Cambridge and India

Cambridge-India Partnership Fund (CIPF)

Purpose & Procedure

The Cambridge-India Partnership Fund has been established with a lead gift from the University and will provide funding to further academic interaction between Cambridge and India.

The Cambridge-India Partnership Fund (CIPF)

The Cambridge-India Partnership Fund (CIPF) seeks to provide support to Cambridge students, scholars and researchers at every level from undergraduate to professor to build and strengthen relationships and facilitate the exchange and development of scientific knowledge, expertise and practice between collaborating groups in Cambridge & India. The Fund will provide small amounts to contribute towards travel and incidental costs to enable two way exchange of people and ideas; to support cooperative and collaborative activities, including those covered by MoUs, study and/or development of new programmes of work. This support should be of particular benefit

to early-career researchers where Cambridge-India collaborations will enable them to gain valuable international experience and contribute to lasting international partnerships,
to academics and researchers seeking to develop collaborative links in teaching or research with colleagues based in institutions in India,
to participants in any of the schemes established by MoU for internships, exchanges and collaboration.

Grant Details

Grants will normally be made to contribute towards travel and some subsistence expenses of graduate and undergraduate students, post-doctoral and early-career researchers or other investigators including academic faculty to spend periods of time in India (up to 6 months) in activities which come within the ambit of the fund.

In addition to acquiring new skills and experience, successful applicants are encouraged to engage with their collaborators in discussions on new cooperative research projects, and with other partners, eg from industry where further collaboration may be developed.

Applications can be made for contributions to the costs of travel, accommodation, and hosting expenses according to the following funding guidelines and limits:

A maximum of £1000 per individual applicant per year with a maximum travel component of £600 per individual.
A maximum of £3000 for a given activity/collaboration involving group participation from a research group or department in Cambridge. Individuals intending to attend the same workshop or meeting in India are encouraged to submit their applications at the same time.
Applications will be reviewed three times a year, and grants will not normally be made outside those review dates.

Eligibility & requirements

Applicants are eligible for support from the CIP Fund if they are:
- undergraduate and graduate students registered for current study in the University of Cambridge,
- post-doctoral researchers and academic faculty members employed by the University or one of the Cambridge Colleges.
Only employed faculty from Cambridge University may make an application to support visitors from India to visit Cambridge.
Thematic and subject areas: Eligible proposals can be in any academic thematic or subject areas.
Joint CU-India Submissions: Applications for support should be submitted by the proposed Cambridge and Indian Principal Collaborators or activity organisers (one each from Cambridge and India), Proposers may apply for their own support if appropriate.
Limit on Number of Proposals: There is a limit of one application per person per year. Each proposal will be reviewed in competition with all applications.

Proposal Content

Proposals for CIPF Grants must be made on the CIP Fund's application form and contain the following information.

Applicant/Visitor

Brief biographies of the applicant and/or visitor who will be supported
Details of additional activities (industry site visits, seminar presentations, etc) that are planned as part of the activity

Activity Description

Proposals should describe the proposed activities to be conducted during the visit and how they will benefit the participants' professional careers (through new knowledge, skills, relationships and networks) and enhance educational, research or development collaboration between Cambridge University and collaborators in India. In highlighting the underlying objectives, the description should give details on:

The relation of the application to furthering engagement between Cambridge and India
The purpose of the planned activity
Any prior history of joint activities between the academic collaborators
Any long-term plans for continuing the collaboration (including external funding sources)
Details of any additional activities (seminars, laboratory visits) planned during the visit

Project Budget

The application should justify each cost item under the headings of Travel, Accommodation and Hosting. Details of other sources of funding which are available or have been sought should be given.

NB Salaries, stipends, equipment, consumables and other direct bench research costs will not be supported by this fund.

Prioritisation for funding

The following prioritization will be used in the CIPF:

Contribution to furthering engagement between Cambridge and India
Contribution to career development in collaboration for early career researchers (PhD students and researchers within 5 years of completing PhD)
Matched funding available to the applicant from other sources
Collaborations involving movement of researchers in both directions

Submission instructions

Applications for funding can be made at any time by any eligible individual. Applications will be reviewed three times in each academic year and the submission deadlines and review dates will be announced on the Cambridge-India website. Decisions will be made within 2 weeks of the published deadline and the decisions will be final.

Review Process

All proposals will be reviewed by the Prof Sandra Dawson and two academics from relevant subject areas. Other Independent advice may be taken as appropriate.

Administrative responsibility

The International Strategy Office will be responsible for the administration of this scheme.

Expense claims and reporting

All claims with receipts should be made to the International Strategy Office following the completion of the proposed activity.

All successful applicants must submit a short report on the supported activity with their expense claim. Reports of no more than one page in length should summarise relevant activities undertaken and outcomes in terms of research outputs, new knowledge gained, skills acquired and networks developed. A 150 word summary of the activity and its outcomes should be submitted at the same time for inclusion on the Cambridge-India website. The report, web 150 word summary and expenses claim must be submitted within 1 month from the end of the visit.

Contacts for additional information

For questions regarding programme details and/or eligibility, please contact the International Strategy Office ([email protected]; 01223 764680).

Links to external funding opportunities

Please see our webpage with links to external funding opportunities.