Category Archives: Arts and Creative Technologies

Design in innovation: research development funding

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The AHRC is very interested in design innovation at the moment. This fund looks is particularly interesting because it supports speculative research.

Funding Body: AHRC

Scheme: Design in innovation: research development funding

Overview: This call is aimed at enabling groups of researchers, including academics, design practitioners, businesses and any other relevant non-academic organisations or individuals, to hold exploratory workshops, networking and collaborative activities, or conduct original research reviews, scoping studies or capacity building activities focusing on design in innovation.

The following areas were identified as being in particular need of academic investigation:

•the role of design in service innovation;

•the role of design in the innovation ecosystem;

•providing evidence of the impact of design.

Awards should last for a maximum of six months and should be completed by the end of October 2014.

Budget: Funding of up to £50,000 is available on full economic costs basis with the AHRC meeting 80% of the FEC

Deadlines: 31 October 2013

Further Information: http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/Funding-Opportunities/Pages/Design-in-Innovation-Research-Development-Funding.aspx

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British Academy – quantitative skills acquisition awards

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British Academy Skills Acquisition Awards

Full information: http://www.britac.ac.uk/funding/guide/skills_acquisition.cfm

Quantitative Skills Acquisition Awards of up to £10,000 are available to support the career development of early career scholars – i.e. those within 10 years of the award of their Phd. 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.

This scheme was introduced by the Academy in 2013. Around 20 awards are expected to be available in the next round of competition, with the aim of providing funding to:

  • ·         Support specific skills acquisition
  • ·         Benefit outstanding researchers
  • ·         Encourage the development of networks and future partnerships.

The scheme enables researchers to spend time with a mentor in a research group specialising in quantitative methods, and will also provide some funding to meet the costs of a mentor.

Costs of travel, accommodation and subsistence can be applied for, together with a contribution to the cost of teaching relief for the applicant, and the time of the mentor, and although the maximum award is up to £10,000 over 12 months, the average value of award is expected to be significantly lower.

Applications will consist of three main components:

  • First, the researcher should outline the project s/he intends to work on with a named mentor (the researcher would need to identify them in advance), explaining how this relates to longer-term career development. S/he should also demonstrate additionality i.e. explain that this funding to develop their quantitative skills would not otherwise be available.
  • Second, the researcher’s Head of Department should confirm that no existing resource is available to provide for the planned skills acquisition, and how the proposal relates to the department’s research strategy. A key aim of the scheme is to ensure that the programme supported new activity, rather than substituting costs already borne by institutions.
  • Third, the mentor with whom the researcher plans to work should outline the support to be made available to the researcher and the time that they would make available.

All applications should demonstrate that Academy funds are sought for a clearly defined, discrete piece of research, which will have an identifiable outcome on completion of the Academy-funded component of the research.

Closing Date

The closing date for applications for the next round of skills acquisition awards will be 30 October 2013. Application forms will only be available on the e-GAP system from 4 September 2013. The starting date of grants in this round will be not earlier than 1 September 2014 and not later than 1 April 2015.

Award information

  • Level of award: up to £10,000.
  • Period of award: grants are tenable for up to 12 months.
  • Further information: View Frequently Asked Questions.

Free time from Teaching with the British Academy

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Many academics struggle to get the time to carry out research. This fund from the British Academy offers free time from teaching. British Academy funding if for the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. Applications must be made of their online system. Once submitted they need to be approved by the Universities External Projects Team by the deadline of 18/09/13, so make sure you let the team know you are applying in advance. externalprojects@staffs.ac.uk

Funding Body: British Academy

Scheme: Mid-career Fellowships

Overview: Time freed from normal teaching and administrative commitments to devote to the completion of a major piece of research.

Through this scheme the academy intends to support individual researchers with excellent research proposals and to promote public understanding and engagement with the humanities and social sciences.

Individuals employed at UK universities or other higher education institutions are eligible to apply. Fellowships are intended primarily to provide opportunities for scholars who have already published works of intellectual distinction or have established a significant track record as an excellent communicator and a champion in their field, and who are normally no more than 15 years from the award of their doctorate.

Fellowships can be held over a minimum of six months and a maximum of 12 months, beginning in the autumn of 2014.

Budget: The total value of a fellowship is not expected to exceed £160,000.

Deadlines: 18 September 2013

Further Information: http://www.britac.ac.uk/funding/guide/midcareer.cfm

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Ethics and rights in a security context

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This fund aligns with a number of the research areas in the University. It looks like a good opportunity for a few ARCs to collaborate. As well as collaboration across the University, applications would need to collaborate with other institutions. The Research Council UK is keen to see a cross-disciplinary approach to this research.

Anyone interested in pursuing this fund should make sure they attend the Town Meeting on 23 September 2013 (details from the web link below). Plus they should get in touch with the External projects Team externalprojects@staffs.ac.uk to say they are following it up, this will help us to make a University orientated response rather than just a faculty based response.

 Funding Body: ESRC, AHRC, EPSRC

Scheme: Ethics and rights in a security context

Overview: The Economic and Social Research Council, the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council invite proposals for their ethics and right in a security context, under the Research Councils UK Global Uncertainties programme. This call aims to develop greater understanding of how questions of ethics and rights play out in a security environment, with a focus on government. The call focuses on the following research themes:

•legitimacy; •jurisdiction; •autonomy; •temporality; •surveillance; •protection; •agency.

Collaborative research groups which address at least two of the councils’ remits may apply. Projects are for a duration of 24 months. It is anticipated that eight to 10 research grants will be awarded. Grants will commence on 1 September 2014.

Budget: The total budget for this call is between £2 million and £2.5m. Funding is worth up to £200,000 at 80 per cent of the full economic costs

Deadlines: 21 November 2013

Further Information: http://www.globaluncertainties.org.uk/funding/pre-call-ethics-and-rights-in-a-security-context.aspx

Binary Matrix Security

Fostering digital entrepreneurship in Europe

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The European Commission has launched a tender which aims to foster digital entrepreneurship with SMEs. They want to promote SMEs that are good at developing digital products. The tender fits a number of different skill and research areas in the University so it may be a project that is well suited to be worked on across faculties.

Funding Body: European Commission –Competitiveness and Innovation
Scheme: Fostering digital entrepreneurship in Europe: raising awareness and the visibility of digital icons and creation of a European e-mentors ecosystem
Overview: The commission wants to:
•    Raise media attention to European business and entrepreneurs that offer new digital products and services, invent innovative business models and thrive through the intelligent use of novel digital technologies
•    Set up a mentoring ecosystem to help spark, support and expand new business ideas and fuel Digital Entrepreneurship in Europe
Projects will last up to 24 months.
Budget: Maximum price €3m
Deadlines: 6 September 2013
Further Information: Below is the link to the tender, plus on this blog you can download a factsheet giving a broader overview of the tender below the link.
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=6795&lang=en&title=Fostering-digital-entrepreneurship-in-Europe%3A-raising-awareness-and-the-visibility-of-digital-icons-and-creation-of-a-European-e-mentors-ecosystem

Fostering digital entrepreneurship in Europe

EPSRC Funding for the Internet of Things

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This is a fund for researchers involved in internet-embedded applications. There is no specified budget per project, but it looks as though there could be around £350,000 per project. Proposals should focus on early stage directed research through to implementation, testing and iterative improvement of technologies or methods with potential beneficiaries. Projects must have a user partner who is actively engaged in the research.

Funding Body: EPSRC
Scheme: Research in the Wild – Internet of Things
Overview: This seeks to encourage user-driven research in the emerging area of Internet of Things- systems and methodologies that underpins internet-enabled applications, based on physical objects and the environment, seamlessly integrating into this information network.
Activities could either test new technologies and methods with potential beneficiaries in the user domain or look at new ways of using existing technologies and methods. Applications must demonstrate:
•that the research challenge has been co-created with an end-user from the public, private or third sector;
•that the research will be conducted ‘in the wild’, exposing it to potential beneficiaries;
•that the potential impact of the research will be realised by the end-users or related beneficiaries.
Budget: Up to £3.5 million is available to fund approximately 10 projects for a duration of 18 months
Deadlines: 24/10/13
Further Information: http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/calls/2013/Pages/internetofthings.aspx

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How can big data be used in Arts and Humanities?

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BIG-DATA

We are seeing a range of funding bodies offer opportunities for researchers to work with Big Data, with two current calls seeking to address how this can most effectively be used within Arts and Humanities. Big data is information resources which are so large that they exceed the capacity of commonly used software and analysis tools, so new approaches and methodologies have to be developed to analyse them.  Big data is a challenge across all research disciplines, from the Large Hadron Collider to British Library archives and poses new legal and ethical challenges in its use.

The AHRC has a £4 million pot to explore Big Data as part of their Digital Transformations on the Arts and Humanities theme, with a closing date of 12th September.  There are two different scales of projects that will be supported, those up to £100K and those up to £600k.  For funding of up to £100k, pilot projects looking at innovative uses of existing datasets are sought; with early career researchers in particular being encouraged.  For the larger projects more in depth approaches are sought.  Collaborations and interdisciplinary investigations are encouraged across both strands, with British Library and National Archives offering to consider access to materials.

Nesta also has a specific Big Data strand under its Collaborative R&D Fund for the Arts.  This funding stream will support partnership applications involving a consortium of 3 arts organisations, a technology partner and a research partner. Friday 13th September is the deadline for expressions of interest, for projects up to £300k.

Please contact externalprojects@staffs.ac.uk if you are interested. Further information: AHRC http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/Funding-Opportunities/Pages/Big-Data-Projects-Call.aspx and  Digital R&D funding for the Arts http://www.artsdigitalrnd.org.uk/content/call-big-data

Funding for innovative PhD and early career researcher training

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AHRCs Collaborative Skills Development Call is aimed at supporting the development of innovative, collaborative training packages for PhD students and early career researchers in the arts and humanities through a range of interventions:

  • Funding of up to £60,000 to offer training and skills development activities to groups of students and Early Career Researchers in several institutions.
  • Funds up to £5,000 to support ECRs to establish and run collaborative training and researcher development activities . 
  • Support for doctoral students to establish and run smaller-scale collaborative activities, with an award limit of £3,000. 

Innovative interventions such as internships, competitions, entrepreneurs-in-residence, etc are encouraged.  Applications will be eligible from any discipline within AHRC’s remit but should focus on:

  • Partnership working including public engagement
  • Entrepreneurship and the Creative Economy
  • Research Skills Enrichment

The closing date is 19th September 2013, please contact externalprojects@staffs.ac.uk if you are interested.  Further information: http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/Funding-Opportunities/Pages/Collaborative-Skills-Development-Call.aspx?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Association+of+Research+Managers+%26+Administrators&utm_campaign=2890457_July+2013&utm_content=AHRCcall&dm_i=14OU,1PYAH,71UHKB,64BKR,1

 

EU Call for Tender – Study on ‘ICT & Art Connect’

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The European Commission, Directorate General Communications Networks, has published a call for tenders regarding a study on ‘ICT & art connect’, with a closing date of August 27th 2013.

The study will create a map of institutions and ongoing programmes/activities linking ICT and the arts in Europe and worldwide. It will analyse best practice to enhance interaction between artists and IT experts and to increase the impact of these interactions on innovation and creativity.

From this analysis, recommendations will be drawn for a DG Connect strategy to engage more broadly with the arts in Horizon 2020. The aim is to contribute to enhancing creativity and innovation in society, technology, science, education, and business; and to better embed science and technology in society.The following 4 objectives should be addressed:

1) Provide an overview of European and worldwide activities linking art and ICT in research, education, and innovation.

2) Take stock and analyse best practices in Europe and worldwide for linking art and ICT and thereby enhancing creativity and innovation.

3) A list of recommendations for a DG Connect strategy on how to best engage in H2020 with the arts will be presented and based on the analysis in first objective and second one.

4) The contractor will organise a final 2-day symposium on ‘ICT & art connect’. This event should bring together artists, technologists, scientists and representatives of relevant institutions and funding bodies identified in the study.

Further details:

http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/news/study-ict-art-connect-smart-20130030