Category / RKE development framework

Institutional Learning from Funder feedback

This week, we’ll be running a series of blog posts on Institutional learning from funder feedback. These will include experiences from academics on research methods and research design, advice on embedding impact throughout your application, institutional support available to develop PDRAs on your projects, advice on developing partners.

Friday’s blog looked at the support the Research Facilitators can provide when you want to repurpose your unfunded research application. But what do we do to ensure we also learn and tailor our support? Well, many things but …

Behind the scenes, we have curated a “funder feedback” database which contains the good, the bad and the ugly. We analyse all the feedback every six months. Identifying common themes (good and bad) and areas of improvements are identified, which feeds into the Research and Knowledge Exchange Framework, Research Facilitators one to one support and even weekly blog series!!

If you still haven’t passed on your funder feedback good, bad and the ugly for this academics year, please do send it over to me apekalski@bournemouth.ac.uk, as you know all too well feedback from funders are like hens teeth!

Tomorrow, we will be gaining a great insight from Dr Ian Jones on research methods and methodologies.

 

Up and coming Research & Knowledge Exchange Development Framework events


Every year, the Research & Knowledge Exchange Office, along with internal and external delivery partners, runs over 150 events to support researcher development through the Research & Knowledge Exchange Development Framework (RKEDF).

Responding to your feedback and by popular request, below are the main events coming up over the next six months – please click on the ‘details and booking information’ link to find out more and reserve your place as soon as possible:

Date Start and End Time Event Title Details and booking information link
28/02/2022 09:30-12:30 Fellowships: Being Strategic Fellowships: Being Strategic – Bournemouth University Intranet.
07/03/2022 9:30-11:30 Unsuccessful Applications Repurposing workshops Repurposing Your Unsuccessful Grant Applications – Bournemouth University Intranet.
24/03/2022 09:30-12:30 Refining your research idea Fellowships: Refining your Research Ideas – Bournemouth University Intranet.
13/04/2022 11:00-13:00 British Academy Mid-career Fellowship and British Academy/Leverhulme Senior Fellowship – (Mid-career Fellowships outline stage will likely open in July 2022; Senior Fellowships in October 2022) British Academy Mid-career Fellowship – Bournemouth University Intranet.
27/04/2022 11:00-13:00 British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship (BAPDF) and Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship (LECF) (BAPDF will likely open for outline stage in July 2022; LECF in January 2023) British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship – Bournemouth University Intranet.
05/05/2022 09:30-12:30 Fellowship Interviews Techniques Fellowships: Interviews – Bournemouth University Intranet.
11/05/2022 11:00-13:00 Leverhulme Research Project – Outline – Leverhulme Research Project Outline Stage – Bournemouth University Intranet.
20/05/2022 09:30-11:30 Unsuccessful Applications Repurposing workshops Repurposing Your Unsuccessful Grant Applications – Bournemouth University Intranet.
25/05/2022 11:00-13:00 AHRC Research Development and Engagement fellowships workshop (ECR and Standard) – AHRC Leadership Fellowship – Bournemouth University Intranet.
08/06/2022 11:00-13:00 ESRC New investigator ESRC New investigator – Bournemouth University Intranet.
04/07/2022 09:30-11:30 Unsuccessful Applications Repurposing workshops Repurposing Your Unsuccessful Grant Applications – Bournemouth University Intranet.

Filling the gap: an ACORN funded project

Awarded & submitted bids, Post-award

Back in May 2021, Kimberley Davies (inset ) and Sarah Elliott submitted a bid to BU’s ACORN internal fund, which is focussed on supporting the career development for Early Career Researchers.

The bid was entitled

“Filling the Gap: Investigating past and present socio-ecological resilience to aid future sustainability in the Poole Harbour Catchment”.

Their ACORN project proposal was designed as a steppingstone towards a future UKRI grant application. Kim and Sarah’s project, which would bring together decades of archaeological and ecological research in the Poole Harbour Catchment area, to develop scenarios of future resilience in coastal regions in light of potential large-scale environmental change, is aimed at the AHRC ECR grant.

Broadly the project aimed to characterise key events from the last ~10,000 years in the Poole Harbour area, e.g. sea level rise or agricultural intensification, and evaluate their socio-ecological impacts using historical profiling and theoretical models. The pilot study would also investigate the applicability of using palaeoecological ‘proxies’ and geoarchaeological markers in the sediment horizons to understand the impact of large scale events. This is critical in order to develop a plausible framework for future research, including defining appropriate sampling locations and relevant environmental proxies to signify key changes.

Kim and Sarah had written an excellent application and had complied with all the requirements of the application process.

Sarah commented ‘The application process for the ACORN grant, whilst resembling a small UKRI grant, was straightforward to assemble and submit. The ACORN team provided support with to help those who are unsure about the grant application process. The grant is really beneficial for anyone who wants to test ideas or generate preliminary data as often proof of concept is critical to the success of larger grants but can be difficult to obtain.’

Kim and Sarah were awarded funding and the project was successfully delivered within the time frame for the grant. Like most projects, it wasn’t plain sailing, but all the key aims were achieved and they are now actively working towards the submission of the full UKRI grant.

Kim stated that ‘The provision of a small sum of money has allowed us to generate pilot data that we are using as part of our larger bid. As two ECRs the ACORN grant allowed us to work closely together to develop this project idea as project leads, which is often difficult to do as part of other grants. We are now working together on the larger UKRI bid which makes this part less daunting and more achievable within a specific timeframe.’

These photos were taken during the fieldwork in Poole Harbour:

BU colleague Harry Manley joined Sarah and Kim on fieldwork to learn more about the process of palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. Sediments were retrieved from as deep as 5m below the surface. Multiple locations are logged in order to establish the best location to take a sediment core from.

During the analysis of the samples back in the lab :

The lab analyses included looking at the geochemistry, organic content, pollen and silica phytolith microscopic plant remains, the magnetic susceptibility, particle size and insects. These analyses helped to understand what has been preserved and what can be looked at in detail in future projects.

The ACORN grant allowed the sediments to be dated and helped to establish that the deepest deposits sampled so far are approximately 5000 years old!

For more information about ACORN funding, see the ACORN intranet page or contact ACORN@bournemouth.ac.uk.

(Photo credits: Kim Davies and Sarah Elliott, Bournemouth University)

 

How to ensure your research has impact: new online workshop for 2021/22

Training

Planning for impact: Thursday 2nd December: 9:30-11:30 Online

If you want to ensure your research makes a real-world difference, book now onto this RKEDF interactive online workshop. This training is also useful for anyone applying for this year’s call for the Research Impact Fund (closing date: 10th December). Early career researchers are welcome to attend, and the session is suitable for any career stage.

Impact consultant Saskia Gent, director of Insights for Impact, explains: “This is a hands-on, practical workshop with exercises supporting researchers to build a draft impact plan.” You will learn how to create a strategic plan for embedding impact in your research at any stage in the research lifecycle by:

  • identifying relevant stakeholders
  • developing impact goals
  • understanding the different types of impact that can arise from your research
  • identifying evidence sources.

Book your place.

 

Raf Nicholson on the Early Career Researcher Network

Awarded & submitted bids

I started work at Bournemouth University in April 2018 as Postdoctoral Researcher in Sport, Leisure and Tourism. At BU I have been supported by peers through both the Research Staff Association and the ECR Network. It was at a meeting of the ECR Network on research funding where I learned about the Acorn Fund, a specific BU pot of funding designed for Early Career Researchers.

I applied for an Acorn award in April 2019 and was subsequently awarded £4,444. This gave me the chance to begin work on a new project focused on the underrepresentation of women within sports leadership in the UK, carrying out oral history interviews with women who were involved in sports governance in the 1980s and 1990s. As part of this award I was also able to host an event at BU in December 2019 focused on “Women in Sport Governance”. We had representatives from 15 different National Governing Bodies of Sport attend the event, and I was able to share my research findings and develop my network. I was fully supported in running the event by members of BU’s Research Development & Support team, who assisted with the logistics and with publicising the event.

As a result of all the above support I achieved promotion to Senior Lecturer in April 2020, and I shared my experiences and learning with the ECR network at that month’s meeting.

I would really recommend the ECR network to other researchers. The meetings are always valuable and informative, and everyone is friendly and supportive. Personally, I found it was a lifeline during the UK lockdowns to have a (virtual) space to chat with others at ECRN meetings.

For more information about the Early Career Researcher Network and to book onto any of the monthly sessions, see here.

How to plan for impact from your research: sign up now for new training!

Training

Planning for impact: Thursday 2nd December, 9.30-11.30

Do you want to ensure your research has real-world impact? Would you like to understand how to integrate impact into your project plan to enhance the chance of getting funding? This new online impact training session provides the tools and insights you need.

Impact consultant Saskia Gent, director of Insights for Impact, explores how to plan for impact throughout the research lifecycle.  The session addresses the key elements of impact planning by asking five questions:  why, who, what, how and how do we know?

This approach enables you to consider your impact goals, identify relevant beneficiaries and stakeholders, plan engagement activities and consider evidence requirements and opportunities.

Sign up here.

This session is useful for you, whichever stage of your research career you are at, and ECRs are welcome to attend.  You are also encouraged to attend if you are considering applying for the Research Impact Fund (which closes 10th December).

 

SCRAMBLE EVENT : Come along to the ESRC Explore people’s relationships with digital technologies session

Funding opportunities

The ESRC have pre-announced the following call: Explore people’s relationships with digital technologies, discussed at the funding development briefing this week.

Who should attend?

All are welcome with an interest in exploring relations with digital technologies. This call should be social science-led, with at least 50% of the programme falling within ESRC’s remit. But to enable approaches to the challenge of understanding our relationships with technology, it should also look widely across disciplines, drawing on expertise from fields such as:

  • the humanities
  • computer science
  • software engineering
  • mathematical sciences.

RDS will be running a brainstorming session on the 10th November 13:00 -14:30. It will be an opportunity to identify potential collaborators/ themes for this network funding call. The session will be hosted on Zoom here

ACTION REQUIRED: Ahead of the event, we invite you to discuss your interests, potential collaborators, project ideas on Padlet. As ideas get added we can start to identify potential themes prior to the session. You can access the Padlet here.

Agenda:

13:00- 13:30      Information on the call and ESRC delivery plan overview.

13:30 – 14:15    Discussion around emerging themes from Padlet and potential collaborations.

14:15 – 14:30    Discussion about next steps.

If you have any queries or are unsure as to whether you ought to come along, please email your faculty facilitator in the first instance or Alexandra Pekalski apekalski@bournemouth.ac.uk .

RDS Funding Development Briefing spotlight: British Academy Small Grants

Funding opportunities

Reminder: The RDS Funding Development Briefing spotlight will be Wednesday at 12 noon. The spotlight will be on the British Academy Small Grants.

We will cover:

  • Overview of the new schemes
  • How to apply
  • Q & A

For those unable to attend, the session will be recorded and shared on Brightspace here.

Invites for these sessions have been disseminated via your Heads of Department.

MCSA Postdoctoral Fellowship – Call Status and Workshop

Funding opportunities, international

This call is expected to be open shortly, and the deadline for submitting your Intention to Bid form to RDS is at close of Monday 16th August.

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships enhance the creative and innovative potential of researchers holding a PhD and who wish to acquire new skills through advanced training, international, interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral mobility. MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships are open to excellent researchers of any nationality.

There are 2 types of Postdoctoral Fellowships:

  1. European Postdoctoral Fellowships. Open to researchers moving within Europe or coming to Europe from another part of the world to pursue their research career. These fellowships take place in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country and can last between 1 and 2 years. Researchers of any nationality can apply.
  2. Global Postdoctoral Fellowships. They fund the mobility of researchers outside Europe. The fellowship lasts between 2 to 3 years, of which the first 1 to 2 years will be spent in a non-associated Third Country, followed by a mandatory return phase of 1 year to an organisation based in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country. Only nationals or long-term residents of the EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries can apply.

This scheme also encourages researchers to work on research and innovation projects in the non-academic sector and is open to researchers wishing to reintegrate in Europe, to those who are displaced by conflict, as well as to researchers with high potential who are seeking to restart their careers in research.

MSCA WORKSHOP

22nd July 10:00  – 15:00

A workshop organised by RDS will be held for those interested in applying for an MSCA post Doctoral Fellowship. Please email OD@bournemouth.ac.uk if you’d like to attend.

Follow this link to learn more details about MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships

 

Medical Science Virtual STEAMLab LAST CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

This is a reminder that on Thursday 22nd July 2021 from 2-4pm, RDS will be hosting a virtual STEAMLab event under the strategic investment area (SIA) of Medical Science.

As there are a limited number of spaces remaining, we have extended the timeline for applications. Therefore please apply for a space by 5pm Monday 28th June.

We ask all participants to download and complete the Application Form and return this to Lisa Andrews. 

For more information, please see our previous blog post.

If you have any queries prior to submitting your application, please contact RDS Research Facilitators Lisa Andrews or Ehren Milner.

RKEDF training: impact and funding bids

Don’t forget to book your place on the RKEDF online training session Impact and Funding Bids on Thursday 17 June 13:00-14:00! Although the UKRI removed the Pathways to Impact sections of grant applications last year, they expect impact to be embedded within bids and this session will help you understand how to write about impact.

Although the session will include a brief look at definitions of impact, it is advised that you watch the 10-minute introduction to impact video on Brightspace beforehand to get the most out of the training.

Booking: Please email OD@bournemouth.ac.uk with evidence of approval from your Head of Department or Deputy Head of Department. You can see all the Organisational Development and Research Knowledge Development Framework (RKEDF) events in one place on the handy calendar of events.