There are three main points that the Council wished to stress, as these appear to be the cause of significant misunderstandings in the scientific community. It is not a requirement that applicants for Co-ops have previous MRC funding. Co-ops do not need to be based on existing MRC Grant support. The MRC clearly wishes to encourage new groupings with new research directions to have the opportunity to form. Potential applicants need to consider the likelihood of having two project grants plus Co-operative Group Grant status awarded simultaneously.
Some sobering thoughts come from the announcement of the first awards under the new scheme.
Of the five groups, three did not request extra funding for the Co-operative. Researchers from UMDS in Developmental Neurobiology, Experimental Pathology and Physiology joined together and were awarded Co-operative Group Status. However, as a group they already have a very strong portfolio of current funding from the MRC and from other large funding bodies. So although the MRC is making an effort to be encouraging, potential applicants should be aware of the competition and the award rates. The Cross Board Group meets again in June and it is expected that over 80 applications for Co-operatives will be considered along with approximately twice that number of component project grants.