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Statement of Interest (SOI) for new projects

Summary

In order for a new, major project to be considered for funding by STFC, a Statement of Interest (SOI) describing the proposed project and detailing the full economic cost of the proposed programme, must be submitted for evaluation.

SOIs may propose:

Participation in new experiments or missions
The development of new instruments
Detectors or accelerator technologies
Upgrades to existing detectors
The purchase of new, or upgrades to existing, major high performance computing facilities
New initiatives in the field of e-science, modelling and data management

How to make an application

Before submitting any new proposal, the applicant must liaise with the Programme Manager. The Programme Manager will decide if the applicants are required to submit an SOI. Generally proposals with a total value greater than £500k (or proposals that are less than £500k but which will lead to an application for additional project funding of more than £500k in total) require an SOI to be submitted. In the latter case, an overview of the total expected project submission will be required.

The relevant advisory committee will consider the SOI and recommend if a full proposal should be invited for consideration by the relevant review panel.

The SOI should include a case for support of two pages in length (maximum) together with the following proforma:

-Statement of Interest form (Word - 34 Kb) (Word document - 34kB - link opens in a new window)

-Statement of Interest form (PDF - 23.6 Kb) (PDF - 24kB - link opens in a new window)

The case for support and proforma should be submitted electronically, in word or pdf format, to Jenny Hiscock.

Application information

The SOI should include the following information:

The SOI should focus on the science that would be delivered by the project and what the impact of that science would be. This should include the context in which the project is proposed, including other related national or international current or planned projects. This section should make up the majority of the two-page case for support.
Details of the collaboration proposing the project including international collaborators. Possible opportunities for UK industry and the role of the international partners should be described.
The timescale of the project, including details of the international selection process where appropriate, a date when a firm funding commitment by STFC is required and the duration of the project.
An estimate of the total full economic cost of the capital construction phase, and where possible, for the exploitation phase. This should include:
- Details of staff effort (including the cost of RAL (Rutherford Appleton Laboratory) staff), equipment and travel
- An approximate spend profile
- A statement of resources available in the proposing institutes and those already provided for the project (for example, as part of rolling grant funding)

While it is recognised that the costs given in an SOI are an estimation of final costs, it is not expected that the cost of any full proposal subsequently submitted should differ markedly from those given in the SOI unless specific feedback has been given to this effect.

SOI deadlines

SOIs can be submitted at any time. If you would like your SOI to be considered at a particular PPAN (Particle Physics, Astronomy and Nuclear Physics Science Committee) meeting, it must be submitted by the following deadlines:

PPAN meeting	SOI deadline
29/30 September 2010	6 September 2010
30 November - 1 December 2010	8 November 2010
23/24 February 2011	31 January 2011

If the SOI application is successful, the PPAN Secretary will invite the applicant to submit a comprehensive proposal to PPRP (Projects Peer Review Panel). At this time, applicants should liaise with the PPRP Secretary for an appropriate submission deadline.