Latest research and knowledge exchange news at Bournemouth University
Our RDS Funding Development Briefing is today (20/04/22) at 12 noon.
There is a change regarding spotlight presentation; instead of MRC Overview we will discuss 12 top tips for writing a grant application.
Thank you to all of you who have engaged in the sessions, we are looking forward to meeting you again.
The festival aims to encourage, support and create opportunities for social science researchers to engage with non-academic audiences. It is a prestigious initiative by a major research funder, and BU’s continued involvement is justified by the quality of events and activities. Being part of this festival is an achievement worth citing and celebrating.
It is an excellent opportunity to engage people outside of academia with your research and with the benefit of co-ordinated support and promotion from RDS and the ESRC.
The theme set by the ESRC for this year’s festival is ‘my local area’. The ESRC want to see at least a quarter of festival events on this theme.
Events must “feature social science (ideally with a social scientist involved in the event)”. If this doesn’t clearly apply to you, consider these options;
Before applying, you will have access to:
When your application is successful, you will receive:
If you have any questions, please email the public engagement team.
Bournemouth University and the NIHR Research Design Service South West are jointly hosting an online NIHR Information Session, on Wednesday 27th April at 10am.
The agenda is below.
10.00-10.15 Lisa Andrews, Research Facilitator, (Bournemouth University Research Development and Support) Introduction to the session
10.15-11.00 Professor Gordon Taylor, Director of the NIHR Research Design Service South West (RDS-SW)
Dr Sarah Thomas, Deputy Director of the Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit and NIHR RDS-SW Adviser Spotlight on the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and overview of funding streams
11.00-11.30 Professor Gordon Taylor About the NIHR Fellowship Programmes
11.30-11.45 BREAK
11.45-12.10 Dr Jo Welsman, Patient and Public Involvement Lead, NIHR RDS-SW Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in research
12.10-12.30 Dr Lisa Austin, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Lead, NIHR RDS-SW Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and the new EDI toolkit
12.30-1.00 PANEL Questions
This session will be online, via Zoom. A link to join the meeting will be sent to you after registration.
This session will online, via Zoom. Please register via Eventbrite here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/300827682697
A link to join the meeting will be sent to you after registration.
This session is part of the Bournemouth University Research and Knowledge Exchange Development Framework.
Your local branch of the NIHR RDS (Research Design Service) is based within the BU Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU)
We can help with your grant applications. We advise on all aspects of developing an application and can review application drafts as well as put them to a mock funding panel (run by RDS South West) known as Project Review Committee, which is a fantastic opportunity for researchers to obtain a critical review of a proposed grant application before this is sent to a funding body.
Contact us as early as possible to benefit fully from the advice
Feel free to call us on 01202 961939 or send us an email.
The ESRC Festival of Social Science is an annual, UK-wide, free celebration of the social sciences, planned to take place from 22 October – 13 November 2022.
The festival is a prestigious initiative by a major research funder, and BU’s continued involvement is justified by the quality of our events and activities. Being part of this festival is an achievement worth citing and celebrating. BU have been involved in the festival for over a decade, running our own internal selection process and delivering up to ten activities per year.
Funding of up to £1,000 is available to deliver your event.
Events must “feature social science (ideally with a social scientist involved in the event)”. If this doesn’t clearly apply to you, consider these options;
Before applying, you will have access to:
When your application is successful, you will receive:
If you have any questions, please email the public engagement team.
The next RDS Funding Development Briefing will be on Wednesday (13/03/22) at 12 noon.
According to our plan, there will not be a spotlight presentation this week. To add value to the meeting, feel free to join with external funding related questions you may have.
Next Wednesday (20/03/22), we will have MRC Overview for you.
Important note: those academics considering to apply for ERC Starting Grant 2023 Call, please contact Research Facilitator International Ainar Blaudums or your Funding Development Officer as early as possible to let us plan together timeline for internal approvals. It may happen that ItB is required late in June before call opening (call opening planned for 12/07/2022, expected application submission deadline on 25/10/2022).
Wishing you all wonderful Easter!
Apply for £500-£5,000 to fund your public engagement activity or eventThe deadline for applications is midnight 24 April to enable funds to be awarded by mid-May. All spending must be completed by 31 July.
We welcome applications from researchers at all stages of their careers. RDS can provide 1-2-1 advice on preparing an application and will also work with successful applicants to support planning and delivery to ensure outcomes are achieved within the timeline.
This is the final opportunity to apply for internal funding this year for public engagement with research activity.
You will need to demonstrate that your proposed activity will involve a two-way interaction between you and your chosen public. The National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) defines public engagement as “the myriad ways in which the activity and benefits of… research can be shared with the public”.
Please first read the policy and applicant guidance. Then submit the online application form. A PDF version is supplied so you may preview the form, but this must not be submitted. Supporting statements from HoDs may be submitted via email.
Applications must be submitted by midnight Sunday 24 April.
If you’d like to discuss your application with our PER team, please contact publicengagement@bournemouth.ac.uk.
Funding development briefings will continue in April as usual on Wednesdays at noon.
Spotlight presentation this Wednesday (06/03/22) will be BA Small Grants.
Last week we promised to publish a summary of remaining spotlight presentations scheduled for this academic year, please see details below:
Just as a reminder – registration is still open for UKRO series of information webinars for those interested in applying to MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022 Call, more details regarding webinars you can find here (UKRO login details required). First webinar (Overview and Eligibility Rules) on 25 April 2022 at 10:00 UK Time.
As usual, looking forward to meeting you on Wednesday.
The call for applications for this year’s ESRC Festival of Social Science is now open – deadline Fri 29 April.
The ESRC Festival of Social Science is an annual, UK-wide, free celebration of the social sciences, planned to take place from 22 October – 13 November 2022. BU have been involved in the festival for over a decade, running our own internal selection process and delivering up to ten activities per year.
The festival aims to encourage, support and create opportunities for social science researchers to engage with non-academic audiences.
The festival is a prestigious initiative by a major research funder, and BU’s continued involvement is justified by the quality of our events and activities. Being part of this festival is an achievement worth citing and celebrating. 
It is an excellent opportunity to engage people outside of academia with your research and with the benefit of co-ordinated support and promotion from RDS and the ESRC.
You can apply for up to £1000 to deliver your project.
The theme set by the ESRC for this year’s festival is ‘my local area’. The ESRC want to see at least a quarter of festival events on this theme.
Although encouraged, adhering to this theme is not essential for your proposal. Other social science themes are still welcome.
The ESRC expect to see the majority (>80%) of events targeted at ‘general public’ and youth audiences. This means people attending out of a personal interest in the topic, rather than in a professional capacity.
There is scope for a small minority (<20%) of activities targeting professional stakeholder audiences, for example, people whose work uses your research. Bearing in mind the limited capacity and higher competition for such proposals aimed at professional audiences, your application would need to be outstanding to merit inclusion.
Everyone has to start somewhere, and this is the ideal place. You’ll have access to comprehensive support, advice and training throughout. If you’re unsure, seek out a more experienced colleague to collaborate with.
The ESRC says that events must “feature social science (ideally with a social scientist involved in the event)”. If this doesn’t clearly apply to you, consider these options;
You’ll be expected to;
Being part of this festival means a higher level of support and reach than we are normally able to provide.
Before applying, you’ll have access to:
When your application is successful, you’ll get:
If you’re interested in applying, here’s what to do next;
We’ll provide more information on applying to the ESRC Festival of Social Science on this blog and the PER Network over the coming weeks. If you have a question in the meantime, please email the team.
Every BU academic has a Research Professional account which delivers weekly emails detailing funding opportunities in their broad subject area. To really make the most of your Research Professional account, you should tailor it further by establishing additional alerts based on your specific area of expertise. The Funding Development Team Officers can assist you with this, if required.
Research Professional have created several guides to help introduce users to Research Professional. These can be downloaded here.
Quick Start Guide: Explains to users their first steps with the website, from creating an account to searching for content and setting up email alerts, all in the space of a single page.
User Guide: More detailed information covering all the key aspects of using Research Professional.
Administrator Guide: A detailed description of the administrator functionality.
In addition to the above, there are a set of 2-3 minute videos online, designed to take a user through all the key features of Research Professional. To access the videos, please use the following link: http://www.youtube.com/researchprofessional
Research Professional are running a series of online training broadcasts aimed at introducing users to the basics of creating and configuring their accounts on Research Professional. They are holding two monthly sessions, covering everything you need to get started with Research Professional. The broadcast sessions will run for no more than 60 minutes, with the opportunity to ask questions via text chat. Each session will cover:
Each session will run between 10.00am and 11.00am (UK) on the second Tuesday of every other month. You can register here for your preferred date:
These are free and comprehensive training sessions and so this is a good opportunity to get to grips with how Research Professional can work for you. Previous recordings can be found here if you can’t attend a session.
By clicking on this box, on the left of the Research Blog home page just under the text ‘Funding Opportunities‘, you access a Research Professional real-time search of the calls announced by the Major UK Funders. Use this feature to stay up to date with funding calls. Please note that you will have to be on campus or connecting to your desktop via our VPN to fully access this service.
As promised earlier this month, the Funding Development Briefing on Wednesday 23 March at 12 noon will also include spotlight on Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (MSCA PF) 2022 Call. This year’s Call is expected to open on 13 April 2022, submission deadline 14 September 2022.
This session will cover:
After presentation there will also be a short Q&A session available for those less familiar with the scheme.
For those unable to attend the session, slides will be shared on Brightspace.
To discuss more details about your potential EU project idea or MSCA scheme specifically, you are welcome to get in touch with RDS Research Facilitator International Ainar Blaudums.
UKRO will be holding a webinar ‘An Introduction to COST” on 17 March 2022 (11:00-12:30pm UK time). COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) is a funding organisation that aims to support researchers, in any sector and at all career stages, to grow their professional research networks and boost their careers. COST Actions are open to all science and technology fields, including new and emerging fields and help to connect research initiatives across Europe and beyond.
The webinar is aimed at researchers and research support staff, interested in finding out more about COST funding opportunities. The event will also outline the different ways to get involved in a COST action and will cover UK participation in COST. Attendance is free of charge, but participants should register here.
The UK Research Office (UKRO), in its capacity as UK National Contact Point for the Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), will be holding a series of information webinars for organisations and individuals interested in applying to the 2022 MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships Call (call opens 13 April 2022, call deadline 14 September 2022).
Postdoctoral Fellowships help experienced researchers advance their careers and gain new skills through training, international, intersectoral and international mobility. Postdoctoral Fellowships are aimed at researchers who are already in possession of a doctoral degree, and at the call deadline have a maximum of 8 years full-time equivalent research experience.
BU has excellent track record in applying for MSCA fellowships and we encourage those considering to apply for the first time to register and participate in these webinar series.
I would like to remind BU academics that MSCA calls are one of exceptions regarding submission of Intention to Bid forms; RDS my require to submit ItB up to two months before the submission deadline. Please get in touch with your RDS Funding Development Officer as soon as possible if you plan to apply to 2022 MSCA PF call.
The presentation slides and video recording from UKRO ERC Advanced Grant Webinar are now available for the two sessions and can be accessed on the UKRO event page.
The European Research Council (ERC) has published the tentative deadline dates for the 2023 calls. Note that these deadlines will not be confirmed until the 2023 ERC Work Programme is officially published over the summer.
ERC calls are another exception regarding submission of ItB forms; RDS my require to submit ItB at least three months before the submission deadline. Please get in touch with your RDS Funding Development Officer as soon as possible if you plan to apply to ERC 2022 Advanced Grant or ERC 2023 Starting Grant (submission deadline in 2022) call.
I would like to also remind that all BU researchers can access the UKRO Portal as employees of the subscribing institution to read news articles, factsheets and other useful information. Anyone with an institutional email address can register. To access some links above, you may be required to be UKRO registered user.
Every BU academic has a Research Professional account which delivers weekly emails detailing funding opportunities in their broad subject area. To really make the most of your Research Professional account, you should tailor it further by establishing additional alerts based on your specific area of expertise. The Funding Development Team Officers can assist you with this, if required.
Research Professional have created several guides to help introduce users to Research Professional. These can be downloaded here.
Quick Start Guide: Explains to users their first steps with the website, from creating an account to searching for content and setting up email alerts, all in the space of a single page.
User Guide: More detailed information covering all the key aspects of using Research Professional.
Administrator Guide: A detailed description of the administrator functionality.
In addition to the above, there are a set of 2-3 minute videos online, designed to take a user through all the key features of Research Professional. To access the videos, please use the following link: http://www.youtube.com/researchprofessional
Research Professional are running a series of online training broadcasts aimed at introducing users to the basics of creating and configuring their accounts on Research Professional. They are holding two monthly sessions, covering everything you need to get started with Research Professional. The broadcast sessions will run for no more than 60 minutes, with the opportunity to ask questions via text chat. Each session will cover:
Each session will run between 10.00am and 11.00am (UK) on the second Tuesday of every other month. You can register here for your preferred date:
These are free and comprehensive training sessions and so this is a good opportunity to get to grips with how Research Professional can work for you. Previous recordings can be found here if you can’t attend a session.
By clicking on this box, on the left of the Research Blog home page just under the text ‘Funding Opportunities‘, you access a Research Professional real-time search of the calls announced by the Major UK Funders. Use this feature to stay up to date with funding calls. Please note that you will have to be on campus or connecting to your desktop via our VPN to fully access this service.
Dear colleagues
– Do you have a great idea for research in health, social care or public health?
– Are you planning to submit a grant application to NIHR?
Our popular seminar continues online and will take place on Thursday 31st March 2022 from 10.00am – 12.30pm.
The seminar provides an overview of NIHR funding opportunities and research programme remits, requirements and application processes. We will give you top tips for your application and answer specific questions with experienced RDS South West advisers.
We will also be joined by colleagues from the NIHR Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme. They will be talking about the HTA programme, the nature of the projects that it funds, tips for success and any upcoming changes.
We also have a limited number of 20-minute 1-to-1 appointments available after the seminar should you wish to discuss your proposed study with an RDS adviser.
Find out more and book a place.
Your local branch of the NIHR RDS (Research Design Service) is based within the BU Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU)
We can help with your application. We advise on all aspects of developing an application and can review application drafts as well as put them to a mock funding panel (run by RDS South West) known as Project Review Committee, which is a fantastic opportunity for researchers to obtain a critical review of a proposed grant application before this is sent to a funding body.
Contact us as early as possible to benefit fully from the advice
Feel free to call us on 01202 961939 or send us an email.
In yesterday’s post, we looked at the initial moment your application is rejected, and how to digest what’s happened. Today’s post will look at what to do once you’ve reflected on the feedback.
For your own sanity, the first thing to consider is whether it is worth pursuing further, or if time has moved on and it’s time for something new. Whatever, you decide, you know that time and planning is a big factor. Like a research project, you also need to map out your application preparation as a project, to ensure you have sufficient time to craft it into a fundable bid. If you need partners, this needs even more time to find the right ones, develop the relationship, and ensure it’s trusted and beneficial to the research.
Resubmissions
To be blunt, most funders will not accept a resubmission. Funder success rates are low enough without old applications being repeatedly submitted. You also shouldn’t expect a different result from doing the same thing. Funders will expect a substantial change to an application if you’re going to submit the same research as a new bid. If the only changes you make are in response to the reviewer comments then you’re 99% more likely to be rejected again, and possibly before it’s even gone to reviewers. If a funder has a ‘no resubmission’ policy, they will chuck out anything that looks like one (they know the tricks too, and so you can’t fool them by swapping personnel or changing the title).
If a funder does allow resubmissions or has invited one, you’ll need to declare this upfront. If you thoroughly revise the application, take the advice of your peers, and resubmit, you could be successful.
Submit to different funders
You may be tempted to submit to another funder. However, beware! The funder may have a whole different approach, criteria, priorities, and schemes. Remember that you tailored your application originally for a specific funding call or a funders priorities. You will still need to substantially revise your application. If you start moving sections to fit into new ones, you may undermine your message, and your research becomes unclear. We’re back to using the crowbar again.
New idea
If you decide that you want to make a fresh start, do think about the tips given above and in yesterday’s post, and employ these to your next bid.
Alternative funding opportunities can be found on Research Professional. All BU academics have an account.
In RDS, we can help you review your feedback and determine what steps you should take next. We’re building a bank of funder feedback and ensuring that our training and development for research reflects the most common weaknesses identified. More information will be provided in Friday’s post, written by Research Facilitator, Alex Pekalski.
The Public Engagement Innovation Grant Scheme provides financial support for the delivery of pathology-related activities and events in the UK.
Grants of up to £1,000 are available for individuals or organisations who wish to develop pathology-related public engagement activities or events.
The Innovation Grant Scheme aims to:
The Public Engagement Innovation Grant Scheme 2022 is now open.
If you would like to apply for funding for an eligible project, please download the documents and return the completed application form to publicengagement@rcpath.org by 23:59 on Wednesday 1 June 2022.
Should you require any further information, please contact publicengagement@rcpath.org
Alternatively, please contact Adam Morris (BU Engagement Officer) if you would like advice on planning or submitting your application publicengagement@bournemouth.ac.uk
Do you have a great idea for a project that will help make the chemical sciences community more inclusive and diverse?
About the fund
The Inclusion & Diversity Fund provides financial support for innovative products, activities and research projects.
Previous recipients of funding have included projects related to gender, disability, socio-economic background, language, race and ethnicity, the LGBT+ community and more. These have been delivered via initiatives such as data collection and analysis, workshops, conferences and hackathons.
Who can apply
The grant scheme is open to everyone (individuals and organisations). This includes, but is not limited to, members of the Royal Society of Chemistry, member-led groups, researchers in academia or industry, museums, community groups, not-for-profit organisations, arts groups and libraries.
Previous recipients of any of our grants are welcome to apply for funding. This can be to scale-up a project that already exists or to fund the development of an original project. Applicants should not resubmit an unsuccessful application unless invited to do so.
How to apply
You can use this preview of the application form to help you prepare your answers, but applications must be submitted through the online SmartSurvey form using the button below.
Application deadlines
The Inclusion & Diversity Fund accepts applications throughout the year, which are reviewed in two rounds per year.
| Deadlines | Round 1 | Round 2 |
| Application submissions due by: | Monday, 25 April 2022 | Monday, 19 September 2022 |
| Funding decisions returned by: | Friday, 10 June 2022 | Friday, 4 November 2022 |
For more information, please contact the Inclusion and diversity team: diversity@rsc.org
Alternatively, please contact Adam Morris (BU Engagement Officer) if you would like advice on planning or submitting your application publicengagement@bournemouth.ac.uk
Grants of up to £1,000 are available to support relevant science teaching or promotion initiatives, or to support developments likely to lead to an improvement in the teaching of any aspect of microbiology.
A variety of educational outreach activities to promote public engagement with microbiology will be considered for support. These might include:
Up to £1,000 will be awarded to contribute to the expenses of the proposed activity. Activities as part of organisation open days or UCAS days will not be eligible for funding.
Maximum award: £1,000
Deadlines: 10 April 2022 & 2 October 2022
Eligible membership categories: Full Concessionary and Postgraduate Student Members
Minimum membership: None required
Enquiries about this scheme should be made by email to grants@microbiologysociety.org.
If you would like advice on submitting your application, please contact Adam Morris (Engagement Officer).
Apply now for outreach grants of up to £2,000 from the British Ecological Society
Applications for the Outreach Grant should promote and engage the public with the science of ecology. Grants will not be awarded for purely nature conservation purposes or any activity that does not promote the science of ecology.
Projects will be supported that:
If you would like advice on submitting your application, please contact Adam Morris (Engagement Officer).
BU staff can login below:
ESRC Festival of Social Science 2024 Open Call – Deadline for Applications Thursday 16 May
We can help promote your public engagement event or activity
New Seed Fund for Public Engagement with Research: Last Six Funding Opportunities Available
Congratulation on new interdisciplinary publication
BU professor speaking at Aberdeen Centre for Women’s Health Research (ACWHR)
New seed fund for public engagement with research: open for applications
Research Information Network
Horizon Europe News – December 2023