EPSRC Energy Programme

EPSRC, as part of its contribution to the RCUK Energy Programme, invites proposals for collaborative research projects to undertake fundamental research to tackle challenges in Conventional Power Generation. An indicative budget of up to £3M is available from EPSRC for this call. Cross-institutional bids are welcome, but there must be a single submission for each application, led by a single principal investigator, with only one proposal form.

The remit of this call is derived from the outputs of a scoping workshop which was held on 15 April 2014. We invite proposals in the areas of:

  • Step change technologies and materials for future plant design
  • Integration of conventional plants with future technologies

Anyone intending to submit a proposal to this call must register their interest by email to Laura Sewell by 16 June 2014.

 

 

 

May’s Wider Outlook is here!

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Welcome to May’s Wider Outlook—the team have chosen the theme of  working with others and collaboration we have identified a number of opportunities including : working with overseas partners, NIHR, Arts related funding, and sandpits.

Our lead article looks at recent collaborative work undertaken by Universities in the US, Canada and Ireland on the impact of Star academics on the wider university academic staff. Enjoy this edition and as ever do contact us with any comments, ideas or suggestions at  externalprojects@staffs.ac.uk

EPSRC Novel Manufacturing Instrumentation call: invitation for outline proposals

 

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council invites outline proposals for its call on novel manufacturing instrumentation.

It is an opportunity for the development of novel manufacturing instrumentation to improve existing processes and develop new capabilities. It is aimed at the development of novel techniques in manufacturing, manipulation and metrology with the intention that they can be incorporated into or form the basis of new, laboratory standard instruments.

Instruments developed should be capable of supporting research work into novel manufacturing and further development into industry-standard machines.

The goal is to establish new technologies with a strong UK base, in terms of intellectual property, supply chains and expertise.

An industrial partner is not a requirement for this call. However, partnerships are encouraged between university partners and companies that will either be users of the instrument or potential future suppliers of the instrument to the market.

The budget is £8 million, with £4m for equipment procurement and £4m for in-house development and commissioning. Resource costs and consumables are supported at 80 per cent of full economic costing.

Between eight to 12 projects, up to 36 months in duration will be funded.

Closing date: 15 May 2014

For  further information go to: http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/calls/2014/Pages/novelmanufacturinginstrumentation.aspx

Joint Israel-UK Research in Cyber Security

 

Israel’s National Cyber Bureau and Ministry of Science, Technology and Space together with the UK’s Cabinet Office and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council invite applications for joint research projects relevant to any area of cybersecurity.

Proposals are welcome for new projects in any area relevant to cyber security, from new or established partnerships. Collaborations will need to prepare a single, unified, proposal which describes a full programme of work in both countries.

Projects should last between 25 and 30 months, to start in Spring 2015 and end no later than December 2017.

Projects that address shared challenges in the following areas are particularly welcomed:

  • smart authentication and identity management
  • governance and regulation of cybersecurity
  • privacy assurance and perceptions
  • mobile and cloud security
  • human aspects of security or usable security
  • cyber-resilient systems

Support will be available for up to three collaborations, each of which involves leading academic researchers in both the partner countries. The total budget is £1.2 million. The key to success in the call will be the identification of a programme of work which is of high scientific quality and truly collaborative.

For UK partners, funding covers 80 per cent of full economic costs with a maximum project value of £250,000. For Israeli partners, the maximum project value is £200,000.

Closing date: 24th June 2014

For further information go to: http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/calls/2014/Pages/cybersecurity.aspx

UK National Contact Point Events on Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships

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Registration is now open for the Individual Fellowships information and proposal writing events, which the UK Research Office is organising in its capacity as UK National Contact Point for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. The events will take place in Cardiff, Warwick and London on 28 May, 9 June, and 19 June 2014 respectively.

These information and proposal writing events aim to provide participants with a better understanding of the Individual Fellowships scheme and its requirements. The events will focus on the objectives of Individual Fellowships for both potential Fellows and hosts, along with practical information on proposal preparation, submission and finances. The events will also feature a case study from previously successful Individual Fellowship applicants and supervisors.

The events are aimed at staff at both UK academic and non-academic organisations, including research support staff, who are planning to submit a proposal to the Individual Fellowships call. Participants should gain a clear understanding of the proposal format for each scheme and the key issues relating to planning, writing and submitting proposals.

The events are timed to coincide with the first Individual Fellowships call under Horizon 2020, which opened on 12 March with a deadline of 11 September 2014. For registration and further information, please see link the below.

Follow the registration link here, you need to be registered with UKRO – with a xxxx@staffs.ac.uk email address.

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

The draft agandas for each of the sessions are below.

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Opportunity for scientists to meet Indian partners

This fund is for British and Indian scientists to have meetings in either India or the UK. The scheme covers all areas of the life and physical sciences, including engineering, but excluding clinical medicine.

Funding Body: Royal Society

Scheme: India-UK scientific seminars

Overview: Funding enables groups of early to mid-career scientists from India and the UK to organise scientific seminars in order to promote collaboration and knowledge transfer. The meetings may address any area of the life and physical sciences, although applications focusing on the following priority areas are particularly encouraged:

•sustainable cities and urbanisation;

•public health and well being;

•water, food and energy nexus.

The meetings must take place in either India or the UK and serve up to 20 attendees, five from the visiting country and up to 15 from the host country. All attendees must have a PhD or equivalent research experience. UK attendees must hold a permanent or fixed term contract at an eligible organisation, excluding industrial, private and commercial organisations, university spinout companies, governmental bodies and research institutes and research councils. Indian attendees should be scientists or faculty members working in regular capacity in universities, deemed universities or academic institutes recognised by the University Grants Commission, or in national research and development laboratories or institutes. Applications should be submitted by the UK scientists.

Budget: Between 12 and 20 awards, worth up to £12,000 each, will be granted to support meetings of up to three days’ duration between October 2014 and March 2015. Awards will cover international airfares for up to five scientists, local travel costs, accommodation for up to four nights and organisational support.

The grant does not cover bench fees, conference fees, departmental costs.

Deadlines: 10 June 2014

Further Information: https://royalsociety.org/grants/schemes/india-uk-seminars/

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Industry Fellowship

This scheme is for academic scientists who want to work on a collaborative project with industry and for scientists in industry who want to work on a collaborative project with an academic organisation.

It aims to enhance knowledge transfer in science and technology between those in industry and those in academia in the UK.

The scheme provides a basic salary for the researcher and a contribution towards research costs.

The scheme is funded by the Royal Society, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Natural Environment Research Council, Rolls-Royce plc and BP plc.

The scheme covers all areas of the life and physical sciences, including engineering but excluding clinical medicine.

The applicant must:

  • have a PhD or be of equivalent standing in their profession
  • hold a permanent post in a university, not-for-profit research organisation or industry in the UK
  • be at a stage in their career when they would particularly benefit from establishing or strengthening personal or corporate links between academia and industry as a foundation for long-term collaboration and development

Applications involving spin-offs or small companies are encouraged. Applicants should clearly state how the fellowship will benefit the not-for-profit research organisation, especially in cases where the applicant has financial involvement within the company. Applicants should also state which complementary skills the employees at the company can offer.

Applicants should ensure that they meet all the eligibility requirements, which can be viewed in scheme notes (PDF).

The applicant’s basic salary is provided while on secondment but the employing organisation continues to pay national insurance and pension contributions.

Research expenses may be claimed up to the value of £2,000 per year. Awards can be for any period up to two years full-time or a maximum of four years pro rata. (i.e. an award could be held at 50% part-time for four years enabling fellows to maintain links with their employing institution more easily).

For further information go to https://royalsociety.org/grants/schemes/industry-fellowship/

Erasmus + Event

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The External Projects Team led a workshop this week in the Ashley Centre, over 25 staff from across the institution attended to hear about the new EU funding programme for education and youth, ERASMUS+. This new programme replaces the old Life Long Learning Programme as well as Erasmus Mundus, Tempus, Asia Link, Youth in Action and Edulink. The team were joined by our Erasmus Co-ordinator Deb Graddon who shared the latest news on our Key Action 1 bid (mobility of staff and student from SU) and Abdel Hamid Soliman who gave a great overview of a current Erasmus Mundus project PEACE.

If you are interested in this programme, there are a number of ways to find out more, you can access all of the current calls for proposals in the Programme Guide or if you would like access to the slides from the day, please email us at externalprojects@staffs.ac.uk

 

 

 

 

Marie Sklodowska-Curie COFUND Seminar – April 30th 2014

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In its capacity as UK National Contact Point for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, UKRO  announces 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.

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

This seminar will provide participants with a better understanding of the COFUND scheme and its requirements, including the new doctoral training option. It 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. For more details, please see link to the draft programme. 140430_programme_draft_cofund

This seminar is aimed at organisations – universities, government departments, funding councils, charities – who manage research and/or researcher training funds and are interested to learn more about the COFUND scheme as a way to leverage Horizon 2020 funding to support research fellowship and/or doctoral training schemes.
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.

European Health Programme

The European Commission has approved funding for a new programme for health. This programme could be of interest to researchers in the University involved in health based research. The objectives of this fund are to:

  • strengthen action to promote health and prevent diseases;
  • be better prepared to protect citizens against health emergencies and to coordinate action at European level to address them;
  • increase the up-take of innovation in health; and
  • improve people’s access to medical expertise and information for specific conditions; and improve healthcare quality and patient safety.

It is expected that the first calls for proposals will come out by early May 2014. It is expected that they will launch an annual call for proposals.

The funders will cover between 60-80% of project costs, so projects will require a degree of match funding.

Universities are eligible to apply. The fund will include action grants that contribute to the cost of joint transnational projects; and plus tenders for public procurement contracts.

More details on this programme can be found here http://ec.europa.eu/health/programme/policy/2014-2020/state_of_play_en.htm

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Info Day: http://ec.europa.eu/health/programme/events/info_day_2014_en.htm