CaSDaR Funding Call 1 FAQs

Please read below to see the frequently asked questions about or funding call, which include all of the questions asked in our recent launch webinar. As we get asked new questions we will update this page. 

More Information Questions

  • Question: Will a copy of the slides from CaSDaR’s Funding Call 1 Launch Webinar be made available to prospective applicants? 
    Answer: The slides and video are accessible via CaSDaR’s Zenodo Community and the recording has also been made available on CaSDaR’s YouTube channel. 

Application Form Questions

  • Question: Who should fill in the application for this funding?
    Answer: The Primary Applicant (Project Lead for the £70K projects, and the Project Supervisor for the £5K Projects)
  • Question: Can images be embedded within the application form?
    Answer: Yes – if you want to use images as part of your application that is fine.
  • Question: For user organisational approval, are you expecting someone in particular? E.g. Dean of School, Associate Dean of Research, or Head of Department?
    Answer: The main thing that this person will be signing off is finance, as it is important that whoever signs it off is happy with the financial side of things, as successful applicants will of course have to provide the 20% as per FfC rules.
  • Question: How do I submit my application?
    Answer: For the £70K Large Projects submit via our CaSDaR £70K Mini Projects Submission Form, using our CaSDaR £70K Large Projects Application Form. For the £5K Projects submit via our CaSDaR £5K Mini Projects Submission Form, using our CaSDaR £5K Mini Projects Application Form).

Logistics Questions

  • Question: Are individuals currently employed in a professional services career track or job family at a higher education institution eligible to apply? 
    Answer: We have no restrictions on who can apply for these projects – our focus is on the project; to identify the areas the applications will be reviewed on, please see here for guidance on the £5k mini projects and here for guidance on the applications for the £70k large projects. If you have issues in progressing your application with your employer, then please contact us at casdar@soton.ac.uk and we will be happy to act as mediators in this process. 
  • Question: Who is eligible to apply for this funding?
    Answer: Anyone who is usually eligible for UKRI Funding (see here for more details). Additionally, organisations that are not normally eligible for UKRI funding may be considered for support through this flexible funding call. However, any funding awarded must comply with UKRI’s subsidy control regulations. Applicants should be aware that funding may be subject to additional checks, and they may be asked to provide information to demonstrate eligibility under subsidy control rules.
  • Question: Is there a limit on the number of applications that can be funded from a single organisation, provided each proposal is sufficiently distinct and of high quality?
    Answer: There is no limit on the number of applications from a single organisation; however, we will give consideration in the review panel to projects that represent areas of Data Stewardship that are under-represented (for more information about this see our Reviewer Guidelines). 
  • Question: What does 80% fEC Mean?
    Answer: fEC stands for full economic cost. CaSDaR is funded at 80% fEC by UKRI, which means that we need to distribute our funding in the same way. For the £70K Large Projects, applicants can request up to £56K funding (total spend up to £70K as per fEC 80%), and for the £5K Mini Projects, applicants can request up to £4K (total spend up to £5K as per fEC). Applicants will be awarded 80% of the full cost, and the institution receiving the award is responsible for the remaining 20%. When invoices are submitted they should be for 80% of the full cost and a statement should also be submitted showing the full cost.

  • Question: Does the funding call allow for projects to be conducted on a part-time basis, or is a full-time commitment required? 
    Answer: We are flexible to projects running part-time if this is the correct use of time for the project and fits well with the current work situation for the applicant/s. 

  • Question: Is the £70k large project funding intended to support the salary of a single full-time individual, or could it be used to fund multiple part-time roles? 

    Answer: Whilst we project that most of the funding received will be spent on salaries and staffing, we are flexible to how the staffing costs are distributed across the project to deliver the project outcomes and increase the impact of the project. 

  • Question: When referring to ‘under-represented areas’ in the context of the funding call, could you clarify whether this relates to under-representation in terms of people, disciplines, or areas of work? 

    Answer: When we use the term ‘under-represented’ in this funding call, we are referring to the area of work as we are keen to ensure that we represent Data Stewardship across all relevant areas. CaSDaR is committed to ensuring that all voices feel heard by us, so please feel free to see our values and philosophy and contact us at casdar@soton.ac.uk if you have any questions about this. 

  • As a Research Librarian focused on organisational support and workflows, I want to know what types of projects you feel would be considered relevant or suitable for this funding call? 
    Answer: We feel very strongly that the projects funded by CaSDaR’s Funding Call round 1 should represent the community therefore we have no exact prescription for suitable projects beyond the remit that the projects are designed to support Data Stewards and Data Stewardship activities. However, applications will be reviewed on specific criteria; to find out more on these please see the Reviewer Guidelines and associated documentation. 

  • Question: Would a project focused on cataloguing legacy data be considered within the scope of interest for this funding call? 
    Answer: This would be within the scope of CaSDaR’s Funding Call round 1, as documentation of the project and an evaluation of the impact of the project would add to the body of evidence around Data Stewards and Data Stewardship work. However, applications will be reviewed on specific criteria; to find out more on these please see the Reviewer Guidelines and associated documentation.  

Reviewer Questions

  • Question: How can I volunteer to be a reviewer?
    Answer: Fill in our reviewer volunteer form. 
  • Question: How many applications would I be expected to review if I volunteer, and how long would it take?
    Answer: Projected 5 applications per reviewer for the £5k projects (We expect that this application form will be relatively lightweight and each application form will not be more than 5 pages/2000 words, so should not take longer than 1 hour per application form to review). Projected 3 applications per reviewer for the £70k projects (We expect that each application will not be more than 8 pages/2800 words, therefore each should take approximately 2 hours per application form to review).
  • Question: Can I review if I am applying for one of the calls?
    Answer: Reviewers cannot review for the call they are applying for due to potential conflicts of interest.
  • Question: If I volunteer to act as a reviewer for one funding stream—for example, the £5k mini project funding—would I still be eligible to apply for a different stream, such as the £70k large project funding?
    Answer: If you are applying for one funding stream then you will not be able to act as a reviewer for that funding stream; however you will be able to act as a reviewer for the other funding stream. For example, if you are submitting a £70k large project application then you will not be able to act as a reviewer for other applications for the £70k large project submissions but will be able to act as a reviewer for the £5k mini project submissions.
  • Question: Would I still be eligible to act as a reviewer if a colleague or collaborator submits an application for funding?
    Answer: You would not be asked to review applications from someone who works for the same organisation and if you are acting as a reviewer, then you will be asked to identify any conflicts of interest that may affect your ability to impartially review submissions. Examples and further definitions of conflicts of interest can be seen on the UKRI website; if you would like more guidance on potential conflicts of interest then please contact casdar@soton.ac.uk 

Call & Research Questions

  • Question: You’ve mentioned that this funding call is intended to support Data Stewards and Data Stewardship in the UK. Could you provide a straightforward definition of what a ‘Data Steward’ is?
    Answer: There are multiple definitions of Data Stewardship and one of the remits of CaSDaR is to develop a definition of Data Stewardship in the UK in collaboration with the community. A definition for Research Data Stewards from the ELIXIR RDMkit is as follows: “Works directly with researchers and offers support with RDM matters. They make sure data is handled in compliance with the institute’s policy and they can also perform hands-on work in a project.” More excellent definitions of Data Stewardship across different areas can be seen here, there has been work done to develop a minimum viable skillset associated with Data Stewardship, and develop personas associated with Data Stewardship. These resources may be very helpful for you to see how these definitions relate to your situation.  

  • Question: You’ve stated that the application forms will be used as research data to explore the needs of Data Stewards; could you outline what you expect to find from this research? 
    The CaSDaR team intends to use these application forms for empirical qualitative research to identify the needs of the community. We intend that these projects and applications will form an evidence base to display the relevance of introducing Data Stewards in the UK across multiple disciplines and organisations, and as such we want to use data from all of the applications to provide a more detailed picture of the needs and priorities of research organisations within the UK, which will inform the activities of CaSDaR during the project and provide areas for potential future research. We are also keen to promote development of Data Stewardship at organisations across the UK, so we intend to publish anonymised aggregated data from the applications as well as a high-level thematic analysis from the qualitative data in the applications to support initiatives that align with CaSDaR’s aims. For more information on how we plan to use the data from the applications, please see the relevant Participation Information Sheets (5K Participant Information) & (70K Participant Information). 

  • Question: Looking ahead, what are the intended outcomes of your research into Data Stewards? Who do you anticipate the findings will inform—just the immediate community, or also external stakeholders such as funders or policy makers?
    Answer: We anticipate that, whilst the Data set will be of primary use to inform the community and other working groups who are interested in supporting Data Stewardship, that it will be of interest to external stakeholders and decision makers in multiple organisations, such as funders, policy makers, and aligned initiatives.