Charlemont Grants

Overview

Named in honour of the RIA’s first President and notable proponent of the Grand Tour, James Caulfeild, 1st Earl of Charlemont (1728–99), this scheme is funded directly by the RIA to facilitate short international visits from Ireland for the conduct of primary research in any subject area including the development of new research collaborations and networks and access to research equipment and training not available in Ireland.

This highly successful scheme speaks to one of the RIA’s fundamental missions to identify and encourage excellence in research and scholarship, and to support the development of international links and collaborations by early career researchers.

Please click on this link to access the online registration form from which you will receive a unique link to an application form.

All queries can be sent to grants@ria.ie with the subject line: Charlemont Grants

 

How to Apply

Applicants are advised to take care in noting which section of the scheme (e.g. humanities/social sciences or sciences) to which their application is to be assigned as their applications will be assessed on this basis.

Applicants are required to register their interest to receive an application link, and then submit a detailed application form online, along with the following supporting material:

• Those applying under the science section of the scheme must attach a letter of invitation from the institutions(s) or research group(s) they are intending to visit or a note explaining the present situation vis-à-vis the invitation.
• Those applying under the humanities section of the scheme must attach a letter of invitation from the institutions(s) or research group(s) they are intending to visit, except in cases where the planned visit is to a research library or archival institution. In such cases a short note providing a general overview of the library or archival institution is required along with details of plans for access.
• All applicants associated with a HEI must accompany their application with a signed letter of support from the head of their department or institution. If the research visit is to take place in term time, then confirmation should be included in the letter that leave of absence will be granted for this period.
• Applications from independent scholars are welcome. If an applicant is not currently working under contract to an academic institution, they must give details of their current employment or status and include a letter of support from a relevant Academic researcher who is independent of the project and with whom they have worked.
• The letter of support is an opportunity to show the support of an applicant’s institution or general recognition of the significance of the proposed research. The RIA encourages applicants to use this opportunity. An application will be made ineligible if relevant letters of support for the collaboration are not provided.

How applications are processed and assessed

• Applications that are deemed eligible will be passed on for assessment. If an application is ineligible the applicant will be informed via email and the application will not be assessed.
• An initial assessment is carried out by reviewers drawn from the RIA’s networks, based on the discipline/s identified by applicants in the application process.
• A shortlist is agreed by the V.P. for Research together with the Secretaries for Humanities and Social Sciences and Sciences based on the initial assessments.
• Two distinct assessment committees are chaired by the RIA’s V.P. for Research and the Secretaries for the Humanities & Social Sciences and Sciences are involved in the final assessment of the applications in their respective areas. These two panels make the final funding decisions.
• Each applicant will then receive a letter of decision. If an application has been successful the letter will include information about next steps.

Role of the Chair of the Assessment Committee

The primary role of the Chair is to facilitate the Assessment Committee in making its assessment, and to make sure that fair decisions are made in as efficient a manner as possible. In conjunction with RIA staff, the Chair must also ensure that assessments are made in line with the published criteria and that assessment procedures are followed. The V.P. for Research chairs both panels.

In general, the Chair does not have a voting role on the Assessment Committee. The exceptions to this are:

• when a conflict of interest is declared by another Assessor member.
• In extraordinary circumstances when consensus cannot be reached and a casting vote is necessary.

Role of the Reviewers and Assessors

Based on the applications presented to them, reviewers and assessors are asked to use their expertise and knowledge to assess, score and make decisions in line with the published criteria for the award and in the context of available funds.

Through its network of Members, multidisciplinary committee members and international contacts, the RIA sources the very best national and international peer reviewers across a broad range of disciplines to ensure that all applications received are rigorously assessed to the highest international standards. An initial assessment is carried out by reviewers drawn from the RIA’s networks, based on the discipline/s identified by applicants in the application process.

Assessors are required to review and assess material in advance of the Assessment Committee meeting and on the day to score each application against the criteria and to articulate the rationale for their support or otherwise of an application.  Assessors cannot abstain from making decisions unless an interest is declared.

The RIA staff member (Senior Programme Manager) who is present at the Assessment panel does not have a vote in the scoring of applications. However, the staff member is there to offer support and advice to the Assessment Committee when needed.

All Reviewers and Assessors must complete both conflict of interest and confidentiality forms.

Assessment criteria

The initial review and shortlisting of applications will be carried out in line with published criteria for the grant scheme (see above). Applications are assessed in a competitive context and with consideration of the available resources. Assessors are requested to familiarise themselves with the specific grant criteria in advance of making their review or assessment.

Reviewers and Assessors will evaluate the ability of the applicant to undertake the proposed research, considering their track record in terms of publication and their stage of career. The primary assessment of quality will be based on the specific research objective of the proposal, and whether the research activities outlined are likely to lead to successful achievement of the objective within the stated timeframe.

Royal Irish RIA Statement on Diversity and Inclusion

It is RIA policy to ensure that its procedures for the nomination and elections of Members; membership of Council, Multidisciplinary and other RIA committees; nominations of candidates for international prizes and membership of international committees; awards of RIA medals, prizes and research fellowships; and appointments of all staff are fair and equitable. No one should be disadvantaged or receive less favourable treatment because of gender, institutional affiliation, discipline, marital status, family status, age, disability, sexual orientation, race, religion or membership of the Traveller community.

To view the RIA’s statement on Diversity and Inclusion please see here.

Instructions for completing the Online Application:

Please note: Verification of the official date of an applicant’s PhD award by the awarding research body must be available upon request.

Section A: Applicant Details

Applicant contact details and academic training:

Section A must be completed by the applicant. All correspondence will be sent only to the named individual at the email address specified on the form. The applicant is responsible for notifying the other parties where appropriate. If later there is a change of email address, contact details or transfer of research to another institution the RIA must be informed immediately. to update your record.

Current Position:

Please supply details of the current employment position or situation of the applicant including a brief summary of academic training and career, listing principal previous appointments and other professional qualifications and distinctions.

Section B – Research Proposal

Please indicate the subject area of the proposal. Please state the specific discipline or subject area of the research proposal.

Please indicate the title of the proposed research subject.

Outline of research proposal (maximum 1000 words): Applicants are advised to provide adequate detail on the research proposal in the space allocated as this will aid a fully informed and comprehensive assessment. The proposal should:

• clearly specify the context, and research objectives of the proposed research activity
• clearly describe the methodology to be used, in the case of primary research or the reason for the international visit to access equipment / training
• set out a realistic research programme, describing the activities that will take place, and explaining how the applicant will contribute to the achievement of the research objectives.

Applicants are asked to outline their broader research only insofar as is required for context and that the information provided should be focused on the application in question.

Applicants should give a complete account of their proposed collaborative research and not rely on special prior knowledge on the part of assessors as assessors may not be specialists in the particular field proposed.

It is essential that applicants clearly state the reasons why the funding is necessary and justify the duration. The applicant should briefly explain why alternative access to the required material is not appropriate.

Grants are intended only for the planning and conduct of primary research activity. They are not available to cover the costs of spending time at another institution for purposes such as the writing up of primary research or to support participation or attendance at international scholarly conferences.

Please provide a concise list of the intended outcomes from the proposed research activity.

Please identify the principal anticipated outcome of the research activity.

The RIA attaches importance to the dissemination of research: each applicant is asked to outline the intended outcomes and proposals for dissemination to a scholarly audience as well as to the general public, and assessors will take into account whether or not plans for publication or other dissemination have been developed.

In assessing value for money, the assessors may consider the intended outcome as compared with the amount of money sought, although it is fully appreciated that some modes of research are more expensive than others and proposals will not be evaluated based on cost alone.

Section C – Travel Proposal Details

Please provide the name and address of the institution(s) the applicant intends to visit and their locations.

The RIA monitors this information collectively to gain insight into the reach of the scheme.

Please outline the rationale for travel, including a concise statement of proposed research activity.

While visits to more than one country or partner are possible within the scheme a clear rationale for any such proposal should be presented. As the scheme is operative on an all-island basis, travel between Ireland and Northern Ireland is not considered international travel for the purposes of this scheme. However, travel from Northern Ireland to Great Britain or the Republic of Ireland to Great Britain is eligible.

Please state contacts already made with the proposed partner organisation(s) (including institution/library/archive) and the reason for your choice. Please provide the names of individuals you intend to visit.

Please state the duration of the proposed visit.

A good estimate is sufficient, but evidence of forward planning will be viewed favourably

Please attach letter of invitation/explanatory note (in pdf format) from the partner organisation (including institution/library/archive) as per the guidance above

Section D – External Support

Please provide details of other support given or applied for in connection with the current proposal.

The RIA has no objection to its grants being held in conjunction with awards from other bodies, provided that there is no duplication of expenditure. Applicants must clarify why they need additional RIA funding. Applicants are requested to keep the RIA informed of the outcomes of any other funding applications for the same project.

In cases where simultaneous applications to the RIA and other funding agencies covering the same elements of a project are both successful, the applicant will be asked to choose which award to accept. Only if there is no duplication and no unnecessary inflation of a project will an applicant be permitted to retain both awards (subsequent requests to alter the plan of research simply to allow the applicant to retain both awards are unlikely to be considered favourably).

 

Particulars of any travel budget available to you in their i.e. a ring-fenced travel fund)

 

Section E – Previous RIA Awards/ Fellowships

What previous awards/ fellowships, if any, has the applicant received from the Royal Irish RIA (within the last five years)?

Applicants may hold a maximum of two RIA awards in any five-year period.

Section F – Publications

List all recent publications (in the past five years) relevant to the application.

The applicant’s principal publications should be listed (maximum of six) and/or the most relevant to the research proposed, particularly if a new field of enquiry is proposed.

Please do not submit CVs of the applicant as they will not be considered.

Section G – Costings

Applicants should prepare accurate costings for the proposed research. Costs should be clearly itemised and justified in terms of the research programme. If the RIA is being asked to support only a proportion of the total costs, please list all the expenses connected with the particular phase of research for which support is sought as assessors will wish to gauge the scale of the whole project. In this case, please indicate which costs are being sought from the RIA. It is advised that travel costs should be fully itemised, that the length of time for which subsistence is sought should be justified in the application, and that the daily subsistence amount should be explained.

The only expenses payable are the costs directly related to the research being carried out, up to a maximum of €2,500. See here for further details including details on subsistence.

Supporting Documentation:

• Institutional authorisation is required to validate the application (see page 1). Authorisation is required even if the applicant anticipates travelling outside of term time. Applications that are not validated by this letter will not be accepted. Independent scholars who do not have institutional affiliation and authorisation must supply an explanatory note outlining this.
• Letter of Invitation or Letter showing access to library/archive is required to validate the application (see page 1)

Applicants Declaration

Please note that submitting the application form constitutes confirmation that the information provided is complete and accurate at the time of submission and acceptance of all terms, conditions and notices contained in the Guidelines for Applicants. Subsequent discovery of any deliberate falsehood will automatically render the application null and void. If an award has been made, the RIA may require a full refund.

It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure the application is received by the close of business on the closing date as stated on the application form. Late or incomplete applications will be deemed ineligible and returned to the applicant. No exceptions can be made to this rule.

Outcome of application

All applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application approximately 12 weeks after the closing date. Results are issued by email. A full list of successful projects will be published on the RIA website.

Long-Term Outcome of Research

The RIA is interested in learning about the long-term research impacts of its funded research and will follow-up with successful grantees once the funded period of the research is over.

Successful grantees must acknowledge RIA funding in all associated publications, in line with the RIA guidelines for acknowledging funding which can be found here.

Research Ethics

The RIA requires the research it funds to be conducted in an ethical manner. Please see the RIA Code of Conduct for Research Integrity for all details.

Grant applicants must indicate whether their proposed research raises any special ethical issues, and, where appropriate, must confirm that secured approval has been secured for the proposed research from the respective institution’s Research Ethics Committee (or its equivalent).

Independent researchers without access to formal ethical scrutiny and approval must briefly describe any potential ethical issues as defined in publications by authoritative bodies, one such being the manual on Ethics Self-assessment provided by the EU Commission.

The applicant must explain how any such issues will be addressed. The independent researcher’s ethics self assessment and proposed plan for managing ethics issues may be reviewed by an Ethics panel convened by the RIO, to include the RIO, the Vice-President for Research, one to two experts in the principal research field(s), and, where applicable, the RIA leader of the collaborative research project in which the independent researcher proposes to engage.

All researchers should be aware of the legal requirements that regulate their work.

Applicants are required to confirm that they have secured approval for the proposed research from their respective institution’s Research Ethics Committee (or its equivalent) or that, in the case of independent researchers that they have followed the guidelines above and can provide details if required.

Reporting Guidelines – Online Grants Report Form

Following the conclusion of your research visit, applicants are required to complete the online Grants Report Form by the date outlined in the letter of offer, together with a detailed statement of income and expenditure.

The reporting requirements include: a background to the proposal, all travel details, institutions visited, details of the central objectives, the research activities and outcomes, plans for and/or details of the dissemination of research achievements resulting from the trip, disclosure of financial details and a request for general feedback of the scheme.

Financial Details – At the same time as submitting the Grants Report Form a statement of income and expenditure must be submitted together with a scanned copy of all vouched receipts. It is important to retain all original receipts as Grantees may be requested to supply of receipts for auditing purposes.

The deadline for completed reports will be outlined in the letter of offer. Non-compliance with this reporting deadline will impact an applicant’s ability to access future funding from the RIA.

 

Further Information

If you have any questions regarding the online application and reporting procedures or if you would like to receive further information on the RIA’s grants schemes, please email: grants@ria.ie

 

Further Information

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Data Protection

All personal data collected will be used solely for the purpose of conducting a funding review assessment in line with General Data Protection Regulation

Appeals

The Royal Irish Academy has an agreed set of  procedures and responsibilities for appeals in connection with a decision to decline funding of a grant application. For further information see here