*Commissioned call for proposals*
Applicants are invited to submit proposals on the following commissioning brief by 1pm on 30 May 2013.
13/07 – After Francis: Research to strengthen organisational capacity to deliver compassionate care in the NHS
The commissioning brief, application form and guidance notes for this topic are all available on the HS&DR Programme website.
Contact us
tel: 023 8059 4304
email: hsdrinfo@southampton.ac.uk
web: www.netscc.ac.uk/hsdr
Funder: British Academy/Leverhulme Trust
Title: Small Research Grants
Deadline: Wednesday 10 April 2013
Value: £10,000 (up to)
Overview: Primary research in the humanities and social sciences. Funds may be used to facilitate initial project planning and development, to support the direct costs of research and to enable the advancement of research through workshops or conferences, or visits by or to partner scholars. All applications should demonstrate that funds are sought for a clearly defined, discrete piece of research with an identifiable outcome. Applications for individual and collaborative projects are equally welcome. International groups of scholars are eligible to apply, provided the lead applicant is a UK-based scholar. Grants are tenable for up to 24 months and are worth between £500 and £10,000.
Plus there is also funding for the following areas:
Up to £1,000 aimed at recent postdoctoral scholars and awards for travel from Funding from the Sir Ernest Cassel Trust.
Up to £10,000 for individual or cooperative research projects relating to Britain or China from the Sino-British Fellowship Trust.
Up to £500 for the study of ancient Persia and related areas from the Ancient Persia Fund.
Up to £2,500 for research on antiquities, historical geography, early history or arts in parts of Asia from the Stein Arnold Fund
Further information: http://www.britac.ac.uk/funding/guide/srg.cfm
ARC interest: CABR, IACT, CMAT, CAMH, CSER, IEPR
The Natural Environment Research Council, in collaboration with the Economic and Social Research Council, the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Arts and Humanities Research Council, invites outline bids for its UK droughts and water scarcity grants. These are for consortia to respond to one of three work packages in relation to droughts and water scarcity in the UK. The three work packages are:
• characterisation and quantification of the roles of multiple drivers, their impacts, and cumulative effects during historic periods of drought and water scarcity and methods to support decision-making, worth up to £1.5 million;
• forecasting droughts and water scarcity, and methods to support decision-making, worth up to £2m;
• impacts of droughts and water scarcity, and methods to support decision-making, worth up to £7m for individual consortia of up to £3.5m.
All consortia must be interdisciplinary and cover an appropriate range of environmental, social, economic, historical and cultural contexts at multiple scales within the UK. Project duration should be between 36 and 48 months. Applicants must be eligible for RCUK research grant funding.
The total budget is worth up to £10.5m.
Closing date 03 May 13 for outline bids, full proposals due 21 August 2013.
http://www.nerc.ac.uk/research/programmes/droughts/events/ao.asp?cookieConsent=A
For further information contact externalprojects@staffs.ac.uk
Supporting Independent Living for the Elderly through Robotics invites applications under its pre-commercial procurement SILVER challenge. Funding supports two to three years projects with the aim to develop new innovative robotic solutions to make elderly people more independent from professional homecare. Tenderers should aim at a market introduction of their new solution a maximum of two to four years after the end of the PCP. All legal entities from EU members and associated state countries and with relevant portion of research and development are eligible. The total budget is €2,150,000. The process will be divided in three phases:
•up to eight companies will participate in the design of a solution with a budget up to €350,000 for a period of six months;
•up to four companies will participate in the development of a prototype with a budget up to €720,000 for a period of one year;
•up to three companies will participate in the pre-commercial development with a budget up to €1,080,000 for a period of one year.
Closing date 05 Jun 13
Deadline information Registrations due 5 June; applications due 12 June 2013
http://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:74279-2013:TEXT:EN:HTML&src=0
For further information contact: externalprojects@staffs.ac.uk
The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) will allocate £4.47 billion to 129 universities and higher education colleges and 203 further education colleges for the academic year 2013-14.
This funding is allocated for the following key areas and activities:
Further details are given in ‘Recurrent grants and student number controls for 2013-14’ (HEFCE 2013/05). The ring-fenced settlement for science and research means that HEFCE can maintain overall levels for research and knowledge exchange funding until 2014-15.
The tenderer will provide the Committee on Culture and Education with concise data on the state of play of vocational education and training in member states to serve as background information for ongoing and upcoming debates on the new generation of education and training programmes, as well as on the EU 2020 strategy.
Funding is estimated to be worth up to €130,000 over 24 months.
http://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:89645-2013:TEXT:EN:HTML&src=0
The tenderer will examine the various consequences that the economic and financial crisis had had and is having on the economic, social and territorial cohesion of the EU.
Funding is estimated to be worth up to €128,000 over 24 months.
http://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:89647-2013:TEXT:EN:HTML&src=0
The tenderer will examine the different types of secondary leaving certificates required to enter higher education institutions including the qualification level of each subject that students are tested, and will provide a description and assessment of specific admission requirements that governmental authorities or institutions of higher education are setting.
Funding is estimated to be worth up to €100,000.
http://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:89646-2013:TEXT:EN:HTML&src=0
For further information contact externalprojects@staffs.ac.uk
The EU Lifelong Learning Programme runs study visits across Europe to bring together small groups of individuals involved in different aspects of Lifelong Learning. Each visit looks at a specific topic of joint interest. English is the working language for the majority of study visits, which are open to all professionals involved in Lifelong learning including, though not only, academic staff.
The study visits are usually 3-5 days long, offering funding for 100% of travel and flat rate subsistence costs. These are very popular with staff in the University and we have had many people attending them.
They cover a huge range of subject areas. You can browse these in 2013 -2014 Study Visits Catalogue
Examples of some study visits, from the PDF Catalogue are here:
Title of Study visit
| Country | Dates | Page | |
| Sustainable development in a learning region | Slovenia | 16-20 Sept | 52 |
| New opportunities for technical branches and crafts | Czech | 16-20 Sept | 53 |
| How to integrate arts and cultural activities in lifelong learning | Sweden | 11-14 Nov | 59 |
| Energy efficiency and renewable energy: new demands in VET for new jobs | Germany | 23-26 Sept | 63 |
| Understanding teaching and learning at university – A hands-on approach | Germany | 2-6 Dec | 76 |
| Tomorrow’s teaching with virtual media | Denmark | 30 Sept -4 Oct | 90 |
| Science of data quality: brainstorming data mining | Slovakia | 18-20 Sept | 116 |
| Content-based approach and competence acquisition in teaching mathematics and scientific subjects | Italy | 21-25 Oct | 117 |
| Access to university education for disabled students | France | 3-7 Feb (2014) | 119 |
The application form is quite simple and it has a very high success rate.Some of the staff who have attended workshops have gone on to work with the people they met – to submit larger European bids.The deadline for the next round of applications is 11 a.m. GMT March 28th 2013 for visits taking place from September 2013 to February 2014, (and for study visits taking place from March to June 2014, you can apply by 15 October 2013.)
To apply you should read the Guide for applicants and download the online application form
The website with full details of the programme is here .
Please note that you cannot apply for a study visit in the UK
Background
Study visits are organised around 5 themes which reflect the latest policy developments in education and training in Europe:
1. Encouraging cooperation between the worlds of education, training and work
2. Supporting initial and continuous training of teachers, trainers and education
and training institutions’ managers
3. Promoting the acquisition of key competences throughout the education and training
System
4. Promoting social inclusion and gender equality in education and training, including the integration of migrants
5. Developing strategies for lifelong learning and mobility
Further help
If you require further information, just ask the External Projects Team for support externalprojects@staffs.ac.uk
The Cabinet Office and HM Treasury have announced the What Works network of centres, which will provide evidence-based policy advice that will influence the spending of £200 billion.
The network of four new independent institutions plus two existing centres, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence and the Educational Endowment Foundation, was first announced in the Cabinet Office’s Open Public Services White Paper, published in July 2011.
The six centres are intended to produce and disseminate research to local decision makers, supporting the evidence-based spending of public money. The network is also intended to share insights with government, thereby informing national decisions.
The network will be partly funded by government, along with other bodies including the Economic and Social Research Council and the Big Lottery Fund.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/what-works-evidence-centres-for-social-policy
The UK-India education and research initiative of the British Council and the University Grants Commission invite expressions of interest for their thematic partnerships. These facilitate collaborations between faculties and researchers, and enable registered PhD students and postdoctoral researchers in India and the UK to undertake short-term visits to work on research projects. Partnerships are available for all subjects, including humanities, social sciences, science and technology projects. Multidisciplinary research is encouraged.
Project leaders should be of at least postdoctoral status or equivalent and based in an institution or research laboratory in a UK university or institution. EU citizens may apply provided that they hold a permanent position in the UK, and non-EU citizens should have held a permanent position for at least three years. Indian project leaders should be based in an Indian university or institution and be resident in India. Funds are available for partnerships of up to two years in duration and provide a maximum of £60,000 equivalent in INR. Eligible costs include research staff and fellow and student exchanges including travel and accommodation costs.
Closing date 31 May 13
Deadline information Proposals due by 5pm IST.
Award type Directed grants to institutions, research groups etc; Networking/collaboration; Studentship allocations; Travel for research purposes
Award amount max £60,000
Applications per institution 1
Consortium requirements Required
The ESRC and TSB have now released a full briefing document for ‘Supporting Innovation in the UK Retail Sector’, the new targeted call for KTP proposals aiming to “help retail managers address the major economic, social and environmental challenges that they face, leading to new opportunities and tangible outcomes for business”. The document can be downloaded at: http://www.innovateuk.org/content/competition/ktp/supporting-innovation-in-the-uk-retail-sector.ashx
The specific aims of this call are to:
o increase knowledge exchange between retailers and economic / social scientists*
o develop a greater understanding of the changing nature of the UK High Street and retail spaces to drive growth, innovation and efficiency within the sector
o stimulate and support innovations in e-commerce, m-commerce and omni-commerce, to maintain and strengthen the UK’s position as a global leader in internet retailing
o promote and enable innovations in the use of ‘big data,’ providing insights into consumer behaviour, increasing efficiency and growth within the retail sector
o support other innovative projects, addressing one or more sectoral challenges
*It’s well worth academics working outside of these disciplines submitting expressions of interest, though. As the briefing makes clear (p.4) – if the ESRC doesn’t fund them, another KTP funder might (and see also the last of the five aims, above – “other innovative projects” will be funded). Interdisciplinary and cross-faculty approaches can also be considered.
Partners should be businesses in the retail sector that:
The application process is essentially the same as that for a ‘normal’ KTP and the deadline for submission is 21st August, 2013. Please contact Dominic Collins (01785 353404 / d.collins@staffs.ac.uk )if you’re interested.