Category / BU research

Latest Major Funding Opportunities

BU research, Funding opportunities, Research news

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

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) are now calling for proposals to their Dial-a-Molecule EPSRC Grand Challenge Network. The aim is to enhance/speed up existing chemistry research projects through the application of statistical methods. Proposals may cover applications such as: screening across a wide reaction space using Principal Components models; scoping, optimisation or robustness studies using statistical design of experiments (e.g. factorial, response surface, D-optimal design); and predictive modelling, PLS and data mining, applied to chemical synthesis. Funding, normally up to £2,000 per project, is available to enable activities. The deadline for applications is 12/09/2014.  

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) are now also inviting for applications to the Nuclear Energy University Programs (NEUP) Integrated Research Project (IRP) – US/UK Collaborative Funding Opportunity. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy created Nuclear Energy University Programs (NEUP) in 2009 to consolidate its university support under one programme. The RCUK Energy Programme (RCUKEP), led by EPSRC, would like to encourage the participation of UK researchers in this programme. In particular the RCUKEP will support the UK component of proposals including US/UK collaboration to the NEUP‘s small research projects solicitation. The deadline for applications is 12:00, 02/10/2014.

The Leverhulme Trust has announced that in January 2015 they will be inviting applications to their Early Career Fellowships. Early Career Fellowships aim to provide career development opportunities for those who are at a relatively early stage of their academic careers, but who have a proven record of research. The expectation is that Fellows should undertake a significant piece of publishable work during their tenure, and that the Fellowships should lead to a more permanent academic position. The Trust will contribute 50% of each Fellow’s total salary costs up to a maximum of £24,000 per annum and the balance is to be paid by the host institution. Given the prestige of the awards each Fellow may request annual research expenses of up to £6,000 to further his or her research activities. The closing date for applications will be 4pm, 05/03/2015.

The Leverhulme Trust has also announced that they will be inviting applications to their Emeritus Fellowships as of 01/09/2014 (today).  The fellowships offer to provide research expenses of up to £22,000 over up to two years to enable senior researchers who have retired from an academic post to complete a research project and prepare the results for publication. The deadline for applications is 4pm, 05/02/2015.

The Leverhulme Trust has also announced that on the 01/09/2014 (today), they will be inviting applications to their Study Abroad Studentships. The studentship offers maintenance and research expenses to allow applicants to spend a period of 12 to 24 months on advanced study or research at a centre of learning in any overseas country (excluding the USA). The closing date for applications will be 4pm, 12/01/2015.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) has announced that on the 02/10/2014 they will be inviting applications to their Biomedical Catalyst: Regenerative Medicine Research Committee. The translation of the burgeoning knowledge in regenerative medicine into new treatment strategies is a key objective of the strategic plan. The Regenerative Medicine Research Committee (RMRC) provides support for high quality proposals aiming to develop regenerative medicine therapies to improve human health. The MRC will meet the academic costs of the project only. The closing date for applications will be 4pm, 13/11/2014.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) has also announced that they will be inviting applications to their Clinician Scientist Fellowship (CSF) scheme as of 25/02/2015. The CSF develops outstanding medically and other clinically qualified professionals who have gained a higher research degree to establish themselves as independent researchers. The CSF provides full personal salary costs, together with support for research staff, consumables expenses, travel costs and capital equipment appropriate for the research project. The deadline for applications will be 08/04/2015.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) is calling for proposals for opportunities to work in the new Research Complex at Harwell. The scheme is for researchers wishing to occupy space within the Research Complex at Harwell (RCaH). For information on deadlines please visit the webpage here.

The Welcome Trust has announced that they will be inviting applications for Capital funding for public engagement and medical history. This scheme provides capital funding (normally above £200 000) for large-scale projects that support public engagement and/or medical history. Prospective applicants should contact the Welcome Trust in the first instance to explore whether their proposal meets their criteria. This should be done well in advance of the deadline for preliminary applications. If the criteria are met, applicants will be asked to submit a preliminary application, outlining the mission, background, aims and objectives of the proposal, targeted audience and partnerships. The Welcome Trust will then assess the preliminary application. If it is approved, a full application will be requested. The deadline for the preliminary application is 29/05/2015.

The Welcome Trust is inviting expressions of interest to the International Engagement Awards. The International Engagement Awards support public engagement projects and work that builds capacity for engagement with biomedical research in Sub-Saharan Africa, South-east Asia and South Asia. Please submit your expression of interest as early as possible but at least two weeks before any full application deadline. The following deadlines are for invited full applications: 13/03/2015 (expressions of interest must be received before 27th February); 11/09/2015 (expressions of interest must be received before 28th August).

Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKE Support Officer.

You can set up your own personalised alerts on ResearchProfessional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s RKE Officer in RKE Operations or see the recent post on this topic, which includes forthcoming training dates up to November 2014.

If thinking of applying, why not add notification of your interest on ResearchProfessional’s record of the bid so that BU colleagues can see your intention to bid and contact you to collaborate.

Research Professional – all you need to know

BU research, Funding opportunities

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.

Research Professional have created several guides to help introduce users to ResearchProfessional. 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 ResearchProfessional.

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 ResearchProfessional.  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 ResearchProfessional.  They are holding monthly sessions, covering everything you need to get started with ResearchProfessional.  The broadcast sessions will run for no more than 60 minutes, with the opportunity to ask questions via text chat.  Each session will cover:

  • Self registration and logging in
  • Building searches
  • Setting personalised alerts
  • Saving and bookmarking items
  • Subscribing to news alerts
  • Configuring your personal profile

Each session will run between 10.00am and 11.00am (UK) on the fourth Tuesday of each month.  You can register here for your preferred date:

23 September 2014

28 October 2014

25 November 2014

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.

Educational Research Workshop and ‘Drop-In’ times in CEL

BU research, Publishing, REF Subjects

To launch the new cross-BU educational research group, a workshop will be held in the new Centre for Excellence in Learning space (PG30a) on Thursday October 2nd, from 9.30 to 12.30.

The session will firstly offer an overview of educational research journals and conferences, funding opportunities and REF criteria (including the provisional BU strategy for entering the education UoA). Secondly, participants will have the opportunity to work together to share research, ideas and / or plans, with the aim of generating some collaborative approaches.

Please come along if you have educational research to share, are starting out in educational research, need advice on getting started or are just interested. There will be no obligation to join the research group.

In addition, I will be basing myself in the CEL space for people to ‘drop in’ and chat about educational research one Friday a month. The next one is Friday October 31st (10 – 3).

Once the group is established, further meetings and workshops will be arranged through CEL.

For some context / detail, have a look at this provisional overview and strategy Education UoA position paper  and / or contact me – julian@cemp.ac.uk

 

 

On Academic Writing

BU research, Research news

Writing is not easy, yet academics must write.  Communicating your research and ideas to your peers through writing is an essential part of an academic career, you may be doing brilliant research, you may be a fantastic speaker or teacher, but if you can’t express your ideas through the written word your career may flounder.  Writing lies at the heart of research.  There are no quick solutions, fixes or dodges and I don’t profess to have any, but I am interested in the process of writing and seek your help in exploring this.

The importance of writing is no great news and if you are, like me, dyslexic and find the challenge of writing exactly that, a challenge, then what can you do?  We all have different approaches to writing – our own coping strategies if you like – that allow us to get the words on the page, the thoughts and ideas clarified and expressed.  It is an intensely personal process and what works for me is unlikely to work for you.

So what does works for you?  How do you go about writing that difficult piece of prose?

Have a think while I share what works for me.

 

How I write

Ideas often flow better for me from conversation, but as an introvert I don’t have much time for conversation!  So I talk to myself, mentally rehearsing what needs to be said, framing initial ideas and nebulous arguments.  I can be seen on the walk to work deep in thought, in fact deep in silent conversation, and not always silent to the amusement of those that walk their dogs in the park I cross each day!

These silent conversations shape my initial draft, since when I sit down to write I am simply noting down the conversation.  I then refine this early draft picking out and questioning the logic, developing the argument as I craft iteratively the text before me.  For me writing is therefore a process of constant refinement, iteration and clarification as my ideas and argument take shape in the words that I write.

 

It’s different for everyone

Others work differently I know, my mother for example who is a retired academic talked to me recently of how she used to coin a statement, or phrase, something elegant and clever that she then picked at to see if it was true, forming her argument in light of it.  For others it is all about the research question that is being posed and I know that some of my colleagues believe that all your ideas should be formed and in sharp focus before you start to write.  It is a bit like having a beautiful artefact that they can see in their mind’s eye, which simply needs to be described.  I cannot write like this and my approach is more akin to that of Stephen King who, in his wonderful book On Writing, describes the process of writing as the excavation of a fossil with the story slowly emerging from the ground with work and care.  No one way of writing is any better than any other and each may have their own particular style that may also vary across discipline boundaries which leads to my basic question how do you approach the process of writing?

It is this question that intrigues me, a question that I would like to explore for its own sake but also perhaps because it might amuse me in time to write about it in a book or paper.

So what do I need, to help me explore this idea?

 

Getting involved

Well I need the help from my fellow academics, not just geoscientists like myself but social scientists, chemists, historians and engineers.  I am interested to know what helps you to write – a short email with ‘a brain dump’, a couple of paragraphs or a list of bullet points is all I need with your own reflections on how you approach the task of writing.  If you are not an academic but write a lot as part of your profession then drop me a line as well.  In return I will reflect on how I can best summarise, or collate your collective ideas, to play them back to the academic community in ways that would be useful for them.

So going back to the questions posed earlier – how do you write?  In framing your response it might help to reflect on the following questions, whilst also adding anything else that you feel it would be relevant for me to know.

How do you approach your academic writing?  Describe for me the process by which you shape your ideas and craft your prose from conception to completion of a piece, whether it is a journal article, a book or a chapter.

What is the most challenging part for you?  And how do you overcome this?

Where do you like to write?  Can you write anywhere – on the plane, train or in a stolen five minutes, or do you need a block of time and a quiet place, or a noisy coffee shop?

Do you write for a specific audience and journal or in a more generic form formatting once written for a particular journal?  Does this vary depending on the piece?  Do you always know where something is to be submitted before you start?  What in truth guides your choice – clinical analysis, convenience or simply the tradition in your discipline?

How do you write collaboratively?  Do you take the lead, or do you write truly by committee?

How much are you influenced by the norms of your discipline – and what is your discipline?

These are the types of thing I am interested in, I am trying not to be prescriptive and all I ask is that after some reflection you open up an email, insert my address – mbennett@bmth.ac.uk – and write to me something about how you write!  I will respond asking you to sign a consent form and with further details of the study and I promise to preserve your anonymity at all times, unless you specifically state that you are happy to be acknowledged.  Thank you.

Civic political engagement in the new digital era: Paris 24-7 June 2014

BU research

The grand international conferences attracting up to 1,000 academics are highly prestigious, however the opportunities to find academics in a field, talk in-depth about approaches, concepts, methodologies, data and future ideas is constrained by the size and scale. Hence BU collaborated with Science-Po (Paris) and Sciencecomm (Audencia Nantes) to bring together scholars whose work has a specific focus on online political engagement in order to explore current thinking and investigate avenues for collaboration. The event #CPE2014 (http://www.cpe2014.com/) attracted 34 participants; some very established some just starting out in a research career, some invited some who submitted abstracts speculatively following the call. What connected the works was the objective of conceptually and empirically determining what engagement and participation means in the age of ubiquitous digital media.

The keynotes from Rachel Gibson (Manchester, UK) and Bruce Bimber (University of California, US) set the scene conceptually asking what is really new in the digital age, and arguing technology is a context for communication and for action as opposed to a cause. Many papers thus explored to what extent we can argue something new has emerged, what might that be and what in terms of political engagement and participation does digital technology facilitate.

What did we learn from this? It is no real surprise to hear of the breadth and depth of the forms and types of activities that online spaces provide. We know vast numbers of organisations, corporate, political and third sector, who populate the world wide web. We also know most of these have gravitated towards social media, having a Facebook page, YouTube channel and Twitter feed seem de rigeur at the very least. And we find many affordances for Interaction (Giraldo-Luque & Duran-Becerra) as well as learning and engaging (Schneidemesser; Vasilopoulos; de Blasio & Santaniello). The biggest questions revolve around impact, are there new forms of communication, of engagement, of participation, of influence that are a by-product (wanted or unwanted) with the colonisation of the social web?

As would be expected the answers to these questions offer mixed results, and any conclusions are tentative at best. One key theme is the notion of expressive participation, ‘having a say’ whether it be commenting or talking online (Kountouri or Bouillianne for example), acting as an online vigilante (Loveluck) or as a news gatherer (Wimmer & Schultz). The data from studies by Rachel Gibson and colleagues, Christian Vaccari and Homero Gil de Zuniga certainly provide compelling evidence to suggest expression as a pathway to deeper forms of participation. We also gain a sense of how influence can be exacted (Mossberger & Kao; Bang), though also that perhaps the social web can also be a distraction leading users away from the civic rather than more positive perspectives (Bojic). The visualization of forms of expression (Koc-Michalska, Lilleker & Wells; Vergeer, Boynton & Richardson) go some way to understanding some aspects of the nature of these expressions, though they raise issues regarding how to make sense of the big data which can be gathered from the Internet; discussions around this and the tools available was one key outcome of the workshop.

The workshop also showed the importance of mixed methods. We talked of understanding the lifeworld (Lilleker), how politics links with or is seen as separate from the everyday, and whether civic, social, political are the same or each have clear boundaries both conceptually and practically (Bang). But this raised the importance of mixed methods. Vergeer took us beyond the quantitative, sociological meat grinder of the survey which boils down human factors to key indicators, yet this exposes the contradiction when in exploring big data we have to mince and mash rich text resulting from complex behavior to get to the structure (the DNA) rather than the nuances of each individual contribution. Hence the interview (Bouillianne, Neys), ethnographic work (Ozkula) and text and diary entries (Cantioch) offers fascinating insights that can build understanding on top of the numbers (Vozab; Klinger: Hooghe for example).

The workshop therefore is part of a development in the understanding and a revisionist movement around the notions of engagement and participation and the theoretical positions which have to date been used to understand human civic and political behavior. The value of the meeting of these scholars was to identify the different strands of research, the expertise in the field, the current indications from data, the methodologies and where the research should go next. For us some will be exploring collaboration around a Horizon 2020 bid on youth as a driver of social change (YOUNGa-2014a), some further will be meeting again at the ECPR Joint workshops in Warsaw 2015 in a workshop again organized by Koc-Michalska and Lilleker, some will also likely find opportunities to share data and develop publications. A proposal for a special collection is in the pipeline gathering together the more empirically driven works. Hence this now tight-knit group may well remain close and develop as a collaborative network long into the future.

NERC – Academic Workshops in Oil and Gas..

BU research

NERC, in collaboration with the Knowledge Transfer Network, are going to be hosting a series of events during 2014 which will investigate solutions to the top challenges facing the sector in the UK.

As the UK pursues a long-term strategy to decarbonise our society, there will be a continuing need for hydrocarbon exploration to bridge the gap to low emission power generation in future. Britain’s energy security and long-term economic performance will benefit hugely from maintaining the health of this key industrial sector. With this in mind, NERC is keen to establish where research activities might support the sector.

Please find details of the upcoming events below:

Unconventional hydrocarbons. Unconventional oil and gas (e.g. shale oil and gas resources) are playing an increasingly important part of the energy mix. Producing these resources effectively and with minimal environmental impact requires innovative science and technology.

Date: 24/09/2014
Time: 09:00 – 16:30

Exploitation in challenging environments. The petroleum industry has successfully extracted a large proportion of the ‘easy to get’ oil and gas. Large resources are still present in environments in which exploration, appraisal and production are difficult and where conventional technologies are inadequate (eg ultra high temperature-high pressure reservoirs, deep-water environments, subsalt, sub-basalt, Arctic). This theme also includes the identification and assessment of risks from environmental hazards to offshore infrastructure.

Date: 17/10/2014
Time: 09:00 – 16:30

Extending the life of mature basins. Mature basins such as the UK’s North Sea contain very significant amounts of unrecovered hydrocarbons. Identifying new resources, and producing this resource in a cost-effective and environmentally sensitive way is technically challenging but will extend field life and help reduce UK reliance on imported energy in the medium term. This theme could include novel approaches to data analysis and interpretation as well as areas such as enhanced oil recovery (EOR).

Date: 26/11/2014
Time: 09:00 – 16:30

Environmental impact and management. Reducing the environmental impact of oil and gas extraction is a key priority for the sector. Improvements in the scientific understanding and technology used during hydrocarbon resource extraction will result in lower levels of environmental impact and will directly influence UK oil and gas industry regulations. Another key challenge for the sector is the environmental impacts of offshore infrastructure, including the assessment of decommissioning options. Note this is a cross-cutting theme which could be included in any of the above themes.

Date: 03/12/2014
Time: 09:00 – 16:30

To find out more information about the events, please visit the connect website.

2014-15 Round of the British Academy’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme – Now Open!

BU research, Funding opportunities, Research news

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The British Academy is now inviting applications to their Postdoctoral Fellowship scheme. The aim of the awards is to offer opportunities for outstanding early career researchers to strengthen their experience of research and teaching in a university environment which will develop their curriculum vitae and improve their prospects of obtaining permanent lecturing posts by the end of the Fellowship. The primary emphasis is on completion of a significant piece of publishable research, which will be assisted by full membership of an academic community of established scholars working in similar fields. A number of 45 awards are expected to be offered. 
 
This is an e-submission. The deadline for applicants to this scheme is 5pm, 08/10/2014, with the approver deadline at 5pm, 09/10/2014. However, please note that RKEO’s internal deadline will be 02/10/2014.
 
Please see the competition timetable for 2014-15 below:
  • Application forms, Outline Stage: available from  27 August 2014
  • Applicant deadline, Outline Stage: 8 October 2014
  • Result of Outline Stage announced: 21 January 2015
  • Application deadline, Second Stage: 25 February 2015
  • Final results confirmed: May 2015
  • Awards available for starting date: Not earlier than 1 September 2015 and not later than 1 January 2016

If you need any guidance or support please contact your RKE Support Officer.

 

BSA Ageing, Body and Society Study Group 6th Annual Conference: Researching Bodies – Call for Abstracts!

BU research, Research news

On Friday 28 November 2014, the BSA Ageing, Body and Society Study Group 6thAnnual Conference: Researching Bodies will take place at the British Library Conference Centre, London. The conference will include a keynote address by Prof Les Back (Goldsmiths University) who will speak on: Inscriptions of Love: the body as an impermanent canvas and a plenary panel on Researching Bodies.

Call for Abstracts:

The British Sociological Association are inviting submissions to the conference. They invite abstracts for poster and oral presentations that will be 15-20 minutes long. They are encouraging researchers to share their perspectives on ‘researching bodies’ and welcome abstracts on different theoretical and methodological approaches, emergent ideas, work in progress, practitioner perspectives, and emperical findings.

Abstracts of 250 words long should be submitted before midnight, 12/09/2014 online here. Those that submitted an abstract will be informed of the decision before 29/09/2014.

You can find further information about the call here.

 

Cancer Research UK – New Calls Announced!

BU research, Funding opportunities, Research news

Cancer Research UK has announced two new funding schemes. These awards have been developed to bring together experts from previously untapped research fields to bring a fresh approach to what they do, and help them accelerate progress.

The new Multidisciplinary Project Award will support collaborations between cancer researchers and scientists from engineering and physical science disciplines, to provide new insight and develop creative technologies and methodologies to better understand, detect, diagnose and treat cancer. Cancer Research UK are offering up to £500,000 to cover costs of equipment, salaries for PDRA’s, PhD’s, technical staff and associated running expenses and the funding period is for up to 4 years. The first deadline for applications is 17/11/2014 and decisions will be made in April 2015.

The new Cancer Immunology Project Award supports immunologists in non-cancer fields to bring their expertise and insight to cancer research, to deepen their understanding of the role of the immune system and its interaction with tumours. Cancer Research UK are offering up to £300,000 to fund salaries for researchers and technical staff, running expenses, and equipment costs for a period of up to 36 months. The first deadline for applications is the 16/11/2014; decisions will be made in April 2015.

To find out more about these schemes, please do visit the Cancer Research UK blog.

Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKE Support Officer.

You can set up your own personalised alerts on ResearchProfessional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s RKE Officer in RKE Operations or see the recent post on this topic, which includes forthcoming training dates up to November 2014.

If thinking of applying, why not add notification of your interest on ResearchProfessional’s record of the bid so that BU colleagues can see your intention to bid and contact you to collaborate.

 

Latest Major Funding Opportunities

BU research, Funding opportunities, Research news

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

The Academy of Medical Sciences is inviting applications to the Starter Grants for Clinical Lecturers scheme.  They are offering funding of up to £30,000 to cover the cost of research consumables. The grants allow research-active Clinical Lecturers to gather data to strengthen their bids for longer-term fellowships and funding. An application form can be downloaded. The deadline for applications is 5pm, 01/09/2014.

The BBSRC in collaboration with the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), announce a call to support fundamental bioscience that will address key gaps in the knowledge of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) biology. The total amount of funding available for the call is £6 million (BBSRC are contributing £5M, and Defra, £1 million). A letter of intent must be submitted before 4pm, 04/11/2014, and it is expected that the full application deadline will be at the end of February 2015.

The British Academy will soon be inviting applications to the BA Skills Acquisition Awards.  Quantitative Skills Acquisition Awards are available to support career development of early career scholars (within 10 years of the award of the doctorate) who are in established academic posts. These awards aim to develop and enhance their quantitative skills by providing an award to enable early career researchers to spend some time with a mentor at a specialist centre in the field.

The British Academy is inviting applications to the Elisabeth Barker Fund.  The Fund was established in memory of Elisabeth Barker (1910-1986), diplomatic correspondent and historian of modern Europe. It is intended to support studies in recent European history, particularly the history of Central and Eastern Europe. Grants may be made for individual, or collaborative projects and may support British scholars, or scholars from other European countries. The maximum award amount is £1,000 and the closing date for applications if 15/10/2014.

The British Academy is also inviting applications to their Elie Kedourie Memorial Fund. The fund, established by the family of Elie Kedourie, FBA, is to promote the study of Middle Eastern and Modern European History, and the History of Political Thought by recent postdoctoral scholars of any nationality. Awards are offered to support any aspect of research, including travel and publication. The maximum award amount is £1,000 and the closing date for applications is 15/10/2014.

The British Academy has announced that they will soon be accepting applications to the Stein-Arnold Exploration Fund. The Fund was established according to the terms of the Will of Sir Aurel Stein, FBA, to commemorate his friendship with Sir Thomas Arnold, FBA, for ‘the encouragement of research on the antiquities or historical geography or early history or arts of those parts of Asia which come within the sphere of the ancient civilisations of India, China, and Iran, including Central Asia. Research should be ‘so far as possible by means of exploratory work’, and applicants must be British or Hungarian subjects. Awards do not exceed £2,500. Application forms are being made available from 22/10/2014 and the deadline for applications is 03/12/2014.

The British Academy has also announced that they will soon be accepting applications to the Neil Ker Memorial Fund. The object of this fund is to promote the study of Western medieval manuscripts, in particular those of British interest. Applications are invited from scholars of any nationality, engaged on original research intended for publication. Applicants should be of postdoctoral status, or have comparable experience. Awards do not normally exceed £2,000. Application forms will be made available from 22/10/2014 and the deadline for applications is 03/12/2014.

The British Academy will soon make applications for the BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grants scheme available. Grants are available to support primary research in the humanities and social sciences. The first recourse for funding should be to your own institution (where applicable). Applications will not be considered for less than £500. The maximum grant is £10,000 over two years. Applications for collaborative or individual projects are equally welcome under this scheme. Applications forms will be made available from 03/09/2014 and the closing date for applications is 15/10/2014.

Dstl and BAE Systems are seeking proposals for the Autonomous Systems Underpinning Research – ASUR 2014 programme. This competition is seeking research proposals in a set of specific areas relating to technologies that are potentially applicable to enhancing the development and operation of future autonomous systems that will enable the UK Armed Forces to successfully meet the operational challenges that they will encounter over the next decade and beyond. Up to £2.4 million of funding is available for this competition. The deadline for applications is 13/10/2014.

The ELRHA (enhancing learning & research for humanitarian assistance) have now launched their Ebola Health Research call. The aim of the call is both to produce robust research findings that could contribute to the effectiveness of the response to the current outbreak, and help to draw lessons for future outbreaks of Ebola and other communicable diseases. Funding is being made available through the existing £6.5 million R2HC programme. Given the urgency of this situation, qualified researchers are invited to submit a preliminary Expression of Interest application to ELRHA by 11am, 08/09/2014.

The ESRC have made a pre-call announcement for the Transformative Research call. The aim of this call is to provide a stimulus for genuinely transformative research ideas at the frontiers of the social sciences, enabling research which challenges current thinking to be supported and developed. Successful applicants will receive a grant of up to £250,000 (at 100 per cent full economic cost (fEC)). ESRC will meet 80 per cent of the full economic costs on proposals submitted. Only two applications can be accepted from each eligible Research Organisation. Proposals should be pre-selected by the Research Organisation and will need to be submitted to the ESRC at the beginning of January 2015. The full call specification will be released in September 2014.

The Medical Research Council has mentioned on their website that they will soon be taking applications for the Biomedical Informatics Fellowship. The fellowship supports outstanding post-doctoral researchers who are seeking to move into the application of mathematical, statistical and computational methods to biomedical and health research problems. Applications are being made available from 05/05/2015 and the deadline for applications will be 16/06/2015.

The Medical Research Council has announced that they will soon be inviting applications to the Career Development Award (CDA) in Biostatistics.  This CDA in Biostatistics encourages broad training programmes in biostatistics to support talented early-career researchers who have recently completed their PhDs and who are working in – or seeking to move into – statistically based, health-related research. The CDA provides full personal salary costs together with support for consumables expenses, travel costs and capital equipment appropriate for the research project. The opening date for applications is 17/03/2015 and the closing date is 28/04/2015.

The Medical Research Council has also announced that they will soon be inviting applications to their Early Career Fellowship in Economics of Health. The fellowship provides early-career support to help individuals begin to establish a research track record in the field and to undertake further training. The EoH provides full personal salary costs, together with support for consumables expenses, travel costs and capital equipment appropriate for the research project. The opening date for applications is 05/05/2015 and the deadline for applications is 16/06/2015.

The Medical Research Council has also announced details of the Methodology Research Fellowship.  The fellowship supports post-doctoral researchers with a grounding in health research, not necessarily in a methodological discipline, who will advance the development and application of innovative methodologies in the context of challenging biomedical and health research problems. It will provide a significant career development opportunity for these researchers to become independent researchers in their chosen fields. Full personal salary costs will be provided, with support for research staff, consumables expenses, travel costs and capital equipment appropriate for the research project. The opening date for applications is 05/05/2015 and the deadline is 16/06/2015.

The Medical Research Council has announced details of the Molecular Pathology Nodes scheme. MRC and EPSRC invite proposals to establish high-quality molecular pathology nodes. Each node will be a multidisciplinary centre of innovative molecular diagnostic test discovery and development bringing together the research base, pathology/genetic services and industry. The call will have four phases, 1) Call workshop, 2) Expression of interest, 3) Proposal, 4) Monitoring. A workshop will be hosted on 01/10/2014 in London – the workshop registration form needs to be completed by 15/09/2014. The deadline for expression of interest is 10/11/2014 and for the proposal is 10/02/2015.

The Medical Research Council will soon be inviting applications to their Population Health Scientist Fellowship.  The fellowship supports outstanding early-career researchers to conduct research and develop the skills required to underpin a career in the population health sciences. The award provides a competitive personal salary and a research training support grant of up to £20,000 per year. The opening date for applications is 05/05/2015 and the closing date for applications is 16/06/2015.

The Medical Research Council is now inviting applications to their Senior Clinical Fellowship. The purpose of the scheme is to support outstanding medically and other clinically qualified professionals in their development to become research leaders. The fellowship will provide full personal salary costs, together with support for research staff, consumables expenses, travel costs and capital equipment appropriate for the research project. The opening date for applications will be the 25/02/2015 and the closing date for applications is the 08/04/2015.

NERC, in collaboration with Communicate 2014 (British Natural History Consortium) are inviting applications to the NERC bursary scheme. The scheme is open to NERC funded postgraduate students, postdoctoral researchers and NERC fellows only. Applications from students and researchers who have not previously attended Communicate will be prioritised. The deadline for applications is 9am, 06/10/2014.

The Agri-Tech Catalyst, run by the Technology Strategy Board and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, offers funding to innovative businesses and researchers to develop solutions to global agricultural challenges – this is the late-stage awards. There are two types of late-stage awards that projects may be eligible for: pre-experimental feasibility study awards and experimental development awards. Funding through the Agri-Tech Catalyst is available to UK businesses of any size, as well as researchers. The deadline for applications is 07/01/2015.

The Technology Strategy Board and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council are also inviting applications to the Industrial research awards. Industrial research awards enable applicants to evaluate the technical feasibility of an idea and establish proof-of-concept and potential routes to exploitation. Such proposals will embrace longer-term studies in all relevant disciplines that demonstrate the potential to advance the sustainable intensification of agriculture and have an economic impact. Registration for expressions of interest closes on 01/10/2014 with a submission deadline of 08/10/2014.

The Technology Strategy Board is inviting applications to their Adapting cutting-edge technologies project. They will be investing up to £7m in collaborative R&D projects to encourage technologies for road-vehicles that will deliver significant reductions in CO2 emissions and they expect projects to range in size from total costs of £500k to £2m, although they may consider projects outside this range. The competition opens for applications on 08/09/2014. The deadline for registration is noon, 22/10/2014 and the deadline for applications is noon, 29/10/2014.

The Technology Strategy Board and the Environment Agency are now inviting applications to the Non-intrusive river flow measurement competition. This competition is focused on the Environment Agency’s need to measure river flows in challenging locations where existing standard instrumentation cannot be used. However, a solution that could also be deployed in less demanding/normal river conditions would be ideal. In order to enter this competition, registration is required. Registration closes on 15/10/2014 and applications are due in by 22/10/2014. The award is still to be confirmed.

The Welcome Trust is inviting applications to the Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training and Science Initiative. The vision of DELTAS Africa is to support the African-led development of world-class researchers and research leaders in Africa. This new generation of scientists will play a major part in shaping and driving a locally relevant health research agenda in Africa, contributing to improved health and development in the continent. Some funding is available. A preliminary application should be completed by 5pm, 02/10/2014.

The Welcome Trust is now inviting applications to their Engagement Fellowships scheme. Engagement Fellowships champion the leaders of tomorrow by fostering the most promising developing talent. They are looking for individuals with a strong track record of engaging the public with ideas around biomedical science and/or medical humanities, who want to make a step-change in their careers. The deadline for applications is 13/02/2015.

Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKE Support Officer.

You can set up your own personalised alerts on ResearchProfessional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s RKE Officer in RKE Operations or see the recent post on this topic, which includes forthcoming training dates up to November 2014.

If thinking of applying, why not add notification of your interest on ResearchProfessional’s record of the bid so that BU colleagues can see your intention to bid and contact you to collaborate.

Yawning In Paris – Dr Simon Thompson

Awarded & submitted bids, BU research, EU, Featured academics, Fusion, Grants Academy, Post-award, REF Subjects, Research assessment, Research Ethics, Research Integritiy, Research news, Research themes

I have taught at Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense on a number of occasions but I continue to be impressed by the enthusiasm and challenging questions the Master’s level students pose. Paris is rich with culture and the education system has many benefits. I am privileged to be part of a growing French research culture that respects skills and knowledge with cutting edge technology in neuroscience.

Sacre Coeur, roof-top; Gare du Nord, r.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eiffel Tower, roof-top.

This complements my experience at Bournemouth University and has enabled me to collaborate on projects that face difficult challenges with respect to ethics and use of expensive technology, namely fMRI scanning. Functional Magnetic Resonance Scanning is notoriously expensive yet the benefits to clinical research are potentially huge.

Modernism - or the Aliens have landed!

 

My study on yawning and cortisol at Bournemouth University [1] has now includes collaboration with three prestigious centres in France: Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, Amiens University Hospital, University of Picardy Jules Verne.

I hope to continue my Anglo-French meetings with the assistance of the Erasmus Travel Scholarship scheme in the future, as well as with funding from the French Embassy and the French Multiple Sclerosis Society.

 

[1] Thompson, S.B.N., 2014. Yawning, fatigue and cortisol: expanding the Thompson Cortisol Hypothesis. Medical Hypotheses. Doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2014.08.009.

Why read? FUSION funding to provide literature with an economics-based understanding of reading

Awarded & submitted bids, BU research, Fusion, Publishing, Uncategorized

The project Private Gains and Retailed Literature: pathways to an economics-based account of reading has just won FUSION funding for the coming semester. The project will ask why people consistently spend time and money on literature. What do they hope to gain? Since the opportunity costs are considerable, historically in terms of money and now in terms of time, readers must hope to gain something. On- and offline literature provides unique gains that have otherwise escaped investigation by English studies, which instead has preferred to think of meanings and literary achievement, rather than use.

In terms of finding a discourse to investigate this, it should be remembered that the publishing industry and its delivery of fiction is by necessity predicated on commerce, while the markets for published fiction make up part of commodity culture. The language of private gain, of benefit and loss, which is the heart of commodity culture, is well suited for thinking about general-market reading. And if we can get passed the hijacking of economics by neo-liberalism, or get past neo-liberal reductionism that converts everything to financial indices, we may admit that economics has something to say about the mechanisms of gain, and about a specific type of reading in that commodity-cultural context.

Headed by BU Senior lecturer in English, Dr Simon Frost, and in partnership with UNESCO Chair in New Media Forms of the Book, Prof. Alexis Weedon (University of Bedfordshire) and Prof. Claire Squires, Director of the Stirling Centre for International Publishing and Communication (University of Stirling), the project will be working with the JS Group/John Smith’s books to articulate in the language of cultural and media studies the role that books play in that international retail chain’s larger delivery of private gains. In addition, the project will conduct a student-led survey of the perceived benefits of retailed literature, across a number of UK book shops. Together, the student survey and JS study will greatly refine the project’s understanding of the qualities signified in book retail. It will help the project understand why people think books are important.

Theories of literary value based solely on intrinsic value are under extreme pressure these days. How can one argue for investment in the best literature in the face of severe cuts to essential public services? And who is to decide what is ‘best’ – that debate being trapped in the notion of cultural hierarchy. This project instead aims at an explanation based not on l’art pour l’art, nor on the education of readers towards a supposedly more-culturally discerning state, but on the benefits readers obtain from the books they currently have in hand; on the books they currently value.

Enquires should be directed in the first instance to
Dr Simon Frost, sfrost@bournemouth.ac.uk

Going to America? Open Access Conference Funding for ECRs & Students

BU research, Publishing

On the 15-17 November the Right to Research Coalition and SPARC will launch OpenCon, a new conference to support, connect, and catalyze student and early career researcher-led projects across Open Access, Open Education, and Open Data in Washington, DC.

The full cost of attendance for the majority of participants will be covered by travel scholarships provided through the generous support of sponsor organizations. However, application deadline is midnight PDT on Monday, August 25th.

All students and early career researchers with an interest in Open Access, Open Education and Open Data are encouraged to apply at www.opencon2014.org/apply. The application includes the ability to apply for a travel scholarship.

Further information on the conference can be found here – http://www.opencon2014.org/

If anyone is interested in applying, please liaise with me (Shelly Anne Stringer) by 9am Thursday (20th).

Latest Major Funding Opportunities

BU research, Funding opportunities, Research news

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

The British Academy is inviting applications to their Mid-Career Fellowships. The Academy intends, through this scheme, both to support outstanding individual researchers with excellent research proposals, and to promote public understanding and engagement with humanities and social sciences. The aim of the scheme is to allow successful applicants to obtain time freed from normal teaching and administrative commitments. These Fellowships are covered under the Full Economic Costing (FEC) regime, but the Academy’s contribution to the salary of the Mid-Career Fellow will be capped at an upper limit of £80,000, awards can be held over a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of 12 months, beginning in the autumn of 2015. The deadline will be in 09/2014 for awards to be taken up from 01/09/2015.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) invite proposals for collaborative projects between the UK and the Republic of Korea in the field of Fuel Cell Technologies. EPSRC and KETEP each have up to £2.5 million available to support projects under this call. Proposals are invited from leading UK researchers wishing to either develop relationships with leading researchers from eligible institutions in Korea or to deepen existing collaborations. If you intend to submit a proposal to this call, you must register your intent by email to energyteam@epsrc.ac.uk by 4pm, 17/09/2014.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Advanced Metrology is offering funding for Feasibility Studies in the field of mathematics for metrology. This Centre has been created to develop the next generation of manufacturing metrology technologies for total machining and advanced surfaces.  Its main aim is to deliver a step-change in the link between measurement (through the science of metrology) and production, primarily for the benefit of advanced manufacturing industries. The feasibility studies should examine a subject area in the scope, review activity in it, identify key challenges and research questions not currently being addressed and develop full proposals for funding by established routes. Awards are limited to £50,000 at 80% FEC and to a maximum duration of six months. The closing date for applications is 12:00, 22/09/2014.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) invites applications for its Supergen Solar Challenge.  The Research Councils UK Energy Programme is looking to support projects that help address key challenges in Solar Technology. The areas to be supported are in: Materials and Process Development; Building Integrated Photovoltaics; Efficiency of PV technology; and Characterisation and Stability. There is up to £5 million available to support projects submitted in response to this call. It is intended that three to five projects will be supported through this call. The deadline for proposals will be 4pm, 04/11/2014.

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) are pleased to invite proposals for their Civil Society Data Partnership projects under Phase 3 of the Big Data Network. The Civil Society Data Partnership projects will establish or build on relationships between academic researchers and civil society organisations to demonstrate the value of improved data infrastructure, enabling collection and analysis of data which is of interest to civil society organisations and through enabling the sector to better utilise its own data. Proposals are invited for a duration of up to 18 months, with the latest start date of 14 February 2015. The budget of each Civil Society Data Partnership project will be a maximum of £250,000 (100 per cent fEC). Theminimum funding level is £50,000 (100 per cent fEC) and it is expected that proposals for both small and large projects will be received. The call will open on 22/08/2014 and the deadline for applications is 4pm, 02/10/2014.

The Medical Research Council’s (MRC) Confidence in Concept scheme provides annual awards of £250k-£1.2m to institutions, to be used flexibly to support the earliest stages of multiple translational research projects. It is intended to accelerate the transition /from /discovery research to translational development projects by supporting preliminary work or feasibility studies to establish the viability of an approach. The closing date for applications is 4pm, 17/10/2014.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) invites applications to its Proximity to Discovery: Industry Engagement Fund.  The fund will support a small number of research organisations to use creative approaches to building relationships with industry partners and can be used for people and knowledge exchange at the very earliest stage of a collaboration and may not necessarily be aligned to a specific project objective. A total budget of £15 m is available to support CinC and Proximity to Discovery: Industry Engagement Fund. The closing date for applications is 4pm, 17/10/2014.

The National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research in collaboration with the Technology Strategy Board are inviting applications for its CRACK IT challenges.  CRACK IT Challenges is a challenge-led funding competition from the NC3Rs which is designed to: fund collaborations between industry, academics and SMEs; minimise the use of animals in research; and support the development of marketable products and/or improved business processes. There are up to three Challenges this year with a total of seven Sponsors, with funding ranging from £100k to £1m and contracts from 1-3 years.  The competition is open from 15/09/2014 and the deadline for applications is 12 noon, 19/11/2014. Please note that in order to apply you must register with the SBRI for the competition by 12 noon, 12/11/2014.  

The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) invites applications to its International Opportunities Fund. The scheme provides resources to NERC-supported researchers to allow them to forge long-term partnerships with overseas scientists that add value to current NERC-funded science. There are two grants available: 1) IOF Pump-Priming Grants – These aim to help researchers establish and develop new collaborative links with international partners. Proposals for IOF Pump Priming Grants may request funding of a maximum of £40k (at 80% FEC) for up to two years duration. 2) IOF Pump-Priming Plus Grants – These aim to support establishment of novel international collaborative links, as for the IOF Pump Priming grants, but allow for development of partnerships that require more resource. Proposals for IOF Pump Priming grants may request funding of a maximum of £320K (at 80% FEC) for up to three years duration. The closing date for proposals is 25/09/2014.

The Royal Academy of Engineering is now inviting applications for The Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship. The fellowship allows the academic to concentrate on full-time research and be relieved of teaching and administrative responsibilities. The purpose of the Fellowships is to cover the salary costs of a replacement academic who will take over the awardee’s teaching and administration duties for up to one year. The deadline for applications is 4pm, 27/10/2014.

The Technology Strategy Board and Offshore Energy Research Association of Nova Scotia (OERA) are jointly investing approximately $1.4m CAD (£755k) in collaborative R&D projects to develop enhanced sensing technologies for tidal stream energy applications.  The aim of this competition is to develop technologies that lead to the acquisition of better data, improved data analysis and collection methods, helping to reduce risk, uncertainty and cost to the tidal stream energy industry. Proposals must be collaborative and business-led, including at least one business from Canada and one from the UK.  This is a two-stage competition that opens for applicants on 06/10/2014.  The deadline for expressions of interest is at 4pm Greenwich Mean Time on 28/11/2014.  

The Technology Strategy Board will shortly be inviting registrations and applications for its call on Forensics. The call for proposals is seeking to achieve a step-change in crime investigation in the UK, through the application of novel techniques for gathering forensic evidence. The call will open on 01/09/2014. Registration closes on 22/10/2014 and the deadline for applications is 29/10/2014.

The Technology Strategy Board and the Environment Agency will shortly be inviting registrations and applications for their call on Non-intrusive river flow measurement. This competition is focused on the Environment Agency’s need to measure river flows in challenging locations where existing standard instrumentation cannot be used. However, a solution that could also be deployed in less demanding/normal river conditions would be ideal. In order to enter this competition, registration is required. Registration closes on 15/10/2014 and applications are due in by 22/10/2014. The award is to be confirmed.

The Welcome Trust invites applications to its Arts Awards that support scientific engagement through the arts. The scheme aims to support imaginative and experimental arts projects that investigate biomedical science and all art forms are covered by the programme: dance, drama, performance arts, visual arts, music, film, craft, photography, creative writing or digital media. The Trust invites applications for projects which engage adult audiences and/or young people. Funding can be applied for at two levels: 1) Small to medium-sized projects (up to and including £30 000) – Funding can either be used to support the development of new project ideas, deliver small-scale productions or workshops, investigate and experiment with new methods of engagement through the arts, or develop new collaborative relationships between artists and scientists. 2) Large projects (above £30 000) – This funding can be used to fund full or part production costs for large-scale arts projects that aim to have significant impact on the public’s engagement with biomedical science. The closing date is 08/11/2014.

Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKE Support Officer.

You can set up your own personalised alerts on ResearchProfessional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s RKE Officer in RKE Operations or see the recent post on this topic, which includes forthcoming training dates up to November 2014.

If thinking of applying, why not add notification of your interest on ResearchProfessional’s record of the bid so that BU colleagues can see your intention to bid and contact you to collaborate.

Congratulations and Good Luck

BU research, Featured academics

Ke Rong

July saw an increased level of activity for bids being submitted and awards being won with congratulations due to Schools/Faculty for winning research and consultancy contracts.

For the Business School, congratulations are due to grants academy member Chris Chapleo for his consultancy with Nigel Reed Smith Ltd, to Ke Rong and grants academy member Xiaosong Yang (MS) for their application from the British Academy, to Juliet Memery and Dawn Birch for their contract with the Crown Estate and to David Marshall for his consultancy with New Forest Biscotti.  Good luck to Maurizio Borghi for his application to the AHRC, and to Thanh Huynh for his contract to the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

Luisa Cescutti-Butler

For HSC, congratulations are due to Luisa Cescutti-Butler for her short course with Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust.  Good luck to Anthea Innes and Fiona Kelly for their application to the Department of Health, to Clive Andrewes for his short course to Fathom Point Limited, to Lee-Ann Fenge for her consultancy to Help and Care, and to Anthea Innes for her application to Dorset County Council for the BSO/BUDI Orchestra.

Tom Watson

For MS, congratulations are due to Jamie Matthews for his application from the Japan Foundation Endowment Committee, to Liam Tomms for his consultancies with WISH (Women in Social Housing) and Grapevine Telecom Ltd, to Stephanie Farmer for her consultancy with Dorset County Council, to Melanie Gray for her consultancy with Grapevine Telecom Ltd, to Tom Watson for his IHPR Conference 2014, and to grants academy member Rebecca Jenkins for her consultancy with Mind Share. Good luck to Richard Southern for his application to the EPSRC to research deriving motor control laws for bipedal locomotion from experimental data, and to Isabella Rega for her application to the Technology Strategy Board.

Kate Welham

For the Faculty of Science and Technology, congratulations are due to Kate Welham for her short course on the Introduction to Near Eastern Archaeology, to Robert Britton for his application to the European Commission Marie Curie Fellowship, to David Parham for his consultancy with Cornwall County Council, to Kathy Hodder for her consultancy with Fieldwork Ecological Services Ltd, to Paul Cheetham, Iain Hewitt, and Miles Russell for their short course on The Big Dig 2014, to Chris Shiel for her consultancy with the Open University, to Genoveva Esteban for her consultancy with Queen Mary University London in connection with public engagement, to Jonathan Monteith for his consultancies with Dartmoor National Park, the Lester Brunt Partnership LLP, Anesco and Bloor Homes Limited, to John Gale for his short course on Time Walkers, and to Adrian Pinder for his consultancy with the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust. Good luck to Robert Britton for his CASE studentship to NERC, to grants academy member Luciana Slomp Esteves for her application to the British Conference of Undergraduate Research to host their 2017 conference, to Amanda Korstjens for her application to NERC, to Jan Wiener and Anthea Innes (HSC) for their application to the ESRC to research Dementia-friendly architecture, to Katherine Appleton for her application to the BBSRC, to Sarah Bate for her application to the ESRC to research early detection and remediation of developmental prosopagnosia, and to John McAlaney for his consultancy to the West Lothian College.

Image of Dr Heather Hartwell

Heather Hartwell

For ST, congratulations go to Heather Hartwell, Adele Ladkin,  Stephen Page and Ann Hemingway (HSC) for their application to the ESRC to research promotion of wellbeing as a destination resource, to Adam Blake, Steven Richards and grants academy member Neelu Seetaram for their consultancy with Price Waterhouse Coopers LLP, to Jonathan Hibbert for several consultancies with Reading Borough Council, Glasgow Caledonian University, Dorset County Council (two consultancies), Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group (NHS) and The Old Royal Naval College (ORNC), and to grants academy member Alessandro Inversini for his consultancy with Mind Share.