The Cluster has access to a set number of hours per week of targeted support for grant development and knowledge exchange activities. The following guidelines will be used to distribute these hours. The objective of this support is to facilitate collaboration between cluster members, facilitate funding proposals that advance shared cluster goals, and drive impacts that align with the GCRC proposal.

The Microplastics Cluster leadership team will allocate support as follows:

• Priority will be given to projects that involve collaboration between cluster members and clearly align with the objectives of our GCRC proposal.
• Each cluster member will be entitled to an equal number of support hours from Hikma through the life of the Cluster grant. Support may include individual or small group consultations, draft development, funding opportunity research, media content drafting, knowledge exchange plan development, and similar services.
• Support to coordinate activities for the whole Cluster and write the 2022 GCRC application will not be counted toward any individual’s allotment of hours—that grant development support will be shared across the Cluster.
• Hikma will track grant support and knowledge exchange support by the hour.
• Every hour of support must be tagged to an individual cluster member. In cases where cluster members are collaborating, those members will indicate whose hours should be allocated to the specific engagement. For example, if Erica meets with a group of three cluster members, only one of those members will spend their designated hours for that meeting. The cluster members must indicate whose hour will be counted.
• Cluster members may choose to share these hours with other cluster members. For example, a cluster member who is collaborating with other cluster members on a grant may choose to allocate their individual hours to that collaborative project.
• A Cluster member may choose to allocate their hours to a student or postdoc who is working on a Cluster-related project. For example, a student may meet with Erica for a consultation related to grant development or knowledge exchange activities.
• In cases where the total demand for support exceeds the hours available in a given month, support for grants in which multiple cluster members are involved will be prioritized.
• As a general guideline, where the demand for support is greater than the number of hours available, grant support will be prioritized over knowledge exchange support. However, there will be a minimum amount of support for knowledge exchange activities each month such as: media communications development, stakeholder mapping, and knowledge exchange plan development.