How funding will be allocated within the NCE

If you are a Network Investigator you will have the password to access the more complete set of instructions for the funding allocation process. Only NIs will have access.

The following guidelines are currently in draft form.

1. Each project will have more than one researcher, and in most cases will cross institutional boundaries.
2. NCE-eligible participants in GRAND will be Network Investigators (NI) or Researchers (R). The exact distinction is not yet formalized. All project leaders will be NIs, but the converse may not be true. Similarly, NIs will usually be more senior researchers, but not every senior researcher will be an NI; a senior researcher participating in only one project where her/his expertise is required to round out the team may be designated an R within the network.
3. Projects will be neither hierarchical within themes (most will cross theme boundaries) nor will they partition researchers. Researchers can be on more than one project. Most of the time most of the researchers should be involved in at least one project that crosses institutional boundaries, and one that crosses disciplinary boundaries. These could be the same project or different projects. Exceptions will exist, but will be reflected in the allocation of funding.
4. Funding will not be through projects, but will be allocated to NIs according to their contributions to the network. An NI who is heavily involved in a single project and is making significant contributions to that project, or one who is making important but smaller contributions to each of a couple of projects would each be evaluated using the same criteria in terms of their funding allocation.
5. Projects and researchers will be reviewed annually, and allocations will follow the evaluations.
6. Projects can be created or canceled at any time, to ensure that we are not locked to an annual cycle of once-a-year innovation. The ability for researchers to be on more than one project allows them to start working on a new or different project using the funds they have been allocated as they think is best. These decisions will be reviewed when progress reports are filed and duly reflected in the next round of allocations. This encourages more cross-fertilization (as project teams evolve) and discourages empire building and siege mentality.

These ideas will be elaborated in the LOI and subsequent planning documents, and no doubt further as we gain experience in the network.