Leverhulme Research Leadership Award – Internal Process

The Leverhulme Trust Research Leadership Award (RLA) is currently open for applications.

Each institution is limited to one bid only. As a result, an internal process has been put in place to nominate the Man Met proposal for submission.

The Research Leadership Award is aimed at exceptionally talented Man Met academics who are on an academic career trajectory to be the future research leaders and need to build a team to address a distinct research problem.  The awards will be for up to £1 million, for staff salaries and associated costs.

Proposals are invited in any research area, with the exception of the following:

• studies of disease, illness and disabilities in humans and animals
• research that is intended to inform clinical practice or the development of medical applications
• research areas currently identified as a priority by the research councils or other significant public funders
• policy-driven research where the principal objective is to assemble an evidence base for immediate policy initiatives
• research where advocacy is an explicit component
• research aimed principally at an immediate commercial application
• proposals in which the balance between assembling a data bank or database and the related subsequent research is heavily inclined to the former

As part of the first stage of the internal process, the applicants are requested to email an Expression of Interest (EOI) (using the template) and a CV (max. 2 pages) to researchapplications@mmu.ac.uk on or before Friday 29^th March 12pm.

Further details about the internal process outlined below:

INTERNAL PROCESS:

	What will be done	By Who	By When
1.	Applicants to email EOI (using the attached template) and a CV (max. 2 pages) to researchapplications@mmu.ac.uk	– Applicants -RDMs to check the eligibility and assign the applications to UCRKE	Friday 29-Mar 12pm
2.	Review the applications and shortlist one application per centre to be developed into a full proposal	Review and decision making led by Research Centre Directors	Wedsnesday 03-Apr 12pm
3.	Shortlisted Applicant to work with respective UCRKE centre director(s) to develop the EOI into a full application with supporting statement from Centre Directors	Applicant & UCKRE Centre Directors(s)	Thursday 25-Apr 12pm
4.	Shortlisted full applications from each centre sent to University panel of Richard Greene (PVC RKE) and Heads of Daculty RKE	Vinod Verghese (RDM)	Thursday 25-Apr 5pm
5.	University panel to consider the full applications and choose a single Manchester Met bid to be put forward	Richard Greene and Heads of Faculty RKE	Friday 26-Apr
6.	Decision communicated to applicants	Vinod Verghese (RDM)	Monday 29-Apr
7.	Manchester Met proposal submitted to the Leverhulme Trust	Applicants & RDMs	Friday 10-May

Please contact the Research Development Managers for your respective area if you have any questions about the call or the process.

Leverhulme Trust Expression of Interest FormDownload

BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grants

The BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grants are now open for applications. Funds are available to support primary research in the humanities and social sciences. These awards, up to £10,000 in value and tenable for up to 24 months, are provided to cover the cost of the expenses arising from a defined research project.

Deadline for Applicants – 24 May 2017

For more information, including scheme notes and FAQs, please visit British Academy.

APEX Awards

The Academies Partnership in Supporting Excellence in Cross-disciplinary Research (APEX) award scheme has been launched by the Royal Society, British Academy and Royal Academy of Engineering with support from the Leverhulme Trust.

The scheme offers established independent researchers, with a strong track record in their respective area, an exciting opportunity to pursue genuine interdisciplinary and curiosity-driven research to benefit wider society.

In particular, this scheme aims to:

• support interdisciplinary research that is unlikely to be supported through conventional funding programmes.
• promote collaboration across disciplines, with a particular emphasis on the boundary between science and engineering and the social sciences and humanities.
• support researchers with an outstanding track record, in developing their research in a new direction through collaboration with partners from other disciplines.
• enable outstanding researchers to focus on advancing their innovative research through seed funding.

Awards of £100,000 for up to 24 months are available.

The deadline for applications is 13th January 2017.

For more information, please visit the Royal Society.

Royal Society/Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowships

The Royal Society and the Leverhulme Trust invite applications for their senior research fellowships. The scheme covers subjects in all areas of the life and physical sciences, including engineering, but excluding clinical medicine.

The deadline for applications is 11 Jan 2016.

For more information, please visit: http://bit.ly/1O3v8Hg

For advice on applying, please contact your relevant Research Development Manager.

Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowships – 2015 call for applications open

Leverhulme has announced that the 2015 call for their  Early Career Fellowships scheme is now open for applications with approximately 80 awards expected to be made.

The deadline is 5th March 2015. Applications must be made through Leverhulme’s online application system.

Early Career Fellowships provide funding for early career researchers in any discipline (except medical and clinical) who do not currently have and have not previously held a full-time permanent academic post in a UK university. The cut-off date is five years from PhD viva, which means anyone who had their viva before March 2010 is not eligible (unless you have had a career break). If you are currently or have been registered for a doctorate then you may still apply as long as you have submitted your thesis by the closing date.

The objective is for Fellows to undertake a significant piece of publishable research during the tenure of the award, and the project put forward should therefore not be a reworking or mere extension of the candidate’s doctoral research project.

Funding provided is for 50% of a Fellow’s salary for 3 years (up to £24K/annum), with the expectation that the Fellow is moved into a permanent position after this time. The other 50% of the salary must be contributed by the University so please get in contact with the potential hosting Department at the very early stage. Up to £6,000 per annum may be requested in addition to cover research expenses.

The detailed Guidance notes and scheme descriptions can be found here:  http://leverhulme.ac.uk/funding/ECF/ECF.cfm

Major Research Fellowships in the Humanities & Social Sciences – deadline 8 May 14

Providing replacement teaching costs over two or three years, to allow academics in the humanities and social sciences to focus on a specific piece of original research. The 2014 round opens in February 2014 and closes on 8 May 2014.

These awards enable well-established and distinguished researchers in the humanities and social sciences to devote themselves to a single research project of outstanding originality and significance, capable of completion within two or three years. Candidates should state explicitly what the proposed outcomes of the award will be. Fellowships are particularly aimed at those who are or have been prevented by routine duties from completing a programme of original research.

Value

The Fellowships fund the salary costs (normally starting at the most junior point of the lecturer scale at the institution concerned) of an individual to undertake the normal duties of the applicant for the duration of the Fellowship.

A Major Research Fellow may also request research expenses up to an annual maximum of £5,000. If such funds are required they must be requested as part of the application procedure.

Duration

The duration of a Fellowship is for two or three years, to start at the beginning of the 2015/16 academic year.

Applicants must be employed by a university or other institution of higher education in the UK.

Please note the level of experience expected for these particular  Fellowships. Applicants need not be of professorial standing but should  “be able to demonstrate scholarship at the highest level” , and should be “well-established and distinguished”.  You will need three referees (not from this institution) who are able to comment on your research record and standing and on the merit of the proposed research project.

You can find a list of Major Fellowships awarded in last year’s Call here: http://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/templates/asset-relay.cfm?frmAssetFileID=1613

The Call opens fully in Feb and all info will be here:  http://leverhulme.ac.uk/funding/MRF/MRF.cfm

The Leverhulme Trust provide advice on choosing your referees

  The Leverhulme Trust’s Assistant Director, Jean Cater, explains why references are so important and how applicants to their funding schemes can avoid making common mistakes. According to Leverhulme,  “Peer review is a fundamental part of our assessment process, and yet nominating suitable referees seems to be one of the things that applicants struggle with most”. 

http://leverhulme.ac.uk/funding/choosing-a-referee.cfm?utm_source=FUNDING+BULLETIN&utm_campaign=c908dc69d6-FB_NOV_13&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_06df278404-c908dc69d6-78736613

Event: Leverhulme Trust Visit – funding opportunities and making applications

On Wednesday 25th September, the Assistant Director of the Leverhulme Trust will be visiting Staffordshire University to give a talk on funding opportunities and making applications.

Staffordshire University have extend a warm invitation to academic, research and project staff at neighbouring HEIs to attend what should be an interesting and informative afternoon. Colleagues involved in research at any level (including non-academic staff) are all welcome to attend.

The presentation will take place at the Stoke campus, within walking distance of the railway station. There will be opportunities for networking and Q&As after the talk.

Further details including timings will be confirmed in due course.

To register your interest in this free event, please contact externalprojects@staffs.ac.uk

Ideas for Leverhulme Programme Grant? – RKE facilitated workshop 8 May

The RKE team are running 2 workshops on the 8th May in order to bring together academics from across the University who may be considering ideas for the recent Leverhulme Programme Grant Call.
This Call is for large scale, collaborative applications made up of a linked programme of smaller projects of up to 5 years with a total available grant of between £500,000 and £1.75 million each (it is likely that 2 projects will be funded – one from each Theme area).
This year, Leverhulme have announced two areas of interest:
The Nature of Knots: Session to be held between 1pm-2pm, 8 May
This topic covers the nature of knots, which includes uncovering the unifying and organising ideas that underpin knottedness in nature, establishing mathematical methods for quantifying knottedness, measuring experimentally and developing techniques to control knottedness and identifying the scientific and technological consequences and implications of knottedness;
Innovation for Sustainable Living: Session to be held between 2.30pm – 3pm, 8 May
This topic covers innovation for sustainable living, which might involve disruptive science and engineering and their role in new energy, materials and transport, mathematics and statistics, public policy, economics and the complexities of trade-offs, psychology and determining the driers of behavior change, lessons from history and comparative social analysis.

Further information on the format of the events will be circulated once we’ve got an idea of numbers but the overall aim is to get people together so RKE can provide some info on this Call and to allow interested academics to talk about their work and see what mileage there is for collaboration inside or outside the University.
The meetings will take place on 8 May in the CATE Meeting Room, John Dalton East, 0.05. Please come along if you want to find out more about the Leverhulme Programme Grants and to discuss ideas for collaboration with colleagues from across MMU!
Anyone interested in attending should register their interest by emailing k.lavender-smith@mmu.ac.uk

Leverhulme Major Research Fellowships – deadline 9 May

These awards enable well-established and distinguished researchers in the disciplines of the Humanities and Social Sciences to devote themselves to a single research project of outstanding originality and significance, capable of completion within two or three years. Candidates should state explicitly what the proposed outcomes of the award will be. Fellowships are particularly aimed at those who are or have been prevented by routine duties from completing a programme of original research. The award takes the form of providing a replacement staff member to cover the period of the Fellowship.

Value: The Fellowships fund the salary costs (normally starting at the most junior point of the lecturer scale at the institution concerned) of an individual to undertake the normal duties of the applicant for the duration of the Fellowship. A Major Research Fellow may be awarded research expenses up to an annual maximum of £5,000.

Duration: two or three years, to start at the beginning of the 2014/15 academic year.

Eligibility: Applicants should be able to demonstrate scholarship at the highest level, but they need not already be of professorial standing.