TRDF: Transformative Research Technologies

https://bbsrc.ukri.org/funding/filter/2019-tools-resources-development-fund/

Application deadline: 17 September 2019

Duration: 6 and 18 months duration

Amount: not expected to exceed £150,000 (£187,000 100% FEC), £3m budget for scheme.

The 2019 TRDF call aims to pump prime the next generation of cutting-edge enabling research technologies with the potential for transformative impact in life sciences research (both biological and biomedical).

It will support applications for early stage technology development and research into the development of novel techniques and technologies based on new advances in fundamental engineering, physical and life sciences that have the potential to enable transformative step changes in research capability.

A fast-track peer review process will operate to enable researchers to respond rapidly to emerging challenges and opportunities.

Scope

The aim of the call is to support the early-stage development of cutting edge, high-impact transformative research technologies based on new advances in fundamental engineering, physical and life sciences which are essential to sustaining the vibrancy of life sciences discovery research in the UK.

This call intends to support small and short ‘high risk/high reward’ pilot studies directed towards development of a new technology where little to no preliminary data exists.

The outcome of the application does not necessarily need to be a fully-fledged tool, but could be demonstration of proof-of-concept, or production of a prototype for further development.

The scheme is aimed at transformative technology development across a broad range of disciplines and to enable interdisciplinary collaborative working.

Projects may have relevance to core bioscience and/or Technology Touching Life (TTL), a cross-Council initiative to champion research at the interface between the scientific remit of UKRI-BBSRC, UKRI-EPSRC and UKRI-MRC.

Applicants are advised to contact the office to discuss their application and/or if they are unsure whether their application would fit the scope of the call (email address at bottom of this email).

Requirements

Applications are expected to focus on one or more of the following:

• Transformative technology development that has the potential to result in innovative and potentially disruptive new technological capabilities applicable to the life sciences. This includes technologies with potential broad utility across both biological and biomedical research communities, as well as technologies that may only have utility within one research community
• New advances in engineering and physical sciences research that aim to establish proof-of-concept with a clear trajectory towards a new life sciences research technology in the short term
• Radical innovation that has the potential to deliver a step change in current technological capabilities in aspects such as accuracy, precision, resolution, throughput, and breadth of application to facilitate new research discoveries
• New software tools and algorithms to address key data analysis challenges in life sciences research. These must demonstrate genuine innovation and originality.

All applications are expected to outline how the research might deliver a substantial improvement versus the current state-of-the-art applicable to the relevant field(s) of research and how the project could broadly enable new avenues of life sciences discovery research.

Applicants must also outline the extent of the potential impact outside of their own specific research programme.

Exclusions

Proposals in the following areas will not be accepted:

• Platform technologies that are generically applicable to multiple research domains, rather than life sciences research
• Applications with a focus on answering a research question instead of developing cutting-edge technology to do so. These applications could be better suited to Responsive Mode
• Incremental adaptations/improvements of technologies where previous proof-of-concept has already been demonstrated, including applications with existing technologies already in use for comparable areas of life sciences
• Medical/clinical devices (being developed for end-point clinical utility rather than basic research purposes) and Healthcare Technologies (including biomedical engineering for diagnostic or therapeutic application)
• Large scale infrastructure, or direct application of off-the-shelf technology to research.
• Community databases and data infrastructures. These applications could be better suited to the Bioinformatics and Biological Resources (BBR) Fund
• Technologies for translational applications. The focus for this call is on technologies for the discovery research community
• Applications that exceed the cost and/or duration limits described for this call (see below).

Applicants are strongly advised to contact development.fund@bbsrc.ukri.org if they are unsure whether their application would fit the scope of the call.

Please ensure to read the full call guidance notes and FAQ available through the link above.