New Newton Fund Institutional Links grants launched to build collaborations between UK and key partner countries in academic groups, industry and third sectors.
The British Council, working with the UK Higher Education International Unit and a variety of national partners in-country, has launched the new Institutional Links programme, delivered under the Newton Fund.
The Newton Fund Institutional Links programme is designed to establish links beyond the level of the individual researcher and innovation practitioner, opening up opportunities for more sustainable, solution-oriented research and innovation collaborations between academic groups as well as with the private and third sector. The launch follows the success of British Council Researcher Links, which forges links at the individual researcher level.
The Newton Fund is a £375 million fund (£75 million a year for 5 years starting 2014/15). Through the Newton Fund, the UK will use its strength in research and innovation to promote the economic development and social welfare of partner countries. By working together on bi-lateral and multi-lateral programmes with a research and innovation focus, the UK will build strong, sustainable, systemic relationships with partner countries. This will support the continued excellence of the UK research base and innovation ecosystem and act as a key to unlock opportunities for wider collaboration and trade.
A ‘call to action’ has been issued for Leading and Established Researchers to submit a proposal for grants of 50,000 – 300,000 (unless specified otherwise) pounds sterling to be used over two years that will involve the UK and Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines and Vietnam. The total amount of funding available for this call is up to £6 million, depending on matching contributions from partner institutions.
Newton Institutional Links grants are intended to provide small-scale seed funding to:
• Initiate new research and innovation collaborations between academic groups, departments and institutions in partner countries and the UK
• Develop existing collaborations at group, departmental and institutional level
• Encourage these collaborations to work with non-academic organisations and individuals to support the exchange of research and innovation expertise and the translation of research knowledge into tangible benefits
• Establish local hubs for UK-partner country activity in a particular area, enabling engagement from the wider research and innovation community.
Unless specified otherwise in the guidelines, all research areas are covered, including the natural sciences, humanities and social sciences.