Category Archives: Business, Education and Law

Celebrate volunteers’ week with the Staffordshire University Fringe Festival

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Volunteers’ Week is an annual celebration of the fantastic contribution millions of volunteers make across the UK – and it’s taking place from the 1-7 June 2015.

Staffs Fringe Festival is the University’s annual public engagement festival.

Senior lecturer, Penny Vincent coordinates it and works with our community partners to facilitate a feast of free events and activities, ending with the Fantastic Fringe Finale on the last day (Saturday).

volunteers week logoImagine what the world would be like without volunteers. From the Staffs Live journalism team, to documentary photographers and workshop leaders at the Fantastic Finale – there are many students and local residents volunteering to make Fringe Festival go with a swing.

We will celebrate community arts with a Big Lunch picnic in Hanley Park with Park Live! performance on the bandstand by local people and a Photo walk led by the Photographers Collective North Staffs who are all volunteers.

The wonderful London Rd Festival on the 13th and 14th June is coordinated by a group of committed and skilful volunteers from Stoke West and Oakhill area.

Check out all the Volunteers Week events on their website here.

Newton Researcher Links workshop grants –

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The British Council, working with the Higher Education International Unit, have opened a call for proposals for workshop grants under the Newton Researcher Links programme, a part of the Newton Fund.

The Royal Society of Chemistry is also partnering with the British Council to fund successful workshops in some countries.

This element of Newton Researcher Links provides financial support to bring together a UK/partner country bilateral cohort of early career researchers to take part in workshops to:

  • build research capacity in developing economies
  • building links for future collaboration
  • enhancing the researchers’ career opportunities

The Newton Fund is part of the UK’s official development assistance programme. Through the Newton Fund, the UK will use its strength in research and innovation to promote economic development and social welfare of partner countries.

Deadline for applications: 16:00 UK time on 13 July 2015.

The workshops must take place between 1st November 2015 and 31st March 2016.

Partner countries:

Brazil, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey and Russia*.

Other countries may added in due course, and any additions will be announced here.

*Russia is not a Newton Fund country and is a part of this call outside of the Newton Fund. The application process is the same, however there is no need to articulate the relevance of the application to economic development and social welfare where the partner country is Russia.

Workshop themes and priority areas

Partner countries may have areas of research priority, and workshops must be themed around one of these. All priority areas are listed in Annex 1 of the Guidelines document available in the Downloads section.

In Malaysia, Thailand and Turkey proposals in the Chemical Sciences would also be welcome and, if selected, may be co-funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

ELIGIBILITY

Eligibility criteria apply, please download and read the Guidelines document in full before applying (available in the Downloads section).

HOW TO APPLY

Before applying please download and read the guidelines document from the Downloads section below. Once ready, you can apply online. You can view the information requested in the application form in the word document available in the Downloads section.

For advice on applying to funding schemes, read this article from the British Council Director, Science and Research.

CONTACT

If you have any enquiries relating to this call, please contact UK-researcherlinks@britishcouncil.org

Newton Researcher Links travel grants –

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The British Council, have opened a call for proposals for travel grants under the Newton Researcher Links programme, a part of the Newton Fund.

Researchers based in the UK and one of the partner countries may apply to spend up to 6 months in a research institution, either in the UK (if researcher is based in a partner country), or one of the partner countries (if researcher is based in the UK).

For further information on the specifics of the call, please read the Guidelines document in full (available from the Downloads section below).

The Newton Fund is part of the UK’s official development assistance programme. Through the Newton Fund, the UK will use its strength in research and innovation to promote economic development and social welfare of partner countries.

Deadline for applications: 16:00 UK time on 13 July 2015.

Travel funded by the grant must take place before 31 March 2016.

Partner countries

Turkey, Vietnam. Other countries may added in due course,

Eligibility

  • Applicants must be based in the UK or one of the partner countries identified above. There is no restriction on nationality.
  • Only one application can be made per person.
  • Applicants must have already been awarded a PhD. PhD students are not eligible.
  • Partner countries may have priority areas of research, and in these cases applications will be restricted to researchers in these fields. Please check the guidelines document for country specific restrictions.

Further eligibility criteria may apply. Please read the Guidelines document in full (available in the Downloads section below).

How to apply

Before applying please download and read the guidelines document from the Downloads section below. Once ready, you can apply online. You can view the information requested in the application form in the word document available in the Downloads section.

For advice on applying to funding schemes, read this article from the British Council Director, Science and Research.

Contact

If you have any enquiries relating to this call, please contact

UK-researcherlinks@britishcouncil.org

National teaching fellowship scheme

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The Higher Education Academy invites applications for its national teaching fellowship scheme. This recognises, rewards and celebrates individuals who make an outstanding impact on the student learning experience.

Higher education institutions in the UK participating in the scheme are eligible to nominate up to three members of staff. Staff are eligible to be nominated under part-time, full-time and fixed-term contracts. There are no nationality requirements.

For more details see:

https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/professional-recognition/awards/national-teaching-fellowship-scheme-ntfs

 Closing date : tbc – expected to be early 2016.

 

Marie-Skłodowska-Curie Actions: MSCA Individual Fellowships Call

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Marie-Skłodowska-Curie Actions: MSCA Individual Fellowships Call

The 2015 Individual Fellowships (IFs) call, which includes the European Fellowship and the Global Fellowship strands, has been published on the Participant Portal.

The IF Guide for Applicants can be found on the Portal through the Call Documents tab for the IF call, as can a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document for the IF call.

The deadline for the 2015 Individual Fellowships call is 10 September 2015.

To find out more follow this link to the web page MSC Fellowship call 2015

Or see the fact sheet here – Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Horizon 2020 Briefing Sheet

 

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

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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