Tagged / funding opportunities

Funding opportunity – Wellcome – Innovator Awards: Digital Technologies

The Innovator Awards support researchers who are transforming great ideas into digital healthcare innovations that could have a significant impact on human health. Individuals and teams from not-for-profit and commercial organisations can apply. Organisations can be of any size, based anywhere in the world.

Researchers working in any discipline and on any type of digital technology can apply. Examples of digital technologies include:

  • intelligent: artificial intelligence and machine learning
  • data driven: data analytics and informatics
  • immersive: virtual and augmented reality
  • connected: internet of things (IoT), networks and sensors.

Projects must be innovative, disruptive and address an unmet healthcare need or challenge.

Summary :

Call opens : 1 October 2018

Call closes : 3 December 2018

Available funding : between £500,000 and £1million

Project duration : up to 2 years

Please see this link for more information about this call.

 

 

Funding opportunity – Global Innovation Linkages program – Round 2 (Australia)

The Global Innovation Linkages program from the Australian Government provides Australian businesses and researchers with matched funding of up to $1 million per project to collaborate with global partners on strategically focused, leading-edge research and development.

Lead organisation eligibility

To be an eligible lead organisation you must:

  • have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
  • be registered for GST

    Project partners

    Project partners must include at least:

    • one Australian industry entity and
    • one Australian research organisation and
    • one global partner.

Summary : 

Application deadline : 14 November 2018

Available funding : up to $1million per project

Grant period : Maximum four years

Please see this link for more information about this call.

Funding opportunities from Innovate UK

1. SBRI: intelligent data to transform local council service delivery

This Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) competition is funded by the GovTech Catalyst and is sponsored by Durham County Council and Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council.

This competition looks at 2 specific data-gathering techniques in local council services:

1.‘Boots on the ground’: enabling residents to collect and report accurate data about public assets, such as potholes and street lighting, to the local council.

2.‘Eyes on the street’: using local council vehicles to collect and report data as they travel around the borough.

Summary :

Call opens : 24 September 2018

Call closes : 31 October 2018

Available funding : up to £50,000 (including VAT)

Project start date : by 7 Feb 2019

Please see this link for more information about this call.

2. Call for Carbon Capture and Utilisation Demonstration

As part of the government’s Clean Growth Strategy BEIS has allocated up to £20 million to design and construct carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) demonstration projects. This programme is designed to encourage industrial sites to capture carbon dioxide which could then be used in industrial applications, while enabling learning and development of capture technologies at an intermediate scale, so reducing costs and risks.

The overall aims of the CCU demonstration programme are:

  • to demonstrate carbon capture and utilisation at a number of key industrial sites in the UK
  • to demonstrate and accelerate cost reductions in carbon capture technology in the order of 20 to 45%, i.e. £10-20/MWh
  • to encourage a project pipeline of follow-on CCU projects that will help less mature, but more novel technology to be demonstrated at scale; and
  • to improve understanding of the cost and performance of carbon capture technology
  • to de-risk the capture technology.

The programme is in 3 phases:

  • Phase 1 focuses on initial scoping study for an engineering supplier to work on BEIS’ behalf with potential host sites, carbon dioxide users and technology suppliers to produce site-specific cost estimates for deploying CCU at UK industrial sites. Wood.Plc successfully bid for Phase 1
  • Phase 2 will fund projects to conduct design studies for constructing CCUequipment at UK host sites
  • Phase 3 will fund projects to construct and demonstrate CCU

Summary :

Call closes : 11 November 2018 (Applicants must complete the application forms on this link and submit by email to Industry.Innovation@beis.gov.uk by Sunday 11 November 2018.)

Available funding : up to £5million

Project duration : up to 24 months

Project dates : finish by 31 March 2021

Please see this link for more information about this call.

3. Open grant funding competition: round 3

Up to £20million investment will be made by Innovate UK in the best cutting-edge or disruptive ideas with a view to commercialisation.

All proposals must be business focused, and can come from any area of technology, science or engineering, including arts, design, media or creative industries.

Summary : 

Call opens : 24 September 2018

Call closes : 14 November 2018

Available funding : between £25,000 and £500,000

Project duration : Between 19 and 36 months

Project dates : start by 1 April 2019 and end by 1 April 2022

Please see this link for more information about this call.

4. UK Aerospace Research and Technology Programme: fast-track collaborative R&D EoI

UK organisations can apply for a share of up to £8 million to carry out collaborative R&D, collaborative fast-track and feasibility projects that enhance the UK’s position in civil aerospace.

To be eligible for funding you must:

  • be a UK based business, academic organisation, charity, public sector organisation or research and technology organisation (RTO)
  • plan to carry out an aerospace research or technology development project in the UK
  • address the specific requirements of the UK Aerospace Technology Strategy, ‘Raising Ambition’
  • sign up to the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) framework agreement
  • work in collaboration with other organisations to develop proposals and deliver projects

To lead a project you must:

To collaborate you must be a:

  • business
  • research organisation
  • public sector organisation
  • charity

Summary : 

Call opens : 24 September 2018

Call closes : 5 December 2018

Available funding : between £425,000 to £1million

Project duration : Between 12 and 24 months

Project dates : start by August 2019 and end by August 2021

Please see this link for more information about this call.

5. IDP 15: the road to zero emission vehicles, large R&D

Up to £4million is available for UK businesses to apply for to research and develop technologies that accelerate the transition to zero emmision vehicles.

To be eligible you must:

  • be a UK based business, academic organisation, charity, public sector organisation or research and technology organisation (RTO)
  • carry out your project work in the UK
  • intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
  • work in collaboration with other businesses, research organisations or third-sector organisations

To lead a project you must be a UK based business, of any size.

A separate £2 million is available for feasibility study projects and a further £16 million to support proportionality smaller collaborative R&D projects.

Summary : 

Call closes : 6 December 2018

Available funding : up to £4million

Project duration : Between 12 and 36 months

Project dates : start by June 2019 and end by June 2022

Please see this link for more information about this call.

 

Funding opportunity – Serial Interactions in Imperfect Information Games Applied to Complex Military Decision-Making

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Defense Sciences Office (DSO) has issued a Disruption Opportunity (DO) Special Notice (SN) inviting submissions of innovative basic or applied research concepts in the technical domain of artificial intelligence and game theory. In particular, DARPA is interested in understanding the feasibility of applying recent developments in these areas to complex military decision making in changing multi-agent environments with imperfect information.

Please see below a summary of this funding opportunity:

Available funding: Phase 1 (Feasibility Study) – $500,000; Phase 2 (Proof of Concept) – $500,000

Award duration : Phase 1 – 8 months; Phase 2 – 10 months

Deadline for submission : 16 October 2018

Please see this link for more information about this funding call.

 

Funding opportunity – Policy research programme NIHR

There are currently two calls available under the Policy Research Programme offered by the NIHR.

Call 1 :  Infectious Disease Dynamic Modelling in Health Protection Call

The National Institute for Health Research Policy Research Programme (NIHR PRP) invites applications for the call: Infectious Disease Dynamic Modelling in Health Protection to address two key areas:

  • A stream of dynamical disease and health economic modelling relating to the national vaccination programme. This will provide an alternative or ‘second’ opinion to and run parallel with, that provided by Public Health England (PHE).
  • Modelling of other infectious diseases that lie outside the immunisation programme

This programme will provide a responsive dynamic resource to augment the analytical support currently provided within the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and PHE, which contributes towards the development of infectious disease and immunisation.

Submission Deadline : 2 October 2018 (Stage 1); 22 January 2019 (Stage 2)

Submission outcome : December 2018 (Stage 1); May 2019 (Stage 2)

Call 2: Health Inequalities Research Initiative

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Policy Research Programme (PRP) invites applications to undertake health inequalities research for the call: Health Inequalities Research Initiative to support policy makers in the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) in the following areas:

  • Assessing how to improve existing population wide policies aimed at improving health outcomes so that they so they also reduce health inequalities and/or do not exacerbate inequalities
  • Identifying which existing health system interventions that are specifically designed to reduce socio-economic health inequalities are effective and cost-effective
  • Assessing the effectiveness in reducing health inequalities of whole system approaches to improving the health of deprived communities;
  • Identifying opportunities and risks presented by advancements in digital technology, and practical measures to ensure such technology does not exacerbate socio-economic health inequalities

Submission Deadline : 2 October 2018 (Stage 1); 22 January 2019 (Stage 2)

Submission outcome : December 2018 (Stage 1); May 2019 (Stage 2)

Please see this link for more information about this call.

ERC Work Programme 2019 published

With a slight delay, the European Research Council (ERC) has published the Work Programme for 2019. While the Starting Grant 2019 call is open and preparation of proposals may already be at their final stage, academics may refer to ERC Work Programme 2019 for further information on ERC Consolidator Grant(submission deadline 07/02/2019), Advanced Grant (29/08/2019), Synergy grant (08/11/2018) and Proof of Concept Grant (cut-off dates 22/01/2019, 25/04/2019 and 19/09/2019).

In the meantime, ERC has published an article “Applying for ERC funding – myths vs reality”. Academics might be interested to find out more about ERC grant application process from the point of view of a person who has experience from both sides of the fence; Professor Superti-Furga, a molecular and systems biologist, has won several ERC grants from 2009 to 2015 and became a member of the ERC’s Scientific Council in 2017.

The fundamental activity of the ERC is to provide attractive, long-term funding to support excellent investigators and their research teams to pursue ground-breaking, high-gain/high-risk research.

There are great support opportunities available at BU for academics planning to apply for EU and International funding. If you are considering applying for international funding, contact international research facilitator or any member of RKEO Funding Development Team at your faculty to individually discuss your ideas and the ways we could support you.

EU funding – UKRO Annual Visit to BU

As announced earlier, RKEO will host annual UK Research Office visit to BU on 10th October 2018. The event will take place in FG06 seminar room (Fusion Building). Session will be delivered by Dr Andreas Kontogeorgos, European Advisor of the UK Research Office.

Bookings for this event are now open to BU Staff and, so that catering will be arranged, confirm attendance by Wednesday, 3rd October – please book your place following a link on event’s intranet page.

The sessions for BU academics will commence at 11:30 with an update on Brexit, followed by a networking lunch. In the afternoon session there will be a review of future ICT-related calls and more detailed overview of the COST Actions funding scheme – please see full agenda below.

Time Activity
11:30 – 12:00 Brexit News, Q&A (to be continued during lunch if necessary)

(All invited/registered from 11:30 to 15:15)

12:00 – 13:00 Networking lunch
13:00 – 14:15 Cross-disciplinary nature of ICT – forthcoming Horizon 2020 calls and topics under pillars of Industrial Leadership and Societal Challenges
14:15 – 14:30 Comfort break / over-run time / time for people to come and in and out
14:30 – 15:15 COST Actions – bottom-up driven networks for expanding European Cooperation in Science and Technology
15:15 – 16:30 15 minute 1-2-1s
16:30 Close

A number of 15 minute 1-2-1 sessions available with Andreas (UKRO) and Ainar (BU International Research Facilitator) – here, you can discuss your European funding plans and ambitions with either of them. To book your 1-2-1 meeting, please make a note about this when booking for the main event or email directly to RKEDevFramework@bournemouth.ac.uk with “UKRO 1-2-1” in subject field.

If you have an interest in applying to Horizon 2020 and other European funding, please make full use of BU’s subscription by registering to receive updates from UKRO. On their website, you can access subscriber-exclusive support materials including call fact-sheets and details of future UKRO events.

Funding opportunity : Population Research Catalyst Award

Cancer Research UK is announcing another round of funding in autumn 2018 for the Population Research Catalyst Award which supports capacity building and collaboration in population health with up to £5 million enabling groups to deliver impact over and above what they could do alone.

The Award aims to:

  • Boost progress aligned to our strategic priorities
  • Build new collaborations within and between institutions, nationally and internationally
  • Build capacity in population research

Applicants will need to:

  • Establish a hub across at least 3 locations creating a new collaboration (collaborating institutions may be international, but the hub should consist of at least one UK based institution)
  • Support a new research direction for the hub, in line with CRUK strategic priority areas
  • Commit to data sharing and open access to resources
  • Plan for sustainability beyond the lifetime of the award

For more information about this call and how to apply, please see this link.

Funding opportunity : Centre for Cultural Value

On 30 September 2018, the AHRC Centre for Cultural Value funding call will be open for application.

The creation of a new national Centre for Cultural Value through this AHRC funding will be first of its kind in the UK.

The aim of the Centre for Cultural Value will be to advance understanding of the value of arts and culture in the UK and abroad, to present how this value is being captured and to encourage organisations to act on that knowledge. As such, the Centre will function as a custodian and communicator, broker and facilitator; it will synthesise existing research and bring together organisations and sectors with an interest in using evidence about cultural value in their work.

The Centre will be funded jointly by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, Paul Hamlyn Foundation (PHF) and Arts Council England, with a major investment of around £2.5 million over five years.

Please see below a summary of this funding opportunity:

Call opens : 30 September 2018

Deadline :  30 November 2018

Available funding : around £2.5m over five years

Please see this link for more information about this funding opportunity.

Funding opportunity : Hydrogen Supply Competition

A £20m Hydrogen Supply Programme is now open for registration of interest with a deadline of 21 November 2018. This £20 million Hydrogen Supply programme aims to accelerate the development of low carbon bulk hydrogen supply solutions in industry, power, heat and transport. It is aimed at projects at a technology readiness level (TRL) of 4 to 7, which could result in lower capital or operating costs when compared to Steam Methane Reformer with Carbon Capture & Storage (SMR+CCS), or improve the capture rates at a comparable cost.

The deadline to submit proposals is 5 December 2018.

For more information, please see this link.

 

TENDER opportunity : Study on energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments in the energy sector

The European Commission is currently advertising a tender opportunity on the ‘Study on energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments in the energy sector’ with the following aim:

The aim is to collect information on energy generation costs, system and external costs in the energy sector, in parallel with looking at taxes related the use of energy paid to the general budget, and to build up an inventory on government interventions related to energy. The study will cover the 28 Member States of the EU, all major energy sources and beyond the energy sector the main energy consuming branches, such as industry, transport and agriculture. Beyond the EU the study aims at building a database as complete as possible for G20 countries. In order to feed in the initiatives of the Energy Union, the study will identify best practices in the EU Member States to measure subsidies to fossil fuels, and it will analyse the impact of fossil fuel subsidies on decarbonisation objectives of EU policies and investments in climate friendly energy technologies. The next energy prices and costs report and the State of the energy Union report could use the results of the study.

Please see below a summary of this funding opportunity:

Deadline for requests to participate: 24 October 2018

Available funding : EURO 2,000,000 (excluding VAT)

Duration : 18 months

Please see this link for more information on this tender opportunity.

 

 

Trust, Identity, Privacy and Security – EPSRC funding opportunity

EPSRC intends to establish a NetworkPlus to develop and build on industry-academic relationships in Trust, Identity, Privacy and Security (TIPS), bringing together relevant parts of the TIPS community and a variety of stakeholders, including the CyberInvest members and other users, to identify the key opportunities where industry-academic collaboration is needed, build collaborations and grow the area of research and innovation for the benefit of the UK.

Involvement from a broad range of disciplines relevant to TIPS is required to include those beyond the purely technical elements, such as psychology, politics, legal and ethical studies among others. Non-academic stakeholders, including CyberInvest partners, will be essential participants. The NetworkPlus could undertake a variety of activities including workshops, events, feasibility studies, secondments and horizon scanning. Applicants are encouraged to be innovative in their approach.

Please find a summary of the call below:

Opening date : 3 September 2018

Closing date : 3 December 2018

Available funding : £1.7m

There will be a webinar on 18 October at 14:30 which will feature a presentation from EPSRC contacts and an opportunity to ask any questions. To register to participate, please complete the registration form embedded on this call page. Please note: registration for the webinar will close on 17 October 2018 at 17:00.

Please see this link for more information about this funding call.

International funding opportunities – upcoming information and brokerage events

The following events may be of interest for BU academics considering applying for grants in their respective research area.

Thursday 13 September 2018 (between 09:00 – 11:00) – Work towards a greener future at Low Carbon Vehicles

Enterprise Europe Network and Innovate UK invite you to participate in a B2B matchmaking event as part of Low Carbon Vehicles 2018 (In order to participate in the B2B matchmaking event, attendees must be also registered for LCV2018 event). The aim of the event is to provide the opportunity for UK and overseas delegates to arrange 1-2-1 meetings to identify and explore potential areas of mutual benefit.

Tuesday 18 September 2018 (09:00 – 16:30) – UK Info & Brokerage Event: Horizon 2020 – Nanotechnologies, Advanced Materials, Biotechnology and Advanced Manufacturing and Processing

Innovate UK and the Knowledge Transfer Network are hosting the Horizon 2020 NMBP event which is aimed at supporting collaboration across the UK and Europe. Event is organised to promote funding opportunities available for Nanotechnologies, Advanced Materials, Biotechnology and Advanced Manufacturing and Processing through Horizon 2020 programme.

Wednesday 26 September 2018 (09:45 – 16:15) – Horizon 2020 Information & Brokerage Event: Food Security, Sustainable Agriculture and Forestry, Marine, Maritime and Inland Water Research and the Bioeconomy

Innovate UK and the Knowledge Transfer Network are hosting the Horizon 2020 Societal Challenge 2 event which is aimed at supporting collaboration across the UK and Europe. Event is organised to promote funding opportunities available for food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research and the bioeconomy through Horizon 2020 programme.

 

Innovate UK is part of UK Research and Innovation, a non-departmental public body funded by a grant-in-aid from the UK government. The aim of Innovate UK is to drive productivity and economic growth by supporting businesses to develop and realise the potential of new ideas, including those from the UK’s world-class research base.

Enterprise Europe Network mainly provides specialist support to small businesses to help to do business in Europe and beyond, however their database of events may also be useful for academics.

Update on ERC Starting Grant 2019 call opening

European Research Council has announced that the adoption of the 2019 ERC Work Programme, originally planned for mid-July, is expected in mid-September. The 2019 Starting Grant call, which was expected to be opened in mid-July, will open upon Work Programme adoption. It means that the Starting Grant call will be open for a shorter time than usual, as the call closure date is expected to be 17 October 2018.

The annual Work Programme for the European Research Council is the legal document which sets out how the ERC will allocate its funding for the corresponding year. It is established by the Scientific Council of the ERC and subsequently adopted by the European Commission.

Although, the new Work Programme will be similar to the Work Programme 2018, the Scientific Council has decided on the introduction of some novelties. Main changes expected in the ERC Work Programme 2019 relate to the following:

– evaluation criteria of Frontier Research Grants;
– calculation adjustments for Starting and Consolidator Grants eligibility windows;
– Open Access.

You may find more information on anticipated changes in this document.

According to the UK Research Office whilst none of these changes can be confirmed definitively until the publication of the 2019 Work Programme, applicants are encouraged to begin their development of proposals on this basis and to utilise the support documents available for the Starting Grant 2018 call as an initial guide.

If you are interested in applying to any of ERC grants, please contact your RKEO Funding Development Officer or Research Facilitator – International Ainar Blaudums for further information and support regarding ERC and other international funding opportunities.

Biomedical Catalyst 2018 round 2: late stage and primer awards

Late stage

UK SMEs can apply for a share of up to £10 million to work on solving healthcare challenges in a clinical setting or a relevant late stage environment. Apply now for a late stage award in the Biomedical Catalyst. Biomedical Catalyst supports the development of innovative healthcare products, technologies and processes.

There are 4 types of funding award: feasibility, primer, early stage and late stage.

Please see below a summary of the funding call:

Project size: From £200,000 to £4million

Project duration : 12 to 36 months (must start before 1 July 2019)

Deadline : 3 October 2018, Wednesday

Primer

UK SMEs can apply for a share of up to £5 million to work alone or with others on solving healthcare challenges in a model system. Apply now for a primer award in the Biomedical Catalyst. The primer award is running alongside the late stage award. Applications welcome from any sector or discipline.

Please see below a summary of the funding call:

Project size: From £200,000 to £1.5million

Project duration : 12 to 24 months (must start before 1 April 2019)

Deadline : 3 October 2018, Wednesday

Funding opportunities : Connected and autonomous vehicles

Image from martechtoday.com

The Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) will invest up to £25m in industry-led projects that develop and then ‘pilot’ CAV services at scale in a UK setting.

Summary:

Deadline: 19 September 2018; noon

Award: Between £5m to £20m

Project duration: between 18 and 30 months; must be completed by 31 March 2022.

Please see this link for more information.

Funding news for culture and creative industries in England

Image from https://ec.europa.eu/culture/news/20170606-new-study-creative-value-chains_en

As part of the government’s commitment in the Industrial Strategy. towns and cities across the country will benefit from a new £20million fund for culture, heritage and creative industries, launched by Minister of Arts, Heritage and Tourism, Michael Ellis.

Areas will be able to bid for up to £7 million for a number of projects in a certain area to help regeneration, create jobs and maximise the impact of investment. This could be for new spaces for creative businesses, bringing historic buildings back into use or redeveloping museums and art galleries.

Call summary

Expression of interest : 3 July to 15 August

Full applications: 9 September to 19 September

Please see this link for more information.