Notice

Annex 3: FAQs

Published 26 September 2022

This notice was withdrawn on 21 November 2022

This funding call has now closed.

Q. Can I resubmit a proposal that was rejected in a previous ETP call?

Yes, you may re-submit your proposal which will then go through the independent evaluation process when being considered for funding.  We recommend that any previous feedback is taken into consideration.

Q. Do the PV funds have to be immediately available when applying for funding?

Yes, the PV funding must have been agreed and secured at the time of applying for the grant so that the project can commence as soon as the grant agreement has been completed.

Q. Can the UK Space Agency provide advice about any type of collaboration/partnership programme that the Agency is promoting?

The Agency does not promote any particular collaboration although collaboration in essence is encouraged in projects.

Q. Do you have any examples of successful projects in the previous rounds that you can share?

We cannot offer examples of successful proposal applications, but relevant information can be found in the Announcement of Opportunity guidance.  We also offer successful news stories at our web page https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-funding-through-the-national-space-technology-programme

Q. Can a non-UK based organisation receive funding?

The UK must lead the consortium. A non-UK based organisation cannot receive national funding as the primary focus of UK Space Agency is on the growth of the UK sector; therefore, any monies awarded cannot go outside the UK to a partner body.  If the proposed non-UK capability is essential the work can be subcontracted out, however the proposal must demonstrate clearly that this resource is not available in the UK.

In such instances the subcontractor cannot be a partner to the project.  However, if a non-UK entity wants to be a partner in the project that is acceptable. This can be facilitated by the non-UK entity organisation providing PV or capability as contribution-in-kind.

Q. What format will the grant agreement take for any funded proposals, and can I adapt this to suit my proposal?

We have provided a copy of our standard grant funding agreement. This is the document that will be used as the formal mechanism for any successful bidders to receive grant funding. Applicants are required to accept the main terms of this grant funding agreement when submitting your application.

Applicants requesting changes to the agreement are required to submit a marked-up copy of the published grant funding agreement setting out the proposed variations, along with a justification for any amendment to the standard grant funding agreement terms. Please be aware that the UK Space Agency will only consider variations which are requested where the Applicant would be in breach of legal requirements or statutory regulations by complying with the clause, or series of clauses.

Q. Should we explicitly state the overhead rate attached to salary costs, or would you prefer it to be amalgamated into a combined salary/overhead cost for each staff position?

The Announcement of Opportunity section 4 applies.

This section offers 3 options for overhead costs:

Option 1

No overheads. You can select this option if you are not incurring or claiming grant for your overheads

Option 2

The 20% of labour costs option allows you to claim 20% of your labour costs as overhead. This includes both direct and indirect overhead. Selecting this option allows us to review a successful grant application much faster as no further documentation is needed from you.

Option 3

The calculate overheads option asks you to complete calculations for claiming direct and indirect overheads. Any value claimed under this method will need to be reviewed by our project finance team if your application is successful. This is so we can assess the appropriateness of the overhead value you are claiming.

Full overhead recovery or full absorption costing is not eligible.

Q. Do labour costs relate only to staff on a PAYE payroll or would staff employed on short/long-term fixed contracts be eligible?

Costs should be applied for any staff that will be part of the project team/work regardless of employment status within the organisation. However, any costs for project work done by sub-contractors must be declared as a separate cost to the project. Sub-contractors cannot be partners to the project and justification in the proposal would need to be clearly stated as to the requirement for use of sub-contractors.

Q. Are referees required to be within the UK?

Referees do not have to be UK specific but must be from recognised international organisations and/or from other known space institutions.

Q. Does the organisational background information apply only to the lead organisation?

No. All proposals must include organisational background information for all those involved, therefore including those put forward in collaboration.

Q. Is there a difference between a partner and a sub-contractor?

Yes. If you are collaborating with another organisation or company, then they are your project partner and will be included in your proposal as subject to PV contribution.

If you wish to sub-contract some work, then that company cannot be considered as a project partner as payment to them will be made from the award and they will therefore be included in the costs of the project.

Q. Would sub-contractors have any IP publication rights?

If you sub-contract work this may not affect the IP publication rights of your company, but this is for the lead organisation to confirm.

Q. Does the maximum grant award offered include the PV contribution?

The maximum grant is the award value the UK Space Agency will give to a successful proposal. Any other (e.g. PV) contribution will need to be calculated on the full cost of the project to determine the amount of award requested. This should be broken down between lead and partner organisations before making the calculation.

Q. Is an independent audit required of the total cost of the project?

Confirmation is required that the Grant Recipient has expended the sums in respect of the period in which milestone payments have been claimed. For this purpose, a report must be completed and sent to the Grant Funder by 1st May 2023 and annually thereafter.

Q. How are proposals assessed?

A summary of the assessment process is below:

• All proposals received by the close date and time on the Announcement of Opportunity will be considered
• Initial sift of proposals will remove any proposals which do not meet the required criteria

• Eligible proposals will be assessed by independent reviewers to be scored against certain criteria (section 8)

• A moderation panel will follow to ensure consistency in marking
• Proposal ranking will be determined, and top proposals will be chosen to proceed
• Successful and unsuccessful applicants will be notified.  Any clarifications will be sought from organisations
• Due Diligence begins with successful applications to ensure UK Space Agency rules are accepted

Note: If the clarification stage results in any unreconcilable differences, the project will not be placed on grant.