BU Research Blog

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

The British Academy is inviting applications to their Mid-Career Fellowships. The Academy intends, through this scheme, both to support outstanding individual researchers with excellent research proposals, and to promote public understanding and engagement with humanities and social sciences. The aim of the scheme is to allow successful applicants to obtain time freed from normal teaching and administrative commitments. These Fellowships are covered under the Full Economic Costing (FEC) regime, but the Academy’s contribution to the salary of the Mid-Career Fellow will be capped at an upper limit of £80,000, awards can be held over a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of 12 months, beginning in the autumn of 2015. The deadline will be in 09/2014 for awards to be taken up from 01/09/2015.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) invite proposals for collaborative projects between the UK and the Republic of Korea in the field of Fuel Cell Technologies. EPSRC and KETEP each have up to £2.5 million available to support projects under this call. Proposals are invited from leading UK researchers wishing to either develop relationships with leading researchers from eligible institutions in Korea or to deepen existing collaborations. If you intend to submit a proposal to this call, you must register your intent by email to energyteam@epsrc.ac.uk by 4pm, 17/09/2014.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Advanced Metrology is offering funding for Feasibility Studies in the field of mathematics for metrology. This Centre has been created to develop the next generation of manufacturing metrology technologies for total machining and advanced surfaces.  Its main aim is to deliver a step-change in the link between measurement (through the science of metrology) and production, primarily for the benefit of advanced manufacturing industries. The feasibility studies should examine a subject area in the scope, review activity in it, identify key challenges and research questions not currently being addressed and develop full proposals for funding by established routes. Awards are limited to £50,000 at 80% FEC and to a maximum duration of six months. The closing date for applications is 12:00, 22/09/2014.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) invites applications for its Supergen Solar Challenge.  The Research Councils UK Energy Programme is looking to support projects that help address key challenges in Solar Technology. The areas to be supported are in: Materials and Process Development; Building Integrated Photovoltaics; Efficiency of PV technology; and Characterisation and Stability. There is up to £5 million available to support projects submitted in response to this call. It is intended that three to five projects will be supported through this call. The deadline for proposals will be 4pm, 04/11/2014.

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) are pleased to invite proposals for their Civil Society Data Partnership projects under Phase 3 of the Big Data Network. The Civil Society Data Partnership projects will establish or build on relationships between academic researchers and civil society organisations to demonstrate the value of improved data infrastructure, enabling collection and analysis of data which is of interest to civil society organisations and through enabling the sector to better utilise its own data. Proposals are invited for a duration of up to 18 months, with the latest start date of 14 February 2015. The budget of each Civil Society Data Partnership project will be a maximum of £250,000 (100 per cent fEC). Theminimum funding level is £50,000 (100 per cent fEC) and it is expected that proposals for both small and large projects will be received. The call will open on 22/08/2014 and the deadline for applications is 4pm, 02/10/2014.

The Medical Research Council’s (MRC) Confidence in Concept scheme provides annual awards of £250k-£1.2m to institutions, to be used flexibly to support the earliest stages of multiple translational research projects. It is intended to accelerate the transition /from /discovery research to translational development projects by supporting preliminary work or feasibility studies to establish the viability of an approach. The closing date for applications is 4pm, 17/10/2014.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) invites applications to its Proximity to Discovery: Industry Engagement Fund.  The fund will support a small number of research organisations to use creative approaches to building relationships with industry partners and can be used for people and knowledge exchange at the very earliest stage of a collaboration and may not necessarily be aligned to a specific project objective. A total budget of £15 m is available to support CinC and Proximity to Discovery: Industry Engagement Fund. The closing date for applications is 4pm, 17/10/2014.

The National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research in collaboration with the Technology Strategy Board are inviting applications for its CRACK IT challenges.  CRACK IT Challenges is a challenge-led funding competition from the NC3Rs which is designed to: fund collaborations between industry, academics and SMEs; minimise the use of animals in research; and support the development of marketable products and/or improved business processes. There are up to three Challenges this year with a total of seven Sponsors, with funding ranging from £100k to £1m and contracts from 1-3 years.  The competition is open from 15/09/2014 and the deadline for applications is 12 noon, 19/11/2014. Please note that in order to apply you must register with the SBRI for the competition by 12 noon, 12/11/2014.  

The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) invites applications to its International Opportunities Fund. The scheme provides resources to NERC-supported researchers to allow them to forge long-term partnerships with overseas scientists that add value to current NERC-funded science. There are two grants available: 1) IOF Pump-Priming Grants – These aim to help researchers establish and develop new collaborative links with international partners. Proposals for IOF Pump Priming Grants may request funding of a maximum of £40k (at 80% FEC) for up to two years duration. 2) IOF Pump-Priming Plus Grants – These aim to support establishment of novel international collaborative links, as for the IOF Pump Priming grants, but allow for development of partnerships that require more resource. Proposals for IOF Pump Priming grants may request funding of a maximum of £320K (at 80% FEC) for up to three years duration. The closing date for proposals is 25/09/2014.

The Royal Academy of Engineering is now inviting applications for The Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship. The fellowship allows the academic to concentrate on full-time research and be relieved of teaching and administrative responsibilities. The purpose of the Fellowships is to cover the salary costs of a replacement academic who will take over the awardee’s teaching and administration duties for up to one year. The deadline for applications is 4pm, 27/10/2014.

The Technology Strategy Board and Offshore Energy Research Association of Nova Scotia (OERA) are jointly investing approximately $1.4m CAD (£755k) in collaborative R&D projects to develop enhanced sensing technologies for tidal stream energy applications.  The aim of this competition is to develop technologies that lead to the acquisition of better data, improved data analysis and collection methods, helping to reduce risk, uncertainty and cost to the tidal stream energy industry. Proposals must be collaborative and business-led, including at least one business from Canada and one from the UK.  This is a two-stage competition that opens for applicants on 06/10/2014.  The deadline for expressions of interest is at 4pm Greenwich Mean Time on 28/11/2014.  

The Technology Strategy Board will shortly be inviting registrations and applications for its call on Forensics. The call for proposals is seeking to achieve a step-change in crime investigation in the UK, through the application of novel techniques for gathering forensic evidence. The call will open on 01/09/2014. Registration closes on 22/10/2014 and the deadline for applications is 29/10/2014.

The Technology Strategy Board and the Environment Agency will shortly be inviting registrations and applications for their call on Non-intrusive river flow measurement. This competition is focused on the Environment Agency’s need to measure river flows in challenging locations where existing standard instrumentation cannot be used. However, a solution that could also be deployed in less demanding/normal river conditions would be ideal. In order to enter this competition, registration is required. Registration closes on 15/10/2014 and applications are due in by 22/10/2014. The award is to be confirmed.

The Welcome Trust invites applications to its Arts Awards that support scientific engagement through the arts. The scheme aims to support imaginative and experimental arts projects that investigate biomedical science and all art forms are covered by the programme: dance, drama, performance arts, visual arts, music, film, craft, photography, creative writing or digital media. The Trust invites applications for projects which engage adult audiences and/or young people. Funding can be applied for at two levels: 1) Small to medium-sized projects (up to and including £30 000) – Funding can either be used to support the development of new project ideas, deliver small-scale productions or workshops, investigate and experiment with new methods of engagement through the arts, or develop new collaborative relationships between artists and scientists. 2) Large projects (above £30 000) – This funding can be used to fund full or part production costs for large-scale arts projects that aim to have significant impact on the public’s engagement with biomedical science. The closing date is 08/11/2014.

Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKE Support Officer.

You can set up your own personalised alerts on ResearchProfessional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s RKE Officer in RKE Operations or see the recent post on this topic, which includes forthcoming training dates up to November 2014.

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

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

The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) have announced that their Collaborative Doctoral Partnerships scheme will be reopening next year. The AHRC is seeking applications from non-HEI Organisations or consortia to become Collaborative Doctoral Partners with the AHRC to support and provide high-quality doctoral training. It is recommended that you check the funding pages in spring 2015. 

The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council’s (BBSRC) have launched their Images with Impact – BBSRC anniversary image competition. The competition is seeking the best images that showcase UK bioscience and its importance in everyday life. The competition forms part of a series of engaging activities throughout 2014 to highlight the impact of BBSRC’s research base, world-leading bioscience, and its important contribution to the UK economy over 20 years. With this competition we want you to capture the exciting developments happening in bioscience today with images from the Great British public, its students and its researchers. There are fantastic prizes up for grabs, with a total prize fund of over £2,400. The deadline for submissions is 06/10/2014. 

The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council’s (BBSRC) Modular Training Partnerships scheme funds the development of industrially-relevant short training courses at Masters level. Training should be developed in close collaboration with industry, and evidence of industrial demand is a key requirement for funding. Modular Training Partnerships provide pump-prime funding for the development of individual training modules, and preparation and marketing of course materials, and course launch. The deadline for applications is 15/10/2014.

The Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) are pleased to announce that a Sustainable Aquaculture Call for Proposals will be published in September for collaborative proposals to support aquaculture related research, where aquaculture is the farming or cultivation of organisms such as fin-fish, molluscs and crustaceans. BBSRC and NERC have each committed £2·5m to this Call for Proposals. Additional co-funding from other partners, including the Agri-Food & Biosciences Institute (AFBI) and the Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science (CEFAS), is anticipated and will be available to cover the costs of their researchers on proposals. Applications for the scheme will be open from September 2014 and are expected to close early November 2014. 

Following on from the RCUK Lifelong Health and Wellbeing Exploratory Workshop ‘Transformational Approaches to Improving Hearing Aid Technology’, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) are highlighting this future call. It will aim to encourage Engineering and Physical Sciences (EPS) researchers to develop disruptive technologies for use in hearing aid devices. The estimated opening date is 16/09/2014 and estimated closing date is 27/11/2014. 

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) are offering a three month secondment opportunity to the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology; open to EPSRC funded PhD students. The deadline for applications is 03/10/2014 and the start date for successful applicants is from March 2015.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) in the UK and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) in India in collaboration with Department of International Development (DFID) are pleased to announce a joint call to fund Global Health Research which will bring together researchers from the UK, India and Low Income Countries. The MRC aim to fund work which addresses health needs of the most disadvantaged populations globally.  The scope of the call is research proposals that address major health needs of women and children in low resource settings, with a focus on issues relating to one or combinations of the following topics: Maternal, new born and child health (including women’s and girl’s sexual health); Nutrition and Infectious diseases (e.g. malaria). Applications must be submitted by 16:00 on the 21/10/2014. 

The Royal Society’s Professorship for Public Engagement in Science award is for a well-established scientist with exceptional scientific communication skills and media experience to support the Society’s public engagement work. The appointment will be for five years in the first instance with the opportunity to renew the professorship for a further five years. The maximum amount of time that the Society expects the successful candidate to commit to the Professorship is 50%. Therefore, the Society will provide a contribution to the salary of the successful candidate on a pro-rata basis depending on the time committed to the Society. This scheme is now open to applications, and will close on 16/09/2014.

The Royal Society’s Industrial Fellowship scheme is for academic scientists who want to work on a collaborative project with industry and for scientists in industry who want to work on a collaborative project with an academic organisation. It aims to enhance knowledge transfer in science and technology between those in industry and those in academia in the UK. The scheme provides a basic salary for the researcher and a contribution towards research costs. Closing date: 30/09/14.

The Welcome Trust’s Career Re-entry Fellowships scheme is for postdoctoral scientists who have recently decided to recommence a scientific research career after a continuous break of at least two years. It gives such scientists the opportunity to return to high-quality research, with the potential to undertake refresher or further training. The fellowship is particularly suitable for applicants wishing to return to research after a break for family commitments. Applications for this scheme are considered twice a year, details of the next round are as follows: Preliminary application deadline, 06/10/2014 (5pm); Invited full application deadline, 08/12/2014 (5pm); Shortlisted candidate interviews, 13-15/04/2014. 

The Welcome Trust’s Research Training Fellowships scheme is for medical, dental, veterinary or clinical psychology graduates who have little or no research training, but who wish to develop a long-term career in academic medicine. Applications are encouraged from individuals who wish to undertake substantial training through high-quality research in an appropriate unit or clinical research facility, towards a PhD or MD qualification. Applications are considered three times a year; the next closing date is 01/12/2014. 

The Welcome Trust’s Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowships scheme provides a unique opportunity for the most promising newly qualified postdoctoral researchers to make an early start in developing their independent research careers, working in the best laboratories in the UK and overseas. Candidates will be expected to identify an important biomedical research question and to develop and deliver a personal programme to achieve their research aims. The fellowship is for four years full-time and may be taken up on a part-time employment basis with the tenure of award lengthened accordingly. The fellowship provides an award of £250 000. Applications for this scheme are considered twice a year, details of the next round are as follows: Preliminary application deadline, 06/10/2014 (5pm); Invited full application deadline, 08/12/2014 (5pm); Shortlisted candidate interviews, 13-15/04/2014. 

The Wellcome Trust invites submissions for their Welcome Image Awards. If you are a research scientist, photographer or illustrator, your images could reach a global audience. The winning images will go on display at science centres and public galleries across the UK. The deadline for submissions is 30/09/2014.

Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKE Support Officer.

You can set up your own personalised alerts on ResearchProfessional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s RKE Officer in RKE Operations or see the recent post on this topic, which includes forthcoming training dates up to November 2014.

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

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

Via the Technology Strategy Board, CRACK IT Challenges is a milestone-driven funding competition from The National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs). There are up to four Challenges this year with a total of seven Sponsors, with funding ranging from £100k to £1m and contracts from 1-3 years. The Challenges will be announced on Wednesday, 6 August. Further information is also available on the CRACK IT website.

The Technology Strategy Board is investing up to £6m in an SBRI competition to develop innovative solutions that can help cities plan more successfully for the future. This SBRI competition aims to encourage new ways of achieving better integration of infrastructure and services across a city, by improving understanding of how elements of these systems interact with each other. Up to £6m is available to encourage companies to develop prototypes and to demonstrate how they would link up different city models. Solutions should enable users to interact with multiple models to tackle different city problems. Contracts will be awarded to single suppliers, who may sub-contract to other partners. This competition is open to all organisations that can demonstrate a route to market for their solution. The deadline for registration is noon on 07/01/15 and the deadline for applications is noon on 14/01/15.

The Wellcome Trust’s Strategic Awards in Biomedical Science provide flexible forms of support to excellent research groups with outstanding track records in their field. In particular, Strategic Awards support research to address the challenges outlined in the Wellcome Trust’s Strategic Plan for 2010-2020. Proposals which involve interdisciplinary research collaborations of basic scientists and/or clinicians (medical and veterinary) and/or non-biologists (e.g. mathematicians, physicists, chemists, engineers, social scientists) are particularly encouraged. Applications can be submitted on a rolling basis.

The Wellcome Trust and  National Institutes of Health PhD Studentships scheme provides opportunities for the most promising postgraduate students in Biomedical Sciences to undertake international, collaborative four-year PhD training based in both the UK/Republic of Ireland and USA at the National Institutes of Health campus. The deadline for applications is 03/11/14.

The Wellcome Trust’s People Awards and Society Awards are two related schemes supporting projects that encourage the public to explore biomedical science, its impact on society and culture, its historical roots or the ethical questions that it raises. The schemes are open to a wide range of people, including: mediators, facilitators and practitioners of science communication; science centre/museum staff; artists; educators; film makers; theatre producers; games developers; public participation practitioners; health professionals; and academics in bioscience, social science, bioethics and medical history and humanities. There are deadlines thourghout the year with the next three being:  15/08/14 (17.00),  14/11/14 (17.00) and  20/02/15 (17.00).

The Sir Henry Dale Fellowship brings together the Royal Society and the Wellcome Trust, two of the world’s most prestigious and influential scientific organisations, in their shared commitment to supporting the future leaders of biomedical research. The scheme is for outstanding postdoctoral scientists wishing to build their own UK-based independent research career addressing an important biomedical question. The scheme seeks to support individuals who would have previously applied for a ‘biomedical’ Royal Society University Research Fellowship or a Wellcome Trust Research Career Development Fellowship hosted by a UK academic organisation. The preliminary deadline is 21/11/14.

Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKE Support Officer.

You can set up your own personalised alerts on ResearchProfessional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s RKE Officer in RKE Operations or see the recent post on this topic, which includes forthcoming training dates up to November 2014.

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

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

BBSRC seeks early career researchers from academia or industry who have demonstrated high potential, and who wish to establish an independent academic career focused on the translation of fundamental bioscience research. The Translational Fellowships  call will support the translation of basic plant science into crop science research. The application deadline is 05/11/14 at 4pm, with interviews in April-May 2015.

BBSRC, in collaboration with Defra, will be announcing a call to support fundamental bioscience that will address key gaps in the knowledge of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) biology. BBSRC envisage that this programme will facilitate the growth of the bTB basic bioscience research community and promote cross-disciplinary working. If your research, involves this topic, please watch out for further news on this topic.

ESRC and Technology Strategy Board have announced a call for applications for members of a new initiative to deepen and expand their portfolio of partnership activities. The Innovation Caucus will trial a new approach to liaison and knowledge exchange between these two communities, by supporting social science based thought leaders to engage with TSB technologists and strategic planning. The Innovation Caucus will promote engagement between TSB and social science communities, demonstrating the value of social science knowledge for innovation and establishing a substantive pathway of knowledge exchange and opportunity for impact within and through the TSB. Importantly, these will be senior appointments and the opportunity is open to both academics and non-academics; a social science background and strong record of delivering successful knowledge exchange and impact is essential. Closing date for Knowledge Broker applications is by 4pm on 25/08/14. For the Thought Leader call, the closing date is 4pm on 23/10/14

Announced by the EPSRC and working in close partnership with the Technology Strategy Board, the Connected Digital Economy Catapult and with support from Microsoft Research, the Research Councils UK Digital Economy (DE) Theme is seeking to promote the realisation of impact and enhanced exploitation of the outcomes arising from its investments in the research base. This Next Stage Digital Economy call is designed to consolidate, harness and build upon existing DE knowledge and skills arising from DE Theme-funded and related funded awards to help accelerate the research outcomes and outputs to the next stage and create more real impact (be it economic, societal or cultural). If you are interested in applying,  join a Twitter chat on Thursday 17 July from 15:00 to 16:00 (BST). Portfolio Managers from the AHRC, ESRC and EPSRC will be present to answer your questions about the Next Stage call. Applicants must submit an ‘entry ticket’, with invited applications to be submitted by 16:00 on 09/10/14.

 As part of the cross-council initiative in Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), the EPSRC is highlighting this future call, Bridging the Gaps between the Engineering and Physical Sciences and Antimicrobial Resistance, which will aim to engage engineering and physical sciences (EPS) researchers with the AMR challenge and to develop networks within their institutions focussed on the four multidisciplinary themes in the cross-council AMR initiative. These networks will support people to build capacity and understanding which could lead to future research proposals. It is likely to have a closing date in November 2014.

The Technology Strategy Board, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), and the Defence, Science  and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), are investing up to £5m in the exploration and acceleration of commercial opportunities in quantum technologies. They are primarily seeking to fund feasibility studies into early-stage evaluation of quantum technologies and components, but also collaborative R&D projects to accelerate the commercialisation of those quantum technologies and components that are nearer to market. The competition opens for both types of project application on 08/09/14.  The deadline for applications is noon on 22/10/14. A briefing event for potential applicants will be held in London on 11/09/14; applicants should look on _connect for more details.   

The Technology Strategy Board is to invest up to £1m in innovative research and development projects, with a focus on the cluster of manufacturing process businesses via the North East Launch Pad scheme, grouped around the Wilton Centre, Seal Sands and Billingham. A briefing event will be held in The Wynyard Rooms, Billingham on 09/09/14. This call closes on 15/10/14.

The Wellcome Trust Biomedical Research Fellowship Programme for India – Intermediate Fellowships for Researchers in India supports excellent scientists who wish to undertake high-quality research and to establish themselves as independent researchers in an academic institution in India. A preliminary application is to be submitted by 14/08/14 and the invited full application in December 2014.

Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKE Support Officer.

You can set up your own personalised alerts on ResearchProfessional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s RKE Officer in RKE Operations or see the recent post on this topic, which includes forthcoming training dates up to November 2014.

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

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

As part of their contribution to the Partnership for Conflict, Crime and Security Research (RCUK GU programme), and working with the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and the National Crime Agency (NCA), EPSRC and ESRC are jointly requesting proposals for a Research Centre which will over the next five years inform understanding of, and responses to, criminal activities and behaviour in the cloud. The Centre’s research must be strongly multi- and interdisciplinary, to advance the state of knowledge in a range of fields with relevance to crime in the cloud. Preliminary applications are due on 15/09/14 with full applications due 12/01/15.

The BBSRC Tools and Resources Development Fund (TRDF) aims to pump prime the next generation of tools, technologies and resources that will be required by bioscience researchers in scientific areas within their remit. It is anticipated that successful grants will not exceed £150k (£187k FEC)  and a fast-track, light touch peer review process will operate to enable researchers to respond rapidly to emerging challenges and opportunities. TRDF1 relates to novel technology development and will close at 16:00 on 03/09/14. TRDF2 relates to supporting novel bioinformatics and computational approaches and will closing at 16:00 on 17/09/14

EPSRC are seeking Expressions of Interest for participation in the JSPS Core-to-Core scheme in the area of spintronics and advanced materials. Up to £2 million is available to support multi-partner five year collaborations involving joint research projects, seminars, and researcher exchanges. Collaborations supported must be between Japan, the UK and at least one other partner country. Interested applicants are required to submit a two-page expression of interest by 16:00 on 18/07/14.

As part of their contribution to the Partnership for Conflict, Crime and Security Research (RCUK GU programme), and working with the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and the National Crime Agency (NCA), EPSRC and ESRC are jointly requesting proposals for a Research Centre which will over the next five years inform understanding of, and responses to, criminal activities and behaviour in the cloud. The Centre’s research must be strongly multi- and interdisciplinary, to advance the state of knowledge in a range of fields with relevance to crime in the cloud. Closing date 16/09/14 at 16:00.

On behalf of partners across the UK Government, EPSRC is inviting applications from UK Universities who would like to be recognised as Academic Centres of Excellence in Cyber Security Research (ACEs-CSR.) This is the third and final call in the initial phase of this scheme. Successful universities will be recognised as ACEs-CSR for a period of two years and will be awarded an EPSRC grant in support of their activities over this period. Closing date 12/12/14 at 16:00.

The properties and behaviour of materials in an irradiated environment as critical for the safe operation of a nuclear power station, the safe decommissioning of nuclear power stations and the safe short and long term storage of irradiated materials and spent nuclear fuel. This EPSRC call seeks proposals for research into new advanced materials for application in radioactive environments. Closing date 16:00 on 21/08/14.

The UK Department for International Development, the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust have announced the launch of the fifth call for proposals to the Joint Global Health Trials scheme to fund global health trials. The purpose of this scheme is to provide funding for the best proposals to generate new knowledge about interventions that will contribute to the improvement of health in low and middle income countries. The deadline for submission of outline applications is 16:00 on 25/09/14. 

The next Call for the MRC Integrative toxicology training partnership (ITTP) Studentships (starting October 2015) will be announced soon. Through partnerships between academia, industry and government agency sectors the ITTP Studentship initiative seeks to build expertise in toxicology and related disciplines that underpin the safe and effective development of drugs, chemicals and consumer products, and the improved assessment of risks to health resulting from environmental exposures. ITTP is funded as part of MRC’s investment in the Toxicology Unit.

To mark its 50th anniversary, NERC is pleased to announce its inaugural Impact Awards. The awards will recognise and reward NERC-funded researchers, as individuals or teams, whose work has had substantial impact on the economy and society. The awards will culminate in a prize-giving ceremony in London on 27 January 2015, showcasing the researchers, their work and the impact of the science that NERC funds. There will be four award categories: Economic Impact Award; Societal Impact Award; International Impact Award and Early Career Impact Award. The closing date for applications is 16:00 on 10/09/14.

The British public has spoken, and ‘Antibiotics’ has won the vote to become the focus of the Longitude Prize 2014, developed and run by NESTA. Register now to keep up to date with forthcoming news on this award.

Have you written or have a favourite book regarding health and medicine in literature with scheduled publication dates between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2014? The Wellcome Book Prize, supported by The Wellcome Trust, celebrates this with an award of £30,000 each year to the winning author, and aims to stimulate interest and debate about medical science through books and reading. The Prize crosses genres: fiction and nonfiction are both eligible, so its shortlists can include biography, crime, historical fiction, current affairs, sci-fi and more. Its judging panels include scientists, writers, journalists and public figures, and past chairs have included Andrew Motion, Jo Brand and Clive Anderson. The Prize shortlists six books every February, and the winner is announced in April. The deadline for entry is 05/09/14.

The Health Innovation Challenge Fund is a parallel funding partnership between the Wellcome Trust and the Department of Health to stimulate the creation of innovative healthcare products, technologies and interventions and to facilitate their development for the benefit of patients in the NHS and beyond. The current funding round requires proposals for: innovative developments in instrumentation, implants and devices, software, materials, mechatronics and robotics; innovative diagnostics; trauma and critical care medicine, leading to solutions that will tangibly improve the care and long-term outcomes of patients who experience acute illness or who have sustained severe injury or trauma; informatics to assist clinical decision making; repurposing of technologies and medicines and biological therapeutics. Preliminary applications  are due on 15/09/14 with invited applications due on 12/01/15.

The Wellcome Trust Intermediate Clinical Fellowships provide support for outstanding medical, dental, veterinary and clinical psychology graduates to continue research interests at postdoctoral level and develop towards independence. Preliminary application deadline: 27/10/14 at 17:00 with the Ffll application deadline: 09/01/15 at 17:00. Shortlisted candidate interviews will take place in May and June 2015.

Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKE Support Officer.

You can set up your own personalised alerts on ResearchProfessional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s RKE Officer in RKE Operations or see the recent post on this topic, which includes forthcoming training dates up to November 2014.

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

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

The EPSRC Platform Grants are a flexible mechanism of providing underpinning funding to well established, world leading research groups. Platform Grant funding provides a baseline of flexible support (a platform) that can be used for the retention of key staff, feasibility studies, longer-term research and International Networking. This flexibility should enable the group to take a strategic view of their research which will be enhanced by the submission of standard research applications during the lifetime of the Platform Grant. EPSRC must receive your application the last working Friday in the month preceding the batch meeting.

The Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE) Research and Knowledge Exchange (RAKE) fund is an initiative supported by Barclays Bank and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) administered through ISBE. This initiative aims to encourage and support research activities from academics, third sector organisations, consultants and practitioners with the ambition of drawing together and generating an entrepreneurial community of practice to facilitate knowledge exchange and transfer. Applications are invited from individuals or teams. Collaborative bids which draw together any combination of third sector organisations, academic researchers, consultants and practitioners are particularly welcome. For this round of funding, the funder envisages awarding one grant of around £8,000 – £12,000. Closing date 25/07/14 at 17:00.

The MRC are inviting proposals regarding three aspects of Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance: Understanding resistant bacteria in context of the host (Collaborative and innovation grants), with outline applications are to be submitted by 02/09/14 with the full application to be submitted by 05/12/14 and Accelerating therapeutic and diagnostics development with EOI to be submitted by 02/09/14, networking workshops between November 2014 and March 2015, outline for consortia bid in May 2015 and full invited applications expected c. September / October 2015.

The MRC Industry Collaboration Agreement  (MICA) encourages and supports collaborative research projects between academic and industry researchers. It is an agreement between the commercial and academic partners to undertake collaborative research. The key feature of the MICA is its flexibility, allowing the level and nature of the industry contribution to vary according to scientific needs, from cash and time input to sharing compounds and staff. Companies of any size may participate, from spin-outs and SMEs to major pharma. There is no deadline for this call.

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME), (a NIHR Evaluation, Trials and Studies (NETS) programme, is an ongoing research funding opportunity funded by the MRC. The remit of the EME Programme includes clinical trials and evaluative studies of novel and repurposed interventions.  The term intervention is meant in the broadest sense and includes any method used to promote health, prevent and treat disease and improve rehabilitation or long-term care. There is a webinar on 22/07/14, from 15:00-15:45. The Research-led scheme will close on 30/10/14 at 13:oo

The Royal Society‘s International Scientific Seminars scheme is for Royal Society Research Fellows who want to organise a small two-day scientific seminar at the Royal Society at Chicheley Hall. The scheme provides funding for international airfares, UK travel costs, accommodation at the centre, hire of the meeting rooms and all meals at the Royal Society at Chicheley Hall, home of the Kavli Royal Society International Centre, for up to 20 participants. The maximum amount that may be requested for travel is £5,000. The scientific meeting may be specific to a particular field of science or cross disciplinary in nature. The award holders are responsible for all aspects of organising and delivering the scientific content of the meetings, although guidance and support is available from the Royal Society. Closing date: 31/07/14. Researchers who are ineligible for this scheme might consider submitting a proposal for a scientific discussion meeting instead.

The Technology Strategy Board, with Tech City UK Ltd and Cambridge Wireless, are to invest up to £1m to support micro, small and medium-sized businesses working on the Internet of Things (IoT). This competition will support innovative research projects centred in and around the clusters in Cambridge (equipment and communications) and London (software and services). A briefing event will be held in Cambridge on 08/07/14 and in London on 21/07/14. The deadline for video submissions is at noon on 03/09/14.

Through the Technology Strategy Board, IC tomorrow with the Entertainment on the move – Innovation Contest, is offering four businesses up to £25k each to encourage digital innovation in the area of entertainment on the move in music, book and magazine publishing and games/interactive entertainment: music on the move with the British Recorded Music Industry (BPI); books on the move with the Publishers Association (PA); magazine content on the move with the Professional Publishers Association (PPA) and interactive entertainment/games on the move with UK Interactive Entertainment (Ukie). The call closes on 29/07/14.

The Wellcome Trust Research Fellowships for Health Professionals scheme is intended for practising health professionals who wish to carry out research in any area within the remit of the Society and Ethics Programme, either full-time or part-time, while maintaining their work commitments. The research should address a real-life issue in the candidate’s professional practice that is relevant to the Programme. An award will not normally exceed £250,000, exclusive of any standard Wellcome Trust allowances. The fellow’s salary is provided, plus appropriate employer’s contributions. Essential research expenses, including travel and fieldwork, are available, as is a set amount for travel to conferences, seminars and other meetings of a scholarly nature. Closing dates: 18/07/14 for preliminary applications and 26/09/14 for full invited applications

The Wellcome Trust Research Fellowships scheme is for individuals not yet in established academic posts, who wish to undertake a period of postdoctoral research. Due to the multidisciplinary nature of research on the social and ethical aspects of biomedicine and healthcare, Research Fellowships may provide postdoctoral researchers with support to enable them to obtain research training, either in a new discipline or in a new aspect of their own field, e.g. a humanities scholar who wishes to be trained in social science. Closing dates: 18/07/14 for preliminary applications and 26/09/14 for full invited applications.

Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKE Support Officer.

You can set up your own personalised alerts on ResearchProfessional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s RKE Officer in RKE Operations or see the recent post on this topic, which includes forthcoming training dates up to November 2014.

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

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

The BBSRC, the Technology Strategy Board and the EPSRC are to invest £45m in major integrated research and development projects through the Industrial Biotechnology Catalyst. Catalysts provide funding to innovative businesses and researchers working in priority areas with the aim of helping them to quickly turn excellent UK research into new or improved commercial processes and products. There are five types of award – early stage: translation; early stage: feasibility studies;  industrial research; late stage: pre-experimental feasibility studies; and late stage: experimental development – and, with the exception of translation awards which are academic, can involve a single business or be collaborative. Total project sizes can range from up to £250k for feasibility studies to up to £10m for experimental development. Please note that there are different closing dates for each type of award.

The ELRHA‘s Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises (R2HC) programme aims to improve health outcomes by strengthening the evidence base for public health interventions in humanitarian crises. The programme is the product of a strategic partnership between the Department for International Development (DFID) and the Wellcome Trust, with ELRHA overseeing the programme’s execution and management. R2HC’s second call for Expressions of Interests is now open, and will close on 10/07/14.  

The Leverhulme Trust Visiting Professorships are awarded to UK institutions that wish to invite an eminent researcher from overseas to enhance the knowledge and skills of academic staff or the student body within the host institution. The scheme covers maintenance, travel expenses and research costs. Visiting Professorships last for between three and twelve months. The closing date for applications is 4pm on 09/10/14.

As part of the International Exchanges scheme, the Royal Society now offers additional funding through its Kan Tong Po Fellowships. This support has been made possible through the generosity of the family of the late Mr Kan Tong Po. The purpose of this scheme is to contribute at the highest level of scientific research and education at the University of Hong Kong, Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the City University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, by awarding Visiting Fellowships each year to UK or US based scientists to collaborate with a Hong Kong based academic, or for Hong Kong based scientists to collaborate with an academic based in either the UK or US. The scheme covers all areas of the life and physical sciences, including engineering, but excluding clinical medicine. Closing date 01/07/14.

The Technology Strategy Board, along with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Invest Northern Ireland, the Scottish Funding Council and the Welsh Government, are to invest jointly up to £2.3m to establish Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) to improve the competitiveness, resilience and responsiveness of the agri-food supply chain. The aim of this initiative is to give businesses access to the UK knowledge base so that they can develop innovative solutions to global challenges facing the agri-food sector. We are looking to support up to 25 KTPs through this competition. Its scope spans primary production, including aquaculture, through to retail. This competition will provide new opportunities for open innovation and knowledge exchange across supply chains and sectors. It will help companies to mitigate commercial risk and improve business performance – and to achieve growth as a result.  The funders will also consider co-funding KTPs on an individual basis. The call closes on 11/02/15.

The Wellcome Trust invites applications for their Clinical PhD Programmes. Successful candidates will develop their potential to become academic clinicians within a structured and mentored training environment. Programmes will provide the individual trainee with opportunities to sample high-quality research environments before they develop a research proposal that is tailored to their individual interests. Please go to the website for specific programmes and their closing dates.

The Wellcome Trust Seeding Drug Discovery scheme aims to develop drug-like, small molecules that will be the springboard for further research and development by the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry in areas of unmet medical need. A two-point entry system has been introduced to enable projects at an earlier stage in development to be competitive for funding as well as to progress later-stage projects further towards clinical trials. The deadline for the preliminary application is  05/11/14 with the full proposal by invitation in May 2015.

 Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKE Support Officer.

You can set up your own personalised alerts on ResearchProfessional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s RKE Officer in RKE Operations or see the recent post on this topic, which includes forthcoming training dates up to November 2014.

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

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

Do you have BBSRC funding? Then think about the Standard Follow-on funding programme which is designed to support the translation of fundamental research funded by them into practical application, including commercialisation. The aim of the programme is to help researchers maximise the societal and economic benefits of their research. This programme is a proof-of-concept model where further work on an idea will take it through to the stage at which the route to application is clear, which may include a spin-out or licensing opportunity. The programme enables activities essential to preparing a robust business plan and secure, where appropriate, further funding and support to progress. Standard Follow-on Fund (FOF) provides for projects up to 12 months in duration and valued at under £250k (80% FEC). Super Follow-on funding is available by invitation only. Closing date: 25/06/14.

Are you thinking about applying for a Leverhulme International Academic Fellowship.  These provide established researchers with a concentrated period based in one or more research centres outside the UK. The intention of the scheme is to provide opportunities to develop new knowledge, skills and ideas. Or you may be considering a Research Fellowship, open to experienced researchers, particularly those who are or have been prevented by routine duties from completing a programme of original research. Click on the links to read about the previous calls as you prepare to apply for the next round, which is due to be announced in early November 2014.

The MRC Public Health Intervention Development scheme (PHIND) supports the early stages of development of public health interventions. Studies funded by the scheme will develop a solid theoretical framework and generate evidence on the design specification and feasibility of the intervention. Essential knowledge obtained from these preliminary studies will provide the foundation for future pilot testing and evaluation, with the ultimate aim of improving the effectiveness of public health interventions. Applicants can apply for up to £150K for a maximum of 18 months. Closing date: 12/09/14 and 30/01/15 by 4pm. 

The MRC, through the MRC-NIHR Methodology Research Programme (MRP), wishes to develop a portfolio of research aimed at improving the methodology underpinning the application and evaluation of Methodology underpinning patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) in health research and health care decision making. PROMs are an assessment of health status and health-related quality of life that comes directly from the patient. Lord Darzi’s NHS Next Stage Review indicates that they will be increasingly used in the evaluation of health care technologies and healthcare services, and they also contribute to regulatory decision making. Ensuring the validity and robustness of PROMs is therefore vital in enabling these measures to have maximum impact on research outcomes and health care decision making. This call will open on 08/10/14 with a closing date of 4pm on 19/11/14.

The MRC, through the MRC-NIHR Methodology Research Programme (MRP), wishes to fund high quality methods development research to support the use and evaluation of complex interventions in health research. The MRC has long recognised the unique methodological challenges posed by the development and evaluation of complex interventions and has championed the development of guidance both for researchers and research funders. The MRP therefore invites any high quality proposal which through generalisable methods development research seeks to strengthen the knowledge base or evaluation of the impact of complex interventions in health research. The MRP Panel is particularly keen to support applications for methods research which focus on: behavioural change interventions, psychological interventions and natural experiments i.e. assessments of policy interventions on health. This call will open on 08/10/14 with a closing date of 4pm on 19/11/14.

Following the first phase of the Multidisciplinary Synthetic Biology Research Centres (SBRCs) call in 2013, which established three SBRCs; the RCUK Synthetic Biology Working Group, and BBSRC and EPSRC have announced their call for proposals to the second phase. The SBRCs must focus on strategic areas relevant to one or more key industrial sectors that could include: fine and speciality chemicals; life science technologies; energy; environment; sensors (including diagnostics); agriculture and food; medicines and healthcare. Closing date: 24/07/14.

NERC, in collaboration with the BBSRC and the AHRC, organise internship placements for current NERC, BBSRC and AHRC funded PhD students to work in one of eight host organisations on a policy topic relevant to both the student and the host. The student will be expected to produce a briefing paper, participate in a policy inquiry and/or organise a policy event. Internships are awarded to both parliamentary and non-parliamentary organisations. Information on current host organisations can be found on the website. Internships are available to all current NERC, BBSRC and AHRC funded PhD students and the internship must start before the end of the funded period of the studentship. Closing date 4pm on 18/08/14

The Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award is for outstanding scientists who would benefit from a five year salary enhancement to help recruit them to or retain them in the UK. The scheme provides up to 5 years’ funding after which the award holder continues with the permanent post at the host university.The focus of the award is a salary enhancement, usually in the range of £10,000 to £30,000 per annum. Closing date: 08/07/14.

The Wellcome Trust currently support 31 Programmes based in centres of excellence throughout the UK with specialised training provided in a range of important biomedical research areas. The Biomedical PhD Studentship scheme provides support for four years and includes: a stipend, PhD registration fees at UK/EU student rate, contribution towards laboratory rotation expenses in the first year, research expenses for years two to four, contribution towards travel and a contribution towards transferable-skills training. Students are recruited annually by the individual Programmes for uptake in October each year. Recruitment begins in the preceding December. Alternatively, further funding is available from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.

Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKE Support Officer.

You can set up your own personalised alerts on ResearchProfessional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s RKE Officer in RKE Operations or see the recent post on this topic, which includes forthcoming training dates up to November 2014.

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

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

Do you want to collaborate with overseas researchers? If so, consider the Japan, India,  Brazil , China, Taiwan, USA  and Europe Partnering Awards announced (or forthcoming) by the BBSRC. These awards are to set up partnership links between UK and overseas laboratories; to promote the exchange of scientists, particularly early career scientists and to promote access to facilities. Funds can only be used for travel, subsistence and other activities, such as workshops or exchanges.  Funding varies with each award. Amongst other eligibility criteria, the lead applicant must be BBSRC funded. Closing date: 13/11/14.

For those interested in working with academics from other nations, the BBSRC Other Countries Partnering Awards may be applicable. These are designed to: establish partnerships between UK and overseas laboratories; promote the exchange of scientists, particularly early career scientists; promote access to facilities;  enhance collaborative activities with CGIAR Centres and programmes (Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research Centres). While this scheme will consider applications for partnership activities with any country not currently covered by individual schemes, BBSRC particularly welcomes applications which seek to partner with researchers in South Africa, South Korea, Australia, Mexico, Vietnam, Argentina, Canada, New Zealand and Russia. Typically up to £30k over a four-year period is available for partnerships with one or more life science laboratories in countries not currently eligible through their existing partnering award schemes. Amongst other eligibility criteria, the lead applicant must be BBSRC funded. Closing date: 13/11/14.

The BBSRC is also promoting its International Workshops scheme. These aim to: stimulate joint working in topics important to BBSRC’s strategy; match numbers of scientists from the UK with other countries to identify areas of commonality and explore the potential for international collaboration and to receive applications involving collaborations with any other country, although the US, Canada, Brazil, EU member states, Japan, China, India Australia and New Zealand are particularly encouraged. There will be around 8 awards each year, of approximately £10k each. This scheme is open to current BBSRC research grant holders and researchers employed at BBSRC sponsored institutes who are in receipt of BBSRC funding. Closing date: 13/11/14.

The BBSRC‘s New Investigator Scheme assists early-career researchers – newly employed university lecturers, lecturer level equivalent fellows whose awards were secured in open competition, and researchers in Research Council Institutes at the unified Research Council Band E or its equivalent – to secure their first major element of research funding. Closing date: 24/09/14

The BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship Scheme is aimed at scientists who have demonstrated high potential and who wish to establish themselves as independent researchers. Awards are for 5 years, up to 5 are available, and include personal salary and a significant research support grant. Applications are welcome from candidates seeking flexible working arrangements. Proposals can relate to in any area of science within the BBSRC portfolio but the BBSRC particularly encourages proposals that are aligned with BBSRC’s overarching strategic priorities. Closing date: 05/11/14.

Looking ahead, The Animal Health and Welfare ERA-Net plans a third call in the area of animal health and welfare. This call is expected to be open from around mid-November 2014. If this is your discipline, why not set a date in your calendar to check this call nearer the time?

Similarly, CHIST-ERA (European Coordinated Research on Long-term Challenges in Information and Communication Sciences & Technologies ERA-Net) expects to open a call regarding Resilient Trustworthy Cyber-Physical Systems and Human Language Understanding in October 2014. Their conference in June 2014 will bring together scientists and CHIST-ERA representatives in order to identify and formulate promising scientific and technological challenges at the frontier of research with a view to refine the scientific content of the call.

The ESRC, in association with the Foundation for Research Support of the State of São Paulo, Brazil (FAPESP) and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO)  has made a Joint Call for Proposals on Sustainable Urban Development. The aim of this call is to strengthen research cooperation between researchers from the state of São Paulo, Brazil, the UK and the Netherlands. Based on consultation with the research community in the participating countries, the research themes which have been identified are Resilience, Social justice and Governance and democracy. An application can only be submitted via the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research’s electronic application system Iris. A total budget of approximately €5.4 million is jointly made available. Closing date: 23/09/14

Applications are invited to the MRC – Biomedical Catalyst: Regenerative Medicine Research Committee. The RMRC provides support for high quality proposals aiming to develop regenerative medicine therapies to improve human health and funds pre-clinical development and early clinical testing of novel regenerative medicine therapies. Closing date: 10/07/14.

 The TSB is investing up to £2.5m to support the development of low-power energy harvesting technologies for autonomous electronic systems. Energy harvesting is the ‘scavenging’ of energy from the surrounding environment and converting it into useable electrical energy. This call seeks to explore ways to extend battery life in low-power devices or to eliminate batteries altogether. A briefing day for potential applicants will be held in London on 09/06/14. Applicants must register by noon on 18/09/14 and the full application submitted by noon on 28/09/14.

The TSB is to invest £6m in collaborative R&D projects and feasibility studies to accelerate the proving and commercial application of a wide range of recent or emerging manufacturing technologies involving mechanical conversion processes such as machining, casting, forging, moulding and joining. The main aim of this competition is to help companies of all sizes overcome the technical and business challenges of transforming novel technologies and leading-edge application knowledge into robust, competitive manufacturing capabilities and business processes. Successful projects will be driven by industrial needs and delivered through collaborative innovation teams, often involving new sources of expertise and organisations that have not previously worked together. A briefing event and webinar for potential applicants will be held in London on 17/06/14. Applicants must register by noon on 27/08/14 and the full application submitted by noon on 03/09/14.

The Wellcome Trust, through the Sustaining Heath Scheme seeks to invest in pilot research projects investigating novel aspects of any aspect of the interplay between health, environment and nutrition . Proposals should be designed to open up new research avenues, ultimately leading to work that will have a significant impact on human health. As general guidance, awards are of the order of £250,000, exceptionally up to £500,000. Closing date for concept notes: 25/07/14 with preliminary applications by 20/08/14. Invited full applications are to be submitted by 14/02/15.

The Wellcome Trust’s Pathfinder Awards  provide pilot funding for Academic-Industry partnerships to develop early-stage applied research and development projects in orphan and neglected disease areas. The Scheme is intended to kick-start pilot projects that have significant potential to help develop innovative new products in these disease areas. In the scheme, an academic lead (or a lead from a not-for-profit entity) will build on or establish a partnership with a company that has specialist knowledge and access to technologies to facilitate the development of a specific product. There is a rolling deadline for this scheme with the next deadline being 07/07/14.

Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKE Support Officer.

You can set up your own personalised alerts on ResearchProfessional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s RKE Officer in RKE Operations or see the recent post on this topic, which includes forthcoming training dates up to November 2014.

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

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

BBSRC and NERC invite proposals for both research and research translation projects to the first call of the Sustainable Agriculture Research & Innovation Club (SARIC). Approximately £5M of funding is available for this call, divided between research grants (£3.5M) and research translation grants (£1.5M). A workshop for both calls will be held on 18/06/14 at the Royal Academy of Engineering, London.  The closing date for the Research Translation grants is 4pm on 29/07/14. The closing date for the Outline Research grant proposal is 11/09/14.

Following the BBSRC‘s first phase of the Multidisciplinary Synthetic Biology Research Centres (SBRCs) call in 2013, which established three SBRCs, the call will shortly be launched for phase two. This call has been developed by the RCUK Synthetic Biology Working Group. It is anticipated that the opening date will be in late May, with a closing date in July.

The EPSRC‘s Collaborative Computational Projects (CCPs) bring together the major UK groups in a given field of computational research to tackle large-scale scientific software development projects, maintenance, distribution, training and user support. They play an important role in EPSRC’s ongoing ability to deliver its Software as an Infrastructure strategy and as community based networks and projects they provide a focal point for communities to identify their scientific software requirements and take a strategic approach to software support in a particular field. Subject to quality, up to £2M of funding and 15 FTEs per annum of technical computational support from staff at STFC’s Scientific Computing Department is available to support new and existing Collaborative Computational Projects (CCPs) that underpin research and research communities within the EPSRC remit. Closing date: 4pm on 27/10/14.

The MRC wishes to encourage applications to all MRC research boards, particularly at programme-level, for “systems medicine”: using systems approaches in medical research to build on the research & training foundations laid by other research councils, and encourage a wider range of applications applying systems approaches to medical research – “systems medicine”. For closing dates, please consult the specific Research Board’s deadline date.

The MS Society and the MRC may jointly fund applications identified as a priority by the MS Society. Applications will be assessed in open competition across the MRC’s range of funding schemes. Please see the website for further information.

Nesta, in collaboration with the TSB, has announced the opening of the 2014 Longitude Prize, where the public is invited to vote (22-25 May) on the most pressing problems of our time. In September 2014, applications will be invited for the winning challenge. A total fund of £10m will be available.

NERC, under the Valuing Natural Capital scheme, is seeking to fund research that will help understanding of the implications for natural capital and the provision of ecosystem services of a range of future energy scenarios. These including scenarios that are compatible with the UK’s energy policy challenges of maintaining energy security, keeping energy affordable and cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. NERC, working closely with the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) and its Valuing Nature programme, will be running a two-day interactive strategic ideas brokerage workshop to develop research consortia that will subsequently submit grant proposals to address this challenge. This Announcement of Opportunity is a call for participants for the ideas brokerage workshop, which will take place on 21-22 July 2014 at Warwick Conferences. Closing date: 9am on Monday 16/06/14.

The TSB is to invest up to £3m to support the development of innovations that will enable the use and integration of data to improve the stratification of patients with neurodegenerative diseases  and the provision of business models to, for example, support repositioning of currently available drugs on the basis of stratification for treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. Proposals must be business-led and collaborative. This is a two-stage competition that opens for applicants on 27 May 2014. The deadline for registration is noon on 02/07/14 and the deadline for expressions of interest is noon on 09/07/14. The deadline for projects invited to submit a full-stage application is noon on 09/10/14. A briefing event for potential applicants will be held in London on 10/06/14.

The TSB is to invest up to £6m in collaborative R&D projects that stimulate innovation in the UK digital health sector. The aim of this competition is to support projects with novel ideas for health informatics – specifically, using data to address healthcare needs within a hospital setting. Collaborations that focus on one or more of the following areas – accident and emergency (A&E), planned specialist care, health analytics and connected care are welcome. The funder is seeking proposals that will make secondary care more efficient and empower care providers, patients and their families. Applications should also explore how health informatics can revolutionise existing therapies and services and also be an enabler for those that would not exist without digital technology. Proposals must be collaborative and business-led although project partners can include research and non-profit organisations as well as other businesses. Applicants must register by 25/06/14 with the deadline for expressions of interest being noon on 02/07/14. A briefing event for potential applicants will be held in London on 28/05/14.

The TSB, on behalf of the Home Office, is  inviting applications for projects which help to  identify substitutes for, or additives to, potentially harmful chemicals, to make them non-viable for dangerous and illegal purposes, without hampering their legitimate uses. A briefing event will be held on Tuesday, 10/06/14 in Central London. Applicants must register by 16/07/14 with full applications to be submitted by 23/07/14.

Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKE Support Officer.

You can set up your own personalised alerts on ResearchProfessional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s RKE Officer in RKE Operations or see the recent post on this topic, which includes forthcoming training dates up to November 2014.

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

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

In 2007, the BBSRC, in partnership with the MRC and the EPSRC, established the Diet and Health Research Industry Club (DRINC) with 15 company members. Approximately £3M of funding is available to support a portfolio of projects relating to DRINC. A workshop for the call will be held on 3 June 2014 in London and will be an opportunity for applicants to: understand the DRINC research challenges and assessment process; meet other potential applicants and form new collaborations; and discuss proposals with representatives from the DRINC steering group, the Club’s company members and the Research Councils. The deadline for the outline proposal is 4pm on 09/07/14 with full invited applications in November 2014.

The BBSRC, TSB and EPSRC are to invest £45m in major integrated research and development projects through the Industrial Biotechnology Catalyst. There are five types of award – early stage: translation; early stage: feasibility studies;  industrial research; late stage: pre-experimental feasibility studies; and late stage: experimental development – and, with the exception of translation awards which are academic, can involve a single business or be collaborative. Total project sizes can range from up to £250k for feasibility studies to up to £10m for experimental development. Applicants must register by noon on 03/12/14 and the full application must be submitted by noon on 10/12/14.

Following on from the successful partnership of the EPSRC and Find a Better Way (FABW) in 2013, which has resulted directly in FABW providing grants for two major research projects, this Call for Expressions of Interest aims to stimulate the academic community to propose truly novel approaches to the humanitarian demining challenge. FABW is prepared to commit up to £1M funding to support the research project(s) arising from this Call. Closing date 25/06/14 with invited applications to be submitted by 27/02/15.

The NERC Independent Research Fellowship Scheme is designed to develop scientific leadership among the most promising early-career environmental scientists, by giving all fellows five years’ support, which will allow them sufficient time to develop their research programmes and to gain international recognition. As part of this scheme, NERC will expand its fellowship networking and training activities, working with host institutions, to support the development of future leaders in NERC science.  Closing date 01/10/14.

NERC invites applications for NERC Independent Research Fellowships in the priority area of Bioinformatics to deliver part of NERC Mathematics & Informatics for Environmental Omic Data Synthesis (Omics) research programme. The aim of these fellowships is to develop scientific leadership among the most promising early-career scientists, by giving all Fellows five years’ support, which will allow them sufficient time to develop their research programmes, and to establish international recognition. Through this call NERC aims to support a minimum of six IRFs working in the area of environmental bioinformatics. This is the final year for this specialised opportunity with a closing date of 01/10/14.

Note: Applicants may apply either to the standard NERC IRF call or to the call for NERC IRFs in Bioinformatics, but not to both.

The Valuing Nature programme is a five year interdisciplinary NERC-led research programme in collaboration with ESRC, BBSRC, AHRC and Defra. On behalf of the programme funders, NERC are inviting applications from early-career researchers who wish to develop their understanding of the challenges identified in Goal 1 by developing their research expertise in a different discipline. The fellowships will address the aim of the programme by improving our understanding and questioning of: the complexities of the natural environment in valuation analyses; the wider societal and cultural value of ecosystems services; the links between ecosystem stocks and tipping points; how the values of ecosystem services change as tipping points are reached and exceeded; and critical levels of natural capital that avoid abrupt and damaging ecosystem change. It is expected that up to three fellowships may be awarded to support environmental researchers to develop social science (including economic) expertise in relation to the goals of the Valuing Nature programme, and for social scientists (including economists) to gain natural science expertise in relation to the goals of the Valuing Nature programme. Closing date: 16:00 on 14/08/14.

NERC and the TSB have announced the latest round of SPARK Awards in the field of Algal Bioenergy. These are £5k grants to encourage new collaborations between the research community and Small & Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs). It is the intention that small confidence building measures such as a SPARK award will encourage a longer term relationship between the SME and research-based partner. Up to £5,000 per grant is available. The closing date is 26/06/14.

NERC and the MRC are inviting applications from UK scientists to attend a joint workshop with the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) in Beijing on 14-16 July 2014 on Atmospheric Pollution and Human Health in a Chinese Megacity. Application is via an Expression of Interest, to be submitted by 4pm on 02/06/14.

Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKE Support Officer.

You can set up your own personalised alerts on ResearchProfessional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s RKE Officer in RKE Operations or see the recent post on this topic, which includes forthcoming training dates up to November 2014.

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

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

 AHRC  has opened their 2014 Fellowship scheme which provides an opportunity for two AHRC funded postgraduate students to be seconded to the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) to assist in producing objective briefing materials for MPs and Peers. The fellowship will take place over a three month period, with a likely starting date between September 2014 and May 2015. Closing date: 28/05/14.

The Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC), in partnership with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Technology Strategy Board, announced the winners of the first APC competition (APC1) in April 2014 and is now to invest an additional £75m in collaborative R&D projects in the field of low-carbon propulsion technologies. The projects are expected to start in October 2014. They will strengthen UK capability and develop and grow the UK’s propulsion systems supply chain. Projects must be collaborative and business-led. We expect total eligible project costs to be between £5m and £40m. Registration closes by noon 25/06/14 with full submission by noon on 02/07/14.

The deadline for BBSRC‘s next responsive-mode research grants is 24/09/14 at 4pm. Applications for grant funding can be made to the Research Committees under their responsive mode scheme, on any topic within their portfolio.

The BBSRC are inviting applications to their Stand-alone LINK programme. Applications involve collaborative research with at least one company and one science-based partner. Applications should be for pre-competitive research that would not be undertaken in this form without LINK support. Projects with SMEs are particularly favoured. Closing date: 24/09/14 at 4pm.

The BBSRC also invites applications to their Industrial Partnership Award. These are science-led, responsive mode grants where an industrial partner contributes in cash at least 10% of the full economic cost of the project. Case studies are available, giving examples of previous awards. Closing date: 24/09/14 at 4pm.

BBSRC-Brazil (FAPESP) joint funding of research – RCUK and FAPESP, the State of Säo Paulo Research Foundation, have agreed a Memorandum of Understanding to welcome, encourage and support applications that may cut across their national boundaries and involve international collaborative teams. Collaborative research proposals may be submitted in any area of science that is within the remit of both BBSRC and FAPESP. Closing date: 24/09/14 at 4pm.

BBSRC has a vision within their Industrial CASE Studentships to provide PhD students with a first-rate, challenging research training experience within the context of a mutually beneficial research collaboration, between academic and partner organisations. There is funding for 125 4-year studentships. The deadline is 10/07/14 but applicants should ensure proposals are submitted to BU’s institution’s submitter/approval pool a minimum of 5 working days in advance of the published deadline. This enables institution checks to be carried out before final submissions.

BBSRC‘s Modular Training Partnerships (MTPs) fund the development of industrially-relevant short training courses at Masters level. Training should be developed in close collaboration with industry, and evidence of industrial demand is a key requirement for funding. MTPs provide pump-prime funding for: the development of individual training modules and the preparation and marketing of course materials, and course launch. The application deadline is 16/07/14 but applicants should ensure applications are completed as far in advance of the published deadline as possible to enable institution checks to be carried out before final submissions.

The Biotechnology Young Entrepreneurs Scheme (Biotechnology YES), now in its 19th year, is an innovative competition for postgraduate and postdoctoral scientists which raises awareness of the commercialisation of ideas from the biosciences. The competition is organised jointly by The University of Nottingham – The Haydn Green Institute and the Innovation and Skills Group, BBSRC. There is a prize fund of £5,000, including a first prize of £2,500. Closing date; 13/06/14.

EPSRC and ESRC invite applications for proposals to support networking in challenge themes related to Re-Distributed Manufacturing. There is a budget of £3 million for this activity and it is anticipated that up to six Network awards will be funded, addressing a variety of distinctly different research challenge themes. Networks should bring together a multidisciplinary group of researchers to address key challenges related to Re-Distributed Manufacturing. Although some Networks may have a primarily technology or societal focus, RCUK consider this field of research to require insights from multiple disciplines and perspectives in order to be fully addressed. There will be a Town Meeting on 02/06/14 with applications to be submitted by 13/08/14. 

 EPRSC in collaboration with the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science and Technology (MEXT) and Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) seek collaborative research applications in severe nuclear accident studies and environmental safety. This call represents the first phase of this new collaboration and is for small projects of approximately two and a half years duration and is intended as a springboard for deeper and larger collaborations in the future. Closing date: 19/06/14.

EPSRC, as part of its contribution to the RCUK Energy Programme, invites proposals for collaborative research projects to undertake fundamental research to tackle challenges in Conventional Power Generation. An indicative budget of up to £3M is available from EPSRC for this call. Cross-institutional bids are welcome. Proposals in the areas of Step change technologies and materials for future plant design and Integration of conventional plants with future technologies are sought. An expression of interest must be emailed by 16/06/14 with the full application submitted by 16/07/14.

On April 23rd, 2014, the EU’s Joint Programme for Neurodegenerative Disease (JPND) launched a rapid action call for leading scientists in the field to establish working groups to enhance the use of existing longitudinal cohort studies for ND research. JPND has decided that these issues can be progressed most effectively through assembling motivated groups of leading experts in the ND field. Accordingly community-led Working Groups are to be supported that can push forward the conceptualization of such topics in order to provide guidelines and/or best practice frameworks of value to the wider research community. Areas to be considered are highlighted on the website, although other topics that are similar in theme may be proposed. Up to €450,000 in total will be available to fund Working Groups under this call, with each working group able to bid up to €50,000 for support of its activities, which are expected to run for a maximum of 6 months. Closing date 16/06/14.

The MRC is committed to developing and sustaining a close and productive alignment with industry in the UK. As part of that commitment the MRC will fund approximately 30-35 individual Industrial CASE PhD studentships each year. These aim to provide doctoral students with a first-rate, challenging research training experience, within the context of a mutually beneficial research collaboration between academic and partner organisations in the private, public and civil society sectors. Closing date: 10/07/14 before 4pm.

The Max Perutz Science Writing Award aims to encourage and recognise outstanding written communication among MRC PhD students. The 2014 competition opens on 12/05/14 and they welcome entries from all MRC-funded PhD students. The judges will be looking for an article of up to 800 words that best answers the question, Why does my research matter? The winner will receive a first prize of £1,500.  The deadline for entries is 23:59 on Sunday 22 June 2014

Funding has been obtained from the MRC and the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills to equip the MRC Biomedical NMR Centre with a 950 MHz spectrometer as a shared-use national facility. Access allocations will be made by the NMR Centre’s Advisory Committee and the closing date for such applications is 02/06/14.

The Soil Security programme is a NERC-led five-year research programme funded by NERC, the Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Scottish Government that aims to secure future soil quality to sustain ecosystems and the services they deliver to people – such as sustainable agriculture, flood and disease regulation, carbon storage and clean water. The Soil Security programme is aligned with the Global Food Security (GFS) programme, and with Defra activities in this area. NERC is inviting proposals for consortia projects requesting funds between £1m and £2·5m (80% FEC), and of up to three years’ duration, which will address the objectives of the programme as stated in the Announcement of Opportunity. Closing date: 30/07/14 by 4pm.

 Proposals are invited for a new funding opportunity as part of the Future Climate for Africa (FCFA) research programme funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) and NERC. FCFA is a £20m international, interdisciplinary programme to advance scientific understanding and prediction of African climate variability and change to inform medium-term adaptation decisions (5-40 years) and develop the knowledge, tools and methods to better integrate this science into decision making today. The focus of this project will be on evaluating and developing the representation of processes affecting pan-African climate on timescales for adaptation (medium-term or 5 to 40 years) in general circulation models (GCM). This will include improving the understanding and representation of drivers, processes and feedbacks responsible for the greatest uncertainty in model representations of African climate. The intention is to deliver a step-change in the performance of GCMs for Africa and to make a long-term contribution to model development with an African lens. This will improve projections of future changes in rainfall and extreme weather for Africa, increasing availability of high quality, robust climate information across the continent. Up to £3m is available. An Intention to submit must be entered by 02/06/14 with the full application submitted by 16:00 local time on 05/06/14.

In addition, under the same scheme, NERC are inviting proposals for Regional Consortium Grants, where up to £4m funding is available. Outline proposals must be submitted by 16:00 local time on 15/07/14.

NERC invites applications for NERC Independent Research Fellowships in the priority area of Bioinformatics to deliver part of NERC Mathematics & Informatics for Environmental Omic Data Synthesis (Omics) research programme. The aim of these fellowships is to develop scientific leadership among the most promising early-career scientists, by giving all Fellows five years’ support, which will allow them sufficient time to develop their research programmes, and to establish international recognition. Through this call, NERC aims to support a minimum of six IRFs working in the area of environmental bioinformatics. This is the final year for this specialised opportunity with a closing date of 01/10/14.

NERC‘s CASE Studentships provide doctoral students with a first-rate, challenging research training experience, within the context of a mutually beneficial research collaboration between academic and partner organisations in the private, public and civil sectors. NERC studentships can be delivered in collaboration with partners from the private, public and civil sectors, and where studentships are delivered in collaboration they are referred to as CASE studentships. CASE studentships provide the PhD students with enhanced training opportunities by ensuring they spend between three and eighteen months with a CASE partner in a workplace outside the academic environment. Closing date: 10/07/14.

The Follow-on Fund is a ‘proof of concept’ fund to support the commercialisation of ideas arising from research funded by NERC. As the name suggests, the Follow-on Fund picks up where research programme and discovery science (responsive mode) grants leave off. It enables research programme and discovery science (responsive mode) grant research outputs to be further developed so their commercial potential can be realised. The maximum amount that can be bid for is £125k (£100k NERC contribution). NERC’s intention is that projects will run for 12 months or more. Closing date: 03/06/14 with a further call closing in mid-November 2014.

If interested in the NERC Follow-on Fund, the Pathfinder award is a compulsory precursor to a Follow-on Fund above. They are available to carry out work that will help you develop a greater understanding of the commercial aspects and possibilities of your research, and hence a more robust, better informed application for a full Follow-on Fund grant. Pathfinder grants are usually between £7k-£10k (100% full economic cost), although up to £20k is available in exceptional circumstances. This is a rolling programme and has no set closing date.

Alternatively, the aim of the Innovation Projects call is to increase and accelerate the uptake and impact of NERC funded research output by supporting translational and knowledge exchange activity which delivers direct tangible and demonstrable benefits to end users, particularly businesses. The call will support projects that are likely to generate little or no commercial return, but which will deliver impact. Activities can include products, models, tools, internships or secondments. Ineligible activities are Networks, dissemination websites, events and publications, consultancy, report production, projects focussed solely on training, activity between only different sections of the academic research base or between the research base and the general public and commercialisation activities. The maximum amount that can be bid for is £125k (£100k NERC contribution). The grants are expected to start in October 2014 and last for 6 months. Closing date: 03/06/14 with a further call closing in mid-November 2014.

The TSB is to invest up to £2.5m in projects that will explore ways of deriving value from consumers’ interaction with digital content. They are hoping to interest businesses with expertise in data analytics, security, online payments; those who create value from data and digital assets; and also those that engage with customers through internet and mobile service channels. The deadline for registration is at noon on 11/06/14 and the deadline for applications is noon on 18/06/14.

 The Wellcome Trust has announced their Early Career Fellowships for Researchers in India. This scheme provides a unique opportunity for the most promising postdoctoral researchers to carry out research in India. Applicants are expected to identify an important biomedical research question and design a project that would help answer this question. The proposal would also suggest how the proposed work would help develop the applicant’s future independent research program. Submitted proposals are expected to be globally competitive. Applicants may wish to set up long term training or collaborative visits (work outside Host Institution) for up to 24 months. These visits may be to other leading laboratories, anywhere in the world. The total award for an Early Career Fellowship typically amounts to INR 1.5 Crores. Closing date for preliminary application: 12/06/14 with full invited submission in September 2014.

 Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKE Support Officer.

You can set up your own personalised alerts on ResearchProfessional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s RKE Officer in RKE Operations or see the recent post on this topic, which includes forthcoming training dates up to November 2014.

As announced previously, Research Professional will not be available briefly on 15th May due to system upgrades.

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

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

BBSRC are supporting the delivery of events to facilitate discussion and improve awareness of knowledge exchange and commercialisation (KEC) of BBSRC-funded research. BBSRC will contribute up to £2,000 in grants towards costs of external speakers, room booking, time spent in organising the event and other reasonable costs. The cost of lunch and refreshments will not be covered. No deadline given.

The RCUK Energy Programme, via EPSRC, invites expressions of interest from those willing to attend a workshop in London to scope a joint call between UK and the Republic of South Korea in civil nuclear research. The workshop will consider issues around decommissioning and radioactive waste treatment and disposal. The workshop will begin at 10:00 on the 7th July and will finish at 16:00pm on the 8th July. There will be a dinner on the night of the 7th July. To attend this workshop, the EoI should be submitted by 16/05/14. Successful applicants will be invited by 06/06/14.

EUREKA  has launched a new call for technological innovation projects. Each project must meet two main elements. First, a project needs to be transnational and involve at least two companies from two different EUREKA member countries. Secondly, the project has to develop high-tech marketable products, technology-based services or methods: any technologies and applications are welcome as long as they have a strong market potential. Applications must be submitted by 01/08/14.

It is vital that the knowledge and expertise arising from science funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is harnessed for the benefit of a wide range of stakeholders. To facilitate this, NERC wishes to fund scientists to apply their knowledge and skills to support decision-makers dealing with the challenge of managing environmental risks to infrastructure. NERC has up to £600k available for this call. NERC would like to fund a range of projects from short term (3-6 month) projects, which explore the value of environmental science to a stakeholder organisation, to longer-term (up to 18 months) projects which develop environmental science into solutions to address the challenge of managing environmental risks to infrastructure. There will be a Brokerage workshop on 20/05/14. Closing date for proposals: 16:00 on 19/06/14.

The Technology Strategy Board and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) are to invest up to £2m in feasibility studies to encourage the development of innovative technologies for the safe and responsible exploitation of the UK’s shale gas resources. Projects can be collaborative or developed by a single business. The funders  are encouraging projects that involve technology transfer from other sectors, for example from the ICT, digital, space and high value manufacturing sectors. A briefing day and consortium-building event for potential applicants will be held on 09/07/14. Register by noon on 17/09/14 with full applications submitted by noon on 24/09/14.

The Wellcome Trust Translation Award develops innovative and ground breaking new technologies in the biomedical area. The current highlight concerns ‘Restoring the Body’ but projects covering any aspect of technology development from a range of disciplines – including physical, computational and life sciences – will be considered at any time. The deadlines in 2014 are: Concept note: 25/04/14, Preliminary deadline 13/06/14 and invitation to attend an interview for shortlisted candidates in January 2015. There are later dates in 2014 – 24/10/14 and 08/12/14, resepectively, with interviews in July 2015.

Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKE Support Officer.

You can set up your own personalised alerts on ResearchProfessional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s RKE Officer in RKE Operations or see the recent post on this topic, which includes forthcoming training dates up to November 2014.

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

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

The AHRC’s  Collaborative Doctoral Awards are intended to encourage and develop collaboration and partnerships between Higher Education Institution (HEI) departments and non-HEI organisations and businesses. These awards provide opportunities for doctoral students to gain first hand experience of work outside the university environment. The support provided by both a university and non-university supervisor enhances the employment-related skills and training a research student gains during the course of their award. Please check the website for AHRC highlight notices. Closing date 09/07/14

BBSRC and National Institute on Aging (NIA) are continuing their collaboration by offering funding to encourage high quality, innovative collaborative research to advance the understanding in the biology of ageing in specific topic areas. Deadlines for the Je-S proforma are 08/05/14 and 05/09/14 and the NIA cycle due dates (closing dates) are: 5 June 2014, 5pm and 5 October 2014, 5pm.

Israel’s National Cyber Bureau (INCB) and Ministry of Science, Technology and Space (MOST), and the UK’s Cabinet Office (CO) and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) wish to encourage joint research activities in cyber security. As such, through a single, shared process which is managed by EPSRC on behalf of the Agencies, the partners expect to identify and support up to three collaborations, each of which involves leading academic researchers in both the partner countries. While funding for researchers in Israel and UK will ultimately be provided separately by their respective Governments, the key to success in the call will be the identification of a programme of work which is of high scientific quality and truly collaborative. Closing date 24/06/14.

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), in partnership with the Future Cities Catapult, invites Expressions of Interest from eligible applicants for a Knowledge Exchange Fellowship. The partners anticipate supporting one Fellow. The maximum amount available for the Fellowship will be £135,000 at 100 per cent of full economic cost (fEC). The Fellow should be able to commence work by October 2014. The EoI must be submitted by 16.00 on 19/05/14.

The EPSRC is running a sandpit in the broad area of assistive and rehabilitative devices in order to try to engender a radical change in the research undertaken in this field in the UK. The sandpit will be focussed on key research challenges within the sphere of intelligent and intentional assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative technologies. The challenges in this field are likely to need highly multidisciplinary solutions, hence we are offering researchers from a wide range of disciplines the opportunity to come together to innovate scientific and technological solutions to identifiable user needs. Call closes 05/06/14.

The Leverhulm Trust is offering up to £15,000 in their Artist in Residence call within UK universities and museums, to foster a new creative collaboration with an artist working in a discipline outside the applicant institution’s usual curriculum. These awards support the residency of an individual artist in a UK university or museum in order to foster a creative collaboration between the artist and the staff and/or students of that institution. The term ‘artist’ encompasses visual artists, creative writers, musicians, poets and other producers of original creative work. The scheme is intended to bring artists into research and study environments where their artistic form or creative art is not part of the normal curriculum or activities of the host department. There must be a distinct contrast between the artist and host department’s expertise (for example, a poet being hosted by a physics department, a composer by a geography department). It is not the objective of the residency to provide additional teaching capacity for the host department. Closing date 4pm on 16/09/14.

The Technology Strategy Boardand the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) are to invest up to £1.1m in exploratory studies into the design of technology-based products and services that will improve learning outcomes with their Design for Impact call. Particularly, they are looking for proposals for products and services that will improve attainment among learners above five years old (from Key Stage 1) and in formal (primary, secondary, higher or further education) or in non-formal learning environments. Partner-finding workshops will run during April and May 2014 and a briefing event will be held in London on 13 May 2014. Register by 02/07/14 with the full application submitted by noon on 09/07/14.

The  Technology Strategy Board and Medical Research Council Biomedical Catalyst programme offers funding to innovative small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) and researchers looking to work either individually or in collaboration to develop solutions to healthcare challenges. Early and late stage awards are available. Register by 28/05/14 with full application submitted by noon on 04/06/14.

The Wellcome Trust’s International Engagement Awards support public engagement projects and work that builds capacity for engagement with biomedical research in Sub-Saharan Africa, South-east Asia and South Asia. The scheme is open to a wide range of people and organisations including scientists, health researchers, NGOs, educators, artists, theatre practitioners and cultural or community organisations. The EoI must be submitted by 21/08/14 with the application deadline being 04/09/14.

Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKE Support Officer.

You can set up your own personalised alerts on ResearchProfessional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s RKE Officer in RKE Operations or see the recent post on this topic, which includes forthcoming training dates up to November 2014.

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