Category / pre-award

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2023

EU, Funding opportunities, pre-award

​The 2023 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowships (PF) Call is now open on the Funding & Tender Opportunities Portal, with a deadline of 13 September 2023. The Guide for Applicants and other guidance documentation can be found on the call page as well as on the “MSCA How to Apply” website. There is also some useful information about this call on UKRO webpage.

Due to continuous uncertainty around UK’s accession to the Horizon Europe programme, BU internal deadline for submission of eItB forms is not set yet, however it’s expected to be no later than mid-July if UK entities are eligible for funding.

We would appreciate if  potential BU supervisors inform their Funding Development Officers or Research Facilitator International about their intention to submit an application as soon as possible. As usual, we will have very busy period in August-September supporting your applications, so we need to plan resources to provide appropriate support.

Where necessary, we will provide individual support to BU academics starting from June. In addition, UKRO, in its capacity as UK National Contact Point for the MSCA, will hold information webinars for prospective applicants. More information will be provided as soon as it becomes available. UKRO sessions will cover all aspects of application, so specific BU-hosted training sessions will not be organised.

To access UKRO training sessions, login details will be required. BU is one of UKRO service subscribers and receives training as part of our subscription benefits. If you still have not registered, there are more details how BU academics can register.

With queries related to MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2023 Call please contact Research Facilitator International Ainar Blaudums.

UKRO Session for Bournemouth University – 26 April 2023

EU, Events, Funding opportunities, international, pre-award

UKRO annual visit to BU

As advertised earlier, RDS will host the annual UK Research Office (UKRO) visit to BU on 26 April 2023. This will be online event (Zoom) with an option to meet our UKRO European Advisor Malgorzata Czerwiec individually after general sessions. Event will start on Wednesday at 12:30.

All academic and professional staff interested in Horizon Europe framework programme and EU funding in general, either experienced or new to it, are invited to attend this session.

Agenda

12:30-13:15     Update on UK participation in Horizon Europe, with Q&A time (UK eligibility, how to include UK in HE proposals, the UK Horizon Europe Guarantee and statistics)

13:15-13:30     UKRO services and NCPs support for UK applicants to Horizon Europe (signposting to open HE call opportunities, webinars and support)

13:30-13:45     Break

13:45-14:45     Introduction to COST opportunities, with Q&A time

15:00-17:00    Bookable 1-2-1 meetings (each slot 15 minutes)

Instructions for joining

Registration is not mandatory, although I would appreciate if you email Research Facilitator International about your intention to participate. In return, I will forward you Zoom link. Link will also be sent to your Heads of Departments for information.

Those willing to speak with our European Advisor individually will have to email me by the end of Friday 21 April to receive individual Zoom link for their session. Please indicate in your email the topic you would like to discuss and if there are any specific questions you would expect to be answered during the meeting.

UKRO

Based in Brussels, UKRO are a UKRI team supporting the UK’s involvement in the EU’s key research and innovation programme – Horizon Europe. UKRO team works with partners across the UK government and stakeholders to maximise UK engagement in Horizon Europe.

In addition to offering a subscription-based service for UK universities and research organisations, UKRO also provide free advice on the European Research Council, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions and Widening Participation parts of Horizon Europe, as well as COST. The latter is a new area UKRO is covering for their subscribers and we have included this topic in this year’s annual meeting.

As part of UKRO services, BU members of staff may sign up to receive personalised email alerts and get early access to the EU funding related publications on UKRO portal. More about UKRO services you can find here.

Wishing you all Happy Easter,

Updated Intention to Bid form – March 2023

BU research, ECR Network, Funding opportunities, Guidance, PG research, policy, Postgraduate Research, pre-award, research opportunities, Research Training

Since the introduction of the new electronic ITB form on 24 January 2022, there have been incremental updates and the current e-ITB form is now available.

The e-ITB form continues to give a better user experience, creates a more efficient administrative control process for Research Development and Support (RDS) and provides accurate reporting outcomes for management.

 

Updated ITB form: The  Intention to Bid (ITB) form and the updated Research Costings Request Sheet are both available now in the Policies & Procedures/Research/Pre-award section of the intranet under Research > Pre-award. Please complete the Research Costings Request Sheet and attach it to the e-ITB form for completion. PDF copies of all submissions can be printed or saved but there are limitations to editing a form once it has been submitted.

Please send RDS the completed e-ITB form and Costing Request Sheet by the latest 4 weeks before the deadline.

 

Bid Enquiry Process: If you have more than 4 weeks to the submission deadline and need advice or support regarding a bid, please access the same form link and select ‘Enquiry/Advice on Bidding’. This ensures that the pre-award team will see your Enquiry, rather than emailing a sole officer who may not be available at the time.

 

As a service, RDS is committed to delivering service excellence to enable BU’s academic community to deliver and grow world-leading research for societal benefit. The program of work continues to look at processes to enhance the user experience.

 

Changes include improvements to the pre- and post-award support being offered. Building on the delivery of a new Principal Investigator report which is currently in the final stages of being rolled out, and continuing our collaboration with the Transformation Team.

Rollout of the online SoECAT and wording for funders guidance – FAO funders (and info for others)-This is really important for PI’s who are submitting an NIHR bid

pre-award, Research news

The NIHR have released and fully tested a new online SoECAT over the last year and have already rolled it out across a number of funding streams. Following on from this rollout, it has been determined that the Excel SoECAT will no longer be made available for new applications beyond the end of March 2023 and that, for all phase 2 applications commencing after 1st April 2023, we would like you to help us encourage applicants to use the online system and to use the following wording within your application guidance:

Please be aware that if your planned project includes the recruitment of participants, your application should be accompanied with the Funder Export from the online SoECAT, obtainable via the NIHR Central Portfolio Management System (CPMS).

In order to create a SoECAT, you will need to create an account in CPMS. After creating the account, you will need to login to CPMS to activate this account. If any assistance is required in creating the account, please refer to our user guide. Once your account has been created and is active, you can proceed.

Guidance for the completion of the SoECAT by the applicant is present in the online tool to assist at each page and stage of the application process and further details can be found on the Online SoECAT Guidance page.

There is also an Online SoECAT Guidance Module which includes video tutorials and linked resources (an NIHR Learn account is required to access and enrol onto the module) and a helpful Study Representative – Online SoECAT Top Tips infographic.

 Please note that completion of the SoECAT may not be necessary when applying for funding to support: overarching programmes with no specific research study protocol, infrastructure, fellowships, anything where the grant is to be used for direct employment of a member of staff or purchase of an asset, and data or diagnostic reviews where recruitment data is not collected. Such applications should be submitted with supporting documentation to explain why a SoECAT was not submitted in this instance.

COST Information and Networking Event

BU research, EU, Events, Funding opportunities, Info Days, pre-award

A while ago I published a blog about opportunities to join COST | European Cooperation in Science and Technology actions, you can read the article here.

The University of Leeds, in collaboration with the COST Association, will host an in-person COST Information Day & Networking Event on Thursday, 23 March 2023 from 9:30 to 14:00.

This event will provide researchers with information on COST Actions and how to submit a COST proposal. It will also outline the impact of participating in COST Actions on researchers’ careers, highlighting specific opportunities for young researchers.

Speakers will include a representative from the COST Association, who will present the COST Programme, and Leeds researchers, who will share their experiences from participation in COST actions. There will be an opportunity to ask questions in a dedicated Q&A session, and to network with other attendees.

The event will be recorded and the video will be published on the University of Leeds events page.

Further information, including the full agenda and the registration link, can be found on the event registration webpage.

Please note that those interested to participate in person will have to seek options for covering travel costs in their faculties; event itself is free of charge.

If you plan to get involved in a COST Action, please get in touch with your RDS Funding Development Officer.

Horizon Europe Update – January 2023

EU, pre-award

Welcome to the first Horizon Europe news of 2023. This is a summary based on articles published by UKRO and Research Professional early this year.

Horizon Europe association

The EU and New Zealand have concluded the official negotiations on the non-EU country’s association to Horizon Europe; the signing of the Association Agreement is expected to take place in early 2023. This will allow researchers and organisations from New Zealand to participate as beneficiaries receiving EU funding in projects funded under the six thematic Clusters of Horizon Europe’s second Pillar (Societal Challenges).

This is the first time that a highly industrialised country outside of Europe has become associated to the EU framework programme, however for all other parts of the programme, including European Research Council and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, New Zealand will continue to be considered a non-associated third country. Canada is also expected to become associated to Horizon Europe in early 2023, while Japan and South Korea continue to have early exploratory talks on association with the EU.

UK Government’s plan B

According to Research Professional, the UK science minister has said that the UK’s alternative plan for spending money ringfenced for European R&D programmes, the so-called ‘plan B’, is being signed off by prime minister Rishi Sunak. In his speech, Freeman said that ministers “haven’t yet finalised” the alternative package, which is “now with the prime minister, the chancellor, the cabinet and the National Science and Technology Council”.

The science minister said that the government was “still pushing, and I’m still hopeful”, for UK association, but added that access to EU R&D programmes was “caught up in the high politics of the post-Brexit negotiation”.

A glimmer of hope for such negotiations was reached this week when the EU and the UK reached agreement on a specific issue related to trade in Northern Ireland. The UK government has ringfenced £6.8bn for membership of EU programmes.

Pilot of two-stage proposal evaluation

The European Commission will pilot a new mechanism in the Horizon Europe evaluation process called ‘blind evaluation’ in all two-stage calls included in the recently published Work Programme 2023-24. The objective of anonymised proposals in the ‘blind evaluation’ pilot is to tackle some concerns about a potential bias of evaluators towards well-known organisations in countries with better-performing R&I systems.

The ‘blind evaluation’ approach means that at stage one of the evaluation process, the applicants’ identity is not revealed to the experts. At the first stage of proposal submission, applicants may not disclose their identity in Part B of their proposal. The second stage, in which full proposals are submitted, is not anonymised. All first stage applicants should keep in mind that if a proposal includes any identification of the applicant(s) in Part B, the bid will be declared inadmissible and will be rejected.

Expert Evaluators in Horizon Europe

The Commission and its executive agencies that manage Horizon Europe’s calls for proposals are continuously looking for new evaluators who assist the EU services in a personal capacity as experts with the implementation of EU funding and tenders. The Commission is looking for experts with a high level of expertise and professional experience in all EU action and policy fields, particularly those relevant to Horizon Europe’s calls for proposals.

Individuals interested in becoming expert evaluators in Horizon Europe should register in the dedicated ‘Work as an expert’ area of the F&T Portal. The Portal Expert Database is the central database for all expert work in this domain. Registration is a mandatory prerequisite for being contracted by the Commission to work as an evaluator on any EU funding programme. The Commission welcomes experts from any country, as long as they are not subject to EU administrative sanctions.

Becoming an expert evaluator in Horizon Europe is the best way to get to know the evaluation process in the new programme and become successful as an applicant faster. Knowing how the evaluation process works and what the experts are looking for in an excellent proposal will allow you to improve your own applications in the future.

NIHR Bulletin

Funding opportunities, NHS, pre-award, Research news

RDS NEWS

RDS Blog: Researcher, adviser, committee member – we’re all on the same side
The RDS blog this month looks at the many hats that our RDS advisers wear to support you develop the best application for submission to NIHR funding programmes. Find out more.

NIHR News

NIHR publishes its 2021-22 Annual Report
The NIHR has published its annual report and accounts, highlighting milestones and achievements during 2021/22. Find out more.

eBulletins and Newsletters

CRN West of England – AcoRD Specialist Update

NIHR ARCs Your Path in Research: January 2023,  New Year Special

NIHR Evidence: December 2022

NIHR News and Research: December 2022

 

Funding Opportunities

Latest NIHR funding calls

Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) Programme
22/564 Evaluating the Efficacy of Metformin in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex

Health and Social Care Delivery Research (HSDR) Programme
22/563 Evaluating new models of care for children and young people with excess weight and related complications

Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme
23/1 Health Technology Assessment Programme researcher-led (primary research)
23/2 Health Technology Assessment Programme researcher-led (evidence synthesis)
23/3 NIHR NICE rolling call (HTA Programme)
23/4 NIHR James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnerships rolling call (HTA Programme)
23/6 Motor Neurone Disease (HTA Programme)

Public Health Research (PHR) Programme
Health Determinant Research Collaborations (HDRCs) – webinar on 1 February

Your local branch of the NIHR RDS (Research Design Service) is based within the BU Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) should you need help with your application. We advise on all aspects of developing an application and can review application drafts as well as put them to a mock funding panel (run by RDS South West) known as 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 or if you’re hoping to resubmit the panel can provide some excellent tips and feedback.

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

Feel free to call us on 01202 961939 or send us an email.

Horizon Europe Resources

EU, pre-award

Happy New Year everybody!

In December, Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) and the UK’s Horizon Europe National Contact Points (NCPs) hosted a series of webinars presenting funding opportunities of the Horizon Europe 2023-24 work programme parts for the six Clusters under Pillar 2 ‘Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness’.

The video recordings and presentation slides from these events are now available online. Each webinar provides an overview of calls for proposals for the specific Cluster, practical tips for applicants and case studies.

As a reminder, the European Commission’s info days and brokerage events are taking place in in January 2023, follow the link for more information. You can also find more Horizon Europe internal resources on Brightspace.

As a reminder, one of BU Funding Development Briefings in January (scheduled for 25/01/23) will have spotlight on UK government guaranty related Horizon Europe grants.

Horizon Europe Update – End of 2022

EU, pre-award

Two weeks ago, I reported that on 6 December 2022 the European Commission adopted and published the final versions of Horizon Europe individual Work Programmes for 2023 and 2024.

One of the last thing to find out in 2022 has been situation regarding UK government guarantee for Horizon Europe calls closing in 2023.

According to the Research Professional, the government has once again extended its “safety net” for UK-based winners of funding from the EU’s Horizon Europe R&D programme, amid continuing uncertainty over long-term UK participation.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy announced on 19 December that it would provide backup funding for successful UK applicants to Horizon Europe calls that close on or before 31 March 2023. BEIS said that eligible, successful applicants to the programme would receive the “full value of their funding at their UK host institution for the lifetime of their grant”.

The announcement builds on a previous extension of the guarantee to cover calls ending on or before 31 December. The UK government now needs to decide whether to walk away from association and launch its ‘plan B’ or enter an arbitration process that could take months to conclude.

The government’s ‘plan B’ includes a new “flagship talent offer” with “high-value, long-term fellowships and a strong international mobility offer”, as well as an “ambitious programme for supporting global collaboration” and an increase in investment for “end-to-end innovation”.

The backup funding is being administered by UK Research and Innovation. According to data published by the national funder on 30 November, at least 1,353 UK-based researchers have requested £678.4 million in backup funding.

This must be my last research blog of 2022. I would like to thank you for being such encouraging colleagues, attending weekly funding briefings throughout 2022 and wish you calm and peaceful winter break!

Horizon Europe Update – December 2022

EU, pre-award

There is some good news this time; yesterday, on 6 December 2022, the European Commission adopted and published the final versions of Horizon Europe individual Work Programmes for 2023 and 2024. Those are publicly available in the ‘Reference documents’ section of the Funding & Tenders Portal. Some of the 2023 calls for proposals have already been launched.

R&I investments planned under the 2023-24 Work Programme will contribute to the EU reaching its climate goals, increasing energy resilience, and developing core digital technologies. They will also address targeted actions to support Ukraine, boost economic resilience and contribute to a sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

There are some changes in the new work programme, just a couple to mention here.

Legal entities established in China will no longer be eligible to participate in Horizon Europe Innovation Actions in any capacity.

Participation of Russian and Belarusian organisations as well as those based in non-government-controlled territories of Ukraine are not eligible to participate in any capacity even when they are not subject to specific EU restrictive measures.

The Commission is already holding a series of information days on the 2023 calls for proposals included in the new Work Programme. The already confirmed information days can be found on the Commission’s dedicated website.

Association to Horizon Europe still remains the UK government’s priority, although there already are some plans in place if that is not going to happen. Just to note that UK applicants must apply for funding from the EU as beneficiaries and not as Associated Partners in order to be eligible for the UK government’s Horizon Europe funding guarantee. The change to Associated Partner status must only be made after the project has been assessed at the point of preparing the EU grant agreement.

International Research Collaboration Opportunities

international, pre-award

Collaboration with Norway

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and Research Council of Norway (RCN) have signed a Money Follows Cooperation (MFC) agreement to foster collaboration between researchers in both countries.

RCN and the participating UKRI research councils (AHRC, ESRC, EPSRC, MRC and NERC) have reciprocally opened their agreed national research funding opportunities to collaborative applications involving researchers from the other country to be funded as international co-investigators.

This enables eligible UK principal investigators to submit collaborative applications with co-investigators employed by Norwegian institutions. The inclusion of Norway co-investigators is possible in specific funding opportunities that do not expressly forbid international collaboration and do not provide alternative support for international co-investigators. They must fit the normal definition of a co-investigator on a research project, assisting the grant holder in the management and leadership of the project.

General conditions and budget will differ depending on the funding opportunity to which an application is being submitted.

You should refer to the specific participating research council’s guidance to applicants and funding opportunity guidance for further information on eligibility and application submission, for more details and conditions visit UKRI website.

Under this agreement, UK researchers are also able to take part in RCN funding opportunities as international co-investigators. UK researchers wishing to take part as international co-investigators in applications submitted to RCN should refer to RCN’s website for further information and contact details.

Collaboration with Switzerland

I the meantime, on Thursday 10 November UK has signed major science co-operation agreement with Switzerland.

According to the information available on Government’s web page, UK and Switzerland sign Memorandum of Understanding deepening the relationship between the two countries’ world-leading research and innovation communities.

The memorandum outlines the principles of the relationship, and specific forms of cooperation, including coordinated or joint initiatives, programmes or projects, meetings, workshops, conferences or symposia, exchange of information and documentation, mobility, visits and delegations, and strategy and coordination meetings.

The memorandum will encourage particular focus on cooperation in ‘deep science’ and ‘deep tech’, including life science, energy technology, AI and space.

Horizon Europe 2023-24 Work Programmes – UK NCP Webinars in December

EU, Events, Info Days, pre-award

About ten days ago I published a blog regarding Horizon Europe info days organised by the European Commision. UKRO have announced the UK National Contact Points’ (NCP) Clusters Webinar Series on the 2023-24 Work Programmes.

The webinar series hosted by Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) and the UK’s Horizon Europe National Contact Points (NCPs) will give you an overview of the Horizon Europe 2023-24 Work Programmes for the six Clusters under Pillar 2: Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness.

The dates of each two-hour webinar are below:

  • 1 December 2022 – Cluster 5: Climate, Energy & Mobility
  • 2 December 2022 – Cluster 1: Health
  • 6 December 2022 – Cluster 6: Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment
  • 7 December 2022 – Cluster 2: Culture, Creativity & Inclusive Society
  • 8 December 2022 – Cluster 4: Digital, Industry & Space
  • 15 December 2022 – Cluster 3: Civil Security for Society

Registration is mandatory to attend the webinars.

In a case of further questions related to EU and international funding opportunities please contact Research Facilitator International Ainar Blaudums or any of my RDS Funding Development Team colleagues.

Impact and Funding Bids workshop -Thursday 7th November

ECR Network, Funding opportunities, Impact, Knowledge Exchange, pre-award, Research Training, RKE development framework, Training, UKRI

There are still places available for this online workshop, facilitated by Eva Papadapoulou, Research Facilitator and Amanda Lazar, Impact Advisor.

Writing about impact in a grant application can be challenging. However, a strong description of the benefits you hope your project will have on society and the economy, and the means you will take to get there, can make all the difference between getting funded or not.

The RKEDF online training session will help you understand what you need to include for the best chance of success and look at the different ways impact may be considered within each call.

Since the UKRI removed the Pathways to Impact sections of grant applications, they actually expect impact to be even more embedded within funding bids. So, how do you write about impact in grant applications? And what counts as impact?

This session is aimed at researchers at all stages of their careers but is likely to be especially useful for ECRs preparing their first funding bids.

Book your place

 

Horizon Europe Information Days – Save dates

EU, Events, Info Days, pre-award

Cluster 6:  Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment

According to UK Research Office (UKRO), the Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation will host Information Days for Horizon Europe Cluster 6 on 13-14 December 2022.

This event will present the research topics proposed under the yet-to-be published 2023 Work Programme of Cluster 6 (Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment). A separate brokerage session will take place on 19 December.

Information is not yet available on the registration method or format of the events; a detailed agenda has not been published either.

BU academics can refer to our UKRO’s dedicated Cluster 6 Factsheet for an overview of the main policies and topic areas involved (login details required).

Cluster 5: Climate, Energy & Mobility

The Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation will host hybrid Information Days for Horizon Europe Cluster 5 on 15-16 December 2022

The event will present the research topics proposed under the yet-to-be published 2023 Work Programme of Cluster 5 (Climate, Energy & Mobility) with focus on twin green and digital transitions to achieve climate neutrality in Europe by 2050.

A separate physical pitching session and brokerage session organised by the Cluster 5 National Contact Points will take place in the afternoon on 15 December.

Limited physical registrations will be possible via the official Info Days registration page. Online participation will be possible without prior registration. The detailed agenda and practical details are available on the event website.

BU academics can refer to our UKRO’s dedicated Cluster 5 Factsheet for an overview of the main policies and topic areas involved (login details required).

Horizon Europe association

As you may know, Government’s policy is to encourage UK researchers to continue to apply for Horizon Europe grants despite uncertainty over association. This time I wanted to tell how other countries are progressing with the association.

According to Research Professional, New Zealand is ready to start formal talks on association to the Horizon Europe programme. On 18 October, New Zealand’s science minister, Ayesha Verrall, “expressed her willingness” to enter formal negotiations.

Earlier this year, New Zealand and Canada concluded exploratory talks on possible association to Horizon Europe, which would give their scientists similar access to the bloc’s member states to the parts of the programme covered by the agreement, in exchange for budget contributions.

Let’s wish New Zealand to have more luck than we have had so far.

In the meantime, Australian official claims EU put limits on Horizon access. An official from a second country has said it was the EU that limited the scope of talks on association to the bloc’s research and innovation programme.

So far, 16 countries have associated across Horizon Europe. Kurt Deketelaere, secretary-general of the League of European Research Universities, warned that it “really is worrying” that research-intensive countries are being “excluded” from parts of Horizon Europe for “unknown reasons”.

NIHR Grant Applications Seminar ONLINE – 22 November 2022

BU research, Events, Funding opportunities, NHS, pre-award, Research news, research opportunities, Research Training

  

Dear colleagues

– Do you have a great idea for research in health, social care or public health?
– Are you planning to submit a grant application to NIHR?

Our popular seminar continues online and will take place on Tuesday 22nd November 2022 from 10.00am – 12.30pm.

The seminar provides an overview of NIHR funding opportunities and research programme remits, requirements and application processes. We will give you top tips for your application and answer specific questions with experienced RDS South West advisers.

We will also be hearing from Jane Fearnside about the NIHR Invention for Innovation (i4i) programme. She will be giving an overview of the programme, the assessment process and what the funding panels are looking for.

We also have a limited number of 20-minute 1-to-1 appointments available after the seminar should you wish to discuss your proposed study with an RDS adviser.

Find out more and book a place.

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

We can help with your application. We advise on all aspects of developing an application and can review application drafts as well as put them to a mock funding panel (run by RDS South West) known as 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 us on 01202 961939 or send us an email.