Tagged / Acorn fund

The ACORN Fund Round 4 Results

To support BU’s Early Career Researchers with the most promising talent, the ACORN Fund (Acceleration Of Research & Networking) Round 4 was announced in November 2021. This time, two options for ECRs were available – to apply for Standard Grant up to £5,000 or Large Grant up to £10,00; each applicant was allowed to only submit one proposal for Round 4. Before the closing date, 14 eligible applications were received.

After application evaluation and careful consideration at the panel meeting in early January, the ACORN panel suggested the Research Performance and Management Committee (RPMC) to fund 10 proposed projects according to their final ranking – two Large Grants and eight Standard Grants. All winners have returned signed Award Notification letters and we are glad to announce the results.

Large Grants have been awarded to:

PI Samuel Rennie (FST), project tittle ‘Ancient Migrations through the “Mesoamerican Corridor”

PI Melanie Stockton-Brown (FMC), project tittle ‘Copy Tatts: Copyright within Tattooing Culture’

Standard Grants have been awarded to:

PI Liam Wignall (FST), project tittle ‘An international study of pup play communities’

PI Reece Bush (FST), project tittle ‘Personality and gambling: An eye-tracking study on attention to responsible gambling messages and promotional content on webpages’

PI Matthew Armstrong (HSS), project tittle’The effectiveness of a physical activity behavioural modification intervention to promote activities of daily living in those with long term symptoms of COVID-19′

PI Sarah Collard (FST), project tittle ‘Physical activity levels of people with Epilepsy in the UK’

PI Samuel Hills (HSS), project tittle ‘Weather conditions and UK drownings: Progressing data reporting and targeted water safety policy’

PI Guljira Manimont (BUBS), project tittle ‘Exploring the role of FoodPorn in culinary precinct attractiveness: a case of Dorset, UK’

PI Mallika Tamvada (FMC), project tittle ‘Challenges under the Mandatory Form of Corporate Social Responsibility in a Globalised World – Can Collaborative CSR be a way forward for addressing the most compelling societal problems?’

PI Kate Terkanian (FMC), project tittle ‘Bournemouth and Beales: Department Stores, Community, and the Decline of the High Street’

Congratulations to all winners!

These awards support BU’s commitment to the Concordat to Support to Career Development of Researchers and are made possible by BU’s QR (Quality Research) allocation for 2021/22 financial year.

We believe, our ECRs will be able to gain experience of managing and leading their own pilot research projects and successfully apply for external funding in the future.

On behalf of the ACORN panel, let me wish the best luck with implementation of your projects.

ACORN Round 4 Is Closing Soon

Dear ECRs,

this is a reminder that ACORN Round 4 is closing on 10 December 2021 at 5pm.

As advertised earlier, this round slightly differs from previous rounds. Two options for ECRs are available – Standard Grants up to £5,000 that can be delivered before the end of July 2022 and Large Grants up to £10,00 for projects to be completed within 12 months.

Each applicant is allowed to only submit one proposal for Round 4 and should use one of the supplied templates accordingly. The closing date is Friday, 10th December 2021 (5pm); to be considered eligible, all applications must be submitted to the email account acorn@bournemouth.ac.uk before the deadline.

For more details, refer to full text of advertisement.

Introduction to ACORN

What is ACORN fund about?

ACORN funding provides central investment to the most talented Early Career Researchers (ECRs) to support them in gaining experience in managing and leading their own pilot research projects. The name ACORN stands for ACceleration Of Research and Networking. These awards support BU’s commitment to the Concordat to Support to Career Development of Researchers.

It is increasingly common in the sector for universities to provide a central fund for research development activities, with funds allocated via an internal competitive process. The decision-making body is a panel, technical project implementation support, including financial management, is provided by faculties.

ACORN funding is managed by one of the internal funding panels; the ACORN panel consists of ten panel members representing all faculties, Doctoral College and Professional Services. The panel is led by the Chair Professor Jan Wiener, Vice-Chair Professor Julie Turner-Cobb and supported by Secretary and Clerk  from RDS.

There is a strong link between the ACORN Fund and the ECR Network (ECRN). Both were launched in 2018, with the ECRN having monthly meetings and a Brightspace community. Award holders are expected to engage with the ECRN and present at an ECRN event. In this way, those who do not benefit directly from the ACORN scheme by receiving funding, benefit indirectly though interaction with those ECRs who receive support via this scheme.

There are some key eligibility requirements applicants have to consider before applying for ACORN funding:

  • applicants must have completed their PhD;
  • applicants must have a post at BU (established or fixed term) for the full duration of the award;
  • applicants should have held a 0.2 or above research contract for no more than six years in total;
  • ACORN award holders cannot hold more than one ACORN award concurrently;
  • applicants are required to secure at least one mentor to provide support and advice through the application process and beyond.

Funded projects

Since ACORN funding started, 23 grants have been awarded.

Round 1

  • Return to Work after Stroke, PI Dr Kathryn Collins (HSS);
  • Enhancing Educational Practice Through 3D Pedagogy Workshops, PI Dr Deborah Gabriel (FMC);
  • Building BU-Brazil partnerships: self-managed breathing training for falls prevention, PI Dr James Gavin (FMC);
  • Training prisoners as hospitality workers: The Clink Charity case, PI Dr Charalampos Giousmpasoglou (FMC);
  • Minimising disorientation in care homes: Experiences of care home staff, PI Dr Michelle Heward (HSS);
  • Virtual Reality for supporting dementia care, PI Dr Ben Hicks (FST).

Round 2

  • The Beach Bots – preliminary study, PI Dr Rashid Bakirov (FST);
  • Contemporary Issues in Fertility Control, PI Dr Jeffrey Wale (FMC);
  • Women’s Sport Governance: Merger-Takeovers in the 1990s and beyond, PI Dr Rafaelle Nicholson (BUBS);
  • Using the power of the creative arts in supporting dementia care, PI Dr Amanda Adams (HSS);
  • Equity Based Online Crowdfunding Platforms and Gender Bias in Decision Making, PI Dr Sukanya Ayatakshi-Endow (BUBS);
  • Factors affecting access to mental health services in the Nepali and Iranian communities living in UK, PI Dr Bibha Simkhada (HSS);
  • Accessible Emoji, PI Dr Benjamin Gorman (FST).

Round 3

  • Turning Your Film Into Mine: Filmmaking and the Quotation Exception, PI Dr Claudy Op Den Kamp (FMC);
  • Neonate simulators and digital stories: enhancing social work practitioner’s knowledge of problem substance use during pregnancy, PI Dr Humaira Hussain (HSS);
  • Drawing Lines across Virtual Spaces: Nigerian Political Cartooning in the Digital Age, PI Dr Malcolm Corrigall (FMC);
  • Exploring pathways from suicide ideation to attempts in autism, PI Dr Rachel Moseley (FST);
  • Reliability and Development of Normative Data of the Total Faulty Breathing Scale, PI Dr Vikram Mohan (HSS).

Round 3.5

  • Using Game-based learning and Gamification to develop reflective practice in social work students and practitioners, PI Dr Louise Oliver (HSS);
  • Study into best inpatient ward bed layout at University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust, PI Dr Nirmal Aryal (HSS);
  • ‘Out-of-Commerce: Out-of-Mind’: Finding the Lost Films, PI Dr Melanie Stockton-Brown (FMC);
  • Filling the Gap: Investigating past and present socio-ecological resilience to aid future sustainability in the Poole Harbour Catchment, PI Dr Kimberley Davies (FST);
  • Smartphone-assisted automated grape disease diagnosis and remedial system, PI Dr Avleen Mahli (FST).

Round 4

The ACORN Fund Round 4 is now open for applications, so your name may be here in the future; all ECRs working at BU are welcome to submit their applications by 5pm on Friday, 10th December 2021.

Two options for ECRs are available – Standard Grants up to £5,000 that can be delivered before the end of July 2022 and Large Grants up to £10,00 for projects to be completed within 12 months.

The Panel and RDS are grateful for grant holders’ commitment and wish success to all Round 4 applicants.

The ACORN Fund Round 4 is Now Open for Applications!

The ACORN Fund (Acceleration Of Research & Networking) for Early Career Researchers Round 4 is now open for applications.

This round slightly differs from previous rounds. Two options for ECRs are available – Standard Grants up to £5,000 that can be delivered before the end of July 2022 and Large Grants up to £10,00 for projects to be completed within 12 months. For more details, refer to the ACORN Fund Policy Autumn 2021 document.

Each applicant is allowed to only submit one proposal for Round 4 and should use one of the supplied templates accordingly. The closing date is Friday, 10th December 2021 (5pm); to be considered eligible, all applications must be submitted to the email account acorn@bournemouth.ac.uk before the deadline.

This scheme will provide c. five awards, of up to £5,000 each and up to two awards, of up to £10,000 each, to support BU’s ECRs, with the most promising talent, to gain experience of managing and leading their own pilot research projects. These awards support BU’s commitment to the Concordat to Support to Career Development of Researchers and are made possible by BU’s QR (Quality Research) allocation for 2021/22 financial year.

For eligibility, you must be able to comply with the following:

  • Applicant must have completed their PhD;
  • Applicant must have a post at BU (established or fixed term) for the full duration of the award and the post-award commitments or longer;
  • To be considered an early career researcher (ECR), applicant should have held a 0.2 or above research contract for no more than six years in total, excluding periods where the applicant was involved in non-research employment or not at work (e.g. caring responsibilities);
  • ACORN award holders cannot hold more than one BU internal award concurrently.

Note that open access publication costs are not eligible, but these can be requested from the BU Open Access Publication Fund (OAPF). Any planned travel expenses are subject to COVID restrictions and, generally, are not recommended.

Following links, you can find ACORN Large Grant and Standard Grant application forms. In addition, to assist with the budget section, please refer to the RKE Internal Funding Sample Costs. As this does not require Full Economic Costing, you should not contact your faculty’s Funding Development Officer to complete the costing for you. Please address any queries as below.

Applications require support from faculty and mentor, so please start your application early and obtain all approvals as soon as possible. Applicants are responsible for obtaining faculty sign-off before submitting the application.

For those interested to find out more, we will be running a workshop led by the ACORN Panel Chair Prof Jan Wiener on Tuesday 23th November 2021 from 2pm to 4pm. Workshop will take place in a face-to-face setting, please come to F106 (Fusion Building) with your questions.

Please address any further queries to RDS via acorn@bournemouth.ac.uk

Putting the ACORN Fund into strategic context, under BU2025, the following funding panels operate to prioritise applications for funding and make recommendations to the Research Performance and Management Committee (RPMC):

  1. HEIF Funding Panel
  2. Research Impact Funding Panel
  3. Doctoral Studentship Funding Panel
  4. ACORN Funding Panel
  5. Research Fellowships Funding Panel
  6. Charity Support Funding Panel
  7. SIA Funding panel

These panels align with the BU2025 focus on research, including BU’s Research Principles. Specifically, but not exclusively, regarding the ACORN Fund, please refer to:

  • Principle 5, which sets of the context for such funding panels;
  • Principle 6 and Outcome 9, which recognise the need for interdisciplinarity and the importance of social science and humanities (SSH);
  • Outcomes 4 and 5, where ECRs are provided with the mechanisms for support such as mentors and, through schemes including the ACORN fund, gain budgetary responsibility experience.

The ACORN Fund Additional Round is Closing Soon

As advertised earlier, the ACORN Fund (Acceleration OResearch & Networking) for Early Career Researchers is open for applications  for projects that can be delivered before the end of July 2021. This round differs from previous rounds due to the short turnaround time, smaller budget and limited activities eligible for funding.

The  closing date is Tuesday, 4th May 2021 (5pm) and all applications must be submitted to the email account: acorn@bournemouth.ac.uk. Please use only this email address for submitting your applications.

On BU OneDrive, you can find out more by reading the updated ACORN Fund Policy (the guidance document) and apply using the Application Form for this round. In addition, to assist with the budget section, please refer to the RKE Internal Funding Sample Costs. As this does not require Full Economic Costing, you should not contact your faculty’s Funding Development Officer to complete the costing for you.

This scheme will provide c. five awards, of up to £3,000 each, to support BU’s ECRs, with the most promising talent, to gain experience of managing and leading their own pilot research projects.

ACORN Funding Panel

As I mentioned yesterday, in April, we focus our stories on BU internal funding panels. This post shares information about the ACORN (ACceleration Of Research and Networking) funding panel.

ACORN funding provides central investment to the most talented Early Career Researchers (ECRs) to support them in gaining experience in managing and leading their own pilot research projects.

The ACORN panel consists of ten panel members from all faculties, is led by the Chair Professor Jan Wiener, Vice-Chair Professor Julie Turner-Cobb and supported by panel Secretary Ainar Blaudums and panel Clerk Theresa McManus.

Funded projects

So far, three rounds of ACORN funding have been announced of which two have been completed; in total, 18 grants have been awarded. In the most recent Round 3, the following projects were awarded:

  • Turning Your Film Into Mine: Filmmaking and the Quotation Exception (PI Dr Claudy Op Den Kamp);
  • Neonate simulators and digital stories: enhancing social work practitioner’s knowledge of problem substance use during pregnancy (PI Dr Humaira Hussain);
  • Drawing Lines across Virtual Spaces: Nigerian Political Cartooning in the Digital Age (PI Dr Malcolm Corrigall);
  • Exploring pathways from suicide ideation to attempts in autism (PI Dr Rachel Moseley);
  • Reliability and Development of Normative Data of the Total Faulty Breathing Scale (PI Dr Vikram Mohan).

Covid-19 related travel and research restrictions, as well as off-campus working, have been challenging for ACORN awardees and have delayed the implementation of some project activities. Fortunately, the panel was able to secure an approval from RPMC to extend implementation of some project activities beyond the end of this financial year.

Nevertheless, Dr Rachel Moseley has achieved significant progress in implementing her ACORN award project and works towards completing the major research work. In her ACORN project, Dr Moseley investigates pathways from suicide ideation to attempts in autistic people.

This project aligns with the BU2025 “Health and Wellbeing“ Fusion Theme, and Target 3.4.2 from the UN Sustainable Development Goals: to prevent premature mortality from non-communicable diseases.

ACORN project ‘Exploring pathways from suicide ideation to attempts in autism’

Death by suicide is frighteningly common in autistic people, but poorly understood. Excess psychiatric morbidity and mortality is prominent in the autistic community, who are, according to some research, eight times more likely to die from suicide. Preliminary research in this area often fails to differentiate suicide ideation from attempts.

Popular theories in neurotypical people suggest that in order to act on suicidal thoughts, individuals must acquire the ‘capability’ for suicide by developing tolerance for pain and losing the evolutionary fear of pain and death. Typically, this capability develops through being exposed to physically painful and emotionally provocative events (like abuse, discrimination) and through self-injury. Research has linked self-injury and suicidality in autism, but it’s not clear if self-injury increases the risk of individuals moving from ideation to attempts and, if so, how this happens. Does self-injury increase pain tolerance and make people less fearful of death, and are there other experiences which likewise create suicide capability?

Dr Moseley kindly provided some insights into her ongoing research: ‘Over 300 autistic people have taken part in my online survey. Interestingly, our preliminary analysis highlighted stressful life events concerning health and medical treatment as predictive of suicide ideation and attempts. Autistic people who had experienced more of these stressors were more likely to mentally rehearse suicide and to feel less fear of death. We need to conduct further qualitative and quantitative analysis to further understand this finding, but it is reminiscent of how many autistic people struggle to find suitable care and to be understood by practitioners (Camm-Crosbie et al., 2019).

Conducting this research has been enormously humbling. I feel exceptionally honoured to have been given this opportunity to, hopefully, uncover findings of importance to this vulnerable community.  The study has been overwhelmingly well-received by the autistic community, with participants commenting: “The study is written with great sensitivity and obvious care for its participants”; “Thank you for looking into this issue. Best questionnaire I have ever completed. Explanatory, friendly, approachable… stress was massively reduced. A lot of work must have gone into the design”.

Autistica, a charity who support autistic people, have asked me to present my findings in a podcast in June. As mental health in the autistic community is one of the highest priorities for research in autism, they described the present study as “some of the most relevant and important research currently being conducted in the UK”. The ACORN funding has afforded me great visibility within the autistic community and autism researchers, and I am excited to continue analysing the data and present it back to these stakeholders.’

Dr Moseley aims to publish findings from this project in several papers, and is extremely hopeful that these publications and the experience she has gained in managing and delivering this project, will lead to successful grant applications from large external funders. Centered at the intersection between autism (a neurodevelopmental condition) and mental illness such Dr Moseley’s work is appropriate for funders interested in multimorbidity such as the Medical Research Council.

Dr Moseley concludes: ‘I am immensely grateful for the opportunity afforded to me by the ACORN committee, which immensely strengthens my academic profile towards achieving this goal.’

——

Future of ACORN funding

Currently, the ACORN panel is working on revising projects and their budgets prior to announcing an additional competition for a number of smaller awards for projects to be completed by 31 July 2021.

The Panel is exceptionally grateful for every grant holder’s commitment and their flexibility in adjusting project plans to mitigate the impact of the  COVID-19 pandemic on the delivery of their projects.

The next posts coming up tomorrow – Focus on Fellowships.

The ACORN Fund Additional Round is Now Open for Applications!

The ACORN Fund (Acceleration OResearch & Networking) for Early Career Researchers is now open for applications  for projects that can be delivered before the end of July 2021. This round differs from previous rounds due to the short turnaround time, smaller budget and limited activities eligible for funding.

The  closing date is Tuesday, 4th May 2021 (5pm) and all applications must be submitted to the email account: acorn@bournemouth.ac.uk.

This scheme will provide c. five awards, of up to £3,000 each, to support BU’s ECRs, with the most promising talent, to gain experience of managing and leading their own pilot research projects. These awards support BU’s commitment to the Concordat to Support to Career Development of Researchers and are made possible by BU’s QR (Quality Research) allocation for 2021 financial year.

For eligibility, you must be able to comply the following:

  • All applicants must have completed their PhD
  • All applicants must have a post at BU (established or fixed term) for the full duration of the award and the post-award commitments or longer
  • To be considered an early career researcher (ECR) applicants should have held a 0.2 or above research contract for no more than six years in total, excluding periods where the applicant was involved in non-research employment or not at work (e.g. caring responsibilities)
  • ACORN award holders cannot hold more than one BU internal award concurrently
  • Note that funds cannot be used to cover open access fees and travel

On BU OneDrive, you can find out more by reading the updated ACORN Fund Policy and apply using the Application Form for this round. In addition, to assist with the budget section, please refer to the RKE Internal Funding Sample Costs. As this does not require Full Economic Costing, you should not contact your faculty’s Funding Development Officer to complete the costing for you. Please address any queries as below.

The closing date for applications is 4th May 2021. As these require faculty support, please start your application and obtain faculty approval as soon as possible. Applicants are responsible for obtaining faculty sign-off and for submitting the application to the email provided in this post.

Please address any queries to Theresa MacManus at RDS via acorn@bournemouth.ac.uk

——

Putting the ACORN Fund into strategic context, under BU2025, the following funding panels operate to prioritise applications for funding and make recommendations to the Research Performance and Management Committee (RPMC).

There are eight funding panels:

  1. HEIF Funding Panel
  2. GCRF Funding Panel
  3. Research Impact Funding Panel
  4. Doctoral Studentship Funding Panel
  5. ACORN Funding Panel
  6. Research Fellowships Funding Panel
  7. Charity Support Funding Panel
  8. SIA Funding panel

Please see separate announcements regarding each initiative.

These panels align with the BU2025 focus on research, including BU’s Research Principles. Specifically, but not exclusively, regarding the ACORN Fund, please refer to:

  • Principle 5 – which sets of the context for such funding panels;
  • Principle 6 and Outcome 9 – which recognises the need for interdisciplinarity and the importance of social science and humanities (SSH);
  • Outcomes 4 and 5 – where ECRs are provided with the mechanisms for support such as mentors and, through schemes including the ACORN fund, gain budgetary responsibility experience.

ACORN Funding – Current and Previous Award Holders

As BU Early Career Researchers apply for the current round of ACORN funding, it is timely to remember and celebrate the current and previous award holders.

If you are interested in applying for this internal funding call, please refer to the the launch blog post. The introductory session which took place on 25th September is being repeated, due to popular demand.

The ACORN Fund panel members are looking forward to reviewing the applications to this third round.

Additional ACORN Fund Introductory session

Due to popular demand, we will be re-running the introduction to the ACORN Fund just before the next ECRN meeting on 9th October. To read more, please see the launch blog post. Please come to B204 for 12:15.

No need to book for the ACORN Fund Intro but if you are staying for the ECRN meeting, please book via the event on the ECRN community calendar to ensure sufficient catering.

 

The ACORN Fund is now open for applications!

The ACORN Fund (Acceleration OResearch & Networking) for Early Career Researchers is now open for applications.

This  closing date is Wednesday, 30th October 2019 and all applications must be submitted to the email account: acorn@bournemouth.ac.uk.

This scheme will provide c. five awards, of up to £5,000 each, to support BU’s ECRs, with the most promising talent, to gain experience of managing and leading their own pilot research projects. These award support BU’s commitment to the Concordat to Support to Career Development of Researchers and is made possible by BU’s QR (Quality Research) allocation.

There is a strong link to BU’s ECR Network and the forthcoming  ECR Showcase event. In this way, those who do not benefit directly from the ACORN Fund scheme by receiving funding, will benefit indirectly though interaction with those ECRs who receive support via the scheme.

For eligibility, you must be able to comply with these:

  • All applicants must have completed their PhD
  • All applicants must have a post at BU (established or fixed term) for the full duration of the award and the post-award commitments or longer
  • All applicants should have held a 0.2 or above research contract from no more than six years in total, excluding periods where the applicant was involved in non-research employment or not at work (e.g. caring responsibilities)
  • ACORN award holders cannot hold more than one award concurrently

Within the Research > Pre-award area on the staff intranet, you can find out more by reading the updated ACORN Fund Policy and apply using the Application Form for this round. In addition, to assist with the budget section, please refer to the RKE Internal Funding Sample Costs . As this does not require Full Economic Costing, you should not contact your faculty’s Funding Development Officer to complete the costing for you. Please address any queries as below.

The closing date for applications is 30th October 2019. As these require faculty support, please start your application and obtain faculty approval as soon as possible. Applicants are responsible for obtaining faculty sign-off and for submitting the application to the email below.

Help and Support: There will be a one hour information session on 25th September 2019 and a two hour pre-application workshop on 21st October 2019. You must reserve your place by emailing acorn@bournemouth.ac.uk and specify which sessions you wish to attend. You are welcome to attend both but places are limited.

Please address any queries to Emily Cieciura, Research Development & Support lead for this scheme, via acorn@bournemouth.ac.uk


Putting the ACORN Fund into strategic context, under BU2025, the following funding panels operate to prioritise applications for funding and make recommendations to the Research Performance and Management Committee (RPMC).

There are eight funding panels:

  1. HEIF Funding Panel
  2. GCRF Funding Panel
  3. Research Impact Funding Panel
  4. Doctoral Studentship Funding Panel
  5. ACORN Funding Panel
  6. Research Fellowships Funding Panel
  7. Charity Support Funding Panel
  8. SIA Funding panel

Please see separate announcements regarding each initiative.

These panels align with the BU2025 focus on research, including BU’s Research Principles. Specifically, but not exclusively, regarding the ACORN Fund, please refer to:

  • Principle 5 – which sets of the context for such funding panels
  • Principle 6 and Outcome 9 – which recognises the need for interdisciplinarity and the importance of social science and humanities (SSH)
  • Outcomes 4 and 5 – where ECRs are provided with the mechanisms for support such as mentors and, through schemes including the ACORN fund, gain budgetary responsibility experience

The ACORN Fund is now open for applications!

The ACORN Fund (Acceleration OResearch & Networking) for Early Career Researchers is now open for applications.

This year’s closing date is Thursday, 18th April 2019 and all applications must be submitted to the email account: acorn@bournemouth.ac.uk.

This scheme will provide c. five awards, of up to £5,000 each, to support BU’s ECRs, with the most promising talent, to gain experience of managing and leading their own pilot research projects. These award support BU’s commitment to the Concordat to Support to Career Development of Researchers and is made possible by BU’s QR (Quality Research) allocation.

There is a strong link to BU’s ECR Network and the forthcoming 2019 ECR Showcase event. In this way, those who do not benefit directly from the ACORN Fund scheme by receiving funding, will benefit indirectly though interaction with those ECRs who receive support via the scheme.

For eligibility, an ECR in this case is defined as someone who started their research career on or after 1 August 2014. This is the point at which they held a contract of employment of 0.2 FTE or greater, which included a primary employment function of undertaking ‘research’ or ‘teaching and research’, with any HE or other organisation, whether in the UK or overseas. 

Within the Research > Pre-award area on the staff intranet, you can find out more by reading the ACORN Fund Policy (2019) and apply using the Application Form for this round (2019). In addition, to assist with the budget section, please refer to the RKE Sample Costs . As this does not require Full Economic Costing, you should not contact your faculty’s Funding Development Officer to complete the costing for you. Please address any queries as below.

The closing date for applications is 18th April 2018. As these require faculty support, please start your application and obtain faculty approval as soon as possible. Applicants are responsible for obtaining faculty sign-off and for submitting the application to the email below.

Please address any queries to Emily Cieciura, Research Development & Support lead for this scheme, via acorn@bournemouth.ac.uk


Putting the ACORN Fund into strategic context, under BU2025, the following funding panels operate to prioritise applications for funding and make recommendations to the Research Performance and Management Committee (RPMC).

There are eight funding panels:

  1. HEIF Funding Panel
  2. GCRF Funding Panel
  3. Research Impact Funding Panel
  4. Doctoral Studentship Funding Panel
  5. ACORN Funding Panel
  6. Research Fellowships Funding Panel
  7. Charity Support Funding Panel
  8. SIA Funding panel

Please see further announcements regarding each initiative over the coming weeks.

These panels align with the BU2025 focus on research, including BU’s Research Principles. Specifically, but not exclusively, regarding the ACORN Fund, please refer to:

  • Principle 5 – which sets of the context for such funding panels
  • Principle 6 and Outcome 9 – which recognises the need for interdisciplinarity and the importance of social science and humanities (SSH)
  • Outcomes 4 and 5 – where ECRs are provided with the mechanisms for support such as mentors and, through schemes including the ACORN fund, gain budgetary responsibility experience

BU’s Acorn Fund for ECRs – just over a week to the closing date

Will you be applying to the Acorn Fund (Acceleration OResearch & Networking) for Early Career Researchers?

This new scheme will provide c. five awards, of up to £5,000 each, to support BU’s ECRs, with the most promising talent, to gain experience of managing and leading their own pilot research projects. These award support BU’s commitment to the Concordat to Support to Career Development of Researchers and is made possible by the BU Fusion Investment Fund

There will be a strong link to the new ECR Network and the ECR Showcase event, also being launched in 2018. In this way, those who do not benefit directly from the Acorn funds scheme by receiving funding, will benefit indirectly though interaction with those ECRs who receive support via the scheme.

For eligibility, an ECR in this case is defined as someone who started their research career on or after 1 August 2013. This is the point at which they held a contract of employment of 0.2 FTE or greater, which included a primary employment function of undertaking ‘research’ or ‘teaching and research’, with any HE or other organisation, whether in the UK or overseas. 

To assist with the budget section, please refer to the RKE Sample Costs, within the Research > Pre-award area on the staff intranet.

Find out more and apply.

The closing date for applications is 18th April 2018. As these require faculty support, start your application and obtain faculty approval as soon as possible. Applicants are responsible for obtaining an electronic faculty signature and for submitting the application to the email below.

Please address any queries to RKEDevFramework@bournemouth.ac.uk.

Acorn Fund Launch – Internal funds for ECRs

The Research and Knowledge Exchange Office is pleased to announce the launch of the Acorn Fund (Acceleration Of Research & Networking) for Early Career Researchers.

This new scheme will provide c. five awards, of up to £5,000 each, to support BU’s ECRs, with the most promising talent, to gain experience of managing and leading their own pilot research projects. These award support BU’s commitment to the Concordat to Support to Career Development of Researchers and is made possible by the BU Fusion Investment Fund

There will be a strong link to the new ECR Network and the ECR Showcase event, also being launched in 2018. In this way, those who do not benefit directly from the Acorn funds scheme by receiving funding, will benefit indirectly though interaction with those ECRs who receive support via the scheme.

An ECR, for the purpose of this scheme is the REF definition modified to: an ECR in this case is defined as someone who started their research career on or after 1 August 2013. This is the point at which they held a contract of employment of 0.2 FTE or greater, which included a primary employment function of undertaking ‘research’ or ‘teaching and research’, with any HE or other organisation, whether in the UK or overseas

Find out more and apply. The closing date for applications is 18th April 2018. As these require faculty support, start your application and obtain faculty approval as soon as possible.

To assist with the budget section, please refer to the RKE Sample Costs, within the Research > Pre-award area on the staff intranet.

Please address any queries to RKEDevFramework@bournemouth.ac.uk.