Summary of funding available for both areas:
Applications are invited for funding to support work on the specific topic of (a) ‘Development of methods to assess resource requirements to achieve universal health coverage in high TB burden countries’, or (b) to support work on any other area of TB modelling (ie an ‘open’ call).
The total funds available for all work in (a) and (b) is US$130,000. This is likely to be shared between two awards of around US65k per award. Funds will be allocated to applications, based on application quality as assessed by external reviewers using the assessment criteria below.
Details of research question topic (b) “Open call for TB modelling proposals”
Reference: TB MAC RFA 4b
Duration: 6-9 months
Total funds available ; up to US$130,000
Funds available for this topic : up to US$130,000, but preference for applications around US$65k
Submission opening date: 11th June 2015
Submission closing date: 3rd July 2015
Decisions announced: 16th July 2015
Contact: Christina.Albertsen@lshtm.ac.uk (admin) or Richard.White@lshtm.ac.uk (technical)
This is an open call for any TB modelling proposal. Preference will be given to applications that:
a) fall within the TB MAC aims (see www.tb-mac.org) and
b) it is justified that results can be shown to be needed to inform policy/decision making before end 2016.
Assessment criteria
All applications will be reviewed by expert external reviewers. All applications to this research question will be scored against the following criteria:
Does the modelling fall within TB MAC aim
Are the results required to inform policy/decision making before end 2016
Is the research question and plan well-described
Is the research team qualified to conduct this research and meet the profile above
Is the budget and timeline appropriate for the proposed activity
Is the proposal likely to meet the aim, objectives and deliverables
Is the dissemination and policy impact maximisation plan adequate
Does the proposal explain how models/data will be shared for maximum public utility
Does the proposal show a clear understanding of the limitations of research
Mechanism
A contract will be issued from LSHTM either to an institution or to an applicant personally in the form of consultancy fees.
Eligible costs
This call will pay Direct Costs and Indirect Costs only. Our ultimate funder is the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and we would comply with the same Indirect Costs rule as they grant to us, which is up to 15%.
Eligibility
Members of the TB MAC Secretariat and Advisory Panel are not eligible for this award.
Format
Applications should include a proposal limited to three pages (excluding references, and with a minimum of 11 point font size). Proposals should include: (i) an introduction to the topic; (ii) description of previous work in the area by the applicants; (iii) description and justification of the intended approach; (iv) timeline for the proposed work; (v) budget and its justification. In addition, the principal applicant should provide a separate short bio-sketch (one page summary of qualifications, research interests, key funding publications and major sources of research support)
