BU Research Blog

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

The Academy of Medical Sciences, along with other funders has announced that they are inviting applications to the Daniel Turnberg travel fellowship scheme. Daniel Turnberg Travel Fellowships give early-career biomedical researchers the chance to undertake short-term visits to further their research experience and learn new techniques. This scheme aims to build research links and developing ongoing scientific collaborations between the UK and the Middle East. A maximum award amount of £9,000 is available. The closing date for application is 17:00, 19/01/2015. 

The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), has announced that they are inviting applications to their Flexible interchange programme. The 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 their strategic priorities. Awards will typically last up to 24 months, cost up to £150,000 in total at 80% fEC. The deadline for applications is 16:00, 15/10/2014. 

The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), is also inviting applications to their China Partnering Awards scheme. The aim is 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. They are not to fund salary costs, consumables, items of equipment or other research costs, nor to link ongoing single collaborative projects. Typically up to £30,000 over a period of up to 4-years for partnerships with 1 or more Chinese life science laboratories is awarded. The deadline for applications is 16:00, 13/11/2014. 

The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), is inviting applications to its Super follow-on funding scheme. The programme 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. Project duration and funding available differentiates between the types of follow-on fund. The call will open on 01/12/2014 and the application deadline will be 04/02/2015. 

Innovate UK has announced that they will be accepting applications to their Innovation in the space sector scheme. This targeted competition for KTPs will support 10 to 12 KTP projects of between six and 36 months, helping to translate the UK’s academic strengths in this area into commercial success. The aim is for businesses to gain the research-driven knowledge needed to develop innovative solutions, in line with the UK’s Space Innovation and Growth Strategy (IGS). Companies will then be better placed to exploit the expanding global space market. Up to £1.3million of funding is available. The deadlines for applications are 01/10/2014, 19/11/2014, and 11/02/2015. 

Innovate UK has also announced that they are inviting applications to their World-leading off-highway vehicles scheme. They will invest up to £3m in collaborative R&D projects that will enable significant reductions in off-highway vehicle emissions and/or deliver major improvements in their operational efficiency. The deadline for registration is noon, 05/11/2014, and the deadline for applications is noon, 12/11/2014. 

Innovate UK and the EPSRC have announced that applications will now be accepted to the Recovering valuable materials from waste scheme. They are investing up to £4.5million in collaborative R&D projects that seek to increase the recovery of valuable materials from waste streams. They expect projects to last up to 24 months and to have total costs of up to £800,000. This is a two-stage competition that opens for applicants on 12/01/2015. The deadline for registration is at noon, 18/02/2015, and the deadline for expressions of interest is at noon, 25/02/2015. 

The Leverhulme Trust has announced that they will soon be inviting applications to their Research Programme Grants scheme. Up to £1.75 million will be available over five years, to enable the exploration of specified research themes through a series of interlinking research projects. Further information on future rounds will be available in autumn 2014.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) is inviting applications to its African Research Leader Scheme 2014/15. The aim is to strengthen research leadership across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) by attracting and retaining exceptionally talented individuals who will lead high quality programmes of research on key global health issues pertinent to SSA.  The African Research Leader (ARL) should be supported by an enthusiastic local research environment and by a strong linkage with a UK partner. Awards will provide support for up to 5 years and should not exceed £750,000 in total. The deadline for applications is 16:00, 27/11/2014.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) has announced a call for hearing aid research networks. Researchers are invited to submit proposals for Hearing Aid Research Networks to develop multidisciplinary, cross-sector collaborations in the areas of optimising devices for individuals and novel methods of transduction. Applicants can request up to £150,000 (80% FEC) for a maximum period of 18 months. The deadline for applications is 16:00, 02/12/2014.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) has announced that it is accepting applications to its Partnership Awards.  Partnership Awards aim to stimulate collaborative, mutually beneficial research and partnership between industry and academia and to enhance MRC fellows’ development as research leaders. The awards offer both financial and advisory support for existing MRC fellows. There has been no deadline specified.

The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is inviting applications to its Knowledge exchange fellowships scheme. Directed Knowledge Exchange Fellowships work on a topic or with a business sector that the NERC community has identified as needing a dedicated person to accelerate the impact of NERC-funded science, you can find these on the link above. The maximum award amount is £200,000. The deadline for applications is 29/10/2014. 

The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) has also announced that it will soon be inviting applications to its Follow-on fund scheme. The Follow-on Fund is a ‘proof of concept’ fund to support the commercialisation of ideas arising from that NERC-funded research. Up to £250,000 in funding is available. The call will open on 23/09/2014 and will close on 18/12/2014. 

The Welcome Trust has announced that they are inviting applications to the Senior Investigator Awards in Society and Ethics. The awards support researchers who have an international track record of significant achievement, who have demonstrated the originality and impact of their research, and who are leading their field. Senior Investigator Awards provide flexible support at a level and length that is sufficient to enable exceptional researchers to address the most important questions about health and disease and their social, political and historical contexts. A Senior Investigator Award might be in the range of £100,000 to £200,000 per year, depending on the needs of your research and your ability to justify the proposed costs. The closing date for 2015 applications is 23/01/2015 for preliminary applications, and 02/04/2015 for full applications.

The Welcome Trust has also announced that they are welcoming applications for the 2015 New Investigator Awards in Society and Ethics. Researchers should be able to articulate a compelling long-term vision for their research and demonstrate the talent, track record and originality to achieve it. New Investigator Awards provide flexible support at a level and length that is sufficient to enable exceptional researchers to address the most important questions about health and disease and their social, political and historical contexts.  New Investigator Award might be in the range of £100,000 to £200,000 per year, depending on the needs of your research and your ability to justify the proposed costs. The deadline for preliminary applications is 23/01/2015; the deadline for full applications is 02/04/2015. 

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

The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), in collaboration have announced their call for proposals in sustainable aquaculture: health, disease, and the environment. The aim is 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 £2.5million to this call for proposals. The closing date for applications is 16:00, 04/11/2014.

The British Academy is inviting applications to their Newton Advanced Fellowships. Newton Advanced Fellowships provide early to mid-career international researchers who already have a track record with an opportunity to develop their research strengths and capabilities, and those of their group or network, through training, collaboration and visits with a partner in the UK. The award enables international researchers based in a country covered by the Newton Fund to establish and develop collaborations with the UK with the intention of transferring knowledge and research capabilities. The skills and knowledge gained should contribute to advancing economic development and social welfare of the partner country. Fellowships are available for either one year or two years and each award provides up to £37,000. The closing date for applications is 22/10/2014.

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) will shortly be announcing their call to the ESRC-DFID Strategic Partnership Evidence and Policy Directorate scheme. They are seeking to secure an Evidence and Policy Directorate (EPD) to drive forward their ambition to maximise the impact of the research they jointly fund on policy and practice relevant to developing countries. The EPD will design and be responsible for the delivery of a strategic programme of work to support and enhance the uptake and impact on policy and practice of research funded through three research programmes within ESRC and DFID’s strategic partnership: the Joint Fund for Poverty Alleviation Research, the China-Africa Research Programme, and the Education and Development: Raising Learning Outcomes Programme. Closing date information has not yet been provided by the funder.

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) are inviting applications to its ESRC-DFID joint fund for poverty alleviation research scheme. This ESRC-DFID joint scheme funds world-class research on a broad range of topics to enhance the quality and impact of social science, and contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. A key feature of the scheme is that it is open to Southern institutions as bid leaders. Bids are invited within a budget range of between £90,000 and £110,000 plus VAT. The closing date for applications is 03/10/2014.

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) have extended the closing date for proposals for a study to explore the issues, opportunities and design considerations of a UK web-based probability panel. They are looking to appoint an individual or team to review in detail the opportunities, issues, design considerations and short and long term cost implications of establishing a web-based probability panel in the UK. The closing date for proposals has been extended to 16:00, 23/09/2014.  

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is also inviting applications to its Future Research Leaders scheme. The Future Research Leaders scheme aims to enable outstanding early-career social scientists, in partnership with their host organisation, to acquire the skills set to become the future world leaders in their field. The call is open to high-quality candidates from anywhere in the world who have a maximum of four years and four months’ postdoctoral experience and the support of an eligible UK research organisation. Grants will be for a maximum of three years with an overall limit of £350,000. The closing date for applications is 16:00, 20/01/2015.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) invites expressions of interest to its Engagement Competition 2014. The competition is designed to help capture and promote the impact that your digital economy research is having. Three prizes of £10,000 are available to support researchers to further tell the story of their research impact in an interesting and engaging way to a wider audience. The closing date for expressions of interest is 19/11/2014.

EUREKA invites applications to its Eurostars Programme. The programme funds innovative projects which will be rapidly commercialised. It also encourages and assists the development of new products, processes and services by offering funding and support. The closing date for applications is 05/03/2015.

Innovate UK has announced a Forensics Call. The aim is to achieve a step-change in crime investigation in the UK, through the application of novel techniques for gathering forensic evidence. Across the UK last year, more than 500,000 crime scenes were examined for the recovery of forensic related material, principally, fingerprints and biological material. The challenge facing CAST is how to achieve step-change improvements to forensic processes used in crime investigation in the UK in order to increase the amount of material identified, reduce the time taken to process evidence, manage contamination and lessen disruptive interventions. The call for proposals at Phase 1 will therefore focus on proof of concepts for technologies and processes which aid the rapid location and recovery of forensic material at crime scenes. The closing date for applications is 12:00pm, 29/10/2014.

The Leverhulme Trust is inviting applications to its Research Project Grants. The aim of these awards is to provide financial support for innovative and original research projects of high quality and potential, the choice of theme and the design of the research lying entirely with the applicant (the Principal Investigator). They are offering up to £500,000 over five years for research on a topic of the applicant’s choice. Grants cover salary and research costs directly associated with the project. The closing date is yet to be specified by the funder.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) invites applications to its Clinical Research Training Fellowships. The scheme supports clinically active professionals within the UK to undertake a higher research degree. The scheme can also provide post-doctoral funding for applicants who achieved their PhD more than five years ago but who have not been research active since due to clinical training commitments. The closing date for applications is 14/01/2015.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) is also inviting applications to its Jointly-Funded Clinical Research Training Fellowship. These awards offer the prestige of having the relevant organisation co-fund your fellowship and may offer additional opportunities to report on your project, present your work at meetings and for professional networking. The closing date for applications is 14/01/2015.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) will shortly be inviting applications for innovation grants within the Tackling AMR Theme 1: Understanding resistant bacteria in context of the host. This is the second call for novel, high risk Innovation grants to address the broad challenges presented in AMR initiative – theme 1 to: Understand the resistant bacterium at molecular, cell and population levels; Understand the context of host/pathogen interactions in humans and animals; Identify and validate novel targets for new antibacterials; and understand transmission of resistance in humans and animals. These awards will support focused but particularly innovative studies with a high degree of risk. The focus of these grants is on research that is potentially transformative, stimulating creative thinking across disciplines. Up to £250k (80% fec) per project will be available over 12-24 months period. The call will open on the 28/10/2014, and the application deadline will be 13/01/2015.  

The Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Academy of Medical Sciences are now inviting applications to their Policy Internship scheme. The scheme, now in its fourth year, is open to all MRC-funded PhD students in their third and fourth year of study including clinicians undertaking a PhD as part of their MRC Clinical Research Training Award. It is designed to give students first-hand experience of the medical science policy environment and enable them to gain insights into how research can impact policy. The internship will also provide an opportunity to help build valuable networks with the UK’s most eminent medical scientists and key science and health stakeholders. The closing date for applications is 31/10/2014.

The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is inviting applications to its Policy Placement Fellowship scheme. The scheme allows researchers and other staff involved in environmental science research to work closely with policymakers within government and other public and third sector organisations in the UK. The scheme also allows placements of government and third sector policymakers to work within NERC head office and research centres. Successful applicants will be awarded a NERC grant. During the placement, the fellow will remain employed by her/his institution. The closing date for applications is 14/10/2014.

The Royal Society invites applications for the Brian Mercer Feasibility Awards. The scheme provides initial support of up to £30,000 to test the feasibility of a project, enabling applicants to investigate the technical and economic feasibility of commercialising an aspect of their scientific research, possibly in conjunction with a third party. This award and the Brian Mercer Award for Innovation (which is intended for concepts at a more advanced stage) are designed to promote innovation and fill the funding gap between scientific research and the exploitation of an idea through venture capital investment. The closing date for applications has not yet been specified by the funder.

The Royal Society is inviting applications to its Newton Advanced Fellowships. The fellowships provide established international researchers with an opportunity to develop the research strengths and capabilities of their research group through training, collaboration and reciprocal visits with a partner in the UK. The skills and knowledge gained should lead to changes in the wellbeing of communities and increased economic benefits. Awards last for up to three years and are available to support researchers across the natural sciences, including clinical or patient-oriented research. Up to £37,000 is available each year. The closing date for applications is 22/10/2014.

The Royal Society is also inviting applications to its Newton Mobility Grants. The Royal Society offers Newton International Exchanges as mobility grants to provide international researchers with funding towards travel, subsistence and research expenses for either a one-off short visit to explore opportunities for building lasting networks or for bilateral visits to strengthen emerging collaborations. The funding available is dependent upon the length of the visit and the partner country. Applicants may request: up to £3,000 for one-off travel lasting up to 3 months; up to £6,000 for multiple visits to be completed within 1 year (including a maximum of £1,000 for research expenses); up to £12,000 for multiple visits to be completed within 2 years (including a maximum of £2,000 for research expenses). The closing date for applications is 22/10/2014.

The Royal Society is also inviting applications to its Research Grants. This scheme is for scientists in the UK who are at an early stage in their career and want to purchase specialised equipment and consumables, or for academics to research the history of science. The scheme provides a grant of up to £15,000 (incl. VAT) for the purchase of specialised equipment, essential consumable materials and services, and travel and subsistence for essential field research. The grant is for a maximum period of 12 months. The closing date for applications is 15/10/2014.

The Royal Society invites applications to the Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award. The scheme provides universities with additional support to enable them to recruit or retain respected scientists of outstanding achievement and potential to the UK. It provides a salary enhancement which is paid by the university in addition to the basic salary. The scheme covers all areas of the life and physical sciences, including engineering, but excluding clinical medicine. 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. The closing date for applications is 04/11/2014.

The UK Space Agency, in collaboration with the Economic and Social Research Council are now inviting proposals to research: Does human spaceflight affect the perception and uptake of STEM subjects? It is often claimed that astronaut programmes increase interest in and uptake of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) among children. The forthcoming mission of Tim Peake, the first ever UK government-backed astronaut, who will become the first ever British astronaut to visit the International Space Station in November 2015, presents an excellent opportunity to test this claim. Seeking to subject the claim to rigorous and reliable social research methods, the UK Space Agency welcomes proposals for studies which will assess the following in response to Tim Peake’s mission:  Primarily – levels of engagement with STEM subjects in schools, especially at key stages 2 and 3; Secondarily – Social mobility – i.e. increased engagement in STEM from disadvantaged students and schools in underprivileged areas; and Knowledge of societal usefulness of space. It is anticipated that funding in the region of £300-350k will be available, spanning three years (before, during and after the mission). The closing date for applications is 17:00, 13/10/2014.

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) are inviting applications to their Engaging with Government programme. The Engaging with Government programme is a three day course which will take place in February 2015 and is designed to provide an insight into the policy making process, and help participants develop the skills needed to pursue the policy implications of their research. It also aims to build links between policy makers and the most dynamic new research in the arts and humanities. The closing date for applications is 17:00, 20/10/2014.

The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) has announced that they will now be inviting applications to the Professional Internships for PhD Students scheme. This is a 3-month integrated placement to provide DTP PhD students the opportunity to carry out a work placement unrelated to their doctoral research during their PhD. Such experience is important both to help early career researchers understand the context of their research and to expose them to the range of opportunities in which they can apply their PhD skills and training after they graduate. An application deadline has not been given, the BBSRC have stated that applicants can apply at any time.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) are inviting proposals to their Design The Future scheme. This call aims to encourage adventurous research addressing future design challenges, researching the effect of new science and engineering on the designers and the design process, leading to the development of future products and processes. There will be up to £3 million available for this call to fund a number of small, feasibility-style projects (up to £300,000 and 18-months duration) that help develop innovative, exciting ideas in Engineering Design. Applicants should register their intent to participate in the first stage by completing the registration form by 16:00, 29/10/2014.   

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has announced that they are now inviting proposals to the UK-Republic of Korea Civil Nuclear Research Programme. They seek collaborative research applications in nuclear decommissioning nuclear waste treatment and disposal. This call represents the first phase of this new collaboration and is intended as a springboard for deeper and larger collaborations in the future. The closing date for applications is 10:00, 25/11/2014.

Innovate UK is inviting applications to the Connected Cities Innovation Contest. IC tomorrow is offering six businesses up to £35k each to encourage innovation around the changing urban landscape across the themes of digitally connected buildings, communities, environment and services. The closing date for applications is noon, 14/10/2014.

Innovate UK and the Ministry of Defence, have announced that as of the 13/10/2014 they will be accepting applications to the Maritime Autonomous Systems scheme.  They are willing to invest up to £5m in collaborative R&D projects to stimulate the development of marine and maritime autonomous systems. The aim of the competition is to build collaboration to meet the technological challenges and opportunities afforded by the increasing use of autonomous systems across the industry. This is a two-stage competition. The deadline for expressions of interest is noon, 26/11/2014.

The Leverhulme Trust is now inviting applications to its International Academic Fellowships. The fellowship enables established researchers based at a UK higher education institution to spend a period of time in overseas research centres, to develop new knowledge, skills and ideas. Up to £30,000 is available for a period of three to twelve months. The closing date for applications is 16:00, 06/11/2014.

The Leverhulme Trust is also inviting applications for Research Fellowships. Research Fellowships are open to experienced researchers, particularly those who are or have been prevented by routine duties from completing a programme of original research. There are no restrictions on academic discipline, and awards are not limited to those holding appointments in higher education. They are offering up to £50,000 over three to twenty-four months for experienced researchers to conduct a programme of research in any discipline. The closing date for applications is 16:00, 06/11/2014.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) is inviting applications to access the MRC Biomedical NMR Centre. To obtain a regular allocation of time an application should be made to the Advisory Committee (via Dr Frenkiel) for consideration at its annual meeting. The submission date for the next meeting will be 31/10/2014.

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 Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) are now calling for proposals to their Dial-a-Molecule EPSRC Grand Challenge Network. The aim is to enhance/speed up existing chemistry research projects through the application of statistical methods. Proposals may cover applications such as: screening across a wide reaction space using Principal Components models; scoping, optimisation or robustness studies using statistical design of experiments (e.g. factorial, response surface, D-optimal design); and predictive modelling, PLS and data mining, applied to chemical synthesis. Funding, normally up to £2,000 per project, is available to enable activities. The deadline for applications is 12/09/2014.  

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) are now also inviting for applications to the Nuclear Energy University Programs (NEUP) Integrated Research Project (IRP) – US/UK Collaborative Funding Opportunity. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy created Nuclear Energy University Programs (NEUP) in 2009 to consolidate its university support under one programme. The RCUK Energy Programme (RCUKEP), led by EPSRC, would like to encourage the participation of UK researchers in this programme. In particular the RCUKEP will support the UK component of proposals including US/UK collaboration to the NEUP‘s small research projects solicitation. The deadline for applications is 12:00, 02/10/2014.

The Leverhulme Trust has announced that in January 2015 they will be inviting applications to their Early Career Fellowships. Early Career Fellowships aim to provide career development opportunities for those who are at a relatively early stage of their academic careers, but who have a proven record of research. The expectation is that Fellows should undertake a significant piece of publishable work during their tenure, and that the Fellowships should lead to a more permanent academic position. The Trust will contribute 50% of each Fellow’s total salary costs up to a maximum of £24,000 per annum and the balance is to be paid by the host institution. Given the prestige of the awards each Fellow may request annual research expenses of up to £6,000 to further his or her research activities. The closing date for applications will be 4pm, 05/03/2015.

The Leverhulme Trust has also announced that they will be inviting applications to their Emeritus Fellowships as of 01/09/2014 (today).  The fellowships offer to provide research expenses of up to £22,000 over up to two years to enable senior researchers who have retired from an academic post to complete a research project and prepare the results for publication. The deadline for applications is 4pm, 05/02/2015.

The Leverhulme Trust has also announced that on the 01/09/2014 (today), they will be inviting applications to their Study Abroad Studentships. The studentship offers maintenance and research expenses to allow applicants to spend a period of 12 to 24 months on advanced study or research at a centre of learning in any overseas country (excluding the USA). The closing date for applications will be 4pm, 12/01/2015.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) has announced that on the 02/10/2014 they will be inviting applications to their Biomedical Catalyst: Regenerative Medicine Research Committee. The translation of the burgeoning knowledge in regenerative medicine into new treatment strategies is a key objective of the strategic plan. The Regenerative Medicine Research Committee (RMRC) provides support for high quality proposals aiming to develop regenerative medicine therapies to improve human health. The MRC will meet the academic costs of the project only. The closing date for applications will be 4pm, 13/11/2014.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) has also announced that they will be inviting applications to their Clinician Scientist Fellowship (CSF) scheme as of 25/02/2015. The CSF develops outstanding medically and other clinically qualified professionals who have gained a higher research degree to establish themselves as independent researchers. The CSF provides full personal salary costs, together with support for research staff, consumables expenses, travel costs and capital equipment appropriate for the research project. The deadline for applications will be 08/04/2015.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) is calling for proposals for opportunities to work in the new Research Complex at Harwell. The scheme is for researchers wishing to occupy space within the Research Complex at Harwell (RCaH). For information on deadlines please visit the webpage here.

The Welcome Trust has announced that they will be inviting applications for Capital funding for public engagement and medical history. This scheme provides capital funding (normally above £200 000) for large-scale projects that support public engagement and/or medical history. Prospective applicants should contact the Welcome Trust in the first instance to explore whether their proposal meets their criteria. This should be done well in advance of the deadline for preliminary applications. If the criteria are met, applicants will be asked to submit a preliminary application, outlining the mission, background, aims and objectives of the proposal, targeted audience and partnerships. The Welcome Trust will then assess the preliminary application. If it is approved, a full application will be requested. The deadline for the preliminary application is 29/05/2015.

The Welcome Trust is inviting expressions of interest to the International Engagement Awards. The 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. Please submit your expression of interest as early as possible but at least two weeks before any full application deadline. The following deadlines are for invited full applications: 13/03/2015 (expressions of interest must be received before 27th February); 11/09/2015 (expressions of interest must be received before 28th August).

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 Academy of Medical Sciences is inviting applications to the Starter Grants for Clinical Lecturers scheme.  They are offering funding of up to £30,000 to cover the cost of research consumables. The grants allow research-active Clinical Lecturers to gather data to strengthen their bids for longer-term fellowships and funding. An application form can be downloaded. The deadline for applications is 5pm, 01/09/2014.

The BBSRC in collaboration with the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), announce a call to support fundamental bioscience that will address key gaps in the knowledge of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) biology. The total amount of funding available for the call is £6 million (BBSRC are contributing £5M, and Defra, £1 million). A letter of intent must be submitted before 4pm, 04/11/2014, and it is expected that the full application deadline will be at the end of February 2015.

The British Academy will soon be inviting applications to the BA Skills Acquisition Awards.  Quantitative Skills Acquisition Awards are available to support career development of early career scholars (within 10 years of the award of the doctorate) who are in established academic posts. These awards aim to develop and enhance their quantitative skills by providing an award to enable early career researchers to spend some time with a mentor at a specialist centre in the field.

The British Academy is inviting applications to the Elisabeth Barker Fund.  The Fund was established in memory of Elisabeth Barker (1910-1986), diplomatic correspondent and historian of modern Europe. It is intended to support studies in recent European history, particularly the history of Central and Eastern Europe. Grants may be made for individual, or collaborative projects and may support British scholars, or scholars from other European countries. The maximum award amount is £1,000 and the closing date for applications if 15/10/2014.

The British Academy is also inviting applications to their Elie Kedourie Memorial Fund. The fund, established by the family of Elie Kedourie, FBA, is to promote the study of Middle Eastern and Modern European History, and the History of Political Thought by recent postdoctoral scholars of any nationality. Awards are offered to support any aspect of research, including travel and publication. The maximum award amount is £1,000 and the closing date for applications is 15/10/2014.

The British Academy has announced that they will soon be accepting applications to the Stein-Arnold Exploration Fund. The Fund was established according to the terms of the Will of Sir Aurel Stein, FBA, to commemorate his friendship with Sir Thomas Arnold, FBA, for ‘the encouragement of research on the antiquities or historical geography or early history or arts of those parts of Asia which come within the sphere of the ancient civilisations of India, China, and Iran, including Central Asia. Research should be ‘so far as possible by means of exploratory work’, and applicants must be British or Hungarian subjects. Awards do not exceed £2,500. Application forms are being made available from 22/10/2014 and the deadline for applications is 03/12/2014.

The British Academy has also announced that they will soon be accepting applications to the Neil Ker Memorial Fund. The object of this fund is to promote the study of Western medieval manuscripts, in particular those of British interest. Applications are invited from scholars of any nationality, engaged on original research intended for publication. Applicants should be of postdoctoral status, or have comparable experience. Awards do not normally exceed £2,000. Application forms will be made available from 22/10/2014 and the deadline for applications is 03/12/2014.

The British Academy will soon make applications for the BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grants scheme available. Grants are available to support primary research in the humanities and social sciences. The first recourse for funding should be to your own institution (where applicable). 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 forms will be made available from 03/09/2014 and the closing date for applications is 15/10/2014.

Dstl and BAE Systems are seeking proposals for the Autonomous Systems Underpinning Research – ASUR 2014 programme. This competition is seeking research proposals in a set of specific areas relating to technologies that are potentially applicable to enhancing the development and operation of future autonomous systems that will enable the UK Armed Forces to successfully meet the operational challenges that they will encounter over the next decade and beyond. Up to £2.4 million of funding is available for this competition. The deadline for applications is 13/10/2014.

The ELRHA (enhancing learning & research for humanitarian assistance) have now launched their Ebola Health Research call. The aim of the call is both to produce robust research findings that could contribute to the effectiveness of the response to the current outbreak, and help to draw lessons for future outbreaks of Ebola and other communicable diseases. Funding is being made available through the existing £6.5 million R2HC programme. Given the urgency of this situation, qualified researchers are invited to submit a preliminary Expression of Interest application to ELRHA by 11am, 08/09/2014.

The ESRC have made a pre-call announcement for the Transformative Research call. The aim of this call is to provide a stimulus for genuinely transformative research ideas at the frontiers of the social sciences, enabling research which challenges current thinking to be supported and developed. Successful applicants will receive a grant of up to £250,000 (at 100 per cent full economic cost (fEC)). ESRC will meet 80 per cent of the full economic costs on proposals submitted. Only two applications can be accepted from each eligible Research Organisation. Proposals should be pre-selected by the Research Organisation and will need to be submitted to the ESRC at the beginning of January 2015. The full call specification will be released in September 2014.

The Medical Research Council has mentioned on their website that they will soon be taking applications for the Biomedical Informatics Fellowship. The fellowship supports outstanding post-doctoral researchers who are seeking to move into the application of mathematical, statistical and computational methods to biomedical and health research problems. Applications are being made available from 05/05/2015 and the deadline for applications will be 16/06/2015.

The Medical Research Council has announced that they will soon be inviting applications to the Career Development Award (CDA) in Biostatistics.  This CDA in Biostatistics encourages broad training programmes in biostatistics to support talented early-career researchers who have recently completed their PhDs and who are working in – or seeking to move into – statistically based, health-related research. The CDA provides full personal salary costs together with support for consumables expenses, travel costs and capital equipment appropriate for the research project. The opening date for applications is 17/03/2015 and the closing date is 28/04/2015.

The Medical Research Council has also announced that they will soon be inviting applications to their Early Career Fellowship in Economics of Health. The fellowship provides early-career support to help individuals begin to establish a research track record in the field and to undertake further training. The EoH provides full personal salary costs, together with support for consumables expenses, travel costs and capital equipment appropriate for the research project. The opening date for applications is 05/05/2015 and the deadline for applications is 16/06/2015.

The Medical Research Council has also announced details of the Methodology Research Fellowship.  The fellowship supports post-doctoral researchers with a grounding in health research, not necessarily in a methodological discipline, who will advance the development and application of innovative methodologies in the context of challenging biomedical and health research problems. It will provide a significant career development opportunity for these researchers to become independent researchers in their chosen fields. Full personal salary costs will be provided, with support for research staff, consumables expenses, travel costs and capital equipment appropriate for the research project. The opening date for applications is 05/05/2015 and the deadline is 16/06/2015.

The Medical Research Council has announced details of the Molecular Pathology Nodes scheme. MRC and EPSRC invite proposals to establish high-quality molecular pathology nodes. Each node will be a multidisciplinary centre of innovative molecular diagnostic test discovery and development bringing together the research base, pathology/genetic services and industry. The call will have four phases, 1) Call workshop, 2) Expression of interest, 3) Proposal, 4) Monitoring. A workshop will be hosted on 01/10/2014 in London – the workshop registration form needs to be completed by 15/09/2014. The deadline for expression of interest is 10/11/2014 and for the proposal is 10/02/2015.

The Medical Research Council will soon be inviting applications to their Population Health Scientist Fellowship.  The fellowship supports outstanding early-career researchers to conduct research and develop the skills required to underpin a career in the population health sciences. The award provides a competitive personal salary and a research training support grant of up to £20,000 per year. The opening date for applications is 05/05/2015 and the closing date for applications is 16/06/2015.

The Medical Research Council is now inviting applications to their Senior Clinical Fellowship. The purpose of the scheme is to support outstanding medically and other clinically qualified professionals in their development to become research leaders. The fellowship will provide full personal salary costs, together with support for research staff, consumables expenses, travel costs and capital equipment appropriate for the research project. The opening date for applications will be the 25/02/2015 and the closing date for applications is the 08/04/2015.

NERC, in collaboration with Communicate 2014 (British Natural History Consortium) are inviting applications to the NERC bursary scheme. The scheme is open to NERC funded postgraduate students, postdoctoral researchers and NERC fellows only. Applications from students and researchers who have not previously attended Communicate will be prioritised. The deadline for applications is 9am, 06/10/2014.

The Agri-Tech Catalyst, run by the Technology Strategy Board and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, offers funding to innovative businesses and researchers to develop solutions to global agricultural challenges – this is the late-stage awards. There are two types of late-stage awards that projects may be eligible for: pre-experimental feasibility study awards and experimental development awards. Funding through the Agri-Tech Catalyst is available to UK businesses of any size, as well as researchers. The deadline for applications is 07/01/2015.

The Technology Strategy Board and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council are also inviting applications to the Industrial research awards. Industrial research awards enable applicants to evaluate the technical feasibility of an idea and establish proof-of-concept and potential routes to exploitation. Such proposals will embrace longer-term studies in all relevant disciplines that demonstrate the potential to advance the sustainable intensification of agriculture and have an economic impact. Registration for expressions of interest closes on 01/10/2014 with a submission deadline of 08/10/2014.

The Technology Strategy Board is inviting applications to their Adapting cutting-edge technologies project. They will be investing up to £7m in collaborative R&D projects to encourage technologies for road-vehicles that will deliver significant reductions in CO₂ emissions and they expect projects to range in size from total costs of £500k to £2m, although they may consider projects outside this range. The competition opens for applications on 08/09/2014. The deadline for registration is noon, 22/10/2014 and the deadline for applications is noon, 29/10/2014.

The Technology Strategy Board and the Environment Agency are now inviting applications to the Non-intrusive river flow measurement competition. 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 still to be confirmed.

The Welcome Trust is inviting applications to the Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training and Science Initiative. The vision of DELTAS Africa is to support the African-led development of world-class researchers and research leaders in Africa. This new generation of scientists will play a major part in shaping and driving a locally relevant health research agenda in Africa, contributing to improved health and development in the continent. Some funding is available. A preliminary application should be completed by 5pm, 02/10/2014.

The Welcome Trust is now inviting applications to their Engagement Fellowships scheme. Engagement Fellowships champion the leaders of tomorrow by fostering the most promising developing talent. They are looking for individuals with a strong track record of engaging the public with ideas around biomedical science and/or medical humanities, who want to make a step-change in their careers. The deadline for applications is 13/02/2015.

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 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.