PROCESS

A Steering Committee, comprising the CEOs of NHMRC and HRC and a representative of Wellcome Trust will be formed to coordinate the Scheme. The Steering Committee or their delegates will provide advice and guidance to potential applicants on access issues, negotiating with potential applicants in developing countries and other issues relating to the application process.

Appointment of Assessment Committee

The Wellcome Trust, NHMRC and HRC will appoint an Assessment Committee that has the required expertise to conduct the application assessment process.

The NHMRC will nominate four representatives to the Committee from Australia and the HRC will nominate four representatives from New Zealand. The Trust will select an additional four panellists who will sit on this committee. An independent chair will be appointed. Expenses for the panellists will be jointly shared by the parties.

The Wellcome Trust will, in accordance with its own policy, take responsibility for managing processes related to conflicts of interest in relation to the Assessment Committee. However, the HRC and the NHMRC undertake to inform the Wellcome Trust of any conflicts of interest, both actual and perceived, that may come to their attention.

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Grants Assessment Process

The two-stage process will be administered by the Wellcome Trust in the United Kingdom.

Key Information
The following is proposed for the applications round:

Preliminary Applications to be forwarded to Wellcome Trust - 15 Oct 2002
Outcome of Preliminary Application process and invitations to submit full proposal -26 Nov 2002
Full applications submission deadline - 14 Feb 2003
Announcement of Awards and press release - 30 July 2003

The scheme will be advertised in August 2002 and applicants will be invited to submit a Preliminary Application. Following assessment of the Preliminary Applications, successful applicants will be invited to submit Full Applications. The application pro forma and supporting information will be available electronically on the Wellcome Trust, NHMRC and HRC web-sites.

Peer Review

The Assessment Committee will screen the Preliminary Applications against specified criteria. Assessment Committee members from Wellcome Trust, Australia and New Zealand will meet as a group in their respective countries to assess the Preliminary Applications. Once each group has reached a consensus on rating the Preliminary Applications, a teleconference involving the Steering Committee (or their delegates) can finalise the rating for each Preliminary Application.

Short-listed applicants will be required to submit Full Applications by 14 February 2003. In consultation with NHMRC and HRC, Wellcome Trust will organise for Full Applications to be assessed by experts, who will provide a written assessment with a recommended budget for the applications they have been invited to review. The assessment reports will be circulated to the applicants who will be provided an opportunity to respond to/rebut comments made in the report concerning their application. A face to face meeting of Assessment Committee members will be held on 14 July 2003 to assess the Full Applications and peer review, applicant responses if any, to make a final determination as to the successful applicants and finalise recommended budgets for each approved grant.

On or around 17 July 2003, final recommendations for funding will be made by the Assessment Committee to Wellcome Trust/NHMRC/HRC. The awards should be announced as soon as possible thereafter, noting that the NHMRC is required to seek approval of the funding recommendations from Australia's Minister for Health and Ageing.

Monitoring of Awards

Award recipients will be required to provide annual Progress Reports, detailing progress against milestones, scientific achievements, administration and expenditure of the award. The Wellcome Trust, NHMRC and HRC will monitor the overall progress of the collaborations. It is likely that all awards will require a mid-term review and possibly a site-visit in the third year to guarantee funding for the remainder of the five year period.

Holding other awards concurrently

Principal Investigators in Australia and New Zealand will be eligible to hold or apply for NHMRC or HRC funding in other funding schemes (note that conditions may apply for some types of support schemes).

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Intellectual Property Rights

For the Wellcome Trust:

As a charity, the Wellcome Trust is under an obligation to ensure that the useful results of the research that it funds are applied for public good. In accordance with its policy on Intellectual Property, the Trust requires that:

• The IPR resides with the institution, at least initially;
• There are mechanisms in place to promote the management of IP and an equitable distribution of benefits to the investors, host organisations and where appropriate the funders (the relative benefits are a matter of degree rather than absolute; benefits would not be totally to an individual or to a commercial organisation as this would be outside the Trust's charitable remit);
• The Trust is informed of any dealings in IP and at this point requires confirmation that the IPR is managed in light of principles above.
• The Trust reserves the right to 'step in' if exploitation is not being pursued.

For Australia:

In accordance with NHMRC's policy in this area, the NHMRC will require that:

• an agreement concerning Intellectual Property rights is put in place prior to lodging the full application. Such agreement will need to safeguard the rights of all institutions participating in the project, including institutions in the regional countries. A copy of this agreement must be included as an attachment to the full application and contract; and
• an Administering Institution ensures that the ownership of the Award Material and Intellectual Property in the Award Material, and any other Intellectual Property rights in relation to the Award Material, will be dealt with as provided for by that agreement.

For New Zealand:
The HRC will require that:

• an agreement concerning Intellectual Property rights is put in place prior to signing the contract. Such agreement will need to safeguard the rights of all institutions participating in the project, including institutions in the regional countries. A copy of this agreement must be included as an attachment to the contract.

Ethics Approvals

Wellcome Trust, NHMRC and HRC have similar requirements.

The NHMRC requires that institutions meet the ethics criteria outlined in the Standard Deed of Agreement, which may change from time to time. The criteria at the time of writing are outlined in Institutional Approvals

HRC will require that all research studies whether conducted in New Zealand or in a developing country, which involve human participation, to be approved by an accredited Ethics Committee in New Zealand. Such research will also require approval from an appropriate authority in the developing country.

Animal experimentation

The Trust requires overseas institutions would be responsible for ensuring that the experiments have been authorised by national and local licensing authorities where they exist and that the work is carried out as described in the proposal.

The NHMRC requires that institutions meet the ethics criteria outlined in the Standard Deed of Agreement, which may change from time to time. The criteria at the time of writing are outlined in Institutional Approvals

HRC will require all research studies involving animals to be approved by an appropriate Animal Ethics Committee in New Zealand. Such research will also require approval from an appropriate authority in the developing country if research involving animals is to be conducted outside New Zealand.

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