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Peer Review College Newsletter Winter 2014 Launch of New EPSRC Strategic plan CONTENTS Over the last five years the national and international research landscape, and the 1. Launch of New EPSRC context in which EPSRC operates, have changed and continue to develop. To take Strategic plan – page 1 account of this new environment our Strategic Plan has been up-dated, with input from our partners and communities, recognising external influences including 2. EPSRC Policy on the Use the international research landscape, global economic situation and government of Animals in Research strategies. – page 1 We have developed our goals and strategies to reflect this changing landscape and 3. College Member On-line to ensure we maintain focus on our ambitious and unwavering vision: for the UK to Training – page 3 be the best place in the world to research, discover and innovate. Our Strategic Plan also recognises the importance of working in partnership if the UK is to maintain its 4. EPSRCs Peer Review position as a world-leading location for high quality research, and be equally renowned Extranet – page 4 for its innovation. 5. Return for Amendments EPSRC’s CEO, Professor Philip Nelson said: “Our Strategic Plan describes the – page 4 potential of UK science and engineering, its importance to addressing the global and 6. The importance of Pre- domestic challenges that range from energy security to healthcare, and the vital role scores – page 5 it plays in economic growth by fuelling technological progress. It sets out how EPSRC, in partnership with the academic community and industry partners, will unlock that 7. Membership Matters potential and deliver on our vision. I believe this is a powerful argument in making the – page 5 case for long-term investment.” 8. Editors End Piece Our Council is beginning its preparation for next year’s anticipated Spending Review – page 8 and subsequent Delivery Plan. As part of this work, we will be engaging with our partners and stakeholders in the first quarter of 2015 and will publish further details in the New Year. EPSRC Policy on Use of Animals in Research We have recently clarified our policy on the use of animals in research to ensure it aligns with recognised best practice and is harmonised with the other Research Councils. Full details of our policy can be found on the EPSRC website at http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/about/standards/animalresearchpolicy/. Wherever possible, researchers must adopt procedures and techniques that avoid the use of animals. Where this is not possible, the research should be designed to conform to recognised best practice. Best Practice Guidance We endorse guidance developed by the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) concerning the use of animals in research. We recommend that College members who work in areas where in vivo research may be undertaken should keep themselves aware of developments Peer Review College Newsletter in best practice by familiarising themselves with publications and other resources accessible through the NC3Rs website. Key resources are referenced below: • Responsibility in the use of animals in bioscience research (http://www.epsrc. ac.uk/links/centres/national-centre-for-the-replacement-refinement-reduction- of-animals-in-research-nc3rs/responsibility-in-the-use-of-animals-in- bioscience-research-nc3rs/) This document provides general guidance to researchers and associated staff using animals or animal research products in bioscience research. It sets out the expectations of the EPSRC for the use of such animals in research and is therefore also useful to those assessing applications for research funding. Implementation of the principles in this guidance is a condition of receiving funds from EPSRC. • Animal research: Reporting of in vivo experiments (ARRIVE) (http://www.epsrc. ac.uk/links/centres/national-centre-for-the-replacement-refinement-reduction- of-animals-in-research-nc3rs/arrive-guidelines-nc3rs/) Researchers are encouraged to report animal-based studies in accordance with the ARRIVE guidelines. These guidelines are intended to improve standards of reporting and ensure that the data from animal experiments can be fully evaluated and utilised. • Primate accommodation, care and use (http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/links/centres/ national-centre-for-the-replacement-refinement-reduction-of-animals-in- research-nc3rs/non-human-primate-accommodation-care-and-use-nc3rs/) Guidelines on the accommodation, care and use of non-human primates, produced by the NC3Rs. Implementation of the principles in this guidance is a condition of receiving funds from EPSRC. Applicant and Reviewer Guidance We have published new guidance for applicants and reviewers on our website at http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/about/standards/animalresearchpolicy/. Important changes that we’d like to draw to the attention of College members include: • An ‘Animal Species’ section has been added to the Je-S form. This section requires applicants to provide additional justification on the need to use animals, the choice of species, experimental approach and numbers required. The section was previously only used by BBSRC and MRC. Please note that this section must be completed whether or not the animals are to be purchased with funds requested within the proposal itself. College members are asked to assess the information in this section when reviewing proposals and include any relevant comments in the ‘Quality’ and ‘Resources and Management’ sections of the reviewer form. • The NC3Rs will be involved in the review of any applications received by EPSRC proposing to use non-human primates, cats, dogs or equines, providing advice on the 3Rs and animal welfare. The animal use aspects of proposals requesting other species may also be subject to specific review during the assessment process, particularly if large numbers of animals are requested. We continue to work with NC3Rs and the other Research Councils to ensure robust review of the animal use aspects of proposals. If any further changes to our review processes are recommended, these will be communicated to College members. Contact: [email protected] 2 Peer Review College Newsletter College Member On-Line Training The College Member training will shortly be moved to a new platform. This will enable EPSRC to save the cost of the training being hosted externally. The new package will be hosted entirely within the Research Councils systems. For this move to take place the training will be off-line for several weeks. We will email the new details to you once the move has completed. Thank you to those members who have already completed the training – there are approximately 800 people who have completed or are currently carrying out the training. We have received positive feedback on the content and would encourage everyone to complete the training particularly when asked to review or attend a panel meeting. Extracts from the feedback received to date: How long have you been a member of the How useful did you find this training? EPSRC Peer Review College? How engaging did you find the training? How easy did you find it to navigate the training? 3 Peer Review College Newsletter EPSRC Peer Review Extranet As you may be aware EPSRC started using a Cross Council Extranet for all standard research peer review meeting paperwork from 1 July 2014. We have received positive feedback from the community on their experience in using the system, with some suggestions on how to enhance it. Professor Sarah Spurgeon, a recent chair at an Engineering prioritisation panel meeting said “As a panellist I found the Extranet very useful in preparing for the meeting. I was able to download all the files from the Extranet for all proposals electronically and save them within the directory structure of my pc. This option enabled me to prepare very conveniently and efficiently even when travelling and without internet access.” A number of improvements were made to the system during October based on feedback we have received; this includes the ability to download documents as a combined single PDF, improvements to the Zip download encryption and changes to the document ordering. We will continue to listen to your feedback in order to make changes to the system in the future. Return for amendments On average EPSRC returns about a third of all proposals to universities to make changes to either format or content or in some cases both. The nature of these changes covers a wide range of issues including: exceeding required page length; wrong or missing attachment types; incomplete Pathways to Impact statements and insufficient justification of resources. Ensuring proposals are prepared correctly saves time for applicants, universities, reviewers and EPSRC. To assist applicants and reviewers with what a proposal should look like, EPSRC has updated the layout and content of our guidance for preparing a proposal, this can be found here: http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/howtoapply/preparing/ A quick check list to avoid a proposal being returned: • Check the requirements for the funding route you are applying to; • Check the required page length for each attachment type; • Check all resources requested are eligible and justified in the Justification of Resources; • Check project partner is listed in the proposal and Project Partner Letter of Support has correct format and content; • Refer to EPSRC guidance on writing good Pathways to Impact; • Refer to EPSRC guidance on applying for equipment. 4 Peer Review College Newsletter The Importance of Pre-Scores Introducer pre-scores are very important to the running of panel meetings and we would like to remind our community of the importance of pre-scores being returned to the office (via the extranet) before the meeting. Pre-scores should be uploaded to the EPSRC Peer Review Extranet at least two working days before the meeting. It is essential that we receive pre-scores from all members of the panel so that we can upload an initial running order for the proposals to the EPSRC Peer Review Extranet ahead of the meeting.
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