BBSRC Survey: Have Your Say on the Next Big Things in Bioscience

bbsrc logoThe BBSRC has launched a survey seeking your views on the research areas that will be the most important and exciting in bioscience over the next 5-10 years.

The results of the survey will be discussed by the BBSRC’s governing Council and wider strategic advisory network as part of a workshop to be held at the beginning of June 2013, and will inform BBSRC’s long-term planning, including input to future Government Spending Reviews.

Anyone is welcome to respond, and the BBSRC are keen for PhD students and post-doctoral researchers to but we are particularly keen to gather input from PhD students and post-doctoral researchers.

Please submit your response and potentially influence BBSRC’s strategy by taking part in the short survey below by 3 June 2013.

To take part in the survey ‘The next ‘big things’ in bioscience’, please visit: http://www.keysurvey.co.uk/f/514513/6cf7/

Changes to responsive peer review mode for NERC

nerclogo200NERC has announced a number of changes to its peer review process which aim to ‘strengthen and streamline’ the assessment of responsive mode grants.

The changes, which have been made in response to community feedback in order to increase confidence in the process, will:

  • Involve more established academics and grant holders in peer review.
  • Set, monitor and support consistently high standards of contributions from all College members.
  • Ensure all proposals receive a defined and uniform level of peer review from experts with high or medium expertise.
  • Remove the ‘sift’ so that all Standard Grant proposals follow the same review process with the opportunity for applicants to respond to reviewer comments.
  • Make funding decisions more quickly for Standard Grant proposals.
  • Give moderating panels more consistent membership and more stable scientific remits.
  • Raise the quality of feedback from panels to applicants.

The changes will apply to responsive mode research grant and fellowship calls with closing dates on or after 1 October 2013. Processes for the July 2013 Standard Grant call are unchanged; the first Standard Grant call following the new process will be in late January 2014.

The main changes relate to consistency of review number and expertise and the standard grant process.

Consistency of review number and expertise

For each scheme minimum and optimal number of peer review reports required have been agreed; these are detailed in the assessment process. The reviews will be provided by a combination of NERCCollege members and internationally-recognised experts.

Standard grant process

There will no longer be a ‘sift’ or triage to reject uncompetitive proposals and all proposals will reach the stage where there is an opportunity to respond to review comments. Proposals, reviews and responses will be assessed by two panel members who will assign a ‘pre-score’ for excellence. The Chair will then prioritise the proposals to discuss at the moderating panel. NERC will aim to provide decisions on the majority of Standard Grant proposals within 20 weeks of the closing date.

Changes will also be adopted in the running of moderating panels and feedback, with further changes expected to be made to the NERC Peer Review College from January 2014.

For full details please visit the NERC website.

 

HEA: Calls open for the Teaching Development Grants (individual scheme)

The HEA invite Individual staff members  to submit proposals to lead projects which will enhance the student learning experience.

The HEA is keen to encourage applications for innovative evidence-based research which could have clear benefits beyond a particular institution. Projects can either be subject-specific or more generic in nature.

Proposals submitted to the TDG individual grant scheme may request up to £7,000 from the Higher Education Academy. Projects will run for a maximum of twelve months.

Applications are invited from any member of staff engaged in the student learning experience in HEA-subscribing institutions in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. There are three categories for the individual scheme: new staff, Fellows of the HEA and general (all other teaching staff from subscribing institutions).

The call will close at 12 noon on Monday 10 June 2013. Applicants will be notified of outcomes in August 2013.

To apply, please visit the HEA’s website, or contact Research and Income Generation Support at Research and Enterprise.

For the latest news on our grant calls and funded projects, you can also follow the HEA on Twitter.

by Helen Howard

Fashion students bring their collections to the catwalk

University of Lincoln Fashion ShowFashion stars of the future will showcase their couture creations at the University of Lincoln’s Fashion Exhibition before heading to London’s internationally acclaimed Graduate Fashion Week 2013.

 
Final year students from the BA (Hons) Fashion Studies programme will parade their designs when they host their annual Fashion Exhibition in the University’s award-winning Architecture Building on Friday 24th May 2013.

The new venue will provide an intimate setting for the exclusive show and live exhibition, which will demonstrate the final degree collections of Lincoln’s up-and-coming fashion designers. It will include two showings at 5.30pm and 7.30pm, and will take place in front of an invited audience of special guests, friends of the University, fashion industry contacts and family and friends of the evening’s student designers.

The students’ designs will then be seen by some of the most influential figures in the global fashion industry during Graduate Fashion Week 2013, held at London’s Earls Court from Sunday 2nd to Wednesday 5th June.

Showcasing the work of graduates from top UK and international universities, Graduate Fashion Week represents the future of creative design talent. It attracts more than 20,000 guests each year, and features 22 catwalk shows and exhibitions. It has been responsible for launching the careers of some of the industry’s most successful designers.

Throughout Graduate Fashion Week, the University of Lincoln will display innovative designs from final year students, ranging from a tailored unisex collection and an origami and insect-inspired range, to an array of futuristic, geometric and Art Deco garments.

Maria Manning, Programme Leader for BA (Hons) Fashion Studies and Senior Lecturer at the University of Lincoln’s School of Art and Design, said: “Our annual University of Lincoln Fashion Exhibition and Graduate Fashion Week provide a fantastic platform on which our students can demonstrate the extent of their remarkable creative talents.  It is great to be able to present the collections that our students have been working so hard to create, and this year we have some excellent designs of which  we are all extremely proud.

“We are very much looking forward to taking students to Graduate Fashion Week for the third consecutive year, as it offers a wonderful opportunity to showcase their designs in front of the international fashion community.”

Many University of Lincoln graduates go onto forge successful careers in the world of fashion. Notable alumni include Katie Newsam, who has won acclaim for her couture collections and designs for top salons, and Eleanor Bland who recently established her own sustainable fashion label.

Story credits:

Elizabeth Mitchell - PR Officer
Elizabeth Mitchell - PR Officer
E-mail: emitchell@lincoln.ac.uk
Telephone: 01522 837650

 

Digital community research co-production project grants – AHRC

The AHRC have put out a Capital Funding Call for Digital Transformations in Community research Co-Production in the Arts and Humanities.

As part of the cross-Council Connected Communities Programme, these projects should use the potential of digital technologies to transform ways of connecting communities and arts and humanities researchers.

Projects should be interdisciplinary, bringing together arts and humanities researchers, community engagement experts, specialists in digital technologies and other expertise as appropriate.

The funding is for high quality co-produced research projects that use, re-use, remix, link, represent, visualize, map, reconfigure, re-purpose, enhance and/or co-create open data and which involve a wide variety of forms of data and content.

A key focus of, and output from, the projects funded under this call must be some form of new, or significantly enhanced, research-based asset of enduring value for communities and for future research. These assets may take a variety of forms, such as open datasets, integrated search facilities, mash-ups, visualizations and mappings, enhanced gateways and portals, galleries, tools, hardware, interfaces, software, material artefacts, or other forms of innovative cultural and creative resource or asset.

Higher education institutions, some research council institutes and independent research organisations are eligible to apply.

  • A total of £4 million is available, and grants are worth between £50,000 and £600,000 for projects of up to 18 months. They will be based on a full economic cost basis and the AHRC will fund 80% (with the exception that equipment costs may be included under this call).
  • Closing date 27 Jun 13
  • Deadline information Proposals due by 4pm.
  • Date added 14 May 13
  • Award type Directed grants for individual investigators; Directed grants to institutions, research groups etc; Networking/collaboration
  • Award amount max £600,000
  • Award amount min £50,000
  • Award budget total £4,000,000
  • Applications per institution
  • Consortium requirements Required

Eligibility Profile

  • Nationality of applicant institution United Kingdom
  • Nationality of researcher Not Known
  • Type of institution Non-Profit; Public Sector or Government Organisation; University
  • Sponsor involvement Funding

Please see the funders website for further information:

http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/Funding-Opportunities/Pages/Capital-Funding-Call-for-Digital-Transformations-in-Community-research-Co-Production-in-the-Arts-and-Humanities.aspx