X-CITED Equipment Sharing Pilot

Funding for Research Technical Professionals (RTPs) to use specialist equipment and expertise at another GW4 institution, develop new skills, and build connections with the RTPs who run it, with the potential to lead to deeper collaboration.

Call open from 30th October to 30th November.

What is the scheme?

X-CITED supports RTPs across the universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter. The Equipment Sharing Pilot is a small fund that helps you work with a facility at another GW4 institution on something you cannot do at your own. 

The scheme is about RTPs as much as equipment. We want RTPs to meet their counterparts at other institutions, learn new skills, see how others run their facilities, and make their own expertise more visible across GW4, while useful work gets done. As a pilot, it is a chance to try out this way of working, and we hope it will lead to deeper connections, new skills and further collaboration.

The total fund is £10,000, shared across all awards

Who can apply?

Applications must be made by an RTP working at Bath, Bristol, Cardiff or Exeter. RTPs include technicians, facility and laboratory managers, research software engineers, data engineers and others in technical roles that support research.

If you are not sure whether that includes you, please get in touch. If your institution does not have an RTP you can work with, or you are not sure who to speak to, please get in touch before you apply and we will help. 

You can work with a PhD student, postdoctoral researcher, academic member of staff (or a combination of researchers) whose research provides the work to be done. The application should still be yours, and have a tangible benefit to you, as an RTP. If you are a researcher who would like to use equipment elsewhere, ask an RTP colleague to lead an application with you, or look at the ITSS equipment sharing funds, which are open to researchers more widely. 

Which facilities can I use?

You can apply to use a facility at another GW4 institution, where the equipment or expertise is not available at your own. Examples of eligible facilities can be found in the ITSS Facility showcase (GW4 only) and the GW4 Facilities and Equipment page, but these lists are not exhaustive, and RTPs running these facilities have not been contacted by us to confirm their availability to take part. 

The scheme is funded by EPSRC, but your research does not need to be EPSRC-funded or in engineering and physical sciences.

For example, you might be using EPSRC related equipment but working on a BBSRC funded project, or using MRC related equipment on an EPSRC funded project. You must have spoken to the facility’s RTP before you apply. Together you need to confirm that the work is feasible, that the facility has the capability and capacity, and that relevant risk assessments have been discussed. 

What can be funded?

There is no fixed limit per application. Because the fund is £10,000 in total and we expect to support several projects, please keep your request proportionate and show good value for money. Costs can include facility access and analysis, charged at full economic cost. You can also include travel and subsistence for the RTPs taking part, but you do not have to. If travel can be covered another way, leaving it out may strengthen your value for money. 

The scheme is not intended to move a technique from one institution to another or compete with a host facility’s commercial service. It is for using equipment and expertise you do not have at home, and facilitating knowledge exchange between RTPs. 

What are we looking for?

A panel, with representation from all the GW4 institutions will review applications. They will look for: 

• Clear benefit to the RTPs involved, including what you and your host colleagues will gain. 

• Knowledge exchange between RTPs. Projects where RTPs spend time together. For example, the facility RTP travelling or you joining a visit, will score more highly than projects where samples are simply posted. 

• A good reason to use this facility, and why the work cannot be done at your own institution. 

• A feasible plan, confirmed with the host facility, with value for money. 

• Potential for the collaboration to continue, for example, in a future grant.

How it works

1. 1. Choose your facility and talk to its RTP. Agree that the work is feasible and get a cost estimate from the facility.

2. 2. Complete the short application form. It asks for the scope of your work (300 words), the potential for future collaboration (200 words), an estimate of hours or samples with the facility’s cost breakdown, and how RTPs at both institutions will exchange knowledge (300 words).

3. 3. Submit it by November 30th. A panel will review applications in early December and we will let you know the outcome by early January.

4. 4. Carry out your project between January and May 2027, then send us a short report on what was achieved and learned, and what you will do differently as a result.

Frequently asked questions 

• I am not an RTP. Can I apply? 

Applications must come from an RTP. You can still be involved as a collaborator, so ask an RTP colleague to lead the application with you. The ITSS equipment sharing funds may also suit you. 

• Can PhD students and postdocs take part? 

Yes, as collaborators on an RTP-led application. 

• Do I need to speak to the facility first? 

Yes. You should know which facility and which RTP you want to work with, and have talked through feasibility, capacity and risk before you apply. 

• How much can I ask for? 

There is no fixed cap, but the total fund is £10,000 and we expect to make several awards. Please request only what you need and explain the value for money. If you have other means to cover travel expenses, for example, please detail this in the application.  

• Can I use this to learn a commercial technique and take it back to my own institution? 

The scheme is for using equipment and expertise that are not available at your own institution. It is not meant to transfer a commercial technique from one institution to another. If part of your aim is to learn from the host RTP, tell us how it benefits you and the wider GW4 RTP community. 

• What happens after the project? 

We ask for a short report from the point of view of all RTPs involved, using a template we will provide. It helps us understand what works and what gets in the way of using equipment at other institutions, so please be candid. Results that did not go to plan are still useful if you and your colleagues learned something.  As this is a pilot, what we learn will also help shape how equipment sharing across GW4 might develop in future.

What if there is no RTP at my institution I can work with? 

Please get in touch before you apply. We can help you find the right person, or discuss how to shape the application. 

Ready to apply? 

 

Questions about the scheme, your eligibility or the form? Email x-cited@gw4.ac.uk  

X-CITED is funded by EPSRC and run by the GW4 Alliance of the universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter.