Tagged / funding opportunities

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

BU Challenges, Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, innovation

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

Funding opportunities, Industry collaboration, innovation

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

Funding opportunities, international

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

Funding opportunities

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

BU Challenges, Funding opportunities, innovation

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

BU Challenges, Funding opportunities, innovation

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

BU Challenges, Funding opportunities

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.

Innovate UK funding available – Plastics innovation: towards zero waste

BU Challenges, Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, innovation

©Getty

Innovate UK, as part of UK Research and Innovation, is investing up to £4 million in innovation projects to reduce the harm that plastics do to our environment and increase productivity and growth of the UK economy.

The aim is to support innovative activities that result in less persistent plastic waste in our environment through the development of new polymers, processes, designs, recycling regimes, value added recyclate or bio-alternatives.

A business or research and technology organisation (RTO) must lead the project.

Please see summary below:

Available funding: between £50,000 and £1 million

Project dates : between 1 December 2018 and 31 December 2020

Project duration : minimum 3 months; maximum 24 months

Please see this link for more information.

Testing connected and autonomous vehicles: funding available

BU Challenges, Business Engagement, Funding opportunities

Image from fleetcarma.com

The Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) – with Meridian Mobility and Innovate UK – has up to £30 million for projects that help make the UK the most effective connected and autonomous vehicle development ecosystem in the world.

Businesses and research organisations can apply into 2 competitions that support the testing of connected and autonomous vehicles and progress their development.

Connected vehicles data exchange

In the first competition, there is up to £5 million for one project that supports the sharing and trading of data generated by infrastructure, connected or autonomous vehicles or other third parties.

Autonomous highway, rural roads and parking

There is up to £25 million in the second competition. This is for up to 6 projects for facilities to support the testing of connected and autonomous vehicles for highways, rural roads and parking.

Key summary:

Deadline: 29 August 2018

Lead : UK-based business or research organisation

Available funding : Connected vehicles data exchange – up to £10m; Autonomous highway, rural roads and parking – between £1m and £20m

Project dates : before March 2019

Please see this link for full details of the call.

Funding opportunity – Smart tracking of waste across the UK

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities

The Department for Environmental, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is investing up to £400,000 in projects that use digital technology to record and track the movement of waste through the economy. Funding for the competition is under SBRI (the Small Business Research Initiative), which aims to bring together government and businesses to find innovative solutions to public sector challenges.

This competition is in 2 phases. Phase 1 is for contracts of up to £80,000 to examine the feasibility of ideas. The best ideas could win a share of up to £1 million to develop and field test a prototype in a second phase.

Summary:

Deadline: 18 July 2018

Available funding: Phase 1 – up to £80,000; Phase 2 – up to £1m

Please see this link for full details of this call.

Funding opportunity – ISCF Next Generation Services Research Programme

BU Challenges, Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, innovation

Image from www.avaya.com

The ESRC has announced the Next Generation Services Research call under the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund. Proposals of up to £1.25 million (100% full economic cost) are invited for interdisciplinary research grants, focused on working with businesses to identify the potential opportunities offered by the application of new technologies in the high value services sector.

This is a ‘Pioneer’ initiative that will focus in the first instance on the accountancy, legal services and insurance industries.

Please see below key summaries of this call:

Deadline : 4pm; 18 July 2018

Project start & end dates : between December 2018 and March 2021

Please see this link for full details of this call.

Call for Expert Reviewers for the Newton Fund Prize

Funding opportunities

Call for Expert Reviewers for the Newton Fund Prize

The UK National Commission for UNESCO, which is administrating the Newton Prize, is delighted to announce a great opportunity to be part of the Reviewer Team for the Newton Prize 2018.

The Newton Prize is a prestigious global award for research and innovation in developing countries. All the applicants this year are in partnership with South American Newton Fund projects with Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico.

UNESCO are looking for experts from industry and academia in the fields of Agriculture, the Built Environment, Economic Development, Education, Energy, Engineering, Environment, Health, Manufacturing, Sustainability and Technology. Reviewing takes place via an online portal which can be accessed at your convenience between 15 June and 31 July 2018. If you fit the bill or know someone who does, please register here.

Innovate UK funding to support regional economic growth – coming soon!!

BU Challenges, Funding opportunities, innovation

Image from startups.co.uk

Innovate UK has announced a new competitive scheme that takes a place-based approach to research and innovation funding, to support significant regional economic growth.

To be successful, applications must build on existing research and innovation capability and present a valid plan of new research and innovation activities. These should have a demonstrable impact on local economic growth.

Project consortia must be based within the project’s geographical area and have the support of a local civic leadership.

Projects can be led by either a UK based business or a UK publicly funded research organisation.

This first competition stage is an expression of interest (EOI). Consortia will set out plans for large collaborative proposals. Following assessment, successful EOIs will be selected to receive up to £50,000 in ‘seedcorn funding’ to further develop a proposal for a gull stage project.

Please see summary below:

Competition opens: Monday, 28th May 2018

Competition closes: Wednesday, 25th July 2018 (noon)

Funding available: up to £50,000 seedcorn funding for successful EOIs; full stage proposals between £10million  and £50million

Project dates: June 2019 – April 2024

For more information, please see this link.

 

Innovate UK funding – precision medicine technologies

BU Challenges, Funding opportunities, innovation, Knowledge Transfer

Image from insidermonkey.com

Innovate UK will invest up to £5 million in innovation projects to support the development of precision medicine (PM) technologies.

Applications can be for either feasibility study projects or industrial research and experimental development projects, although projects may have work packages in different research categories if necessary.

You must explain clearly how your proposed technology will advance precision medicine.

All projects must involve at least one UK based business.

Feasibility study projects must be led by a UK based business either:

  • working alone or
  • working with other businesses or research organisations

Research and development projects must:

  • be collaborative and led by a UK based business of any size or research and technology organisation (RTO)
  • include at least one other grant-claiming organisation, such as an NHS organisation, another healthcare provider, a business, a Catapult or other research technology organisation, a research base or a third-sector organisation

Please see below a summary of this funding opportunity:

Funding type : Grant

Project size : Feasibility study projects – up to £100,000/ Industrial research and experimental development – up to £2 million

Project dates : 1 November 2018 and up to 24 months 

Deadline : 11 July 2018, 12noon

Please see this link for more information on how to apply.

British Academy – Intention to bid forms due 2nd May 2018

Funding opportunities, Guidance

The call for the next round of BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grants is open. The call closes at 5pm on Wednesday 6th June 2018. Due to the expected high demand, we ask that if you are interested in applying to this call then please send your intention to bid form to your Funding Development Officer by 2nd  May, after this date no new applications will be accepted.

The British Academy have provided updated guidance on the small grants – BA scheme notes for applicants and BA FAQs . They have asked that all applicants read the documentation carefully before starting their application.

Timeline

The call closes at 5pm on Wednesday 6th June 2018.

11th April 2018 Call Opens – start reading guidance
2nd May 2018 Intention to bid forms to be submitted to your faculty funding development officer.
31st May 2018 Nominated referee supporting statement to be completed via FlexiGrant
30th May 2018 Your final application must be submitted on FlexiGrant  by this date at the latest.
31st May -6th June 2018 Institutional checks to take place by RKEO

British Academy Small Grant Call – NOW OPEN

Funding opportunities, Guidance

The call for the next round of BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grants is open. The call closes at 5pm on Wednesday 6th June 2018.

The British Academy have provided updated guidance on the small grants – BA scheme notes for applicants and BA FAQs . They have asked that all applicants read the documentation carefully before starting their application.

Due to the expected high demand, we ask that if you are interested in applying to this call then please send your intention to bid form to your Funding Development Officer by 2nd  May, after this date no new applications will be accepted.

Timeline

The call closes at 5pm on Wednesday 6th June 2018.

11th April 2018 Call Opens – start reading guidance
2nd May 2018 Intention to bid forms to be submitted to your faculty funding development officer.
31st May 2018 Nominated referee supporting statement to be completed via FlexiGrant
30th May 2018 Your final application must be submitted on FlexiGrant  by this date at the latest.
31st May -6th June 2018 Institutional checks to take place by RKEO

Sustainable Development Programme 2018 OPEN

Funding opportunities, international

Application Deadline: Wednesday 30 May 2018 (17.00 UK Time)

Click here to find out more.

Aims

The purpose of each project will be to advance and deepen our understanding of the relevance and importance of the historical context of development, culture(s) and heritage(s) in particular to addressing sustainable development. Tackling many of the world’s sustainable development challenges requires a consideration of local cultures, practices, histories and societal norms, and an understanding of how such norms are complex and contextually differentiated. It is often, however, the case that these considerations are not well or fully brought into sustainable development discussions that tend to ignore aesthetic, representational, and reflective practices. New approaches that cross sectoral and disciplinary boundaries will be vital in achieving a step change in this area.

Research Themes and Focus

This call is for research projects which address the overarching aims of the Sustainable Development Programme related to sustainable governance, sustainable growth and sustainable human development and creativity broadly understood. Projects must demonstrate an innovative and interdisciplinary approach and relevance to one or more of the three sub-themes below:

  1. Heritage
  2. Dignity
  3. Violence

Eligibility Requirements

This call is open to researchers based at UK institutions. The main applicant must be based at an eligible UK university or research institute and be of at least postdoctoral or equivalent status. The applicant must either be in a permanent position at the institution or have a fixed-term position for the duration of the award. Co-applicants can be from overseas, and co-applicants from the Global South are particularly encouraged, but they must also be of at least postdoctoral or equivalent status.

All projects must be ODA eligible. Only proposals which aim to support the economic development and welfare of developing countries will be supported under this call.