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Research Council Success Rates

The Research Councils have created central web-hubs with all the key data on success rates in addition to other useful data on funded grants and overall budgets.

The data for each council can be accessed from the following links:

The ESRC seems to have one of the lowest success rates.  In the Nov/Dec 2010 round of their responsive mode grants there was only an 8% success rate.

The success rates for NERC varied by the scheme, in the last round of the Consortium grants only 1 was funded.  If your research falls within the remit of NERC and you are within 3 years of your first academic post I would encourage you to consider putting together an application for the new investigator scheme as this had the highest success rate of 23% in the last round.  Unfortunately their small grants scheme is about to be withdrawn after the September 2011 deadline.

For the AHRC the schemes with the highest success rates were the fellowship schemes and the research networking scheme.  The success rates were 40% and 50% for the fellowships and early career fellowships, and 48% for the research networking in 2010-11.

If you would like guidance on which funder and scheme to apply to then our internal peer review service can provide this along with feedback on your application.

SME involvement in Horizon 2020: new report from EC

The EC has published a report of two recent workshops on Innovation in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) within Horizon 2020. The workshops were held to gather ideas and feedback on how Horizon 2020 could benefit and be accessible to the widest range of SMEs in their efforts to innovate and be competitive. The first workshop looked at which type of support SMEs need from the EU and the second on options for implementing an SME strategy which would facilitate their involvement Horizon 2020.  Key messages from the workshops are below:
  • Overwhelming support exists for SMEs as important players within Horizon 2020
  • All innovative SMEs should be able to benefit from support at EU level
  • Adequate SME involvement should be ensured  through dedicated actions corresponding to SME needs (including all forms of innovation and the entire innovation cycle from idea to market)
  • This innovation capacity of SMEs should be strengthened 
  • Strong support for a bottom-up approach of the SME specific measures exists
  • Support  exists for more demonstration and market replication activities and links to financial instruments which close the gap to the market
  • For SME’s, simple rules and administrative procedures (e.g. open calls) and a short time-to-grant corresponding to the short innovation cycles of smaller companies should be in place
  • It is important to ensure a clear delimitation and definition of EU action based on European added-value
  • Proliferation and overlaps of programmes should be avoided; but cooperation and pooling of resources needs to be continued and reinforced

Funding available for the assessment of EU climate policies and for healthy ageing

Funding is available for an evaluation of the performance of EU climate policy, in particular phase II of the EU’s Emission Trading Scheme in relation to the implementation of the Renewable Electricity Directive. This will include the assessment of: implementation problems; the interaction between the Trading Scheme and the Directive (and interactions with other policies as far as relevant); their effectiveness in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions; and their costs. The deadline is 26.09.11

Funding is also available for innovative policies to support healthy, active and dignified ageing and raise the effectiveness and efficiency of spending on social, health and long-term care services and benefits. Proposals should promote the sustainability and quality of health and long-term care provision for the elderly through healthy and active ageing, with a focus on different stages of policy development. The budget for this call is €2 million and grants are expected to fall between €100,000 and €500,000. The deadline is 26.09.11 

Smart, Green & Integrated Transport: Report from Horizon 2020 Stakeholder Workshop

The EU’s proposed Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation will run from 2014-2020, replacing FP7. Over the coming months, the EC is preparing the proposals for the Programme and as part of this, holding stakeholder workshops on the proposed ‘societal challenges’ of Horizon 2020.  The workshops took place in order to gather input from more than 100 stakeholders on what they would like from the next Transport programme; the first meeting was for stakeholders from all sectors including industry and academia and the second event was for national representatives, in order to get the view of Member States. Delegates were happy with Transport having its own ‘societal challenge’, but recognition is needed that it still contributes to excellence in the science base and to innovation and competitiveness. The next Programme should create effective transfer paths from research to industry, and act as an ‘integrator’, enabling technological development in other fields like ICT, energy and materials. Stakeholders agreed with the proposal of having the transport challenge built around ‘solution paths’: ‘Green transport’; ‘Integrated transport’; and ‘Competitive transport’. Delegates were also happy with the challenge focusing more on ‘research for industry’ and on electric vehicles but also stressed that the next Programme should still keep options open for other technological developments like hydrogen and fuel cells.

Call for Expressions of Interest to join EU Institutional Human Resources Strategy Group

The ‘Institutional Human Resources Strategy Group’ was launched in 2009 to support the take-up of Charter and Code principles by employers and funders of researchers in Europe. The aim of the group is to provide a platform for the exchange of experiences and mutual support in the implementation of the ‘HR Strategy for Researchers incorporating the Charter and Code.’   So far, two cohorts incorporating 95 organisations has participated in the group. The Commission is now drawing up a list of candidates for the third cohort. It will have its first meeting in January 2012. This is expected to be followed by two more meetings in 2013.  
The HR Strategy comprises five steps:  

  • An internal gap analysis by the individual organisation involving key stakeholders and in particular researchers;
  • The development and publication of an institutional HR strategy for researchers and an action plan detailing how the institution will respond to the gaps identified;
  • Acknowledgement of progress by the Commission
  • Self-assessment of progress after at most two years;
  • External analysis after at most four years.  

If you are  interested in joining the group, contact the Commission giving contact details and a short paragraph explaining the motivation for joining the group by September 29th.

The Holburne Museum, Bath

The mrg is currently completing a research project for the Holburne Museum in Bath (managed by N Pretty), a project that extends back to 2006 and builds on earlier museum studies conducted since 1998.

During 2002 a methodology was developed for research at the V&A Museum in London which was to inform the redevelopment and arrangement of the British Galleries and then later the Sculpture and Ceramics collections. The research was extended to include an evaluation of the representation of Black and Ethnic History at the V&A.  The methodology developed for this research was based on a number of previous studies but notably the work of Eilean Hooper-Greenhill who has published widely on the topic of art and interpretation including ‘Changing Values in the Art Museum: rethinking communication and learning’ (2000), a particularly influential paper.

In 2006 The Holburne Museum commissioned the mrg to conduct research to inform the development of their galleries and collection of mainly 18th century art. This research offered the opportunity to refine the methodology developed for the V&A and other museums. The work was completed in 2011 and the mrg is currently undertaking a review study, to test some of the assumptions and recommendations of the earlier research.

An interesting connection has developed from this research with the countryside research portfolio developed by the mrg over the past 15 years. The Holburne Museum is about to present an exhibition of Gainsborough paintings from which the museum wishes to gain a better understanding of the emotional response to the English countryside or how people imagine it. This has been  a key theme of the mrg’s countryside research and the subject of a recent book ‘Visions of England‘ by Roy Strong.

This work will form the basis of an AHRC bid this Autumn to fund a research project that ties together the key themes of art, countryside and leisure currently supported by a number of museums and collections.

Inclusive, Innovative & Secure Societies: Report from Horizon 2020 Stakeholder Workshop

Horizon 2020 will replace FP7 in 2014. Stakeholder workshops on the proposed ‘societal challenges’ have been held, including one on Inclusive, Innovative and Secure Societies. The workshops confirmed that the strand will encompass research currently funded under the Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities (SSH) and Security themes of the FP7 Co-operation programme, as well as the Science in Society and Coherent Policy Development strands of FP7 Capacities and the ICT for society aspects of the ICT theme. 

The overarching conclusion from the two workshops was that although most of these areas could work together together to make a cohesive social sciences theme, the security element was a less comfortable fit (felt by both the security and the social sciences and humanities community). A new challenge entitled ‘Protecting the freedom of Europe and its citizens’ was suggested.

Your Project Budget

 

We would really appreciate your feedback on the new budget screen that we are designing for RED. 

With this screen you will be able to go in and view the project expenditure against your budget.  This should enable you to keep track of the spending on the project.

We would really like some input on what budget headings you would find useful.  We want to keep it simple so that you can have a quick overview of the project.   You will be able to query any figures with your CRE Ops Officer and obtain a more detailed breakdown on request if necessary. 

Currently the headings are:

  • Total
  • Academic Staff
  • Consultants
  • Part time hourly paid staff
  • Travel and subsistence
  • Consumables

Click on this link to view the example RED Budget Screen.

If you have any thoughts on what should be included please add a comment below or email me.

 

Resource Efficiency & Climate Action and Raw Materials Challenges: Report from Horizon 2020 Stakeholder Workshop

The EU’s proposed Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation will run from 2014-2020, replacing FP7. The EC is preparing the proposals for the Programme by holding stakeholder workshops. Two workshops with 50 representatives from the scientific community and government representatives were held on the Resource Efficiency and Climate Action Challenge. Key points that emerged from the discussions are:

  • More clarity is needed on how the transition from FP7 to Horizon 2020 will work; it will be important to identify new and emerging needs as the situation will change up to 2020.
  • Innovation which promotes societal change should be supported as it should be driven by technology and regulations as well as stakeholders and policy makers. There should be co-operation with non-EU countries to address common concerns.
  • Cultural heritage; urban environment; natural hazards; earth observation systems; air quality; and land use and landscape were areas all missing from the proposals but which should be included.
  • A balance between covering a comprehensive range of themes and focussing on a reduced number of priorities needs to be implemented. Stakeholder involvement and the indirect/intangible impacts should also be part of the peer review criteria.

Marie Curie Actions: Report from Horizon 2020 Stakeholder Workshop

Horizon 2020 will replace FP7 in 2014. Stakeholder workshops on the proposed ‘societal challenges’ of Horizon 2020 have been held, including one on Marie Curie Actions. The new structure will comprise of four strands:

  • Initial Training of Researchers
  • Career Development of Experienced Researchers
  • Research and Innovation Staff Exchanges
  • Co-funding of Regional, National and International Programmes.

The majority of participants welcomed the streamlining of the programme down to four actions, and supported the proposed extension of co-funding across the three other programmes. They also emphasised the importance of simplification and consistency of rules.

BU REF preparations – next mock exercise underway

Hot on the heels of our REF light-touch review of outputs last winter, our subsequent mini-mock exercise in two UOAs, and the release of the final REF Guidance on Submissions and draft panel criteria documentation, BU’s next mock REF exercise is now underway.

The BU winter 2011 mock will concentrate solely on the impact and environment elements of the submissions (i.e. individual outputs will not be reviewed). During the autumn term BU Unit of Assessment (UOA) Leaders have been asked to produce 2-3 impact case studies, an impact statement and an environment statement for each UOA. These will be sent to the external reviewers (at least 2 per UOA) in early December, and feedback will be shared with the UOA Leaders in February 2012.

The next review of outputs is planned for spring 2012.

These mock exercises are intended to shape and craft our submissions to REF2014 to ensure we put forward the strongest submissions possible.

If you have any questions or suggestions regarding our internal preparations for the REF then send me an email 🙂

BU research themes – volunteers wanted!

In May/June this year there was a lot of discussion on the Research Themes section of the blog about the shape, scope and structure of the emerging BU research themes. Thank you to everyone who contributed to these discussions – your input to date is hugely appreciated.

Based on the feedback and comments received it is proposed to reduce the number of themes from 10 to 8, with the themes of Ageing and Learning and Public Engagement becoming part the other 8 themes.

Summaries of the 10 themes, including all of the comments received, are available here:

Your research themes need you! – we are now looking for a volunteer(s) for each theme to be responsible for coordinating the discussions and developing a definitive description of the theme by early September.

If you are interested in leading one of the themes please could you let me know by email as soon as possible.

ESRC Future Research Leaders scheme – internal application information

Funding opportunities, Guidance

ESRC logoThe ESRC’s Future Research Leaders call is currently open with a closing date of 15 September 2011.

Universities are expected to consider applications very carefully prior to submitting them to the ESRC through this call, and all applications need to be supported with a letter from the PVC (Research, Enterprise and Internationalisation).

With this in mind BU has established a process for submissions to this call. All proposals must be submitted to a special version of our internal peer review scheme (the RPRS) first and must be signed off by Matthew Bennett as PVC (Research, Enterprise and Internationalisation) prior to submission.

For applicants interested in the scheme, the key internal dates are as follows:

22 Aug Proposals to be submitted to the RPRS and sent for review.
29 Aug Proposal feedback to be returned to applicants.
29 Aug – 5 Sep Applicants to finalise proposals based on reviewer feedback.
5 Sep Final proposals to be sent to Matthew Bennett (via CRE Operations).
5 Sep – 15 Sep Matthew Bennett to review and approve final proposals (and write the PVC letter of support). Once reviewed, CRE Operations will let applicants know when to submit via Je-S.
15 Sep ESRC submission deadline.

For further information on the RPRS please see the RPRS website: http://erss.bournemouth.ac.uk/researchsupport/bids/writing/rprs.html

If you are considering applying to the scheme but have not yet confirmed this with the CRE Operations team please could you do so as soon as possible.

Good luck & Congratulations!

Awarded & submitted bids

This week’s messages of good luck are due to Darren Lilleker (MS) and to Chris Pullen (MS) for submitting large bids to the Leverhulme Trust, Gill Jordan (HSC) for submitting a bid to the South West Strategic Health Authority to explore the role of mentorship in supporting learning and assessment in practice, Edwin van Teijlingen (HSC) for submitting a bid to Bliss Innovation in Care Fund, Steve Calver and the Market Research Group (ST) for submitting a bid to Weymouth College to host focus groups, and to Sofronis Efstathiou (MS) for an animation pilot development bid to Nick Rose Ltd. It has also been a busy week for bidding to the EC Marie Curie fellowship schemes – bids have been submitted by Bogdan Gabrys (DEC), Jian Chang (MS), Rob Britton (ApSci) and Richard Stillman (ApSci). The Marie Curie schemes offer opportunities for mobility and research training, whilst also building institutional research capacity. Good luck to all of you!

Congratulations are due to Steve Richards and Lisa Stuchberry (ST) for winning a contract with LHC Architecture, Jonathan Wardle for winning CPD contracts with the BBC, Skillset and Met Film Ltd, Clive Andrewes for securing the repeat contract for the 2011-12 GP work and also for winning a contract with Dorset Community Health Services for a PDU accreditation, and to Joanne Holmes for running a nutrition course for Partners in Care. Many congratulations are also due to Bronwen Russell and the Bournemouth Archaeology team for securing three new contracts, all with Wardell Armstrong, Steve Calver and the Market Research Group (ST) for a small contract with Holburne Museum in Bath to undertake and analyse a survey, Liam Toms and the Creative Enterprise Bureau (MS) for winning a contract with Hidden Renewable Energy Ltd, Amber Burton (MS) for winning a contract with Dorset Wildlife Trust, Demetra Andreou (ApSci) for winning a grant from the Fisheries Society of the British Isles and to David Osselton (ApSci) for securing funding from Randox to explore eyewitness techniques. Well done and keep up the good work!

Professor Matthew Bennett

PVC (Research, Enterprise & Internationalisation)

Do you want to engage with BRIAN? Or are you more partial to a bit of BROS?

Guidance

Maybe you see Megalith as the towering winner, or you think BRAIN is the cleverest suggestion? Or is it RAD that you think is most radical?!

Symplectic Elements as the new research management system that BU is implementing this summer and it needs a name.

     

Whatever your preference remember to cast your vote before 19 August!

Happy voting! 🙂

[polldaddy poll=5372385]

Does anybody read this blog?! YES!!!!

Guidance

On Friday Steve Calver ended his latest MRG post with a question: “Does anybody read this blog?” – and within an hour a reader from another university replied to say “I do!“. Which is great! So I thought I’d share some of the visitor stats so you can get an idea of who views the blog and how regularly.

We measure footfall on the blog using the fabulous Google Analytics. The stats below are based on a period of 18 days during July and August 2011.

On average during this period the blog received 166 unique visitors every day, each spending approximately 2 minutes on the site.

51% of visitors find us via internet search engines. The top search terms led readers to our blog over the past 18 days are:

  • bournemouth
  • innovation
  • bu research blog
  • bournemouth university research blog
  • security
  • digital hub bournemouth university blog
  • ict
  • health
  • hefce ref training information events
  • marie curie fellowship 2011
  • kip jones rufus stone
  • bournemouth research blog
  • transport
  • bu logo
  • racism
  • bournemouth uk
  • culture
  • eurostat
  • statistics
  • wow effect

41% direct traffic, i.e. via the web address or via the BU Staff Portal. This is excellent as it shows that you lovely people who work at Bournemouth University are using the blog – hooray!

8% of visitors are referred to our blog by external sites. Our top referring sites are:

The bottom two are interesting referrals as these are universities in the USA that have picked up on our new BU Open Access Publication Fund and promoted the idea via their own websites. This has then encouraged visitors to these sites to visit our blog.

At present 30% of visits to the blog are made by returning visitors and 70% are made by new visitors.

Our visitors to date have come from 91 different countries (as displayed in the map below). The top ten countries viewing the blog are:

  • UK
  • USA
  • Germany
  • Spain
  • India
  • France
  • Poland
  • Canada
  • Belgium
  • Italy

So why is all of this information important?

Because it shows us two important things:

1. That the blog is working internally as the main means of sharing research news and information!

2. That the blog is working externally to promote the excellent research undertaken at BU!

We’re always seeking to improve things so if you have your own webpages/blogs then please feel free to use them to promote the BU Research Blog or ask us to link to your webpages/blogs from this blog, and if you have any ideas on how to improve our blog and/or to increase readership then please let us know! 🙂