There are a number of pathways connected with types of funding that will be of interest to you. The Research Council Funding pathway includes: online session for the ‘Introduction to the UK research councils’, helping you to identify their different remits and the funding on offer, such as first grant schemes, post-doctoral, skills, and training fellowships; and workshops on writing sections of the applications, such as case for support, pathways to impact, and justification of resources. These are all vital skills to learn when applying for funding.
The International Funding pathway provides a large amount of activities, which includes: online sessions for finding international funding and introducing the structure of EU funding; workshops and webinars introducing EU MSCA fellowships, as well as bid writing retreats for this type of application; and online sessions for an overview of Horizon 2020, showing the funding opportunities available and a basic understanding of the application process.
The Funding from Major Charities pathway provides online sessions introducing the Wellcome Trust and Leverhulme Trust where you can learn about the types of funding on offer; as well as hints and tips on applying to major charities. The Funding from the academies pathway provides workshops introducing the British Academy and Royal Society. Bid writing retreats for the ‘British Academy small grants’ scheme also runs twice a year. The NIHR pathway provides an online session introducing their schemes, as well as events focussed on fellowships and grant applications.
All of the above also have funder visits and so keep an eye on the BU research blog for when these are coming up.
Additional support
Impact is part and parcel of research and knowledge exchange activities. There are a large amount of activities that can be found under the Planning for impact and communicating research pathway, which will help you with demonstrating potential impact. Sessions for the Research Excellence Framework (REF) also appear here.
When you have successfully received external funding, the Post Award at BU pathway has a number of workshops to support your project management.
The Academic Publishing pathway has a number of workshops, including how to write a good abstract, writing and structuring your paper and targeting high quality journals, as well as opportunities through the BU Writing Academy.
The Returning to Academia after a break pathway offers online sessions to support returning staff.
Last but by no means least, Organisational Development have an Academic Career Development Programme, which contain a number of formal and informal opportunities. These complement what is on offer through the RKEDF.
Where to find the funding
The Research Funders’ Guide contains information on all of the major funders. This includes funders strategic plans, success rates, funder guides and calls and deadlines. In addition, there is a specific page on ‘standard calls by major funders’ along with many other resources.
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