Author Archives: Esther KNIGHT

European Parliament rejects Horizon 2020 cuts

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The European Parliament’s committees on budgets and economic and monetary affairs have voted against taking money out of Horizon 2020 to pay for an EU investment fund.

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-room/content/20150420IPR42732/html/Strategic-Investment-Fund-committees-back-Juncker-Plan-but-not-programme-cuts

In a vote on 20 April, the two committees voted for European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker’s proposal to establish a European Fund for Strategic Investments (Efsi), but rejected his proposal to use €2.7 billion of Horizon 2020 funds to pay for it. Funding should instead be taken from the annual budgetary margins, until it reaches the required amount of €8 billion by 2022, according to the Parliament vote.

“We want to preserve Horizon 2020 as much as possible, which is why we want to use the budget margins, formed on an annual basis,” said José-Manuel Fernandes, the budget committee’s rapporteur for Efsi, at a press conference following the vote on 20 April.

Europe’s researchers have lobbied against Horizon 2020 cuts for months, arguing that a decrease in funding would undermine the continent’s strong research base. Research groups such as the European University Association have said that universities will struggle to access the Efsi funds because they are based on loans rather than grants, and only few universities are legally allowed to take loans.

 

Using Crowdfunder for your crowdfunding campaign

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Crowdfunding is a huge growth area, Nesta said that in 2014 crowdfunding grew by a massive 388%. Crowdfunder is the UK’s largest based crowdfunding platform. Crowdfunder helps community groups, charities and social enterprises raise funds from the community around them, helping people turn their ideas into reality. So far they have helped thousands of projects raise over £4 million.

Crowdfunding is a way of funding a specific project by raising donations from people through an online campaign.

You can crowdfund if you are starting your fundraising from scratch, want to set up a new project or have already received funding from other sources. In fact many organisations chose to use Crowdfunder as match funding to unlock much larger pots of money.

How does it work?

  • To start your project you’ll need to decide on the amount you need to raise and explain how you are going to use the money through an online video.
  • Once your project page is live you invite your community to back the project with pledges of cash. You can also ask people to donate time and skills towards projects.
  • In return for backing your project that person receives a ‘reward’ from you. Rewards are normally a product, service or experience that is produced by the project. When a person backs a project they get a ‘reward’ from the project. Rewards are normally a product, service or experience that is produced by the project. For example Leeds bread co-operative gave a loaf of bread every week for a year in return for a £100 pledge, this allowed them to setup their bakery and raise £8000 from 114 local people.
  • Supported by Crowdfunder, you promote your project using a mixture of social media, email, word of mouth and events.
  • You need to hit your fundraising target for the money to be released to their project.
  • Once you have raised the money, you then distribute their rewards to your backers – and make their great idea happen.

Many projects say they learn entrepreneurial and marketing skills in the process of crowdfunding and promote their project to new people who will help in many ways over the coming years. Start your project here:

http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/workingwith/funding-central/?af=fundingcircle

 

Sofja Kovalevskaja award for early career researchers to set up a research group

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The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation invites applications for the Sofja Kovalevskaja award. This enables young researchers from abroad to establish their own junior research groups at research institutions in Germany.

Scientists and scholars from all countries and disciplines who have completed their doctorates with distinction no more than six years ago may apply. Applications from young female researchers are particularly welcomed. Applicants must not have been in Germany for more than six months at the closing date for applications.

Scholars in the humanities or social sciences and physicians must have a good knowledge of German if it is necessary to carry out the project successfully; scientists and engineers must have a good knowledge of German or English.

The award is worth a total of €1.65 million for a period of five years and may be used to cover all expenses relevant to their projects including living costs of the applicant.

Closing date: 31/07/2015

Further information: http://www.humboldt-foundation.de/web/7360.html

Travel Scholarships for the study of Nursing Practice

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The RCN Foundation and the Florence Nightingale Foundation invite applications for their travel scholarships. These enable scholars to undertake a study on an aspect of practice or education in the UK or overseas in order to enhance patient care in the UK. Applications are accepted in all areas of care, however priority is given to projects that address the following fields:

•long term conditions, including dementia, across the whole care pathway;

•end of life care;

•projects that improve the patient experience, enhance dignity, health or wellbeing across the whole life course;

•enhance clinical leadership.

Projects should be connected to the applicant’s field of work, and should benefit their patients and the profession more widely.

Nurses and midwives who are registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council, and who work and are resident in the UK, may apply. Applicants should have at least two years’ professional experience prior to application. Preference is given to applications from candidates at the developmental stage of their career.

Scholarships are worth up to £5,000 each, and studies should be at least three to four weeks long.

Further information:

http://www.florence-nightingale-foundation.org.uk/content/page/35/

UK NCP Events on Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships

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Individual Fellowships event

In its capacity as UK National Contact Point for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, the UK Research Office is holding information events for researchers who are interested in applying for the 2015 MSCA Individual Fellowships, which opened on 12 March 2015 and has a deadline of 10 September 2015. The events are scheduled as follows:

  • Leeds Beckett University, Tuesday 5 May 2015
  • University of Westminster, London, Wednesday 6 May 2015
Aim of the MSCA Individual Fellowships

Individual Fellowships support the mobility of researchers within and beyond Europe – as well as helping to attract the best foreign researchers to work in the EU. The grant covers salary, research costs and overheads for the host institution. Individual researchers submit proposals for funding in liaison with their planned host organisation. Proposals are judged on their research quality, the researcher’s future career prospects, and the support offered by the host organisation. Fellows can also spend part of the fellowship elsewhere in Europe as a secondment if this would boost impact, and those planning to return to Europe or restarting their research career in Europe benefit from special eligibility conditions.

Who should attend?

The sessions will give a general overview of participation rules and the submission and evaluation processes. Therefore, the sessions are aimed at researchers based in, or moving to, the UK who are planning to submit a proposal to the Individual Fellowships call. Places will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

Programme outline

The event at Leeds Beckett University on 5 May will start at 11:00 and finish at 15:30 (with registration from 10:30).

The event at University of Westminster on 6 May will start at 9:30 and finish at 13:00 (with registration from 9:00).

Please note that lunch will not be provided at either session.

http://www.ukro.ac.uk/Lists/MCA1/NewForm.aspx?RootFolder=/Lists/MCA1&Source=http://www.ukro.ac.uk/Pages/140326_mca1.aspx

 

 

 

 

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EU Prize for Women Innovators 2016 Launched

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The European Commission, has recently launched the third edition of its contest for women innovators. Suitable female applicants can submit their proposals through the Participant Portal by 20 October 2015.

After the success of the forerunners of the competition in 2011 and 2014, the Commission intends to continue its drive to spotlight women researchers who have brought outstanding innovations to the market.

The prizes will boost the public awareness of the contributions that female researchers bring to the field of entrepreneurship and will encourage entrepreneurial women to become innovators.

Although women are more and more active in research, there are still too few women creating innovative enterprises.The Commission plans to award up to three “EU Prizes for Women Innovators” following a European-wide contest.

Three prizes will be awarded in Spring 2016:

  • 1st prize: €100 000
  • 2nd prize: €50 000
  • 3rd prize: €30 000

The prizes are addressed to women who have founded or co-founded a company and who themselves or through their company have benefitted from EU funding related to Research and Innovation.

The prizes will not reward research or innovation proposed for the future, but only successes that have been already achieved by the candidate

Please, find more information in the link below.

http://www.ukro.ac.uk/subscriber/Pages/150311_wiprize.aspx

 

Event: Open Innovation 2.0 Conference 2015

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Open Innovation 2.0 Conference 2015 

07/06/2015 to 09/06/2015

The European Commission, is organising the 2015 Open Innovation Conference.
Like the previous editions, the conference will be organised by the European Commission, DG Connect Open Innovation Group (OISPG) together with Intel Labs Europe, Kindly supported by Aalto University, City of Espoo and other partners.

The OI2 Conference will be hold from the 07th until the 09th of June 2015 in Espoo (Aalto University Campus), Finland.
The conference will discuss the implementation of the Dublin Declaration and topics such as student entrepreneurship, open innovation digital platforms, regional information modelling and digitalized services.

The recently published High Level Group report on European Innovation Ecosystems will also be a basis for discussions at the event.

For more information on the event, please follow the link below.

http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/news/save-date-open-innovation-20-conference-2015

 

 

 

A New Start for Europe – Opening Up to an ERA of Innovation

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A conference to discuss EU policies on Open Science, the European Research Area and Innovation is due to take place on 22-23 June 2015.

Organised by the European Commission in Brussels, the conference is expected to bring together 500 participants to discuss a broad range of issues, including:

  • the results and outcome of the ‘Science 2.0: Science in Transition’ consultation;
  • the European Research Area Roadmap;
  • open labour market for researchers;
  • building up an innovation ecosystem;
  • future markets.

The Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, Carlos Moedas, will also be present at the event.

Further information can be found via the link below though registration is not yet open.

http://ec.europa.eu/research/index.cfm?pg=events&eventcode=5B17594F-90C0-840A-1CCBAFF7F0E6D9D7

 

EPSRC Autonomous Manufacturing research call

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The EPSRC invites Expressions of Interest to bid into the call for research proposals in Autonomous Manufacturing. The aim of the call is to support research that addresses the research challenges that underpin autonomous manufacturing.

The expected outcome of this call is a diverse set of research programmes that span manufacturing applications, processes, and value sectors, that exploit novel and adventurous research for the advancement of autonomous production technologies and systems in the factory environment.

EPSRC are committing up to £10M for this call to support multidisciplinary research programmes of up to five years with flexible funding (similar to that provided through EPSRC platform and programme grants) that can be used for a mixture of multidisciplinary research projects, feasibility studies and networking and outreach activities.

This first stage of the call seeks expressions of interest to submit a full proposal. The submitted expressions of interests will be assessed at a short-listing panel in May 2015 and those that align appropriately with the scope for this call will be invited for the full proposal stage. The deadline for full proposals will be in July 2015 and funding decisions are expected to be made in November 2015.

http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/files/funding/calls/2015/autonomousmanufacturing/

This call invites Expressions of Interest (EoIs) which will be assessed at a short-listing panel. Short-listed applicants will then be invited to submit full proposals.

Activity Date/Time
Call launched on web (EoI stage) 02 February 2015
Closing date for EoIs 16:00, 16 April 2015
Short-listing panel Early May 2015
Call opens in J-eS (Full proposal stage) End May 2015
Closing date for full proposals End July 2015
Postal peer review Aug-Oct 2015
Assessment (interview) panel November 2015

Major Research Fellowships in the Humanities and Social Sciences

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1586[1]Providing replacement teaching costs over two or three years, to allow academics in the humanities and social sciences to focus on a specific piece of original research.

These awards enable well-established and distinguished researchers in the humanities and social sciences to devote themselves to a single research project of outstanding originality and significance, capable of completion within two or three years. Candidates should state explicitly what the proposed outcomes of the award will be. Fellowships are particularly aimed at those who are or have been prevented by routine duties from completing a programme of original research.

Value

The Fellowships fund the salary costs (normally starting at the most junior point of the lecturer scale at the institution concerned) of an individual to undertake the normal duties of the applicant for the duration of the Fellowship.

A Major Research Fellow may also request research expenses up to an annual maximum of £5,000.

The closing date for applications is 7 May 2015

Duration

The duration of a Fellowship is for two or three years, to start at the beginning of the 2016/17 academic year.

Eligibility and application information

Please read the following before submitting an application.

Contact

Nicola Thorp (020 7042 9872).