Tag Archives: research

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

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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

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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)

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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

Digital community research co-production project grants – AHRC

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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

BBSRC: FLIP

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BBSRC’s FLexible Interchange Programme (FLIP) supports the movement of people from one environment to a different one to exchange knowledge/technology/skills, developing bioscience research/researchers and addressing our strategic priorities.

FLIP awards provide flexible opportunities for individuals (“the interchangers”) moving between different organisations, disciplines and sectors at all stages in their career beyond the PhD (or equivalent).

Awards

In the region of 10 awards will be made in the first year, building to 20 per annum over subsequent years.

Awards will typically:

  • last up to 24 months
  • cost up to £150k in total at 80% fEC
  • be undertaken on a full-time, part-time or intermittent basis
  • cover a contribution to the salary of the interchangers, reasonable travel and subsistence and costs associated with the interchange

Applications outside these ranges will be considered with full justification.

Scope

FLIP aims to:

  • enhance opportunities for the exchange of knowledge, technology and people between the research base and user communities and vice versa for economic and/or societal benefit
  • facilitate the development of partnerships to foster longer-term collaborations, thereby maximising the impact of previously-funded BBSRC research
  • allow for an expansion of the skill base of individuals, particularly in emerging, niche and vulnerable areas alongside our strategic priorities

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