BU Research Blog

4 April 2022

British Academy Small Grants – Internal Deadlines

The call for the next round of BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grants will open on 6 April and close at 5.00 pm on 1 June 2022.

We welcome the new electronic Intention to Bid (e-ITB) forms from Early Career Researchers and/or for bids that deliver pump priming / seed corn funding purposes.

Due to the volume of bids that are received by RDS in every round, the internal deadlines will be strictly applied to ensure that the pre-award team can provide all interested academics with optimal support in a timely manner.

Where ITB forms are received after 27 April 2022 they will be moved automatically to the next round.

The British Academy has provided guidance and FAQs. They have stipulated that all applicants must read the documentation carefully before starting their application.

Timeline

The call closes at 5.00 pm on 1 June 2022.

Date	Action
6 April	Call opens – start reading guidance and FAQs.
6-27 April	Intention to Bid forms to be submitted via the new electronic intention to bid platform. *At this date, advise your referee that you will be sending them your completed application on FlexiGrant and they will need to provide their supporting statement by 18 May.*
4 May	If you are Grade 8 or below and you wish to use the support of an External Application Reviewer (EAR), you must submit a first draft of the application to RDS by this date. *An EAR will not be allocated to you if you send a draft to RDS after this date.*
17 May	Latest date for you to fully complete your application on FlexiGrant, so it is ready for your referee to complete the supporting statement via FlexiGrant. *Note that the earlier you complete you application on FlexiGrant, the more time the referee will have to review your bid and provide the supporting statement by 18 May.*
18 May	Latest date for referee to complete the supporting statement via FlexiGrant.
19 May	Click ‘submit’ and the form will be sent to BU’s account for RDS checks.
19 – 31 May	Institutional checking process – RDS will work with you to ensure compliance with all funder’s requirements.
1 June	Submission deadline – latest date to formally submit on FlexiGrant.

If you have any queries, please contact your Research Facilitator or Funding Development Officer.

1 April 2022

NIHR RDS SW Residential Research Retreat application drop-in sessions 4th April 1-3pm and 6th April 11am-1pm

Funding opportunities, Fusion, NHS Louise Ward

The NIHR Research Design Service South West (RDS SW) is holding a Residential Research Retreat 13-15^th September 2022 inclusive, at Dillington House in Somerset.

It offers a fantastic opportunity for research teams to develop high quality research proposals in health and social care suitable for submission to national peer-reviewed funding streams. At the retreat there is advice on tap from a range of methodological advisers (statisticians, health economists, patient and public involvement experts, qualitative researchers etc.) and dedicated time to work on your proposal as a team.

FHSS is offering to cover the costs of 2-3 teams. Teams of up to 3 or 4 can attend the retreat, ideally with at least one member employed in an NHS, social care or public health organisation in the Southwest. Multi-disciplinary teams with varied research experience will be considered favourably, and a mix of clinical and academic skills and experience is preferable. Teams may include service users or carers.

Places on the retreat are competitive and there is an application process. Fees may be waived for applicants from a public health or social care background, but applicants are advised to seek advice about this before submitting an application.

This is an excellent opportunity for academics who already have a proposal developed in health and social care research that is aligned with fusion and the strategic investment areas.

The deadline for applications is fast approaching: 20^th April 2022.

What to do next?

You’ll need to book a slot with NIHR RDS SW Bournemouth site lead, Dr Sarah Thomas who is holding drop-in information and advice sessions to discuss potential applications. After your slot you will be given an opportunity to apply for FHSS funding.

The sessions are from 1-3pm on Monday 4^th April or 11am-1pm on Wednesday 6^th April. Please e-mail: wardl@bournemouth.ac.uk to book your 15-minute slot.

Further details about the Residential Research Retreat, including the eligibility criteria and application process can be found here: Residential Research Retreat

Your local branch of the NIHR RDS (Research Design Service) is based within the BU Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU)

The NIHR RDS can advise on all aspects of developing a grant application and can review application drafts as well as put them to a mock funding panel (run by NIHR RDS South West) known as the Project Review Committee, which is a fantastic opportunity for researchers to obtain a critical review of a proposed grant application before this is sent to a funding body.

Contact us as early as possible to benefit fully from the advice.

Feel free to call Louise Ward on 01202 961939 or send an email bucru@bournemouth.ac.uk to make an appointment.

1 April 2022

Research Professional – all you need to know

Funding opportunities Jo Garrad

Every BU academic has a Research Professional account which delivers weekly emails detailing funding opportunities in their broad subject area. To really make the most of your Research Professional account, you should tailor it further by establishing additional alerts based on your specific area of expertise. The Funding Development Team Officers can assist you with this, if required.

Research Professional have created several guides to help introduce users to Research Professional. These can be downloaded here.

Quick Start Guide: Explains to users their first steps with the website, from creating an account to searching for content and setting up email alerts, all in the space of a single page.

User Guide: More detailed information covering all the key aspects of using Research Professional.

Administrator Guide: A detailed description of the administrator functionality.

In addition to the above, there are a set of 2-3 minute videos online, designed to take a user through all the key features of Research Professional. To access the videos, please use the following link: http://www.youtube.com/researchprofessional

Research Professional are running a series of online training broadcasts aimed at introducing users to the basics of creating and configuring their accounts on Research Professional. They are holding two monthly sessions, covering everything you need to get started with Research Professional. The broadcast sessions will run for no more than 60 minutes, with the opportunity to ask questions via text chat. Each session will cover:

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 second Tuesday of every other month. You can register here for your preferred date:

10th May 2022

12th July 2022

13th September 2022

8th November 2022

These are free and comprehensive training sessions and so this is a good opportunity to get to grips with how Research Professional can work for you. Previous recordings can be found here if you can’t attend a session.

Have you noticed the pink box on the BU Research Blog homepage?

By clicking on this box, on the left of the Research Blog home page just under the text ‘Funding Opportunities‘, you access a Research Professional real-time search of the calls announced by the Major UK Funders. Use this feature to stay up to date with funding calls. Please note that you will have to be on campus or connecting to your desktop via our VPN to fully access this service.

24 March 2022

COST actions – European Cooperation in Science and Technology

Funding opportunities, international Ainars

COST is a funding organisation that aims to support researchers to grow their professional research networks and boost their careers. The United Kingdom is one of 39 COST Members, so UK researchers are eligible for funding.

COST Actions are typically made up of researchers from academia, SMEs, public institutions and other relevant organisations or interested parties. It is open to all science and technology fields, including new and emerging fields. COST Actions offer an inclusive, pan-European environment for individuals of all levels of seniority.

In opposition to many EU-funded projects, it is possible to participate in an ongoing project. There are the following options how you can participate in COST Actions:

As a Management Committee (MC) Member (the MC is responsible for the coordination, implementation and management for an Action)
As a working group (WG) member (the WG groups perform the tasks required by the Action to fulfil the objectives of the network project plan)
As a participant in Action activities

There are more than 200 COST Actions open and 70 more networks will be announced in May to replace those closing in 2022.

How to find out more?

A week ago, there was a webinar organised by the UK Research Office (UKRO) dedicated to an Introduction to COST. Policy Officer of COST Association Judith Litjens provided attendees with an overview of COST. On the UKRO event page you can find recording and presentation slides from the webinar. The event outlined the different ways to get involved in a COST action and covered UK participation in COST. Professor David Manlove (University of Glasgow) presented his involvement in three different COST actions.

Some useful tips

BU may not be in a position to lead large multi-national consortia, however BU academics may be invited to join a proposal led by another institution.

Before saying ‘yes’, it may be worth to gather some intelligence and consider if the leading institution and PI has adequate resources and experience in leading such large projects; there are in average 30 participating institution for an action with an average annual budget of almost EUR 140k to be managed. Knowing more about potential lead may, sometimes, save significant PI’s and RDS resources before realising that developed proposal has no chance to get funded.

Often, most rewarding approach may be joining already existing or newly established networks. To participate in activities, follow the offers of the specific action you are interested in.

On COST website you may find more information regarding specific COST networking tools like meetings, workshops and conferences, Short-term Scientific Missions and training schools. Training schools are intensive coaching opportunities focusing on young researchers in particular. According to COST expectations, 20% of funding must be spent for supporting Early Career Researchers.

If you plan to get involved in a COST Action, please get in touch with your RDS Funding Development Officer. Still got questions about COST scheme? Get in touch with me.

22 March 2022

Reminder: Weekly Funding Development Briefing and Spotlight on MSCA PF this Wednesday

Funding opportunities Ainars

As promised earlier this month, the Funding Development Briefing on Wednesday 23 March at 12 noon will also include spotlight on Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (MSCA PF) 2022 Call. This year’s Call is expected to open on 13 April 2022, submission deadline 14 September 2022.

This session will cover:

Short MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships overview
Scope and expected outcomes
Basic eligibility rules
Award criteria
UKRO webinars available to BU academics
Internal processes

After presentation there will also be a short Q&A session available for those less familiar with the scheme.

For those unable to attend the session, slides will be shared on Brightspace.

To discuss more details about your potential EU project idea or MSCA scheme specifically, you are welcome to get in touch with RDS Research Facilitator International Ainar Blaudums.

21 March 2022

Join the next meeting of the Public Engagement with Research Network

Funding opportunities, Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement ballen

We are dedicating this meeting of the BU Public Engagement with Research (PER) Network to helping you apply for the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022, an annual celebration of the social sciences.

In this session we will explain more about the festival and how to apply through our internal process – opening on Monday 28 March. We will also hear from academics who have previously held events and activities as part of the festival, who will share their experiences and advice.

Find out more about the Festival of Social Science, including who is eligible and how much funding and support you could receive.

We will also share other news on public engagement from BU.

The meeting will take place on Thursday 31 March 12-1pm, on Teams.

To join this meeting and find out about future ones, join our BU Public Engagement with Research Network. Check under ‘Meetings’ for upcoming sessions.

If you have any questions, please email the team.

21 March 2022

Research Funding Panel Recruitment

Funding opportunities ntealdi

We are currently recruiting for Chairs and Deputy Chairs for our Research Funding Panels to commence from August 2022 for a term of three years.

To help us further develop our research capacity in line with BU2025, the Research Performance and Management Committee (RPMC) oversees research investment and performance. Under the auspices of the RPMC, Funding Panels have been established to have oversight of funding allocations, in order to further build the research environment, our external engagement and the quality and impact of research endeavours. Funding Panels demonstrably operate in an academically robust, fair and transparent manner.

These are exciting opportunities to lead University-level Panels, to network and collaborate with colleagues from across the University, and to contribute to decisions about how best to invest in future research and knowledge exchange projects.

The Chair serves for a period of 3 years plus one further year as an outgoing chair, providing mentorship and support for the incoming chair. The Deputy Chair serves for a period of 3 years and is permitted to apply to be the Chair in the event the Chair comes to the end of their term or chooses to relinquish the role.

The vacancies are:

Acceleration of Research & Networking (ACORN) Funding Panel:
- Chair
- Deputy Chair

Global Visiting Fellowships (GVF) Funding Panel:
- Chair
- Deputy Chair

Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) Panel:
- Chair
- Deputy Chair

Research Impact:
- Chair

Charity Impact:
- Chair
- Deputy Chair

Doctoral Studentship:
- Chair
- Deputy Chair

Eligible staff are invited to apply via an expressions of interest (EoI) round.

Chairs should be members of the Professoriate (full Professors) but cannot include members of Faculty Executives, and Deputy Chairs should be members of the Professoriate (Associate Professors).

Roles will commence 1 August 2022, with some handover prior to this. The new Chairs/Deputies will also be involved in the recruitment and selection of other panel members before they commence their Panel roles formally. The only exception to this is the Deputy Chair role for the Charity Impact Panel, which should start as soon as possible.

We aim for all panels to be at least proportionately representative of senior staff at BU, i.e. at least one third women and at least one tenth BAME. Therefore we are keen to receive applications from staff who are from underrepresented groups in University decision making, including (but not limited to) women, staff who work part-time, and staff who consider themselves disabled. In line with BU2025, the aim is for the Panels to be representative of our diverse academic community.

If you’re interested in applying for any of the vacancies, please follow the guidelines below for each of the relevant panels:

ACORN

You can find out more about the ACORN Funding Panel here

Recruitment process and criteria

Chair/Deputy Chair role descriptor

Please submit your expressions of interest to: acorn@bournemouth.ac.uk