Tagged / EPSRC

Latest Major Funding Opportunities

Funding opportunities

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

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

The NSPCC and ESRC are working together to commission research that contributes to their joint interests in mental health and the NSPCC’s new research programme: Helping Children Get Back on Track. The aim of this research programme is to increase the evidence base about what kinds of therapeutic or social intervention work for which children with experience of abuse and when; how to identify children whose mental health is vulnerable; and how to identify the things that make others more resilient.

It is expected that this research will result in one or more of the following outcomes: A better understanding of how to identify the children whose mental health is vulnerable because of abuse, including those with ‘latent vulnerability’; that is, those children who are susceptible to poor outcomes including mental ill health but are not overtly symptomatic, or who need help in order to get their development back on track after experience of abuse, including to prevent the onset of mental health problems either in childhood or later; A better understanding of when support should be offered to children in order that poor outcomes including poor mental health can be prevented; A better understanding of what sort of help is effective in preventing poor outcomes for children with experience of abuse including poor mental health; A better understanding of how to identify the factors that make some children more resilient and adaptive and others more vulnerable to the mental health consequences of maltreatment.

Maximum award: Not specified. Closing date: 07/10/2016.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) invite applications for their scheme to recognise Academic Centres of Excellence in Cyber Security Research. The scheme makes collaboration and knowledge sharing between the best of the UK academic sector, business and government easier. It encourages exploitation of current leading-edge research and the identification of the future work needed to ensure the UK is well prepared to meet coming cyber security challenges and threats. The relevant research areas include: cryptography, key management and security protocols; information risk; information assurance science; hardware engineering; total network defence; strategic technologies and products; side channel and fault analysis; engineering processes and assurance; building trusted and trustworthy systems; operational technology security; Internet of Things.

This call applies both to universities currently recognised who wish to extend their recognition for a further 5 years, and to universities not previously recognised. An institution whose submission is successful in this call will be able to hold the title of ‘Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research’ for a period of 5 years, subject to complying with appropriate terms and conditions of membership of the scheme. They will also be supported by an EPSRC research grant to support activiteis associated with the recognition.

Maximum award: £60,000. Closing date: 4pm, 12/12/16.

National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research

The National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research, in collaboration with Arthritis Research UK, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and Innovate UK, invites applications for its CRACK IT challenges. This aims to fund collaborations between industry sponsors, academics and the NC3Rs to develop innovative, integrated approaches to better predict the GHS classification category for acute oral, skin and eye irritation in the development of agrochemical formulations without using animals or generating new in vitro data. The challenge also requires a disruptive business model whereby access and storage of industry data can be managed to provide predictive testing strategies for complex mixtures.

Maximum award: £1 million. Closing date: 09/11/17.

Wellcome Trust

The Wellcome Trust invites applications for its Collaborative Awards in Humanities and Social Science. Collaborative Awards promote the development of new ideas and bring disciplines together to speed the pace of discovery. Teams will have a track record of working together to tackle research questions that can only be approached collaboratively. Teams can come from the same discipline or from a combination of disciplines. They can be from the same university department or a number of organisations (anywhere in the world). Applications that combine humanities and social science research with biomedical science research and/or product development and applied research are particularly encouraged.

Maximum award: £1.5 million. Closing date (preliminary applications): 16/01/17.

The Wellcome Trust invites applications for its Investigator Awards in Humanities and Social Sciences. These awards support researchers in established posts at all career stages working on important questions of relevance to health. The level of funding provided for an Investigator Award is flexible and can be anything from under £300,000 to around £1 million. Awards can last for up to five years.

Maximum award: £1 million. Closing date (preliminary applications): 16/01/17.

The Wellcome Trust invites applications for its University Awards in Humanities and Social Science. A University Award provides support for up to five years at lecturer, senior-lecturer or reader level. After this, we expect you to take up a permanent position at the academic organisation. Up to five years’ support is available, providing full salary for three years, 50 per cent in the fourth year and 25 per cent in the fifth year. Awards also support research expenses, materials and consumables, animals, equipment, and travel and subsistence costs.  During its first three years, the award allows you to focus on research rather than teaching and administration.

Maximum award: Not specified. Closing date: 18/01/17.

The Wellcome Trust invites applications for its Humanities and Social Science Doctoral Studentships. This scheme enables researchers to undertake humanities or social science doctoral degrees in any area of health. Studentships are available for up to three years and cover the student’s stipend, approved tuition fees, as well as travel to meetings and conferences of up to £1,500, equipment and research expenses worth up to £1,500.

Maximum award: Not specified. Closing date: 22/03/17.

If you are interested in submitting to any of the above calls you must contact RKEO with adequate notice before the deadline. 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 you are thinking of applying, why not add an expression of interest on Research Professional so that BU colleagues can see your intention to bid and contact you to collaborate.

Latest Major Funding Opportunities

Funding opportunities

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

Economic and Social Research Council

ESRC invites applications for an Understanding the Macroeconomy Network Plus. The aim of the network is to develp the capacity needed to sustain a substantive policy-oriented research programme, which is focussed on the macroeconomy. The Network will include representatives from the policy community and the private sector as well as academics from the economics profession and other disciplines which have the potential to add value in this area. It will be charged with providing leadership in connecting interdisciplinary research groups and networks, ensuring the new initiative can best add value in the context of existing capacity and current research agendas (whether or not ESRC-funded).

Maximum budget: £3.7 million. Closing date for outline proposals: 4pm, 20/09/16.

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

EPSRC is inviting tenders for a contract to run a mid-range facility providing a high-specification electron microscopy  service to the UK academic community and other users. Full details of how to apply will be in the relevant published OJEU and Contracts Finder notices. The contract will run initially for three years with an option to extend it to five years subject to a review. Bidders will need to provide information on the specification of the equipment they intend to operate, the facilities and the service they intend to provide, the staffing of the facility and the cost of the service.

Maximum award: Not specified. Closing date: 07/09/16.

Global Food Security

Global Food Security, in collaboration with  BBSRC, ESRC, NERC and the Scottish Government, invites applications for its second call on Resilience of the UK food system in a global context. There are three overlapping thematic priorities in the programme. Proposals should address one or more thematic priorities and are encouraged to take a food systems approach

  • Optimising the resilience of agricultural systems and landscape whilst enhancing productivity and sustainability
    At the core of this theme is understanding the relationship between resilience, sustainability and production and how to optimise the trade-offs associated with these tensions. This will help ensure agricultural systems and landscapes that are both resilient and sustainable and balance the provision of food with other ecosystem services in the face of evolving world-wide changes and threats
  • Optimising resilience of food supply chains locally and globally
    This theme is focused on understanding the economic, environmental, biological and social factors affecting the food supply chain, and the interplay between these, to ensure resilience of the food system at a local-to-global level
  • Influencing food choice for health, resilience and sustainability at the individual and household level
    Central to this theme is understanding the drivers behind food choices and how these impact on the wider food system and production, in order to identify interventions that result in provision of nutritious and sustainable food in more resilient and equitable ways

Maximum award: £2.8million. Closing date: 10/11/16.

Natural Environment Research Council

NERC invites applications for access to its High Performance Computing Facilities. Users will be allocated to one of three HPC consortia- oceanography and shelf seas; atmospheric and polar sciences; mineral and geophysics.

Maximum award: Not specified. Closing date: 12/09/16.

Medical Research Council

MRC invites outline proposals for its Stratified Medicine Initiative call – disease-focused partnerships to stratify for patient benefit. This call aims to support consortia to address disease areas where there is a strong case for scientific advancement and major unmet clinical need. Proposals should clearly describe and justify why a particular disease area is likely to contribute important understanding of disease, whether employing stratification by response to treatment or by risk, diagnosis and/or prognosis. The consortia must: build upon existing scientific and clinical expertise; utilise clinical research infrastructure, such as that provided by the National Institute of Health Research, Scottish Government Health Directorates, National Institute for Social Care and Health Research, Welsh Government and Health, Social Services and Public Safety, Northern Ireland; forge significant links with industrial partners.

Total budget: £15million. Closing date: Outline applications due 4pm 01/12/16.

Wellcome Trust

Wellcome Trust invites applications for its Investigator Awards in Science, which fund researchers at all career stages working on important questions of relevance to their scientific remit.

Maximum award: £3million. Closing date: 21/11/16.

If you are interested in submitting to any of the above calls you must contact RKEO with adequate notice before the deadline.

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.

Robotics and autonomous systems: apply for innovation funding

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, Impact, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

robot_in_tomorrows_world

Competiton is open now!

There will be a briefing webinar on 27 July 2016

Find out more about this competition and apply

In brief:

Innovate UK is inviting businesses to apply for a share of £5 million to develop innovative applications of robotics and autonomous systems. Innovate UK and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) are to invest up to £5 million in robotics and autonomous systems (RAS) projects.

The aim of this competition is to help UK companies explore new RAS opportunities. It will enable them to develop capabilities for applications in many sectors of the UK economy.

We are looking for proposals that will speed up the development of RAS technologies towards demonstration and commercialisation.

Proposals can be for systems that are physical, for example a next generation robot. They can also be digital only, for example an automated decision-making system.

Robots that are independent of human control can learn, adapt and take decisions. These could revolutionise our economy and society over the next 20 years. Disruptive technologies related to RAS include mobile internet, automation of knowledge work, advanced robotics, and automated and autonomous vehicles.

These technologies have the potential for an annual economic impact of US$9.8 to US$19.3 trillion in 2025. The UK has world-leading strengths in the underlying science and engineering that contributes to RAS. It also has access to the markets that could exploit them.

Key information:

  • There will be a briefing webinar on 27 July 2016
  • The registration deadline is noon on 19 October 2016
  • The application deadline is noon on 26 October 2016
  • Projects should range in size from total costs of £50,000 to £500,000
  • Projects should last between 6 and 15 months
  • You must complete the work and incur, pay and claim for all costs before the end of March 2018
  • A business must lead the project
  • Projects with costs of £100,000 or above must be collaborative

Find out more about this competition and apply.

If you are interested in submitting to this  call you must contact your  RKEO Funding Development Officer with adequate notice before the deadline.

For more funding opportunities that are most relevant to you, 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.

£5 million boost for next generation robotics technologies

Funding opportunities, innovation, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

robot_in_tomorrows_world

Science Minister Jo Johnson has announced a £5 million challenge, to encourage UK companies and academics to develop robotic innovations.

The challenge will encourage UK businesses and academic institutions to work together to develop new and novel uses for robotics and autonomous systems across different industry sectors. The competition has been devised by the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

Read the news from Innovate UK here.

This competition is not yet live but is due to be launched  around the week commencing 18th July and more details on it will be available then.

Why not bookmark the Live Competition list by clicking on the link below:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/innovation-grants-for-business-apply-for-funding

 

 

 

 

 

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EPSRC seeking advisory team members

Research news

EPSRC_logoEPSRC is seeking applications from industrialists, academics and individuals working in the third sector and government organisations to join Strategic Advisory Teams (SATs), across the range of EPSRC‘s Themes.

They are looking for suitable individuals to guide and advise as theme experts across a range of EPSRC‘s current key themes. They seek the widest participation: you can be full-time or part-time, on sabbatical or a career break, academic or researcher, based in academe, industry, the third sector or government organisation.

Further information and terms of reference can be found on the EPSRC website. Further information on the Energy SAC and the Digital Economy PAB can be found on the RCUK website.

Please visit the Strategic Advisory Boards Membership page for further information on vacancies and how to apply. The closing date is 01 July 2016.

Latest Funding Opportunities

Funding opportunities

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

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

The BBSRC has made funds of £5k for BBSRC grant holders as part of the International Scientific Interchange Scheme to establish new contacts with international counterparts.  Closing Date Open

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Applications are welcomed for access to super-computing time  (>100,000 kAU or 6666667 core-hours on ARCHER) up to 24 months as part of the ARCHER Leadership Project or as part of the Resource Allocation Panel (>1,000kAUs or >66,667 ARCHER core hours) for 12 months for research that falls within the remit of the EPSRC or NERC.  Closing Date 13/6/16  

Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance

The Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance is accepting applications for a maximum of €50k, for projects lasting 6-12 months for the creation of Transnational Networks/Working Groups in the following areas:

  1. Guidelines on use (Human & Veterinary) – Affordable stewardship
  2. Surveillance in primary care
  3. New anti-infective/ New adjuvant therapies / Alternative approaches
  4. Evaluation of risk for generation of resistance in human setting
  5. Rapid diagnostic tests
  6. Role of environmental factors
  7. Infrastructures/Biobanks available relevant to infection and AMR

Each working group must include at least three partners from the following countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the UK and Canada.  Closing Date 6/6/16

Wellcome Trust

The Wellcome Trust have made available the Small Arts Awards (small- to medium-sized projects – up to and including £40k) to support new project ideas or ways of working, investigate and experiment with new methods of engagement through the arts or the final production costs of new work. Closing Date 1/6/16

As part of the Development Awards, up to £10k is available for ideas for TV, radio, games or film projects in collaboration with scientists and researchers. Closing Date 27/7/16

If you are interested in submitting to any of the above calls you must contact RKEO with adequate notice before the deadline.

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.

Call for expressions of interest to join the EPSRC Associate Peer Review College

Funding opportunities 



As part of its Peer Review College refresh programme taking place in summer  2016, EPSRC invites expressions of interest from candidates who wish to join its Associate Peer Review College.


The Peer Review College is vital for ensuring that EPSRC supports the highest-quality research. This call is open to anyone who fulfils the initial selection criteria set out in this document. Final selection of candidates from the pool of expressions of interest will be on the basis of individual knowledge, need for expertise in particular research areas and the structure of the new EPSRC Delivery Plan (published in spring 2016).


EPSRC is looking to increase access to expertise in cross and multi-disciplinary areas. However, all applications will be assessed on individual merit. Final decisions on those invited will be made centrally within EPSRC. The closing date for expressions of interest is 4pm, 10th May 2016

								
 

								 

							
 

							

							


								

									

								


								

									
An Update on EPSRC Delivery Plan

									
Research news 

								
 

								

									
EPSRC_logoThe Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council put out its 2016-20 delivery plan to consultation at the end of 2015. On 2nd February EPSRC published an update to the draft plan, which sets out four areas that it intends to focus on over the next five years:


• Productivity

• Connectedness

• Resilience

• Health


 


Ambitions have been developed within each area, which will form the framework for its Delivery Plan. These ambitions will help determine the challenge-led aspect of its portfolio. EPSRC funding will still be accessed through the usual entry points of its capability disciplines, which include Mathematics, Physical Sciences, ICT and Engineering and decisions will still be taken on excellence.


A brief definition of each area and associated ambitions can be found here. These ambitions are provisional and will remain so until EPSRC receives its budget allocation for 2016-2020, when it can definitively prioritise its plans.

								
 

								 

							
 

							

							


								

									

								


								

									
EPSRC seeking new SAN members

									
Research news 

								
 

								

									
EPSRC_logoThe Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has announced that it is inviting nominations for new members of its Strategic Advisory Network (SAN).


The Council is seeking applications from respected industrialists, academics and from individuals working in the third sector and government organisations to join the Network. It hopes to appoint at least ten people and through the recruitment exercise EPSRC holds a particular aspiration to improve the Network’s diversity.


The Strategic Advisory Network provides EPSRC’s Executive with strategic advice to help develop and implement plans, and to make appropriate recommendations to EPSRC Council. The Network is a flexible resource, enabling the Executive to obtain the timely advice it needs, drawing on a range of perspectives from across EPSRC‘s key stakeholder groups including academia, business, third sector and Government.


Professor Philip Nelson EPSRC’s Chief Executive said: “In a world where EPSRC is being pressed to achieve more with less, and where the Research Councils are working closer together, the input from our advisory network will be crucial. We need and value advice that gives us a 360 degree view of the areas we are currently working in or where we plan to make investments. That is why we want to encourage applications from as diverse a group as possible.”


The call for nominations to join the EPSRC Strategic Advisory Network is now open and closes on 07 March 2016 at 16:00.


For full details of the nominations application process, please consult the ‘SAN nominations 2016‘ document.








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Latest Major Funding Opportunities

									
Funding opportunities 

								
 

								

									
money and cogsThe following funding opportunities have been announced. Please follow the links for more information.


Arts & Humanities Research Council


The AHRC have announced a highlight notice for the Public Policy in the Leadership Fellows Scheme to enable researchers to work in collaborative engagement with policy makers. Closing Date: 30/9/16


British Academy


Proposals in the fields of Cognitive Benefits of Language Learning and Mathematics Anxiety are being welcomed to review ongoing policy and research activities as part of the Special Research Projects programme.  Funding of up to £150,000 is available.  Closing Date: 13/1/16


Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council


Expressions of interest are welcome for the topic Reducing Industrial Energy Demand.  The EPSRC has made available up to £4m of funding available for multi-disciplinary collaborative research in order to reduce industrial energy demand.  Expression of interest Closing Date: 3/2/16.  Full proposal closing date: 25/2/16


Expressions of interest are welcome for the topic Systems Change – Towards a Circular Economy. The EPSRC are committing up to £5m for projects up to three years which focus on modelling and understanding whole systems approaches to the circular economy.  Expression of interest Closing Date: 11/2/16.  Full proposal closing date: April 2016


Innovate UK


5G applications and services. Investment of up to £1m is being made available for R&D projects to stimulate 5G use. Projects are expected to range in size from total costs of £150,000 to £220,000.  Registration closes: 20/1/17. Closing Date: 3/2/17


Surface engineering and coating technologies for high-value manufacturing. Awards of up to £2m are available for technical feasibility concept and application studies examining surface engineering and coatings, positioning the sector to identify potential areas for further innovation. Registration closes: 3/9/15 Competition closes: 16/3/15


If you are interested in submitting to any of the above calls you must contact RKEO with adequate notice before the deadline. 


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.



								
 

								 

							
 

							

							


								

									

								


								

									
EPSRC report on REF case studies

									
Research assessment, Research news, Uncategorized 

								
 

								

									
EPSRC logoThe EPSRC have issued a report ‘Investing in excellence, delivering impact for the UK‘, which analysed 1,226 case studies submitted to the REF, which covered a timespan of two decades.  This enabled the EPSRC to explore and understand how their investments have delivered benefits across many areas of the UK economy and society.


They found that over 85% of the impact case studies in engineering and physical sciences involved research and/or researchers who were funded by EPSRC, demonstrating the critical role of the council in supporting excellent research that delivers impact. The impact case studies cite over £1 billion of EPSRC funding coupled with a similar level of funding from other sources including government, EU and industry and provide strong evidence of the high levels of additional investment that EPSRC support can attract.


Please click on the link above to read the full report.


 


 

								
 

								 

							
 

							

							


								

									

								


								

									
Royal Society & EPSRC Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship

									
Funding opportunities 

								
 

								

									


Royal SocietyThis scheme is for outstanding scientists in the UK at an early stage of their research career who require a flexible working pattern due to personal circumstances such as parenting or caring responsibilities or health issues.








Applying for this scheme











This scheme offers you the opportunity to:


    

  • hold appointments on a part-time basis or convert from full-time to part-time and back again to help match work and other commitments, such as parental or caring responsibilities etc.
    • 

  • claim back time spent deferring the fellowship and/or working part-time at the end of the fellowship.
    • 

  • claim limited funds for family support where these can be justified on scientific grounds, e.g. the cost of child care during a conference or collaborative visit abroad (those funds can be applied for during the Fellowship).
    • 



Am I eligible to apply?


The scheme covers all areas of the life and physical sciences, including engineering, but excluding clinical medicine.


You must be able to demonstrate a current need for flexible support due to personal circumstances at the time of application. This can include current parenting or caring responsibilities (such as raising children or looking after ageing or seriously ill family members), clinically diagnosed health issues or other personal circumstances that create a need for a flexible working pattern. Please contact the grants team if you would like clarification on whether you meet this eligibility requirement.


Applicants must take a leading role in the project.


You can apply for this scheme if you:


    

  • are at an early stage of your research career (have completed your PhD but have no more than 6 years of research experience post PhD by the closing date of the round)
    • 

  • do not hold a permanent post in a university or not-for-profit organisation in the European Economic Area (EEA) or in Switzerland
    • 

  • are a citizen of the EEA or are a Swiss citizen (or have a relevant connection to the EEA or Switzerland)
    • 



The European Economic Area (EEA) consists of the European Union (including the UK) plus Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.


Before applying, please ensure that you meet all the eligibility requirements, which are explained in the scheme notes.


Flexibility


The Society’s fellowships are highly flexible and part-time working, sabbaticals and secondments can be accommodated. There is also provision for maternity, paternity, adoptive or extended sick leave.


When applying, the Society will consider time spent outside the research environment when assessing eligibility. Additionally, where applicants have taken formal periods of maternity, paternity, and adoptive leave as the primary carer (either the mother, father, partner or adopter), or extended sick leave, the Society will allow an additional six months for each period of leave when assessing eligibility.


More information can be found in the Society’s policy on maternity, paternity, adoptive or extended sick leave.


What is the scheme’s value and tenure?


The scheme provides funding for 5 years. It covers:


    

  • The applicant’s salary costs up to a maximum of £39,389.64, estate costs and indirect costs for 5 years. Under the full economic costing model, 80% of these costs will be met by the Royal Society.
    • 

  • Research expenses (up to £13,000 for the first year and up to £11,000 annually thereafter)
    • 



Successful Dorothy Hodgkin Fellows and University Research Fellows who are about to start their first year are eligible to apply for a research grant of up to £150,000. A significant proportion of first year Dorothy Hodgkin Fellows and University Research Fellows will receive this additional start up grant.


Before applying, please read the scheme notes for full value and tenure information.


What is the application process?


Applications should be submitted through the Royal Society’s electronic grant application system (e-GAP).


Applications will initially be reviewed and then shortlisted by members of Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship Selection Panel. You will be notified if you have reached the short listing stage by March.


The shortlisted proposals will be reviewed by three independent referees suggested by the panel members and successful applicants will be shortlisted for an interview. You will be informed of the result of this stage in May and interviews will take place in June.


The final decision is made at a meeting of the Panel in June, and you will be notified of the result in July.


Please note that interviews for the fellowships will be held at the Royal Society. You are asked to keep the third week of June free. Only applicants that pass the other stages of assessment will be invited.


EPSRC logoAdditional awards are available for outstanding early career researchers who are working within EPSRC’s remit. 


Case studies


Dr John Apergis-Schoute


Dr Lynda Brown


Dr Patricia Sanchez Baracaldo









    





 



								
 

								 

							
 

							

							


								

									

								


								

									
£2.5m funding for Advancing the commercial applications of graphene

									
Funding opportunities, innovation 

								
 

								

									
InnovateUK_LogoA_Interim_RGBx320govuk[1]


Innovate UK and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) are investing up to £2.5 million in technical feasibility studies to target the applications of graphene with the greatest commercial potential.


More information on this competition.


Competition briefing & other supporting events:


Several briefing & consortium building events are being held  for this competition. In addition to learning more about the competition and scope, and meeting others working in the graphene industry, you will have the opportunity to pitch for collaborators. You are strongly encouraged to attend one or more of these events.






Event
 
 Date
 
Location
 
Link to register 




Competition briefing event

8th September

Cardiff

Register here




Competition briefing event

23rd September

London

Register here




Competition briefing event

7th October

Newcastle

Register here






In addition to  Venturefest Manchester on 22 September a short briefing session on this competition will be given at the graphene breakfast meeting.


Queries


For queries about this competition, please contact support@innovateuk.gov.uk


 


 

								
 

								 

							
 

							

							 

							

							


								

									

								


								

									
EPSRC Annual Report and Funding Rates 2014-2015

									
Funding opportunities 

								
 

								

									
EPSRC logoThe EPSRC have issued their annual report where they are focussing on securing better value for money and investing in skills training and research.  You can read Research Professionals article on the EPSRC’s annual report here.


EPSRC have also issued a report of their funding rates for last year.  In this period, EPSRC considered 2,386 research grant proposals through peer review and provided funding for 914, giving a funding rate of 38%.  This amounted to a demand of £1,823M, with funding for £713M and funding rate by value of 39%.


 



								
 

								 

							
 

							

							


								

									

								


								

									
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.






 

								
 

								 

							
 

							

							


								

									

								


								

									
Launch of EPSRC communities

									
Funding opportunities, Research communication 

								
 

								

									
EPSRC logoAs part of the improvements to the EPSRC website they have been developing a new communities section where people can:


    

  • create accounts
    • 

  • manage subscriptions (calls email alert)
    • 

  • create favourites / bookmarks
    • 

  • update profiles
    • 



This will allow you to get the most from their website and enable EPSRC to communicate with you more effectively.  More details can be found on the EPSRC website here.

								
 

								 

							
 

							

							


								

									

								


								

									
EPSRC Research Software Engineer (RSE) Fellowships

									
Funding opportunities 

								
 

								

									
This EPSRC call will support Research Software Engineer (RSE) Fellowships for a period of up to five years. The RSE Fellowship describes exceptional individuals with combined expertise in programming and a solid knowledge of the research environment. The Research Software Engineer works with researchers to gain an understanding of the problems they face, and then develops, maintains and extends software to provide the answers.


To support the role of RSEs and establish a cohort in the academic environment, up to £3m is available for this pilot call. Candidates are invited to provide an ‘Intent to Submit’ document in the first instance to register interest. Full proposals will be subject to a rigorous peer review and sift process before a final selection by interview.


Background


Software developed for experimental facilities and instrumentation, modelling, simulation and data-analysis is a critical and valuable resource. Software and algorithm development represents major investments by skilled scientists and engineers, and the large suite of codes and algorithms used in research should be regarded as a research infrastructure, requiring support and maintenance along the innovation chain, and throughout its lifecycle.


Through the publication of “EPSRC Software as an Infrastructure strategy”, EPSRC has recognised the importance of investing in software development. Previous funding has focused on support for the development of the key software codes that are used by the EPS community in their research. However, other important aspects of the strategy are the development of skills and career development for those engaged in software engineering, and it is these aspects that this call addresses.


The EPSRC-funded Software Sustainability Institute has begun a campaign to develop a UK community of Research Software Engineers, with the aim of raising awareness of their roles, and improving their career paths and reward/recognition within Universities.


This funding opportunity is a pilot in support of the concept of Research Software Engineers. For further background, please see the following links:







Resources



Closing date for Statement of Intent is 4pm, 12 June 2015.  You mush submit a Statement of Intent first and these will be used to select who can submit a full application.  The full application closing date is 4pm, 21 July 2015.


If you are interested in applying for this fellowship then you must contact RKEO Funding Development Team in the first instance.