Tagged / ESRC

ESRC Centres Competition 2018

Funding opportunities

ESRC have announce the call for outline proposals for their Centres Competition 2018.

They are investing up to £30 million over five years through this centres competition. It is anticipated that ESRC will fund four centres. The competition is for proposals ranging from £2 million to £8 million 100% full economic cost (fEC) with a term of five years. They will meet 80% of the full economic costs on proposals submitted (ie ESRC funding total of £24 million at 80% fEC).

Research centre funding is aimed at experienced research leaders who require longer-term or extended support for research groups, inter-institutional research networks, project-linked programmes, medium-to-large surveys, other infrastructure or methodological developments, or any related larger-scale projects.

They envisage centres as long term investments which strengthen the social science landscape in the UK and successful proposals must add value to the current portfolio of ESRC centres. In addition to taking forward an ambitious research agenda and making significant economic or societal impact, centres add value by increasing research infrastructure, building capacity, encouraging interdisciplinary working in social science and beyond, and enabling research collaboration in the UK and internationally. They anticipate that over time centres awarded under this call will become major strategic partnerships with their host research organisations.

For more details, click here.  Outline proposals must be submitted to the Je-S system: by the call deadline 16:00 on 15 March 2018.

If you are interested in applying to this call, you must discuss your plans and ideas with your Dean of Faculty in the first place (before contacting RKEO) as there will be significant commitment requirements from the university.

ESRC: Miracles in the mundane: hitchhiking and micro-adventures

As as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2017, organised by Bournemouth University, I ran an event about hitchhiking and micro-adventures. You may wonder, when did the practice of hitchhiking need to be thought through social science. By inviting six speakers (hitchhikers and social scientists) to Bournemouth University, we spent 3 hours thinking with and through hitchhiking and micro adventures to explore the modern experiences of passengering, ethical encounters, trust, the cost of speed and acceleration, driverless cars, social entrepreneurship, self-sufficiency, automobility and infrastructure. Other Topics Included –

  • Hitchhiking and the nature of being a passenger (agency, performances and resistance to standardized categories);
  • Contrasted affects, bodies and emotions of being on the road;
  • Role of media and social media in accessibility, inclusion, and diversity of micro adventures;
  • Systems, technologies and practices linked to friction/ frictionless travel;
  • The move back towards so-called ‘active’ and human powered mobility cultures that gives value to turbulence, friction, risk and the social exchange they engender;
  • The future of hitchhiking.
  • The role of gender, race, class, age and sexuality and other social and intersectional relationships of domination at play;
  • Understanding and potentially overcoming physical, mental, emotional barriers to microadventures;
  • Hitchhiking as Sustainable, Subversive Mobilities, Slow Mobilities;

Poster for the Event

The speakers
– Antonin Borgnon, an hitchhiker and photographer spoke about his project “Art of Hitchhiking.”
– Anick-Marie Bouchard is a travel blogger specialized in Hitchhiking, Female Solo Travel, and spoke about putting adventure back into ones life, even without having to travel far.
– Patrick Laviolette, PhD spoke about the recurrent material and bodily techniques employed in hitching a lift. He’s presentation also touched on certain cross-cultural points of comparison between the decline of hitching in the West versus its persistence in Eastern Europe.
– Max Neumegen spoke about his life of travel, and what travel and adventure means to him.
– Ali Hussain spoke about his experiences as a non-white hitchhiker and solo male across different regions, Ali spoke about his  relationship with money in a money-centric culture and hitchhiking as a values-oriented practice rather than as a means to an end.
– Dego from Glasgow, who has been hitchhiking for 30 years, spoke about hitchhiking as central to his lifestyle and work.

Ali Hussain presenting.

 
Some signs from the event” Miracles in the Mundane: hitchhiking and micro-adventures” held last  Saturday,

This event was FREE to attend, and was superbly supported by Natt & Devon at the University. The event was attended by approx. 20 people and was shown LIVE on twitter and Facebook. The experience of been part of the ESRC festival of Social Science was a very positive one.  It has provided a public engagement opportunity, helped me engage with new research partners, and provided more inside into an under researched phenomenon. It has also led to discussions about organizing an event with similar topic areas in 2018.

 

Organizer Michael O’Regan, Faculty of Management

 

For further information please contact FestivalofSocialScience@bournemouth.ac.uk or please visit the event website at nomadx.org

REMINDER – Cross-Research Council Mental Health Network Plus call Meeting

Funding opportunities, Guidance

Just a quick reminders…

We will be holding a networking event for BU academics who are interested in the Cross-Research Council Mental Health Network Plus call on 1st November 09:30-11:30 in PG140. It will be a chance to get like-minded people in one space to identify possible collaborations and differences.

No preparation is necessary for the meeting; however we would ask you to read the call guidance see here.

Refreshment will be provided, if you would like attend please contact Alexandra Pekalski or Lisa Gale Andrews.

ESRC Festival of Social Science – what have we got for you!

The ESRC Festival is a month away…

With planning underway we wanted to let you know what events you could get involved in and find out more about the Social Science research we have at Bournemouth University.

Here are a few of the events that we are organising, you can find out more about the festival and book your tickets here.

Brexit: Next Steps for Business and Trade Policy – Sangeeta Khorana and Jens Holscher are inviting policy makers to come together with academics and businesses to discuss options around pressing post-Brexit issues. 9th November, London.

Tackling Loneliness through connections and creativity – Dr. Lee-Ann Fenge and Sally Lee are raising awareness on the impact of loneliness on health and well-being in older generations. This event hopes to give Social Care workers inspiration of connecting and creating with older generations which will help to combat loneliness, whilst raising awareness of the susceptibility loneliness makes people to financial scams. 9th November, The Shelley Theatre Boscombe.

Thank you for coming: Why gratitude matters – Fiona Cownie will teach you the power of saying ‘thank you’ whilst giving you an action plan which you can implement within your work/volunteering environment. 10th November, Bournemouth University Talbot campus.

We can’t wait for you to join us at the ESRC Festival of Social Science. There are activities for everyone, without costing you a penny!

Building resilience to natural disasters using financial instruments – Networking Event &Funding Call

Funding opportunities

Call closes: 16:00 on 26 September 2017

ESRC and UK Aid (DFID) logoNERC, the Department for International Development, and the Economic & Social Research Council invite proposals to address the topic building resilience to natural disasters using financial instruments. Funding is available to apply existing environmental and social science research to inform the design, development, refinement and validation of financing instruments to help developing countries respond and recover from extreme weather and natural disasters.

The overarching goal of these projects is to have impact on the developing world. To achieve this, projects must work with practitioner project partners who have a role in the design, development and application of innovative financing mechanisms for developing countries (eg non-governmental organisations, policymakers, disaster risk management actors, insurance companies).

NERC funding for this call will form part of the UK’s official development assistance (ODA) commitment, and proposals should demonstrate their primary purpose is to promote the economic development and welfare of countries on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development’s Development Assistance Committee list of ODA recipients.

The programme will support both:

  • feasibility studies of up to £100,000 (at 100% full economic cost) and up to six months in duration
  • longer projects of up to £350,000 (at 100% full economic cost) and up to 24 months in duration.

Successful projects are expected to start no later than 1 January 2018.

If you are interested in applying to this call then please contact your RKEO Funding Development Officer in the first instance.

Networking and brokerage event

In order to bring together academics and potential project partners, a one-day networking event will be held at the Radisson Blu Portman Hotel in London on 28 July 2017. For further information and details of how to register your interest in attending this event, please see the networking event page.

Please note that attendance at this networking event is not a pre-requisite for the submission of proposals to this call.

Further information

Further information on this call and details of how to submit a proposal will be available to download shortly.

Contact

Lisa Bettington
Programme Manager – Innovation
01793 411630

ESRC Leadership Co-ordinator for Brexit Priority Grants, the UK in a Changing Europe

Funding opportunities

The ESRC wishes to invite proposals for a Leadership co-ordinator to provide intellectual leadership for, and to maximise the impact of the portfolio of recently commissioned 25 UK in a Changing Europe Brexit Priority Grants. In addition, the Leadership coordinator will also co-ordinate activity associated with the proposed Governance after Brexit programme and assist in scoping out additional future research activity on the longer-term impact of Brexit and other governance-related issues.

The Leadership Co-ordinator will play a vital role in:

  • Co-ordinating activities of the 25 UK in a Changing Europe (UKICE) Brexit Priority Grants, including:
    • liaising as appropriate with Brexit Priority Grant holders
    • connecting and communicating findings and outcomes with users
    • generating evidence and maximising the impact of the Grant’s policy agenda through engagement with a range of policymakers (especially government departments) and stakeholders both in the UK and internationally.
  • Supporting the activities of the UK in a Changing Europe initiative, and collaborating with the Director and Deputy Director accordingly. This will include working closely and meeting regularly with the UKICE Director.
  • Providing strategic and intellectual leadership over the ESRC’s wider research plans in the area of democracy and governance, identifying synergies as appropriate and supporting the development of a cohesive portfolio.
  • Finalising research priorities for the Governance after Brexit programme and co-ordinating activity supported through this investment.

This is a complex and fast-moving portfolio, and therefore it is anticipated that the appointment will possess senior level expertise in this area. It is anticipated that appointment will be made at the level of senior fellow. The Leadership Coordinator will also need to be based at an eligible UK Research Organisation (RO).

Application process

The maximum budget for the post is £410,000 at 100% fEC. In accordance with RCUK policy, the ESRC will contribute up to 80% of fEC.This budget is expected to cover the Leadership Coordinator’s salary costs, additional research salary costs, any support staff, as well as networking, travel, dissemination, knowledge exchange and impact activities. Applications should be submitted through the Je-S system by 16:00 on the closing date on 23 August 2017.  You will need to contact your RKEO Funding Development Officer in the first instance.

The appointment is for a fixed period of 40 months. The successful individual should take up the post on 1 December 2017.

Call documents

Contact

AHRC-ESRC-FCO Knowledge Exchange Fellowship Scheme

Funding opportunities

The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) are pleased to invite applications to the AHRC-ESRC-FCO Knowledge Exchange (KE) Fellowships scheme. The scheme will provide the opportunity for each intake of fellows to be seconded into the FCO to work alongside, advise and influence policymakers. Fellows will bring fresh thinking, depth and breadth of expert knowledge and apply their learning to policy challenges. This is not a scheme to support research projects about the FCO. It will build new capacity in the FCO and across the UK research base.

The fellowship scheme will go beyond current ad hoc arrangements, create deeper engagement between academia and policy, impact on diplomacy, increase the professional reputation of participating scholars and build long term, two way relationships. The benefits will flow to the wider academic community through fellows’ engagement with their home research organisation and wider research communities as well as through a dedicated policy seminar series hosted by the FCO during the lifetime of the scheme.

The partners anticipate supporting three-four KE Fellows working between 0.6 to 0.8 FTE for 24 months. The maximum amount available for one Fellowship will depend on individual applications. The costs will be met by the participating Research Councils. Consistent with the Research Councils’ arrangements for fEC, the AHRC and ESRC will contribute 80% of the costs and the remaining balance must be guaranteed by the Fellows’ research organisations.

How to apply

This call will be managed by the ESRC on behalf of the two participating Research Councils. In the first instance, an application should be sent as an email attachment to the ESRC on fcofellow@esrc.ac.uk by 16:00 on 31 October 2017. Applications received after this time will not be considered.

Please contact your RKEO Funding Development Officer in the first instance as all applications will need to be costed and approved by BU.

Call documents

Contacts

ESRC Transformative Research Call: internal competition 2017

Funding opportunities

The ESRC expects universities to exercise demand management and pre-select applications for the ESRC Transformative Research Call 2017-18. The value of the grant is up to £250K (at 100% fEC) over a maximum of two years.

The aim of this call is to provide a stimulus for social science research that is novel, pioneering and genuinely transformative. Ideas should challenge current thinking and contain an element of academic risk.

Only two applications may be submitted by Bournemouth University and therefore a special panel has been convened.  Colleagues wishing to submit an application to this call should adhere to the following time scale:

July 18th Deadline- Send Intention to Bid form to the Funding Development Officer for your faculty
July 31st Call Opens- applicants must work with a Faculty peer reviewer and follow submission approval processes at the Faculty level as guided by your Funding Development Officer
August 29th Final draft application to be submitted to Dianne Goodman (dgoodman@bournemouth.ac.uk) for collating on behalf of the internal review panel
September 5th PVC (R&I) and other panel members to decide the two applications that may submit on behalf of BU. PVC to provide BU financial (Activity Proposal Form) sign off for two applications
October 23rd Final submission must be submitted via JeS for institutional checks and submission
October 31st at 16:00 ESRC deadline- Call closes – proposals meeting funder requirements submitted

 

If you have any queries, please contact Ehren Milner (emilner@bournemouth.ac.uk).

 

ESRC-AHRC Migration Leadership Team

Funding opportunities

The ESRC and AHRC are inviting proposals for a Migration Leadership Team to provide intellectual leadership for, and maximise the impact of, their combined migration research portfolio.

This is a complex and wide-ranging portfolio, and they anticipate that the appointment will involve a collaboration of two or more individuals bringing complementary senior level expertise in this area.  The team will play a vital role in:AHRC

  • providing strategic and intellectual leadership over ESRC and AHRC’s existing migration research portfolio: mapping, curating and synthesising the portfolio in ways that should maximise potential impact on policy agendas, identifying synergies between existing investments and strategic gaps to support the development of a cohesive portfolio
  • liaising with academics working in this and related fields, connecting and communicating with users, generating evidence and maximising the impact of the portfolio’s policy agenda through engagement with a range of policymakers and stakeholders both in the UK and internationally
  • establishing and exploiting connections with other major migration research programmes and activities in Europe, in the developing world, and elsewhere
  • identifying and advising on opportunities to develop the portfolio through future interdisciplinary activities including international collaboration under the broad theme of migration.

Applications must be submitted through the Je-S system by 16:00 on 8 August 2017.

The appointment is for 24 months in the first instance with the possibility to extend beyond the initial period of funding. The successful team should take up the post on 1 November 2017.

The maximum funding available is £500,000 fEC (full economic cost). In accordance with RCUK policy, the AHRC and ESRC will contribute up to 80% of fEC. This budget is expected to cover the Leadership Team’s salary costs, additional research salary costs, any support staff, as well as networking, travel, dissemination, knowledge exchange and impact activities.

Call documents

If you are interested in applying then please contact your RKEO Funding Development Officer in the first instance.

ESRC want you!

ESRC is inviting applications from academics suitably experienced in the social sciences to act as members of their Grants Assessment Panels (GAPs).

About the Panels

The ESRC is the UK’s leading agency for research and training in the social sciences. Their Grants Assessment Panels (GAPs) assess proposals for most responsive mode schemes across the range of ESRC’s activities.

There are currently three Panels organised around a cluster of disciplines with a fourth panel that considers proposals submitted to the Secondary Data Analysis Initiative (SDAI). Between them the Panels cover the whole of ESRC’s disciplinary remit.

Membership of a GAP is an opportunity to work with other experienced people from across the academic, public, business and civil society sectors to help ensure ESRC funds high quality research with academic, economic and societal impact. Members will also have an opportunity to feed into, and learn about ESRC policy development.

New members

ESRC are currently looking for applications specifically in the following disciplinary areas:

Human Geography (panel A)

  • Essential: Should have expertise across the Human Geography remit
  • Desirable: Specific expertise in areas such as inequality, migration, environment and climate change would be desirable.

Psychology (panel A) – post 1

  • Essential: Should be a social psychologist with broad expertise covering quantitative and qualitative methods
  • Desirable: Specific expertise in areas such as attitudes, ‘Identity, diversity and inequality’ and ‘Individual differences’ would be desirable

Psychology (panel A) – post 2

  • Essential: Should have a broad expertise across the Psychology remit
  • Desirable: Specific expertise in behaviour change, developmental psychology and mental health would be desirable.

Sociology/ Social Policy (panel D)

  • Essential: Should have a broad expertise across the sociology and social policy disciplines.
  • Desirable: This post is for Panel D and therefore requires someone with expertise in quantitative methods and secondary data analysis

Education (panel B)

  • Essential: Should have a broad expertise across the sociology and social policy disciplines.
  • Desirable: Specific expertise in primary education and quantitative research methods would be desirable

Education (panel D)

  • Essential: Should have a broad expertise across the sociology and social policy disciplines.
  • Desirable: This post is for panel D and therefore requires someone with expertise in quantitative methods and secondary data analysis

Linguistics (panel B)

  • Essential: Should have broad expertise across the linguistics discipline
  • Desirable: Specific expertise in second language acquisition and/or language processing would be desirable

Socio-legal studies (panel B)

  • Essential: Should have broad expertise across the discipline of socio-legal studies
  • Desirable: Specific expertise in criminology, criminal justice and policing would be desirable

Members are expected to assess an average of 30 applications a year and to meet three times a year (in March, July and November) to make funding recommendations. Meetings will alternate between London and Swindon.

New Chair for Panel D

In addition to the appointment of new members, there is also a vacancy to chair Panel D. Panel D covers the Secondary Data Analysis Initiative. See the announcement for further details.

How to apply

Applications should be submitted online no later than 17.00 on 19 May 2017. A short CV (no longer than two A4 pages) should be included.

Successful applicants will be appointed for two years initially, with possible renewal for a further two years. Invitations will be sent to successful candidates in late July/early August and members will be expected to be available for a briefing session on 7 September 2017 in Swindon.