Tagged / funding

Exclusive! Week long special on Horizon 2020

Horizon 2020 is the replacement of FP7 – Europe’s largest funding programme, managed by the European Commission (EC). In 2014, FP7 will end and Horizon 2020 will be the primary mechanism through which to seek EC funding.

A confidential draft paper was released this week which details the proposed direction of Horizon 2020. Every day next week I will post important summaries of sections of the document most relevant to you so you can get a head start on preparing for Horizon 2020:

 

    • Monday covers the rationale behind Horizon 2020
    • Tuesday will detail the 3 funding priority areas of Horizon 2020
    • Wednesday will outline funding proposed in the most relevant funding area for BU staff; ‘Societal Challenges’
    • Thursday details proposals for the Marie Curie Programme throughout Horizon 2020
    • Friday outlines the proposals for simplification of the rules and regulations of EC funding
    BU is the only University in the UK who has summarised this document and will disseminate it to their staff, so make sure you take full advantage of this information!

TOP SECRET! I have a draft of the next calls to be released in Health under FP7…

top secretI’ve managed to get my grubby mitts on a draft version of the FP7 Health Work Programme which features the calls for proposals to be released in 2012. This is just a draft and therefore subject to change but it gives you a great idea as to what the European Commission are looking to fund.
The Work Programme is a tedious read so I’ve summarised the info on funding in there for you; the aim of the call, the eligibility criteria, etc. I have bookmarked the document so you can jump straight to the call that interests you.

As this document is highly confidential I have placed it on our I drive; it is strictly forbidden to circulate this outside of BU! I:\R&KEO\Public\Draft Work Programmes for 2012
The final official version of the Work Programmes aren’t released until July 2012 so this gives you a fantastic head start to preparing a submission.

I will summarise the other themes as soon as I get the drafts through so keep your eyes peeled on this blog for them!

MEDIA 2007 Call for Proposals: Promotion and Access to Markets

The EC has launched a call for proposals for the promotion and access to markets under the Media 2007 Programme.

The objectives include:

  • facilitating and encouraging the promotion and movement of European audiovisual and cinema works at trade shows, fairs and audiovisual festivals in Europe and around the globe, insofar as such events may play an important role in the promotion of European works and the networking of professionals, and
  • encouraging the networking of European operators, by supporting joint activities on the European and international markets by national public or private promotion bodies.

The deadline for sending in applications is: 22 December 2011 for activities starting between 1 June 2012 and up to 31 December 2012. The guidelines of the call for proposals, as well as the application forms, are available from the European Commission’s website.

EC Media- related i2i Audiovisual funding available

The EC has launched a call for proposals for the development, distribution, promotion and training of i2i audiovisual under the Media 2007 Programme.

The objective of this support is to facilitate independent European production companies’ access to funding from credit and financial institutions, by co-financing part of the costs of:

  • insurance for audiovisual productions: Module 1 — Support the ‘Insurance’ item in a production budget,
  • completion guarantee for the production of an audiovisual work: Module 2 — Support for the item ‘Completion Guarantee’ in a production budget, and
  • credit financing for the production of a work: Module 3 — Support for the item ‘Financial Costs’ in a production budget.

Applications for this call for proposals must be submitted at the latest by:

  • 6 January 2012, for projects with an earliest start date 1 July 2011,
  • 6 June 2012, for projects with an earliest start date 1 December 2011

The guidelines and application forms of this call for proposals may be found on the European Commission’s website.

 

 

Brand Spanking New Marie Curie Alumni Portal

The Marie Curie Alumni Portal is offering free membership services to anyone who has won Marie Curie funding; and with over 50, 000 researchers who have been funded through this scheme, it is bound to be a hive of activity! The portal currently offers a number of membership services such as: 

  • an automated alert about new Marie Curie calls for proposals or meeting;
  • a discussion board to promote the exchange of knowledge between alumni on areas of expertise, career opportunities or events and conferences;
  • an events calendar with important meetings and events of interest to alumni; and
  • personalised alerts to news and content from the portal.

Following on from the launch of the Alumni portal, in 2012 a Marie Curie Alumni Association will be created which will merge with the existing Marie Curie Fellows Association.

If you have won Marie Curie funding, then please do register on this prital . And if you are thinking of applying in the future for a grant, then this shows what a great support network exists for Marie Curie Fellows, leading to future collaborations.

 

EU funding for Information & Communication Research

ERA-Net CHIST-ERA (European Coordinated Research on Long-term Challenges in Information and Communication Sciences and Technologies) invites proposals for international research project grants. These support highly innovative and multidisciplinary collaborative projects in information and communication sciences and technologies with the potential for significant scientific and technical impacts. Proposals for this call should address the following topics: from data to new knowledge (D2K); green ICT, towards zero power ICT (G-ICT).  Institutions from France, the UK, Spain, Germany, Ireland, Austria, Poland, Switzerland, Turkey, Romania and Luxembourg may apply. Projects should typically last for two to three years, and are expected to request a maximum of €2 million each.

How to find partners for EU Projects

EC projects usually require partners, with the number and geographical location varying for each call. A useful tip to remember when considering your partner options is that a consortium should include a good balance of sectors industry, academia, user groups etc) and that all partners should be well-matched to the activities in the proposal.

You can find partners through your existing contacts, by reviewing previously awarded FP6 and FP7 projects, by searching/ advertising on the UKRO website ,by seeking the assistance of the relevant UK National Contact Point and by attending EU conferences and project evaluations, by scanning the CORDIS website.

The best and most effective way to become involved in FP7 consortia however, is to join European Technology Platforms (ETPs). These are groups of industry-led stakeholder forums who explore Europe’s key challenges. ETPs define the EU Strategic research agenda and then bid for European Commission funds (through FP7 etc) to address these. The biggest players in the field across Europe belong to these groups and obviously as they set the research agenda, they are increduibly successful at winning FP7 funds for research. Joining these groups will not only open you to a plethora of partners but also will allow you to contribute in shaping the research agenda of Europe (which you can then address through funding). Some of the major ETPs are listed below with hyperlinks to their webpages:

Advanced Engineering Materials and Technologies
Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe
Embedded Computing Systems
European Biofuels Technology Platform
European Construction Technology Platform
European Nanoelectronics Initiative Advisory Council
European Rail Research Advisory Council
European Road Transport Research Advisory Council
European Space Technology Platform
European Steel Technology Platform
European Technology Platform for the Electricity Networks of the Future
European Technology Platform for Wind Energy
European Technology Platform on Smart Systems Integration  
European Technology Platform on Sustainable Mineral Resources
Farm Animal Breeding and Reproduction Technology Platform
Food for Life
Forest based sector Technology Platform
Future Manufacturing Technologies
Future Textiles and Clothing
Global Animal Health
Industrial Safety ETP
Integral Satcom Initiative
Mobile and Wireless Communications
Nanotechnologies for Medical Applications
Networked and Electronic Media
Networked European Software and Services Initiative
Photonics21
Photovoltaics
Plants for the Future
Robotics
Sustainable Nuclear Technology Platform
Sustainable Chemistry
Water Supply and Sanitation Technology Platform
Waterborne ETP
Zero Emission Fossil Fuel Power Plants

Funding opportunity – ESRC Research Seminars

Funding opportunities

Seminar groups are multi-institutional groups of academic researchers, postgraduate students and non-academic users who meet regularly to exchange information and ideas with the aim of advancing research within their fields. Where appropriate, seminar group members should be drawn from the public sector, commercial private sector, third sector and other relevant organisations as well as from academic institutions. We would particularly encourage seminar groups designed to bring together leading researchers from across disciplines to identify new research agendas or capacity building priorities. These grants are non-fEC and are limited to £15,000. This covers:

  • travel and expenses for speakers and participants
  • administrative costs
  • stationery, postage, copying and telephone costs
  • hire of rooms and facilities

An additional £3,000 can be made available when applicants have made a strong case for the inclusion of international academics or the holding of events abroad.

Further information regarding eligibility can be found on the RCUK website: (http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/research/Pages/Eligibilityforrcs.aspx).

The deadline for applications is 10 November 2011.

If you’re interested in submitting an application, please contact the RKE Operations team.

Funding Opportunities

Funding opportunities

We have received information about the following funding opportunities which may be of interest:

British Academy/Leverhulme Senior Research Fellowships

This scheme enables established scholars to have one year’s research leave with funding being provided to cover the costs of replacement teaching.  The closing date for applications is 16 November 2011.  The Academy takes no account of an applicant’s age or current status (eg Professor, Lecturer) in determining eligibility for these awards. Rather, in all cases, award-holders are expected to be able to disseminate the results of their research not only through publications, but also through feeding into their future academic career after the end of the awards. Any field of study in the humanities and social sciences is suitable for support.  More info available on the website.

Lister Institute Research Prizes

The Lister Institute of Preventative Medicine, which is a registered charity established to support biomedical and related research, is now inviting applications from outstanding young researchers in biomedical or related biological sciences for its 2012 Research Prizes.

More information can be found on the charity’s website.

All the latest on the FP7 Security theme

The Security theme has been a hive of activity over the last few weeks!

Firstly the EU has signed a European Framework Co-operation with the European Defence Agency which will allow them to formally cooperate in promoting dual-use application in research, formally consult with each other and share their R&D goals, align their agendas and coordinate calls for research topics as well as influencing the development of a possible Security theme in Horizon 2020. These activities are expected to support the emergence of dual-use technologies and capabilities for civil and military users across the 27 EU Member States. Protection against Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) threats is the first research topic that will be addressed under the newly established EFC. Other topics where the Commission and the EDA plan to co-ordinate their work involve unmanned aerial systems and situational awareness, which includes many technological sub-sectors involving sensors, information management and cyber-security.

Secondly, the presentations of the 2011 Infoday are now available online for anyone who couldn’t attend. These slides also include the list of participants, and Project Officers’ contact details; this is the first time that a list of Project Officers responsible for the various topics to be funded under a Security call has been published.

Thirdly, the annual Security conference was held in Poland at the end of September. The focus of the conference was to explore effective ways in which industry, research institutes and local public (end-user) authorities can be brought together and it was ackwledged during the conference that one of the main challenges is to move the programme from its research focus to a market perspective due to the sector’s fragmentation. Several achievements of the FP7 Security theme that were highlighted during the Conference as well as some of the main new policy goals for Security research in Horizon 2020. You can  read more about the conference  on the SRC 2011 website.

EU ‘Erasmus’ funding available for BU staff!

BU takes part in the  Erasmus Mobility Programme (part of the EU funded Lifelong Learning Programme) which means academic and professional services staff can now bid for funding in support of teaching or training visits to partner universities or enterprises in Europe. Taking part in the Erasmus scheme will enhance your CV and give you a great international experience, as Richard Shipway from the School of Tourism found:

“My Erasmus visit was an opportunity to profile BU’s undergraduate and postgraduate courses, enhance my own experience of teaching overseas, explore the possibility of future students and staff exchanges, and to establish research links with the partner university’s staff in the area of tourism and events.” (Erasmus visit to Dokuz Eylul University, Turkey in May 2011).

Check out the Centre for Global Perspectives webpage to submit an application; the deadline is Friday 28th October.

Funding Opps for Postgrad Students

PG research

Interested in spending a year conducting research at an overseas university?  The following funding schemes may be of interest:

Ritsumeikan University

This Japanese University has a range of scholarships available.  One of the schemes is to spend 12 months as an International Research Student working closely with the University’s research staff.  Applications are open until 5th December 2011.  Visit the website for details.

One Year Visiting Fellowship at Harvard or MIT

There are scholarships available for students who are mid-PhD and would like to spend an additional year as a fellow at Harvard or MIT.  You must have at least one year left to complete on your return to the UK.  Applications can be made online at www.kennedytrust.org.uk and the attached documents contain more information – Kennedy Scholarship and Frank Knox Fellowship.  The deadline is 30th Oct 2011.

British Academy small grants – deadline 9 November 2011

Funding opportunities

The British Academy is the UK’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences. Funding is available under their Small Research Grants scheme for grants to support primary research in the humanities and social sciences.

Applications will not be considered for less than £500. The maximum grant is £10,000 over two years. Applications for collaborative or individual projects are equally welcome under this scheme. Applications from international groups of scholars are welcome, provided there is a UK-based scholar as lead applicant.

Funds are available to facilitate initial project planning and development; to support the direct costs of research; and to enable the advancement of research through workshops or conferences, or visits by or to partner scholars. Applicants may seek support for any combination of eligible activity and cost up to the overall limit of £10,000. The Academy will assess applications equally on their merits, with no preference as to mode of enquiry.

All applications should demonstrate that Academy funds are sought for a clearly defined, discrete piece of research, which will have an identifiable outcome on completion of the Academy-funded component of the research.

This scheme is very useful for humanities and social science researchers to carry out a pilot project which may then lead to larger grant funding in future. The deadline for applications, which must be prepared and submitted online using eGap2, is 9th November 2011.

Please contact the CRE Operations team as soon as possible if you would like to submit to this call.

EU Funding for ‘Social Experiments’ (!)

Funding is available under the Progress 2011 theme. Your proposal must contribute to developing and testing socially innovative approaches to policy priorities in the context of the Europe 2020 Strategy and the Open Method of Coordination on social protection and social inclusion. To be selected under this call, projects should focus on either of the following selected themes, keeping in mind in all cases the gender dimension of the issue:
• Social inclusion of vulnerable groups (such as Roma people, migrants and their descendants, homeless and young people)
• Quality of childcare services (this has great impacts on child well-being, but also on gender equality, poverty in jobless households, employment rates, birth rates and on long term sustainable development by supporting the development of human potential)
• Active and healthy ageing (this depends on various factors, such as life habits, working conditions or urban policies and represents a major condition in order to extend working lives and to reduce social protection expenditures)
• Transition from education to work for the youth (as only a multidimensional policy approach combining actions on the education framework, the labour market, families can be successful)
Deadlines: 15.12.11 and 30.03.12

Funding Opportunity – Assistance with Impact Analysis

Funding opportunities

JISC have recently announced a funding opportunity “Embedding impact analysis good practice in research, using BCE practitioners”.

This Call is designed to encourage skills sharing between researchers, engagement practitioners and information management specialists. It is aimed at research groups looking to bring in external expertise and support to help them develop improved capability and process to analyse the benefits and impact of their research, in order to enhance their impact and sustainability.

The work, which will be facilitated by the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE), focuses on the highly topical area of research impact. It invites people to register online to form partnerships to synthesise and share learning about how to embed technology-enabled good practice in impact analysis in research groups, using the expertise of Business and Community Engagement staff.

For any queries please contact David Owen.

The deadline for receipt of proposals is 31 October 2011. Call details can be found here.

Grant Writing Workshops – Research Councils Focus

Dr Martin Pickard is coming to BU on 23rd and 24th November 2011 to deliver interactive workshops on the preparation of research council applications. 

  • 23rd November will be focused on social sciences and humanities research council bids. 
  • 24th November will be focused on applied and natural sciences research council bids, including engineering.

Martin is a specialist in writing and supporting research proposals – in particular European grant applications and tenders – as well as managing projects. He has 25 years experience of writing, supporting and managing literally thousands of research proposals and has worked across Europe with a large number of universities, research institutes, industrial firms and international companies.

Martin came to BU in May last year to deliver a general session on grant writing skills and the feedback he received was excellent:

“I was very impressed by the presentations“,

“I must say it’s a great workshop, which provides us a number of important points we should pay attention to while drafting our proposals.”

“I am confident that I can apply the tips that Martin gave us to significantly improve my chance of grant success.”

Following the workshop, anyone who attended can send Martin their draft application for a personal review and some feedback.

Sessions are free and available to all staff.  Places are limited so need to be booked in advance.  For further information or to book a place please contact Susan Dowdle.

Media related EU Funding available

Development of Production Projects (including animation, creative documentaries and drama): One of the objectives of the programme is to promote, by providing financial support, the development of production projects intended for European and international markets presented by independent European production companies in the following categories: animation, creative documentary and drama. Deadlines are 25.11.11 and 13.04.12.

Development of Online and Offline Interactive Works: One of the objectives of the programme is to promote, by providing financial support, the development of production projects intended for European and international markets presented by independent European production companies. Deadlines are 25.11.11 and 13.04.12