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NERC Pushing the Frontiers Call – internal competition launched

NERC Pushing the Frontiers Call – internal competition launched

NERC introduced demand management measures in 2012. These were revised in 2015 to reduce the number and size of applications from research organisations for NERC’s discovery science standard grant scheme. As the standard grant scheme has been superseded, demand management measures will be applied to the Pushing the Frontiers scheme only. Full details can be found in the BU policy document for NERC demand management measures.

BU has been capped at one application per Pushing the Frontiers round. An application counts towards an organisation, where the organisation is applying as the grant holding organisation (of the lead or component grant). This will be the organisation of the Principal Investigator of the lead or component grant.

BU process

BU has a process for determining which application will be submitted to each NERC Pushing the Frontiers round. This takes the form of an internal competition, which will include peer review. The next available round is estimated to be in January 2024. The deadline for internal Expressions of Interest (EoI) which will be used to determine which application will be submitted is 29 September 2023.  The EoI form, BU policy for NERC Demand Management Measures and process for selecting an application can be found here: I:\RDS\Public\NERC Demand Management\NERC Demand Management 2024.

Following the internal competition, the Principal Investigator will have access to support from RDS and will work closely with Research Facilitators and Funding Development Officers to develop the application. Applicants will be expected to make use of External Application Reviewers.

RDS Contacts

Please contact Kate Percival, RDS Research Facilitator – kpercival@bournemouth.ac.uk if you wish to submit an expression of interest.

NERC standard grants (est. July 2022 deadline) – internal competition launched: internal EOI Deadline 11/3/22

NERC introduced demand management measures in 2012. These were revised in 2015 to reduce the number and size of applications from research organisations for NERC’s discovery science standard grant scheme. Full details can be found in the BU policy document for NERC demand management measures available here.

BU has been capped at one application per standard grant round. The measures only apply to NERC standard grants (including new investigators). An application counts towards an organisation, where the organisation is applying as the grant holding organisation (of the lead or component grant). This will be the organisation of the Principal Investigator of the lead or component grant.

BU process

BU has a process for determining which application will be submitted to each NERC Standard Grant round. This takes the form of an internal competition, which will include peer review. The next available standard grant round is estimated to be in July 2022. The deadline for internal Expressions of Interest (EoI) which will be used to determine which application will be submitted is 11 March 2022.  The EoI form, BU policy for NERC Demand Management Measures and process for selecting an application can be found here: I:\RDS\Public\NERC Demand Management.

Following the internal competition, the Principal Investigator will have access to support from RDS, and will work closely with Research Facilitators and Funding Development Officers to develop the application. Applicants will be expected to make use of External Application Reviewers.

RDS Contacts

Please contact Ehren Milner, RDS Research Facilitator – emilner@bournemouth.ac.uk if you wish to submit an Expression of Interest.

Share your Views on Impact in Research Applications

UKRI are reviewing their systems to better understand the effectiveness of approaches to supporting impact across the Research Councils.

In order to achieve this they have launched a consultation to gather feedback on how impact development activities are being embedded into proposals by applicants. The aim is also to determine the levels of stakeholder involvement, and how impact development activities within proposals are reviewed and assessed. The results from this consultation will be used to make improvements to UKRI’s processes and will be central to the development of a new reference guide on the topic of ‘maximising impact’ within applications, as well as being used as an evidence base for continuous improvement, cross UKRI policy and other UKRI programmes.

They are asking for input from:

  • academics
  • university research office staff
  • users of research
  • project partners (such as social enterprises, charities, non-governmental organisations, business)
  • other stakeholders.

You can access the survey until 4 February 2022 here.

NERC Peer Review College Call for Membership 2019

NERC is recruiting for peer review college members, core panel members and panel chairs to refresh its current membership and support its peer review processes.  The main role of Peer Review College members is to provide reviews of discovery science research proposals (grants and fellowships), Highlight Topic grants and to participate in discovery science moderating panel meetings. However, members may also be asked to assess proposals to other NERC schemes within their area(s) of expertise, or advise on funding policy and process development.

NERC are looking for members with experience in all types of environmental science and members who work at the interface with other councils or who consider themselves to work across disciplines and who are happy to peer review multi-disciplinary proposals. They would also like to enhance membership covering some particular areas of expertise:

  • Animal behaviour ecology
  • Bird migration and behaviour
  • Coral reefs
  • Data/modelling
  • Deep sea benthic ecosystems
  • Glacial and cryospheric systems
  • Land use ecology
  • Large scale atmospheric dynamics and transport
  • Ocean-atmospheric interactions
  • Solar & Solar-terrestrial physics
  • Science based archaeology
  • Technology for environmental applications
  • Volcanic processes

Each application must be supported by a senior colleague. The supporting statement can be associated with different organisations if appropriate. Previous members are very welcome to apply again.

Applications must the completed online by 25 November 2019.

Applicants will be informed of decisions by the end of December 2019.

Full information on the process can be found here. If anyone from BU is interested in applying then please can they inform Jo Garrad, RDS Funding Development Manager? Past applicants and peer reviewers have been contacted directly.

Opportunity to join the NERC Advisory Network

NERC is adapting its governance and advisory structures to provide increased agility and broader expertise. From September 2019, a new NERC Advisory Network will provide a retained, agile and flexible pool of expertise that can be drawn on for strategic or policy advice on specific issues. This new network will increase access to expertise across a wider remit, with the capacity to advise on interdisciplinary and cross-sector opportunities to support both sustained and agile action.

This is a great opportunity to develop your skills and experience in a new setting and work flexibly across discipline and industry to tackle the cross-sector challenges of the 21st century; and to support an excellent and sustainable UK environmental science community that seizes opportunities in UK Research & Innovation and international contexts.

NERC is now looking to appoint members to the NERC Advisory Network. The network will comprise a mix of researchers, from professors and early career researchers representing core environmental science disciplines with specific capabilities in training, capital / research infrastructure and business engagement, to users of research, including business and UK national government, and others including international partners and representative bodies (for further details, please see the person specification section in the application pack below).

The successful candidate will be appointed for a period of three years.

The closing date for the receipt of applications is 21 July 2019.

The member shortlisting is scheduled to take place in August 2019 and applicants will be informed of outcomes in August 2019.

Please note that they will not be holding interviews. The office will notify all candidates once the panel have made their selection.

Further information and details of how to apply can be found in the application pack below.

Application pack (PDF, 165KB)

Application form (Word, 77KB)

The total time commitment for NERC Advisory Network members is expected to be up to eight days per year; this will include meeting as a group annually at a network meeting / retreat, which members will be expected to attend.

NERC is committed to equality, diversity, and inclusion, and welcomes applications from all. Applications from women, those with a disability, and members of minority ethnic groups who are currently under-represented, are especially encouraged.

Contact

If you are interested in applying and have any questions, please contact:

Gemma Davies
Science Committee Secretariat Officer
01793 411742

NEW: NERC delivery plan 2019

Today sees the launch of Natural and Environmental Research Council’s delivery plan for 2019.

NERC science is essential to forming and delivering policy that makes it possible for the environment, people and businesses to succeed together. The UK public recognise this work as critically important and in their consciousness it is only matched by future health challenges, to which environmental considerations are increasingly linked. According to NERC’s 2017 Public Attitudes survey, 76% of the public want to understand more about the science they fund.

 

NERC invites env.sci. community to submit new ideas for highlight topics

NERC is now seeking ideas for research challenges that should be priorities for strategic research investment through highlight topics. NERC would welcome ideas from both researchers and those who use environmental science research.

Ideas for new highlight topics should be submitted by 15 May 2019 using the new online submission form.

Refreshed guidance is available on the call for ideas for strategic research page, to explain what they are looking for, how to submit ideas, and how NERC staff can help.

2018 saw the fifth cut-off for ideas for highlight topics and a summary of ideas received is also available on the call page. The outcome of the last round and the successful awards will be available on the NERC website soon.

Ideas will have a lifetime of a single round to ensure they remain timely. All submitters of ideas received by NERC will receive feedback on their ideas, and there are no restrictions on resubmission of ideas that have not been used to develop potential investments.

NERC encourages ideas from all parts of the environmental science community and NERC staff are available to discuss potential ideas and provide advice. If you have any queries on the process, or would like advice on a potential idea, please contact them at idea@nerc.ukri.org in the first instance, and they will put you in touch with a NERC colleague who can help.

GCRF Collective Programme Pre- Call Announcements

Funding opportunities

WATCH THIS SPACE! The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) Collective Programme calls will be announced shortly.  If you are interested or require support please contact Alexandra Pekalski or call on 01202 961204. You can also find deadlines, town meeting information and expected launch dates here

Applicants from all relevant disciplines are encouraged to apply for each call and proposals should be challenge-led and interdisciplinary in nature notwithstanding which council is leading. The UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) GCRF Collective Programme is a series of calls designed to enhance the overall impact across the six strategic GCRF Challenge portfolios:

  • Cities and Sustainable Infrastructure
  • Education
  • Food Systems
  • Global Health
  • Resilience to Environmental Shocks and Change
  • Security Protracted Conflict, Refugee Crises and Forced Displacement

The programme is an interdisciplinary programme delivered by UK Research and Innovation and steered by the GCRF Challenge Leaders.

Please contact Alexandra Pekalski or call on 01202 961204 for further information and support.

Fifth round of highlight topic projects announced

Funding opportunities

As a result of its ideas process, NERC is pleased to announce the topics that will be offered through its highlight topics programme, following the fifth cut-off for ideas.

The highlight topics in this call will be:

  • Marine noise pollution: Understanding chronic effects
  • Understanding the likelihood and impact of UK wildfires
  • Impact of experimental deep-sea mining in the Central Pacific: A new inter-disciplinary challenge for UK environmental science
  • Assessing large scale ecological responses to environmental change
  • The impact of legacy waste in the coastal zone
  • Advancing capabilities to predict UK and European weather conditions one season ahead
  • The mineral systems approach to exploration and discovery of new sediment-hosted copper (Co,V) deposits.

Up to £16 million is available for this call. No more than two projects at up to £2 million will be funded for each topic, with the exception of ‘Impact of experimental deep-sea mining’ where no more than one project will be funded at up to £4 million. There are more highlight topics than funding is available, so not all highlight topics will necessarily result in funded grants.

An announcement of opportunity will be published shortly. Notifications of intent are anticipated to be required in January 2019 and the deadline for full proposals is likely to be in March 2019.

Further information

Oliver Knevitt
07712 233084

If you are interested in applying to this call (when it is published) then please contact your faculties Funding Development Officer based in RKEO.

NERC Innovation Placements- call opens 11/4/18

Funding opportunities

NERC have issued a pre-call announcement of funding available to support Innovation Placements of academic staff for research related to the natural environment.  The placements will cover the pro rata salary costs and associated expenses for the duration of the placement with the host organisation. Further details will be announced as they become available. The closing date for this call will be 4/7/18.

If you are interested in applying to this scheme, please contact Ehren Milner (emilner@bournemouth.ac.uk).

NERC – New cut-off for ideas for strategic research

NERC invites the environmental science community to submit new ideas for strategic research.

NERC is seeking ideas for research challenges that should be priorities for strategic research investment through strategic programme areas and highlight topics. NERC would welcome ideas from both researchers and those who use environmental science research.

As stated in a previous announcement, ideas for new highlight topics should be submitted by 15 May 2018. Ideas for new strategic programme areas should be submitted by 6 September 2018.

Guidance to explain what they are looking for, how to submit ideas, and how NERC staff can help, can be found on the call for ideas for strategic research page.

2017 saw the fourth cut-off for ideas for strategic programme areas and a summary of the ideas received is also available on the call page. NERC’s Strategic Programme Advisory Group (SPAG) reviewed the ideas and used a number of them to generate the proposals for strategic programme areas that were selected for scoping by NERC’s Science Board:

  • Earth system plastics
  • transforming fractures – exploration of the deep-ocean highways
  • reducing uncertainty in climate sensitivity due to clouds.

All submitters of ideas received by NERC will receive feedback, and there are no restrictions on resubmission of ideas that have not been used to develop potential investments in previous years.

NERC encourages ideas from all parts of the environmental science community and NERC staff are available to discuss potential ideas and provide advice. If you have any queries on the process, or would like advice on a potential idea, please contact them at in the first instance, and they will put you in touch with a NERC colleague who can help.