Funding Opportunities

Call Now Closed: ESPA 2012 Grants

The closing date was 02 April 2012 at 16:00 UK local time (GMT+1/UCT+1)

The ESPA Programme Executive Board had invited Expressions of Interest (EOI) to attend a Grant Development Workshop, near London, on 2–4 July 2012. This is the first stage in an application process for major ESPA projects which will be followed by outline proposals and full proposals.

This Announcement of Opportunity (AO) is for empirical ESPA projects where original in situ research will lead to a significantly increased understanding of ways to enhance the benefits that poor people in low-income countries will derive from multiple ecosystem services. ESPA projects will be required to deliver research excellence with impact.

Projects will generate new data and knowledge from integrated studies of a wide range of ecosystem services. This call is specifically focussed on how ecosystems and their services in multi-functional landscapes can better support enhanced multidimensional well-being of poor people in low-income countries. This requires detailed in situ studies of ecosystems, their functions and processes, the goods and services that emerge, and the governance and decision-making processes involved.

Applications were invited for funding in the range of £1m to £2m Full Economic Cost (FEC). This call has a total available budget of up to £10m. Projects will be funded for a maximum duration of three years with an expected start date between 01 April 2013 and 30 June 2013. In administration of the grant, standard NERC guidelines will apply.

Applicants submitting EOIs must ensure that they, or a nominated Co-PI/Co-I, are available to attend the Grant Development Workshop on the 2–4 July 2012. If a Co-PI/Co-I is to be nominated to attend the workshop in place of the PI, this must be done at the time of application.

All participants at the Grant Development Workshop will be eligible to submit outline proposals.

Please see the Announcement of Opportunity document below for full details on the call.

ESPA 2012 - Announcement of Opportunity (221KB)

Expressions of Interest should have been submitted using the downloadable ESPA-2012 EOI Application Form and CV Template which should be emailed to espa [at] nerc [dot] ac [dot] uk. The forms are available from the links below.

ESPA - Expression of Interest - Application (142KB)

ESPA - CV Template (99KB)

For further details, please contact the ESPA Secretariat.

ESPA Related Documents cited in the Announcement of Opportunity

In the Announcement of Opportunity, various ESPA documents are cited. For your ease, these have been compiled into two file digests.

• The ESPA strategy documents are available as a single file digest here
• Other supporting ESPA documents are available as a single file digest here

All of these documents are available as single files from the table below.

Background to the ESPA 2012 Grants Call

The ESPA Directorate conducted an online questionnaire to understand the experiences and perceptions of applicants for ESPA funding up to and including applications for ESPA Consortia projects in 2011.

Respondents were asked to comment on their experiences, to provide feedback to inform the design of this ESPA call, and where possible the way in which the call is structured, supported and administered within the UK Research Council’s systems. This page features the findings of the recent review of the applications process for ESPA funding.

General information about ESPA funding

Funding for ESPA projects is administered by the ESPA Secretariat, housed at the Natural Environment Research Council. Please visit the NERC website for the most up to date information on funding. For advice on submitting a funding application, please contact the ESPA Secretariat at espa [at] nerc [dot] ac [dot] uk.

Details of currently funded ESPA projects can be found on the Projects page.

Other opportunities

The following programmes may be of use to researchers who are interested in the ESPA research agenda. Please go to the programme websites for up to date information on funding opportunities.

ESRC-DFID Joint Scheme for Research on International Development (Poverty Alleviation) - aiming to enhance the quality and impact of social science research addressing the key international development goal of reducing poverty amongst the poorest countries and peoples of the world. It funds world class scientific research on issues relating to economic development and quality of life in less developed countries with the potential for impact on policy and practice for poverty reduction.

DFID-ESRC growth programme - funding world class scientific research on issues relating to inclusive economic growth in Low Income Countries, with high potential for impact on policy and practice.  

Darwin Initiative - UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) programme which assists countries that are rich in biodiversity but poor in financial resources to meet their objectives under one or more of the three major biodiversity Conventions: the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD); the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES); and the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), through the funding of collaborative projects which draw on UK biodiversity expertise.