This document should be read in conjunction with RSLP 1999/3 and its annexes, issued on 26 November 1999.
The letter which accompanies this document may provide information on matters which the RSLP Steering Group wishes particular consortia or institutions to address in their bids.
Submissions of full bids should be limited in length to ten sides of A4. They should each be accompanied by a completed version of the cover sheet to be found at Annexe B (available electronically by e-mailing rslp@ed.ac.uk). A separate submission is required for each project proposed. Please tick the strand under which your institution is applying. Unless asked to submit under a different strand, this will be the same as that under which the original expression of interest was entered.
In the case of consortial submissions, proposals must identify a lead funding council or DENI-funded institution which will be responsible for the management and delivery of the project. All expressions of interest should have been accompanied by a brief statement of support from the Vice Chancellor, Principal or Director of each HEI and other organisation. Whether or not a statement was provided at that first stage of the bidding process, a copy is now required.
Where, in the full bid, the proposed project is being expanded to include the participation of additional institutions, please submit further statements of support and commitment, as appropriate.
Whether a project is funded under the Collaborative Collection Management, or the Research Support for Humanities and Social Sciences strand, institutional commitment to the collection(s) for a period of at least 10 years is expected. Explicit confirmation, by the Vice-Chancellor, Principal or Director of each HEI and other organisation, of long-term commitment to the discipline(s) to which the proposal relates is also sought. Again, whether or not an explicit statement was forthcoming, one MUST now be provided. Should commitment lapse in any case, repayment of RSLP funding may be required.
Each bid should name a single senior institutional officer, such as the University Librarian or Archivist of the lead institution and of each participating institution, who will have responsibility for the management of the supported project.
It is a condition of funding that consortia and institutions receiving funding are required to give an undertaking that they will meet the requirements on access to libraries and archives adopted by the RSLP Steering Group. A copy is to be found at Annexe G of RSLP 1999/3.
Fifteen copies (hard copy) of each proposal should be sent to:
Ronald MilneFaxed and e-mailed proposals will not be accepted.
One copy of each statement of institutional support and/or confirmation of long-term commitment is requested, regardless of whether these were submitted previously.
A list of members of the RSLP Steering Group and Management Committee, together with the additional assessors, may be found at Annexe C.
RSLP reserves the right, in both Programme strands, to seek further opinions on proposals from the academic and the library, archive and information communities.
While no guarantees can be given, the current expectation is that RSLP is likely to fund approximately 75% of bids resulting from this invitation.
Allocations will be announced in late June 2000 and funding will commence no earlier than 1 August 2000. Projects cannot be funded beyond 31 July 2002.
RSLP reserves the right to issue a third call for proposals, should it appear appropriate. However, institutions should proceed on the assumption that the present invitation is the only one likely to be extended for a proposal of its kind.
Consortia and individual institutions are reminded that partnership funding from institutions will be required for all retrocataloguing and cataloguing and indexing elements in projects. The Programme’s contribution will normally be no more than 70% of approved project costs. In other Programme activities, RSLP will look favourably on demonstrable financial commitment by institutions.
RSLP will not fund institutional overheads, such as accommodation, telephone or computing infrastructure; nor will it pay institutional overheads expressed as a percentage of staff salaries or total project cost.
Partnership contributions should not be expressed as a percentage of staff salaries or total project cost. Institutions should state what is being contributed, if not cash.
Detailed information relating to partnership funding, including that being contributed by non-HEIs, is required.
It is hoped that the non-HE elements of a number of cross-sectoral bids may be funded by other grant-awarding bodies. RSLP has had contact with a number of possible funders and is currently in ongoing discussion with them regarding the synchronicity of resource streams and the possible funding of projects which might complement and add value to RSLP projects. Institutions which are planning to collaborate with institutions in other sectors and which may wish to seek awards to complement RSLP funding are invited to contact the Programme Director (contact details at G, below).
Where complementary funding from a third party would be required to enable participation of a non-HE partner, proposals should state when announcement of the complementary grant might be expected. The RSLP proposal should normally be drawn up in such a way that the project remains viable if the non-HE institution is unable to take part. For proposals in which non-HE partners would be essential, funding approval by RSLP will be delayed until the result of the complementary funding application is known, but in no case can this delay be for a period of more than four months.
Consortia and institutions are expected to set up appropriate mechanisms for ongoing self-monitoring and self-evaluation of projects, involving the academic community, as appropriate. Costs should be budgeted into proposals, if they are likely to be significant.
Each project will be required to provide an annual report and annual financial statement. RSLP reserves the right to ask for further reports and to introduce other monitoring mechanisms, as may seem appropriate.
Dissemination of information relating to RSLP-funded projects is a requirement, and the costs of dissemination should be budgeted into proposals. Bids should explain in some detail the dissemination strategy that will be employed.
All RSLP-funded projects will be expected to conform to appropriate standards, and all submissions should address this issue. See sections C.8, E.2.3 and E.2.4 of RSLP 1999/3 Annexe B.
The RSLP Steering Group has indicated a wish to see certain projects augmented (for example, in order to accommodate other appropriate institutions). It is recognised that such an expansion may bring additional costs, and an indication of whether an increase in cost would be acceptable for an individual project is given in the accompanying letter, where this appropriate. Unless the letter accompanying this document indicates otherwise, the budget for the project is expected to be around or lower than that proposed at the expressions of interest stage.
Bids should contain at least the following information and should, unless there are compelling reasons for constructing the bid in a different way, address each bullet point below in a separate, clearly identified, section of the document, using headings, as appropriate.
The Programme Office will be pleased to respond to requests for further information and give guidance, either now or in the future. The Programme Director, Ronald Milne, may be telephoned directly on 0131 651 1494, or mailed at ronald.milne@ed.ac.uk. The Programme Administrator is Gill Davenport. She may be reached by telephoning 0131 651 1516, or mailing gill.davenport@ed.ac.uk.
Content: Gill
Davenport
Last updated 28 March 2000