TRUST US, WE CAN HELP!

 

Research Professional recently shared an article about how useful your Research Office can be and we couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

We may not be researchers but the Research Office can be a real help when you are thinking about writing a bid – and not just because you need us to develop your budget and navigate the institutional approvals!

FUNDERS We know them. If you have a research idea but you’re not sure which funder you stand the best chance of success with, we will help you explore the funders and get to the bottom of what it is they want to identify where your research best fits amongst them.

FUNDING CALLS We read funding calls all day and we know what to look for when picking out key bits: where the emphasis lies and what the funder is really looking for in a proposal. If you’re not sure you are ticking the right boxes or would like some guidance on any particular scheme, we can help you with that.

TIMESCALES Sometimes it can be a difficult thing to establish a timeline either for writing a research proposal or for carrying out the project itself. Your Research Development Manager can help you to think realistically about your goals and map out how much time you will ideally spend on each aspect of the proposal or project.

LAY REVIEW Your Research Office can be a helpful place to get a lay person’s perspective on your proposal. When your project goes off to the funders for consideration, it is likely that those reviewing it aren’t going to be experts in your field. If your Research Development Manager is having a hard time grasping what your research is, then there’s a possibility that those reviewing it will too, and a project that isn’t easily understood is less likely to be funded than one that is.

You can read the full article here, but the main point is that we are here to help every step of the way so make sure you get in touch so we can get started!

Contact the Research Office: researchapplications@mmu.ac.uk

Images of Research Competition Deadline Extended

The Images of Research deadline has been extended to 12pm Friday 7 February 2020.

This year we are looking for images that demonstrate with flair, ambition and enthusiasm, the research competed here at the University.

Please consider applying if you are a Postgraduate or Early Career Researcher.

The competition represents an amazing opportunity for you to demonstrate the impact of your research while thinking about how to holistically showcase it in a new and visual way.

If you have any questions, please contact us at ImagesofResearch@mmu.ac.uk or visit the Images of Research webpage. 

Images of Research 2019 winner. ‘Data incoming!’ by Sarah Scott

Horizon 2020 – UKRI Update on continued participation

As the 31 January 2020 approaches, UKRI have published the following statement regarding the UK’s continued access to Horizon 2020 programme, which confirms that once the Withdrawal Agreement is approved we will remain eligible to apply for the duration of the programme:

“UK scientists, researchers and businesses can continue to participate in, bid for and lead projects in the European Union’s (EU) flagship programme Horizon 2020, as if the UK remained a Member State, even after the UK exits the EU on 31 January 2020.

The UK remains the second highest recipient of Horizon 2020 funding for science and innovation and UK organisations are encouraged to continue to bid into calls for grants until the end of the Horizon 2020 programme.

Following the Second Reading in parliament of the Withdrawal Agreement on 20 December, the UK has now stepped down its preparations for leaving the EU without a deal, with confidence that it will ratify the EU Exit deal by 31 January.

The Withdrawal Agreement means that the UK continues to participate in EU Programmes financed by the 2014-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) until their closure. Horizon 2020 is a Programme funded under the current MFF. UK scientists, researchers and businesses can continue to participate in these programmes and receive EU grant funding for the lifetime of individual projects, including projects finishing after the transition period ends in 2020.

A very limited number of UK Horizon 2020 projects, which involve access to security-related sensitive information restricted for EU Member States, may be unable to continue after EU Exit in their current form. The government expects the European Commission to inform participants if this is the case. Any affected UK grant holders should contact UKRI at EUGrantsFunding@ukri.org. 

The priority continues to be securing the best outcome for UK research and innovation and creating the best possible environment for collaborations and international partnerships to flourish. This includes a mutually beneficial future relationship with the EU in science and innovation.”

(original statement accessible via UKRI website here)

Our participation in the forthcoming Horizon Europe Programme (the successor to Horizon 2020) remains subject to negotiation, and discussions are unlikely to move forward until Member States have agreed the next EU budget for the period 2021-2027.

Our colleagues at UKRO continue to maintain their excellent Brexit factsheet, which provides a useful overview of the current position.

Thinking of applying?

If you are thinking of applying for EU funding, then we’re here to support you. Just get in touch with your International Research Development Manager for help and advice:

Sally Pedley – Arts & Humanities, Business & Law, and Health Psychology & Social Care (Sally.Pedley@mmu.ac.uk)

Margaret Eastcott – Education and Science & Engineering (M.Eastcott@mmu.ac.uk)

Royal Society International Exchange Grants Now Open

The Royal Society International Exchange Grants are now open for applications!

These schemes are for scientists based in the UK who want to stimulate collaborations with leading scientists overseas through either a one-off visit or bilateral visits. Applications are welcome from anyone who; holds a PhD, is employed on a contract that outlasts the duration of the project, are based in the respective countries at the time of the application and fall within the Societies remit.

Standard Grant

Deadline: Thursday 12th March 2020 – 3pm

Award Amount: £3,000 – £12,000

Duration: 3 months – 2 years

Please note that only the standard grant is currently available. The cost share round is expected to open April 2020.

If you would like to apply for this opportunity please get in contact with Rachel Colley – your Research Development Officer for Science and Engineering.

Where Next? Scoping Future Arts and Humanities Led Research

Closing Date: 02/04/2020

The AHRC is pleased to announce a new call for interdisciplinary scoping studies which will explore and develop ideas for interdisciplinary research areas which could form the basis of future research initiatives.

As a constituent part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) has the opportunity to bid into a number of different central hypothecated funds to support a variety of funding opportunities for its various research communities. The AHRC is seeking to build up a pool of developed ideas which could be used to inform either future bids into these hypothecated funds or taken forward through other mechanisms.

To achieve this, the AHRC is seeking to fund around three in-depth interdisciplinary scoping studies. Proposals must address at least one priority from the AHRC Delivery Plan and be interdisciplinary in nature; the research must also be clearly led from within the arts and humanities. Funding of up to £150,000 (fEC) will be available for each award.

These studies are expected to provide a comprehensive overview of the proposed research area through a range of mechanisms and considerations including, but not limited to: literature reviews; consideration and description of the current research landscape and potential for alignment to this; consideration and description of the timeliness of the research theme; current capability assessments; partnership and networking building activities; consideration of potential mechanisms for delivery and pathways to impact.

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By way on demand management, all UK-based research organisations (ROs) that are eligible for Research Council funding will be eligible to lead on a maximum of two proposals to this call. This does not preclude ROs being
included in other proposals which they are not leading (e.g. through inclusion of a Co-Investigator).

scoping-future-arts-humanities-led-research-call-guidanceDownload

Please contact your Research Development Manager, Germaine Loader or Research Development Officer, Becky Hewlett if you are interested in this call.
Germaine: G.Loader@mmu.ac.uk
Becky: R.Hewlett@mmu.ac.uk

Pre-call Announcement: MRC/AHRC/ESRC Adolescence, Mental Health and the Developing Mind Initiative – Call for Research Programmes

The Medical Research Council (MRC), Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) will soon be launching a £24M call for ambitious multi and inter-disciplinary Research Programmes. This funding will come from the new cross-Council initiative in Adolescence, Mental Health and Developing Mind, which is supported through the UKRI Strategic Priorities Fund.

The call will make £24M available to fund impactful multidisciplinary research at a range of interfaces, including medicine, biology, social science, arts and humanities. Applications are also welcome which draw in non-traditional disciplines that can provide novel insights and approaches to mental health research. It is excpected that the call will fund a number of multidisciplinary research programmes for up to £4M each over a 4 year period.

The initiative will provide funding for multi- and inter-disciplinary teams with the aim to:

• Address important and novel research questions under the broad scope of Adolescence, Mental Health, and Developing Mind.
• Actively strengthen intersections between disciplines that do not routinely engage with each other, build capacity in the field and develop skills.
• Embed knowledge mobilisation and strengthen patient and public involvement.

The call will involve a 3 stage process, with an invitation for outline proposals, invitation to a full stage proposal and international peer-review and interview by an expert panel.

Key Dates

Activity	Date
Pre-call announcement	January 2020
Call for Outlines opens	March 2020
Outline deadline	June 2020 tbc
Call for full proposals opens (invite only)	August 2020 tbc
Full proposal deadline (invite only)	October 2020 tbc
Start Date	1 April 2021

For more information about this call, including the scope, please visit the MRC website.

If you are interested in applying to this scheme please contact the Research Development Team.

NERC Visit Event

Representatives from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) will be visiting the University next week on Thursday 23rd January 2020. All staff are welcome to attend the event.

Registration: via Eventbrite

9.45-10.00am: Arrival and refreshments

Schedule:

10.00-10.30am: Man Met research overview – Richard Greene/Neil Reeves introduction then Richard Preziosi on EERC and broader environmental science research

10.30-11.00am: Presentations from NERC funded projects – Jian Zhou, Kirsty Shaw, Gina Cavan: 5 minutes each + questions from NERC

11.00-11.30am: Presentations by NERC to whole group – changing funding landscape (UKRI), NERC priorities (delivery plan) and funding opportunities (e.g. GCRF and ISCF, highlight notices), introduce Institutional Partnership and Insight Teams

11.30am-12.00pm: Open session – for all researchers to ask questions based on NERC presentations

NIHR Funding Theme: Injuries, Accidents and Urgent Emergency Care

NIHR have a number of opportunities available for funding within their theme for Injuries, accidents and urgent emergency care units. This call seeks research into the prevention, management and treatments of accidents and injuries and other conditions needing urgent and emergency care.

This include the organisation, staffing and delivery of urgent and emergency care services wherever delivered, at an incident, in the community or in primary or secondary care settings.

For more information on this theme please visit the NIHR website.

Opportunities are available for funding within the following programmes:

• Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation
• Health Services and Delivery Research
• Health Technology Assessment
• NIHR Acadmey
• Public Health Research