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Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships – well done to all our applicants!

RKEO are pleased to confirm that Bournemouth University has submitted 19 applications to the highly competitive Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship scheme. Logo_Marie-Curie

We wish all the participating BU staff and potential fellows, from across the world, every success.

This year’s potential fellows are from countries including Brazil, Romania, Greece, Hungary, Spain, France and China.

If you are interested in applying next year, it is never too early to start building your relationship with potential fellows. RKEO will be running sessions specifically for MSCA fellowship applications and other international schemes, in the coming months, as part of the new RKE Development Framework.

Please keep an eye on this blog for further event details or come along to our information stands on launch day at the EBC Ground Floor (Lansdowne Campus) or in the Poole House Courtyard (Talbot Campus) between 9am-5pm on September 20th, 2016.

British Academy Small Grants next call

british_academy_logoThe deadline for the next round of BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grants is fast approaching. The call closes at 5pm on Wednesday 12th October. There are updated BA scheme notes for applicants and BA FAQs which are also available on e-GAP Applicants must read the documentation carefully before starting their application. BA receives a high number of applications and will reject, rather than correct those with errors.

If you are interested in applying to this call then please send your intention to bid form and draft proposal to your Funding Development Officer by 16th September. We usually have a high demand for this call and so we will need to ensure that we have scheduled you in for costings and approvals, particularly as BA requires RKEO to check your application and to electronically submit it on your behalf. Therefore, the BU internal deadline for this call is 5th October.

Funding for arts and heritage

money and cogs

As crowdfunding in the UK continues to grow, it is also becoming an increasingly important source of finance for arts and heritage projects. As a result local authorities, institutions, public bodies and foundations have begun to explore what this new form of finance means for the people and organisations they are supporting and how they can work with the crowd on identifying and funding worthy projects.

However, none of the matched funds to date have had a dedicated focus on arts or heritage projects. Linked to this, there has been little research done on the real impact of matched crowdfunding, such as whether or not it has the opportunity to generate more funding for the arts and heritage sector or increase awareness and public participation in supporting and initiating projects.

Crowdfunder is working with Nesta to  launch a matched crowdfunding pilot aimed squarely at the arts and heritage sectors. The pilot will provide two streams of £125,000 in matchfunding to arts and heritage projects that have received backing from the crowd. Nesta is developing the pilot in partnership with Arts Council England, Heritage Lottery Fund and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Crowdfunder will develop the matched crowdfunding platform for the pilot.

To find out more.

Innovate 2016 – The Global Spotlight on UK Innovation

Innovate 2011v4

Innovate 2016 will be held at Manchester Central on the 2nd – 3rd November 2016.

Take part in the global showcase of UK innovation, hear from global thought-leaders and create real business opportunities at Innovate 2016. Find out about today’s business opportunities and future-looking trends across manufacturing, health, cities of the future and technologies of the future.

Hear from industry-leaders on topics such as:

  • Retaining the edge with disruptive business models
  • Manufacturing: Tackling the productivity gap
  • Implementing resilience in a city of the future
  • Next-generation medicine: The UK as a world leader
  • Emerging technologies revolutionising innovation

View the full agenda.

Inspirational speakers
Hear from top-level inspirational speakers from organisations including:  Siemens, Versarien, Amazon, University of Manchester, Hyperloop One, High Value Manufacturing Catapult and of course Innovate UK CEO Dr Ruth McKernan CBE and Catherine Raines, CEO from the Department for International Trade.
Support zone

Discover the breadth of funding and support for businesses  and meet with the organisations that exist to help business thrive. The Support Zone will be back featuring among others the UK Business Angels Association, British Business Bank, HMRC and Growth Hubs.

Register and find out more.

 

How can augmented reality and virtual reality transform the retail journey?

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Startups, innovative retailers and experts with an understanding of the retail landscape to get involved with  the  Visa Retail Pit Stop  This takes place on 6  – 7 October.

Attendees will get the opportunity to investigate how virtual reality and augmented reality, ambient data capture, mobile and sensor technologies can improve the customer experience. Register your interest before 13 September.

Submit your interest for the Visa Retail Pit Stop

Creative England Interactive Healthcare Fund

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The South West Interactive Healthcare Programme  is currently seeking applications from the creative sector in addition to healthcare.

This £500,000 competition is funded by Creative England’s regional growth fund and run by South West and West of England Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) in conjunction with SETsquared.

The priorities themes for this competition are:

  • Enabling the health and care workforce, patients, their carers and families to work more effectively in care settings
  • Enabling patients and citizens to manage their health and wellbeing independently
  • Influencing and incentivising behaviour to improve health outcomes.

The funding is available to small or medium sized enterprises based in England (outside of Greater London) via investments of between £25,000 and £50,000. Funding will be allocated to support the uptake and market traction of innovative digital technologies that will clearly improve patient care and health service provision.

Applications will be assessed on a rolling basis and the final deadline for submissions is 30 September 2016. For the full guidelines and an application form, please visit the Creative England website.

Research Professional – all you need to know

Research-Professional-logoEvery 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 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:

27th September 2016

25th October 2016

22nd November 2016

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.

Latest Major Funding Opportunities

The following funding opportunities have been announced. Please follow the links for more information. money and cogs

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, via the Global Challenges Research Fund, invites applications for its call on Tackling global development challenges through engineering and digital technology research. The aim of this activity is to support an internationally leading programme of research, centred around engineering and digital technologies, to tackle the challenges faced by the developing world. Exemplar areas are given under each heading below, but these should not be seen as exclusive. Proposals may also span both headings: 1) Tackling global development challenges through engineering research- Sustainable infrastructure development, Engineering for disaster resilience, Engineering for humanitarian aid; 2) Tackling global development challenges through digital technology research- Access to digital services, Use of data for vital services, Secure and trusted digital infrastructures. The proposed research must be predominantly in EPSRC remit, although interdisciplinary and/or multidisciplinary proposals are welcomed.

Maximum award: Not specified. Closing date: 15/11/16.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council invites applications for its First Grant scheme. The scheme helps new academics apply for research funding at the start of their careers. Applicants must have been appointed to their first academic lecturing appointment, which involves lecturing and administration alongside research, in a UK university within the previous 36 months, or still be in the probation period of their new appointment. They must also have completed their PhD or an equivalent professional qualification within the last 10 years.

Maximum award: £100,000. Closing date: No deadline.

Innovate UK

Innovate UK invites applications for its connected and autonomous vehicles competition 2. Projects must be business led and should provide technical solutions for connected and autonomous vehicle features that provide real-world benefits to users. This includes how these vehicles will work as part of a wider transport system. The commercial benefit should clear in proposals. This competition is in 4 streams: Stream 1 will fund a large-scale challenge to develop and demonstrate a vehicle operating at SAE level 4 automation. It is expected that the fund will support a single project or 2 projects maximum of between £15 million and £30 million each. Projects should last between 18 and 30 months. Streams 2, 3 and 4 will fund feasibility studies and industrial research and development projects on connected and autonomous vehicles. Projects are expected to range in size from total costs of £250,000 to £5 million. Projects should last between 12 and 30 months.

Maximum award: Not specified. Closing date: 02/11/16.

Medical Research Council

The Medical Research Council invites applications for its Confidence in Concept scheme. This scheme aims to accelerate the transition from discovery science to the early stages of therapeutic/biomarker development by providing locally-administered, responsive and flexible funding to support preliminary translational work. The award can be used flexibly by the institution to support a number of preliminary-stage translational projects. The projects supported should aim to provide sufficient preliminary data to establish the viability of an approach –– before seeking more substantive funding

Maximum award: £1.2 million. Closing date: 15/11/16.

The Medical Research Council invites applications for its Proximity to Discovery – Industry Engagement Fund. The scheme is designed to provide flexible funding for innovative ways to enable the initial development of academic-industry collaborations. Short term people exchanges between industry and academia are seen as a key way of exchanging skills and knowledge and developing a longer term working relationship. Proximity to Discovery: Industry Engagement Fund 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. Examples of potential uses include: People exchange that allow for an exchange of skills or knowledge which will enable new collaborative projects to develop; People exchanges between Technology Transfer Offices in Universities and Business Development teams in industry, where the placement will enhance the understanding of each other’s business model and allow them to better support their organisation to develop medical research collaborations with industrial partners; Other creative ways to encourage new collaborations or two-way people exchange to increase the permeability between industry and academia; Projects that would enhance academic understanding of industry or vice versa; Showcases/workshops which enabling Universities to develop relationships with potential industry partners.

Maximum award: £250,000. Closing date: 15/11/16.

Royal Academy of Engineering

The Royal Academy of Engineering, in partnership with the Leverhulme Trust, invites applications for its Senior Research Fellowships. The fellowships allow academics 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. A support fund of up to £2,500 is also available to the awardee to cover miscellaneous research costs, such as conference attendance and public engagement activities.

Maximum award: Not specified. Closing date: 19/10/16.

Royal Society

The Royal Society invites proposals for its scientific meetings, which offer the opportunity to present an international, two day conference. The call is open to UK based researchers in any field and the discussion throughout the meeting should allow everyone, at any stage of their career, to be involved in the conversation. The award will cover administrative support, a contribution towards speaker, organiser and chair travel expenses and accommodation, logistical support, materials for the meeting, venue, facilities and catering.

Maximum award: Not specified. Closing date: 30/9/16.

The Royal Society invites proposals for its Science+ and Fast Track Discussion meetings. These meetings Bring together scientists from around the world to present and discuss new research in all areas of science. Each meeting is organised by leaders in the field, using their expertise to ensure the key topics are covered. The focus on discussion throughout the meeting allows everyone, at any stage of their scientific career, to get involved in the conversation. The programme offers a unique opportunity  to present an international, two-day conference, with the chance for publication in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society following the event.

Maximum award: Not specified. Closing date:  30/09/16.

Royal Society of Edinburgh

The Royal Society of Edinburgh, in collaboration with the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, invites applications for the BBSRC Enterprise Fellowships. The aim of this scheme is to increase exploitation of ideas with commercial potential from BBSRC supported research. The Enterprise Fellowships are designed to enable an individual to advance the commercialisation of existing research results or technological developments and are tenable for a period of one year within a UK HE or similar academic institution. The Fellowships enable the holder to concentrate on developing the commercial potential of their research, whilst also receiving formal training in relevant business skills.

Maximum award: Not specified. Closing date: 19/11/16.

Wellcome Trust

The Wellcome Trust and the National Institutes of Health invite applications for their Four-year PhD Studentships. This scheme offers postgraduate students collaborative PhD training at academic laboratories in the UK or Republic of Ireland and at the National Institutes of Health in the USA. Students usually spend half their time at an academic organisation in the UK/Republic of Ireland and the other half of their time at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) campus at Bethesda (Maryland, USA). Applicants should have a first class degree or 2:1 (or the European Economic Area equivalent), or be in their final year and predicted to get a first class degree or 2:1. Applicants must also be UK or EEA nationals.

Maximum award: Not specified. Closing date: 07/11/16.

If you are interested in submitting to any of the above calls you must contact RKEO with adequate notice before the deadline. Please note that some funding bodies specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKEO Funding Development Officer.

You can set up your own personalised alerts on Research Professional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s/Faculty’s Funding Development Officer in RKEO or view the recent blog post here. If you are thinking of applying, why not add an expression of interest on Research Professional so that BU colleagues can see your intention to bid and contact you to collaborate.

Proximity to discovery – industry engagement fund

andrew archery

Medical Research Council, GB

This enables a small number of research organisations to use creative approaches to building relationships with industry partners.

Short term people exchanges between industry and academia are seen as a key way of exchanging skills and knowledge and developing a longer term working relationship. Proximity to Discovery: Industry Engagement Fund 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.

Funding for individual applications is not expected to exceed £250,000 and it should be spent within 18 months.

Closing date 15 November 2016.

Click here for further information

If you are interested in submitting to this call you must contact your  RKEO Funding Development Officer with adequate notice before the deadline.

For more funding opportunities that are most relevant to you, you can set up your own personalised alerts on Research Professional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s/Faculty’s Funding Development Officer in  RKEO or view the recent blog post here.

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

 

Innovation defined? Outcomes and connections ….

Innovate 2011v4

Following on from the blog posts (Blog post 1/ Blog post 2  / Blog post 3  last week  on  Innovation the next set of outcomes and connections introduces the concept:

Game changer 4 = UK innovators + Europe and the World

There is of course one set of relationships that will now be redefined, following the referendum decision to leave the European Union.

As reported to the House of Commons inquiry, the current EU programmes, are incredibly important to the UK, providing us with connections to both European collaborators and supply chains.

UK industry, RTOs and Catapult Centres currently win approximately 340 million euros a year of funding from Horizon 2020. It is about one third (31%) of the total funding for the UK and our SMEs win more funding than any other country.

Industry, like science, is a global endeavour and whilst it is critical that we successfully manage the transition of our relationship with the EU, we must also seize the opportunity to build new global connections and to redefine our collaborations and partnerships around the world.

RCUK Policy Internships Scheme

PhD students! An exciting internship opportunity has come up. RCUK Policy are looking for PhD students, funded by the UK Research Councils, to work for three months in one of a selected group of highly influential organisations relevant to UK policy. Successful applicants will have the opportunity to work on one or more policy topics of interest. This will give you the chance to participate in a policy inquiry, organise a policy event and produce at least one briefing paper.

The internship is open to all Research Council-funded students. All applicants must be funded until 31 December 2017, to be eligible for the scheme.

Interested? All applications must be submitted by 4pm on Tuesday 1 September 2016. You’ll be notified by the end of September 2016 on the success of your application. If you’re successful, then you’ll be interviewed sometime in October or November.

Click here to find out more information and submit your application.

The Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Fellowships – funding available for post docs and recent graduates

money and cogs

The Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Fellowships scheme is now open for applications. The scheme supports both post-doctoral academics and recent graduates.

Enterprise Fellowships stimulate excellence and encourage creativity and innovation in engineering by supporting the founders and leaders of tomorrow’s high-tech companies, be they spin outs or start-ups. The awards provide money-can’t-buy bespoke support and one-to-one mentoring from the Academy’s Fellowship, which is composed of some of the country’s most successful engineers from across academia and industry. Support is provided to both university-based academics wishing to spin-out a company, and also to recent graduates wishing to create a company.

Prior experience of commercialisation activities is not required, the desire and capability to succeed is more important and we will equip you with the necessary skills through a programme of training and mentoring.

Awardees receive up to £60,000 funding, 12 months expert mentoring from successful entrepreneurs, bespoke training and membership of the Enterprise Hub.

The Academy is a charity and does not take any equity stake in the companies formed.

So if you are a postdoctoral researcher at a UK-based university with an innovation or technology you wish to develop through a spin-out, or you have graduated within the last five years and are seeking to run a startup in the UK, then this scheme will be of interest to you.

The application deadline is Monday 17 October, and more details are available on the website, or contact the enterprise team.

Funding Competition: Commercialisation of Quantum Technologies (Innovate UK & EPSRC)

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Innovate UK and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) are to invest a total of £19.5 million to support projects in Quantum Technologies. Projects may involve technologies belonging to one of the core groups defined in the UK’s roadmap for quantum technologies: clocks, sensors, imaging, communications or computing.

The call is now open, the registration deadline is 28th September and the call closes at noon on the 5th October.

Projects must be industry-led, but projects involving academics as partners are welcome, provided academic costs do not exceed 50% of the total.

Up to £6 million will be available for Feasibility Studies, which will fund the development of early stage devices, component technologies and for marketing studies. Projects will last up to 12 months and have total costs of £50k- £400k.

The Collaborative R&D call will seek to connect the supply chain, to deliver a demonstrator technology and must include an end user. A fund of £13.5 million is available. Total project values should be £500k – £2 million, but an addition 10% is available which can only be used for capital equipment, taking the maximum project value to £2.2 million.

The call brief is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/funding-competition-commercialisation-of-quantum-technologies

Networking and briefing events – click on the links for more information  as dates, times, venues and content of the events do vary.

6 September

8 September

13 September

If you are interested in this call  you must contact RKEO with adequate notice before the deadline. Please note that some funding bodies specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKEO Funding Development Officer.

You can set up your own personalised alerts on Research Professional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s/Faculty’s Funding Development Officer in RKEO or view the recent blog post here. If you are thinking of applying, why not add an expression of interest on Research Professional so that BU colleagues can see your intention to bid and contact you to collaborate.

British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships – launches today

The British Academy is due to launch its Postdoctoral Fellowship scheme today (24 August). These provide funding for outstanding early career individuals to “strengthen their experience of research and teaching”. This will then develop their CV and improve their chances of obtaining a permanent academic post. The BA state that “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.”

If you have are less than 3 years post-doc (your viva must have been held on or after 1 April 2014), or have extenuating circumstances, together with an excellent academic profile and the kind of project BA may be looking for, please have a look at the website at http://www.britac.ac.uk/british-academy-postdoctoral-fellowships and get in touch with a member of the RKEO Funding Development team.