Climate science funding

Dear Mr Montford

On behalf of NERC I am acknowledging your request for information dated 10/12/09.

Colin Pelton
FOI Office
NERC
02380 596288
01793 411730

__________
From: Andrew Montford <[FOI #24447 email]>
Date: Thu, 10 Dec 2009 08:08:37 -0000
To: "foi-office, foi-office" <[NERC request email]>
Conversation: Freedom of Information request - Climate science funding
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Climate science funding

Dear Natural Environment Research Council,

I am trying to assess the question of whether grants covering the
area of global warming are covering both sides of the climate
debate. It has been suggested that funding is only available for
studies that will demonstrate the truth of the global warming
hypothesis and not those that question it.

I am assuming each funding programme has a statement of criteria
that make an application eligible, in which case I would like
copies of this documentation. Otherwise I would like your help and
assistance in formulating this request to ensure I cover the
relevant paperwork.

I'm keen to cover the period back to 2000, but again, I am unsure
of the volume of programmes this will cover, so I would be willing
to accept a shorter period in order to avoid triggering the FoI
exemption for burdensome or costly requests.

Hope this makes sense

Kind regards

Andrew Montford

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Dear Mr Montford

Ref: FOI10/12/09-111737

On behalf of NERC I am responding to your request for information on climate science funding dated 10/12/09.

NERC research grants are open to applications from any individual that satisfies the eligibility criteria stated in Section C of our Research Grants Handbook. This can be found on the NERC website at: http://www.nerc.ac.uk/funding/applicatio....

Applications must be submitted through organisations that are considered eligible. To be confirmed as an eligible organisation, the organisation must satisfy the criteria agreed with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. This criterion is common to all Research Councils and can be found on the RCUK website at: http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/research/eligibili....

Successful research grant awards can only be held at eligible organisations.

All applications submitted to NERC are subject to a process of peer review and are assessed using the same criteria. The assessment process is detailed in Section F of the NERC Research Grants Handbook (see above link). For all applications the primary assessment criteria is scientific excellence.

If you wish to see the range of programmes currently being delivered by NERC, and those completed, dating from 1998, then these can be found at:
http://www.nerc.ac.uk/research/programme...

If you would like information on an example of a programme specifically related to climate then please follow this link to the Rapid-Watch programme which aims to improve assessment of the risk of rapid climate change: http://www.nerc.ac.uk/research/programme....

If you would like further details on individual research programmes, please identify the programmes that you are interested in from the above list. We can then assess the amount of work involved in servicing the request and help you in your search for relevant information.

I hope this response has been of help to you.

If it appears to you that NERC has failed to comply with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, you may ask for an internal review in the first instance. You should contact the NERC Complaints Officer at our Swindon Office to request such a review: Natural Environment Research Council, Polaris House, North Star Avenue, Swindon, Wiltshire SN2 1EU

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you then have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision.

Colin Pelton
FOI Office
NERC
02380 596288
01793 411730

--
This message (and any attachments) is for the recipient only. NERC
is subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the contents
of this email and any reply you make may be disclosed by NERC unless
it is exempt from release under the Act. Any material supplied to
NERC may be stored in an electronic records management system.