will in future be considered through the responsive-mode standard grant scheme (instead of through the Antarctic Funding Initiative), it has been decided that the Collaborative Gearing Scheme will be continued. Note that CGS proposals requesting fieldwork support for the 2010/11 Antarctic field season must be submitted no later than 31st March 2010. For further information, please contact Martin Miller at mfm@bas.ac.uk.
AFI Round 11
The deadline for submitting outline proposals to Round 11 of AFI was 4 p.m. on Thursday 29th October 2009. The received proposals will be considered by the AFI Moderating Panel on 25th March 2010 and funding recommendations made to NERC. It is expected that funding decisions will be announced during April 2010. The primary Antarctic field season for funded projects will be 2011/12.
AFI Workshop 2010
The annual AFI Workshop for 2010 will be held at the usual venue of Murray Edwards College (formerly known as New Hall), Cambridge, on 13th and 14th September.
