This message contains notes from the town meeting regarding the JISC/NSF
circular 15/98 which was held in Manchester in November. 

Please note that this is an informal summary of discussions at the meeting,
representing a number of points of view and does not constitute the
official minutes.  General enquiries about the circular should be addressed
to Norman Wiseman (email: [log in to unmask] / Tel. 0115 951 4799) or
Chris Rusbridge (email: [log in to unmask] / Tel. 01203 528137).

Elizabeth 


JISC/NSF town meeting 24.11.98

Panel members: Alison Allden, Alun Hughes, Chris Hunt, Chris Rusbridge,
Norman Wiseman

Norman Wiseman gave a brief introduction to the programme.  The programme
will be funded by the JISC at the level of £500K per year over 3 years and
this will be matched by the NSF.  Genuine partnerships making equal
contributions are being sought.  An important outcome of the programme will
be to establish such collaborative relationships.  Partnerships should
build on respective strengths; e.g. technical expertise in the US and
in-depth knowledge of cultural issues in the UK.

Chris Rusbridge went on to introduce some of the mechanics of the
evaluation process.  He emphasised that views expressed by the panel might
not reflect those of the full JISC/NSF working group which had not yet met.
 He then pointed out several differences between the US and UK approaches.  
- The NSF is running a multi-bilateral programme, seeking partners in e.g.
Australia, Singapore and in other European countries besides the UK.  The
UK is seeking partnerships with the US only.  
- From the NSF point of view the call for proposals is open.  The JISC call
will close within a 5 day window of January 15th  to allow time for
supporting information to arrive from the US.
- The JISC does not pay institutional overheads, the NSF does pay these,
therefore their contribution will look greater.
 
 The JISC is following the NSF's rules as far as possible but all decisions
on funding will be made jointly.  Final decisions will be made in
March/April 1999.  It is hoped that as many projects as possible will start
before the end of the next financial year (31.7.99).
 A letter of intent is required by 15.12.98.  The full proposal should be
sent to NSF or JISC by 15.1.99, electronic versions must be sent to NSF.
 The working group is awaiting a complete set of NSF bidding rules which
will be made available on a UK mirror site.
 
 The panel then invited the audience to raise any questions.  Steve Griffin
from NSF joined the discussion by telephone from the States midway through
the discussion.  The main points raised were as follows:
 
 Involvement of other countries as secondary partners
 The panel felt that a bid involving other countries as secondary partners
may face substantial problems.  The lead site would also need to guarantee
partners' commitment and funding.  Steve Griffin added that involving more
than two countries does not necessarily make for a better proposal.
However, a strong proposal involving more than two may be received
favourably.  Proposals involving secondary partners whose funding is under
negotiation may be accepted if the funders have confidence in a successful
resolution.
 
 Concern about a bias towards science subjects
 NSF has traditionally been perceived as having a bias towards
science-based subjects, however the panel felt that this would not be in
evidence in this round of funding.  The panel's view was endorsed by Steve
Griffin.
 
 Eligibility of institutions to bid
 The lead site in the UK must be a university although partners can be
commercial / non-HE.  Steve Griffin added that in the US bidders should be
from the HE or non-profit-making sectors (e.g. museums).  Rules restrict
NSF money from going to other government agencies.
 
 Importance of identifying a collection
- The panel agreed that a coherent collection should be identified in the
proposal.
- The proposals should address how a collection could be brought together.
The collection itself need not necessarily belong to the bidder's own
institution.  However, a proposal using a pay-to-use commercial collection
would start at a disadvantage (although the authentication implications
might be of interest).
- A straightforward content creation project would not have enough research
interest to be eligible under this circular. 
- Use of a collection to demonstrate a particular technical solution would
be fundable.  This need not necessarily involve the production of
hardware/software tools.
- Steve Griffin added that a project focusing on technology rather than
building a collection would be well-received.

It was agreed that any further guidance from the working group will be
posted on lis-elib.

'Marriage broking' for projects
The panel hoped that serious bidders will already have an idea of a
suitable US partner, or would feel able to identify one.  There are no
plans for to carry out a 'marriage broking' service at the moment.
However, Steve Griffin added that although collaboration should be in place
before funding, if UK bidders identify likely partners in the US the NSF
could intervene to pursue this.

Importance of the institutional commitment
JISC does not pay overheads and looks favourably on institutional
commitment.  Although this is welcomed it is not required.  Steve Griffin
added that institutional commitment will be expected by the NSF and will
certainly be looked on more favourably by reviewers.

Evaluating the bids
The NSF will not fund projects without a partner matching funds.  These
projects can last for 1,2 or 3 years.  There must be genuinely one project,
i.e. one plan and set of milestones. Individual institutions are free to
submit as many bids as they wish

The evaluation of bids will be a joint process with both US and UK
partners.  Decisions will be made at a single meeting with a joint
selection panel making the recommendation.  The selection panel will seek a
speedy endorsement from CEI, although the mechanics of the process are not
yet certain and may depend on the number of bids.


Elizabeth Graham
Development Co-ordinator: eLib Programme Office
University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL
Tel: 01203 572521			Fax: 01203 524981
email: [log in to unmask]	http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/services/elib/


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%