EU & International Research Funding 26 June 2019

EU and International Research Funding Newsletter

Welcome!  In this edition there is information on:

  • ERC Advanced Grant 2019 (EU)
  • Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships 2019 (EU)
  • Draft H2020 Work Programmes: all  Societal Challenge draft programmes pre-published.  Also available are NMBP, Space, ICT and NEW! FET  (EU)
  • Joint Programming Initiative on Cultural Heritage (JPICH) call on Conservation, Protection and Use (EU)
  • NEW! Canada-UK AI Initiative (FIC / EPSRC, ESRC, MRC, AHRC)
  • Open Research Area (ORA) for Social Sciences 2019 (FIC / ESRC, AHRC, MRC)
  • Life-saving or life improving innovations in conflict zones (Grand Challenges / multinational)
  • Impact of AI on Society and the Economy (FIC / AHRC, ESRC)
  • Newton Fund opportunities for Institutional and Researcher Links (Newton)
  • NEW! Tackling global development challenges through physical sciences research (GCRF)
  • Global Challenges Academy Rapid Response Funds for project development (internal)
  • John Templeton Foundation: interdisciplinary US-based Foundation (charitable)
  • Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Grand Challenges Exploration (charitable)
  • Opportunity to influence the DFID research agenda
  • Events: including NEW! Societal Challenge 5 Info Day 16 Sept, Global Challenges Summit 2019

ERC Advanced Grants Open for Application

Europe’s most prestigious research award scheme is now open.  ERC Advanced Grants invite applications for blue skies, high-risk high-reward research by researchers with a track record of significant achievements for at least the last ten years.   Think big, think slightly crazy and clarify your ultimate research aim.

A Nutshell Note with a summary of the programme is attached.

Deadline is 29th August.

For more information please see here. 

If you have any questions on the implications to this scheme of Brexit, please contact Dajana.Dzanovic@ncl.ac.uk / +44 191 208 5373.

Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships 2019 

Provides opportunities to work on research within Europe or outside Europe.

  • European Fellowships take place in host institutions in EU Member States or Associated Countries and are open to researchers either coming to Europe or moving within Europe
  • Global Fellowships are based on a secondment to a host institution in a country outside Europe followed by a mandatory return period to a European host institution.

A Nutshell Note with a summary of the programme is attached.

Deadline for applications is 11th September 2019.

For more information please see here: MSCA-IF-2019

If you have any questions on the implications to this scheme of Brexit, please contact Dajana.Dzanovic@ncl.ac.uk / +44 191 208 5373.

Horizon 2020 Draft Work Programmes for 2020

Draft Work Prorgrammes are now publicly available for:

 

Where there is no link above, please contact Dajana.Dzanovic@ncl.ac.uk / Victoria.Bainbridge@ncl.ac.uk for the the Work Programme.

Joint Programming Initiative on Cultural Heritage (JPICH) Launches Call on Conservation, Protection and Use

The JPICH Call on Conservation, Protection and Use aims to enable the emergence of new research-based frameworks that incorporate knowledge, concepts and values to help manage the ongoing and interlaced changes that affect cultural heritage in relation to its physical and social environment. The Call addresses four broad topics which are essential to understanding change and how to manage it:

  1. Analysing and modelling change
  2. Developing sustainable protection and enhancement of values
  3. Management of cultural heritage at risk
  4. Layered protection and conservation

Project consortium must include min. 3 and max. 5 of the following countries:  Belarus, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, The Netherlands, The United Kingdom

Call deadline is September 3rd.
More information is available here. 

Canada-UK Artificial Intelligence Initiative

The call aims to support innovative and cutting-edge interdisciplinary AI research that encourages the exploration of new interdisciplinary research methodologies, approaches and tools that cuts across at least two of the following research domains:

  • social sciences and humanities;
  • health and biomedical sciences; and
  • natural sciences and engineering (including computational and/or mathematical sciences).

The call promotes the development of responsible AI through research that includes considerations of social-cultural variables (gender, racialised identity, socio-economic status, ability, etc.), biological variables (sex) and sustainable development in the research design, to ensure that the benefits of AI technologies and tools are shared broadly across society, to mitigate against potential harms, and to enhance the trustworthiness of AI.

£8.2 million is available, supporting approximately 10 teams.

A webinar will be held on 17 July from 16:00 to 17:00 UK time.  Spaces will be limited, so we encourage you to register your interest (deadline 12 July) by emailing aiukcanada@esrc.ukri.org.

Deadline: compulsory Intention to Submit by 19th August.  Full proposals by 12th September.

 

Open Research Area (ORA) for Social Sciences 2019

Projects working with at least 3 of the 4 participating countries: France, Germany, UK, Canada.

A special opportunity also exists for collaboration with Japanese partners through JSPS.  For details please see the Japanese call.

All areas of research welcome but check the priorities of the relevant national agencies.

Outline and full proposal deadline 11th September 2019, 16.00. 

ESRC is running a webinar for potential applicants on 3rd July, 10.00 and 15.00.  You are strongly encouraged to participate.  To register please email oraqueries@esrc.ukri.org stating your preference for morning or afternoon.

For more information see here or contact victoria.bainbrige@ncl.ac.uk

 

Life-saving or Life-improving Innovations in Conflict Zones: A Humanitarian Grand Challenge

Creating Hope in Conflict – A Humanitarian Grand Challenge is administered by Grand Challenges Canada and seeks life-saving or life-improving innovations to help the most vulnerable and hard to reach people impacted by humanitarian crises caused by conflict.

Priority areas are: safe water and sanitation, energy, life-saving information, healthcare products and services.

Seed funding of ~ £150,000 and Transition to Scale (TTS) funding of ~£590,000 is available.

Private sector involvement is encouraged for seed funding and a requirement of TTS funds. Match funding is expected for TTS.

Call deadline: Tuesday 16th July, 11am, ET

For more information please see: https://humanitariangrandchallenge.org/

 

Impact of AI on Society and the Economy

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the Research Institute of Science and Technology for Society (RISTEX) of Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), are pleased to announce a joint call for proposals exploring the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies on society and the economy. The call is now open and the deadline for applications is 17 July 2019. Successful awards will be announced in November 2019 and will be expected to begin in January 2020.

The call aims to foster collaboration between UK and Japanese social science, arts and humanities research around the theme of Artificial Intelligence and its impact on society.  Thematic areas for the call are listed below and further details are available in the call specification:

  • Impacts on humans and society
  • Economic implications, skills, work and education
  • Transparency, responsibility, governance and ethics

The total UK budget for this call is £2 million. UK applicants may request between £360,000-£500,000 (100% fEC) per project. The total Japanese budget for this call is ¥180m. Japanese applicants may request up to ¥30m per project. Together they expect to fund between five and seven joint proposals for a period of three years.  Please note that proposals will be funded under this call subject to the UK funding being secured from the Fund for International Collaboration.

You might benefit from considering our Renkei partners.

For more information please contact Dajana Dzanovic on Dajana.Dzanovic@ncl.ac.uk.

If you’re interested in this call you might also be interested in the First European Artificial Intelligence Alliance Assembly. 

 

Newton Fund opportunities for Institutional and Researcher Links

The British Council Newton Fund Institutional Links and Researcher Links Calls are now out. Both have a deadline of 9 August 2019.

Institutional Links provides grants of between £50k-£300k (depending on country and focus) for the development of research and innovation collaborations between the UK and partner countries.

Researcher Links provides funding for leading researchers (one from the UK and one from the partner country) to bring together early-career researchers from the UK and a partner country to make international connections that can improve the quality of their research.

Both of these schemes are part of the Newton Fund and as such must aim primarily to promote the economic development and social welfare of the partner country or a third low or middle income country to satisfy ODA criteria.

At time of going to print the following countries are covered by these schemes:

Institutional Links – Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia and Thailand (Coming soon – Colombia, Mexico, Philippines and Turkey)
Researcher Links – Brazil and Jordan (Coming Soon – China, India, Philippines)

Check the website for updates and country specific information – https://www.britishcouncil.org/education/science/current-opportunities/newton-fund-institutional-links and https://www.britishcouncil.org/education/science/current-opportunities/newton-fund-researcher-links-workshops.

Call Deadline: 9th August 2019. 

Tackling global development challenges through physical sciences research

Project scope can be anything within the remit of the Physical Sciences theme.

Research must meet ODA requirements, being of primary benefit to a country in the Global South and with partners on the DAC list.

Up to £4 million is available from EPSRC’s GCRF allocation for this call.  5-10 research projects will be supported. through this activity. Projects will have a fixed start date of 01 April 2020 and may be up to 24 months in duration.

Deadline for Compulsory Intention to Submit 16:00 on 03 July 2019.
Full proposal deadline 20th August 2019.

 

DFID Seeking Members for Science Advisory Group

The Department for International Development (DFID) leads the UK’s work to end extreme poverty and to help to save lives when humanitarian emergencies hit.

DFID is recruiting new Members and a Chair for its Science Advisory Group (SAG), to provide independent and impartial strategic advice on departmental science and research policy and programmes for a period of up to 3 years.

They are recruiting across all priority science and research areas: Health; Agriculture; Climate, Water, Energy; Growth; Humanitarian; Education; Governance, Conflict and Social Development; and Data for Development.

The SAG reports to DFID’s Chief Scientific Adviser and meets 3 times a year.  The current SAG consists of 11 senior academics chaired by Professor Sir Ian Diamond.

The successful candidates will be senior academic leaders (Professorial level), with expertise in national and/or international level research management and a demonstrable understanding of the impact of science and research for delivering the UK’s international development objectives.

Information on the full post description, the application process, and other relevant matters are on the DFID external website here.

CLOSING DATE: 5 p.m. (UK time) on 15th July 2019.

 

Global Challenges Academy Rapid Response Funds

Newcastle University’s Global Challenges Academy can provide agile, quick turnaround funding to support research-related activity directly benefiting DAC list countries.

To be eligible your proposed activity must  directly and primarily promote the economic development and social welfare of partner countries on the DAC list.

Activity will need to align to at least one United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (UNSDG). Applicants are encouraged to discuss/co-create their ideas with their international partners ahead of submission.

Examples of eligible activity include:
• International networking and partnership building activity, addressing specific global challenges, which will lead to GCRF or Newton style funding proposals
• Preliminary data collection, pilot projects or other preparatory work needed ahead of making a external research funding application
• Activity as a response to an urgent research need in a DAC list country or a critical policy moment in a sustainable development related area
• Activity that builds on previous ODA research and might add impact (social, economic or academic capacity) or extend benefits to further geographic regions/demographic groups

There is no minimum application value, but it is expected that requests will not usually exceed £2k.

If you would like to discuss an application prior to submission, please contact Dr Elisa Lawson Research Funding Development Manager and Co-Director of Global Challenges Academy

Application form. This scheme operates with no deadlines. Submit a request at any time and decisions will be made within 5 working days. Awarded funds must be spent within 3 months of the decision notification. There is no limit on the number of applications which can be submitted for the same project/relationship but its expected only one will be active at any time. Short reports will be requested 1 month after completion.

 

John Templeton Foundation, deadline 16th August

The John Templeton Foundation is one of the new funders that our team will be focussing on in the forthcoming year.
Their funding areas are:

  • Science and the Big Questions
  • Character Virtue Development
  • Individual Freedom and Free Markets
  • Exceptional Cognitive Talent and Genius
  • Genetics
  • Voluntary Family Planning

Projects will generally last 3 years and you can apply to the Small Grant (up to $234,800) or Large Grant programme.
You must have co-funding for your proposal.

After registration, the application process is via initial Online Funding Inquiry (OFI), after which you may be invited to submit a full proposal.

The next OFI deadline is August 16th.

As this is new for all of us, please take some time to explore the Foundation’s funding areas, strategic priorities and the kinds of proposals they fund.

If you have an idea for a proposal, please get in touch with Dajana.Dzanovic@ncl.ac.uk or Victoria.Bainbridge@ncl.ac.uk

 

Grand Challenges Explorations (GCE) is an initiative that awards initial grants of USD$100,000, and successful projects are eligible to receive follow-on funding of up to USD$1 million. Proposals are solicited twice a year for an expanding set of global health and development topics. Applications are only two pages, and no preliminary data is required. Applicants can be at any experience level; in any discipline; and from any organization, including colleges and universities, government laboratories, research institutions, non-profit organizations and for-profit companies. The next application round for GCE will open in September 2019.

As this is new for most of us, please take some time to explore the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the types of challenges that they fund.

If you have an idea for a proposal, please get in touch with Dajana.Dzanovic@ncl.ac.uk / Elisa.Lawson@ncl.ac.uk / Victoria.Bainbridge@ncl.ac.uk.

 

H2020 Information Days

European Big Data Value Forum (EBDVF) 2019

EBDVF is the main event of the European Big Data and Data-Driven AI Research and Innovation community.  It will take place on 14-16 October in Helsinki, Finland

Global Challenges Summit 2019: 9th July, EOIs open

The Global Challenges Academy is proud to bring you a day-long bonanza of innovation, creativity and outstanding research for international development.  To express your interest in attending, including optional pecha-kucha, please click here: https://forms.ncl.ac.uk/view.php?id=4951790

SBRI Healthcare Programme – Launch of New Competition

SBRI Healthcare are pleased to announce that the next funding competition will launch on 24 June 2019. Companies and organisations are being invited to bid for funding to develop solutions to challenges in:

  • Cardiovascular Disease (CVD), including the following sub-categories:
    • Detection and Prevention
    • Intervention and Invasive Investigations
    • Efficiency of CVD pathway
  • Integrated Care and Social Care, including the following categories:
    • Improve effective data sharing system across the care network
    • Reduce social care workforce pressure

SBRI Healthcare is funded by NHS England to develop innovative products and services that address unmet health needs. Phase 1 is intended to show the technical feasibility of the proposed concept. The development contracts placed will be for a maximum of 6 months and up to £100,000 (inc. VAT) per project.

This Competition has been supported by the following AHSNs: Health Innovation Network South London, Innovation Agency AHSN for the North West Coast, South West AHSN and Health Innovation Manchester, but applications are invited from across England.  Briefing events with clinicians for interested companies will take place in London on 01 July 2019 and Manchester on 10 July 2019.

The deadline for applications is 14 August 2019 and details on the Competition and how to register to the briefing events are available on the SBRI Healthcare website.

Please use the SBRI Healthcare logo attached for your communications.

If you are planning to advertise this via Twitter, we would be grateful if you could use the following format if possible:

@SBRIHealthcare launches new competition for #CardiovascularDisease #SMEs http://bit.ly/1NH6q0b

@SBRIHealthcare launches new competition for #IntegratedHealthAndSocialCare #SMEs http://bit.ly/1NH6q0b

Please feel free to contact us (sbri@LGCGroup.com) if you have any questions.

(BBSRC, ESRC, MRC, NERC) Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases Travel Grants – International Travel Award Scheme

BBSRC, ESRC, MRC, NERC

Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases Travel Grants – International Travel Award Scheme

https://bbsrc.ukri.org/funding/filter/2019-ecology-evolution-infectious-diseases-travel-grants/

Deadline: 30th September 2019

Funding of up to £5,000 per award is available to help scientists add an international dimension by making and establishing contacts with international counterparts in the area of ecology and evolution of infectious diseases.

To help UK researchers develop transdisciplinary partnerships in ecology and evolution of infectious diseases research areas.

This scheme is open to proposals involving collaboration with the USA, China and/or Israel only.

Funding is available to support collaborative activities:

  • To establish first contact type activities that require short-term travel support; and
  • To allow researchers to travel outside the UK to initiate transdisciplinary collaboration and prepare transdisciplinary proposals with an intention to submit for the next Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases programme.

Funding is limited to travel and subsistence costs only.

UKRI reserve the right to curtail this scheme, should higher numbers of applications than anticipated be received.

Please ensure to read the scheme guidance notes available through the link above.

Centres of Excellence in Neurodegeneration (CoEN) 2019 call: Pathfinder 4 C/D 4 November 2019

4 November 2019, 4pm

Centres of Excellence in Neurodegeneration (CoEN) 2019 call: Pathfinder 4

https://mrc.ukri.org/funding/browse/coen-2019/pathfinder/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
https://www.coen.org/call-for-proposals-2019.html

The Network of Centres of Excellence in Neurodegeneration (CoEN) is an international initiative involving research funders in Canada, France, Flanders, Germany, Italy, Republic of Ireland, Slovak Republic, Spain and the UK.

The overall aim of the initiative is to build collaborative research activity in neurodegeneration research across borders, focusing on adding value to the expertise and critical mass already established within national centres of excellence (CoE), in order to accelerate progress in understanding the mechanisms of disease as well as the identification of new therapeutic approaches.

The 2019 call for Pathfinder projects is being launched by six of the nine CoEN members:
•    ANR (France)
•    CIHR (Canada)
•    DZNE (Germany)
•    ISCIII (Spain)
•    MDS (Italy)
•    MRC (UK).

This Pathfinder call sets out to encourage the community to think “outside the box”, to stimulate new and unconventional approaches and creative solutions to the challenges of neurodegeneration research by undertaking high-risk/high-payoff research.

To maximise the potential for innovation, the scientific remit for Pathfinder awards is broad in scope from basic to clinical to health services and policies as well as to social aspects of neurodegenerative diseases.
Projects may include studies to illuminate our understanding of neurodegenerative mechanisms or create technological advances to support novel diagnostic or therapeutic approaches.
Projects using existing dataset to test innovative hypothesis are also welcome.
Connectivity with research in related areas, such as inflammation and sensory neuroscience, or vascular and mental health is encouraged, as is outreach to experts in the fields of physical and computational science or industrial partners within the consortium or foreseen follow up collaborations.

Within the remit of this call, neurodegeneration applies to:

  • Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias,Huntington’s disease,
  • Parkinson’s disease (PD) and PD-related disorders,
  • multiple sclerosis,
  • motor neurone diseases,
  • prion disease,
  • spinocerebellar ataxia,
  • spinal muscular atrophy.

The type of neurodegenerative disease research to be supported include:

  • cutting edge basic, translational and/or clinical studies;
  • novel reductionist systems;
  • innovative disease models;
  • systems biology/medicine;
  • proof of concept for new therapeutic approaches;
  • supportive technological development.

It is expected that projects will combine the research strengths across CoEs in at least two partner countries to provide a true value-added collaborative effort that will advance our approach to neurodegeneration research.
Projects will address issues which would not readily be funded through the standard grant mechanisms of the CoEN partners, and it is expected that in addition to collaboration across CoEs, projects may also serve to provide a platform for future collaboration with industry.

N.B. Applications are restricted to joint bids from investigators within identified CoEs (a list of identified CoEs and eligible institutions for partner countries is available here: https://www.coen.org/fileadmin/Dateien/editors/COEN/Call_2019/National_CoEs.pdf).
Each CoE may have internal rules concerning which investigators are eligible to apply.

All bids must be submitted through the relevant CoE director, with the exception of Canadian and Italian applicants.

All applications must be accompanied by letters of support from the respective Director of each CoE included in the proposal who must verify the eligibility of researchers from their respective CoE and outline what contributions the applicant(s) make to the centre

The total funding available for this call is approximately £3.6 million (from six participating countries).
CoEN awards made through this call will be funded through national agencies supporting the relevant components of collaborative projects.
For UK-based activity, this funding will be provided by the MRC through the Neurosciences and Mental Health Board which has £1 million available to support successful UK groups.

The call and associated peer review will be administered by the MRC.
The closing date for submissions is Monday 4 November 2019 at 16:00 (GMT +1).
Applications will be assessed by an international scientific review panel in January 2020 and funding decisions will be communicated in March 2020.

For full details see the COEN website

https://www.coen.org/call-for-proposals-2019.html

MRC-AMED Infectious Disease Research Collaboration C/D 4 September 2019, 4pm

4 September 2019, 4pm

MRC-AMED Infectious Disease Research Collaboration

https://mrc.ukri.org/funding/browse/mrc-amed-idrc/mrc-amed-infectious-disease-research-collaboration/

The Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) and the UK MRC are pleased to launch a call for proposals for UK-Japan collaborative research into infectious diseases.
This jointly funded initiative is aimed at fostering collaborative links between researchers in the UK and Japan.
Joint applications (by parallel submission) are invited from researchers based in the UK and Japan.

This call is particularly aimed at those who are in the early stages of their careers.
Therefore it is expected that applications will be made by eligible early career researchers or by established researchers who explicitly wish to encourage the career development of their postdoctoral researchers.
It is hoped that the partnerships established through these awards will lead to the development of long-term collaborative research programmes that will be competitive for international funding.

Specific objectives that underpin the UK-Japan research collaborative initiative in infectious disease are to promote:

  • partnerships between UK and Japan investigators in fields of biomedical, health and clinical research
  • the exchange of scientists, particularly early career scientists,
  • knowledge or methodology exchange,
  • complementary access to facilities / resources / equipment
  • stronger opportunity for collaborative research and catalyse further synergy.

This call aims to support early career researchers develop fruitful international collaborations in the field of infectious diseases. Within this broad field we would particularly like to encourage applications which tackle the more challenging issues of infectious diseases including 1) priority viral outbreak pathogens; 2) research providing mechanistic insight into latency/persistence/resistance in infectious diseases; and 3) research exploring the host infection interface, particularly at key barrier sites eg blood-brain barrier.

Research areas of interest include:

  • the pathogenesis of lethal viruses, such as the Ebola virus, Lassa virus, or tick-borne viruses
  • mechanistic insight on latent and persistent infections
  • exploration of host infection interface eg central nervous system infections by blood-brain barrier failure, transplacental infections or mucosal-gut barrier
  • drug resistant pathogens
  • development of new treatment measures, therapeutic agents, vaccines or therapeutic strategies concerning any of the above.

The use of novel strategies, computational/informatics using ‘big data’ and multidisciplinary approaches or advanced techniques within a project are encouraged but should be well articulated.

AMED and MRC will jointly provide bi-lateral support for up to 3 years to intensify productive collaboration in infectious disease research between UK and Japan’s leading researchers.

It is anticipated that 8 awards will be jointly supported and the total funding available to support these 8 projects over 3 years will be approximately £1.2 million = 180 million JPY (£600,000 from the MRC and 90 million JPY from AMED).

Each jointly planned UK-Japan project will receive a maximum award of £75,000 from MRC, plus 11.25 million JPY from AMED in total for the three year period (that is £25,000 MRC plus 3.75 million JPY AMED per annum, over the three year period.)

For full details see https://mrc.ukri.org/funding/browse/mrc-amed-idrc/mrc-amed-infectious-disease-research-collaboration/mrc-amed-guidance-for-applicants/

pre-announcement of Second UKPRP funding call – EoI to attend information and networking event C/D 25 July 2019

14 November 2019, 4pm              3 September 2019 (call opens)

pre-announcement of Second UKPRP funding call and information and networking event

https://mrc.ukri.org/funding/browse/ukprp2/second-call/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

Under the second call, they are looking to complement the current portfolio of UKPRP investment and anticipate proposals in the areas listed below.
The list is not exhaustive, and they welcome proposals outside of the areas provided that they complement the current portfolio.
See the first round UKPRP Consortium and Network awards here: https://mrc.ukri.org/news/browse/25-million-funding-awarded-to-leading-disease-prevention-projects/

  • preventing poor mental health and promoting mental wellbeing
  • reducing health inequalities (where this forms the primary focus of the application)
  • social and economic determinants of health and wellbeing
  • food systems, unhealthy diets and obesity
    (They are aware of existing research funding schemes on food systems and influences on diet. Given the importance of this research challenge, the UKPRP would welcome proposals addressing this area.)
  • developing interventions in specific ages including on issues relating to ageing, and in occupational settings
  • fostering the use of evidence in decision making in local government
  • urban environment, including transport systems and air quality
  • using green and blue space for improving population health and preventing NCDs
  • using digital technologies and social media to deliver interventions, and exploiting large-scale datasets and linkage to routine datasets.

New knowledge and fresh approaches to preventing NCDs can be delivered more effectively through assembling expertise and insights across diverse academic disciplines and users (including policymakers, practitioners, the third sector, industry, the public) and by taking a complex systems approach. We are therefore keen to engage a range of disciplines, including those that have not traditionally been involved in NCD-prevention research, in the second funding round. We would welcome applications from research teams including expertise from outside of what is generally perceived as the public health arena: for example, engineers, geographers, architects, designers, systems scientists, transport planners, lawyers and linguists. Proposals could be led by researchers from these disciplines and/or be in partnership with disciplines typically involved in population health research but should be co-produced with users to deliver proposals that are relevant to policy and practice.

The application process will include outline and full proposal stages.
Applicants whose outline consortium proposals are selected for progressing towards the full application stage will each receive a Consortium Development Grant (CDG) which is a fixed-term (six month) award of up to £50,000 to build linkages between diverse consortium members and to co-produce research ideas and the full application.
Applicants whose outline network proposals are successful will each receive time (six months) to develop their initial network membership and full proposals detailing plans for building a new multidisciplinary community around their chosen NCD-prevention challenge.

An information and networking event will be held in London on 24 September 2019 to communicate the priorities of the second call, to describe the application process, and to provide opportunities for networking between researchers across academic disciplines and with end users to explore research collaborations.

They invite Expressions of Interest from both research academics and users to attend an information and networking event on 24 September 2019 about the UKPRP’s second funding call.
While attendance at the event will not be essential for applying to the call, they encourage you to submit your interest to attend.
Presentations and other materials from the event will be made available online to support all applicants in preparing their outline applications.

If you would like to attend this event, please submit an expression of interest form outlining your expertise and interests.
Please submit your expressions of interest and any queries to MRC.EventsandCommitteesTeam@mrc.ukri.org
The closing deadline for expressions of interest is 25 July 2019.

Retina UK / Macular Society PhD Studentship C/D 8 November 2019, 5pm

8 November 2019, 5pm

Retina UK / Macular Society PhD Studentship

https://retinauk.org.uk/research/for-researchers/

Proposals must have direct relevance to macular dystrophies (preliminary application not required) .

There is one 3 year PhD studentship, up to £120,000, available.

There is no limit to how many applications one University may make.

The application form is available from the URL above, applications are to be emailed to grants@RetinaUK.org.uk

See the Retina UK Research Strategy here:

https://retinauk.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/103024-Research-Strategy-FINAL.pdf

and that for the Macular Society here:

https://www.macularsociety.org/sites/default/files/downloads/Macular%20Society%20Research%20Strategy%20April%202016.pdf

TRDF: Transformative Research Technologies (BBSRC, EPSRC, MRC)

TRDF: Transformative Research Technologies

https://bbsrc.ukri.org/funding/filter/2019-tools-resources-development-fund/

Application deadline: 17 September 2019

Duration: 6 and 18 months duration

Amount: not expected to exceed £150,000 (£187,000 100% FEC), £3m budget for scheme.

The 2019 TRDF call aims to pump prime the next generation of cutting-edge enabling research technologies with the potential for transformative impact in life sciences research (both biological and biomedical).

It will support applications for early stage technology development and research into the development of novel techniques and technologies based on new advances in fundamental engineering, physical and life sciences that have the potential to enable transformative step changes in research capability.

A fast-track peer review process will operate to enable researchers to respond rapidly to emerging challenges and opportunities.

Scope

The aim of the call is to support the early-stage development of cutting edge, high-impact transformative research technologies based on new advances in fundamental engineering, physical and life sciences which are essential to sustaining the vibrancy of life sciences discovery research in the UK.

This call intends to support small and short ‘high risk/high reward’ pilot studies directed towards development of a new technology where little to no preliminary data exists.

The outcome of the application does not necessarily need to be a fully-fledged tool, but could be demonstration of proof-of-concept, or production of a prototype for further development.

The scheme is aimed at transformative technology development across a broad range of disciplines and to enable interdisciplinary collaborative working.

Projects may have relevance to core bioscience and/or Technology Touching Life (TTL), a cross-Council initiative to champion research at the interface between the scientific remit of UKRI-BBSRC, UKRI-EPSRC and UKRI-MRC.

Applicants are advised to contact the office to discuss their application and/or if they are unsure whether their application would fit the scope of the call (email address at bottom of this email).

Requirements

Applications are expected to focus on one or more of the following:

  • Transformative technology development that has the potential to result in innovative and potentially disruptive new technological capabilities applicable to the life sciences. This includes technologies with potential broad utility across both biological and biomedical research communities, as well as technologies that may only have utility within one research community
  • New advances in engineering and physical sciences research that aim to establish proof-of-concept with a clear trajectory towards a new life sciences research technology in the short term
  • Radical innovation that has the potential to deliver a step change in current technological capabilities in aspects such as accuracy, precision, resolution, throughput, and breadth of application to facilitate new research discoveries
  • New software tools and algorithms to address key data analysis challenges in life sciences research. These must demonstrate genuine innovation and originality.

All applications are expected to outline how the research might deliver a substantial improvement versus the current state-of-the-art applicable to the relevant field(s) of research and how the project could broadly enable new avenues of life sciences discovery research.

Applicants must also outline the extent of the potential impact outside of their own specific research programme.

Exclusions

Proposals in the following areas will not be accepted:

  • Platform technologies that are generically applicable to multiple research domains, rather than life sciences research
  • Applications with a focus on answering a research question instead of developing cutting-edge technology to do so. These applications could be better suited to Responsive Mode
  • Incremental adaptations/improvements of technologies where previous proof-of-concept has already been demonstrated, including applications with existing technologies already in use for comparable areas of life sciences
  • Medical/clinical devices (being developed for end-point clinical utility rather than basic research purposes) and Healthcare Technologies (including biomedical engineering for diagnostic or therapeutic application)
  • Large scale infrastructure, or direct application of off-the-shelf technology to research.
  • Community databases and data infrastructures. These applications could be better suited to the Bioinformatics and Biological Resources (BBR) Fund
  • Technologies for translational applications. The focus for this call is on technologies for the discovery research community
  • Applications that exceed the cost and/or duration limits described for this call (see below).

Applicants are strongly advised to contact development.fund@bbsrc.ukri.org if they are unsure whether their application would fit the scope of the call.

Please ensure to read the full call guidance notes and FAQ available through the link above.

 

UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships (FLFs) – Round 4 Internal Selection Process Guidance – Deadline 8th July 2019

Internal Expression of Interest for Round 4 of the UKRI Future Leader Fellowships is now open.

https://www.ukri.org/funding/funding-opportunities/future-leaders-fellowships/

This cross-UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) scheme will support early career researchers and innovators with outstanding potential in universities, UK registered businesses, and other research and user environments including research councils’ institutes and laboratories.

The Future Leader Fellowship (FLF) scheme welcomes applications from both UK and international applicants and individuals should use the person specification to assess and justify their suitability. The support of the institution will be a critical component of all fellowships which will enable the fellow to transition to or establish their research/innovation independence in any area supported by UKRI.

The objectives of the scheme are:

  • to develop, retain, attract and sustain research and innovation talent in the UK
  • to foster new research and innovation career paths including those at the academic/business and interdisciplinary boundaries, and facilitate movement of people between sectors
  • to provide sustained funding and resources for the best early career researchers and innovators
  • to provide long-term, flexible funding to tackle difficult and novel challenges, and support adventurous, ambitious programmes.

These Fellowships support applicants from diverse career paths, including those returning from a career break or following time in other roles. Applications are encouraged from those wishing to work part-time in order to combine the fellowship with personal responsibilities.

The support offered will be long-term and flexible and will provide comprehensive package, including the fellow’s salary and justified research, staff and training costs, with seven years of support available on a 4+3 model, with a review in year four.

As per previous rounds, an internal selection process for nominations will be conducted.

The internal deadline is midday, 8th July 2019.

Applicants must have the support of their School before applying. Please contact your Institute Director to discuss your application as soon as possible.

Candidates should submit the following:

  1. A title of the proposed fellowship.
  2. Identification of which Research Council remits the proposed fellowship aligns to.
  3. The UKRI FLF CV template.
  4. A list of relevant peer-reviewed research publications.
  5. A statement on your primary area of research or innovation (up to 200 characters).
  6. A statement on the research focus of the fellowship proposal (up to 2000 characters).
  7. A detailed description of the 7-year programme of research (up to 4000 characters total) This should consist of a detailed description of the 4 year programme (3000 characters) and a description of activities in years 5-7 (1000 characters).
  8. A description as to why the FLF is suitable for you, how will this fellowship change your career and where you see yourself at the end (up to 1000 characters).
  9. Describe how you have previously demonstrated leadership skills and what steps you will take to become a Future Leader (up to 1000 characters).
  10. An outline of your independent funding obtained to develop your ‘transition to independence’ and, if holding a tenured Faculty position, what full-time equivalent research time you have had in that post as well as what funding obtained to develop independence. Please note: if successful, Fellows’ full working time will be committed to these Fellowships. Fellows would not be expected to be spending more than in the region of six hours a week (pro-rated for part-time Fellows) on these other commitments (or undertaking up to two sessions a week in the case of Clinical Fellows) during the first two years of the Fellowship.
  11. For administrative purposes only and to ensure you receive the appropriate support for the development of your fellowship proposal could you please answer the following questions:
  • Does Newcastle University own the preliminary research results, data, process or technology (Background IP) that you wish to use as a basis for the research programme in the fellowship? [Yes/No]
  • Does any element of the research programme involve NHS staff, NHS patients or NHS premises? [Yes/No]

Applications should be submitted to Dr Clare McCann clare.mccann@newcastle.ac.uk

BBSRC Pool of Experts & Follow-on Fund Committee – Expressions of Interest by 4pm on 23 July 2019

BBSRC is requesting Expressions of Interest to join either their Pool of Experts or their Follow-on Fund Committee.

They are requesting people from specific research areas which are described below.

Please distribute this email to those who might find this of interest

Current membership of BBSRC Committees can be found here: https://bbsrc.ukri.org/about/governance-structure/committees/

The closing date to submit Expressions of Interest is by 4pm on Tuesday 23 July.

With many thanks

Gwen

23 July 2019, 4pm (Expression of Interest)

BBSRC call for Expressions of Interest to join the Pool of Experts or the Follow-on Fund Committee

https://bbsrc.ukri.org/about/governance-structure/committees/committee-pool-membership/join-our-pool-of-experts-follow-on-fund-committee/#agriculturalsystems

One may apply for one position only, i.e. the Pool of Experts or the Follow-on Fund

Academic applicants:

  • Evidence of a research portfolio and competitively obtained grant funding. Typically, successful applicants will have been awarded at least one grant in the last five years. This can include the award of a fellowship.

Non-academic applicants, including Business, Technology Transfer Office (TTO) and Policy professionals:

  • Evidence of experience in research, development or innovation with technical knowledge deployed in a business, commercial or policy environment
  • Evidence to demonstrate an understanding of the academic innovation and business landscape (for example through interaction with Universities or Institutes, participation in innovation networks or commercialisation accelerators).

POOL OF EXPERTS (appointments will be for up to three years)

BBSRC seeks to appoint new members with expertise in the following specific areas:

Agricultural systems research

We are looking for applications from individuals with expertise in integrating at the farm level understanding of the interactions between different components of agricultural systems and with the wider landscape, linking crops/farmed animals with their environments and management.

We recognise the highly multidisciplinary nature of this area, and we welcome applications from researchers that additionally have experience of work involving disciplines outside of the biological sciences such as the natural environment and social science.

Biological basis of human behaviour

We are looking for applications from individuals with expertise in areas relevant to understanding the biological basis/mechanisms of human behaviour, for example:

  • emotion, attention, cognition, decision making, mood, sleep disruption, stress, mental health
  • modulation by factors such as developmental processes, early life adversity, nutrition, physical activity, ageing, sleep/stress, social experiences and environment
  • Human cellular neuroscience and in particular, techniques such as optogenetics, fMRI, EEG and non-invasive stimulation
  • Gut-brain-axis including the microbiome, appetite, satiety, food choice
  • Qualitative analysis of human behaviour, including the use of behaviour surveys.

Drosophila as a model organism

We are looking for applications from individuals with expertise in the use of Drosophila as a model organism in molecular, genetic, systems, anatomical, developmental, nutrition, microbiome and/or ageing research.

Epigenetics

We are looking for applications from individuals with expertise in the field of epigenetics, with particular focus on these areas:

  • DNA methylation and demethylation
  • Non-coding RNA
  • Epigenetics across the life course and how epigenetic mechanisms/profiles can be modified by factors such as developmental (e.g. maternal influences), nutrition, physical activity and stress
  • we particularly welcome applications from researchers that have experience of working across model organisms, animals, humans and plants.

Evolutionary biology

We are looking for applications from individuals with expertise in evolutionary biology, with particular focus on these areas:

  • Molecular and genetic evolutionary biology including computational science
  • Evolutionary developmental biology
  • Evolutionary drivers e.g. of alternative splicing.

Farmed animal nutrition

We are looking for applications from individuals with expertise in farmed animal nutrition. We would particularly welcome those who have additional broader expertise in areas such as the gut microbiome, links with food safety and antimicrobial resistance, farmed animal management, production, health and welfare.

Industrial biotechnology

We are looking for applications from individuals with expertise in the following areas to complement the existing committee expertise:

  • Enzymology, particularly that underpinning reactions of potential economic importance in the manufacture of fine chemicals and transforming other catalytic processes
  • Metabolism in bacteria, fungi, algae, particularly pathways in secondary metabolism leading to products with novel applications
  • Synthesis of natural products (including proteins) and their movement between different cellular compartments, including secretion
  • Biotechnological uses of fundamental biological processes with a sense of scale, working from laboratory scale to manufacturing in the bioeconomy.

We welcome applications from those with experience outside the biological sciences, particularly in chemistry and process engineering.

Plant science

We are looking for applications from individuals with interdisciplinary expertise within a fundamental plant sciences research context, in the areas of:

  • Photobiology, to include photosynthesis, photomorphogenesis and photosystems
  • Plant developmental biology, especially hormones, peptides and cell/long distance communication
  • Computational plant biology, modelling & bioinformatics, including multiscale modelling, the study of biochemical, cellular or physiological processes at systems-level in plants and the use of integrative approaches that harness multiple data types.

Proteomics

We are looking for applications from individuals with expertise in proteomics, protein structure and function, particularly with a focus on applications in the biological sciences. In particular we are looking for expertise in:

  • Protein-protein interactions
  • Protein-lipid interactions
  • Protein expression and post-translational modifications
  • Protein signalling pathways
  • Protein structure-function
  • Proteomics techniques (Mass spectrometry-based techniques, differential in-gel electrophoresis).

FOLLOW-ON FUND (FoF) COMMITTEE (appointments will be for up to three years)

BBSRC seeks to appoint six new members with experience of supporting and enabling innovation from business and academia.

They seek applicants with experience in the following areas:

  • Animal health
  • Synthetic biology
  • Industrial biotechnology and bioenergy
  • Cell and molecular biology
  • Biochemistry
  • Crop and plant science

TO APPLY:

Comnplete the registration form

https://app.keysurvey.co.uk/f/1404526/4444/

Complete the Expression of Interest form

https://app.keysurvey.co.uk/f/1404527/3f2f/

The survey contains the following sections:

  1. Personal information (for example name, organisation, contact details)
  2. Diversity information, including information about career breaks and flexible working
  3. Your primary expertise areas: You should indicate up to three research and innovation areas where you offer sufficient expertise to be able to provide credible assessment.
  4. Free text sections:
  • Personal statement: You should describe why you are interested in the role and what you will bring to it (maximum 200 words)
  • Expertise and experience: You should describe the expertise and experience that you can you offer and provide the evidence to demonstrate this.

For full details please read the full guidance at

https://bbsrc.ukri.org/about/governance-structure/committees/committee-pool-membership/join-our-pool-of-experts-follow-on-fund-committee/#agriculturalsystems