Copus Grants - How to Apply


	Overview
	Terms and Conditions
	Frequently asked questions
	Other sources of funding

Please note that the application deadline for the Copus Grant Schemes 2003/4 has passed, and we are not accepting applications at this time. This document is provided for reference for applicants for the Copus Grant Schemes 2003/4.

This is a collection of answers we have provided to enquiries relating to the Copus Grant Schemes 2003/2004. Applicants are reminded that as the Copus Grant Schemes are highly competitive, an application may not be successful even when following this advice.

Most of this advice is based on the information contained in the Terms and Conditions and Guidelines for completing the forms. For information relating to the the local strikes by Royal Mail staff, please see the Latest News.

If you have any further queries, please contact us.

Answers to General Questions

What are the main changes to the Copus Grant Schemes 2003/2004, compared with previous Schemes?

Introduction of new Major Grant award, only available to organisations.
Small Grants range now £5,000 – £9,999, Large Grants range now £10,000 – £49,999.
Requirement for projects to have either a national reach, or to be pilot projects that are capable of being scaled up to reach audiences across the UK.
Revised funding priorities, including the additional priority of Science in the media.
More Pre-application workshops for potential applicants. Dates and locations to be confirmed. Please contact us to receive information on the workshops when available.

When is the next closing date after 10 November 2003?: We cannot confirm that yet, but can say it will not be before April 2004. The majority of the funding for the Schemes is provided by the Office of Science and Technology, DTI. Following a review of all their activities that support science communication, they announced that the funding for the Copus Grant Schemes would be put out to tender from the next financial year. Please provide us with your email address if you would like to be added to our email announcement list for any future Schemes.

Answers to Questions relating to Eligibility - Applicant

Do you accept revised bids that were unsuccessful in previous Copus Grant Schemes?: Applications may be resubmitted, but please note that:
the funding priorities and exclusions have been revised, so you should check that your project meets with these new requirements; there may be some other aspect of your proposal that needs to be addressed.
You say that Small and Large grants may be awarded to individuals. What does that mean? Does that mean that organisations can't apply?: It's an accounting thing. With the exception of Major Grants, our view of our grant is that we award the grant to an individual, rather than to, e.g. registered charities. Applicants usually apply on behalf of their organisation, whether that is a local community group, university or organisation.
Can our organisation make more than one application to the Schemes?: Yes, though we advise you to consider carefully the following. Grants are assessed both on the quality of the idea, and the ability of the applicant to deliver that project to a high standard. By applying for more than one grant, your organisation needs to be confident that it will be able to deliver all the projects specified, if it received all the grants it was asking for. If it is not clear to the Panel that all the applications will be able to be delivered to the timetables listed in the indivdual applications, the Panel will not award all the grants, and may consider this indicative of poor project managment, which could be detrimental to all the applications you submit. If you do wish to submit more than one application from the one organisation, please ensure it is clear to us that you will be able to deliver all the projects. For Large and Major Grants, the business plan should indicate to the Panel that the organisation has the capacity to deliver, by e.g. an indication of the staff resources that will be used for the project, and a listing of other anticipated commitments. Please also remember that you will be competing against yourself, as well as the other applications.
Can our organisation make more than one Major Grant application?: Yes. In the case of the rule:
"Only one application per Copus grant scheme (i.e. Major Grants or Large grants or Small grants) will be considered from any one applicant."
the "applicant" is the named person referred to in the first bullet point of Section 4, Eligibility - Applicant of the Terms and Conditions. So, e.g. a University or another organisation may make more than one application for a Major Grant providing the applications come from different people. Please see the answer to Can our organisation make more than one application to the Schemes? for further information.
You say that Small and Large grants may be awarded to individuals. Does that mean that everybody in my office/organisation can apply for a grant, and all will be considered separately?: Technically yes, though we don't recommend it. See the answer to Can our organisation make more than one application to the Schemes? for details.
I'm applying from a University/College for a Major Grant application. Do I need to submit audited accounts from the University?: No. We will accept applications for Major Grants from Universities and Colleges without the most recent set of audited accounts.
Who should sign the application - the project manager, the head of department, or someone else?: The application should be made and signed by a named person, who is resident in the UK, and aged 18 or over. We expect this named person will be our primary contact for all matters relating to the application process, award, management and payment of the grant. If you are offered a grant, we will ask for a commitment from someone such as your head of department or line manager that the project will be completed or the money returned, should you be unable to complete the project.

Questions relating to Eligibility - Application, and Exclusions

Will you fund staff costs and overheads?: Yes, we can fund any staff costs directly attributable to the proposed project, with the exception of honorarium/fees for research scientists. The Panel's view is that practicing scientists should not receive special payment to participate in science communication activities. Previously, the Panel took the view that this should extend to postgraduates also. Staff costs may include NI and Pension costs. Overheads may also be funded, but it should be specified as to what they include.
Why have you stopped funding National Science Week projects?: We haven't. However, for the Schemes 2002/3, we changed the schemes under which grants were available from National Science Week, Seed and Development to Large and Small. Please see Section 7, Timescale of the Terms and Conditions for an important note regarding applying for a grant for a National Science Week project.
Do you support the specialist schools initiative? We are looking for funding to write some classroom materials, can you help? Our museum/university wants to run an event for school pupils from the local area, can you fund us?: No. Copus grants do not fund projects that only target school pupils during school time, whether on school property or at another venue. The local SETPOINT may be able to advise on existing projects that take place that may complement yours, or alternative sources of funding.
Do you fund projects outside of school time (e.g. after-school science clubs) for a school-age audience?: Possibly, it depends on how you access that audience. The major exclusion for the Schemes is that we don't fund anything within, or related to the formal education system. This includes projects where the target audience is primarily accessed through the formal education system. For example, last year we considered ineligible a project that would be delivered after-school, but was only marketed to school pupils in school time. We can and do fund projects aimed at young people and family audiences, but these must be clearly outside the formal education system.

Will you fund me to do a science course/journalism course/science communication course which would directly contribute to public engagement with science?: No. All science and science communication courses, including journalism courses, are excluded for funding. Contact your proposed course provider for advice on bursaries and other sources of funding.
Do you fund websites or CD-ROMs?: Yes. We don't specifically exclude website projects for funding, i.e. they are a valid form of activity that we could fund. However, as for applications, the application would need to clearly define the target audience and the method of reaching that target audience. It would also be strongly advisable for the application to demonstrate that the website was serving a need not covered by another website.
For Major and Large Grants, you say that grants may only be used to pay for up to 75% of the cash costs of a project, and require at least 25% of the cash costs to be sought from a source other than the project's host at the time of application. What do you mean by cash costs?: Cash costs are any items in the budget that you need to pay for in cash - e.g. room hire, equipment, staff costs, evaluation, publicity etc.. Examples of non-cash costs or non-cash income include goodwill, depreciation, endorsement, trade mark use, advertising-equivalent spend for any media relations etc..
What is the project's host?: The project's host is normally the organisation of the primary contact.
Do we have to have secured the 25% funding by the time we make our application?: No. As the Terms and Conditions state, you need to be seeking at least 25% of the cash costs from a source other than the project's host at the time of the application. Your application should state (Q4 in the Application Summary Form for Small Grants, and in the Business Plan for Major and Large Grants) for funding source the expected sum, specific purpose (if any) and whether the money is secured or is being sought (in which case please indicate expected level of success).
For the minimum 25% of the cash costs to be sought from a source other than the project's host, can that be received in-kind, or does it have to be cash donations/grants?: Cash is preferred, but it can be either, so long as the cash or in-kind contributions are genuinely required for the project, and the in-kind contributions would have been for items that you would have needed to buy for the project.

Answers to Questions related to the Award Criteria and Funding Priorities

What do you mean by "national reach"?: National reach could be interpreted as:
i) a project that uniformly covers its target audience across the UK
ii) a project that is located in one specific geographic area, but which has a potential catchment area from across the UK, though the audience is not uniformly distributed
iii) an integral part of something that is UK-wide
All other factors being equal, we are likely to favour applications which meet with i) rather than ii) or iii).
Note that national reach is defined in terms of the distribution of your target audience across the UK, rather than a strictly geographic coverage.
My application is for a pilot project. When completed, will you fund it to be scaled up to reach audiences across the UK?: No, not from the Copus Grant Schemes 2003/4. We may be able to provide funding from any future Schemes, though this is not guaranteed. To meet with this Award Criteria, we are looking for projects to have the capability of being scaled up should the evaluation demonstrate success. We anticipate that any scaling up to reach its target audience across the UK will be achieved by funding from external sources.
My project includes public dialogue, as defined in the RCUK/OST Dialogue with the Public – Practical guidelines publication. Does that mean that my project qualifies for the Science in Society funding priority?: Yes, but the Science in Society priority includes a list of preferences that are more specific than the definition used in the Dialogue with the Public – Practical guidelines guide. The Science in Society funding proirity is for projects that encourage public engagement with and dialogue about science, or consultation on science issues. This includes projects that incude significant levels of public dialogue as defined in the Dialogue with the Public guide. However, we particularly welcome projects that encourage dialogue between scientists, the public and/or professional and other representative groups, and projects that feed into public policy development. This is more specific tgan the definintion given in the guide.
Could you provide further advice on the phrase "public policy development" used in the Science in Society Punding Priority?: Public policy development refers to specific projects that feed into decision-making processes at the local, regional or national level. Your application will need to show that there is a policy process that the outputs for the project can feed in to, and may change/influence. You may find the Cabinet Office publication, Viewfinder a policy-makers guide to public involvement useful - available to download from http://policyhub.gov.uk/

For the "Good Practice in Science Communication" funding priority, you say that the project must be "targeted specifically at the science communication community". Who qualifies as a member of that community?: The science communication community is broadly defined to include science communicators (e.g. staff with responsibility for science communication activities in science centres, museums and other establishments); science communication policy makers and administrators; and scientists communicating with non-specialists.
My project is aimed at a public audience, and will be a great example for other science communicators to copy. Does it qualify under the "Good Practice in Science Communication" funding priority?: No. For a project to qualify for the "Good Practice in Science Communication" funding priority, it has to be aimed solely at science communication practitioners (see above question).
I want to create a radio/TV programme/magazine. Would this qualify for the "Science in the media" priority?: The Funding Priority "Science in the media" is for "projects that support informed media coverage of science issues." Support is distinct from provide or create - we are looking to improve the environment within which the media coverage of science issues is created. If the intention was to create media programmes etc., we are unlikely to fund this.

Answers to Questions relating to the Supporting Statement Form

Who should I get to fill out the Supporting Statement Form?: Please see the Supporting Statement Form for details of who may not submit a supporting statement. Your Supporting Statement Form may be used to provide extra reassurance that your project idea and implementation will be of a high standard. For example, your Supporter might be a representative of one of your target audiences, a beneficiary of a previous project that you were involved in, a scientist /artist etc. who can vouch for the quality of the science/art content.
Do I have to send the Supporting Statement Form in with the application?: Yes. We must receive all the documents in together, or the application will not be considered complete.

Answers to Questions relating to the Assessment process

How likely is it that my application will be successful?: This is difficult to answer as it depends on a number of factors which are difficult to predict, such as the number of applications we receive, the value of these applications and their relative merits. There is no set upper limit for Major grant applications, however, the total budget available for all grants this year is approximately £750,000. Our award distribution will be determined by the quality of applications we receive. As a guide, we may award four Major Grants, six Large Grants and six Small Grants.
Do you comment on draft applications?: We do not have the resources to provide detailed comments on individual applications. If you have any specific queries about your application, please do contact us. In order to be fair to all applicants, the amount of assistance we can provide may be limited, depending on the nature of the query.
How are our applications assessed?: Each application is initially assessed by at least two members of the Copus Grants Panel. Applications are primarily assessed against the Award Criteria and Funding Priorities, together with the Eligibility Criteria and Exclusions. Applications are then ranked in order of priority, and matched to the funds available. When ranking, consideration may also be given to factors such as geographic, audience and subject spread; value for money; necessity of the funds requested etc..
If we are asking for a little bit too much money, will you still award us a grant? If the Panel needs more information, does the Panel ask for it?: Sometimes. Each application may be: Awarded in Full; Awarded in Part (if we can not or will not fund a particular aspect of the project); Awarded with Extra Conditions (if we require some additional information); or Rejected. Please note that the majority of applications are Awarded in Full or Rejected.
Why do applications fail to be successful? Could we see comments from the Panel for previous projects that were not successful?: There is no one reason why projects fail to be succesful for funding. The Copus Grant Schemes are highly competitive, and we inevitably receive more eligible applications than we are able to fund. In response to requests from potential applicants, we publish here a list of common reasons for applications to be unsuccessful, together with some comments from the Panel to individual unsuccessful applications (anonymised) to previous Schemes.

Copus Grant Schemes are funded by the Office of Science and Technology and The Royal Society.

The Copus Grant Schemes are funded by the Office of Science and Technology and The Royal Society.