DEPARTMENT OF BIOTECHNOLOGY MINISTRY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY GOVERNMENT OF INDIA RFA No. DBT/01/CEIB/2014 CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE AND INNOVATION IN BIOTECHNOLOGY (CEIB): CALL FOR LETTERS OF INTENT 1. PURPOSE The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) invites Letters of Intent for long-term R&D support in a group of schemes known as Centres of Excellence and Innovation in Biotechnology (CEIB). The scheme will provide funding to augment and strengthen institutional research capacity for promotion of excellence in interdisciplinary science and innovation in specific areas of biotechnology. The programme is intended for institutions with a substantial investment in, and commitment to, life sciences and biotechnology research. The programme will provide flexible long-term support for highly innovative research life sciences and biotechnology. The expected outcomes are quality science, intellectual property and potential translation. 2. OBJECTIVES The overall aim of the CEIB programme is to establish Centres of Excellence, provide longterm support to outstanding scientists and provide institutional / departmental Programme Support. The specific goal is to enhance the innovative ability of the institutions and investigators with welldeveloped research programme in specific areas of biotechnology. 3. TYPES OF GRANT The following three categories of grants will be provided under this programme: Category I: Centres of Excellence (COE) in Biotechnology with a specific thematic focus, that can involve single or multiple institutions The above will provide support, in part or full, research and development activities from very basic or fundamental to translational or applied in areas of health, agriculture, energy, environment, industrial biotech research etc. Category II: Outstanding Scientist Research Programme in Biotechnology Meant for providing long-term R&D support to an individual outstanding investigator of high scientific caliber with publications and / or patents record at the highest level. The support is recognition of investigators for their recent performance and planned future work. Category III: Institutional Programme Support (to both single institutional programme as well as multi-institutional programme) to the identified institution(s) / department(s) with multiple investigators in various disciplines To create and strengthen research capabilities at university or institutional level for categorical research by a number of investigators from different disciplines for a joint research effort; or investigators from the same discipline who focus on a common research problem. Support is proportional to size and quality of Ph.D. and Post-Doctoral programmes. To enable re-design of objectives and research programme to be inter-disciplinary and address specific weaknesses.
4. WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO APPLY? The following criteria apply: a) The for the above scheme must be an investigator working in a regular capacity at an Indian institution dealing with life sciences / biotechnology. Several Co-PIs are accepted including from industry. b) He / She must have at least 5 years of regular service still remaining at the institution where the current work is proposed or the institution should provide an assurance of support and space for a 5 year period. c) He / She must have a proven track record of knowledge and expertise central to the thematic focus of the proposal as evidenced by peer-review, publications, patents etc. d) Research institutes, universities, agriculture / veterinary / medical schools, IIT s and other engineering institutions, other recognized research laboratories in the public sector and notfor-profit institutions. The Institute should have well established research facilities as well as a core faculty with expertise in the relevant area. The grants under the scheme are intended for institutions with a substantial investment in, and commitment to, the area of thematic focus. e) The institution must be recognized by DSIR as a Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (SIRO), if outside public sector. Each category of proposals under this scheme has its own set of eligibility requirements, as seen below: Category I: Centres of Excellence in Biotechnology (COE) Category II: Outstanding Scientist Research Programme in Biotechnology (OSRP) Category III: Programme Support to an It is very highly prestigious programme of DBT. The Team Leader should be acknowledged scientist in his own research area. It is mandatory for institutions / universities to create a minimum of 2 or 3 new faculty positions in the relevant areas of the focal theme. DBT will defray the salaries of the new faculty positions in the centre for a five years period. The idea is to expand the posts of science leaders and address difficult areas. A letter of undertaking stating that the financial liability for new faculty positions would be borne by the host institute at the end of the project support is essential. Such commitment would be given by the Head of the Host Institute(s) or by a competent authority as authorized by him/her. These faculty positions would be regular appointments made by the host Institute and they would devote 100% time to the Centre. Adjunct positions are also encouraged. Any proposal for COE without a component of new faculty positions as described above will not be considered under this category. Support will be provided initially for a period of five years and is extendable for a further period of five years depending upon the performance following review. The host institution is expected to provide adequate administrative and financial autonomy to the COE for smooth running. The individual investigator should be outstanding with high scientific caliber as evident from publications, patents and capabilities of technology transfer. The recent performance of the investigator should be of high order as an individual scientist, as evident from h-index during the last seven years. The initial duration of support is for 5-years. The primary criteria would be proven track record with high quality research of an institution(s) / department(s), either in basic or fundamental to translational or applied research. (2)
Institution / Department (IPS) While it is not mandatory to create new faculty positions, it will be encouraged to create new positions through this mode of support. This mode of support should contribute towards enhancing the core competence of the institution(s) / department(s) in biotechnology research. It is mandatory to include the inter-disciplinary research programmes towards problem solving approach. Cohesiveness of different research projects and their relatability to the main identified theme area is essential. 5. PROFILE OF THE TEAM LEADER / COORDINATOR OF THE PROPOSAL The of the proposal must be an established research scientist who will ensure that high-quality research is performed and who has the experience to effectively administer and integrate all components of the programme. The Team Leader / coordinator must have an active research programme that receives support in the scientific area of the centre and should also have the requisite administrative experience to direct the programme. A minimum research time commitment of 50-percent is required from the for research including the effort put in for mentoring and administrative oversight of the programme. The should be a competent scientist in the relevant area, as evident from publications in world class refereed journals and patents held / applied in the last five years. The Team Leader s / Coordinator biodata should also include details of research projects handled, number of Ph.D. students registered, number of patents filed / granted, technologies transferred etc. The will give an undertaking to commit at least 50% of his time to the scheme, and to continue to be involved in the programme for the entire duration. Multiple Co- PIs are accepted. 6. NATURE OF SUPPORT THAT WOULD BE AVAILABLE THROUGH THIS SCHEME A core grant would be provided for equipment, and other infrastructure related facilities. Operational cost for different thematic projects would also be made available under various heads such as manpower, consumables, travel, contingencies, training / workshops etc. The grant-in-aid would be initially for five years and may be extended for another term, not exceeding five years, depending upon the progress following a review by an Expert Committee. 7. LETTER OF INTENT Prospective applicants for grant are required to submit a letter of intent (LOI) of not more than four pages that includes the following information: Number and title of this RFA Name of the Category under which the application is made; Descriptive title of the proposal; Name, address, telephone number and e-mail ID of the ; Research focus, short-term and long-term goals and scientific strategies to achieve this; Existing facilities / infrastructure; List of inputs / changes required to enhance the research productivity and goal orientation infrastructure, equipment, human resource and others; How the proposal would augment the applicant s capacity / capability; How the proposal would expand and develop faculty research capability and enhance research infrastructure; Description of the groups to be involved in the research; Participating institutions; Existing networks/collaborations; Details of young scientists working in the area (Ph.D., Post-Docs, technical staff); Generation of HRD through well designed Post-doctoral Programme or other novel means. (3)
A brief biodata of Team leader / Coordinator, and other investigators including a list of major publications relevant to the thematic focus (Total should not exceed 3 pages). (Append this as an annexure to the LOI). The main strength(s) which merit(s) this support should be described in less than 200 words. The letter of intent (one electronic copy in MS-Word format + 3 hard copies) is to be sent on or before December 05, 2014 to: Dr. Mohd. Aslam Advisor / Scientist G Department of Biotechnology Ministry of Science and Technology Govt. of India Block 2, 6-8 th Floor, CGO Complex Lodhi Road, New Delhi 110003 India Email: aslam@dbt.nic.in Letters of Intent will be reviewed within one month of the deadline and the selected groups would be invited to submit full proposals. 8. SUBMISSION OF FULL PROPOSALS Team Leaders / Coordinators who are invited to submit full proposals after consideration of their Letter of Intent must submit their applications using the prescribed DBT format to be forwarded to them along with invitation letter. One electronic copy in MS-Word format along with 3 hard copies of the complete proposal in the prescribed format with enclosures duly signed and forwarded by the institute may be submitted within one and half month of an invitation by DBT on the letter of intent to the above address. 9. APPLICATION PROCESSING Call for full proposals / letter of intent (LOIs) under this scheme will be advertized at least once in a year. They should be received by the specified date. However, proposals received after the due date will be considered in the immediate next cycle of evaluation. DBT can also, in consultation with experts, get proposals generated. However, all proposals will be processed through the usual procedure following the Peer-Review / Expert Committee mechanisms. A decision on the LOIs would be conveyed within one month after the due date and a decision on the full proposal conveyed within six months after the due date of receipt of the detailed proposal. 10. PEER REVIEW PROCESS LOIs / full proposals will be evaluated for scientific and technical merit by an appropriate peerreview group (national and international reviewers) in accordance with the established review criteria. The flow chart of the evaluation process may be seen at Annexure A. 11. AWARD CRITERIA Award decisions will be based on scientific and technical merit as determined by peer-review, the Technical Advisory Committee and recommendations, prospect of enhancement of the basic research capability in medical school system and translational capacity in basic science institutions and the availability of funds. Both excellence in technology development and excellence in science will be considered in the proposals for Centre of Excellence. * * * * * (4)
One Month One and half Month Three Month One and half Month One Month FLOW CHART OF THE EVALUATION PROCESS Annexure A Call for LOIs Evaluation of LOIs by Technical Advisory Committee LOIs screened out and LOIs screened in. Full proposals invited from Team Leader / Coordinator Receipt of full proposal from Peer review of full proposals through written comments Proposal not recommended. Defence before the T echnical Advisory Committee (TAC) Proposal recommended to Proposal not recommended. Sub-Committee of TAC (site visit / value addition / fine tuning) Consideration of proposal by recommends the proposal.. Internal processing in DBT Financial concurrence Final approval Issue of financial sanction Implementation (5)