Category / Funding opportunities

Could the SMN Strand of the Fusion Investment Fund be the one for you?

The Staff Mobility and Networking strand (SMN) may seem like your normal, everyday standard strand but look carefully and you’ll see it’s a strand with a difference. It has 3 elements meaning even more opportunities for you! Not only is there a Standard element but there are also Erasmus Staff Mobility and Santander elements too!

The standard scheme is most appropriate for supporting staff UK or overseas travel and subsistence in pursuit of any aspect of Fusion – research, education, and/or professional practice – with no minimum or maximum duration and also includes inward mobility. Awards made will be between £1k and £10k.

The Erasmus Staff Mobility part of the strand is most appropriate for enabling academic and professional staff based at higher education institutions (HEIs) to spend a period of training or teaching between 5 working days and 6 weeks in a European HEI or enterprise. There are also opportunities to invite staff from enterprises to Bournemouth University to give presentations and provide teaching.

Please be aware that this scheme differs quite significantly from the other FIF strands. More information is on the Erasmus intranet page.

Santander, through Santander Universities, works to encourage the international exchange of students and lecturers with respect to the development of projects linked to research, education or professional practice. Support will be available in the form of subsistence and travel costs for staff. Five awards of £5k will be made.

 Has this whetted your appetite? Are you hungry for more? Then go, go, go to the FIF intranet pages.

The Fusion Investment Fund is managed by Samantha Leahy-Harland and is administered by Natalie Baines. Please direct all initial enquiries to Natalie Baines.

CEMP Research & Innovation Funding Bulletin

Here is the latest CEMP Research & Innovation Funding Bulletin. CEMP Cluster bulletin and agenda 30.5.13

The next R&I cluster meeting – where we will review these opportunities and monitor current projects – is on Thursday 6th June 10-12 in the CEMP office.

All are very welcome – just drop in – and if you can’t make the meeting but would like to discuss any of the funding opportunities here, or another research proposal, please let me know.

For info – the ‘think-tank’ part of the cluster meetings will now take place separately, under the re-brand ‘CEMP conversations’ and the next one will be Thursday 13th June. More information to follow.

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An opportunity for study leave, secondment or placement? Thank FIF for that!

I know, it’s unbelievable! BU is actually paying staff to take a period of study leave. Amazing!

The Study Leave strand (SL) now has three sub-strands: Academic Study Leave, Internal Secondments and Industrial Staff Placements.

 

  •  Academic Study Leave provides academic staff with a period of paid academic study leave normally up to 6 months in duration for the purposes of undertaking research, educational development or professional practice.  A period of Study Leave can be undertaken while at BU, but normally the expectation is that an individual would be based for part or all of the time at another academic institution either within the UK or overseas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Internal Secondments:  In order to drive interdisciplinary research at BU a limited programme of internal secondments is available.  Secondments may last up to a maximum of 6 months.

 

  •  Industrial Staff Placements:  Commencing from December 2013 only a series of short placement and internship opportunities will be available– typically 2 to 6 months – for BU staff with local and regional businesses/organisations will be advertised internally.  Staff will have the opportunity of applying for these placements with the selection panel involving a representative from the host and at least two BU Deans.  In addition to the placements that will be advertised centrally staff will still be invited to submit funding applications for industrial placements arranged through their own networks.

 

Read more about some of the projects we’ve previously funded under this strand:

Zulfiqar Khan’s blog post

Lai Xu’s blog post 

Lorraine Brown’s blog post

 

Need to know more? Your wish is my command! Go now to the FIF intranet pages.

The Fusion Investment Fund is managed by Samantha Leahy-Harland and is administered by Natalie Baines. Please direct all initial enquiries to Natalie Baines.

 

To co-create and co-produce – what life (and FIF) is all about!

We humans love nothing more than to co-create and co-produce so it seems rather appropriate, don’t you think, that we have a strand of the Fusion Investment Fund dedicated to just that!

The Co-Creation and Co-Production strand (CCCP) is most appropriate for activities with specific emphasis on research and / or professional practice of between 6 and 12 months duration. Awards made will be between £2k and £75k.  Previously funded projects include the re-launch of The Rock community newspaper and the creation of the Poole and Purbeck community consortium to establish a fusion platform based on regional natural and heritage assets to service students across BU.

 Read about some of the projects we’ve funded under this strand:

Rick Fisher – CCCP funded project: An educational game for nursing student engagement in caring for people with dementia

Jan Wiener, Mariela Gaete-Reyes – CCCP funded project: Decreasing spatial disorientation: towards dementia-friendly environments

 Want to know more? Of course you do! Follow this link to the FIF intranet pages.

The Fusion Investment Fund is managed by Samantha Leahy-Harland and is administered by Natalie Baines. Please direct all initial enquiries to Natalie Baines.

Fusion Investment Fund – 2013/14 round one now open to applications!

 


 

The Pro Vice-Chancellor is delighted to invite you to apply for this round of the Fusion Investment Fund. It provides fantastic opportunities for you to grow as a researcher, an educator and practitioner and there are a range of options for you to choose from, depending on your needs. Three funding strands are available for staff at BU:

Co-Creation and Co-production strand (CCCP)

Study Leave strand (SL) – There are three elements of this: Academic Study Leave, Internal Secondments and Industrial Staff Placements.

Staff Mobility and Networking strand (SMN) – There are also three elements to this strand: Standard, Erasmus, Santander

Successful bids will need to have benefits to the student experience at the core and be able to demonstrate how this will occur, so hitting the Education point in the BU Fusion triangle is important. For all the updated strand and policy documents, Fund FAQs and information about applying, please visit the FIF intranet pages.

The Fusion Investement Fund is managed by Samantha Leahy-Harland and is administered by Natalie Baines. Please direct all intial enquiries to Natalie Baines.

 

 

 

CEMP Research & Innovation Cluster: New Bulletin & Agenda

The updated CEMP R&I funding bulletin & cluster meeting agenda is here: CEMP Cluster bulletin and agenda 24.5.13

The meeting is on Friday 24th May from 1-3 in the CEMP office with the following two elements:

‘Thinktank’ discussion of reading 1 – 1.40          

Funding review and monitoring 1.40 – 3

All are welcome to attend either or both. If you see a funding opportunity in the bulletin that appeals for a collaboration with CEMP, but cannot attend the meeting, please email Julian McDougall.

The reading for the ‘Think-tank’ is provided this time by Pete Fraser.  It is ‘Making sense of young people, education and digital technology: the role of sociological theory‘ by Neil Selwyn and it’s here:  Neil Selwyn Making Sense

 

 

“More than half of academics are either not aware of their university’s knowledge transfer services, or do not use them…..” – Are YOU in that half?

Surprising figures of only 43% of academics recently surveyed were aware of their university’s knowledge exchange services!

Approximately, 22,000 academics were questioned in a recent survey which was carried out by the Centre for Business Research and the UK- Innovation Research Centre, and published in a report titled The Dual Funding Structure for Research in the UK.

The report also showed that 80% of external organisations contact academics directly, which means that if you are not in contact with your Knowledge Exchange Officer – you may be missing out on further knowledge engagement with the organisations you are already in touch with!  There are a number of funded knowledge engagement schemes available for organisations to tap into, such as Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) and Innovation Vouchers.  To find out more on these schemes please contact your Knowledge Engagement Officer – Lucy Rossiter.

Please do take advantage of the support on offer from your KE Officer.  Additionally, there is a lot to gain from touching base with them…. If they know a bit more about what you do, in turn it will help them direct any relevant business engagement KE opportunities your way…….

** The ‘engagement’ image used in this blog was sourced from http://www.peopleinsight.co.uk/ **

Research Professional

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:

28th May 2013: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/806064201

25th June 2013: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/492839664

23rd July 2013: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/771246561

27th August 2013: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/398714217

24th September 2013: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/882372120

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.

Successful knowledge engagement events encourage more businesses to work with BU!

There are a variety of funded initiatives on offer to help businesses develop and grow, but many are not aware of these offers, or just how much BU can help them with their development.

This is why we felt it was important to organise the recent KTP and SMART award events, to help promote and encourage businesses to take advantage of the expertise BU has to offer.

Both events were well attended by businesses and academics wanting to find out more on Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, SMART Awards and Innovation Vouchers.  The feedback was extremely positive from all those who attended, and as a result a number of meetings have been arranged with businesses who are keen to discuss how BU can help them develop!

It was fantastic to receive such positive feedback; one business owner was particularly impressed and commented:

“I go to quite a few so called “Business Events” that serve little purpose, so I approached today’s event at BU a little circumspect.  Now I can say that this morning I have attended the best business focused event in my recent experience.  Extremely informative, very professionally managed and a great breakfast.  A big thank you for showing the way that Academia and business can and should complement each other.”

 Roger Allen  – Managing Director, Zeta Commerce Ltd

 

Should you wish to find out more on how businesses can benefit from any of the funded initiatives spoken about at the events, please contact Lucy Rossiter, email or call  01202 961215.

European Science Foundation and Global Changes in the Marine Environment

I was very proud to have been invited by the Institute of Marine Sciences – National Research Council (ISMAR-CNR) in Venice who developed on the European Science Foundation Platform, the Exploratory Workshop:  Marine woodborers: New Frontiers for European Waters. And I have to say that that was one of the most exciting research opportunities I have taken part of in the recent past.

The European Science Foundation (ESF) was established in 1974 to provide a common platform for its Member Organisations to advance European research collaboration and explore new directions for research. Currently it is an independent organisation, owned by 67 Member Organisations, which are research funding organisations, research performing organisations and academies from 29 countries.

The focus of the Exploratory Workshops scheme is on workshops aiming to explore an emerging and/or innovative field of research or research infrastructure, also of interdisciplinary character. Workshops are expected to open up new directions in research or new domains. It is expected that a workshop shall conclude with plans for follow-up research activities and/or collaborative actions or other specific outputs at international level.

The organisers, namely Davide Tagliapietra, Erica Keppel and Marco Sigovini – all from the ISMAR-CNR- did an amazing job in organising this much needed research group and by planning an excellent working programme.

The topic, centred on Marine woodborers is of utmost important as these organisms are a threat to maritime structure and archaeological heritage. Recently, an increase in attack and a northward spread has been reported. Despite the ecological, economical and cultural importance, research on this subject is carried out by few scientists scattered across Europe. An interdisciplinary approach is needed to reach a synthesis of knowledge and a deeper understanding of the causal factors. The main outcome of the workshop is the establishment of a research network aiming to coordinate scientists with an European perspective and a global view. Through the establishment of such a network, new theoretical and technical developments could be achieved.

The agenda of the workshop was to focus on:

1) bringing together experts in complementary fields that have hitherto not collaborated as a group;

2) identifying additional research competences that are not covered within the group of participants;

3) identifying, exchanging and sharing research interests for future joint leading research projects and developing an application strategies;

4) the establishment of an international network on marine woodborers.

Despite the subject ([wood-]‘boring’ organisms), there wasn’t a single dull moment. It was very exciting to spent a considerable amount of time with international peers coming from as far as Colombia and discussing the problems surrounding these particular organisms.

All sessions were extremely interesting and productive and I totally enjoyed chairing one of them in the Knowledge Café, with my hat of maritime archaeologist whose research interest based also based on marine organisms and global changes, but I am also one of few who combines degradation and protection of the cultural heritage and marine science. The Knowledge Café focussed on Systematics and biogeography, Marine woodborer-microorganism interactions, Protection of shipwrecks and maritime structures. Each group discussed weaknesses: Problems, constrains and bottlenecks, Strengths: Opportunities, synergies, and Perspectives: Solutions, actions and recommendations.

19 international peers attended, which was by invitation only, this amazing opportunity, some of which were old friends and some of which have become reference points for my current and future research on wood borers.

All with the amazing architectural beauties of a tiny Venetian island just in front of one of the world most famous squares: San Marco square!

Paola Palma 

Fusion Investment Fund application deadlines

Application deadlines for the Fusion Investment Fund have been confirmed as 1 July and 1 December. The next call for applications will soon be launched. It provides fantastic opportunities for you to grow as a researcher, an educator and practitioner and there are many options for you to choose from, depending on your needs. Please keep checking the blog for details.

 

FIF Staff Mobility and Networking award helping me fly

Early in January I received the good news that my application to the Fusion Investment Fund SMN strand was successful. What a great way to start the New Year!

The main aim of my FIF SMN project is to consolidate newly developed partnerships with European and non-European researchers and stakeholders. Planned activities include visits to colleagues who were involved in the development of the research proposal “Living with Extreme Events at the Coast” (LEEC), submitted to the EU FP7 call on Environment (Challenge 6.4 Protecting citizens from environmental hazards). LEEC successfully passed stage 1 and we are now waiting for the outcome of stage 2, so keep your fingers crossed.

As my FIF SMN proposal builds from LEEC, I decided to call it “Living with Extreme Events at the Coast Grant Development” (LEEC GraDe). Not very creative, but it reflects well the main objective, which is to explore opportunities for collaborative research in topics related to LEEC. LEEC aims to better understand how extreme storms and climate change in coastal areas will affect flood risk and impact on society, infrastructure, economic activities and the natural environment throughout the 21th century.

Besides, the development of collaborative research proposals, I will also be exploring opportunities for enhancing students’ experience, e.g. through work placements. By the time I submitted the FIF SMN proposal, I had just taken the role of ApSci’s Academic Lead for Placements. In this role, one of my objectives is to increase the offer of research-based placements to our students. So I thought my networking visits would be a great opportunity to discuss with colleagues from organisations in Europe and abroad whether they are interested in offering to our students a research-based working experience. Many researchers systematically plan their fieldwork campaigns or dedicate larger proportion of their time to research in the summer, so a work placement can be mutually beneficial.

I so much believe in the benefits of this arrangement that I am offering two placements this summer to undergrad ApSci students. If you are interested in doing the same, please contact me.

LEEC partners are from 13 organisations spread across eight countries (Estonia, Spain, France, Belgium, Denmark, UK, Mexico and Vietnam). The FIF SMN award will allow me to visit some of these organisations and engage in other networking opportunities. I will be very busy networking throughout 2013! Hopefully the effort will result in the submission of more collaborative research proposals and a number of arrangements made to enrich students’ experiences through placements or exchanges.

The first of my planned activities was to attend the 12th International Coastal Symposium (ICS) in Plymouth (http://ics2013.org/) earlier this month. This is the largest international conference focused on coastal research with over 500 participants, so a great venue to disseminate research results, to keep updated with research progress worldwide and to network! I was invited to be the convener of the Coastal Evolution and Geomorphology session, so worked very hard evaluating abstracts and full papers before the conference! I also presented a paper on the Coastal Management session, entitled “Is managed realignment a sustainable long-term coastal management approach?” You can find a copy of the paper on BRIAN.

ICS offered the opportunity to meet many ‘old’ friends and make new contacts worldwide, including from countries I had none before, such as Trinidad & Tobago and South Africa. I have already exchanged email with a few of the new (and old) contacts and there are very exciting prospects for future collaboration. I have discussed the preparation of a joint paper with a colleague from the University of Rostock (Germany), explored ways to collaborate with practitioners from a government agency in Trinidad & Tobago and I am already working on a proposal with colleagues from South Africa. The most immediate result from networking during ICS was the invitation to visit five different organisations in Mexico, which is planned to happen in June.

Networking is also about maximising the opportunities and I will be doing exactly that next month in Brazil. I was invited to give a keynote talk in the National Symposium of Coastal Vulnerability. As the hosts are taking me to Brazil, I will extend my stay and visit two universities using SMN funds. The plan is to start building a joint research proposal to submit to the Science without borders programme (funding source from Brazil) with the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco and discuss exchange of postgraduate students and other opportunities with the Universidade do Vale do Itai.

Please watch this space for upcoming news!

Luciana Slomp Esteves (Lecturer in Physical Geography, ApSci)

CEMP Research & Innovation Cluster Bulletin & Agenda

  Here: CEMP Cluster bulletin and agenda 2.5.13  is the updated bulletin and the agenda for the next CEMP Research & Innovation cluster meeting.

The meeting is on Thursday 2nd May in the CEMP office, with the following timings:

‘Think-tank’ discussion of reading – 9.30 – 10.15

The reading for this has been provided by Michelle Cannon and is here:

design_educ_innovation_ecotones_pendleton_jullian[2]

Funding and projects review – 10.15 – 11.30

As always, Media School colleagues are very welcome indeed to join us for either or both of the above.

As always, people attending should review the bulletin before the meeting so we can spend time only discussing items people are interested in pursuing and should bring a laptop or tablet to access the bulletin electronically during the meeting.

For the ‘think-tank’ discussion, Michelle has offered the following information and suggested extract:

Pendleton-Jullian elaborates a metaphor that might be useful for visualising the terrain of media education. Scientifically speaking, the ecotone is an ecological zone where 2 unique ecosystems are juxtaposed; more precisely, it describes the overlap, a zone of transition and tension at the edges of 2 distinct ecologies eg. where the land meets water in an estuarine tidal area. Natural life forms in this changeable environment are highly biodiverse, adaptable and used to disturbance. She contrasts this hyper edge-activity with the relatively slower core activities of life forms on either side of the land/sea divide but recognises the interdependence of all three zones.

I suggest a reading of pages 25 – 45 (this doesn’t equate to 20 pages of pure text) where she details 2 intersecting continua: the vertical axis corresponding to modes of learning with Accreditation (or rather Assessment) at one end and Experimentation at the other; and on the horizontal axis – 20th Century Learning at one end and 21st Century Knowledge Creation on the other (see p. 32). Two lines are then drawn to demarcate an interstitial zone within the 2nd and 3rd quadrant that equates to the fertile ecotone. Relating this to practical media education, I’m interested in the strengths and limitations of this analogy and its capacity to frame the “seeding of a culture of innovation” and to envision the rhizomic (rhizomatic?) relations/mechanisms/”digital corridors”/elastic spin-offs that populate this dynamic space.

 

 

Don’t miss finding out how you can engage with KTPs and SMART awards…..

 

 

CALLNG ALL ACADEMICS WHO WISH TO ENGAGE WITH BUSINESSES!

Staff are invited to attend the:

 ‘Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) and SMART awards events’ 

 Both these schemes are UK-wide programmes funded by the Technology Strategy Board.

 

  •  KTP provides academics with opportunities for the practical application of their research. Importantly, they are an opportunity for academics to engage with the business community.
  •  SMART awards assist businesses to engage in research & development projects in areas such as science, engineering and technology, from which successful new products, processes and services can emerge. Whilst universities may not apply directly, they may act as a sub-contractor to an applicant.                      

  If you are interested in learning more about KTP and SMART awards, please come along to one of the following events:

 Event Dates:

 Friday 26th April         Breakfast Meeting   – Talbot Campus (KG103) –          8.30am – 10.30am

 ktpbreakfast2013.eventbrite.co.uk

 Tuesday 30th April         Executive Business Centre (7th Floor)     – Lansdowne –             6pm – 8pm

 ktpandsmart2013.eventbrite.co.uk 

(To book your place –  just go to the ‘Eventbrite link’ listed under each date.  There are only a limited number of spaces left, so please book asap to avoid missing out)

 

  • Local businesses are going to be invited to attend these sessions too, which will provide a valuable opportunity for academics to network and develop potential working relationships with them.

 

For further information, please contact Lucy Rossiter.

 

Reminder – Marie Curie morning session 16/04/13 – Need a Fully Funded Research Fellow ??

 

The Prize

These schemes provide strong financial support for a Research Fellow in your department for a period of 12 – 24 months on any research topic.

The Catch

The Research Fellow must come from another European Country or International Base worldwide. It is joint application with you and the fellowship candidate – so they must be identified. (If the fellow is already in the UK they must have been working here for less than 1 year in the last 3.)

The Deadline

Deadline for application is August 2013 – but the forms are relatively easy & straight forward – although moderately time consuming. Fellowships will start in early 2014 but this start date could be extended to early 2015.

Intra-European Fellowships (IEF)                  Deadline  Mid August 2013

International Incoming Fellowships (IIF)       Deadline  Mid August 2013

Note: For people already at the University there is a similar outgoing international Fellowship scheme to enable research periods in other , non European, Labs and Research Centres.

These fellowships are prestigious and highly sought after, especially as they pay very well. There is a difference in emphasis between the two schemes but the overriding criteria is candidate, and host, excellence with respect to the justification of the project rationale. This is all derived from the candidates cv and thus please discuss initially with Martin Pickard who can advise on suitability and fit.

These fellowships are an excellent, and often overlooked, way to expand and compliment a research team. Initial advice is imperative as, again, project structure and rationale with respect to the candidate are very important in determining success and need to be argued and justified around the actual science and project.

Requirements.

One University (Host) and one applicant, of any nationality, other than from than the UK. (candidates may already be in the UK but must have spent less than 12 months of the past 36 in the UK)

The higher the quality of the cv, rated against age and experience, the more likelihood of funding success. Each prospective fellow can only apply for one fellowship but any host can have as many fellows as they want applying to work with the same PI.

The Grant

Typical project period – Minimum 12 months — Maximum 24 months

Fellow income: In excess of 80,000 Euro per year.

University Income: Minimum of 18,000 Euro per year.

Help Needed ??

If you have a research Fellow in Mind (or can find one through networking or your colleague links) the application will not take a lot of time – but a clearly defined and specific approach is required. Guidance notes will be available as well as direct one to one support from our proposal writing specialist Dr. Martin Pickard. 

To assist further we have also arranged a series of 2 morning information sessions. The next one and last one is due to be held on the Tuesday 16th of April 2013 – Lansdowne Campus

Information Session 1 –  09:00am – 10:00am

A Brief Introduction to the Marie Curie Fellowship Schemes – for those of general interest.  

In addition to the general European topic specific calls under the cooperation programme there are a number of explicit opportunities arising through other schemes – some of which are far more easily accessible and have the advantage of being open to literally any research idea/topic. Several of these arise through the People programme under the Marie Curie calls and this 40 minute plus Q&A information session seeks to highlight some of these opportunities and identify their pro’s and cons so that a clear strategy can be developed to avoid missing these significant, and relatively easy, opportunities.

Information Session 2 – 10:15am – 12:15pm

How to Approach and Structure your Marie Curie Fellowship Application –  for those possibly intending to submit a bid.

The structure of any bid (partner interactions, methodology synergy etc.) is critical to the success of an application and forward planning is a key element of winning proposals.

If you are thinking of applying this August this session will illustrate the basic approach requirements for success and show how to structure and present your research application in the correct form of “Brusselese”.  A brief, 2 hour, guide to the Marie Curie application process.

Please note: If you are already intending to submit a bid this August then Session 1 will provide very little additional information. Also Grants Academy members who have already attended our Grants Academy 2 Day Bid Writing Workshop will not need to attend Session 1 as this has already been covered in your workshop so we would recommend you book into and attend Session 2 only.

If these are a potential interest to you – don’t miss this exceptional opportunity. Please book in ASAP via Staff Development Booking Link to reserve your space as we anticipate these sessions will be very popular.