Marie Sklodowska-Curie COFUND Seminar

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In its capacity as UK National Contact Point for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, UKRO is pleased to announce a seminar on the Horizon 2020 COFUND scheme. COFUND offers co-funding for new or existing regional, national and international programmes to open up to:

  • International, intersectoral and interdisciplinary research training; and
  • Transnational and cross-sectoral mobility of researchers at all stages of their career.

COFUND in Horizon 2020 has a new element to it, as there are now two funding streams: one supporting experienced researchers through a ‘Fellowship programme’ and the second supporting early stage researchers through a ‘Doctoral programme’.
The first COFUND call under Horizon 2020 is due to open on 10 April 2014, with a deadline for proposals on 2 October 2014.

Date and venue

Wednesday, 30 April Queen Mary University of London Mile End Road London, E1 4NS

Seminar format

This seminar aims to provide participants with a better understanding of the COFUND scheme and its requirements, including the new doctoral training option. The seminar will combine discussion on the objectives of COFUND and its fit within the wider postgaduate researcher training landscape in the UK, along with practical information on proposal preparation, submission and finances. The seminar will also feature a case study from previous successful COFUND applicants.
The event will run from 10.30 to 16.00, with a lunch break. Please note that lunch will not be provided.

Registration

Attendance is free of charge but capacity at the venue is limited and places will therefore be allocated on a first come first served basis. Contact the external projects team at externalprojects@staffs.ac.uk if you are interested in attending.

 

NIHR Funding Event

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The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funding workshop took place this week in the Ashley Building (see speakers in the picture above). Hosted by the External Projects Team and the Faculty of Health Sciences, this workshop was opened by Prof Tony Stewart, who set the scene and chaired the day.

Over 35 people attended to listen to experts from the NIHR present funding information on a range of health related topics, this was a helpful session, aimed at encouraging colleagues and partners to think about cross collaboration with the NHS and stimultating and reinforcing which streams of NIHR can be accessed.

There was also a useful presentation from the Research Design Service (RDS) for our area, which is based at Keele University. This is led by Roger Beech, the service now supports all applications to the NIHR scheme rather than just the Research for Patient Benefit programme (RFPB). There is also a small bursary avaliable from the RDS service up to a max of £500 to facilitate patient and public involvement (PPI) to enable applicants to put the patient views at the centre, from the pre application planning stage through to application and project implementation.

To access the RDS please email rds@cphc.keele.ac.uk

if you are interested in this stream of funding, you can access an overview of NIHR by clicking HERE

The external projects team has all the slides, so please let us know if you would like a copy by emailing externalprojects@staffs.ac.uk

 

Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) Programme – NIHR

 

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 The EME Programme funds clinical efficacy studies. The studies test if an intervention works as expected in a well-defined population or group of patients. The Programme also provides an opportunity to use clinical studies to understand disease or treatment mechanisms, which may in turn lead to improvements in health and patient care.

EME funds clinical studies to test interventions where proof of concept has already been demonstrated, allowing their progress through early clinical trials and on to larger, later clinical trials. Treatment with drugs or biological compounds, psychological interventions, public health initiatives, diagnostic tests and medical devices are all within the remit of the Programme. Treatments or interventions intended to prevent disease are also included.

To see the latest calls please click HERE

Joint Action on Health Inequalities – final conference reports

http://www.equityaction-project.eu/final-conference/about/EA_logo_header[1]

The Equity Action final conference took place on the 23rd of January 2014 in Brussels. It brought together international experts on health inequalities, officials and policy makers from Member States and the EU and a range of key stakeholders.

Who was this for?

This conference was for leaders and champions at European and Member State and Regional level who are responsible for producing or shaping policies and strategies that address the social determinants of health such as housing, environment, education and employment, and those from NGOs and academia who are seeking to influence the uptake of policies to reduce health inequalities.

Key points

Equity Action has worked to strengthen the effectiveness of policy making and strategic actions to reduce health inequalities at member state, regional and EU levels. Work has included:

  • developing expertise in Health Impact Assessment and Health Equity Audit
  • improving the impact that Structural and Investment Funds have on tackling health inequalities
  • strengthening regional strategies to tackle health inequalities
  • broadening the evidence base on key issues such debt and financial insecurity
  • sharing good practice on stakeholder engagement to tackle health inequality together

Learn more about Equity Action

Erasmus + Webinars

Ecorys and the British Council have advertised webinars for the new Erasmus + programme of funding. These are taking place in January and February.imagesCAGFFZM5

All of the details on how to register and when the webinars are taking place can be found Here

The External Projects Team will be listening in to the Webinars, so we will be sending out a blog with all the latest info later this month, in the meantime, if you are interested in accessing the E+ funding please get in touch with us at externalprojects@staffs.ac.uk

 

 

NHS England plans to boost research awareness

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Plans to increase the research capacity and awareness of NHS staff have been outlined in NHS England’s draft R&D strategy, which is open for consultation.

The draft strategy, published in December, contains plans to analyse research activity and awareness across NHS England and to identify any gaps in research.

The strategy also plans to support a boost in NHS research activity across England through staff training and development, and to develop a clearer and consistent policy on excess treatment costs. Other objectives in the strategy include prioritising research topics, ensuring commissioning is based on the best available evidence, involving patients in the design of NHS research, improving the availability of research outcomes, and increasing research impact. Respondents have until 30 January to comment on the draft document. – See more at:

http://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/gov/research-dev-strategy/

Erasmus + calls now launched

 

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The successor of the Life Long Learning Programme, Erasmus + has now published its first calls for proposals. Staffordshire University has successfully applied for the “Erasmus Charter” a pre requisite of applying for the programme and there are now open calls. A summary of these can be found with indicative budgets and call deadlines below.

You can link to the programme document for more detail ERASMUS + Programme Guide  

BUDGET

Education and training : EUR 1 305,3 million
Youth : EUR 174,2 million
Jean Monnet : EUR 11,2 million
Sport : EUR 16,6 million

Key Action 1

Mobility of individuals in the field of education, training and youth (all) 17 March 2014
Mobility of individuals in the field of youth only 30 April 2014
Mobility of individuals in the field of youth only 1 October 2014
Joint master degrees 27 March 2014
Large-scale European voluntary service events 3 April 2014

 

Key Action 2

Strategic partnerships in the field of education, training and youth (all) 30 April 2014
Strategic partnerships in the field of youth only 1 October 2014
Knowledge alliances, sector skills alliances 3 April 2014
Capacity building in the field of youth 3 April 2014

2 September 2014

The external projects team will be disseminating this information across the University, but if you would like any further information please get in touch with the team at externalprojects@staffs.ac.uk

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UKRO and H2020 is now Launched!!

Hurrah!! At last all of the next Horizon 2020 proposals have been released. Following a great UKRO session yesterday with Eevi from the Brussels office (see pic below) the External Projects Team hosted a great day long programme of presentations on Erasmus + and the H2020 calls. We have been anticipating the launch which happened yesterday and we are now in the process of producing briefing sheets to help you to digest all of the information, but in the meantime you can access all of the latest info from the Commission HERE

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ESRC: Empathy and Trust In Communicating Online (EMoTICON) Sandpit

6-10 January 2014 (Cranage Hall, Cheshire)

The Economic and Social Research Council invites expressions of interest from eligible individuals for an intensive, five-day interactive commissioning workshop (sandpit) from 6-10 January 2014, being held at Cranage Hall in Cheshire.

ESRC, in partnership with AHRC, EPSRC, Dstl and CPNI, is commissioning new research to develop a greater understanding of how empathy and trust are developed, maintained, transformed and lost in social media interactions.

In order to develop innovative approaches and stimulate genuinely transdisciplinary collaborations, the ESRC is commissioning projects via a sandpit. The aim of the sandpit is to bring together researchers and other partners to create projects that will develop theoretically-informed and empirically-derived understandings of the workings of empathy and trust in online contexts and communities.

This call is intended to attract participants from across the full range of social sciences, arts and humanities, and engineering and physical sciences. The ESRC is particularly looking for people with particular personal attributes – creativity, openness, and the ability to work effectively as part of a team. A willingness to engage with policymakers, community organisations, government agencies, businesses and other key stakeholders is also essential.

Full-time and part-time scholars at UK-based research organisations (ROs) can apply. A mix of researchers at different career stages is also sought. The sandpit is aimed at early- and mid-career researchers as well as those in senior academic posts. We regret that, on this occasion, PhD students and scholars based overseas are not eligible to participate in the sandpit.

The sandpit is an intensive residential event and participants must attend all five days of the event. By submitting an application form, you are confirming that you are available for the full five days of the sandpit.

The closing date for expressions of interest is 11.00 on 11 November 2013. Applications from interested candidates should be submitted via the electronic application form.

Further Information

For further information, please contact:

Looking to collaborate with the US?

The British Council are running the Global Innovation Initiative which will providing funding for university research collaborations between the UK and US working with either Brazil, China, Indonesia or India.  Science, technology, engineering and mathematical research issues of global significance will be supported through this scheme. The research competition opens on 28th October, with a deadline of 16th December.

Academics interested in applying are encouraged to contact their potential partners now to prepare for the call launch.  Only 20 grants are expected to be supported, with project values proposed between £100,000 – £150,000.

The goals of the scheme are:

  • To increase the global mobility of students, researchers, faculty, and higher education administrators from the U.S., the UK, and other countries;
  • To develop a cadre of people in the U.S., UK, and other countries who have the international experience, outlook and knowledge to confront global challenges and operate in a global context;
  • To encourage international collaborations that develop capacity across a range of universities in the U.S., the UK, and other countries;
  • To forge university and business linkages that support a globally mobile talent pool and a multinational base for the exchange of discovery and innovation.

Further information: http://global-innovation-initiative.org/ 

Please contact externalprojects@staffs.ac.uk if you are developing a proposal for this call.