Category / pre-award

*New* Full Economic Cost thresholds for research and knowledge exchange (RKE) activity

EPSRC, ESRC, EU, Funding opportunities, Guidance, Industry collaboration, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer, Knowledge Transfer Partnership, pre-award

A review of BU’s research and knowledge exchange activity demonstrated that over the past three years BU’s RKE income met c. 80% of the full economic costs (fEC) of the projects. The review also looked at the fEC thresholds and found they were out of date and unrealistic, for example, a number of the thresholds did not match the funding models provided by funders.

The Research Performance and Management Committee (RPMC) have therefore approved changes to the fEC thresholds for RKE activities at BU. The new thresholds have been chosen to make it easier to work with organisations on RKE projects that will benefit society. Moreover, the new thresholds set realistic expectations for working with a range of funders so that research activity is sustainable at BU.

In addition to the thresholds, the RPMC has confirmed an expectation that all new costs to the project (Directly Incurred costs) must be covered by the income to be received from the funder. Ideally the income will be sufficient to also provide a contribution to the other costs to the project (i.e. existing staff time and overheads). This will enable BU to ensure RKE activities are financially viable and sustainable.

The new thresholds set a minimum fEC recovery rate by funder/activity type (see Table 1). They should be discussed with your Funding Development Officer at the start of the bidding process and before any conversations take place with external organisations/partners. All Principal Investigators will be asked to design their projects around meeting or exceeding these minimum thresholds and making sure the Directly Incurred costs will be covered. This may not be possible for all funding schemes. Where there is a strategic reason for applying to such a scheme and there is no alternative funder (such as some prestigious fellowship schemes) then this should be discussed with your Funding Development Officer who will advise on options.

If you have any queries about what this will mean for your research, please contact Ehren Milner (emilner@bournemouth.ac.uk).

UKRO annual 2020 (remote) meeting with BU academics

EU, Events, Funding opportunities, Info Days, Post-award, pre-award

As usual, RDS will host an annual UK Research Office visit to BU in 2020.

This year’s event has been scheduled for November 18 and is organised in a form of a remote zoom meeting. Please make a note in your diaries – all academic staff interested in EU funding, the new Horizon Europe framework programme and future implications of Brexit are invited to attend the event.

The event will be hosted and run by our UKRO European Advisor Ms Malgorzata Czerwiec from Brussels.

At this point, we have a draft agenda and some input from academics before finalising the agenda, as a minimum to register your interest to attend particular session by 6th November 2020, will be appreciated.

The link to the zoom meeting will be provided after the registration is closed; some of agenda items may be changed or removed depending on your feedback.

Please see the draft agenda below and register your attendance preferences (at the end of the registration, click on DONE button to complete the form).

Draft agenda of the webinar

10:30 – 11:45

UK Participation in Horizon 2020

BU involvement in H2020

Update on Horizon Europe developments

12:00 – 12:40

H2020 Evaluation process and proposal writing hints and tips + questions – session for PIs involved in the Green Deal Call for proposal submission

In the afternoon

Previously booked one-to-one sessions with UKRO representative

Obviously, lunch will not be provided this year, although there will be some flexibility to have a coffee at home or in the office between the sessions.

During registration, academics are welcome to submit any other EU funding related topics for discussion; those may either be included in one of the above sessions or discussed individually during one-to-one meeting.

UKRO delivers subscription-based advisory service for research organisations and provides Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) and European Research Council (ERC) National Contact Point services in the UK. 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.

Please contact Research Facilitator International Ainar Blaudums if you have further questions.

NIHR Grant Applications Seminar ONLINE

BU research, COVID-19, Events, Funding opportunities, HSS Our 9 Research Entities, innovation, NHS, pre-award, Research Centres, Research news, Research Training, writing

  

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 has now moved online and will take place on Tuesday 24th November 2020 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.

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.

Come as early as possible to benefit fully from the advice

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

 

Procedures for late submission of external research and KE applications

BU research, Guidance, pre-award, R & KE Operations, Research news

The procedures for late submissions of external research and knowledge exchange applications has been updated in line with strategic guidance from UET to ensure that quality applications are submitted and adhere to BU’s financial regulations. The updated procedure can be found on the staff intranet here. The Faculty Executive Deans and Deputy Deans for Research and Professional Practice have provided input and their support to the procedure.

RDS will endeavour to support and submit all applications where possible. We recognise that some funders will give short-notice of a call and that there may be other circumstances where sufficient notice cannot be given. However, all applications, regardless of time to submit, have to go through the same costing and approval process and there is an expectation that only good quality and competitive applications should be submitted. Applicants should also note that time has to be factored in for Faculty Executives and/or UET to read and sign-off final submissions (these are busy people who spend a lot of time in meetings). RDS will be flexible where we can for those exceptional cases.

If you have any queries then please contact Jo Garrad, RDS Funding Development Manager.

InnovateUK Smart Grants: Internal Deadlines

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, Guidance, Knowledge Exchange, pre-award

The current round of the Innovate UK Smart grant call has a submission deadline of 25 November 2020 at 11.00 am.

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

Innovate UK has provided guidance for academic partners participating in proposed Smart grant projects.

INTERNAL DEADLINES

21 October, close of business*
Intention to Bid forms to be submitted to your Faculty Funding Development Officer (FDO).

28 October at 12 noon
Completed Due Diligence form and draft application to be sent to FDO.
Costing to be finalised with FDO.

This will enable the FDO to move the bid to the next step of internal approvals, which is the review by Legal Services and Finance.
This Legal Services/Finance step is required before the approval request can be sent to the Dean and the University Executive Team.

17 November, close of business
PI to complete all Je-s form sections, upload all required attachments and submit on Je-s.

18 – 24 November
PI and FDO to work on final checks of the Je-s application to get it submission-ready.

24 November
Latest date for FDO to officially submit on Je-s, pdf the Je-s form and forward to the Lead.

25 November
Lead to submit the main application on the Innovation Funding Service by 11.00am.

*Where ITB forms are received after 21 October 2020, they will be moved automatically to the next round or alternatively, RDS will work with you to find another funding opportunity.

Unfortunately, if any of the internal deadlines above are not followed, the bid cannot proceed as approvals will not be obtained on time.

Please fully consider this timeframe and if you wish to submit, please commit to being available to work with your FDO to support you through the internal approval process.

If you have any queries, please contact Ehren Milner, the Research Facilitator for Industrial Collaborations.

Early Career Researcher – NERC Paleo Seminar Series

BU research, ECR Network, Events, PG research, Postgraduate Research, pre-award, Research communication, Research news

From 8th September, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) are launching a weekly zoom for early career researchers working in the broad field of Paleo sciences.

PERCS (Paleo EaRly Career Seminars) is a weekly seminar series that promotes and features work by Early Career Researchers in a range of paleo sciences including paleontology, paleoecology, paleoceanography and paleoclimatology. While the speakers will be Early Career Researchers, the seminar is for people at every career stage. PERCS take place on Zoom, and consist of a live streamed short (~30 min) seminar followed by a Q&A session and an opportunity for small group discussion and networking with other attendees using break-out rooms. Recordings of most PERCS will be available to participants unable to attend live seminars. Seminars are (mostly) weekly on Tuesdays at 1500 UTC. PERCS are intended as a venue to share research, strengthen our global community, and facilitate collaboration between the Palaeo sciences. All palaeo-researchers and fans (regardless of career stage) are enthusiastically welcome.

NERC strive towards diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility with a diverse line-up of speakers from around the world, and a strong commitment towards fostering an inclusive environment. They also implement live auto-captions, and have both synchronous and asynchronous viewing options.

To be added to the email list that receives seminar invitations and announcements, please review their code of conduct and then sign up through a google form. 

The full schedule of events and the speakers/topics is available on the website. https://paleopercs.com/.

 

Writing Week – support from BUCRU and RDS

BU research, COVID-19, Funding opportunities, HSS Our 9 Research Entities, NHS, Postgraduate Research, pre-award, Research Centres, research staff

Writing Week in the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences is coming up next week and we wanted to highlight some of the expertise within BUCRU and NIHR RDS (Research Design Service) and remind you that we’re available to provide support for your health or social care research.

Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) supports researchers in improving the quality, quantity and efficiency of research across the University and local NHS Trusts.

We do this by:

  • Helping researchers develop high quality applications for external research funding (including small grants)
  • Ongoing involvement in funded research projects

How can we help?

BUCRU/RDS can provide help in the following areas:

  • Formulating research questions
  • Building an appropriate team
  • Study design
  • Appropriate methodologies for quantitative research, e.g. statistical issues, health economics
  • Appropriate methodologies for qualitative research, e.g. sampling, analytical strategies
  • Advice on data management and data analysis
  • Identifying suitable funding sources
  • Writing plain English summaries
  • Identifying the resources required for a successful project
  • Critical reviews of proposed grant applications can be obtained through our Project Review Committee before they are sent to a funding body.
  • Patient and public involvement in research
  • Trial management
  • Ethics, governance and other regulatory issues
  • Linking University and NHS researchers

Over the coming weeks we’ll cover some of these areas in more detail in future blogs and how we can help you.

Our support is available to Bournemouth University staff and people working locally in the NHS, and depending on the support you require, is mostly free of charge. There are no general restrictions on topic area or professional background of the researcher.

If you would like support in developing your research please get in touch through bucru@bournemouth.ac.uk or by calling us on 01202 961939. Please see our website for further information, details of our current and previous projects and a link to our recent newsletter.

BUCRU (Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit) – Bulletin

BU research, NHS, Post-award, pre-award, Research Centres, Research news

Please see the latest BUCRU Bulletin from the Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit. We hope you find it interesting.  Featuring details on our online NIHR Grant Applications Seminar next week (28th July) and how to register.

BUCRU supports researchers to improve the quality, quantity, and efficiency of research locally by supporting grant applications and providing on-going support in funded projects, as well as developing our own programme of research.

Don’t forget, your local branch of the NIHR RDS (Research Design Service) is based within the BU Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) staff are working remotely at present so please call us on 01202 961939 or send us an email in the first instance.

Due Diligence: International Research Collaborations & Partnerships – Best practice guidance

BU research, Funding opportunities, Guidance, international, pre-award

The Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) has provided guidance on due diligence regarding the legitimacy of international research collaborators and partners.

We recommend that academics wishing to apply for research funding with collaborators and partners, particularly those out of the UK, should peruse this guidance.

Typical calls requiring such collaborations include funding opportunities that involve the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), the Newton Fund and many others.

When you have fully considered this guidance when developing your networks and have identified a call, please contact your pre-award team for submission support. The more partners are involved in a bid, the more work will be required in co-ordinating the research writing and budgets. In parallel, we will need more time to support you with due diligence checks, costing and internal approvals, so please give yourself a minimum of 3 months before the deadline to work on such bids. The earlier you contact us, the more time we will have to work with you.

NIHR Grant Applications Seminar ONLINE

Events, HSS Our 9 Research Entities, NHS, pre-award, Research news, 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 (which was previously planned in Bournemouth on 24 March and cancelled due to lockdown) has now moved online and will take place on Tuesday 28th July 2020 from 2.00pm – 4.30pm.

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 joined by Simon Goodwin – RfPB Programme Manager for the South West and East of England. 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.

Come as early as possible to benefit fully from the advice

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

 

MSCA NCP Virtual Drop-in Sessions

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

This is a quick reminder for those BU academics interested in applying for the Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships call in September 2020.

The UK Research Office (UKRO), in its capacity as UK National Contact Point for the Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), will be holding a virtual drop-in session for organisations and individuals interested in applying to the 2020 MSCA Individual Fellowships call (call deadline of 9 September 2020).

The virtual drop-in session will provide with an opportunity to speak directly with the MSCA NCP on specific elements of their proposal. The event is aimed at potential UK academic and non-academic based supervisors, and their prospective fellows, who are planning to submit a proposal to the Individual Fellowship 2020 call.

If you would like to attend, please visit the events page and register MSCA Individual Fellowships, Wednesday 22 July 2020 14:30-16:00 CET (13:30-15:00 UK Time). Further information on the event will be provided to delegates once registration for the sessions has closed.

Direct link to registration

If you have any BU specific queries, please contact EU & International Research Facilitator Ainar Blaudums or your RDS Funding Development Officer.

InnovateUK Smart Grants – Internal Deadlines

Funding opportunities, Industry collaboration, innovation, pre-award

The next round of the Innovate UK Smart grant call currently has a submission deadline of 26 August 2020 at 12 pm noon. Innovate UK will officially open this round in August 2020. This early heads-up from us will give you more time to confirm your partnerships with potential Business Leads.

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

Innovate UK has provided generic guidance for applications to this call. Previous specific guidance for the last round will assist in preparing for the up-coming round.

Timeline

Currently, the call closes at 12.00 noon pm on 26 August 2020.

29 July: Intention to Bid forms and a draft application or project summary to be submitted to your Faculty Funding Development Officer (FDO) – this is 4 weeks before the deadline.

5 August: Costing to be finalised and an updated, complete draft application to be sent to FDO for internal approvals process.

19 August: PI to upload all required attachments and submit on Je-s.

19 – 26 August: PI and FDO to work on final checks of the Je-s application to get it submission-ready.

26 August: Latest time to submit is 12.00 noon on this date.

Where ITB forms are received after 29 July 2020, they will be moved automatically to the next round or alternatively, RDS will work with you to find another funding opportunity.

If you have any queries, please contact Ehren Milner, the Research Facilitator for Industrial Collaborations.
Note: If InnovateUK changes the publicised submission deadline, we will update our internal deadlines in this Blog.

Marie Curie Individual Fellowships – Internal Deadlines

Funding opportunities, pre-award, Research news

The call for the Marie Curie Individual Fellowships has opened on 8 April 2020 and will close at 4.00 pm on 9 September 2020.

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

The European Commission has provided guidance and ideally, work should already have commenced or should shortly commence between yourself and your proposed Research Fellow.

Timeline

8 April 2020: Call has opened – start reading guidance and commence application with Fellow.

20 July 2020: Contact Ainar Blaudums, the EU & International Research Facilitator (details below) with an indication that you wish to apply to this call.

12 August 2020: Latest date for Intention to Bid forms to be submitted to your Faculty Funding Development Officer (FDO).

Important Notes:
1. Where ITB forms are received after 12 August 2020, RDS will work with you to find an alternative funding opportunity.
2. If you have a draft application ready at this date for a preliminary review and bid development support, please forward this to Ainar.

19 August 2020: Costing to be finalised and complete draft application to be sent to FDO for internal approvals process.

26 August 2020: More advanced draft application to be sent to Ainar for further bid development support.

9 September 2020: Submission deadline – latest date to formally submit on the European Commission Portal.

If you have any queries, please contact Ainar Blaudums, the EU & International Research Facilitator.

Managing References and Writing for Publication with EndNote Desktop

BU research, data management, Post-award, pre-award, Publishing, Research communication, Research Training, RKE development framework, Training, writing

Monday 8th June 10:00 – 12:00

This workshop will introduce you to EndNote, software that saves you time when managing your references and writing for publication.

 

 

 

This session will cover:

  • The role of EndNote in the research workflow
  • Reference collation and management
  • Full text harvesting
  • Writing for publication; citation and reference creation​

Essential Preparation

You must have the correct software loaded onto your machine prior to attending.

  • If you are using a BU staff machine, EndNote desktop (X9) needs to have been installed by BU IT Services. This includes the toolbar for Word.
  • If you are using your own device running Windows 10, you can access it via AppsAnywhere from BU. However, please test it before the workshop to make sure that it can run EndNote desktop (X9) and that your version of Word has the EndNote toolbar installed.
  • If you are using your own Mac, you will need to contact BU IT Service and ask them to install EndNote desktop (X9).

You may find it beneficial (but not essential) to have dual monitors. This could allow you to watch the teaching and try things out at the same time.

See here to book.

UKRO Webinar – COVID-19 Impact on EU Projects: Update

BU research, COVID-19, Events, international, Post-award, pre-award, Research news

Tuesday 9th June 10:30 – 11:30

UKRO is pleased to announce the latest in its series of webinars on the topic of COVID-19 impact update. The webinar is intended to provide an update of the current situation regarding COVID-19 and will cover (in brief) areas such as:

  • Known call updates and changes to call deadlines;
  • Project implementation issues;
  • COVID 19 measures within the latest EU budget proposal;
  • Opportunity for Q&A.

The webinar is intended for researchers and support staff currently engaged in projects, or applying to forthcoming calls, to make them aware of the latest information on COVID 19 in respect to proposal development and project delivery.

The webinar will be delivered using the ‘Zoom’ online conference facility. No prior purchasing of software is necessary but registration via the event page is mandatory.

If you have any queries, please contact RKEDF@bournemouth.ac.uk

NERC Workshop: Identifying Challenges for a Sustainable Digital Society

BU research, Events, innovation, pre-award, Research news

Deadline for Expressions of Interest: 14 May 2020 at 16:00

The EPSRC Digital Economy Theme welcomes Expressions of Interest for a one-day virtual workshop to explore how research can tackle the challenges in establishing a Sustainable Digital Society.

It is intended that the outputs of the workshop will be used to scope a Digital Economy Theme call to be funded by EPSRC for up to £5m.

The virtual workshop will be held on Thursday 11 June 2020.

For more information, see the NERC website.

British Academy: Special COVID 19 Call

BU research, COVID-19, Funding opportunities, pre-award, Research news

As you are aware the British Academy launched their Special Research Grants: COVID-19 call. The deadline for applications is 5pm (UK time) on Wednesday 27 May 2020 and outcomes will be notified by 30 June 2020.

Due to the expected high demand, we ask that if you are interested in applying to this call then please send your intention to bid form to your Funding Development Officer by 11thMay 2020, after this date no new applications will be accepted.

The British Academy has provided guidance on the Special Research Grants – BA scheme notes for applicants and BA FAQs . They have asked that all applicants read the documentation carefully before starting their application.

Timeline

The call closes at 5pm on Wednesday 27th May 2020.

 

Date Action
11th May 2020 Intention to bid forms to be submitted to your faculty funding development officer
20th May 2020 Your final application must be submitted on FlexiGrant  by this date at the latest
21st – 27th May 2020 Institutional checks to take place by RDS.
27th May 2020 Submission

Any queries please contact Alexandra Pekalski 

 

Free Project Management Training

BU research, ECR Network, PG research, Post-award, pre-award, Research Training, Training

A new set of free videos is now available on the Fistral website, helping to ‘demystify’ project management.

There are 12 videos currently available, with more to come on other topics linked to Time Management, Agile, 3rd sector projects and more… So if you want to know the best way to plan a project, create a Work Breakdown Structure, the easy way to make a Gantt Chart, understand network diagrams, how to identify and schedule tasks, or how to allocate resources to a project – see Fistral’s free PM videos.

For their full range of video and online resources see:  https://www.fistraltraining.com/fistral-online-resources/