This scheme aims to fund data collection related to unpredictable, discrete and abrupt events such as pandemics, conflicts, environmental impacts
and abrupt policy change, where the data will become inaccessible or disappear without immediate collection. Successful proposals will bring short-term impact and reputational gains for LSE, including for its impact environment, by engaging with timely research opportunities or opportunities that have a narrow window to generate impact from the research.
Scheme priorities
In line with LSE’s Research for the World strategy, this scheme aims to fund responses to unexpected, transient research activities where data collection must be conducted immediately.
Funding available
The total available funding for the scheme is £100,000 per year.
Annual funding is distributed in order of request. This funding is timed to support urgent research activities at critical times and will not be reserved for later distribution.
Projects can request up to £20,000 for up to 12 months and must be ready to start within a month of awarding.
Timetable
Due to the nature of this funding, calls are open ended and responsive.
Applicants can expect to receive an outcome 10-15 working days after submission.
Eligibility to apply
Principal Investigators
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You must be a member of Faculty, Research and Policy Staff, Teaching Staff* and LSE Fellows as listed in LSE HR Role Profiles, including in practice roles.
*Teaching Staff must demonstrate the proposed project is in line with their teaching field.
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You must have a contract of employment with their Academic Unit at LSE in place for the entire project duration, and be able to demonstrate continued links with LSE into the future. Projects cannot be used to extend LSE contracts of employment.
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Current Students, Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA), Emeritus, and Guest Teacher role holders may not apply.
Academic Units
Current Project Holders
Application process
If you are considering making an application, we strongly encourage you to contact your department’s Senior Research Development Manager as soon as possible and no later than 2 weeks before the application deadline.
All applications are submitted through the Internal Funding Application Form.
You can find the guidance for the application form here. (LINK)
Costing your application
If you are including any LSE staff costs in the budget it is mandatory to contact your Senior Research Development Manager as soon as possible and no later than 5 working days before the date of submission.
The following costs are eligible for this scheme:
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Directly Incurred Salaried research and policy staff costs within the project and contract periods.
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Directly incurred non-staff costs such as travel, fieldwork, consumables, goods, equipment, services, and consultants (including associated fees and taxes).
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Hourly Paid Staff costs for occasional research assistance and clerical support.
Specialist costs to make project activities more accessible are also eligible, such as:
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Costs for care of dependents where it is unavoidable.
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Costs to make adjustments within travel and accommodation bookings for staff who need them.
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Cost to make sure outputs are accessible (both for researchers and stakeholders, such as braille printed books or pamphlets).
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Costs of specialist contractors that are working on EDI supporting activities, such as audio transcription for events, etc.
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Costs to make events more accessible including specialist venues and supporting staff.
The following costs are not eligible under this scheme:
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Directly Allocated (LSE NAC Staff) salaried staff costs.
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Collaborator or partner staff costs.
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Indirect (overheads) and estates (space) charges of LSE or any Partner or Collaborator.
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Open Access fees and article processing charges covered by the Open Access fees and article processing charges covered by the Open Access Fund
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DI teaching contract or hourly paid teaching costs are not eligible.
If you are unsure of the kinds of non-staff costs you can include in your project, please explore the list below:
Data collection and analysis of
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Environmental events such as earthquakes and heatwaves and their impacts across communities and policy.
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Studies of sudden conflict where analysis can be undertaken of the impacts and effects in and on the region.
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Examination of sudden elections that were not scheduled or foreseen to gain insight into the functioning and challenges of the modern election systems.
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Social impacts of sudden economic recessions, including unemployment, poverty, and changes in social mobility.
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Responses to pandemics and public health crises, including the effectiveness of public health policies, vaccination campaigns, and communication strategies.
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Impact activities leading to a REF Impact Case Study
Review and selection
Applications will be sent for selection by the Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research) or the Academic Director of Impact as appropriate
Assessment criteria
Applications will be assessed against the following criteria.
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Criteria
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Urgency Fund
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1
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Significance and excellence of the proposed project. We will consider the project's potential to be undertaken immediately (e.g., due to current events, narrow window of access to high-value data or hard to access partners), its contribution to advancing knowledge in the field and broader societal issues, the originality of the research questions, and the ambition of the scope and objective development.
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Alignment to LSE strategic objectives. We will consider how the project contributes to the LSE Research for the World objectives, including contributing to the LSE research and impact environment, raising awareness and visibility of LSE research through partnerships and impact, potential for academic and interdisciplinary collaboration, and developing external funding.
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3
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Quality of the methodology and project design. The panel will consider the rigor and appropriateness of the underpinning and proposed methods and the alignment of the methodology with the proposed outputs.
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Outcomes
All applications will receive feedback from the selection process within the timelines stated above. Projects are awarded based on the information received during the application process and subject to any conditions.
Managing your award
Principal Investigators must comply with the following rules:
- Confirm that they have the full support of their host academic unit. An award letter co-signed by the hosting unit will be required.
- Manage the project funds in line with LSE financial regulations.
- Contact the R&I Funds Manager to request virements and extensions to awards.
- Comply with LSE polices for research governance, ethics, data management, intellectual policy and other policies relevant to their research.
- Engage with in-flight monitoring meetings including information requests for research communications and publicity.
- Ensure that processes and projects are compliant with good research practices, ensuring transparency and accountability.
Project changes in duration, team, costs and objectives will only be permitted in exceptional circumstances and always subject to further review by the R&I Funds Manager.
Project closure and reporting
Principal Investigators must complete a final financial report within 3 months of project end date.
Principal Investigators will be required to report on the activities, outputs, and outcomes of their research project in a final report, not more than 12 months after the end date of the project.
Full details of the reporting templates will be provided at the point of award.
Support
Please contact your R&I support contact for guidance on your application.
General queries, feedback and comments on this scheme can be sent to ri.internalschemes@lse.ac.uk