Future Leaders Fellowships: Round 11, business and non-academic

Official Guidance

Describe your project briefly and be clear about what makes it innovative. We use this section to assign the right experts to assess your application.

Official Guidance

Describe your project in detail and in a way that you are happy to see published. Do not include any commercially sensitive information. If we award your project funding, we will publish this description. This can happen before you start your project.

Official Guidance

Describe how your project fits the scope of the competition. If your project is not in scope, it will not be sent for assessment. We will tell you the reason why.

Official Guidance

You must state the name and full registered address of your organisation and any partners or subcontractors working on your project. We are collecting this information to understand more about the geographical location of all applicants.

Official Guidance

You must provide the name and role of your host organisation contact.

Official Guidance

List the core members of your team and assign them roles from the following: fellow, partner, visiting researcher, specialist, technician, subcontractor. Only list one individual as the fellow.

Official Guidance

Will your proposed research include non-funded partners? A non-funded project partner is a collaborating organisation who will have an integral role in the proposed research. This may include direct (cash) or indirect contributions, for example, expertise, staff time or use of facilities. You must select one option: Yes or No. If you answer ‘yes’ you must add details of non-funded project partners’ contributions and letters of support as an appendix. You can submit one appendix to support your answer which must include: the non-funded project partners organisation name and address; the type of contribution (direct or indirect) and its monetary value; letters or emails of support, which must be on headed paper and signed by each of the non-funded partners you are including: these must be in English or Welsh only. The appendix must be a PDF and no larger than 10MB in size. The font must be legible at 100% zoom. For audit purposes UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made

Official Guidance

Will your project involve any trials with animals or animal testing? You must select one option: Yes or No. We will only support innovation projects conducted to the highest standards of animal welfare. Further information for proposals involving animal testing is available at the UKRI Good Research Hub and NC3R’s animal welfare guidance.

Official Guidance

Will you have the correct permits and licences in place to carry out your project? We are unable to fund projects which do not have the correct permits or licences in place by your project start date. You must select one option: Yes, No, In the process of being applied for, or Not applicable.

Official Guidance

Does your proposed work involve any international collaboration or engagement? International collaboration is permitted with justification that the majority of the work and exploitation must be in the UK. You must provide details of any expected international collaboration or engagement. You must include a list of the names and the countries, any international project partners, visiting researchers, or other collaborators are based in. You must also include details of any subcontractors or service providers. If your proposed work does not involve international collaboration or engagement, your answer must confirm this.

Official Guidance

You must indicate whether an export control license is required for this project under the academic export control guidance. You must select one option: Yes or No.

Official Guidance

You must explain if your proposed project work relates to UKRI’s Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) Principles, including: a list of any dual-use (both military and non-military) applications to your research; a list of the areas where your project is relevant to one or more of the 17 areas of the UK National Security and Investment (NSI) Act; whether an export control license is required for this project under the academic export control guidance and the status of any applications; a list of any items or substances on the UK Strategic Export Control List. If your proposed work does not relate to UKRI’s TR&I Principles, your answer must confirm this. We may ask you to provide additional TR&I information at a later date, in line with UKRI TR&I Principles and funding terms and conditions.

Official Guidance

Is this application a resubmission of a proposal to the Future Leaders Fellowship (FLF) scheme? If this application is a resubmission, you must provide the grant reference of your previous submission and briefly outline changes that have been made to your application. You can also include how this submission addresses feedback from reviewers and interview panel where applicable.

Official Guidance

Do you wish to take your fellowship as reduced hours? Type “Yes” or “No”. If requesting reduced hours, you must provide a percentage of the hours in relationship to 'full time' (100%) and justification for this.

Official Guidance

What are your plans for the fellowship? Explain: the main motivation for your project; how your proposed work is of excellent quality and is timely; the business need, technological challenge, organisational objective or market opportunity; whether you have identified any similar innovation and its current limitations, including those close to market or in development; any work you have already done to respond to this need, for example, if the project focuses on developing an existing capability or building a new one; the potential direct or indirect benefits of your innovation and who the beneficiaries might be.

Official Guidance

What approach will you take and where will the focus of the innovation be? Explain: how you will respond to the need, challenge or opportunity identified; how you will improve on any similar innovation that you have identified; whether the innovation will focus on existing technologies in new areas, the development of new technologies for existing areas, or a totally disruptive approach; the freedom you have to operate; how this project fits with your current product, service lines or offerings; how it will make you more competitive; the nature of the outputs you expect from the project, for example reports, demonstrator, know-how, new process, product or service design, and how these will help you to target the need, challenge or opportunity identified. You can submit one appendix to support your answer. It can include diagrams and charts. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

Official Guidance

Why are you the right person to deliver this work? Explain: who you are, your experience and how it makes you an excellent candidate for FLF funding; how your skills will allow you to deliver the work; how you have contributed to developing a positive working environment and wider innovation community; how you have demonstrated team working or leadership skills; any roles you will need to recruit for. You must frame your response using the following headings: contributions to the generation of new ideas, tools, methodologies or knowledge; the development of others and maintenance of effective working relationships; contributions to the wider research and innovation community; contributions to broader research or innovation users and audiences, and towards wider societal benefit. You can provide further details relevant to your application that do not fit within the specified headings. Describe any factors that provide context for the rest of your response such as, details of career breaks if you wish to disclose them.

Official Guidance

Why is this fellowship the right way to develop your career and how will you use it to benefit others? Describe: your career development goals and how the fellowship will support your personal development and help you to achieve these goals; how you will develop skills, for example, in research, leadership, communication, and management; your proposed mentoring arrangements and how they are appropriate to support your career development; how you will support your team in their continued research and professional development; how you will instigate positive change in the wider research and innovation community through, for example, equality diversity and inclusion (EDI), advocacy or advisory roles, stakeholder engagement, participation in peer review, influencing policy, public engagement or outreach.

Official Guidance

How will the host organisation support your fellowship? Explain: how your host will support you in your career development and delivery of your innovation; how your research or innovation environment will contribute to the success of the work, in terms of suitability of the host organisation and strategic relevance to the fellowship; how the host organisation will ensure your time commitment to the fellowship is protected; what development and training opportunities will be provided and how they form a cohesive career development package tailored to your aims and aspirations as a future leader; what financial or practical support, such as, access to the appropriate services, facilities, infrastructure, or equipment, is being provided and how this strengthens your application; details of any fellowship work to be conducted at another UK or overseas host organisation and how they will support you, if applicable.

Official Guidance

What are the ethical and RRI implications and issues relating to the proposed work? You must demonstrate that you have identified and evaluated: the relevant ethical or responsible research and innovation considerations; how you will manage these considerations. You must explain why, if you do not think that the proposed work raises any ethical or RRI issues. You must complete the attached template and additional animal research question template. If your proposed work involves human or animal participation, you must complete the required information in the templates. If this is not applicable you must upload a blank template stating ‘template not applicable’ in your answer to the question. You must upload the templates as a PDF with a file size of up to 10MB. The font must be legible at 100% zoom.

Official Guidance

How will you manage your project effectively? Explain: the main work packages of your project, indicating the lead partner assigned to each and the total cost of each one; your approach to project management, identifying any major tools and mechanisms you will use to get a successful and innovative project outcome; the management reporting lines; your project plan in enough detail to identify any links or dependencies between work packages or milestones. You must submit a project plan or Gantt chart as an appendix to support your answer. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

Official Guidance

What are the main risks for this project? Explain: the main risks and uncertainties of the project, including the technical, commercial, managerial and environmental risks; how you will mitigate these risks; any project inputs that are critical to completion, such as resources, expertise, and data sets; any output likely to be subject to regulatory requirements, certification, ethical issues and other requirements identified, and how you will manage this. You must submit a risk register as an appendix to support your answer. It must be a PDF no larger than 10MB. It can be up to two A4 pages and must be legible at 100% zoom.

Official Guidance

How will this public funding help you to accelerate or enhance your approach to developing your innovation. What impact would this fellowship have on your career development that another grant would not? Explain: what advantages public funding would offer your project, for example: appeal to investors, more partners, reduced risk or a faster route to market; the likely impact of the project outcomes on the organisations involved; how any existing or potential investment or support will be used in conjunction with the grant funding; how this project would change the R&D activities of all the organisations involved.

Official Guidance

How much will the project cost and how does it represent value for money for the team and the taxpayer? In terms of your project goals, explain: your total eligible project costs; the grant you are requesting; how each partner will finance their contributions to your project; how this project represents value for money for you and the taxpayer; how it compares to what you would spend your money on otherwise; the balance of costs and grant across the project partners; any subcontractor costs and why they are critical to your project; any NHS costs. You must fully justify your project’s larger costs, in particular: project staff; significant travel for field work or collaboration, not including regular travel between collaborating organisations or conferences; any equipment that will cost more than £10,000; any consumables beyond typical requirements, or that are required in exceptional quantities; all facilities and infrastructure costs; training costs; all resources that have been costed as ‘exceptions’. Demonstrate how the resources you anticipate needing for your proposed work: are comprehensive, appropriate and justified; represent the optimal use of resources to achieve the intended outcomes; maximise potential outcomes and impacts.

Official Guidance

How will you manage and share data collected or acquired through the proposed research? Explain how you will comply with UKRI’s published data sharing policy, which includes detailed guidance notes.