Category / Funding opportunities

The Innovation Projects Open Call

BU research, Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer, Research news

Announcement of Opportunity

The Innovation Projects Open Call will fund projects that increase and accelerate the uptake and impact of NERC funded research outputs by supporting translational and knowledge exchange activity which delivers direct tangible and demonstrable benefits to end users, particularly businesses.

Funds will be used to support projects which focus upon generating user applicable outputs from past and/or current NERC supported research and which translates them into outcomes that achieve impact.

The Innovation Projects Open call will open on 14 July 2015 and close on 22 October 2015.  This call will allow proposals for up to £125k at 100% FEC (£100k NERC contribution at 80% FEC) for up to 24 months, starting in April 2016.  NERC anticipates seeing a range of requests within the £125k limit/24 month limits, reflecting the range of potential projects and activities.

 

For further information: http://www.nerc.ac.uk/funding/available/schemes/innovation-projects/

Funding available to support the commercialisation of ideas arising from that NERC-funded research

Funding opportunities, Knowledge Exchange, Research news

Announcement of Opportunity

 The Follow-on Fund is a ‘proof of concept’ fund to support the commercialisation of ideas arising from that NERC-funded research.

This funding picks up where research programme and discovery science (responsive mode) grants leave off and enables those research outputs to be further developed so their commercial potential can be realised.

Examples of activities funded include technology licensing, launching technology-based products or services, selling know-how based consultancy services, and the commercialisation of NERC-funded datasets. Proposals are invited for projects pursuing any of these approaches or, indeed, others.

The Follow-on Fund will open on 14 July 2015 and close on 22 October 2015.  This call will allow proposals for up to £125k at 100% FEC (£100k NERC contribution at 80% FEC) for up to 12 months, starting in April 2016.

For further information: http://www.nerc.ac.uk/funding/available/schemes/followon/

 

BU process for selecting applications to NERC Standard Grant call – Expressions of Interest due

BU research, Funding opportunities, Guidance

nerc-logo-50thNERC introduced demand management measures in 2012. These were revised in 2015 to reduce the number and size of applications from research organisations for NERC’s discovery science standard grant scheme. Full details can be found in the BU policy document for NERC demand management measures.

As at March 2015, BU has been capped at one application per standard grant round. The measures only apply to NERC standard grants (including new investigators). An application counts towards an organisation, where the organisation is applying as the grant holding organisation (of the lead or component grant). This will be the organisation of the Principal Investigator of the lead or component grant.

BU process

As a result, BU has introduced a process for determining which application will be submitted to each NERC Standard Grant round. This will take the form of an internal competition, which will include peer review.  An Expression of Interest for NERC Standard Grant call (EoI) form will need to be completed.  The next available standard grant round is January 2016. The process for selecting an application for this round will be as follows:

NERC1NERC2

 NERC have advised that where a research organisation submits more applications to any round than allowed under the cap, NERC will office-reject any excess applications, based purely on the time of submission through the Je-S system (last submitted = first rejected). However, as RKEO submit applications through Je-S on behalf of NERC applicants, RKEO will not submit any applications that do not have prior agreement from the internal competition.

Appeals process

If an EoI is not selected to be submitted as an application, the Principal Investigator can appeal to Professor Tim McIntyre-Bhatty, Deputy Vice-Chancellor. Any appeals must be submitted within ten working days of the original decision. All appeals will be considered within ten working days of receipt.

RKEO Contacts

Please contact Jennifer Roddis, RKEO Research Facilitator – jroddis@bournemouth.ac.uk or Jo Garrad, RKEO Funding Development Manager – jgarrad@bournemouth.ac.uk if you wish to submit an expression of interest.

Latest Major Funding Opportunities

BU research, Funding opportunities, Uncategorized

The following funding opportunities have been announced. Please follow the links for more information.

British Academy invites applications for the Newton Advanced Fellowships. These enable international researchers to establish and develop collaborations with the UK with the intention of transferring knowledge and research capabilities to advance economic development and social welfare of the partner country. Researchers may be working in any discipline within the social sciences and humanities. Applicants must have a PhD or equivalent research experience and hold a permanent or fixed-term contract in an eligible university or research institute which must span the duration of the project. The overseas partner must be based in Malaysia, Mexico or Thailand. Applicants should have not more than 15 years of postdoctoral research experience. Each fellowship lasts for one to two years and provides £37,000 per year to cover research support, travel and subsistence and training costs.

Maximum award: £74000. Closing date: 5pm, 16/09/15.

British Academy invites applications for the Newton Mobility Grants. These enable UK universities and research institutes to host international researchers in order to establish and develop collaborations around a specific jointly defined project in any discipline within humanities and social sciences, and with the intention of transferring knowledge and research capabilities to advance economic development and social welfare of the partner country. Both a UK-based and overseas-based applicant are required for this scheme. Applicants must have a PhD or equivalent research experience and hold a permanent or fixed-term contract in an eligible university or research institute, which must span the duration of the project. The overseas-based applicant must be at a research institution based in Malaysia, Mexico, South Africa, and Thailand.  Grants are worth up to £10,000 each for one year for Malaysia, Mexico and South Africa applicants, and up to £20,000 for Thailand applicants. The grants aim to cover travel and maintenance costs, although costs related to other eligible activities will be considered.

Maximum award: £20000. Closing date: 5pm, 16/09/15.

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, as a part of the Research Councils UK energy programme, invites intents to apply for its call on Research Challenges in Industrial Carbon Capture and Storage. Funding supports collaborative research projects that tackle challenges in industrial CSS and respond to the challenges of CO2 capture technologies for industry or whole systems understanding of CCS. Topics addressed may include: the range of current and future compositions, sources, conditions, scales and applications; scalability at a reasonable cost; the technology landscape; performance measurement and modelling; advanced materials; adsorption–desorption process; integrating industrial and capture processes; integrating modelling across scales for systems analysis; the level of industrial CSS needed in order to meet emissions targets; integrating industrial capture with power sector CO2 transport and storage; stranded CO2 sources. Must register your interest by 18/08/15.

Maximum award: not specified. Closing date: 4pm, 22/09/15.

Innovate UK and the Ministry of Defence, under its Defence Equipment and Support, invites registrations for their non-destructive evaluation competition. This seeks innovative technologies, concepts and solutions that optimise non-destructive evaluation within the deployed and fixed environment. Non-destructive evaluation refers to methods that permit the examination of materials, structures and components without causing damage that renders the subject unfit for use. Innovative solutions should provide a mixture of the following benefits: accurately measure or monitor equipment and components to optimise maintenance plans; reduce inventory costs by applying non-intrusive system monitoring; improve operational agility by reducing the logistical burden. Innovations may address one or more of the following three themes: open theme; airworthiness; individual protection. MOD may prioritise compact, portable and deployable solutions that improve operating capability, and drive supply chain and inventory efficiencies. All organisations that can demonstrate a route to market for their solution may apply. Must register your interest by 12pm, 12/08/15.

Maximum award: Not specified. Closing date: 12pm, 19/08/15.

Innovate UK and the UK Space Agency, via the Space for Smarter Government programme, invites registrations for their pace for smarter government competition. This seeks innovative technology solutions for phase one of the competition that contribute towards the aim of helping the public sector create sustainable operational services from satellite data and enable smarter, more efficient operations, reduce risk and enhance policy making. Solutions that lead to satellite-enabled services for the public sector in any of the following areas are particularly sought after: natural hazard risk management; environment; local authorities and devolved administrations; other. The competitions has two phases. The total budget for phase one is £700,000, in which individual contracts may receive up to £80,000 each for a maximum period of five months. Phase two intends to develop and evaluate prototypes and demonstrators from the promising technologies in phase one, and has a total budget of up to £500,000 over one year. Must register your interest by 12pm, 09/09/15.

Maximum award: £80000. Closing date: 12pm, 16/09/15.

Innovate UK, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Department for International Development invite registrations for their agri-tech catalyst industrial research awards. These support business-led collaborative projects that develop any relevant innovative solutions from across all sectors of agri-tech or other industrial sectors, and that advance the sustainable intensification of global agriculture, including aquaculture, by developing innovative solutions. This may include technology development, lab-based prototyping, product development planning, extending proof-of-concept using plot or field trials, exploring production mechanisms, and market testing. Projects must relate to the following areas: primary crop and livestock production, including aquaculture; non-food uses of crops, including ornamentals; food security and nutrition challenges in international development; challenges in downstream food processing, provided that the solution lies in primary production. Applications from the aquaculture and livestock sectors are particularly encouraged, as are crop sector projects targeting weed control and on-farm storage and management. Any UK business or research base partner undertaking research and development may apply. Projects must be business-led. Developing country partners must be involved for applicants targeting international development. Projects are expected to last for up to three years, and be worth up to £3 million each. Funding covers up to 45 per cent of total eligible costs for SMEs and up to 35 per cent for larger companies. Total research partner costs must not exceed 50 percent of total project costs. Projects that exceed £3m must be discussed prior to applying. Must register your interest by 12pm, 07/10/15.

Maximum award: £3million. Closing date: EOI due 12pm, 14/10/15.

Innovate UK and the National Council of Science and Technology of Mexico (CONACYT) invite registrations for their Mexico-UK collaborative industrial research and development competition, under the Newton Fund. This supports collaborative research and development projects that stimulate innovation across the following three sectors which underpin future Mexican socio-economic growth: agroindustry; energy; health. Funding aims to bring together companies, research organisations, academics and other collaborators from Mexico and the UK to work on projects which result in products, processes and services that provide solutions to key challenges existing within these three sectors. Projects must demonstrate high industrial relevance and commercial potential, as well as demonstrate that they have a positive impact upon the economic development and social welfare of Mexico, beyond primary commercial interests. Innovate UK primarily intends to fund industrial research, however applications for experimental development that have an overall focus on industrial research may be considered. Projects must be business-led and collaborative with a Mexican partner. Nonbusiness UK partners such as research organisations may participate. Must register your interest by 12pm, 07/10/15.

Maximum award: not specified. Closing date: 14/10/15.

Innovate UK, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Department for International Development invite registrations for their agri-tech catalyst early-stage awards. These support pre-industrial research feasibility studies that explore the commercial potential of an early-stage innovative idea, through review of research evidence and application potential in agri-food production, assessment of business opportunity or scoping for further development. Projects should relate to the following areas: primary crop and livestock production, including aquaculture; non-food uses of crops, including ornamentals; food security and nutrition challenges in international development; challenges in downstream food processing, provided the solution lies in primary production.Applications from the aquaculture and livestock sectors are particularly encouraged, as are crop sector projects targeting weed control and on-farm storage and management. Equine-related proposals, or those relating to forestry or wild-capture fisheries are not supported. Any UK business or research base partner undertaking research and development may apply. Projects should be collaborative and may be research base or business-led, but must include at least one business partner. Developing country partners must be involved for proposals targeting international development. Must register your interest by 12pm, 13/01/16.

Maximum award: not specified. Closing date: 12pm, 20/01/16.

Innovate UK, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Department for International Development invite registrations for their agri-tech catalyst late-stage awards. These support experimental development projects that test and validate innovative concepts in a commercial environment to demonstrate their economic and technical feasibility ahead of large-scale deployment. This may include first tests in a field trial setting, trialling an innovative concept in the real-life operational environment, investigating product safety and effectiveness, through to the validation of the final product design, and producing the final prototype. Projects should relate to the following areas: •primary crop and livestock production, including aquaculture; non-food uses of arable crops, including ornamentals; food security and nutrition challenges in international development; challenges in downstream food processing, provided that the solution lies in primary production. Applications from the aquaculture and livestock sectors are particularly encouraged, as are crop sector projects targeting weed control, and on-farm storage and management. Equine-related proposals, and those relating to forestry or wild-capture fisheries are not supported. Projects must be business-led and may be conducted by individual companies or business partners in collaboration. Research base partners may participate as subcontractors to a business. Must register your interest by 12pm, 13/01/16.

Maximum award: not specified. Closing date: 12pm, 20/01/16.

Medical Research Council invites applications for its integrative toxicology training partnership PhD studentship scheme. This seeks to build expertise in toxicology and related disciplines that is required to ensure the safe and effective development of drugs, chemicals and consumer products, and to provide better assessment of risk deriving from environmental exposure. Research projects should meet the main aim of ITTP in achieving cross-fertilisation with advances in other disciplines, in order to address emerging challenges in toxicology. The emphasis is on aligning modern cell and molecular biology with other fundamental and health-related disciplines to provide an integrative holistic approach in research and training relevant to predicting the toxicity of chemicals and drugs as well as to develop an understanding of the chemical, pharmacological and biological processes involved. Applications should be submitted from potential academic supervisors and each must include collaborative partners in industry, government agencies or other universities. The proposed work should be feasible to be conducted by a PhD student and successfully submitted as a thesis within four years. Applicants are required to attend an interactive day meeting at the MRC unit on 28 September 2015. These four-year studentships will start in October 2016.

Maximum award: not specified. Closing date: 30/11/15.

Natural Environment Research Council invites applications for its innovation internships. This aims to promote collaborations between academics, policy or civil society partners and generate evidence and case studies of how businesses and other organisations have used, or could use NERC funded research. Applicants may apply for internships of up to six months, based in business, policy and civil society organisations. Applications must be in the following areas: infrastructure; risk management; sustainable food production; environmental data; natural resources. PhD students who have completed their first year or research and postdoctoral researchers at any career stage may apply. Interns are expected to spend between 50 and 100 per cent of their allocated time with the partner organisation. NERC will cover direct salary costs, travel and subsistence costs. The partner organisation is expected to cover the overhead costs of hosting the intern. Internships may start from 1 November 2015 and should be completed by 30 April 2016.

Maximum award: not specified. Closing date: 4pm, 03/09/15.

Royal Society invites applications for its University Research Fellowships. These enable early-career scientists in the UK to build an independent research career in any area of the life and physical sciences, including engineering but excluding clinical medicine and direct biomedical research. Applicants must have three to eight years of research experience since their PhD by the application closing date. They must not hold a permanent post in a university or non-profit organisation in the European Economic Area; however, they must be an EEA or Swiss citizen, or have a relevant connection to the EEA or Switzerland. Fellowships are awarded for five years, but extensions may be awarded for three additional years. Awards include a maximum salary of £38,166 per year and research expenses of up to £13,000 for the first year and up to £11,000 for every year thereafter.

Maximum award: as above. Closing date: 09/09/15.

Royal Society, the Academy of Medical Sciences and the Newton Fund invite applications for the Newton Advanced Fellowships. These enable established international researchers to develop the strengths and capabilities through training, collaboration and reciprocal visits with a partner in the UK. Supported work may be on any subject within the natural sciences, including physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, engineering, agriculture, biology, medicine, the scientific aspects of archaeology, geography, experimental psychology and clinical or patient-oriented research. Applications should focus on a single project involving an international researcher and a UK-based researcher, both of whom should have a PhD or equivalent research experience. The international researcher should be one of the following: a China-based researcher supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China through the distinguished young scholar programme or excellent young scientist programme; a Malaysia-based scientist who applies under the natural science remit; a Mexico-based resercher who applies under the natural science remit; Thailand-based researcher who applies under the natural science remit. Each overseas applicant should work as an independent researcher in a university, academic research organisation or publicly funded or non-profit research institution in their home country. They should not have more than 15 years of postdoctoral research experience. Competency in oral and written English are required. The UK-based researcher must be an independent academic researcher who holds a permanent or fixed-term contract in a university or eligible publicly funded research organisation, including government research institutes. The applicant’s organisation must agree to host and administer the fellowship. Each fellowship is worth up to £111,000 over a maximum period of three years, to cover salary, research support, travel and subsistence, and training costs.

Maximum award: £111000. Closing date: 5pm, 16/09/15.

Please note that some funding bodies specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKEO Funding Development Officer

You can set up your own personalised alerts on Research Professional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s/Faculty’s Funding Development Officer in RKEO or view the recent blog post here.

If thinking of applying, why not add notification of your interest on Research Professional’s record of the bid so that BU colleagues can see your intention to bid and contact you to collaborate.

Funder Information events

BU research, EU, Funding opportunities, Info Days, Research news, Training

If you are forward-thinking, attending a funder information event or conference can give you the edge when it comes to applying.

Looking at Horizon 2020 as an example, the following events are a sample taking place over the coming months:

Events are added regularly to the Horizon 2020 pages.

If you attend an external funder event of this type, please remember to let your RKEO Facilitator or Officer know. It may be that we can help share information that you obtain with others at BU with similar interests or alert you to others who might be potential partners.

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships – Important news for applications for 2015

BU Challenges, BU research, EU, Funding opportunities, Research news, Training

Logo_Marie-CurieIf you are hoping to apply, then you MUST send us your Intention to Bid for this call by 13 July 2015 with one form per Fellow.

[Form now removed as deadline has passed]

It is essential that you do this so that RKEO can plan for the resources that will be required to support each application.

If you need to find out more about this call before submitting your Intention to Bid, please go to the dedicated website

 

 

Latest Major Funding Opportunities

BU research, Funding opportunities, Research news, Research themes

The following funding opportunities have been announced. Please follow the links for more information.

 

The Department of Health, including NIHR, invites tenders for its small business research initiative call on faecal and urinary incontinence in frail elderly people. The call aims to find innovative new products and services to help with faecal and urinary incontinence in frail elderly people. Tenderers should address prevention, diagnosis, treatment and management.

Phase 1 shows the technical feasibility of the proposed concept, and Phase 2 contracts are intended to develop and evaluate prototypes or demonstration units from the more promising technologies in Phase 1. Only those projects that have completed Phase 1 successfully will be eligible for Phase 2.

Maximum award: up to £100,000 per project over six months

Closing date:  12:00pm,  11/08/15

 

NHS England, under the Department of Health, invites tenders for minimising the impact of falling. This competition focuses on minimising the impact of falls and the fear of falling in older people, and should address a range of unmet needs, expressed as ‘what if’ scenarios, that could improve the care that clinicians are able to offer to patients in terms of outcomes, experience and efficiency. Fall prevention services provide assessment, strength and balance training, occupational therapist support, vision assessments and medicines review. Tenders should show the technical feasibility of the proposed concept.

Maximum award: up to £100,000 per project for a maximum of six months.

Closing date: 12:00pm, 11/08/15

 

NHS England, under the Department of Health, invites tenders to address functional needs in the elderly. This competition aims to find technologies to help address, as well as provide solutions for, functional difficulties associated with patients, particularly the increasingly frail elderly suffering multi-morbidities (defined as suffering two or more chronic conditions). Technologies should be aligned to the three key challenges which are commonly associated with functional difficulties; these are: detecting frailty and monitoring deterioration; activities of daily living (including dressing above and below the waist, grooming, bathing and showering, light housework and preparing meals); and treatment burden, including adhering to disease management plans and lifestyle changes, as well as drug concordance, adherence and compliance.  Tenders should show the technical feasibility of the proposed concept.

Maximum award: up to £100,000 per project for a maximum of six months.

Closing date: 12:00pm, 11/08/15

 

The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Natural Environment Research Council and the Newton Fund invite proposals for their collaborative call with China, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam on rice research. This aims to build on the combined strengths of academic research groups within China, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and the UK to work together on collaborative interdisciplinary and innovative basic, strategic or applied research that contributes to and underpins the long-term sustainable production of rice, and also an understanding that rice production sits alongside the provision of other ecosystem services. Projects of up to three years in duration and addressing the following challenges will be encouraged:

• Greater resilience to biotic and abiotic stresses;

• Improved resource use efficiency, including nitrogen, phosphorous and water;

• Improved quality of rice, including nutritional enhancement and grain quality;

• Novel research tool and technology development supporting the above areas, including systems biology, bioinformatics, screening and characterisation of germplasm for gene and trait discovery.

In addition to the challenges listed above, proposals will also be welcomed in the following areas and countries:

• Improved photosynthetic efficiency in rice (China, Thailand, UK)

• Environmentally sustainable rice cultivation systems (Thailand, Philippines, UK)

• Utilisation of rice by-products (Philippines, Vietnam, UK)

• Sustainably increasing the genetic yield potential of rice (China, UK)

Each proposal must involve at least one applicant based in the UK and one based in either China, the Philippines, Thailand or Vietnam. All proposals are required to have a UK principal Investigator, in addition to a PI from one or more of the partner countries.

All applicants must adhere to the national eligibility rules for research proposals.

The total budget from BBSRC and NERC is worth up to £6.5 million, with matched funding from the partner agencies in China, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Projects may last up to a maximum of up to three years.

Closing date: 16:00, 13/08/15

 

The Natural and Environmental Research Council (NERC) and the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) are inviting research proposals under this ‘Understanding and Sustaining Brazilian Biome Resources’ call. This call is supported by the UK through the Newton Fund which forms part of the UK governments Official Development Assistance (ODA) commitment and is only open to joint UK-Brazil applications.

This call aims to improve the understanding of the role of biodiversity in the functioning of ecosystems, the drivers and impact of change, and management and restoration options in Brazil. The call’s objectives are:

• Improve understanding of the role of biodiversity in major biome biogeochemical cycles at the whole-biome level;

• Explore the spatial correlations between ecosystem function in terms of biogeochemical cycles and the distribution of species of conservation concern, within a range of Brazilian ecosystems including forest and non-forest biomes;

• Critically assess the potential and trade-offs of ecosystem management and policy options to protect both key ecosystem functions and biodiversity and other ecosystem services.

Projects must undertake research at the biome spatial level, and should seek to utilise new or novel technological capability and make use of existing long term data sets that are available from other projects.

UK-based researchers associated with organisations eligible for NERC funding may apply. Brazilian researchers associated to public or non-profit higher education and research organisations in the state of São Paulo may apply.

NERC will provide up to £2 million at 80 per cent full economic cost for UK-based researchers with FAPESP providing matched equivalent effort to Brazilian researchers.

It is expected that two to three project proposals, lasting up to three years, will be funded.

Closing date: 16:00, 02/09/15

 

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Natural Environment Research Council has extended the closing date for technical assessments and applications for their ARCHER leadership projects.

The previous deadline of 1 September has been extended to 7 September 2015. All other call details remain the same.

These awards provide direct access to the UK’s national supercomputing facility ARCHER for computationally intensive individual projects. Eligible projects may include the following:

• Leadership calculations that push the boundaries of scientific high performance computing;

• Calculations that require a large number of processing cores;

• High-risk, high-reward projects that rely heavily on high performance compute resource and have significant potential for large future impact;

• Substantial computational projects by experienced teams that need large compute resources, but do not rely on additional support by EPSRC or NERC;

• Pre-competitive computational production runs by non-academic research groups within sectors related to the remits of the ARCHER partner research councils.

Applicants should be individuals eligible to hold a full EPSRC or NERC grant, or persons of similar standing in industry or the third sector.

A total of 2m kAU is available, split between EPSRC and NERC remits at the ratio of 77 % EPSRC and 23 % NERC. Each applicant should apply for at least 100,000 kAU for a maximum period of two years.

Closing date: 16:00, 07/09/15

 

The Centre for Defence Enterprise and Defence Science and Technology Laboratory invite innovative proposals for their themed competition on ‘what’s inside that building’. This supports phase one research projects that aim to develop novel techniques which remotely provide information about the layout and situation inside a building, or underground facility from a range of at least 100 metres. Projects should develop and mature technology readiness level 2 to 3 concepts based on both direct sensing and inference from indirect measurements. In addition, they should address the following technology challenges: novel applications of traditional sensing methods; new technologies and approaches.

Proposals may include technologies that address the following:

• Detecting concealed manufacturing activity;

• Finding out about the internal structure of a building in preparation for entry, including walls, furniture and electrical equipment;

• Identifying illegal storage activities;

• Working out the number of people in a building and what they are doing;

• Detecting people who are hiding or being held against their will;

• Supporting disaster relief, for instance seeing under collapsed buildings.

Preference may be given to projects that produce a technology demonstration as opposed to projects that only deliver a written report.

The total budget for phase one of this competition is worth £650,000. There is no cap on proposals, however MOD is more likely to fund phase one projects worth between £50,000 and £100,000. Successful projects may receive an additional £500,000 for phase two of the competition, in which funding is awarded on a per-project basis. Proposals should focus on a short, sharp, proof of concept phase, typically lasting between 3 to 8 months.

Closing date: 17:00, 10/09/15

 

Nesta, in collaboration with Innovate UK, invites proposals for the Longitude prize. This rewards the development of a transformative point-of care diagnostic test to revolutionise the delivery of global healthcare and conserve antibiotics for future generations. The test must be accurate, rapid, affordable, easy to use and available to anyone, anywhere in the world. It should be able to identify when antibiotics are needed and, if they are, which ones to use.

Anyone and any organisation may enter. Teams must include a member who has a presence in the UK. The competition is only open to those who have developed a new diagnostic test.

The winner is awarded £8 million. £2m is awarded to support promising entries along the way. The prize money must be used to develop and market the winning solution.

Closing date: 30/09/15

 

Innovate UK’s IC tomorrow, in collaboration with several partners, invites proposals for its digital innovation contest on games. This supports the development of an innovative commercial prototype service or application across five areas which different areas of the games industry. Proposals should address one of the following challenges:

• Second-screen use in a game, supported by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE);

• Open street map data, supported by Crytek UK;

• New markets and perceptual computing, supported by Intel;

• Wider games distribution on mobile web, supported by Google Chrome;

• Games and cinema, supported by Odeon Cinema and Pinewood Studios.

Businesses based in the UK and EU may apply.

Five companies may receive up to £25,000 each. The total budget is £125,000.

Closing date: 12:00pm, 16/10/15

 

Follow-on funding from The Natural Environment Research Council

As the name suggests, the Follow-on Fund picks up where research programme and discovery science (responsive mode) grants leave off, and enables their commercial potential to be realised by further developing the research outputs.

Examples of activities funded include technology licensing, launching technology-based products or services, selling know-how based consultancy services, and the commercialisation of NERC-funded datasets.

Researchers who are receiving/have received NERC funding may apply. Proposals must build on the outputs of recent/previous NERC-funded research activity. Applicants are encouraged to seek input from potential commercial stakeholders and end-users before submitting an application. Projects do not have to be based on proprietary, patentable intellectual property, though all proposals must have demonstrable economic potential, and be likely to deliver some form of societal or environmental benefit.

Each proposal may receive up to £100,000 at 80 per cent full economic cost.

Closing date: 22/10/15

 

Please note that some funding bodies specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKEO Funding Development Officer

You can set up your own personalised alerts on Research Professional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s/Faculty’s Funding Development Officer in RKEO or view the recent blog post here.

If thinking of applying, why not add notification of your interest on Research Professional’s record of the bid so that BU colleagues can see your intention to bid and contact you to collaborate.

 

Attend our Webinar 8th July – Maximising the Impact of Horizon 2020 Projects – IP Rights

EU, Funding opportunities, Research news, Training

euflagMaximising the Impact of Horizon 2020 Projects

Join RKEO staff at this free webinar presented by Dr Eugene Sweeney of the EU Intellectual Property Rights Helpdesk. This will take place on Wednesday, 8th July in Room P403, from 9:30 to 10:45

According to the website, in this 60 minute session, you will:

Learn more about exploitation of IP rights in H2020 projects. This webinar gives an overall view of the creation and the development of IP rights both through and after the duration of an H2020 project. The most common planning mistakes will be analysed and some practical tips will be given, so that you can have the best possible results from an H2020 project.

Learning Objectives

After the training, participants should have a better understanding of the following:

  • The IP in the Consortium Agreements: a particular regard to the results of the research.
  • Which are the best means to maximize the value of your IP?
  • Assessing your IP: How can you estimate the value of your IP?
  • Which criteria should be taken into account when it comes to determine how much your IP is worth?
  • Which are the best exploitation strategies and business plans for entering the market?
  • Reap the rewards of your IP: licensing and post deal managing.

As part of the webinar, there will be around 15 minutes after the presentation for Q&A. Depending on attendees, there may be the opportunity for BU-related discussions after the webinar.

To attend, please contact Dianne Goodman in RKEO to secure your place.

 

Call now open ! Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF): money available to support your business engagement and knowledge exchange ideas.

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, HEIF, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team, Knowledge Transfer

HEFCE provide funding for knowledge exchange (Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF)) to support and develop a broad range of knowledge-based interactions between universities and colleges and the wider world, which result in economic and social benefit to the UK. The current round of funding is referred to as HEIF-5 and runs until 31st July 2015.

BU has a proven track record with this funding stream and our success continues. Currently there are 13 live projects funded from HEIF-5, including VFX Hub, BUDI and the Cyber Security Unit. Interim funding has been made available to run from 1 August 2015 to 31 July 2016. This is known as HEIF 5+1.

The call is now open. Colleagues are invited  to bid for funds to run new projects with funding starting 1 August 2015 and ending 31 July 2016.

Deadlines are tight with the deadline for proposals being Friday 3 July 2015.  (Timetable for the call.)

These projects will need to reflect our interim strategy sent to HEFCE:

“BU will continue to invest in innovation themes with a strong focus on network creation, with a particular focus on digital and creative industries, health and wellbeing, and regional development. The additional year of funding will enable BU to continue to develop our existing area in addition to investment to develop new innovations. This will allow BU to create innovations in areas such as e-health, whilst developing closer links with regional initiatives to enhance local development opportunities, working with the Dorset LEP and other local organisations. We will also consider the use of HEIF funds to invest in effective mechanisms for engaging with business/industry. Our core strategy of investing in sector-specific themes with a strong focus on network creation remains; what has changed in light of emerging opportunities is the nature of the themes in which we will invest and the mechanisms through which we will engage with the region.”

For more information please click here.

Make sure you read the information listed in the useful documents section including:

HEIF Institutional Strategy

HEIF FAQs

HEIF Application Form

Want to work with business? Try this workshop as a starting point

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, Info Days, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer, Knowledge Transfer Partnership

The Research and Knowledge Exchange Office (RKEO) are hosting a one-day networking development workshop for those academics who are interested in working with business.

Held off-site in Bournemouth from 9am-5pm on Thursday 25th June, this workshop aims to focus on developing your personal skills where key learning outcomes are: communication, persuasion, influence and talking to business.

This workshop is ideal for academics who wish to work with industry on projects such as consultancy or KTP.

We currently have four places left!  If anyone is interested in attending, please book your place via Rachel Clarke, KE Adviser (KTP) on 01202 961347 or email clarker@bournemouth.ac.uk

Latest Major Funding Opportunities

BU research, Funding opportunities, Uncategorized

The following funding opportunities have been announced. Please follow the links for more information.

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council invites applications for funding for the delivery of Exploring Innovation seminars. These enable universities and institutes to deliver events to facilitate discussion and improve awareness of knowledge exchange and commercialisation of BBSRC-supported research. The event may include a half day with networking and panel discussion for academic staff and academic-related colleagues involved in developing the programme and encouraging attendance. Audience or speakers could include academic staff, university business development staff, knowledge exchange professionals, technology transfer specialists, patent attorneys, KTP advisors and representatives of life sciences businesses. Potential discussion topics include the following: case studies of practical approaches for working with business and other user organisations; research organisation strategy and policy surrounding intellectual asset management; practical and flexible approaches to achieve greater impact in areas related to intellectual property rights in biological sciences, formation of spin-out companies, research and development, licensing, consultancy, collaborative R&D, open innovation or social enterprise; BBSRC support and funding mechanisms for knowledge exchange; networking and sharing of best practice. Applicants should be research organisations that are in receipt of funding from BBSRC. Applications that are coordinated across departments or between different organisations are encouraged. Funding may be used to contribute towards the costs of external speakers, room fees, time spent in organising the event and any other reasonable costs, excluding lunch and refreshments.

Maximum award: £2k. Closing date: not specified.

Economic and Social Research Council invites expressions of interest for a collaborative Knowledge Exchange Fellowship. The fellowship will enable a mid-career academic to develop skills and experience of knowledge exchange and impact activities by working on behalf of the council’s Urban Transformations portfolio, where they will promote opportunities for policy and wider societal impact, with particular emphasis on the Foresight Future of Cities project and its wider network of cities’ stakeholders. The programme may offer opportunities for reflection and the advancement of academic career priorities as well as directly contributing to the work of the two programmes.

Maximum award: £80k at 80% fEC for 12 months. Closing date: 01/07/15.

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council invites proposals for access to ARCHER through its resource allocation panel. This scheme provides access to the council’s national state-of-the-art high performance computing facility for proposals that are within the council’s remit and that would benefit from ARCHER. Proposals may include short computational projects that do not warrant a full grant application, projects that link consecutive standard grant applications or that aid the preparation of a grant or fellowship, extended feasibility studies, and trialling application developments at scale. Computing resources on ARCHER are awarded in kilo-allocation units with one kAU representing a measure of relative performance of ARCHER based on a range of benchmarks compared to previous national services. One core hour equates to 0.015kAU. Users can request significant amounts of computing resource (>1,000kAU) over a maximum one-year period. Although there is no limit to the number of kAUs that can be applied for, there is a limit to the total amount of kAUs available against this call: around 300,000 kAU, or 20 million core hours.

Maximum award: N/A. Closing date: 4pm, 07/09/15.

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, as part of the Research Councils UK Energy Programme, invites registrations of intent for its call on reducing energy demand in the transport sector. Funding supports interdisciplinary collaborative research to reduce energy demand in the energy sector. Proposals with innovation in engineering, physical sciences or information and communication technologies, together with an application, business and economic modelling, and considering behavioural aspects of transport systems, are particularly encouraged. Furthermore, proposals should address the following research challenges: decarbonising freight using multidisciplinary research, including behaviour, economics, governance and technology; energy demand implications of technological, institutional and infrastructural change; vehicle design to meet challenging mobility needs in an integrated transport system.

Maximum award: £2 million. Closing date: Registrations of intent 4pm, 31/07/15.

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Natural Environment Research Council invite technical assessments and applications for their ARCHER leadership projects. Awards provide direct access to the UK’s national supercomputing facility ARCHER for computationally intensive individual projects. Eligible projects may include the following: leadership calculations that push the boundaries of scientific high performance computing; calculations that require a large number of processing cores; high-risk, high-reward projects that rely heavily on high performance compute resource and have significant potential for large future impact; substantial computational projects by experienced teams that need large compute resources, but do not rely on additional support by EPSRC or NERC; pre-competitive computational production runs by non-academic research groups within sectors related to the remits of the ARCHER partner research councils. A total of maximum 2 million kAU is available, split between EPSRC and NERC remits at the ratio of 77 per cent EPSRC and 23 per cent NERC. Each applicant should apply for at least 100,000 kAU for a maximum period of two years.

Maximum award: N/A. Closing date: 4pm, 01/09/15.

Leverhulme Trust invites applications for its Visiting Professorships. These enable UK institutions to host eminent researchers from overseas, primarily to enhance the skills of academic staff or students at the host institution. Visiting professors may also wish to use the opportunity to further their own academic interests. Any field of research is eligible. Applications must be made by a member of academic staff, based in a UK university or other higher education institution, who will be responsible for coordinating the visit. Priority is given to new or recent collaborative ventures. Funding covers maintenance, travel expenses and research costs and supports visits that last between three and 12 months. Travel within the UK, laboratory consumables and essential technical assistance may also be covered.

Maximum award: Not specified. Closing date: 4pm, 08/10/15.

Medical Research Council invites applications for its Discovery Awards. These support discovery research in areas with potential for development, which are strategically sound within the institution’s strategy and are important nationally. All discoveries relevant to the MRC’s remit are accepted, and applicants are encouraged to explore how awards could be used to develop interdisciplinary interactions, for example by linking with physical sciences, mathematics and social sciences. Awards support recruitment or initial development of new PIs at junior or senior levels, or linked pilot work or technology and methods development. Institutions are expected to initiate and build critical mass and capacity in otherwise underexplored, high-potential areas of research, which may not yet compare to more established fields but have a clear vision for development.

Maximum award: £1 million. Closing date: 10/08/15.

Medical Research Council together with the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology, and with support from the Newton Fund, invites proposals for its UK-Vietnam infectious disease research call. This supports collaborative UK-Vietnamese biomedical research in health areas of importance to the Vietnamese population, leading to health benefits in Vietnam, particularly for the poorest and most vulnerable in society. Areas of particular interest include antimicrobial resistance, vaccine development for humans and malaria. Each proposal must involve a UK partner and one based in Vietnam. Interdisciplinary collaborations are particularly welcome.The budget for this call is £2.6 million, with up to £2m available from MRC for UK collaborators and up to £600,000 from MOST for Vietnamese collaborators. Funding is expected to support a maximum of five projects, worth up to £520,000 per project over two to three years.

Maximum award: £520k. Closing date: 15/07/15.

Medical Research Council, the Department for International Development and the Wellcome Trust invite proposals for their joint Global Health Trials scheme. This funds trials to generate new knowledge about interventions that will contribute to the improvement of health in low- and middle-income countries. Priority is given to proposals that are likely to produce implementable results and that address the major causes of mortality or morbidity in low- and middle-income countries. The focus is primarily on late-stage clinical and health intervention trials evaluating efficacy and effectiveness. The scheme is aimed at funding randomised controlled trials, but innovative trial methodologies and adaptive designs are also welcome. Phase IIb trials of major relevance may also be considered. Proposals for research into chronic non-communicable diseases and reproductive, maternal and newborn health are particularly welcomed. The scope encompasses interventions of all kinds, including behavioural and complex interventions, disease management, drugs, vaccines, hygiene and diagnostic strategies. The scheme is open to principal investigators based in low- or middle-income economies at higher education institutions and non-profit research institutions, and principal investigators based in UK HEIs, research council institutes and eligible independent research organisations.

Maximum award: Not specified. Closing date: 10/09/15.

Natural Environment Research Council invites applications for its Collaborative Gearing scheme. This offers opportunities for fieldwork-based scientific collaboration with NERC’s British Antarctic Survey, in cases where no funding for salaries, grants or other direct science costs is required, but where access to BAS Antarctic facilities and research stations would enable fieldwork to be conducted for the proposed project. Proposed projects must be allied to the BAS science programme.

Maximum award: Not specified. Closing date: 4pm, 31/03/16.

The World Health Organization, together with the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership and the UK Medical Research Council, invites proposals for research and capacity development in support of the Ebola virus disease response. The previous deadline of 18 June 2015 has now been extended to 6 August 2015. This call aims to build and strengthen regional, national, institutional and individual capacities to conduct high quality health research during infectious disease outbreaks resulting in health emergencies. Proposals should address at least one of the following areas: establish training or other capacity building activities for healthcare and laboratory personnel to detect and respond to infectious disease epidemics, conduct clinical trials and analyse samples in an emergency context to ensure clinical trial site preparedness; generate evidence for and implement ethically sound approaches to the introduction and clinical testing of new prevention tools or treatments during outbreaks of Ebola virus disease or other emerging infectious diseases of particular relevance to Africa; identify and implement best practices for building both community and national health authority support and engagement in clinical trials being conducted in emergency situations, including activities related to the development of appropriate mechanisms for surveillance, identification, tracking and referral of cases, as well as reintegration of survivors into the community. Consortia of researchers composed of at least one legal entity may apply. Projects involving transnational collaboration and regional networking are encouraged. Applicants are encouraged to establish links with relevant WHO and EDCTP-funded activities.

Maximum award: €250k. Closing date: 06/08/15.

Please note that some funding bodies specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKEO Funding Development Officer

You can set up your own personalised alerts on Research Professional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s/Faculty’s Funding Development Officer in RKEO or view the recent blog post here.

If thinking of applying, why not add notification of your interest on Research Professional’s record of the bid so that BU colleagues can see your intention to bid and contact you to collaborate.

Making an impact – Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF): money available to support your business engagement and knowledge exchange ideas

BU research, Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team, Knowledge Transfer

HEFCE provide funding for knowledge exchange (Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF)) to support and develop a broad range of knowledge-based interactions between universities and colleges and the wider world, which result in economic and social benefit to the UK. The current round of funding is referred to as HEIF-5 and runs until 31st July 2015.

 BU has a proven track record with this funding stream and our success continues. Currently there are 13 live projects funded from HEIF-5, including VFX Hub, BUDI and the Cyber Security Unit. Interim funding has been made available to run from 1 August 2015 to 31 July 2016. This is known as HEIF 5+1.

 A call will shortly be circulated internally inviting colleagues to bid for funds to run new projects with funding starting 1 August 2015 and ending 31 July 2016. These projects will need to reflect our interim strategy sent to HEFCE:

 “BU will continue to invest in innovation themes with a strong focus on network creation, with a particular focus on digital and creative industries, health and wellbeing, and regional development. The additional year of funding will enable BU to continue to develop our existing area in addition to investment to develop new innovations. This will allow BU to create innovations in areas such as e-health, whilst developing closer links with regional initiatives to enhance local development opportunities, working with the Dorset LEP and other local organisations. We will also consider the use of HEIF funds to invest in effective mechanisms for engaging with business/industry. Our core strategy of investing in sector-specific themes with a strong focus on network creation remains; what has changed in light of emerging opportunities is the nature of the themes in which we will invest and the mechanisms through which we will engage with the region.”

Keep an eye out on the staff intranet, research blog and other staff communication channels for updates. For more information on HEIF and other knowledge exchange opportunities, please contact Jayne Codling Knowledge Exchange Adviser (RKEO).

 

 

Reminder RKEO & Legal Services Coffee Morning on 25/06/15

BU research, Coffee Morning, Funding opportunities

coffee morning pics

Just a quick reminder our next RKEO coffee morning will be taking place on Thursday the 25th of June and will be held in conjunction with our colleagues from the Legal Services team.

Members of the RKEO and the Legal Services teams will be in the Retreat, Talbot Campus from 9.30 to 10.30am.

Come along and discuss your research plans with our RKEO team and check out how they can support you through the whole research funding process from applying to successful project management and delivery. We can also help you find the right funding opportunity, discuss the processes relating to funding schemes, as well as identifying potential collaborators and partners to strengthen your application. We can help with public engagement, knowledge transfer opportunities and much, much more….

Representatives from Legal Services will also be available to answer queries on matters such as contracting arrangements, freedom of information and data protection.

Come along and have a chat with us and see how we can help you, or just pop by and enjoy a coffee and a cake.

We look forward to seeing you!