Please see below for the latest research funding related information and event updates. In summary, these include:
Item 1: UKRI Public Engagement Update
Item 2: NERC Capital Workshop: Floods and Droughts Resilience
Item 3: EPSRC reopens applications for Strategic Advisory Bodies (Physical Scientist with Expertise in using Large Data)
Item 4: REMINDER Research Grant submissions over the Christmas and New Year period 2019/20
Item 5: Latin American NUCoRE Workshop
Item 6: FINAL REMINDER EPSRC Physical Sciences Theme Early Career workshops – Newcastle 20th November
If you have any questions about the items below please contact a member of the Research Funding Development Team.
Item 1: UKRI Public Engagement Update
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has published its vision for how it will promote world-leading research and innovation that is built on the knowledge and values of society and open to people from all backgrounds.
Its four goals are to:
• Focus on under-represented communities and places;
• Actively involve people in their work;
• Inspire and empower young people;
• Listen to and understand public concerns and aspirations.
These goals will be delivered through funding calls, commissioning research and analysis, and piloting new approaches. Two funding calls have been released:
- Citizen Science Exploration Grant, a new £400,000 funding call to encourage researchers and innovators to experiment with citizen science. Application window: 01 October 2019, 00:00 – 12 November 2019, 16:00.
- Enhancing place-based partnerships in public engagement, a competitive funding scheme to support eligible research organisations UK-wide to pilot place-based public engagement partnerships and activities. Application deadline: 21 October 2019.
In relation to this, EPSRC has also launched a Public Engagement activity:
3.Engineering Engagement Champions (Pilot), an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) pilot with up to £1.5 million available through the Engineering theme to provide bespoke support to EPSRC researchers in our community to undertake public engagement activities in order to inspire, and interact with the public as well as attract them to Engineering and Physical Sciences. Application deadline: 07 November 2019, 16:00
Item 2: NERC Capital Workshop: Floods and Droughts Resilience
The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is inviting individuals to submit expressions of interest to attend a workshop on 14th November 2019 to input into a case for a potential significant capital investment in a world-leading integrated network of long-term catchment observing facilities in the UK.
Building on previous scoping activities, the focus of the workshop will be to provide detail regarding proposed catchment sites and their characteristics, the required sensor and data transfer technologies, and to agree the common infrastructure needed for key baseline measurements to create an integrated system. The workshop will then be asked to identify the additional observations and measurements needed for the different catchment types identified. Following this workshop we may wish to appoint a working group to further advise NERC.
NERC are keen to hear from individuals that have a strong background in this area and have research, industry, or policy/end-user experience.
The aims of the workshop are to:
• Identify suitable potential catchment sites
• Define specific investments needed to capture the required observations/measurements that are common across all catchments, and for those that are required for specific catchment types
• Identify how cutting-edge technology and employing the wide range of sensor technologies now available to connect to and visualise the environment can advance our understanding of catchments
• Agree priorities for immediate development and suggest a plan for implementation.
The deadline for submitting your Expression Of Interest is 4pm Monday 28 October 2019. More information can be found here.
Item 3: EPSRC reopens applications for Strategic Advisory Bodies
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has reopened applications for academic membership of its Physical Sciences Strategic Advisory Team.
Applicants are sought from academia to advise the organisation on research and training strategy as members of the Strategic Advisory Teams (SAT). The recruitment process for SAT applications is open until 16.00hrs on Friday 25 October 2019. The academic vacancy is for: Physical Sciences: Physical Scientist with Expertise in using Large Data (Academic only)
More information, including details of the online application form can be found here. If you are interested in applying and would like some support with your application please contact a member of the Research Funding Development Team.
Item 4: REMINDER Research Grant submissions over the Christmas and New Year period 2019/20
Message from Grants and Contracts: CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR DEADLINES 2019/20
As there may be funder deadlines for research grant applications falling around the Christmas and New Year period, please can researchers submit their grant applications and associated paperwork via NUProjects to the Grants and Contracts Team, for any deadlines which fall between 16 December 2019 and 6 January 2020, by Friday 6 December 2019 . This will allow sufficient time for all approvals to be obtained.
The Grants and Contracts Office will be closed from Friday 20th December 2019 until Thursday 2nd January 2020.
Item 5: Latin American NUCoRE Workshop
The Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) is an interdisciplinary Newcastle University Research Centre which is exploring interest in becoming a NUCoRE.
Dr Patricia Oliart, on behalf of CLACS, invites colleagues from HASS, SAgE and FMS with research interests in the Latin American and Caribbean region to join a discovery workshop on Wednesday 20th November, 1-3 pm in Old Library Building room 2.20 (light lunch will be provided).
This will be a first meeting in the process of creating a NUCoRE that will enable development on years of collaboration and national and international visibility on multidisciplinary expertise in the region. Whilst much of the research to date has been around themes of Reproduction and Contestation of Power | Cultural production, language, heritage and identity | Mobility, livelihood, and everyday life | Resources, sustainability and health, new themes are welcome and expected to emerge from workshop discussions.
CLACS has cultivated a strong community of researchers and we would like our NUCoRE to be a catalysing space for the development of interdisciplinary research that contributes to facing the key social challenges in the Latin American and Caribbean region.
If you would like to attend the workshop please register here. If you are unable to attend but would like to be kept up to date with our progress please contact Dr Patricia Oliart (patricia.oliart@ncl.ac.uk).
Item 6: FINAL REMINDER EPSRC Physical Sciences Theme Early Career workshops – Newcastle 20th November
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is holding two one-day workshops for Early Career Researchers who work in the area of Physical Sciences. The workshops will be held in:
• Newcastle, 20 November 2019
• Bristol, 27 January 2020
The workshops will provide an update to EPSRC and Physical Sciences strategies and will communicate recent and upcoming policy changes. The workshops will be attended by a number of EPSRC staff, and also by experienced academics, current or previous Early Career Fellowship holders from across the Physical Sciences portfolio, UKRI Future Leadership Fellows and New Investigator Awardees, all of whom will provide guidance and mentoring throughout the workshop. The workshops will also include opportunities for networking with other Early Career colleagues.
EPSRC anticipates this event will be of greatest interest to Physical Sciences researchers who are eligible to hold an EPSRC grant and hold few or no grants as a Principal Investigator.
The aims of the workshops are to:
• Develop Early Career researcher’s understanding of EPSRC, including strategic priorities and funding mechanisms.
• Inform the Early Career researchers on the range of schemes available to them, and to clarify the differences between these.
• Develop relationships between EPSRC and Early Career researchers who will become future advocates for EPSRC.
Those wishing to attend the workshop should complete the Expression of Interest (EoI) form (here) by 24th October 2019. If you would like some support with your application please contact a member of the Research Funding Development Team.
Places are limited and the number of participants from a given organisation may have to be restricted in the event of multiple applications. Selection will primarily be based on the justification of attendance. In addition, EPSRC will also ensure a balanced representation of organisation, research area, and expertise and career stage.