Category / BU Challenges

Funding opportunity – Wellcome – Innovator Awards: Digital Technologies

BU Challenges, BU research, Funding opportunities, innovation

The Innovator Awards support researchers who are transforming great ideas into digital healthcare innovations that could have a significant impact on human health. Individuals and teams from not-for-profit and commercial organisations can apply. Organisations can be of any size, based anywhere in the world.

Researchers working in any discipline and on any type of digital technology can apply. Examples of digital technologies include:

  • intelligent: artificial intelligence and machine learning
  • data driven: data analytics and informatics
  • immersive: virtual and augmented reality
  • connected: internet of things (IoT), networks and sensors.

Projects must be innovative, disruptive and address an unmet healthcare need or challenge.

Summary :

Call opens : 1 October 2018

Call closes : 3 December 2018

Available funding : between £500,000 and £1million

Project duration : up to 2 years

Please see this link for more information about this call.

 

 

Funding opportunity – Global Innovation Linkages program – Round 2 (Australia)

BU Challenges, BU research, Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, Industry collaboration

The Global Innovation Linkages program from the Australian Government provides Australian businesses and researchers with matched funding of up to $1 million per project to collaborate with global partners on strategically focused, leading-edge research and development.

Lead organisation eligibility

To be an eligible lead organisation you must:

  • have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
  • be registered for GST

    Project partners

    Project partners must include at least:

    • one Australian industry entity and
    • one Australian research organisation and
    • one global partner.

Summary : 

Application deadline : 14 November 2018

Available funding : up to $1million per project

Grant period : Maximum four years

Please see this link for more information about this call.

Funding opportunities from Innovate UK

BU Challenges, BU research, Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, Industry collaboration, innovation

1. SBRI: intelligent data to transform local council service delivery

This Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) competition is funded by the GovTech Catalyst and is sponsored by Durham County Council and Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council.

This competition looks at 2 specific data-gathering techniques in local council services:

1.‘Boots on the ground’: enabling residents to collect and report accurate data about public assets, such as potholes and street lighting, to the local council.

2.‘Eyes on the street’: using local council vehicles to collect and report data as they travel around the borough.

Summary :

Call opens : 24 September 2018

Call closes : 31 October 2018

Available funding : up to £50,000 (including VAT)

Project start date : by 7 Feb 2019

Please see this link for more information about this call.

2. Call for Carbon Capture and Utilisation Demonstration

As part of the government’s Clean Growth Strategy BEIS has allocated up to £20 million to design and construct carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) demonstration projects. This programme is designed to encourage industrial sites to capture carbon dioxide which could then be used in industrial applications, while enabling learning and development of capture technologies at an intermediate scale, so reducing costs and risks.

The overall aims of the CCU demonstration programme are:

  • to demonstrate carbon capture and utilisation at a number of key industrial sites in the UK
  • to demonstrate and accelerate cost reductions in carbon capture technology in the order of 20 to 45%, i.e. £10-20/MWh
  • to encourage a project pipeline of follow-on CCU projects that will help less mature, but more novel technology to be demonstrated at scale; and
  • to improve understanding of the cost and performance of carbon capture technology
  • to de-risk the capture technology.

The programme is in 3 phases:

  • Phase 1 focuses on initial scoping study for an engineering supplier to work on BEIS’ behalf with potential host sites, carbon dioxide users and technology suppliers to produce site-specific cost estimates for deploying CCU at UK industrial sites. Wood.Plc successfully bid for Phase 1
  • Phase 2 will fund projects to conduct design studies for constructing CCUequipment at UK host sites
  • Phase 3 will fund projects to construct and demonstrate CCU

Summary :

Call closes : 11 November 2018 (Applicants must complete the application forms on this link and submit by email to Industry.Innovation@beis.gov.uk by Sunday 11 November 2018.)

Available funding : up to £5million

Project duration : up to 24 months

Project dates : finish by 31 March 2021

Please see this link for more information about this call.

3. Open grant funding competition: round 3

Up to £20million investment will be made by Innovate UK in the best cutting-edge or disruptive ideas with a view to commercialisation.

All proposals must be business focused, and can come from any area of technology, science or engineering, including arts, design, media or creative industries.

Summary : 

Call opens : 24 September 2018

Call closes : 14 November 2018

Available funding : between £25,000 and £500,000

Project duration : Between 19 and 36 months

Project dates : start by 1 April 2019 and end by 1 April 2022

Please see this link for more information about this call.

4. UK Aerospace Research and Technology Programme: fast-track collaborative R&D EoI

UK organisations can apply for a share of up to £8 million to carry out collaborative R&D, collaborative fast-track and feasibility projects that enhance the UK’s position in civil aerospace.

To be eligible for funding you must:

  • be a UK based business, academic organisation, charity, public sector organisation or research and technology organisation (RTO)
  • plan to carry out an aerospace research or technology development project in the UK
  • address the specific requirements of the UK Aerospace Technology Strategy, ‘Raising Ambition’
  • sign up to the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) framework agreement
  • work in collaboration with other organisations to develop proposals and deliver projects

To lead a project you must:

To collaborate you must be a:

  • business
  • research organisation
  • public sector organisation
  • charity

Summary : 

Call opens : 24 September 2018

Call closes : 5 December 2018

Available funding : between £425,000 to £1million

Project duration : Between 12 and 24 months

Project dates : start by August 2019 and end by August 2021

Please see this link for more information about this call.

5. IDP 15: the road to zero emission vehicles, large R&D

Up to £4million is available for UK businesses to apply for to research and develop technologies that accelerate the transition to zero emmision vehicles.

To be eligible you must:

  • be a UK based business, academic organisation, charity, public sector organisation or research and technology organisation (RTO)
  • carry out your project work in the UK
  • intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
  • work in collaboration with other businesses, research organisations or third-sector organisations

To lead a project you must be a UK based business, of any size.

A separate £2 million is available for feasibility study projects and a further £16 million to support proportionality smaller collaborative R&D projects.

Summary : 

Call closes : 6 December 2018

Available funding : up to £4million

Project duration : Between 12 and 36 months

Project dates : start by June 2019 and end by June 2022

Please see this link for more information about this call.

 

Funding opportunity – Serial Interactions in Imperfect Information Games Applied to Complex Military Decision-Making

BU Challenges, BU research, Funding opportunities

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Defense Sciences Office (DSO) has issued a Disruption Opportunity (DO) Special Notice (SN) inviting submissions of innovative basic or applied research concepts in the technical domain of artificial intelligence and game theory. In particular, DARPA is interested in understanding the feasibility of applying recent developments in these areas to complex military decision making in changing multi-agent environments with imperfect information.

Please see below a summary of this funding opportunity:

Available funding: Phase 1 (Feasibility Study) – $500,000; Phase 2 (Proof of Concept) – $500,000

Award duration : Phase 1 – 8 months; Phase 2 – 10 months

Deadline for submission : 16 October 2018

Please see this link for more information about this funding call.

 

Funding opportunity – Policy research programme NIHR

BU Challenges, BU research, Funding opportunities, humanities, NHS, policy

There are currently two calls available under the Policy Research Programme offered by the NIHR.

Call 1 :  Infectious Disease Dynamic Modelling in Health Protection Call

The National Institute for Health Research Policy Research Programme (NIHR PRP) invites applications for the call: Infectious Disease Dynamic Modelling in Health Protection to address two key areas:

  • A stream of dynamical disease and health economic modelling relating to the national vaccination programme. This will provide an alternative or ‘second’ opinion to and run parallel with, that provided by Public Health England (PHE).
  • Modelling of other infectious diseases that lie outside the immunisation programme

This programme will provide a responsive dynamic resource to augment the analytical support currently provided within the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and PHE, which contributes towards the development of infectious disease and immunisation.

Submission Deadline : 2 October 2018 (Stage 1); 22 January 2019 (Stage 2)

Submission outcome : December 2018 (Stage 1); May 2019 (Stage 2)

Call 2: Health Inequalities Research Initiative

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Policy Research Programme (PRP) invites applications to undertake health inequalities research for the call: Health Inequalities Research Initiative to support policy makers in the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) in the following areas:

  • Assessing how to improve existing population wide policies aimed at improving health outcomes so that they so they also reduce health inequalities and/or do not exacerbate inequalities
  • Identifying which existing health system interventions that are specifically designed to reduce socio-economic health inequalities are effective and cost-effective
  • Assessing the effectiveness in reducing health inequalities of whole system approaches to improving the health of deprived communities;
  • Identifying opportunities and risks presented by advancements in digital technology, and practical measures to ensure such technology does not exacerbate socio-economic health inequalities

Submission Deadline : 2 October 2018 (Stage 1); 22 January 2019 (Stage 2)

Submission outcome : December 2018 (Stage 1); May 2019 (Stage 2)

Please see this link for more information about this call.

Introduction to Good Clinical Practice – 10th October

BU Challenges, Coffee Morning, NHS, Post-award, Research Ethics, Research Training, Training

Are you interested in running your own research project within the NHS? Good Clinical Practice, or ‘GCP’, is a requirement for those wishing to work on clinical research projects in a healthcare setting.

GCP is the international ethical, scientific and practical standard to which all clinical research is conducted. By undertaking GCP, you’re able to demonstrate the rights, safety and well-being of your research participants are protected, and that the data collected are reliable.

The next GCP full day session is scheduled for Wednesday 10th October, at Dorset County Hospital, Dorchester – 8:45am – 4:30pm.

The day will comprise of the following sessions:

  • Introduction to research and the GCP standards;
  • Preparing to deliver your study;
  • Identifying and recruiting participants – eligibility and informed consent;
  • Data collection and ongoing study delivery;
  • Safety reporting;
  • Study closure.

If you’re interested in booking a place, please contact Research Ethics.
Remember that support is on offer at BU if you are thinking of introducing your research ideas into the NHS – email the Research Ethics mailbox, and take a look at the Clinical Governance blog.

NIHR and World Health Organisation joint statement – have your say!

BU Challenges, BU research, Clinical Governance, data management, Impact, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer, NHS, open access, PG research, Post-award, Research communication, Research Ethics, Research Integritiy

There is an increasing emphasis on the need for researchers and sponsors to publish, and disseminate, the results of the clinical studies that they conduct. Timely disclosure of results is important ethically, morally, in the interests of research integrity and from a waste reduction perspective.
Dissemination of results, whether favourable or not, also achieves transparency – increasingly important from the perspective of the recent introduction of the GDPR.

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) have signed-up to the WHO’s joint statement on public disclosure of results from clinical trials. The policy sets out the expectations and support on offer in order for research communities to comply. The draft policy is available to read, with a quick survey open until 21st September, for you to have your say.

BU has access to the ClinicalTrials.gov system – get in touch for access and for the opportunity to register your study and results in the public domain.

Funding opportunity : ESRC National Centre for Research Methods

BU Challenges, BU research, Funding opportunities, Research Training

The ESRC has announced funding opportunity for a new phase of its National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM), which is an exciting opportunity for a team to develop and deliver a strategy for methods training and capacity-building in the social sciences. The team will be responsible for :

  • co-ordinating ESRC’s investment in research methods training
  • delivering a strategically informed and diverse programme of research methods training
  • identifying, implementing and sharing best practice.

Please see below a summary of the funding opportunity:

Deadline for Expression of interest (EOI) : 18 October 2018

Deadline for full proposal : 22 November 2018

Project start date : 1 October 2019

Available funding: £3million for five years

Please see this link for more information about this funding opportunity.

Funding opportunity : Population Research Catalyst Award

BU Challenges, BU research, Funding opportunities, humanities

Cancer Research UK is announcing another round of funding in autumn 2018 for the Population Research Catalyst Award which supports capacity building and collaboration in population health with up to £5 million enabling groups to deliver impact over and above what they could do alone.

The Award aims to:

  • Boost progress aligned to our strategic priorities
  • Build new collaborations within and between institutions, nationally and internationally
  • Build capacity in population research

Applicants will need to:

  • Establish a hub across at least 3 locations creating a new collaboration (collaborating institutions may be international, but the hub should consist of at least one UK based institution)
  • Support a new research direction for the hub, in line with CRUK strategic priority areas
  • Commit to data sharing and open access to resources
  • Plan for sustainability beyond the lifetime of the award

For more information about this call and how to apply, please see this link.

Funding opportunity : Hydrogen Supply Competition

BU Challenges, BU research, Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, innovation

A £20m Hydrogen Supply Programme is now open for registration of interest with a deadline of 21 November 2018. This £20 million Hydrogen Supply programme aims to accelerate the development of low carbon bulk hydrogen supply solutions in industry, power, heat and transport. It is aimed at projects at a technology readiness level (TRL) of 4 to 7, which could result in lower capital or operating costs when compared to Steam Methane Reformer with Carbon Capture & Storage (SMR+CCS), or improve the capture rates at a comparable cost.

The deadline to submit proposals is 5 December 2018.

For more information, please see this link.

 

TENDER opportunity : Study on energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments in the energy sector

BU Challenges, BU research, Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, innovation

The European Commission is currently advertising a tender opportunity on the ‘Study on energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments in the energy sector’ with the following aim:

The aim is to collect information on energy generation costs, system and external costs in the energy sector, in parallel with looking at taxes related the use of energy paid to the general budget, and to build up an inventory on government interventions related to energy. The study will cover the 28 Member States of the EU, all major energy sources and beyond the energy sector the main energy consuming branches, such as industry, transport and agriculture. Beyond the EU the study aims at building a database as complete as possible for G20 countries. In order to feed in the initiatives of the Energy Union, the study will identify best practices in the EU Member States to measure subsidies to fossil fuels, and it will analyse the impact of fossil fuel subsidies on decarbonisation objectives of EU policies and investments in climate friendly energy technologies. The next energy prices and costs report and the State of the energy Union report could use the results of the study.

Please see below a summary of this funding opportunity:

Deadline for requests to participate: 24 October 2018

Available funding : EURO 2,000,000 (excluding VAT)

Duration : 18 months

Please see this link for more information on this tender opportunity.

 

 

Future electric vehicles: new Faraday battery challenge funding

BU Challenges, BU research, Business Engagement, innovation

Image from fleetcarma.com

A £25million funding competition from the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund will be available to innovative businesses with projects to develop batteries for future electric vehicles.

The Faraday battery challenge is a £246 million investment to bring forward the next generation of electric vehicles. These will be powered by high-performance EV batteries that are cost-effective, lightweight, durable and safe, and can be recycled.

Funding details

This competition is to support business-led research and development to improve batteries for automotive applications.

There are 2 opportunities to apply, depending on the stage of your project, which are:

  • up to £23 million for industrial research and development
  • up to £2 million for feasibility studies

In both opportunities projects should aim to:

  • make it easier to scale up battery production and use
  • build the UK supply chain

Please see below a summary of the funding details:

Competition opens : 17 September 2018

Deadline : 12 December 2018

Lead : UK-based business OR research and technology organisation (in collaboration with other businesses, academic organisations, charities, public sector or research and technology organisations)

Available award : between £500,000 and £15million

Project duration : between 3 and 18 months

Please see this link for more information about this funding opportunity.

Predictive Cyber Analytics – Funding opportunity

BU Challenges, BU research, Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, innovation

The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) competition welcomes proposals for novel approaches to predictive cyber security to address challenges in defence and/or security.

A total funding of £1M will be available in this Phase 1 of this competition. Around 5 to 10 proof-of-concept research projects up to 6 months of duration are expected. Further funding into future phases beyond this competition is anticipated to be available.

Details on how to apply will be included in the full competition document which will be available soon. Please sign up to alerts to keep up to date.

In the meantime, you will need to register for the new DASA Submission Service, noting you will not be able to view the competition until the full competition document is published.

Please click on this link to find out more about this competition and more on the submission process can be found here.

Queries should be sent to accelerator@dstl.gov.uk.

Funding available : boosting SME productivity through proof of concept

BU Challenges, BU research, Funding opportunities, innovation, pre-award

The government has announced the Business Basics Programme through its Industrial Strategy which will test innovative ways of encouraging micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to adopt existing technologies and business practices that can boost productivity.

This is the first phase of the Business Basics Fund. This strand of funding is for undertaking proof of concept (PoC) or feasibility projects with a potential of applying for further funding to scale up successful PoC or feasibility projects into full trials in the future.

Please see below a summary of this funding opportunity:

Deadline : 4 September 2018; 12noon

Funding available : £60,000

Project dates : Must start by 1 November 2018; end by 31 April 2019; can last between 3 and 6 months.

Click on this link for more information on how to apply.

 

Biomedical Catalyst 2018 round 2: late stage and primer awards

BU Challenges, BU research, Funding opportunities, innovation

Late stage

UK SMEs can apply for a share of up to £10 million to work on solving healthcare challenges in a clinical setting or a relevant late stage environment. Apply now for a late stage award in the Biomedical Catalyst. Biomedical Catalyst supports the development of innovative healthcare products, technologies and processes.

There are 4 types of funding award: feasibility, primer, early stage and late stage.

Please see below a summary of the funding call:

Project size: From £200,000 to £4million

Project duration : 12 to 36 months (must start before 1 July 2019)

Deadline : 3 October 2018, Wednesday

Primer

UK SMEs can apply for a share of up to £5 million to work alone or with others on solving healthcare challenges in a model system. Apply now for a primer award in the Biomedical Catalyst. The primer award is running alongside the late stage award. Applications welcome from any sector or discipline.

Please see below a summary of the funding call:

Project size: From £200,000 to £1.5million

Project duration : 12 to 24 months (must start before 1 April 2019)

Deadline : 3 October 2018, Wednesday

Funding available: Next-generation low carbon vehicle technology

BU Challenges, BU research, Funding opportunities, innovation

Image from www.horiba-mira.com

Up to £20million funding is available from the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) where upon investment will be made in technologies that support the development of low carbon propulsion technology in the UK and ancho a next-generation supply chain.

The APC is particularly looking for projects that support the UK’s long-term capabilities and supply chain in the design, build and manufacture of low-emission vehicle technologies.

Projects must help make capabilities a permanent part of the UK supply chain. They must be in the following areas:

  • alternative propulsion systems
  • electric machines and power electronics
  • energy storage and energy management
  • lightweight vehicle and powertrain structures
  • thermal propulsion systems

Projects must have a proven technology concept and demonstrate that there is a clear route to market. The primary technology application must be automotive.

Please see below for a summary of funding opportunity:

Competition Opens: 6 August 2018

Deadline for competition: 3 October 2018

Requirement : Must be led by a business working in partnership with others; must include SME; and a vehicle manufacturer/ tier 1 supplier

Funding available: £5m to £40m

Project duration: 18 to 42 months

A briefing event will be held on 16 August 2018 where further advice on applying for APC funding will be available. Please click on this link to find out more.

International development for impact – workshop spaces available

BU Challenges, Events, Research Training, RKE development framework, Training

On both 1st and 22nd August 2018, Prof Mark Reed will be delivering a one-day workshop to introduce potential applicants to the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) and how to approach applications to the this £1.5 billion UK government fund.

To reserve your place, BU academics should contact Rhyannan Hurst, stating on which date you wish to attend.

Please note that reservations are first come, first served and must be sent to Rhyannan by 17:00 on Friday, 27th July.

Benefits:

  • Get advice on how to write a fundable Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) proposal from a former GCRF panelist
  • Explore evidence-based principles to underpin the development of GCRF impact summaries, pathways to impact, ODA statements and Theories of Change
  • Learn how to use tools for identifying international partners, stakeholders and publics, and identifying potential impacts, showing how a Theory of Change can be constructed from the bottom-up, based on impact goals identified in-country
  • Discover tools that can enable GCRF teams to evaluate planned impacts as well as tracking opportunistic impacts as they arise
  • Learn how to get your research into policy, wherever you work in the world, by building trust, working with intermediaries and designing effective policy briefs that you can use with the people you come into relationship with

The training is based on the latest research evidence and takes a unique relational approach to deliver wide-reaching and lasting impacts. As part of the session you will receive a free copy of Prof Reed’s acclaimed book, The Research Impact Handbook for future reference.

After the workshop, you are invited to an optional free follow-up programme over five weeks, so you can apply what you have learned. You can work through these steps yourself from the handbook, but by signing up to take these steps online, you get access to extra material. Each step consist of a 6 minute video with accompanying text and tasks. Prof Reed continues to answer your questions via email after the course, and works with the training organiser to provide more in-depth support for selected participants (via up to two one hour individual consultations by phone or Skype and written feedback on your work).

See Fast Track Impact’s resources for GCRF applicants and their blog on how to write a fundable GCRF proposal.  Find out more about the fund and the open calls on the UK Research and innovation website for this scheme.

 

About the trainer

Prof Mark Reed is a recognised international expert in impact research with >150 publications and >12,000 citations. He holds a Research England and N8 funded chair at Newcastle University, is research lead for an international charity and has won two Research Council prizes for the impact of his research. His work has been funded by ESRC, NERC, AHRC and BBSRC, and he regularly collaborates and publishes with scholars from the arts and humanities to physical sciences. He regularly sits on funding panels and reviews programmes of research for the Research Councils.

He has run workshops to help researchers prepare for GCRF funding across the UK in collaboration with the Research Councils, the UK Collaborative on Development Sciences (UKCDS) and the N8 Research Partnership. He worked with cattle herders in the Kalahari for his PhD and since then has done research funded by the EU, British Academy and the United Nations with marginal agricultural communities across the developing world. His most recent book, published by Routledge is based on his work for the UN Convention to Combat Desertification and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

He has been commissioned to write reports and talk to international policy conferences by the United Nations and has been a science advisor to the BBC. Mark provides training and advice to Universities, research funders, NGOs and policy-makers internationally, and regularly works with business. Find out more about his work at: www.profmarkreed.com or follow him on Twitter @profmarkreed

Fast Track Impact is an international training company working in the Higher Education and research and innovation sectors. Our mission is to change the way researchers generate and share knowledge, so that their ideas can change the world.

What people are saying about this course:

A selection of quotes from feedback forms:

“I liked the group discussion as well as the depth and breadth of the information given on GCRF.”

“The discussion about impact and GCRF was particularly useful, with practical stakeholder engagement tools and tips.”

“Advice and insights into fundable impact-oriented research”

 “I will change the way I write impact summaries and pathways to impact in future GCRF proposals.”

 “I will change how I plan to influence policy change through GCRF funded research.”

 “I’ve learned how to be strategic [about impact] and ask myself self hard questions.” 

  “Great practical tips.  Overall much to take away both theoretically and practically.”

“Wonderfully insightful, useful and energising.”