BU Research Blog

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

EPSRC is inviting outline proposals for its call  Novel Manufacturing Instrumentation. This call provides an opportunity for the development of novel manufacturing instrumentation to improve existing processes and develop new capabilities. The principal outputs of research projects funded through this call will be bespoke equipment. The closing date for outlines is 15/05/14. 

EPSRC through the Research Councils UK Energy Programme Supergen Fuel Cells Challenge is looking to support projects that help address the key research challenges that underpin the deployment of Fuel Cell Technologies. These areas are: Degradation and Failure, Electrodes and Interfaces, Sensors and Diagnostics, and Fuel Flexibility. There is up to £5M available to support projects submitted in response to this call. Register by 16:00 on 23/05/14 with applications submitted by 16:00 on 03/07/14.

ESRC has announced the call for outline proposals for their 2014/15 Centres and Large Grants Competition. This competition is aimed at experienced researchers who require longer-term or extended support for research groups, inter-institutional research networks, project-linked programmes, medium-to-large surveys, other infrastructure or methodological developments, or any related larger-scale projects. They welcome applications of excellent quality in any area of social science. This year’s competition also has two specific strategic steers, on ‘The Future of Higher Education’ and on ‘Sustainable Prosperity’, which sit alongside the normal open element of the call. To facilitate the new interdisciplinary relationships and networks that may be required to address the ‘Sustainable Prosperity’ steer, it is strongly advised that potential applicants attend the information and consortium-building event being held in central London on 28 April 2014. The competition is for proposals ranging from £2 million to £10 million. Outline proposals are to be submitted via Je-S by 16.00 on 05/06/14. Invited full applications will be required in late September 2014.

The Technology Strategy Board and the Welsh Government are to invest up to £8m in single-company and collaborative R&D projects to support the UK’s burgeoning regenerative medicine and cell therapy industry. This competition, Advancing regenerative medicines and cell therapies, will focus on the preclinical testing, clinical development and manufacture of regenerative medicines and cell therapies, and the development of associated underpinning tools and technologies. A briefing event and webinar for potential applicants will be held in London on 10/06/14.  Applicants must register by 09/07/14 with the deadline for expressions of interest being noon on 16/07/14.  

The Wellcome Trust scheme, Science Learning+ , aims to make a transformational step to improve the knowledge base and practice of informal science experiences, to better understand, strengthen and coordinate their vital role in science engagement and learning. Phase 1: Planning Grants (2014) is now open. This supports Short-term Planning Grants of up to £70 000 to enable groups of people and organisations in the UK, the Republic of Ireland and/or the USA to meet with each other and develop ideas and strategies. The funder aims to support up to ten Planning Grants in phase 1 and it may be that applicants in receipt of separate grants coalesce to develop collaborations together for application to phase 2, with The Wellcome Trust possibly facilitating this process. The deadline for phase 1 is 10/07/14.

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 AAL Association is pleased to launch the 2014 call Care for the future. The 2014 Call Challenge of the AAL Programme aims at funding the development and testing of ICT-based solutions in real life situations which enable and support sustainable care models for older adults. The scope and the application modalities will be presented during the Info Day of the Call, which will take place on 16 April in Brussels. Closing date 26/06/14, 17:00 (CET)

AHRC has announced an open call inviting Early Career Researchers (ECRs) to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) to attend the Connected Communities Festival on 1st and 2nd July and a Research Development Workshop on 3rd July aimed at supporting ECR-led co-produced research projects of relevance to the Connected Communities Programme.  Please note, attendees are normally expected to attend for at least three days, 1-3 July 2014, of the Festival in Cardiff. This call is open to early career researchers of post-doctoral (or equivalent) standing from a range of disciplines both within the arts and humanities and beyond, interested in contributing to the development of the Connected Communities Programme. Closing date 16:00 on 25/04/14

AHRC and the Design Council have been working in partnership over the past two years to demonstrate the key role design plays in creating economic benefits and social value in the UK, and to explore design research in UK universities and its connections with businesses and policymakers. They now wish to test some of these ideas in a study which will examine how businesses and public sector organisations in a particular location use design in their work, and what the impact of this is on their ability to innovate and their economic performance in the Bristol and Bath design research project. Funding of up to £750,000 is available on full economic costs basis with the AHRC meeting 80% of the FEC.  Awards should last between 12 to 24 months and will be overseen by an independent steering group, established by the AHRC and the Design Council.  Closing date 22/05/14.

As part of the BBSRC‘s 20th anniversary programme, the BBSRC is seeking to recognise the excellence of the UK bioscience research base as supported and championed by BBSRC  and to provide a platform to demonstrate their support and pride for the research community. As such the  BBSRC Anniversary Awards for Excellence in Bioscience and Bioscience Communication call is now open. These two awards will be awarded to up to four individual researchers, in recognition of outstanding scientific contributions to UK bioscience in fields within the BBSRC remit. An additional award will be made to an individual scientist or professional science communicator who has made a significant contribution by raising the level of debate about our bioscience research with the public. Up to £2,000 is available. Closing date 15/07/14 at 16:00.

BBSRC‘s FLexible Interchange Programme (FLIP) supports the movement of people from one environment to a different one to exchange knowledge/technology/skills, developing bioscience research/researchers and addressing our strategic priorities. FLIP awards provide flexible opportunities for individuals (“the interchangers”) moving between different organisations, disciplines and sectors at all stages in their career beyond the PhD (or equivalent). Closing date 16/07/14.

The EPSRC are supporting a number of Fellowships. From April 2013, a biannual process has been introduced with guidance in place to publicise the on-going refresh of thematic priority areas, aligned to fellowship start dates and the peer review process. Please refer to the Guidance for further details.

 NERC has announced an opportunity within the UK International Ocean Discovery Program (UKIODP) for Site Survey Investigations (SSIs) and requests outline proposals from the UK science community for Ship-borne Site Survey Investigations (SSIs) and ‘Virtual’ SSIs (desk-based SSIs using already collected geophysical data requiring no extra ship-time). Full proposals will be invited following outline proposal evaluation. Closing date for outline proposals: 02/09/14 and for full proposals: 02/012/14.

The Royal Society‘s Brian Mercer Award for Innovation scheme is for scientists who wish to develop an already proven concept or prototype into a near-market product ready for commercial exploitation. The scheme provides an award of up to £250,000 (including VAT where applicable). Awards are not expected to exceed 24 months in duration. Closing date 23/04/14.

Linked to this is the Royal Society‘s Brian Mercer Feasibility Award, which is a scheme is for scientists who wish to investigate the feasibility of commercialising an aspect of their research. The scheme provides an award of up to £30,000 (including VAT where applicable). Awards are not expected to exceed 12 months in duration. This scheme is currently open to applications.

The Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize 2014, in association with the ‘Guardian’ and the ‘Observer’, is now open. The winning articles from each category will be published in the ‘Guardian’ or the ‘Observer’. Winners will also receive a £1000 cash prize. Closing date 11/05/14.

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:

The BBSRC is inviting applications for research grants from eligible researchers with a strong track record of research in their remit to purchase items of advanced research equipment via this Advanced Life Sciences Research Technology Initiative (ALERT14) call. The capital equipment budget for this call is approximately £8M. In addition, up to £2M in additional funding may be available to purchase computing equipment (hardware and software) that provides new capability or enhances capacity for the management and analysis of ‘big data’. Applications should be in the range of £250k-£750k excl. VAT. Closing date 16:00 on 13/05/14.

ERASynBio have announced the 2nd joint call for transnational research projects – Building Synthetic Biology Capacity through innovative transnational projects. Closing date 03/07/14.

The ESRC, in partnership with the Public Policy Institute for Wales, invites proposals for research on what works in tackling poverty from eligible research organisations across the UK. A briefing event will take place in Cardiff on 08/04/14. Five projects with costs up to £250,000 will be funded with 80% of costs covered by the funder. Closing date 16:00, 24/04/14.

Are you working with a company (SME) developing innovative products and is driven by research? Then EUREKA‘s Eurostars might provide the funding which they require to gain competititve advantage. Closing date 11/09/14.

The Royal Society‘s India-UK Scientific Seminars scheme is for mid-career scientists who want to organise a small three-day scientific seminar between groups of scientists from India and the UK. The meeting may take place in either the UK or India and may have up to 20 attendees (5 from the visiting country and up to 15 from the host country). The scheme is intended to encourage scientific discussion and to promote collaboration and knowledge transfer by encouraging interaction within the wide research community. Up to £12,000 is available. Closing date 10/06/14

IC tomorrow, via the Technology Strategy Board, is offering five businesses up to £25k each to encourage digital innovation in data. They are looking for innovative commercial solutions that meet broad objectives set in conjunction with industry partners – Ingram Content Group, EE Limited, Ordnance Survey, Birmingham Community Healthcare Trust and British Library. There will be a briefing event for the contest at BL-NK, London on 09/04/14. Up to £25,000 (excl. VAT) is available. Closing date 07/05/14.

The Technology Strategy Board is investing up to £3.5m in collaborative R&D that can help businesses establish secure, resilient and reliable connections with staff who need to work remotely. They are looking for novel proposals that address the challenge of integrating different technologies to make remote working easier and more cost-effective while sharing data securely with employees operating in the field.  There is a briefing event on 08/04/14. Applicants must register by 30/04/14. Expressions of Interest must be submitted by noon 07/05/14, with successful applicants invited to submit a full proposal by noon on 10/07/14.

SMART 2014-15 Round 1 from the Technology Strategy Board is now open. Smart is a grant scheme which offers funding to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to engage in R&D projects in the strategically important areas of science, engineering and technology, from which successful new products, processes and services could emerge. The scheme supports SMEs carrying out R&D which offers potentially significant rewards and that could stimulate UK economic growth. Three types of grant are available: Proof of Market, Proof of Concept and Development of Prototype. A brouchure for businesses is available on the webiste or hard copies can be requested from Emily Cieciura (ecieciura@bournemouth.ac.uk) The batch assessment date for Round 1 of the current financial year 2014/15 is noon on 22/05/14.

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:

Proposals are invited by EPSRC for collaborative research projects to undertake fundamental research that will advance the case for Bioenergy. The successful projects will be expected to become members of the SUPERGEN Bioenergy Hub. Funding up to £1m for one of three projects is available,. Closing date 16:00 on 24/06/14.

ESRC and the Early Intervention Foundation (EIF) jointly invite proposals for Early Intervention Evaluation Partnerships between eligible UK research organisations and the EIF’s Pioneering Early Intervention Places. These Places are a number of local areas across the country, committed to sharing information on best practise in early intervention. Closing date 15/04/14.

MRC  has issued a highlight notice regarding Environmental Exposer and Chronic Disease. The MRC states that a better understanding of the associations between environmental exposures and health effects will inform risk assessment by policy makers and individuals and facilitate the development of strategies for the prevention of diseases. Exploring the impact of environmental exposure on health is an objective in the MRC Strategic Plan Research Changes Lives, which MRC addresses jointly with partners under the auspices of the Living with Environmental Change (LWEC) partnership. Please see the website for details of action areas and closing dates.

NERC invites proposals for the pilot phase of the Strategic Research Impact Scheme(SR-IS), a scheme aimed at research translation, utilisation and informing future strategic research directions to deliver defined and tangible impacts. This pilot call focuses on previously funded active or completed NERC research relevant to the remit of the proposed programme area. Applications should focus on one (or more if appropriate) programme areas and justify why this has been chosen. A full list of past and current NERC programmes is available. Closing date: 15/05/14

The Technology Strategy Board is to invest up to £6m in collaborative R&D that supports the digitisation of the construction sector supply chain. This will bring together the construction, digital and ICT communities to develop innovative new products, processes or services that could revolutionise collaborations between supply chain partners and unlock new business models. This will help the sector to reduce costs, speed up delivery times, increase efficiency, cut waste, and deliver solutions that are ‘right first time’. The deadline for expressions of interest is at noon on 30/04/14. The second stage deadline for invited applications is at noon on 03/07/14.         

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‘s Bioinformatics and Biological Resources (BBR) Fund aims to: support the bioscience research community with the establishment, maintenance and enhancement of infrastructures; support high quality bioinformatics and biological resources that align with otheir updated Strategic Plan: The Age of Bioscience; supply long-term funding and provide a stable environment for resource development and provision. The indicative budget for the call is £6.5M, subject to the quality of applications received, and will incorporate capital investment in software infrastructure. Full applications must be submitted using Je-S by 08/05/14 16:00.

The BBSRC Enterprise Fellowships aim to increase exploitation of ideas with commercial potential from BBSRC supported research.  The Enterprise Fellowships are designed to enable an individual to advance the commercialisation of existing research results or technological developments and are tenable for a period of one year.  The Fellowships enable the holder to concentrate on developing the commercial potential of their research, whilst also receiving formal training in relevant business skills. The Enterprise Fellowship programme provides entrepreneurship and business skills training through the participating Training Provider, currently the Entrepreneur Business School (EBS), which will be directly relevant to the Fellow as they seek to build their new business. Closing date 16/05/14.

The British Academy receives a generous grant from the Sino-British Fellowship Trust (SBFT), established by the late Dr Elizabeth Frankland Moore, to support individual or co-operative research projects. Research may be conducted either in Britain or in China, or in both countries, and must involve person-to-person contacts. Up to £10,000 is available. The closing date is 16/04/14.

Through the British Academy, the Ancient Persia Fund was established in 1988 in memory of the distinguished Russian scholar Vladimir G Lukonin. The aim of the fund is to encourage and support the study of Ancient Persia and related areas including Central Asia, in the period before the coming of Islam. Activities supported by the Fund include research grants for the study of Ancient Iran and neighbouring areas, covering the travel costs of students and scholars. Applications should be submitted by 16/04/14.

The Leverhulme Trust are inviting university applications to their new Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarships scheme which was announced  in January 2014 as a means to support doctoral studies in UK universities and to nurture the future generation of aspiring young researchers. At a time of growing undergraduate debt, the Board wishes to ensure that increased indebtedness does not discourage graduates from undertaking doctoral study. The initial investment in the scheme is over £10 million, providing for 150 scholarships over the next three years. Closing date 11/09/14 at 16:00

NERC seeks proposals to host a new Centre for Doctoral Training specialising in risk and mitigation; using big data. Funding for ten studentships will be awarded per annum, and the CDT award will provide funding for three years of new student intake from 2015-16. Closing date 16:00 on 26/06/14

NERC and BBSRC invite proposals from consortia of research organisations interested in hosting a new Centre for Doctoral Training, specialising in the training of scientists with a high level of rounded skills and knowledge to tackle current and future challenges in soil science. Funding for eight studentships will be awarded per annum, and the CDT award will provide funding for three years of new student intake from 2015-16. Closing date  16:00 on 26/06/14

NERC is inviting proposals to its International Opportunities Fund (IOF). The IOF 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. IOF grants are pump-priming, to help stimulate novel research collaborations. up to £40,000 is available. The closing date is 16:00 on 22/04/14.

The Wellcome Trust is offering funding for accommodation and travel for ‘Gathering Intelligence: A free seminar regarding Thomson’s life and work’ to be held at Edinburgh University Library on 16th May 2014. Applicants must apply by 28/04/14.

 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.

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

The BBSRC Visualising Research competition for designers, graphic artists, software developers, programmers and anyone with an interest in data visualisation is now open. The purpose of this challenge is to develop visualisations of the Gateway to Research data that can be easily understood by the public. Displaying these data in an accessible way will also have benefits for a range of sectors, stakeholders including policy makers, other funding bodies and the media. A prize of £2,000 will be awared on 28/4/14. The closing date for application is 21/03/14.

The EPSRC‘s Centre for Power Electronics is pleased to announce an external call for proposals for funding to carry out Feasibility Studies which align or deliver to the Centre’s vision. Central to this call is the need for submissions to deliver to the vision of the Centre in supporting innovation in the UK power electronics sector. Up to £70,000 per project is available. The closing date is 15:00 on 10/04/14.

In addtion, the EPSRC are support Cross-Cutting Topic Projects (scroll down on page for this call). Up to £300,000 is avaialble per proejct. The closing date for this call is also 15:00 on 10/04/14. 

Through the EPSRC, the RCUK Energy Programme invites expressions of interest from those willing to attend a workshop in Oxford to develop Phase 3 of the UK-India civil nuclear research programmes. The EoI must be submiited by 04/04/14. The workshop is expected to take place 10/06/14 to 12/06/14.

The MOD’s Centre for Defence Enterprise (CDE) (part of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl)), seeks applications regarding Novel electro-optic infrared technology. There will  be a webinar for this competition on Thursday 6 March 2014. The closing date is 08/04/14.

The NERC  Standard Research Grants  is an open competition for curiosity-motivated basic, strategic or applied research in the environmental sciences. Proposals are assessed on their scientific excellence. A minimum of £65,000 to a maximum of £1.2m is awarded. The next round will close on 22/07/14.

Through NERC, the ESPA-2014 Grants call is for ‘blue skies’ research projects designed to significantly advance global understanding on the way that ecosystem services contribute to poverty alleviation, with specific emphasis on generating new understanding that can benefit poor people in low-income countries (LICs). Research funded under ESPA-2014 is expected to inform thinking and practice over, at least, the next decade, representing a step-change in the knowledge and evidence that will underpin future activities in ESPA’s sphere of activity. Awards of up to £150,000 are available. The closing date is 16:00 on 14/05/14.

 NERC is inviting applications to host workshops. One of the activities that helps integration and interaction across the Biodiveristy and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (BESS) projects and extends BESS science into the wider community is through NERC’s programme of workshops and working groups. BESS has internal funds for supporting this activity which can be applied for at any time. Up to £8,000 can be awarded for each workshop, which could include travel for up to two international participants.

The Wellcome Trust invites application from PhD student or junior fellows, funded through the Wellcome Trust Medical Humanities (MH) programme, to undertake a three-month fellowship at the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST). The Fellowship allows unique access to a parliamentary and policy-making setting, thereby facilitating the real-world application of policy relevant research in medical humanities. Applications should reach the Wellcome Trust by 22/11/014.

The Wellcome Trust has announced the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology Fellowship in Society and Ethics. This scheme enables a Wellcome Trust-funded PhD student or junior fellow to undertake a three-month fellowship at the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST). If successful in applying, a fully funded three-month minimum extension to the PhD or fellowship award will be supported, and any maintenance grant will also be paid while based at POST. Travel and accommodation needs will also be considered. Closing date 02/04/14.

 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.

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

The AHRC and ESRC have developed a partnership with three organisations that are interested in hosting a funded Design Fellow within their organisation: The Design Council, Skills Development Scotland and The Cabinet Office Policy Lab. The Fellowship will fund design researchers to spend up to 12 months embedded in such organisations, working on a collaborative project that will be of interest and benefit to both the researcher and the host organisation. Awards must start between 1st August 2014 and 31st December 2014 inclusive. Closing date 24/04/14.

EPSRC are inviting research proposals from consortia across the Engineering and Physical Sciences communities to address the manufacturing research challenges in developing applications, production technologies and future processes that incorporate advanced functional materials. Up to £2.5m per proejct is available. EOIs are to be submitted by 15/04/14 with invited full proposals to be submitted by end July 2014

 As part of their community building exercise, EPSRC Centre – LiME (national centre in liquid metal engineering) have set up a special fund to support small-scale feasibility studies in the UK solidification community (excluding the original LiME investigators). A total of £144,000 has been ring-fenced to support a total of 6 studies, each at a cost of up to £24k (80% FEC). The duration of each feasibility study should not exceed 6 months. This support will provide proof-of-concept results for preparation of grant proposals to the relevant funding bodies. Closing date 14/03/14

The ERA-NET Bioenergy wishes to fund collaborative projects on integrated biorefineries. Projects must aim to provide optimal value by a complete, integrated utilisation of raw material from sustainable. Pre-proposals closing date 28/04/14.

 NERC are offering funding for the Oil and Gas sector. They have a call for innovation funding to facilitate the take up of NERC science and expertise by the oil and gas industry. The closing date for this call is 16:00 on 08/05/14.

NERC also have a number of Knowledge Exchange opportunties. All close on 06/05/14 with interview dates in June aNand July. These include:

• Oil and Gas – developing a broader, strategic approach to mapping and engaging the sector, including identifying future opportunities and approaches to engagement
• FASTNEt – understanding UK shelf water quality and productivity
• Horticulture – to bring tangible benefits to business performance through sustained knowledge exchange and effective research translation
• Environmental Nanoscience – for the Environmental Nanoscience Initiative (ENI) research programme in 2014 for a period of one year with the possibility of further extension
• Future Cities – meeting the need of the Cities-Lab to access the UK environmental science base
• International Ocean Discovery Programme – developing knowledge exchange activities and improve engagement with industry

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.

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

The AHRC is pleased to invite applications for an AHRC Commons Fellow to lead the strategic direction and development of the AHRC Commons. The Fellowship will run for three years and funding of up to £500k (on an fEC basis at 80%) is available for this time period.  The Fellowship will fund between 40-60% of the Fellow’s time. The AHRC Strategy 2013-18 sets out the aims of the AHRC Commons as follows: ‘The AHRC Commons will be aimed at gathering together arts and humanities researchers alongside cognate bodies and international peers to develop joint initiatives, connect dispersed undertakings, provide for a discussion and build a shared case for the importance of arts and humanities research to national and international life.’ Closing date 10/03/14, with interviews in London on 07/04/14.

The British Academy is looking to extend its association with the very best academic research of the type of collaborative, infrastructural projects or research facilities, intended to produce fundamental works of scholarship, in most cases for the use of a variety of disciplines. It is expected that projects will benefit from the kitemark of academic recognition offered by Academy Research Project status, and from the long-term small-scale recurrent funding offered to projects within the portfolio. This call is restricted to applications from projects in the social sciences. Closing date 12/03/14.

The ESRC/PIC Masters Studentship Scheme in Population Studies encourages UK students having difficulty in obtaining funding for the further study of demography beyond undergraduate level. The aim of the scheme is to aid the recruitment & initial development of talented students in demography by contributing to student fees and maintenance costs. The ambition within the co-funding agreement is to actively increase the research capacity within Demography in the UK. The value of a scholarship in 2014 will be £15,000, to include tuition fees. Applications cannot be accepted directly from individual students. Please see the guidance on the website before discussing this with any students who may be thinking of applying. Closing date 30/06/14.

Through the MRC, the primary aim of this first joint call of JPIAMR is to combine the resources, infrastructures, and research strengths of multiple countries in order to overcome antibiotic resistance. The goal is to foster multinational translational research collaborations that can accomplish more than individual countries working independently, leading to improved control of bacterial infections. Submission deadline for pre-proposals – 14/03/14, Full proposals invitations – Late May 2014 and Submission deadline for full proposals 21/07/14.

The Royal Society is provided with a quota for The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellowship scheme. This is for scientists in the UK who are at an early stage of their career and wish to conduct research in Japan. The scheme provides subsistence funding as well as a settling-in allowance, a return air ticket and insurance cover. The Japanese host institution may also apply for a research grant of up to ¥1.5 million per year. JSPS will provide funding for visits of between 12 months minimum and up to 24 months maximum. Closing date 27/02/14.

The TSB’s national Innovation Voucher scheme is designed to help businesses gain the knowledge they need to innovate and grow. The company applies for the voucher, which can help them to obtain expert advice from a knowledge supplier (e.g. BU) with whom they haven’t worked before, not to fund general business needs such as training or equipment.  The TSB will pay up to £5,000. The closing date for the current round is 29/04/14.

The TSB is making an investment of up to £2m in feasibility studies to stimulate innovation across enabling technology areas: advanced materials; biosciences; electronics, sensors and photonics; and information and communications technology. All projects must be business-led, and this competition is open to small or micro companies only, working either singly or in collaboration with one other small or micro company. Projects can last up to four months, and total project costs must not exceed £33,000. Register by 05/03/14 and submit the full proposal by 12/03/14.

Round 6 of the TSB’s Smart awards is now open. Smart is a grant scheme which offers funding to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to engage in R&D projects in the strategically important areas of science, engineering and technology, from which successful new products, processes and services could emerge. Any UK SME undertaking research and development may apply. The batch assessment date for Round 6 of the current financial year 2013/14 is 27/03/14 at 12:00 noon.

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. To apply for a grant of up to £30,000 for up to three years an Expression of Interest must be completed. The deadline for the full submission is 18/04/14.

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.

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

UK Funding:

The AHRC and the British Library have announced a call for collaborative proposals to explore the Academic Book of the Future in the context of open access publishing and the digital revolution with one award of £360,000. Closing date: 27/03/14

The AHRC Follow-on Funding for Impact and Engagement Scheme (FoF) provides funds to support innovative and creative engagements with new audiences and user communities which stimulate pathways to impact. Large awards of up to £100,000 are avialble and £30,000 for smaller projects. There is no closing date.

There is an open call for the BBSRC‘s follow-on Pathfinder scheme. This enables potential follow-on funding applicants to secure small amounts of funding to carry out preliminary commercial activities. Funding between £7,000 and £10,000 for six months is available.

 The BBSRC’s Doctoral Training Partners provides PhD training in research areas relevant to our remit and strategic priority areas. They also provide a breadth of professional development training opportunities to enhance students’ capability and develop the world-class, highly skilled workforce the UK needs for its future. Closing date: 01/05/14

The BBSRC, in collaboration with the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have announced a joint call for collaborative projects in Animal Health & Disease and Veterinary Immune Reagents  involving researchers from the US and UK. Clsoing date: 27/02/14

The British Academy, the UK’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences, is currently inviting outstanding proposals for our 2015 conference programme.  Proposals for conferences that will be pivotal events and of lasting significance in the field: a chance for leading and emerging scholars to examine current and future issues surrounding novel, dynamic, innovative and exciting subject areas in the humanities and social sciences are invited. Closing date 21/02/14

DFID and ESRC are continuing their strategic partnership with a dedicated research programme on ‘Education and development: Raising learning outcomes in education systems’. The ultimate aim is to provide policymakers and practitioners with concrete ideas on how to improve learning and understanding of how these will translate to their specific contexts and institutions, enabling more effective policies and interventions. Closing date: 25/03/14

The DoH and NIHR are requesting submissions relating to Self-harm and suicidal behaviours. Closing date: 03/06/14

The EPSRC ICT team would like to encourage researchers to pursue an immersive experience in other disciplines and user environments. Discipline Hopping Awards will provide short-term support to allow researchers from core ICT fields with other disciplines and/or user fields. The aim of this is to foster new interactions, bringing a multidisciplinary and user-driven focus to research. Alternatively, non ICT specialists can apply for funds to bring a technological perspective to their home discipline. No closing date has been given.

The EPSRC is supporting eFuturesXD  travel awards of up to £5,000 (100% fEC) to allow researchers from one ICT discipline a chance to spend a short time in a different institute or for two researchers to spend time in each other’s institutions (UK only). The same scheme is supporting facility awards, of up to £20,000, to use expensive characterisation facilities such as microscopy, fabrication of novel structures using clean rooms or manufacture of test chips using Europractice. There is also a staff award aimed principally at small teams of researchers from two or more disciplines who wish to carry out key experiments or measurements to confirm an initial hypothesis. This award is up to £60,000. Lastly, the meeting award provides up to £10,000 to facilitate the building of larger research consortia comprising researchers from a number of departments and institutions across the ICT portfolio. There are no specific closing dates.

The EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Medical Devices has a call for Feasibility Studies. The Centre is looking to fund research at Technology Readiness Levels from 1 to 3 that will aid the fundamental understanding and development of innovation in medical device manufacturing. The maximum award is £50,000.Closing date 28/03/14

The EPSRC, as part of Research Councils UK (RCUK) Energy Programme, in collaboration with the TSB, invites Expressions of Interest (EOI) from those wishing to bid under a new research initiative in low-carbon vehicle technologies and fuel infrastructure for road transport. Closing date 14/02/14

The EPSRC invites applications to support networks of researchers looking at Forecasting Environmental Change. The budget is up to £2 Million for this activity and anticipates funding up to four networks, which can include support for feasibility projects, for three years in the identified challenge areas. Closing date 16/04/14

The HEA and AHRC invite all HEA subscribing institutions in the UK to be part of the 2014 Symposia on Interculturalism and Translating Cultures. Applications must be submitted by 17/02/14

NERC have a consortium call, Unlocking the Potential for Groundwater for the Poor(UPGro). This £12m programme is an international programme funding interdisciplinary research, generating evidence and innovative tools to enable developing countries and their partners in sub-Saharan Africa to use groundwater in a sustainable way for the ultimate benefit of the poor. Closing date: 03/03/14

The Institute of Physics and Engineering are promoting their various annual prizes. For details of each prize and conditions, please see the IPEM webpage.

The Royal Society and the British Academy support the Newton International Fellowship. This scheme is for non-UK scientists who are at an early stage of their research career and wish to conduct research in the UK.The scheme provides the opportunity for the best early stage post-doctoral researchers from all over the world to work at UK research institutions for a period of two years. The scheme covers the broad range of the natural and social sciences and the humanities. Up to £126,000 will be awarded. Closing date: 10/03/14

The TSB and BBSRC are supporting the Agri-Tech Catalyst which offers funding to innovative businesses and researchers to develop solutions to global agricultural challenges. You must register by 04/06/14 and the closing date is 11/06/14.

Through the TSB, the Electric Days Out scheme seeks to encourage the uptake of and awareness around electric vehicles within Northern Ireland. Both NITB and NIEA wish to see an increase in the number of visits to their various locations throughout Northern Ireland through sustainable transport means. A briefing event is planned for 07/02/14. Applications must be submitted by 28/02/14

Through the TSB, Cardiff Council, with support from Welsh Government, TSB, Cadw and Low Carbon Research Institute, is offering funding packages totalling up to £450k to develop innovative measures that will improve the energy performance of traditional and historic buildings. Closing date: 28/02/14

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

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