date: Mon Nov 24 15:58:29 2008
from: Keith Briffa <k.briffa@uea.ac.uk>
subject: Re: URGENT  -slight revision of letter
to: Hkan Grudd <hakan.grudd@natgeo.su.se>

   Hakan
   great - my only suggestions -
   remove second word "to" in penultimate paragraph.
   Add a last paragraph stating
   I do not intend to make any charge for my involvement in this project. However, I would
   estimate my time in retrieving , reformatting and transferring recent tree-ring data to the
   UK and the time I expect to spend on collaboration and manuscript production to amount to a
   theoretical contribution of approximately (some local currency equivalent of several
   thousand  dollars ).
   If you could put this on official looking paper and send a PDF version that would be
   brilliant. Thanks again
   I can only have small hopes of getting this,  as squeezing money from NERC is like getting
   blood from a stone - but I really want to work with you come whatever .  Keith
   At 14:07 24/11/2008, you wrote:

     Keith, have a look at attached draft. Feel free to comment and suggest changes.
     /Hkan
     Keith Briffa skrev:

     thanks - as for head of department - not as I see it - but if they are happy  you could
     say so
     Keith
     At 12:34 21/11/2008, you wrote:

     Ok, I'll make a first draft for you to comment.
     "The letter of support should confirm the organisations commitment ..." Does this mean
     that the head of the department also must sign?
     /Hkan
     Keith Briffa skrev:

     The Dendroclimatic Divergence Phenomenon: reassessment of causes and implications for
     climate reconstruction.
     Dear Hakan,
     I have just discovered that the rules of UK NERC dictate that the only way I can include
     your support in the application we are making is to name you as a formal project
     partner. Of course we are delighted to do this but I need to know that you are happy for
     me to do so. As I said before you would not be eligible for any funds. (I do intend, if
     we are successful to seek alternative funds to support a small international workshop at
     which we could review theories and results).
     Unfortunately NERC has strict requirements regarding the content of support letters from
     project partners. I quote:
     Each Project Partner must provide a detailed letter of support of up to 2 sides of A4.
     The letter of support should confirm the organisations commitment to the proposed
     project, identify the value, relevance and possible benefits of the proposed work to the
     partner, the period of support, the full nature of the collaboration and how the partner
     will be involved in the project and provide added value.
     They also state that:
     Partner contributions, whether in cash or in kind, should be explained in detail in the
     case for support, including the equivalent value of any in-kind contributions. The
     letter should be written when the proposal is being prepared and targeted specifically
     to the project. NERC reserves the right to remove all other letters from applications.
     The NERC Research Grants Handbook can be found at [1]<
     [2]http://www.nerc.ac.uk/funding/application/researchgrants/grantshandbook.pdf%20where%2
     064-66>http://www.nerc.ac.uk/funding/application/researchgrants/grantshandbook.pdf where
     64-66 (page 8) describes project partners and the terms and conditions are on pages
     10-21, though I honestly do not think you need to bother with this.
     In my description of the value of your collaboration I would need also to estimate (in
     monetary terms) the value of your collaboration. Could you suggest a nominal figure?
     I know I should have looked much more carefully into this earlier  but I wonder whether
     you could write your letter to comply with the specifications above. Make sure to state
     explicitly that you are happy to be named and act as project partner in this
     application. The proposed title should be mentioned explicitly. Please also include some
     details of how this work will be of (scientific) value to yourself (Institution). I
     would ask that you state that you will collaborate over the full-30-month period of the
     research, perhaps saying especially in the late stages of analysis: to provide data
     early on, but to review results, and collaborate with us in guiding the work and of
     course in writing up results.
     Stress the value of your data and (if applicable) ongoing research in the area of
     divergence. Much of your letter can be left as is but with these specific additions. The
     letter must be no more than two sides and an electronic version alone is fine.
     Please believe I know how inconvenient this is and I apologise again  never do things in
     haste (but I always seem to have to). We need this letter as soon as possible but by
     Thursday at the latest.
     Best wishes
     Keith
     --
     Professor Keith Briffa,
     Climatic Research Unit
     University of East Anglia
     Norwich, NR4 7TJ, U.K.
     Phone: +44-1603-593909
     Fax: +44-1603-507784
     [3]http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/cru/people/briffa/

     --
     ________________________
     Hkan Grudd
     Bert Bolin Centre for Climate Research
     Department of Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology
     Stockholm University
     SE-106 91 Stockholm
     URLs: [4]<[5]http://www.bbcc.su.se>www.bbcc.su.se [6]www.ink.su.se
     Phone: +46 (0)8 674 7591
     Fax: +46 (0)8 16 4818
     E-mail: [7]<[8]mailto:hakan.grudd@natgeo.su.se>hakan.grudd@natgeo.su.se
     Personal webpage: [9]<[10]http://people.su.se/~hgrud>http://people.su.se/~hgrud

     --
     Professor Keith Briffa,
     Climatic Research Unit
     University of East Anglia
     Norwich, NR4 7TJ, U.K.
     Phone: +44-1603-593909
     Fax: +44-1603-507784
     [11]http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/cru/people/briffa/

     --
     ________________________
     Hkan Grudd
     Bert Bolin Centre for Climate Research
     Department of Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology
     Stockholm University
     SE-106 91 Stockholm
     URLs: [12]www.bbcc.su.se [13]www.ink.su.se
     Phone: +46 (0)8 674 7591
     Fax: +46 (0)8 16 4818
     E-mail: [14]hakan.grudd@natgeo.su.se
     Personal webpage: [15]http://people.su.se/~hgrud

   --
   Professor Keith Briffa,
   Climatic Research Unit
   University of East Anglia
   Norwich, NR4 7TJ, U.K.

   Phone: +44-1603-593909
   Fax: +44-1603-507784
   [16]http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/cru/people/briffa/

