Author Archives: Holly Hoar

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About Holly Hoar

I am the Development Officer (Research & Funding) in Research, Business and Employability Services. The Research team provides information to University staff on external funding, partners, and innovation activities. The team works with researchers and academic staff to help diversify income for Staffordshire University. Our Research and Funding Blog contains information on funding opportunities and the activities of the team. See my staff profile here http://www.staffs.ac.uk/staff/profiles/heh2.jsp

Latest funds on Research Professional 28/01/2016

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Bi-weekly highlight of new funds posted on Research Professional.

You can see the full list here: All new funds from the last two weeks

Schools finance health competition

Innovate UK, GB

Funding supports phase two projects that aim to develop and evaluate prototypes or demonstrators, which offer practical solutions to enable improved financial health and efficiency savings in schools, without harming outcomes for pupils. The total budget for phase two is £200,000, including VAT. Each project may receive up to £100,000 over a maximum period of one year.

Maximum award: £100,000

Closing date: 24 Feb 16

 

Research associateships

Modern Humanities Research Association, GB

These support the completion of research projects through the provision of part-time research assistance. Up to three awards of £23,000 each are available for one year only.

Maximum award: £23,000

Closing date: 29 Feb 16 (recurring)

 

Small research study funding scheme

Posture and Mobility Group, GB

Funding supports research projects that promote best practice, provide training, collate information and advise stakeholders on posture and wheeled mobility services. Grants are worth up to £7,500 each and cover the replacement salary costs as well as other research expenses.

Maximum award: £7,500

Closing date: 29 Feb 16 (recurring)

 

International fellowship for midwives

Wellbeing of Women, GB

This fellowship enables midwives to further develop research interests in midwifery, maternity services, pregnancy, childbirth and women’s health from an international perspective. Each fellowship is worth up to £20,000, which is available to contribute to salary, research and travel costs.

Maximum award: £20,000

Closing date: 07 Mar 16

 

Awards for travel to Canada – academic staff and doctoral students

Canada-UK Foundation , GB

These enable faculty and doctoral students pursuing Canadianist research in UK universities to make a research visit to Canada. Awards are worth £1,000 each for visits lasting a minimum of one week.

Maximum award: £1,000

Closing date: 15 Mar 16 (recurring)

 

Efficacy and mechanism evaluation programme – researcher-led workstream

Department of Health including NIHR, GB

This supports research into interventions based in or used by the NHS and its partners, including clinical trials and evaluative studies of novel and repurposed interventions. There is no fixed limit on project duration. All funding should be clearly justified, but there is no upper limit.

Maximum award: Not known

Closing date: 15 Mar 16 (recurring)

 

Environmental risks to infrastructure – knowledge exchange fellowship call

Natural Environment Research Council, GB

This aims to support infrastructure owners, operators, regulators and policy-makers to enable them to access and use environmental science to identify, quantify and manage environmental risks to infrastructure. The award is worth up to £40,000.

Maximum award: £40,000

Closing date: 17 Mar 16

 

Four year PhD studentships

British Heart Foundation, GB

These allow universities in the UK to recruit up to four students per year for four years into the cardiovascular research programme. The studentship includes a student stipend at the standard BHF rate, university PhD tuition fees at the home rate only and consumable costs of £8,000 for the first year and £14,000 per year thereafter.

Maximum award: Not known

Closing date: 31 Mar 16

Visit TAMK in Finland on Erasmus Funding

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One of our key partners in the Business School is TAMK in Finland. The Business School has held staff and student exchanges with them. TAMK are currently a partner on an Erasmus+ Strategic partnership bid with Staffordshire University.

This year TAMK has 9 international themed weeks for academic and support staff, they have invited us to attend the workshops. As they are one of our Erasmus partners we already have an approved budget to attend, you just need to ask your faculty to use your Erasmus+ Key Action 1 budget for your travel and accommodation costs.

Sessions include:

  • International week on engineering
  • International week for business and services
  • International week for art, media and music
  • International week for social services and health care
  • International week for non-teaching staff

More details on the TAMK international weeks are here:
http://www.tamk.fi/web/tamken/international-weeks

Latest funds on Research Professional 14/01/2016

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Bi-weekly highlight of new funds posted on Research Professional.

You can see the full list here: All new funds from the last two weeks

Fellowship and doctoral-level research in sport and exercise medicine bursary
British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine, GB
This supports population, community, primary care or hospital-based research that relates to the role of physical activity in preventing and managing disease. The bursary is worth up to £20,000 over a maximum period of two years. Funding covers research and study costs.
Maximum award: £20,000
Closing date: 31 Jan 16

John, Margaret, Alfred and Stewart Sim fellowship
Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, GB
This supports research into the causes or treatment of depression, with the aim of fostering mental health research and the academic careers of early or intermediate researchers. The fellowship is worth up to £300,000 over a maximum period of three years.
Maximum award: £300,000
Closing date: 01 Feb 16 (recurring)

Jean Davies Award
Iolanthe Midwifery Trust, GB
This award is made available for midwives working to address the impact of social inequalities on the well-being of pregnant women, new mothers and their babies. Award is worth up to £5,000 per year.
Maximum award: £5,000
Closing date: 05 Feb 16 (recurring)

Research for understanding, mitigating and countering security threats
Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats, GB
Funding supports innovative and forward-looking economic, behavioural and social science research that will contribute to our understanding of contemporary security threats, or research that enhances the UK’s capacity to detect and mitigate such threats. The total budget is worth up to £1.25 million at 100 per cent full economic cost, of which 80 per cent is available to successful applicants.
Maximum award: Not known
Closing date: 05 Feb 16

International partnership and mobility scheme
British Academy, GB
This scheme aims to support the development of partnerships between the UK and other areas of the world where research excellence would be strengthened by new, innovative initiatives and links. Grants are worth up to £10,000 per year for a period of one or three years.
Maximum award: £30,000
Closing date: 10 Feb 16

Mid-career research fellowship
Independent Social Research Foundation, GB
These support original interdisciplinary research across the range of social sciences. Grants of up to £60,000 are available.
Maximum award: £60,000
Closing date: 19 Feb 16

International exchanges scheme – standard programme
Royal Society, GB
This stimulates new collaborations within the natural sciences between scientists in the UK and overseas. Grants are worth up to £12,000 over a maximum period of two years. Researchers may also receive the Colin Pillinger international exchanges award of £1,000 to communicate their research to the general public.
Maximum award: £13,000
Closing date: 23 Feb 16 (recurring)

Newton mobility grants – Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Malaysia, Thailand and Turkey
Royal Society, GB
These enable international researchers to undertake short-term visits to the UK and develop networks, research projects and research partnerships with UK scientists in order to develop their skills and knowledge. Grants are worth up to £12,000 each over two years.
Maximum award: £12,000
Closing date: 02 Mar 16

www.researchprofessional.com -The world’s leading provider of news and funding information for research professionals.

REF2020 discussions identify staff needs

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New upoads

The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is the national quality assessment process to measure research in UK universities. The assessment is reviewed every six years, the next is expected to take place in 2020. The REF results determine how much research funding is allocated to UK institutions and is key to ranking research quality in Universities. This makes the REF an important source of income and status for Staffordshire University, so it is vital to prepare well for each submission.
Nachi Chockalingam recently led a seminar to discuss what staff at the University need to enhance their submissions on the next REF. The session included Professor Ian Kitchen from the University of Surrey. University of Surreys 2014 REF ranking of 36 makes them an interesting institution to learn from. Professor Dave Billington from Liverpool John Moores, was also present. Liverpool John Moores also had a highly successful 2014 REF rank of 62, meaning there were interesting lessons to learn from both institutions. Below is a summary of the points discussed.
The percentage of time devoted to research was looked at. Current allocation of time equates to ½ a day per week. It was felt this is insufficient to produce four outputs at 3* rating over 6 years. Ian Kitchen and Dave Billington shared this view. It was felt that it should be at least 1 day per week. There was a preference for staff to have flexibility in using research time, with some individuals wanting blocks of time rather than ring-fenced weekly time.
In terms of support needed to improve research quality, the advent of the Graduate School was viewed very positively. A need was identified for a better strategy to be delivered at institutional level. Suggestions included investment in staff completing PhDs, sabbaticals, networking opportunities, teaching only contracts, reducing the internal hurdles to make external grant applications and mentoring.
The importance of research to personal career aspirations was discussed. Staff identified that they had a passion for their work, research could assist with promotion, inform teaching and provide personal job satisfaction. It was noted that research is what professors do.

Anyone interested in further information should contact Richard Gorton, Research, Policy & Governance Manager

Erasmus+ Calls for 2015 open

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Don’t forget, the Erasmus+ calls for 2015 are out now. We have blogged on this already, but it is a fund that the University has a lot of success with and fits well with all research areas, so if you have not looked at what the funds are about yet, read this post.

Erasmus + provides grants for a wide range of actions and activities in the fields of education, training, youth and sport. The programme gives opportunities to students, trainees, staff and volunteers to spend a period abroad to increase their skills and employability. It supports organisations to work in transnational partnership and to share innovative practices in the fields of education, training and youth.

Details of each call can be accessed from the 2015 programme guide. http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/documents/erasmus-plus-programme-guide_en.pdf
The programme guide is the first port of call for anyone interested in applying. Each call has a 3-4 page summary of what sort of projects the commission are looking for fund and how much funding you will get.

Below is a list of the open calls, their closing date and the page in the programme guide to get more details.

Key Action 1
Mobility of individuals in the field of education and training 30/04/15                      page 33
Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters Degree 04/03/15                                                 page 93
Large Scale European Voluntary Services events 03/04/15                                  page 86

Key Action 2
Strategic partnerships in the field of education, training and youth 30/04/15        page 106
Knowledge Alliances, sector skills Alliances 26/02/15                                          page 123
Capacity building in the field of higher education 10/02/15                                   page 145
Capacity building in the field of youth 03/04/15, 02/09/15                                     page 166

Information Events

12 November 2015, Brussels event on Knowledge Alliances and Sector Skills Alliances

https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/news/12th-november-2014-erasmus-plus-infoday-knowledge-alliances-and-sector-skills-alliances_en

4 November Glasgow events on Strategic partnerships and other UK based funds

https://www.erasmusplus.org.uk/latest-news/events

 

Further Information
Erasmus+ website http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus_en

Latest funds on Research Professional 13/10/2014

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Highlights of new funds on Research Professional

You can see the full list here: All new funds from the last two weeks

Catalyst Fund Higher Education Funding Council for England –Deadline 06/11/2014

This helps deliver strategic aims for higher education across research, teaching and knowledge exchange, and supports solutions at a time of changes to funding and regulation. £800,000.

https://www.researchprofessional.com/funding/opportunity/1353254/

Comparison of the costs and other practicalities of converting a town to alternative heating solutions including hydrogen (tender) Department of Energy and Climate Change –Deadline 10/11/2014

Desk study and site work to investigate and compare four technology solutions for the provision of heat for an actual UK town with a population of around 10,000 to 15,000.

https://www.researchprofessional.com/funding/opportunity/1487360/

Funding for PhDs in improvement science Health Foundation –Deadline 28/10/14

Support four research organisations in developing multidisciplinary teams to undertake research with a direct relevance to improvement science within UK healthcare.

https://www.researchprofessional.com/funding/opportunity/1248969/

Transformative research call Economic and Social Research Council –Deadline 19 February 2015

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.

https://www.researchprofessional.com/funding/opportunity/1470123/

Incentivising poverty reduction in local growth strategies Joseph Rowntree Foundation –Deadline 07/11/2014

Develop a package of policy proposals to encourage, support and incentivise city level stakeholders to better integrate poverty reduction within local economic growth strategies.

https://www.researchprofessional.com/funding/opportunity/1486550/

Joint master’s degrees Erasmus+ -Deadline 04/03/2014

Foster quality improvements, innovation, excellence and internationalisation in higher education institutions. Increase the quality of HE by offering full degree scholarships to the best master’s students worldwide. Improve the level of competencies and skills of master’s graduates.

https://www.researchprofessional.com/funding/opportunity/1395917/

Sector skills alliances Erasmus+ -Deadline 26/02/2014

Tackle skills gaps, and enhance the responsiveness of initial and continuing vocational education and training systems to sector-specific labour market needs and demand for new skills with regard to one or more occupational profiles.

https://www.researchprofessional.com/funding/opportunity/1395929/

Strategic partnerships in the field of education, training and youth Erasmus+ -Deadline 30/04/2015

Priorities: •develop basic and transversal skills in all fields of education, training and youth; •develop new approaches to strengthen education and training of prospective and practicing educators as well as youth workers; •enhance digital integration in learning, teaching, training and youth work. Follow link for more priorities.

https://www.researchprofessional.com/funding/opportunity/1395923/

Mobility projects in the field of education and training Erasmus+ -Deadline 04/03/2015

One or more of the following activities: a study period abroad at a partner higher education institution; a traineeship (work placement) abroad in an enterprise or any other relevant workplace.

https://www.researchprofessional.com/funding/opportunity/1395755/

www.researchprofessional.com -The world’s leading provider of news and funding information for research professionals. Step by step guide to using Research Professional

Erasmus+ Calls for 2015 open

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Erasmus + provides grants for a wide range of actions and activities in the fields of education, training, youth and sport. The programme gives opportunities to students, trainees, staff and volunteers to spend a period abroad to increase their skills and employability. It supports organisations to work in transnational partnership and to share innovative practices in the fields of education, training and youth.

Details of each call can be accessed from the 2015 programme guide. http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/documents/erasmus-plus-programme-guide_en.pdf
The programme guide is the first port of call for anyone interested in applying. Each call has a 3-4 page summary of what sort of projects the commission are looking for fund and how much funding you will get.

Below is a list of the open calls, their closing date and the page in the programme guide to get more details.

Key Action 1
Mobility of individuals in the field of education and training 30/04/15                      page 33
Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters Degree 04/03/15                                                 page 93
Large Scale European Voluntary Services events 03/04/15                                  page 86

Key Action 2
Strategic partnerships in the field of education, training and youth 30/04/15        page 106
Knowledge Alliances, sector skills Alliances 26/02/15                                          page 123
Capacity building in the field of higher education 10/02/15                                   page 145
Capacity building in the field of youth 03/04/15, 02/09/15                                     page 166

Information Events

12 November 2015, Brussels event on Knowledge Alliances and Sector Skills Alliances

https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/news/12th-november-2014-erasmus-plus-infoday-knowledge-alliances-and-sector-skills-alliances_en

17 October-Cardiff, 20 October London, 4 November Glasgow events on Strategic partnerships and other UK based funds

https://www.erasmusplus.org.uk/latest-news/events

 

Further Information
The External Projects Team will be preparing summaries of the actions and posting them on the blog www.staffs.ac.uk/researchfunding
Erasmus+ website http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus_en

Latest funds on Research Professional 26/09/2014

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The External Projects Team has changed the way they provide information on upcoming funds. Instead of updating a spreadsheet, we will post bi-weekly highlights of new funds posted on Research Professional.

Highlights of new funds on Research Professional

You can see the full list here: All new funds from the last two weeks

Health services and delivery research programme NIHR -Deadline: 18/12/2014

Evaluating models of service delivery and interventions which have the potential to improve service effectiveness, efficiency and productivity.

https://www.researchprofessional.com/funding/opportunity/1486487/

 

Senior non-clinical fellowship MRC –Deadline 28/04/2015

Provides non-clinical researchers opportunity to develop themselves into research leaders.

https://www.researchprofessional.com/funding/opportunity/245680/

 

Innovation Projects NERC –Deadline 18/12/2014

Activities between the science community and end users to develop products, models and tools that have the potential to generate significant impact through meeting the needs of users but generate no commercial return.

https://www.researchprofessional.com/funding/opportunity/251346/

 

Newton advanced fellowships Royal Society –Deadline 22/10/2014

Develop science and innovation partnerships that promote the economic development and welfare of developing countries

https://www.researchprofessional.com/funding/opportunity/564411/

 

Forensics Call Innovate UK –Deadline 22/10/2014

Proof of concepts for technologies and processes which aid the rapid location and recovery of forensic material at crime scenes.

https://www.researchprofessional.com/funding/opportunity/1469626/

 

Newton Mobility Grants Royal Society –Deadline 22/10/2014

Host international researchers in order to build lasting networks or strengthen emerging collaborations in any discipline within the life and physical sciences, excluding clinical medicine.

https://www.researchprofessional.com/funding/opportunity/1484087/

 

Darwin Fellowship Awards DEFRA –Deadline 27/10/2014

Enable promising individuals from developing countries to come to the UK for a period of training or research and broaden their knowledge and experience in biodiversity.

https://www.researchprofessional.com/funding/opportunity/247983/

 

Digital transformations small grants AHRC –Deadline 27/11/2014

Practice-based researchers work with colleagues in other arts and humanities disciplines to explore how the use of digital technologies is transforming engagement with cultures and societies.

https://www.researchprofessional.com/funding/opportunity/1486081/

www.researchprofessional.com -The world’s leading provider of news and funding information for research professionals. Step by step guide to using Research Professional

Marie Sklodowska-Curie Co-funding

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This fund should be of interest to doctoral or fellowship projects which are either new or already have funding. They can be run at regional, national or international level.

Funding Body: Horizon 2020

Scheme: H2020-MSCA-COFUND-2015 Marie Sklodowska-Curie co-funding of regional, national and international programmes

Overview: This aims to stimulate regional, national or international programmes to foster excellence in researchers’ training, mobility and career development. This will be achieved by co-funding new or existing regional, national, and international programmes to open up to, and provide for, international, intersectoral and interdisciplinary research training as well as transnational and cross-sectoral mobility of researchers at all stages of their career.

Applicants must submit multi-annual proposals for new or existing doctoral programmes or fellowship programmes that may be run at regional, national or international level. Doctoral programmes address the development and broadening of the research competencies of early-stage researchers. Fellowship programmes fund individual research training and career development fellowships for experienced researchers. Support cannot be awarded to researchers who are already permanently employed at the host institution. Limitations regarding the researchers’ origin and destination should be avoided. Research teams will not be funded. Participants are required to be legal entities established in a member state or associated country that fund or manage doctoral or fellowship programmes for researchers. International European interest organisations that fund or manage doctoral or fellowship programmes for researchers can also participate.

Budget: The total indicative budget for this call in 2015 is €80 million. Funding is given at flat rates.

Deadlines: Proposals invited between 14 April 2015 and 5pm Brussels local time, 1 October 2015.

Further Information: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/opportunities/h2020/calls/h2020-msca-cofund-2015.html

cofund

Information day on European Funding for Materials and Nanotechnology, Chemistry and Manufacturing Communities

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This event will give you a chance to hear insights from the European Commission on the opportunities for funding under Horizon 2020 for materials and nanotechnology, chemistry and manufacturing organisations.It is free to attend and will be held in Birmingham on 3 October.

The event will focus on the nanotechnologies, materials and production ‘NMP’ programme including the public-private partnerships SPIRE (Sustainable Process Industries through Resource Efficiency) and Factories of the Future.  In addition, Innovate UK (the new name for the Technology Strategy Board) and the Knowledge Transfer Network will highlight opportunities for support.  As part of the event, you will have the opportunity to pitch your ideas for projects to the audience and profile the expertise you have to offer as well as network with other participants.

More details and registration are available here

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