BU Research Blog

22 December 2014

Latest Major Funding Opportunities

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

Arts and Humanities Research Council

Applications are being can be made to the International Placement Scheme for short term fellowships to the Yale Center for British Art, The Huntington Library, The Smithsonian Institution, The Harry Ransom Center, National Institutes for the Humanities Japan, The Library of Congress and the Shanghai Theatre Academy. Scholars receive a contribution of up to towards their travel, their visa costs paid, plus a monthly allowance. Closing Date: 15/01/15 at 16:00

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

BBSRC/EMBRAPA joint wheat call – pump-priming awards. Together with the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation ( Embrapa) a joint call for collaborative research proposals in wheat research. Up to £75k over a maximum duration of 12 months will be provided to the UK partners. Closing Date: 24/2/15

Economic and Social Research Council

There will be up to six fellowships available as part of the UK in a Changing Europe Senior Fellowships. The aim of the Fellowship programme is to provide evidence and analysis across the broad range of issues and policy areas affected by the UK’s position in a changing European Union (EU). The maximum amount available for each Fellowship is £200,000. Closing Date: 22/1/15

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

The SUPERGEN WIND CHALLENGE 2015 invites proposals for collaborative research projects to undertake fundamental research that will underpin the development of Wind Energy technologies. Up to £3m will be available and anyone intending to submit a proposal must register their intent by e-mail. Registration of intent: 20/1/15 at 16:00; Closing Date: 26/2/15 at 16:00

European Union

Transnational SOLAR-ERA.NET. The objective of the SEII is to boost the development of the PV and CSP sector beyond “business-as-usual” in the areas of Research and Development, Demonstration and Deployment with €12M available between 17 countries. Closing Date: 27/3/15 at 17:00 CET

Innovate UK

Agri-Tech Catalyst – round 4. The Agri-Tech Catalyst, run by Innovate UK and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, offers funding to innovative businesses and researchers to develop solutions to global agricultural challenges. Early and Late Stage Projects will have a typical project size between £150K and £500K. Closing Date: 17/6/15

The Industrial research awards for the Agri-Tech Catalyst fund can have a duration up to three years and a budget up to £3M. Closing Date: 1/4/15

Building whole-life performance. There are funds of £4M for collaborative R&D projects that can lead to better whole-life performance of buildings. Closing Date 1/4/15

Integrated supply chains for energy systems. Investment up to £9.5m in innovations that will address the need for a diverse mix of energy sources and systems over the next three decades and beyond. Closing Date: 11/2/15

Natural Environment Research Council

Sustaining Water Resources for Food, Energy & Ecosystem Services in India- Scoping workshop. NERC is inviting applications from UK scientists to attend a jointly organised workshop with the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), in India on 11-12 March 2015. Applications from researchers working in the fields of water security, ecosystem services, hydrological processes, hydrogeology, freshwater ecology, water quality and related disciplines are welcome. Closing Date: 12/1/15 at 16:00

Royal Society

International Exchanges Scheme. This scheme is for scientists in the UK who want to stimulate new collaborations with leading scientists overseas through either a one-off visit or bilateral travel with up to £12000 available. Closing Dates: 10/2/15 (cost-share round with Russia/RFBR) or 17/2/15 (standard round).

Wellcome Trust

Principal Research Fellowships are available for seven years in the first instance, and provide both a personal salary and research programme funding in full. Closing Date: Open

Research Resources grant,s forming part of the Medical Humanities grants portfolio, are available between £10 000 and £100 000. Small grants of up to £10 000 may be awarded to assess the content, condition and research potential of collections in preparation for a full application. Closing Date: 15/4/15

Please note that some funding bodies specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKEO Funding Development Officer

You can set up your own personalised alerts on Research Professional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s/Faculty’s Funding Development Officer in RKEO or view the recent blog post here.

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

30 October 2014

ESRC Transformative Research Call: internal competition

Funding opportunities apekalski

The ESRC expects universities to exercise demand management for the ESRC Transformative Research Call and therefore a special panel has been convened.Therefore, colleagues wishing to submit an application to this call should adhere to the following time scale:

You can find further information here: ESRC Transformative Research Call

The aim of this call is to provide a stimulus for genuinely transformative research ideas at the frontiers of the social sciences, enabling research which challenges current thinking to be supported and developed. Transformative research is an involving pioneering theoretical and methodological innovation. The expectation is that the transformative research call will encourage novel developments of social science enquiry, and support research activity that entails an element of risk.

If you have a queries please contact Alexandra Pekalski

20 October 2014

What Works Wellbeing – workshop and call

Jennifer Roddis

ESRC, AHRC and Public Health England, together with other partners, are investing in a new three-year programme to progress the understanding and application of wellbeing evidence. Four evidence-based programmes relating to wellbeing will be commissioned, these being:

community
work and learning
culture and sport
cross-cutting capabilities

Guidance for the call will be released on 29th October 2014, the deadline will be 2nd December, and a workshop for potential applicants will be held on 5th November in Birmingham.

Further information is available at http://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/32283/what-works-wellbeing.aspx

15 October 2014

ESRC impact prize 2015, celebrate your impact!

ssquelch

Impact helps to demonstrate that social science is important, that it is worth investing in and worth using.

In 2015 the ESRC is celebrating 50 years of supporting excellent social sciences. The 2015 impact prize is an opportunity to celebrate the outstanding economic and social impacts achieved by ESRC funded researchers over the last 50 years, this is one that cannot be missed.

This prize is now in its third year, growing ever more each year and brings together successes of impact from different aspects of ESRC research. This is an annual opportunity to recognise and reward the success of ESRC funded researchers who have achieved or are currently achieving, outstanding economic or societal impacts. The prize celebrates outstanding ESRC research and success in collaborative working, partnerships, engagement and knowledge exchange activities that have led to significant impact.

You are eligible for the prize regardless of how long ago you were funded, whether you were funded 50 years ago or very recently, it does not matter, as long as your research has helped change the world, provided deep insights into key social and economic questions, shaped society and made a difference, then this competition is for you, you must apply!

This competition is also looking for an impact champion, someone who has inspired, supported and encouraged others to achieve impact.

The prizes are very generous and are an added incentive to you applying for this competition. With £90,000 worth of prizes to be won, and six prize categories, what a great way to celebrate your amazing research impact. The closing date for applicants is 20^th November 2014 with the awards ceremony sponsored by SAGE being hosted in central London week beginning 22 June 2015.

To see the categories, gain inspiration from previous impact prize winners or if you’re interested in applying for this fantastic opportunity, click here.

9 September 2014

Oh for the love of impact! – What is it? And why do I need to ensure my research makes an impact?

PG research, Public engagement eloring

What is impact?

Is it as simple as it sounds? Research impact can be defined as “the demonstrable contribution that excellent research makes to society and economy”, as stated by Research Councils UK (RCUK).

Research impact embraces all the different ways in which research-related skills can benefit individuals, businesses and organisations, and nations. Including areas such as; developing global economic performance, more specifically the economic competitiveness of the UK; Grow and develop the effectiveness of public services and policy; and enhancing the quality of life, health and creative output.

There are two known types of impact; Academic impact – which is the visible and evident contribution that excellent social and economic research makes to scientific developments, across and within disciplines; and Economic and societal impact – which is the visible and evident contribution that excellent social and economic research makes to society and the economy, which has a great benefit to individuals, organisations and nations.

What category does your research fit under? Is it Instrumental – whereby your research influences the development of policy, practice or service provision? Or maybe it is Conceptual? – where your research contributes to the understanding of policy issues and reframing debates. Or perhaps it could be Capacity building impact? – which is through technical and personal skill development.

Research impact must also be demonstrable, it is important to provide evidence of the impact of your research, for example; that it has been used by policy makers, or has made improvements in businesses.

To find out more about what impact is, please visit here.

Why do I need to ensure my research makes an impact?

Over recent years, the government has placed a stronger emphasis on the need for evidence of returns from its investment in economic and social research.

Ensuring your research has impact has many benefits to, and for society. High quality and impactful research can help to;

Develop the value and sustainability of public, private and third sector organisations
Improve social welfare and cohesion
Increase economic wealth, wealth creation and regeneration
Enhance cultural enrichment and quality of life

Impact also has many benefits to the researcher. In order to maximise the impact of your research, you need to engage with your key audience and users – which can effectively provide benefits for the quality of our research, including;

Early feedback which can help to shape your research plan and improve methodologies currently being used
It helps to ensure that your research is relevant and meaningful
It helps to recruit participants, e.g. for focus groups or interviews
It also helps to develop new skills and raise your research profile

If you would like to find out more about why you should make an impact, please visit here.

If you would like to learn more about how to ensure your research has impact, please do not hesitate to contact Dr Rebecca Edwards in the Research & Knowledge Exchange Office – ext: 61538 or redwards@bournemouth.ac.uk

2 September 2014

ESRC impact prize award winners – could you be the next?

PG research, Public engagement eloring

There were six impact awards offered by the Economic and Social Research Council, and you can find out more about the winners and their impact below. Each winner has made such a significant difference and impact with their research that has had a positive and effective impact on today’s society and some of the challenges that we face. If you would like to learn more about how to ensure your research has impact, please do not hesitate to contact Dr Rebecca Edwards in the Research & Knowledge Exchange Office – ext: 61538 or redwards@bournemouth.ac.uk

Professor Neil Wrigley, University of Southampton won the impact award for ‘Outstanding Impact in Business’. The work of Professor Neil Wrigley and his colleagues has helped to transform thinking on food retail development, its role in sustaining viable town centres and the future of UK high streets. His research influenced national and international debates and UK competition policy. His research collaborations with Tesco and Sainsbury also helped to change the UK retailers’ appreciation of the value of evidence-based research and knowledge exchange with social science.

Professor Debra Myhill, University of Exeter won the ‘Outstanding Impact in Society’ award. Professor Debra Myhill led a decade of research into the development of writing in school children. Her research has shaped national and international policy, and has improved children’s writing abilities and changed classroom practice.

Dr Clifford Stott, University of Leeds won the ‘Outstanding Impact in Public Policy’ award. His research on ‘new approaches to crowd psychology’ is helping police manage the potential for conflict in crowds while allowing people’s rights to protest through dialogue and negotiation. Dr Stott assisted in the design and implementation of a policy use of force strategy for the UEFA European Football Championships (2004) and helped to design, develop, train and implement the UK’s first Police Liaison Teams (2011).

Dr Sabina Alkire, University of Oxford, won the ‘Outstanding International Impact’ award. Dr Alkire and colleagues had developed an innovative method for measuring multidimensional poverty. The method is used to help governments and organisations globally to design poverty-reduction programmes that are more effective.

Hannah Lambie-Mumford, University of Sheffield is an early career researcher who was won the award for ‘Outstanding Early Career Impact’. Hannah’s research on emergency food provision in the UK has provided policymakers, the charitable sector and media with thought-provoking evidence to inform the food poverty debate. Her findings shaped the terms of reference for the April 2014 All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into hunger and food poverty, and she joined the advisory group of Oxfam, CPAG and Church of England for research into food poverty and food banks in early 2014.

Professor Sir David Hendry, University of Oxford won the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’. Throughout five decades Professor Hendry has developed macroeconomic models that capture how economies work. These are now embedded in software which is widely used by policymakers and decision-makers. Professor Hendry commented, “The impact has been the interaction between developing vastly more powerful methods than when I started, that have a much higher chance of finding the causal relationships that operate in the economy, and embedding these models in software that is very easy to use and is massively labour-saving.”

For further information you can visit here.

7 April 2014

ESRC: Grant Assessment Panel Recruitment

Jo Garrad

The ESRC is inviting applications from suitably experienced persons to act as members of the Grant Assessment Panels (GAP). Panel membership is drawn from all areas of the social sciences, representing a broad range of expertise, skills and approaches. However, following the retirement of some current GAP members they are currently looking for applications in the following disciplinary areas:

. Demography

. Macro-economics

. Economic and Social History

. Environmental Planning

. Human Geography

. Linguistics

. Political and International Relations

. Psychology

. Social Policy

. Social Work

. Socio-Legal Studies

. Political Sociology

Further details about the role of GAP members can be found on the ESRC website along with a link to the vacancy notice and application form.

http://www.esrc.ac.uk/about-esrc/governance/committees/responsive-mode.aspx

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Vicky.Dunstan@esrc.ac.uk.

25 November 2013

Finance for SMEs: The role of assessing credit risk – A successful event from the Business School, funded by the ESRC Festival of Social Science!

Public engagement eloring

The conference ‘Finance for SMEs: The role of assessing credit risk’ took place on Wednesday 6 November 2013 at the Executive Business Centre and was convened by Professor Jens Hölscher. The organisers, guest speakers and members of the public spoke highly of its success.

Around forty participants from both academic and business community backgrounds were in attendance. During the conference, there was lively debate and exchange between those that attended and those presenting. Turning Point was used to find out the participants’ opinions on whether ‘the future of SME finance lies with (1) Public banks, (2) 4 Fs (family, friends, fools & fans) or (3) High street banks’. This question was asked at the beginning and at the end of the conference. As you can see below, the change in results represents the change in opinions throughout the course of the conference.

First round Second round

The conference was opened by Professor Roger Palmer, Dean of the Business School. Professor Palmer felt personally attached to the scheme of the conference as he was once running his own SME business. Marc Cowling from the University of Exeter then gave his presentation on ‘How does firm risk affect the supply and demand for bank loans in a financial crisis?’ setting the scene for the day. This was then followed by a paper presented by Andy Farmer, Senior International Commercial Manager of HSBC Bank PLC, Bournemouth on ‘Is my business a sound credit risk? The Bankers View’.

An international comparative perspective was introduced by Jacob Kleinow, Freiberg University, Germany, who gave a talk on ‘SME bonds as alternative finance: The example of Germany’. The second session of the conference consisted of three breakout meetings on; The banks’ views, The SME’s views and The public’s view. The latter one was facilitated by Liz Wilkinson, Finance Director of Bournemouth Borough Council.

At the end of the conference, Dr Richard Roberts, SME Market Analysis Director at Barclays Bank PLC addressed the theme ‘Will the SME debt market ever work again?’.

3 November 2013

Free family fun day to show case living with dementia can be fun

Sarah Hambidge

Saturday 9^th November (1:30pm-4:30pm) Littledown Centre Bournemouth, Studio 1

Dementia in Dorset – what does this mean for you?

Free event for all the family

Bournemouth University Dementia Institute (BUDI) are hosting a community engagement day as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science to showcase a range of their innovative projects which will bring dementia awareness to life through technology, maritime archaeology, exercise and tai chi, an art exhibition and many more fun hands-on-activities. There will be a free bouncy castle, face painting, balloons and treats, for children of all ages!

Visitors will have the chance to understand what it’s like to live with dementia through a talk by someone living with dementia and postcard stories, getting the chance to use technology which has the aim of improving the quality of life of those living with dementia, planting seeds to learn about dementia friendly environments, learning how to make healthy food more appetising to improve the mind and body, and experiencing how massage can reduce anxiety and enhance relaxation for both people living with dementia and their carers.

The BUDI team will be on-hand for a chat or to answer questions, and information from local organisations people living with dementia and carers will be available.

There is no need to register for this event, so just come along!

7 October 2013

University to host five events as part of the prestigious ESRC Festival of Social Science!

Public engagement eloring

Major congratulations are in order for our BU academics who have done us #BUproud yet again as we are awarded funding for five different events as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science this year.

About the Festival:

The Festival of Social Science is a national Festival facilitated by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and runs from 2-9^th November 2013. It supports researchers to engage with a new audience, including individuals from business, charities, policy makers, teenagers, pensioners, parents and the general public. Sponsorship to include an event as part of the Festival is competitive, and this year, Bournemouth University has five events included – which is BU’s strongest ever presence as part of the Festival.

This year the Festival has over 170 creative and exciting events aimed at encouraging businesses, charities, government agencies, and schools and college students to discuss, discover and debate topical social science issues. The Festival celebrates some of the country’s leading social science research, giving an exciting opportunity to showcase the valuable work of the UK’s social scientists and demonstrate how their work has an impact on all our lives.

What BU has got planned?

Promoting dignity through understanding narratives of care

2^nd November (10am-4pm) Executive Business Centre, Bournemouth– Convened by Andrew Harding and Lee Ann Fenge

The event will use arts and social science methodologies to explore participants’ experiences of and reflections on dignity and compassion in health and social care. Participants may include users of services and their carers, practitioners and educators. Narrative methods provide a powerful means of engagement and construction for making meaning from experiences.

The participants will be encouraged to review experiences and reflections about the presence or absence of dignity and compassion in health and social care, and to consider if views about dignity and compassion change over time and place. Creative spaces, stimulated by ‘cafe conversations’ and supported activities, will enable participants to create collaborative and individual narratives and stories in a range of formats (e.g. poems, art and performance).

To register for your FREE place, please visit: http://esrc2013.eventbrite.co.uk/

Seen but Seldom Heard. Young people working to change perceptions of disability through poetry and performance.

Sunday 3^rd November (7pm-9pm) Lighthouse, Poole – Convened by Carrie Hodges and Wendy Cutts

‘Seen but Seldom Heard’ is a collaboration between Bournemouth University and Victoria Education Centre and Sports College in Poole. The project uses performance poetry as a way to provide a group of young physically disabled people (14-19 years) with a voice to challenge dominant stereotypes of disability that often serve to marginalise and exclude disabled people in society, by sharing their own personal stories.

The performance is a culmination of work that has been produced from a series of poetry workshops that have taken place over the last 18 months, facilitated by professional performance poets, Jonny Fluffypunk and Liv Torc. The group began by using both the achievements and media portrayals of Paralympic athletes as a focus for individually-written and collectively-authored poetry confronting negative perceptions of disability. As the work progressed, poetry was used as a way for the young people to engage in conversation about issues, policies and practices which affect them and others like them.

The ‘multi-media’ performance will challenge members of the public to think critically about their own perceptions of disability, engaging the audience via ‘warm-up’ poems from the professional poets, a series of short live and pre-recorded individual and group poetry performances from the young people, and a film screening of the ‘Seen but Seldom Heard’ documentary.

More information on the project and examples of the poetry can be found at: http://microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk/seen-but-seldom-heard/

To register for the FREE event, please visit: https://seenbutseldomheard.eventbrite.co.uk/

Finance for SME’S: The role of assessing credit risk

Wednesday 6^th November (12:30-5:30pm) Executive Business Centre, Bournemouth – Convened by Jens Holscher

This unique one-day event, brings together practitioners and academics in order to discuss the most pertinent issues of SMEs’ finance and credit risk with a view to setting a research agenda relevant to lenders and regulators.

Following the recent and continuing credit squeeze, lending to Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) remains at the top of the agenda for governments around the world. With various political and economic incentives introduced to support SMEs, it is important not to overlook the practicalities of credit risk assessment, as access to credit is contingent on meeting the risk standards of credit providers, especially in the environment of prudent lending.

Participants will engage in debate and keynote speakers from academia, government agencies and industry will be invited. Social sciences and social science research will be promoted by drawing on leading researchers and through interaction of speakers and attendees, which will include breakout sessions related to sub-schemes such as micro finance, the role of regional funds and development agencies.

For further information please visit here. To register for this event please visit: financeforsmes.eventbrite.co.uk

Social Media: Make or break your online reputation

Friday 8^th November (11am-5pm) Talbot Campus – Convened by Dimitrios Buhalis

This interactive seminar will engage tourism, hospitality, marketing and technology professionals in a dialogue and will encourage them to consider how they can manage their reputation online. The discussion will focus on monitoring online conversations about brands and executing online strategies to manage the online reputation of organizations. It will include short presentations from research results undertaken at Bournemouth University and digital marketing agencies. An open discussion will be encouraged between researchers and professionals. This event has been chosen as there is a growing research agenda on the impact of social media on organisational reputation for tourism destinations and organisations. Thus researchers recognise the need to engage researchers, marketing and tourism industry professionals in discussion.

Please register for this FREE event, here: http://esrc-tourism-socialmedia.eventbrite.co.uk/

Dementia in Dorset – what does this mean for you?

Saturday 9^th November (1pm-5pm) Littledown Centre Bournemouth, Studio 2 – Convened by Anthea Innes and Sarah Hambidge

BUDI will host a one day community engagement event to showcase a range of their innovative projects which will bring dementia awareness to life through music, movement, interior design, technology, food, stories and marine archaeology. Storytelling, hands-on-activities, food tasting and art will be used to engage visitors to the exhibit with the impacts of dementia identified by social science research.

Dementia affects us all in some way and is currently a very relevant societal issue. The government are focusing on improving the areas that matter most to dementia: awareness, quality care and research. These themes will be brought to life by; exploring dementia through an interactive marine archaeology session, learning the benefits that healthy eating can have for everyone in the fight against dementia through taste, understanding what it’s like to live with dementia through postcard stories, getting the chance to use technology which has the aim of improving the quality of life of those living with dementia and planting seeds to learn about dementia friendly environments, amongst other fun activities.

To find out more about BUDI and the projects they are working on, please visit: http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/dementia-institute/

Please note that there is no need to register for this event, so just come along!

Why not come to some of these events? I can assure you, it’s worth it!

23 August 2013

ESRC new award

Awarded & submitted bids Sarah Olliffe

Congratulations to Jens Hölscher from the Business School for his ESRC Festival of Social Science project for ‘Finance for SMEs: The role of assessing credit risk’.

This funding will contribute to a unique one-day event on 6th November 2013, organised by the Business School, which will bring together practitioners and academics in order to discuss the most pertinent issues of SMEs’ finance and credit risk with a view to setting a research agenda relevant to lenders and regulators.

Following the recent and continuing credit squeeze, lending to Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) remains at the top of the agenda for governments around the world. With various political and economic incentives introduced to support SMEs, it is important not to overlook the practicalities of credit risk assessment, as access to credit is contingent on meeting the risk standards of credit providers, especially in the environment of prudent lending.

Participants will engage in debate and keynote speakers from academia, government agencies and industry will be invited. Social sciences and social science research will be promoted by drawing on leading researchers and through interaction of speakers and attendees, which will include breakout sessions related to sub-schemes such as micro finance, the role of regional funds and development agencies.

13 May 2013

The perfect academic career path

Corrina Lailla Osborne

Knowing what kind of grant you should go for can be a little tricky when you start your academic career. The ESRC have produced this very handy diagram which outlines at what stage you should ideally submit proposals for different types of grants and values.

If you need any help or advice on what types of grant to go for, come and speak to us in R&KEO.

28 March 2013

ESRC 2013 Festival of Science

Funding opportunities Caroline O'Kane

The ESRC has just posted on their website the news that the call for applications for the 2013 Festival has been delayed.

They now anticipate that the call will open on 15 April with a closing date of 13 May for applications requesting funding support of up to £2,000, and 7 May for applications to hold an event and not requesting funding. This means that the call for applications will be open for only four weeks. The message from the ESRC is to start planning your event as soon as possible.

BU held four events as part of the 2012 Festival. Our successful applicants were: Kip Jones, Richard Shipway, Debbie Sadd, Ruth Towse and Martin Kretschmer. This is what Debbie has to say about being part of the Festival:

“It is a wonderful opportunity to start a bidding journey and gain confidence in ‘winning’ some money!! The process was very straight forward and the support from the ESRC invaluable. The event itself was a resounding success.”

Looking for inspiration? Clicking on the following links will take you to the posters that were designed for each event, which may give you some ideas for your own event.

Copyright Policy, Going for Gold, London 2012 Was it Worth it, Pathways to Impact

Want to find out more?

Click here to find out more information about the call and the ESRC Festival of Science in general.

Interested in applying?

Please contact Caroline O’Kane as soon as possible if you are interested in applying.

27 February 2013

ESRC Retail Knowledge Exchange Opportunities

Funding opportunities lrossiter

Exciting new funding opportunities are now available with the retail sector!

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) have recently made a call, after committing to invest £2 million to establish a cohort of new Knowledge Exchange Opportunities with the retail sector.

The Knowledge Exchange Opportunities scheme is designed to promote the application of social science within non-academic communities. Which means that the target audience of the grant activity must be non-academic stakeholders within the private, public or civil society sectors. The flexibility built into the scheme is intended to encourage applicants to think creatively about knowledge exchange and the ESRC are welcoming applications for either a single activity or a combination of activities.

Potential activities could include:

new applied research, provided it is user-led or in collaboration with a user partner
setting up a network to encourage knowledge exchange between leading academics and retailers
an academic placement within a private sector retailer, or other organisation focusing on the retail sector
developing tools such as podcasts and videos aimed at communicating the results of research to retailers
developing existing research to make it more applicable to the retail sector
seminars to encourage knowledge exchange between academics and retailers.

Also, a targeted call has been made for:

Retail Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTPs) (run by the Technology Strategy Board – for details and to apply visit www.ktponline.org.uk)

The call for all applications closes on 30 April 2013.

For further information please visit the ESRC website

2 January 2013

ESRC: Celebrating impact prize

Funding opportunities Jo Garrad

The Economic and Social Research Council invites applications for its celebrating impact prize.

This prize is intended to recognise and reward ESRC-funded researchers who have achieved, or are currently achieving outstanding economic or societal impacts through their research and collaborative working, partnerships, engagement and knowledge exchange activities. There are six categories for this prize: impact in business, impact in public policy, impact in society, international impact, early career impact, impact champion of the year.

A prize of £10,000 will be made to the winners of each category, with a further £10,000 for the department with the impact champion of the year.

The application deadline is 16.00 on 14 February 2013.

For further information please click here.

The RKE Operations team can help you with your application. Please direct any enquiries to RKE Ops in the first instance.

2 November 2012

Notes from ESRC ARMA WORKSHOP 2012 on challenges and opportunities for the social sciences in the current economic climate

Funding opportunities, Guidance Eva Papadopoulou

BU’s Teresa Coffin and Eva Papadopoulou (Research and Knowledge Exchange Operations) attended a training day hosted by the ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) aimed at discussing the challenges and opportunities for the social sciences in the current climate. The focus of the event included presentations from the main Department Heads who outlined their internal workings, grant application framework and advice for successful applications. They also discussed their amended research agenda, funding opportunities, various partnerships and current strategic priorities. Notes from the day can be found here:

ARMA Notes

30 October 2012

Wanted: members for RC governing councils

Jo Garrad

Six research councils are inviting applications to fill governing council vacancies expected to arise in 2013.

Suitably qualified academics and experienced individuals from industry, commerce, government, and the voluntary, creative and cultural sectors, can apply.

The vacancies are at the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Economic and Social Research Council, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the Natural Environment Research Council, and the Science and Technology Facilities Council.

The vacancies include some positions with audit committee responsibilities for part-time membership.

Annual honoraria of £6,850 will be paid. The closing date for applications is 19 November.

8 October 2012

New Funding Programme on Quantitative Methods Training

Funding opportunities Jo Garrad

The Nuffield Foundation, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) are launching a £15.5 million funding programme in October 2012 aimed at promoting a step-change in quantitative methods training for UK social science undergraduates.

This 5-year programme will fund the creation of a network of up to 15 Quantitative Methods Centres to develop new approaches aimed at embedding the acquisition and application of quantitative skills to substantive issues in disciplines across the UK social science undergraduate curricula.

Centres will be able to apply for funding of up to £350k per year to develop and deliver a wide range of fundable training activities, including bursaries for students attending holiday courses or in relevant work placements, recruitment of new staff and the development of new courses and pathways to careers requiring skills in quantitative methods.

Centres are expected to be within single Higher Education Institutions, with limited scope for any consortia arrangements. Single departments or groups of departments within an Institution may apply, but only one application per Higher Education Institution will be allowed.

We expect that competition for funds will be intense. Applying Institutions should therefore already have demonstrable expertise in and commitment to developing quantitative skills in the social sciences.

More information about the programme can be found on the Nuffield Foundation website www.nuffieldfoundation.org from October 15th. They will also be holding two launch events in London and Manchester to present this initiative:

Friday 19th October @ 11.00am British Academy, London

Thursday 8th November @ 11.15am Manchester University

If you are interested in applying, they hope that you will be able to attend one of these events. This is an open invitation, but all who wish to attend must register so that they can plan for numbers. Initially, no more than 2 attendees per HEI, but if they have room they would be happy to allow more.

If you would like to attend, please RSVP by e-mail using the attached form to QMEnquiries@nuffieldfoundation.org by Monday 8th October. They will send further information about the events to registered attendees.

RSVP form

Tagged / ESRC

Latest Major Funding Opportunities

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

ESRC Transformative Research Call: internal competition

What Works Wellbeing – workshop and call

Oh for the love of impact! – What is it? And why do I need to ensure my research makes an impact?

ESRC impact prize award winners – could you be the next?

ESRC: Grant Assessment Panel Recruitment

Free family fun day to show case living with dementia can be fun

ESRC new award

The perfect academic career path

ESRC Retail Knowledge Exchange Opportunities

ESRC: Celebrating impact prize

Wanted: members for RC governing councils

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

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