Submenu

Funding and Awards

Calls for expressions of interest

To help us address the research priorities outlined in the R&D strategy HGCA will from time to time issue specific calls for expressions of interest. Concept notes will be invited with advice given on scope, structure, funding and deadlines.

Proposed commissioning plan for new HGCA calls for proposals

The commissioning process for HGCA Research & KT projects (657kb)

Note – this is a proposed plan may be subject to change at any point on request from the HGCA R&KT Committee so please check back regularly for updates.

Current calls

Call for Full Proposals: An evidence-based review on the likely economic and environmental impact of genetically modified cereals and oilseeds for UK agriculture

There has been widespread uptake of genetically modified (GM) crops globally since they became commercially available in the mid 1990’s. This has had a significant impact on global agriculture and their use continues to grow in areas of the world where they are approved for use. HGCA is currently looking for a contractor to conduct an evidence-based review of the potential economic and environmental impact that GM cereal and oilseed crops could have for UK agriculture.

HGCA has set aside a budget of £40,000 over six months for this review.

Deadlines for the application procedure

Proposals should be submitted, using HGCA’s Application for a Research Contract: Part B Full Project Proposal

Specification for GM call (85kb)

Call for Full Proposals: Provision of a Weather station network for HGCA Recommended List Variety Trial field sites

HGCA is currently looking for a contractor to provide near ‘real-time’ weather data at HGCA Recommended List (RL) core trial sites and a database of weather records from core trial sites to enable improved understanding and interpretation of trials data. Currently there is no weather data systematically collected at trial sites and data is obtained sporadically from a variety of sources. This limits the usefulness of data collected on crop variety performance and funds have thus been allocated to provide weather stations at core trial sites, where a number of trials are co-located. The start date of the project will be early November. A budget of £120,000 has been set aside for this activity. (note: the bespoke application form below should be used not the standard HGCA application form)

Weather call – project specification (229kb)

Weather call – application form (203kb)

Weather call – guidance notes (123kb)

A number of questions and queries have been received with regards to this call. They are given below with HGCA’s responses.

Who will be responsible for insurance against accidental damage/theft/vandalism?
If equipment is purchased by HGCA then HGCA would be responsible for insurance against accidental damage or theft/vandalism. Were HGCA renting equipment the provider would to be responsible for insuring the equipment.

What are mast requirements for the mounting of sensors e.g. mast height and type (pole, tripod, tower)?
Mast height would need to be sufficient to keep sensors suitably clear of a mature crop. A cereal crop can attain a height of 1m or a little more. Type is not important, use the most suitable.

How long will sensor cable lengths need to be?
The stations will be located in the field and have no physical connection to electricity or phone networks.

What are power requirements (onsite mains power, solar power)?
Stations will need to be able to operate remotely without an external power source

What is the method of communication required with the data logger (e.g. via laptop or remote)?
Access will need to be remote. Trial sites are rural, but not remote and so connection to a mobile network should not be a problem.

Will HGCA be responsible for initial installation of the stations. Is the HGCA looking for a training cost to be included for HGCA staff involved in installation?
We are looking for a complete package with minimal input from HGCA staff in terms of managing the system. It might be useful for one of our trial managers to be present when stations are installed to make sure that they are located in such a way that they do not interfere with field operations, but we would expect the successful bidder to be responsible for installation of stations at sites.

Data charges. Data collection would be via GPRS coms. Is the HGCA looking for data sim charges to be included in the bid or will the HGCA be providing data sims?
Yes we would be looking for data sim charges to be included in the bid.

The specification calls for ‘near real time’ data harvesting via the mobile phone network (e.g. via GPRS/3G modems) and at sites without any other external source of electrical power, So any site at which this equipment was expected to be installed would also be known to have adequate mobile phone reception?
We are expecting an automated download via the mobile phone network. The majority of our trial sites are rural, but not remote, so we would not anticipate adequate mobile phone reception being an issue.

Specification appears to demand relatively high standards of accuracy on certain parameters, e.g. min/max temperatures to 0.2C. temperature accuracy more like 0.5C, which is often considered more than adequate for general weather monitoring.
We have allowed a degree of flexibility in the specifications.

Proposal forms and Guidelines

PhD Studentship Application Form (140kb)

HGCA PhD Application Guidelines (68kb)

Proposal forms and Guidelines

Application for Research Contract: Part A Expression of Interest (97kb)

Application for Research Contract : Part B Full Project Proposal (279kb)

Guidance notes for completion of application for research contract from HGCA (513kb)

Terms and Conditions – Applicants (90kb)

Terms and Conditions – Collaborators (81kb)

Register for email notification of future calls
To be notified of future Calls for Expressions of interest, please send an email with ‘e-mail notification of future calls’ in the subject line to [email protected] giving your name, organisation and email address.