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Launch of our new Research Council Application Guidance webpages!

Guidance

We have recently launched a new section on the Blog that focuses specifically on providing guidance and information about writing applications to Research Councils – you can access the information here: Research Council Application Guidance. The pages contain information about the different sections required when writing a proposal to a Research Council, including guidance on writing: the impact sections, the data management plan, and the justification of resources documents. Where possible examples of good practice are also provided. We really hope this will be a useful resource 🙂

We aim to develop this into a comprehensive suite of information for academic colleagues writing proposals to Research Councils. If you have any feedback on the pages or if there is anything you’d like to see that isn’t there yet then please let us know so it can be added.

You can access the information from the Research Toolkit link in the top menu bar of the Blog (just beneath the picture of the books) or from this handy link – Research Council Application Guidance.

RCUK success rates published! Exciting news!

RCUK logoLast week the Research Councils published their success rates for the period April 2011 to March 2012. The key message seems to be that demand management measures are working; most Councils have seem a decline in the number of applications and a rise in success rates, despite a decrease in the amount of funding allocated.

Demand management, the term given to the steps taken by RCUK and the Research Councils to reduce the amount of applications they receive, now features in the plans of all of the Research Councils. This is because the Research Councils are receiving more applications that they are able to support and research institutions currently submit more applications than are likely to be funded. The costs of administering such large quantities of applications is a huge burden for the Research Councils and reduces the amount of money available to fund research. Large quantities of applications also place a heavy burden on the peer reviewers, thus increasing the risk that the quality of decision-making could be compromised. RCUK note that “there are some proposals submitted which have little or no chance of success” and that steps should be taken at both applicant and institution level to pre-sift these proposals prior to submission, therefore reducing the volume of applications submitted to Research Councils.

Read more about the demand management measures that the Research Councils have put in place here: Demand Management

The table on the right shows the success rates over the past three years for the four main Research Councils to which BU makes applications – AHRC, EPSRC, ESRC and NERC. For all Councils, bar the ESRC, the success rate has increased year on year although it is worth noting that the ESRC claim that since they started requiring institutions to sift applications prior to submission (June 2011) it has recorded an overall success rate of 24%. We will have to wait until the 2012-13 success rates are published to see if this trend follows through into the statistics for the year, but the early signs are promising.

In 2010-11 BU’s success rate with Research Councils was 0%, despite 16 applications being submitted. This year we have submitted less applications (10) and our success rate has increased to 10% – which is excellent news! The successful application was written with advice and guidance from Dr Martin Pickard who facilitates our Grants Academy workshops. Whilst there are many reasons why grants are awarded this is a good sign that the advice given during these workshops and on individual proposals is beneficial and can help make your proposal a success. BU has had more grants awarded from the Research Councils over the past year, however the stats only show against the lead institution so successful bids where BU is the collaborating institution are not shown against BU in the data.

The key message here is to spend time writing and refining fewer applications, making use of the support available (such as the internal peer review and the Grants Academy), and making sure your applications are of as high a quality as possible prior to submission.

BU is especially keen to reduce the number of bids submitted to Research Councils whilst significantly increasing the quality of those which are submitted. BU initiatives, such as the internal peer review scheme (RPRS) and the Grants Academy, have been specifically established to support academics to design, write and structure competitive, fundable research proposals and to maximise their chances of being awarded funding. It is excellent to see that these initiatives are so popular amongst academic colleagues and I would encourage you to make use of the support available.

Read more about the 2011-12 success rates on the Times Higher website: Limit on demand lifts grant award success rates and Hard line pays dividends (but not hard cash

 

PGR Development Scheme – Round 2 Applications for Funding now open!

PG research

The Graduate School is pleased to announce that applications are now invited for Round 2 of the competition.

PGRs eligible to apply must submit an application form (below)  to the Graduate School by:

  • 28 February 2013 – for activity taking place between March 2013 and July 2013 (and exceptionally up to and including September 2013)

PGRs awarded funding under Round 1 will not be eligible to apply for further funding in Round 2.

The PGR Development Scheme is open to BU postgraduate researchers (PGRs) irrespective of the mode of study (full-time/part-time) or funding status (BU studentships/externally funded/self funded).

Individual awards will provide financial support of normally up to £2,000 (and exceptionally £5,000) for research activities related to an individual PGR’s research project or personal development.  It is envisaged that this year approximately 15 awards will be made.

Examples of research activities covered by the Scheme include:

  • Research Activities
    • Conference attendance
    • Additional fieldwork
    • Other activities required to advance research e.g. visiting major libraries, museums, other research institutions (UK, EU or International)
    • Preparation of specialist material or data
    • In exceptional circumstances, research consumables and equipment (providing it is clear these would not normally be purchased by the School as part of the research degree)
  • Developmental Activities
    • Research development e.g. attending external training events specific to research activity
    • Personal development e.g. attending external personal development training events
  • Networking
    • Organisation of an academic conference at BU with external participants
    • Attendance at external networking events leading to advance of the research
    • Publications or dissemination of research

You should also map the proposed activity onto the relevant sub-domains of the Vitae Researcher Development Framework (RDF):

Knowledge & Intellectual Abilities A1 – Knowledge base A2 – Cognitive abilities A3 – Creativity
Personal Effectiveness B1 – Personal qualities B2 – Self-management B3 – Professional & career development
Research Governance C1 – Professional conduct C2 – Research management C3 – Finance, funding & resources
Engagement, Influence & Impact D1 – Working with others D2 – Communication & dissemination D3 – Engagement & impact

 Awards will only cover direct costs including travel, subsistence, training or development costs and all applications will need to include a precise breakdown of costs.  Applications should be supported by the Supervisory Team and the relevant Deputy Dean (Research & Enterprise) of the relevant Academic School.

PGRs wishing to apply must submit a completed GS PGR Development Fund Scheme – Application Form to the Graduate School (graduateschool@bournemouth.ac.uk) by Thursday 28th February 2013

Applications to the Scheme will be reviewed independently and all decisions on funding will be made by the Graduate School.

For further information please read the GS Researcher Scholarships Scheme – Policy (2)

British Academy session – slides now available

Funding opportunities

The British Academy visit, led by Ken Emond (Head of Research Awards) and Kate Kenyon (International Officer) gave a comprehensive overview of the work of the British Academy, the funding schemes they offer.

The slides are available here:

British Academy – November 2012 visit – slides

As part of the presentation, Ken Emond gave some insights into what applicants need to think about when they are writing a proposal.  Please bear his advice in mind when writing your proposal!

  • Is the project feasible? (both in terms of methodology and time-frame)
  • Is the project defined, specific, focused and clearly expressed?  (applications will be assessed by non-experts in the field, so keep jargon and unexplained terms to an absolute minimum)
  • Is there a defined outcome? (ie:  what will you be producing at the end of your research:  publication, database etc).

 

Interested in applying for British Academy funding?

If you are interested in applying to the British Academy (or to any other research funder), please contact me, and I will put you in touch with the range of support that is available to you.  You will also need to contact the RKEO operations team, as they will be working with you on costing your project.

 

 

 

SDRC Seminar Series # 1 – ‘Tribological Aspects and Applications of Metal Matrix Composites’

Please consider attending the second research seminar of the Sustainable Design Research Centre Seminar Series entitled ‘Tribological Aspects and Applications of Metal Matrix Composites’ and delivered by Prof. Chinnakurli S. Ramesh from the PES Institute of Technology, Bangalore, to be held  today at 4pm in P335. Attendance is free and all are very welcome to attend!

 

Prof. Chinnakurli S. Ramesh

Prof. Chinnakurli S. Ramesh received his PhD in Metallurgical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras and also holds a Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering. He is currently working as a Professor in the Mechanical Engineering department at PES Institute of Technology, Bangalore. His main interests are in the processing and characterization of metal matrix composites, nanotechnology and their tribological applications, and the finite element analysis of bio-implants.

Professor Ramesh has also successfully completed several Govt. agencies funded projects, published over 50 journal and 75 conference papers, and has successfully supervised several PhDs projects. He is on the review panel of many leading International Journals  and is a recipient of the prestigious Prof. Satish Dhawan Award for the outstanding Contributions in Engineering Sciences, Awarded by the Govt. of Karnataka. He is also the recipient of Sudharshan Bhat Award from IIT Madras for the best PhD thesis.

 

Sustainable Design Research Centre (SDRC)

The Sustainable Design Research Centre coordinates research into sustainability related subjects within the school of Design, Engineering and Computing and this seminar series is intended to highlight some of this ongoing research at Bournemouth University and to showcase the related research of guest speakers and visiting lecturers.

Code of Ethical Fundraising & Donors’ Charter

Guidance

A new university-wide policy has been implemented; the Code of Ethical Fundraising & Donors’ Charter.

All staff who have any involvement in fundraising, dealing with corporate sponsors, negotiating with suppliers and other organisations, and managing relationships with external organisations should be aware of and adhere to this procedure.

To spread the word to staff about the Code the Alumni and Development Office will be holding four coffee mornings in December, open to all staff. These will include a short presentation from Claire House-Norman, Director of Development and Alumni Relations (as well as cake!) and staff will have the opportunity to ask questions and discuss the Code further with Claire and her team.

The coffee mornings will be held from 10.30am-11.30am on:

  • 3rd December, 21 Lansdowne Rd
  • 4th December, The Retreat, Talbot Campus
  • 5th December, 21 Lansdowne Rd
  • 6th December, The Retreat, Talbot Campus

If you would like to attend please register using the form at: https://bournemouthuniversity.wufoo.com/forms/k7p8r5/

The policy can be found the Policies and Procedures Section of the BU Intranet.

If you have any queries about the policy please contact Claire House-Norman or for queries about the events please contact Tom Galpin.

BU FIF SUCCESS AND ACTIVITIES

BU visiting professor Chinnakurli Ramesh has been visiting Sustainable Design Research Centre within the School of Design, Engineering & Computing from 5th November ‘til 8th December 2012. His visit is funded by the BU FIF initiative awarded to Dr Zulfiqar Khan.  Prof Ramesh is a senior academic at PES IT Bangalore. His research interests are Surface Engineering, Tribology and Nanotechnology.

He has been actively involved in collaborative academic activities with the School. He is participating in level C & H Design Engineering education through Design Methods & Projects and Advanced Technology & Innovation units.

BU (Zulfiqar Khan, Mark Hadfield) and PES IT (Prof. Ramesh) and Visvesvaraya Technological University (Prof. Kori & Prof. Rangappa) have jointly submitted an EPSRC – DST  research funding application in collaboration with industrial partners such as Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited & Ingersoll Rand and  research partners Gas Turbine Research & Establishment  &  National Aerospace Laboratories  from India.

Prof. Ramesh and Dr. Zulfiqar Khan have jointly contributed seven papers to International Conferences in STLE 2012, the upcoming STLE 2013, recently concluded AMPT-2012, and Contact and Surface 2013 in the area of coatings, tribology and material processing. Prof. Ramesh & Dr. Khan are participating in joint journal publication as well.

Prof. Ramesh had useful meetings with the School Execs including Prof. Jim Roach, DDRE&I Prof. Mark Hadfield, DDE Dr. Xavier Velay and AD Dr. Tania Humphries-Smith in terms of furthering the existing collaboration in education, research and professional practice.

Mobile eye-tracking in freely moving participants

In July, Dr. Julie Kirkby and Dr. Jan Wiener were awarded a small grant from the Research Development Fund entitled: Mobile eye-tracking in freely moving participants. The aims of the project were (i.) to develop an in-depth understanding of the potential of the state-of-the-art mobile eye-tracker system that the Psychology Group purchased earlier in the year; (ii) to develop new experimental paradigms to use alongside mobile eye-tracking; (iii) to collect first data that will be published in international peer reviewed journals and that is essential for preparing future research proposals; (iv) to establish Psychology Group’s expertise in the emerging field of mobile eye-tracking.

In order to achieve these goals two mobile eye-tracking scenarios was used:

Working memory in the classroom: Poor working memory skills are relatively common in childhood and have a substantial impact on children’s learning. We have developed a novel experimental paradigm combining the mobile eye-tracker with a large field of view virtual reality setup to test the impact of working memory skills on viewing and search behaviour. We have tested a group of young adults at BU and then moved the setup to Avonbourne School in Bournemouth to test a group of school students.

 

Wayfinding: In a pilot study in Poole hospital, people’s gaze behaviour was recorded while they were asked tofind their way through this complex real-world settings. This was the first experiment in which the mobile eye-tracker was used in an actual navigation experiment. The experience and expertise gained through this work has been crucial to develop follow up studies that are currently been carried out in Poole hospital.

 

The small grant allowed us:-

  • … to establish novel experimental paradigms with mobile eye-tracking
  • … to record first data using mobile eye-tracking. In order to publish results from the experiments carried out in this project, we are currently completing the data sets
  • … to develop in-depth knowledge about the mobile eye-tracker which has helped us to develop further mobile eye-tracking projects, for example in Poole hospital
  • … to establish close contact with Avonbourne School in Bournemouth. This contact is now also used for other projects.
  • … to establish a close and ongoing collaboration between JK and JW.
  • … to establish a formal collaboration between the Centre for Visual Cognition at Southampton University and the Psychology Research Group at BU

For further information, please contact Dr. Julie Kirkby or Dr. Jan Wiener in the Psychology Research Group.

Book now on our effective networking workshop

Networking is crucial in academic life and critical for participation in EU funding. In today’s world, to develop a strong academic career, publications aren’t enough; network relations can play a huge role.  Being well connected and carrying out research in cooperative partnerships significantly increases your chances of attaining a professorship and will allow you to grow your research career by participating in a range of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary projects.

Networking can be daunting and exhausting. To help you identify key players and how best to approach them as well as learning  how to network effectively with a range of stakeholders, expert Dr Martin Pickard of Grantcraft will deliver 3 hours of  fantastic guidance in this session on Talbot campus.  Booking is essential through the Staff Development website.

Entrepreneurship & Economic Growth Research Theme meeting on 29 November!

The Entrepreneurship & Economic Growth Research Theme is holding its second meeting of the term on Thursday 29 November. The seminar will be held in the Executive Business Centre at 12:00 – 13:30.  Lunch will be provided. The meeting will be informal and will be used as an opportunity to discuss current research and ideas for cross-collaboration.

We look forward to seeing you there – please confirm your attendance to Nikki Gloyns: ngloyns@bournemouth.ac.uk so that we can book lunch for you!

Changes to Research Council research grants administration

Guidance

Changes to final reporting

In a move to reduce the amount of effort required of grant holders and peer reviewers, and building on the policy of consolidating outcomes reporting through online systems, the Research Councils have decided to scale back their requirements for final reporting on grants.

For Councils other than BBSRC and ESRC, most grants with an end date on or after 1st January 2013 will no longer require a final report. ESRC will for now be continuing with its end of award reporting process and BBSRC intends to phase out final reports over the coming months. Some grant schemes within the other Councils may also continue to require reports and in these cases a final report request will be issued in the normal way. But, in the majority of cases, a final report will not be required.

Grants ending before 1 st January 2013 will continue to require a final report in the normal way, unless this requirement has previously been waived.

Changes to research grant terms and conditions

Some changes have been made to the core terms and conditions of Research Council grants, affecting grants announced from 1 October 2012. These are:

GC7 (Extensions) – grants may now be extended for up to 12 months, in total, as a result of maternity, paternity or adoption leave.

GC2 (Research Governance), under Misconduct and Conflicts of Interest – inclusion of a requirement that the Research Organisation has in place procedures for governing good research practice, and for investigating and reporting unacceptable research conduct, that meets the requirements set out in the 2012 Concordat to Support Research Integrity (as well as the RCUK Policy and Guidelines on Governance of Good Research Conduct).

Improvements to peer-review feedback

In a first step towards improving the transparency of the peer review process, the Councils are making changes to the Je-S system in November that will enable the decision provided to grant applicants on the outcome of their proposal to be made available, through Je-S, to research organisation administrative offices.

Environmental Change & Biodiversity Research Theme seminar on Thursday!

The Environmental Change & Biodiversity Research Theme is holding its second seminar of the term on Thursday 22 November. The seminar will be held in TAG01 (Tolpuddle Annex) at 1200. Tea and coffee and biscuits will be provided.

The seminar will be quite informal and will be used as an opportunity to discuss ideas that are in development as well as presenting completed results.

The next Environmental Change & Biodiversity seminar will be held on 13 December in Christchurch House CG13 at 1200. Richard Stillman is the theme leader, so please let him know if you would like to present at one of the upcoming seminars.

Seen But Seldom Heard

Young people working to change perceptions of disability through poetry and performance

A collaboration between the Media School (Dr Caroline Hodges), the School of Health and Social Care (Wendy Cutts & Dr Lee-Ann Fenge) and Victoria Education Centre, Poole.

In February of this year, we were awarded funding from the BU Fusion Fund to begin work on the ‘Seen But Seldom Heard’ project. ‘Seen but Seldom Heard’ is an innovative ‘arts activism’ project through which young people living with a physical disability (aged 14-19 years) can engage in creative activities designed to encourage them to reflect on their lived experiences and to empower them to challenge societal perceptions of disability through poetry and performance. The performance poetry work which has been supported by professional poets, Liv Torc and Jonny Fluffypunk, also offers the group of budding young poets a ‘voice’ to participate in conversations regarding policies and practices which affect them.

The project has so far resulted in a series of co-produced performances including a Paralympics venue in Weymouth as part of the Cultural Olympiad supporting headline performance poet, John Hegley, and The Bridport Open Book Festival, the largest performance poetry event in the country. The performances were an important way to engage with the general public and positively influence perceptions of disability and we hope to stage similar events during 2013. We have also produced a book of the group’s poetry (the sale of which has paid for an additional 2 poetry workshops at the school) and a full-length documentary will be premiered at BU on the afternoon of December 7th as part of Disability History Month.

There have been a number of beneficiaries from the work. First and foremost the young people who have taken part, together with their peer group at Victoria Education Centre. The project has had such a profound impact upon pupils and staff that the school is raising funds for a ‘poet in residence’ to support future performance poetry activity. In direct response to posting a ‘taster’ of the Seen But Seldom Heard documentary on YouTube (attracting 1,500 views to date from as far afield as Australia, the US and South America), we have received emails and comments from others with direct experience of disability, disability activists, educationalists and care providers thanking and encouraging the young poets and the project team for providing aspiration and positive role models.

In the next phase of the project, which we hope to commence as soon as funding is secured, we also plan to develop a ‘live schools tour’ and audio-visual educational package for use in secondary schools and youth clubs to raise awareness amongst young people of what it is like to live with a physical disability. In addition to public engagement and education activity, we are also disseminating the project outcomes and methodology through seminars and conference presentations during 2013 and journal articles.

A short preview to the full-length documentary can be viewed at: http://microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk/seen-but-seldom-heard/2012/09/25/documentary-taster/

For more information on the December 7th film screening and to confirm your attendance please visit: 

http://studentportal.bournemouth.ac.uk/news/local-assets/events/Disability%20History%20Month%202012.pdf

Samples of the group’s poetry can be found at: http://microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk/seen-but-seldom-heard

Qualitative Research in Sport and Physical Activity

A new research methods textbook in sport and physical activity, authored by three academics at Bournemouth University, is published this month. Published by Sage, “Qualitative Research in Sport and Physical Activity” has been written by Ian Jones, Lorraine Brown and Immy Holloway. The text builds on growing interest in qualitative methods within the discipline, and uses a growing body of literature based on qualitative research in Sport and Physical Activity . This is the second sport-related research methods textbook to emerge from Bournemouth University, following Research Methods for Sport Studies, also co-authored by Ian Jones. Published by Routledge, that text recently sold its 20,000th copy worldwide.

Designed especially for students in sport and physical activity, this book provides a detailed guide to planning, undertaking, and writing up qualitative research. Opening with a discussion of the main traits of qualitative inquiry and its use in Sport and Physical Activity, the text provides an accessible overview of qualitative research, using numerous examples to bring the text alive. The book is designed to be essential reading for undergraduate and Masters students carrying out a qualitative research project in sport and physical activity and for PhD students looking to refresh their knowledge.

Latest BU REF Highlight Report now available

REF Subjects, Research assessment

The latest BU REF Highlight Report (#13) is now available for BU staff to download. It covers the period from August to October 2012.

Features in this report include information about:

  • The Review Panel Meeting cycle for the Summer Mock 2012 and the feedback from it;
  • The dissemination of the BU REF Code of Practice, the BU REF FAQs and BU staff circumstances disclosure form, which is also closely linked to the staff circumstances disclosure exercise with an initial deadline of the 31 October 2012
  • The development of BRIAN in line with testing the REF Submission Pilot System;
  • Links to the latest official REF documents.                                                                                                                                                                                      

You can access your copy of the report from the following location on the I-drive (just copy and paste the following into Windows Explorer): I:\R&KEO\Public\RDU\REF\REF preparations\REF highlight reports

Fusion Investment Fund – Applying for BUDI secondment

Funding opportunities, Fusion, Guidance

What is being offered?

The Study Leave Committee (Fusion Investment Fund) will fund five dedicated secondment opportunities for BU staff to get involved with The BU Dementia Institute (BUDI).  Staff can be bought out of their current roles for up to 6 months to get involved directly with BUDI. 

Who are BUDI looking for?

You don’t have to be a health care specialist to participate, they need psychologists, education experts, marketing and media experts, business and leadership professionals, economists, engineers, data analysts, project managers and computer scientists.  It is truly cross-disciplinary and an ideal way for staff to gain experience of research and knowledge exchange bids.

How to apply

Potential applicants are encouraged to contact the Director of BUDI Professor Anthea Innes and can apply before the 1st December deadline via the Fusion Investment Fund application form details of which can be found on the staff portal. 

When you make your online application please mark it clearly ‘BUDI Secondment’ as it will be sent to Anthea Innes for her endorsement before being submitted to the Study Leave Committee.

Two internal EU funding schemes launched today!

 The BU EU Showcase event today is providing the platform to launch the second round of our EUADS and EUNF schemes!

The EU Academic Development Scheme (EUADS) is a unique scheme developed to kick start your career in EU research; it’s open to all BU academic staff relatively inexperienced in gaining EU funding.  The EUADS will help you build up to making a submission by providing unlimited 1-2-1 support from an expert EU bid writer, group mentoring and unlimited assistance in actually writing your application over a 12 month period. As if this training wasn’t fantastic in itself, and the supportive culture of being a cohort undertaking the journey of EU funding extremely appealing, the EUADS also includes an individual fund. Each successful participant will be provided with grants as requested totalling up to a whopping £3k each by to spend on activities supporting bid development, such as:
• Travel with the intent of networking
• Conference attendance with the intent of networking
• Pilot research work
• Fieldwork
• Attendance at external networking events leading to collaborative research proposals
• Meetings with external organisations to establish collaborations
• Preparation of specialist material or data
• Replacement teaching 

You can read more on this scheme in the EUADS Policy Document  and make a submission using the  EUADS Application Form; the deadline is 18.12.12

The EU Networking Fund (EUNF) is open to any BU academics who want to network across Europe with a view to finding collaborators. We have a pot of money to support this scheme, and the fund will end when the pot is empty.
You can apply for support for a range of activities relating directly to networking, such as:
• Travel with the intent of networking
• Conference attendance with the intent of networking
• Attendance at external networking events leading to collaborative research proposals
• Meetings with external organisations to establish collaborations.

You can read more on this scheme in the EUNF Policy Document and make a submission using the EUNF Application Form; there is no deadline.

You can search the blog for many wonderful stories from our academics who have received support from these schemes. And don’t forget we also currently have the BU in Brussels scheme open until 28.11.12 and the Fusion Investment Fund Erasmus Staff Mobility scheme open until 01.12.12.

There are plenty of EU initiatives to support you here at BU, so don’t miss out!