Category / Funding opportunities

Want to know more on the exciting R&D opportunities available in Electronic Systems?

Funding opportunities

Keen to find out more on the opportunities available for R&D?  Then do not miss this event:

‘Starting Small, Thinking Big: Entry-Level funded R&D opportunities in Electronic Systems’         

at:

The University of West England on Wednesday 10th April.

The purpose of this event is to inform organisations of the type of opportunity that is available from the Technology Strategy Board, through funding programmes such as: 

SMART and  KTPs.

In particular, detailed information will be given on the current

KTP Call opportunity in Resilient Energy.

Used properly, publicly funded R&D can be a valuable way for companies to develop products, ideas and people. Successful projects and programmes in electronic systems are often built from small, carefully planned beginnings.

To register for the event, and to find out further information please click here

Marie Curie Funding Info Sessions Reminder – Need A Fully Funded Research Fellow ?

Funding opportunities, Grants Academy, Training

 

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 to be held on the Wednesday 27th of March and repeated again on the Tuesday 16th of April 2013 

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.

CEMP Research & Innovation Bulletin 14.3.13

Funding opportunities

The CEMP Research & Innovation Cluster bulletin for the meeting on 14.3.13 is here: Cluster bulletin and agenda 14.3.13.

The focus of the cluster is pedagogic research and innovation. Any colleagues interested in collaborating with CEMP to pursue any of the funding opportunities in the bulletin – please email Julian McDougall.

Cluster meetings take place every other Thursday. In the Thursdays in between, the bulletin will be posted here.

Networking with microbes: BOSS – Biogeography of Organisms of Small Size

Funding opportunities, Fusion

Genoveva Esteban, Associate Professor at the School of Applied Sciences, has been awarded a Santander Staff Mobility and Networking Scholarship (strand of the Fusion Investment Fund) to develop a network with Prof Angel Baltanás at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain). The network is called BOSS (Biogeography of Organisms of Small Size) – a research-educational network on freshwater aquatic ecology. The aim of BOSS is to investigate the geographical distribution of small-sized organisms and rare freshwater invertebrates involving students (supervised by the PI and CoI) at each university to exchange data collected from rare aquatic habitats in central Spain and in Dorset via the internet. The network will aim at developing a bilingual on-line learning and communications tool to facilitate exchange of students, masters, ecological information, and research between both institutions.  The project will also help promote BU’s PG research and MSc opportunities.

Fusion Investment Surgery Sessions – Gain some valuable advice and be inspired!

Awarded & submitted bids, Funding opportunities, Fusion

 As part of the Fusion in Action conference on Thursday 18 April, the Fusion Investment Surgery drop-in sessions will provide an excellent opportunity to talk about your potential applications to the Fusion Investment Fund (FIF). The FIF scheme reopens in April/May with an application deadline of 3 June, so why not take the opportunity to discuss your ideas and get advice about eligibility and assessment criteria now, as well as gaining inspiration from the showcase of the best of Fusion in Action at BU over the last 12 months!

The conference features a range of engaging presenters and two of these will be discussing their successful FIF bids so it’s a fantastic opportunity to find out more from those with the knowledge.

The following committee members will be on-hand with advice about the different funding schemes and how to ensure your applications have the best possible chance of being successful:

Study Leave – Debbie Sadd

Staff Mobility & Networking – Feng Tian

Co-Creation and Co-Production – Hong Bui and Richard Scullion

Book now to attend the conference (via the Staff Development Webpage) and come along for this great opportunity to learn more about how you can get involved and secure funding for activities that matter to you!

Fusion in Action Conference:

On Thursday 18 April, Kimmeridge House

Begins at 12pm with a networking lunch

Ends at 5pm with wine and nibbles

Presentations, posters, drop-in sessions and a Q&A Panel

Hosted by Deputy Vice-Chancellor Tim McIntyre-Bhatty and Chief Operating Officer Jim Andrews

Bookings are essential

SILVER – Active ageing: Open call for robotic based pre-commercial solutions

Funding opportunities

In the European Union, countries are facing tough times in the health and elderly care sector: while populations age and require more care services, countries are under pressure to make these services more cost efficient and effective. The pan-European SILVER project (Supporting Independent LiVing for the Elderly through Robotics) aims to demonstrate how public services can be rejuvenated by procuring R&D services that will develop higher quality and more sustainable elderly care solutions.   

The SILVER project searches for new, innovative ways to acquire public sector health services by utilizing a Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) process designed for optimally matching R&D with procurers’ needs. The goal is to find new technologies to assist elderly people’s ability to continue living independently at home. By the use of robotics or other related technologies, the elderly are able to enjoy homelife even if they have physical or cognitive disabilities.

 Registrations for the competition can be made via the SILVER webpage at www.silverpcp.eu/call-for-tender/registration

 SILVER (Supporting Independent LiVing for the Elderly through Robotics) is a research and development project to establish and to execute a Pre-Commercial Procurement process suitable for the conditions for cross-border project implementation across several EU countries. It is funded by the European Union under the ICT cooperation part of the Seventh Framework Programme for research and technological development (FP7). The project started in January 2012 and will run for 51 months. SILVER has partners in Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden and United Kingdom.

 Status: OPEN

Open Date: 1st March 2013

Registration Close Date: 5th June 2013

Close Date: 12th June 2013

Website: www.silverpcp.eu/

e-mail: competitions@silverpcp.eu

Phone number: +44(0) 300 321 4357

Vice-Chancellor Doctoral (Fee Waive) Scholarships 2013 – now available

Funding opportunities, PG research

We are delighted to announce the launch of the 2013 Vice-Chancellor Doctoral (Fee Waive) Scholarships which will offer support to up to 25 outstanding postgraduate research students.  The VC PhD Scholarships will provide a full fee waive for up to 36 months in the case of full-time students and exceptionally 48 months in the case of part-time students.  Stipends (to cover living expenses) are not included in the scholarships and these must be provided by the student themselves or by a sponsor. 

This Scholarship programme will open on 4 March 2013 and will roll until 31 July 2013.  There are up to 25 scholarships available, which are nominally split between the 6 Academic Schools and Schools can take up more or less than their allotted share.  There is no requirement for a School to accept candidates.

The focus of the VC PhD Scholarships is on the outstanding nature of the candidate who must meet the following eligibility criteria:

  • All candidates must demonstrate truly outstanding qualities and be motivated to complete a PhD in 3 years full-time or 4 years part-time.
  • All candidates must satisfy the University’s minimum doctoral entry criteria for studentships of an honors degree at Upper Second Class (2:1) and/or an appropriate Masters degree or equivalent.
  • An IELTS (Academic) score of 6.5 minimum (or equivalent) is essential for candidates for whom English is not their first language.

In addition to satisfying basic entry criteria, BU will look closely at the qualities, skills and background of each candidate and what they can bring to their chosen research project in order to ensure successful and timely completion.  It is important to consider that in most cases the interpretation of ‘truly outstanding’ is likely to be those candidates with a First Class (Hons) degrees and/or a distinction at Masters, with clear documented evidence of drive, commitment and relevant skills.

Only the most outstanding candidates will be supported.  Full details and criteria are set out in the BU VC Scholarship 2013 Policy. Staff are asked to check the eligibility criteria carefully before nominating. 

The VC PhD Scholarship process will be managed and overseen by the Graduate School but administered through the Academic Schools.

The VC PhD Scholarships applications (available on the Graduate School website from Monday 4 March 2013) should be submitted to the relevant School Research Administrator at any time but no later than 31 July 2013.

ESRC Retail Knowledge Exchange Opportunities

Funding opportunities

Exciting new funding opportunities are now available with the retail sector!

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) have recently made a call, after committing to invest £2 million to establish a cohort of new Knowledge Exchange Opportunities with the retail sector. 

The Knowledge Exchange Opportunities scheme is designed to promote the application of social science within non-academic communities. Which means that the target audience of the grant activity must be non-academic stakeholders within the private, public or civil society sectors. The flexibility built into the scheme is intended to encourage applicants to think creatively about knowledge exchange and the ESRC are welcoming applications for either a single activity or a combination of activities.

Potential activities could include:

  • new applied research, provided it is user-led or in collaboration with a user partner
  • setting up a network to encourage knowledge exchange between leading academics and retailers
  • an academic placement within a private sector retailer,  or other organisation focusing on the retail sector
  • developing tools such as podcasts and videos aimed at communicating the results of research to retailers
  • developing existing research to make it more applicable to the retail sector
  • seminars to encourage knowledge exchange between academics and retailers.

 Also, a targeted call has been made for:

  • Retail Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTPs)  (run by the Technology Strategy Board – for details and to apply visit www.ktponline.org.uk)

The call for all applications closes on 30 April 2013.

For further information please visit the ESRC website

British Academy Small Research Grants Funding Opportunity

Funding opportunities

The British Academy, the UK’s national body for the humanities and social sciences, has announced that its Small Research Grant scheme is open for applications.  Under the Small Research Grants programme grants of between £500 and £10,000 over two years are available to support primary research in the humanities and social sciences. Funds will be available to facilitate initial project planning and development; to support the direct costs of research; and to enable the advancement of research through workshops, or visits by or to partner scholars.  The closing date for applications is the 10th April 2013.  More information can be found here: http://www.britac.ac.uk/funding/guide/srg.cfm

Erasmus Mundus mobility to South Caucasus region and Ukraine for students and staff available now! -Deadline 28th February-

Funding opportunities, PG research, Training

BU students and staff have been invited by Georg-August Universität Göttingen to apply for mobility at ALRAKIS II.

ALRAKIS II is one of the awarded Erasmus Mundus action 2 projects that promotes exchange mobility in the South Caucasus region and Ukraine. The beneficiary countries are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine. Our students and staff would be looking at applying at Target Group 2.

For more information please visit the project website and if you have any queries please contact Eva Papadopoulou at epapadopoulou@bournemouth.ac.uk and 01202 968252

Please note that the deadline for this is 28th February 2013.

Need A Fully Funded Research Fellow ???

Funding opportunities, Training

  

 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 to be held on the Wednesday 27th of March and repeated again on the Tuesday 16th of April 2013 

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.

 

Erasmus Mundus Call Open – INTERESTED?

Funding opportunities

 

The Erasmus Mundus 2013 call for proposals is now open!  Full details of the call can be found here and please note that this year’s call is for Action 2 and 3 proposals only.

We need to assess the level of interest across BU in submitting applications to this call in order to ensure we meet the guidelines re multiple applications.

If interested in applying, please contact Paul Lynch asap! –  plynch@bournemouth.ac.uk

Leverhulme Trust Programme Grants

Funding opportunities

The Leverhulme Trust invites proposals for its research programme grants. Proposals are invited for programme awards on one of the following two topics:

•the nature of knots, which includes uncovering the unifying and organising ideas that underpin knottedness in nature, establishing mathematical methods for quantifiying knottedness, measuring experimentally and developing techniques to control knottedness and identifying the scientific and technological consequences and implications of knottedness;

•innovation for sustainable living, which might involve disruptive science and engineering and their role in new energy, materials and transport, mathematics and statistics, public policy, economics and the complexities of trade-offs, psychology and determining the driers of behaviour change, lessons from history and comparative social analysis.

Grants are worth between £500,000 and £1.75 million each for a period of up to five years for each of the topics.

Closing date 4pm,03 Oct 13

The RKE Operations team can help you with your application. Please direct any enquiries to RKE Ops in the first instance.

Royal Society International Exchanges Scheme

Funding opportunities

The Royal Society invites applications for its international exchanges scheme. This offers a flexible platform for UK-based scientists to interact with the best scientists around the world. Funds contribute towards travel, subsistence and research expenses, and can be requested for either a one-off short visit in order to explore opportunities for building lasting networks or for bilateral visits to strengthen emerging collaborations. Activities must be on a subject within the natural sciences, including physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, engineering, agricultural and medical research, and scientific aspects of archaeology, geography and experimental psychology, but excluding social science, and clinical or patient-oriented research.

Applicants must have a PhD or equivalent research experience and hold a permanent or fixed-term contract in an eligible university or research institute for the duration of the project. Collaborations should be based on a single project involving the UK-based scientist and the overseas-based scientist. Collaborations with any country outside the UK are eligible for this scheme.

Applicants may request:

•up to £3,000 for one-off travel lasting up to three months;

•up to £6,000 for multiple visits to be completed within one year, including a maximum of £1,000 for research expenses;

•up to £12,000 for multiple visits to be completed within two years, including a maximum of £2,000 for research expenses.

Closing date: 20 February 2013

For further information, click here.

The RKE Operations team can help you with your application. Please direct any enquiries to RKE Ops in the first instance.

 

ESRC: Celebrating impact prize

Funding opportunities

The Economic and Social Research Council invites applications for its celebrating impact prize.

This prize is intended to recognise and reward ESRC-funded researchers who have achieved, or are currently achieving outstanding economic or societal impacts through their research and collaborative working, partnerships, engagement and knowledge exchange activities. There are six categories for this prize: impact in business, impact in public policy, impact in society, international impact, early career impact, impact champion of the year.

A prize of £10,000 will be made to the winners of each category, with a further £10,000 for the department with the impact champion of the year.

The application deadline is 16.00 on 14 February 2013.

For further information please click here.

The RKE Operations team can help you with your application. Please direct any enquiries to RKE Ops in the first instance.

 

Royal Society Mullard Award

Funding opportunities

This award is made to individuals whose work has the potential to make a contribution to national prosperity. 

The Royal Society Mullard Award is made biennially for “an individual who has an outstanding academic record in any area of natural science, engineering or technology and whose work is currently making or has the potential to make a contribution to national prosperity in the United Kingdom”. The award is aimed at early to mid career stage scientists, engineers and technologists.

The award was established following a gift by Mullard Limited. It was first awarded in 1967.  The medal is of silver gilt and is accompanied by a gift of £2,000 and a travel grant of £1,500. The winner is called upon to deliver a lecture at the Society. 

Nominations

The 2013 call for nominations is now open and will close on the Friday 8 February 2013.  To submit a nomination (self-nominations are allowed), please download a nomination form  and send it to innovationgrants@royalsociety.org.

The RKE Operations team can help you with your application. Please direct any enquiries to RKE Ops in the first instance.

 

JSPS Summer Programme opportunity for Researchers

Funding opportunities

Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) is the leading research funding agency in Japan, established by the Japanese Government for the purpose of contributing to the advancement of science. Our Summer Programme provides the opportunity pre and post-doctoral researchers to receive an orientation on Japanese culture and research systems and to conduct collaborative research activities with leading research groups at Japanese Universities and research institutions over a period of 2 months during the summer.

Value of award: Return international airfare, maintanence allowance (534,000, JPY), domestic research trip allowance (58,500 JPY) and overseas travel and accident insurance policy are provided.

Eligibility: Applicants need to be a UK national or permanent resident and should be of graduate student status (Master or PhD) or be a recent PhD holder (within the last 6 years) and should be based at a UK university or research institution. Eligible research fields are not limited.

Applications should be sent to the British Council Tokyo. Application guidelines and form are available on their website here: http://www.britishcouncil.org/japan-science-research.htm.

The RKE Operations team can help you with your application. Please direct any enquiries to RKE Ops in the first instance.

Application Deadline: Tuesday, 15th January 2013.  Fellowship to take place during fixed period: 11 June to 21 August 2013