BU Research Blog

The following opportunities have been announced. Please follow the links for more information:

The BBSRC, the Technology Strategy Board and the EPSRC are to invest £45m in major integrated research and development projects through the Industrial Biotechnology Catalyst. Catalysts provide funding to innovative businesses and researchers working in priority areas with the aim of helping them to quickly turn excellent UK research into new or improved commercial processes and products. There are five types of award – early stage: translation; early stage: feasibility studies;  industrial research; late stage: pre-experimental feasibility studies; and late stage: experimental development – and, with the exception of translation awards which are academic, can involve a single business or be collaborative. Total project sizes can range from up to £250k for feasibility studies to up to £10m for experimental development. Please note that there are different closing dates for each type of award.

The ELRHA‘s Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises (R2HC) programme aims to improve health outcomes by strengthening the evidence base for public health interventions in humanitarian crises. The programme is the product of a strategic partnership between the Department for International Development (DFID) and the Wellcome Trust, with ELRHA overseeing the programme’s execution and management. R2HC’s second call for Expressions of Interests is now open, and will close on 10/07/14.  

The Leverhulme Trust Visiting Professorships are awarded to UK institutions that wish to invite an eminent researcher from overseas to enhance the knowledge and skills of academic staff or the student body within the host institution. The scheme covers maintenance, travel expenses and research costs. Visiting Professorships last for between three and twelve months. The closing date for applications is 4pm on 09/10/14.

As part of the International Exchanges scheme, the Royal Society now offers additional funding through its Kan Tong Po Fellowships. This support has been made possible through the generosity of the family of the late Mr Kan Tong Po. The purpose of this scheme is to contribute at the highest level of scientific research and education at the University of Hong Kong, Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the City University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, by awarding Visiting Fellowships each year to UK or US based scientists to collaborate with a Hong Kong based academic, or for Hong Kong based scientists to collaborate with an academic based in either the UK or US. The scheme covers all areas of the life and physical sciences, including engineering, but excluding clinical medicine. Closing date 01/07/14.

The Technology Strategy Board, along with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Invest Northern Ireland, the Scottish Funding Council and the Welsh Government, are to invest jointly up to £2.3m to establish Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) to improve the competitiveness, resilience and responsiveness of the agri-food supply chain. The aim of this initiative is to give businesses access to the UK knowledge base so that they can develop innovative solutions to global challenges facing the agri-food sector. We are looking to support up to 25 KTPs through this competition. Its scope spans primary production, including aquaculture, through to retail. This competition will provide new opportunities for open innovation and knowledge exchange across supply chains and sectors. It will help companies to mitigate commercial risk and improve business performance – and to achieve growth as a result.  The funders will also consider co-funding KTPs on an individual basis. The call closes on 11/02/15.

The Wellcome Trust invites applications for their Clinical PhD Programmes. Successful candidates will develop their potential to become academic clinicians within a structured and mentored training environment. Programmes will provide the individual trainee with opportunities to sample high-quality research environments before they develop a research proposal that is tailored to their individual interests. Please go to the website for specific programmes and their closing dates.

The Wellcome Trust Seeding Drug Discovery scheme aims to develop drug-like, small molecules that will be the springboard for further research and development by the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry in areas of unmet medical need. A two-point entry system has been introduced to enable projects at an earlier stage in development to be competitive for funding as well as to progress later-stage projects further towards clinical trials. The deadline for the preliminary application is  05/11/14 with the full proposal by invitation in May 2015.

 Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKE Support Officer.

You can set up your own personalised alerts on ResearchProfessional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s RKE Officer in RKE Operations or see the recent post on this topic, which includes forthcoming training dates up to November 2014.

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

The following opportunities have been announced. Please follow the links for more information:

Do you have BBSRC funding? Then think about the Standard Follow-on funding programme which is designed to support the translation of fundamental research funded by them into practical application, including commercialisation. The aim of the programme is to help researchers maximise the societal and economic benefits of their research. This programme is a proof-of-concept model where further work on an idea will take it through to the stage at which the route to application is clear, which may include a spin-out or licensing opportunity. The programme enables activities essential to preparing a robust business plan and secure, where appropriate, further funding and support to progress. Standard Follow-on Fund (FOF) provides for projects up to 12 months in duration and valued at under £250k (80% FEC). Super Follow-on funding is available by invitation only. Closing date: 25/06/14.

Are you thinking about applying for a Leverhulme International Academic Fellowship.  These provide established researchers with a concentrated period based in one or more research centres outside the UK. The intention of the scheme is to provide opportunities to develop new knowledge, skills and ideas. Or you may be considering a Research Fellowship, open to experienced researchers, particularly those who are or have been prevented by routine duties from completing a programme of original research. Click on the links to read about the previous calls as you prepare to apply for the next round, which is due to be announced in early November 2014.

The MRC Public Health Intervention Development scheme (PHIND) supports the early stages of development of public health interventions. Studies funded by the scheme will develop a solid theoretical framework and generate evidence on the design specification and feasibility of the intervention. Essential knowledge obtained from these preliminary studies will provide the foundation for future pilot testing and evaluation, with the ultimate aim of improving the effectiveness of public health interventions. Applicants can apply for up to £150K for a maximum of 18 months. Closing date: 12/09/14 and 30/01/15 by 4pm. 

The MRC, through the MRC-NIHR Methodology Research Programme (MRP), wishes to develop a portfolio of research aimed at improving the methodology underpinning the application and evaluation of Methodology underpinning patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) in health research and health care decision making. PROMs are an assessment of health status and health-related quality of life that comes directly from the patient. Lord Darzi’s NHS Next Stage Review indicates that they will be increasingly used in the evaluation of health care technologies and healthcare services, and they also contribute to regulatory decision making. Ensuring the validity and robustness of PROMs is therefore vital in enabling these measures to have maximum impact on research outcomes and health care decision making. This call will open on 08/10/14 with a closing date of 4pm on 19/11/14.

The MRC, through the MRC-NIHR Methodology Research Programme (MRP), wishes to fund high quality methods development research to support the use and evaluation of complex interventions in health research. The MRC has long recognised the unique methodological challenges posed by the development and evaluation of complex interventions and has championed the development of guidance both for researchers and research funders. The MRP therefore invites any high quality proposal which through generalisable methods development research seeks to strengthen the knowledge base or evaluation of the impact of complex interventions in health research. The MRP Panel is particularly keen to support applications for methods research which focus on: behavioural change interventions, psychological interventions and natural experiments i.e. assessments of policy interventions on health. This call will open on 08/10/14 with a closing date of 4pm on 19/11/14.

Following the first phase of the Multidisciplinary Synthetic Biology Research Centres (SBRCs) call in 2013, which established three SBRCs; the RCUK Synthetic Biology Working Group, and BBSRC and EPSRC have announced their call for proposals to the second phase. The SBRCs must focus on strategic areas relevant to one or more key industrial sectors that could include: fine and speciality chemicals; life science technologies; energy; environment; sensors (including diagnostics); agriculture and food; medicines and healthcare. Closing date: 24/07/14.

NERC, in collaboration with the BBSRC and the AHRC, organise internship placements for current NERC, BBSRC and AHRC funded PhD students to work in one of eight host organisations on a policy topic relevant to both the student and the host. The student will be expected to produce a briefing paper, participate in a policy inquiry and/or organise a policy event. Internships are awarded to both parliamentary and non-parliamentary organisations. Information on current host organisations can be found on the website. Internships are available to all current NERC, BBSRC and AHRC funded PhD students and the internship must start before the end of the funded period of the studentship. Closing date 4pm on 18/08/14

The Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award is for outstanding scientists who would benefit from a five year salary enhancement to help recruit them to or retain them in the UK. The scheme provides up to 5 years’ funding after which the award holder continues with the permanent post at the host university.The focus of the award is a salary enhancement, usually in the range of £10,000 to £30,000 per annum. Closing date: 08/07/14.

The Wellcome Trust currently support 31 Programmes based in centres of excellence throughout the UK with specialised training provided in a range of important biomedical research areas. The Biomedical PhD Studentship scheme provides support for four years and includes: a stipend, PhD registration fees at UK/EU student rate, contribution towards laboratory rotation expenses in the first year, research expenses for years two to four, contribution towards travel and a contribution towards transferable-skills training. Students are recruited annually by the individual Programmes for uptake in October each year. Recruitment begins in the preceding December. Alternatively, further funding is available from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.

Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKE Support Officer.

You can set up your own personalised alerts on ResearchProfessional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s RKE Officer in RKE Operations or see the recent post on this topic, which includes forthcoming training dates up to November 2014.

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

The following opportunities have been announced. Please follow the links for more information:

Do you want to collaborate with overseas researchers? If so, consider the Japan, India,  Brazil , China, Taiwan, USA  and Europe Partnering Awards announced (or forthcoming) by the BBSRC. These awards are to set up partnership links between UK and overseas laboratories; to promote the exchange of scientists, particularly early career scientists and to promote access to facilities. Funds can only be used for travel, subsistence and other activities, such as workshops or exchanges.  Funding varies with each award. Amongst other eligibility criteria, the lead applicant must be BBSRC funded. Closing date: 13/11/14.

For those interested in working with academics from other nations, the BBSRC Other Countries Partnering Awards may be applicable. These are designed to: establish partnerships between UK and overseas laboratories; promote the exchange of scientists, particularly early career scientists; promote access to facilities;  enhance collaborative activities with CGIAR Centres and programmes (Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research Centres). While this scheme will consider applications for partnership activities with any country not currently covered by individual schemes, BBSRC particularly welcomes applications which seek to partner with researchers in South Africa, South Korea, Australia, Mexico, Vietnam, Argentina, Canada, New Zealand and Russia. Typically up to £30k over a four-year period is available for partnerships with one or more life science laboratories in countries not currently eligible through their existing partnering award schemes. Amongst other eligibility criteria, the lead applicant must be BBSRC funded. Closing date: 13/11/14.

The BBSRC is also promoting its International Workshops scheme. These aim to: stimulate joint working in topics important to BBSRC’s strategy; match numbers of scientists from the UK with other countries to identify areas of commonality and explore the potential for international collaboration and to receive applications involving collaborations with any other country, although the US, Canada, Brazil, EU member states, Japan, China, India Australia and New Zealand are particularly encouraged. There will be around 8 awards each year, of approximately £10k each. This scheme is open to current BBSRC research grant holders and researchers employed at BBSRC sponsored institutes who are in receipt of BBSRC funding. Closing date: 13/11/14.

The BBSRC‘s New Investigator Scheme assists early-career researchers – newly employed university lecturers, lecturer level equivalent fellows whose awards were secured in open competition, and researchers in Research Council Institutes at the unified Research Council Band E or its equivalent – to secure their first major element of research funding. Closing date: 24/09/14

The BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship Scheme is aimed at scientists who have demonstrated high potential and who wish to establish themselves as independent researchers. Awards are for 5 years, up to 5 are available, and include personal salary and a significant research support grant. Applications are welcome from candidates seeking flexible working arrangements. Proposals can relate to in any area of science within the BBSRC portfolio but the BBSRC particularly encourages proposals that are aligned with BBSRC’s overarching strategic priorities. Closing date: 05/11/14.

Looking ahead, The Animal Health and Welfare ERA-Net plans a third call in the area of animal health and welfare. This call is expected to be open from around mid-November 2014. If this is your discipline, why not set a date in your calendar to check this call nearer the time?

Similarly, CHIST-ERA (European Coordinated Research on Long-term Challenges in Information and Communication Sciences & Technologies ERA-Net) expects to open a call regarding Resilient Trustworthy Cyber-Physical Systems and Human Language Understanding in October 2014. Their conference in June 2014 will bring together scientists and CHIST-ERA representatives in order to identify and formulate promising scientific and technological challenges at the frontier of research with a view to refine the scientific content of the call.

The ESRC, in association with the Foundation for Research Support of the State of São Paulo, Brazil (FAPESP) and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO)  has made a Joint Call for Proposals on Sustainable Urban Development. The aim of this call is to strengthen research cooperation between researchers from the state of São Paulo, Brazil, the UK and the Netherlands. Based on consultation with the research community in the participating countries, the research themes which have been identified are Resilience, Social justice and Governance and democracy. An application can only be submitted via the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research’s electronic application system Iris. A total budget of approximately €5.4 million is jointly made available. Closing date: 23/09/14

Applications are invited to the MRC – Biomedical Catalyst: Regenerative Medicine Research Committee. The RMRC provides support for high quality proposals aiming to develop regenerative medicine therapies to improve human health and funds pre-clinical development and early clinical testing of novel regenerative medicine therapies. Closing date: 10/07/14.

 The TSB is investing up to £2.5m to support the development of low-power energy harvesting technologies for autonomous electronic systems. Energy harvesting is the ‘scavenging’ of energy from the surrounding environment and converting it into useable electrical energy. This call seeks to explore ways to extend battery life in low-power devices or to eliminate batteries altogether. A briefing day for potential applicants will be held in London on 09/06/14. Applicants must register by noon on 18/09/14 and the full application submitted by noon on 28/09/14.

The TSB is to invest £6m in collaborative R&D projects and feasibility studies to accelerate the proving and commercial application of a wide range of recent or emerging manufacturing technologies involving mechanical conversion processes such as machining, casting, forging, moulding and joining. The main aim of this competition is to help companies of all sizes overcome the technical and business challenges of transforming novel technologies and leading-edge application knowledge into robust, competitive manufacturing capabilities and business processes. Successful projects will be driven by industrial needs and delivered through collaborative innovation teams, often involving new sources of expertise and organisations that have not previously worked together. A briefing event and webinar for potential applicants will be held in London on 17/06/14. Applicants must register by noon on 27/08/14 and the full application submitted by noon on 03/09/14.

The Wellcome Trust, through the Sustaining Heath Scheme seeks to invest in pilot research projects investigating novel aspects of any aspect of the interplay between health, environment and nutrition . Proposals should be designed to open up new research avenues, ultimately leading to work that will have a significant impact on human health. As general guidance, awards are of the order of £250,000, exceptionally up to £500,000. Closing date for concept notes: 25/07/14 with preliminary applications by 20/08/14. Invited full applications are to be submitted by 14/02/15.

The Wellcome Trust’s Pathfinder Awards  provide pilot funding for Academic-Industry partnerships to develop early-stage applied research and development projects in orphan and neglected disease areas. The Scheme is intended to kick-start pilot projects that have significant potential to help develop innovative new products in these disease areas. In the scheme, an academic lead (or a lead from a not-for-profit entity) will build on or establish a partnership with a company that has specialist knowledge and access to technologies to facilitate the development of a specific product. There is a rolling deadline for this scheme with the next deadline being 07/07/14.

Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKE Support Officer.

You can set up your own personalised alerts on ResearchProfessional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s RKE Officer in RKE Operations or see the recent post on this topic, which includes forthcoming training dates up to November 2014.

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