Tuesday 31 January 2012

Call for EPSRC Building Global Engagements in Research Applications

EPSRC has recently announced the funding opportunity entitled 'Building Global Engagements in Research' (http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/calls/open/Pages/globalengagementsinresearch.aspx), where EPSRC is seeking to build capacity within UK research centres for international engagement. This call announces up to £6M in grants, of up to £500K each, to increase the strength and productivity of current international links, or build links in regions where none previously existed.

The focus of effort should be to enhance research programmes within an institution that address the objectives above and should utilize a number of existing mechanisms for support, such as workshops, research co-ordination, networking activities, short-term visits and programmes of staff, and post doctoral and student exchanges. Other innovative models of international partnership building are encouraged. Multidisciplinary applications will be considered, but the majority of the proposed research must fall within the EPSRC remit. Only ONE application per university will be permitted.

The College will now conduct an internal selection process to make the final decision on who goes forward to EPSRC, and applicants are invited to submit a short application for consideration by *4pm, Monday the 6 February 2012*.

After internal selection it should be noted that EPSRC's deadline for applications is 4pm, Thursday the 1 March 2012 and grants will have a start date of the 1 April 2012 and end by the 31 March 2013. No extensions will be given.

Applicants are requested to submit a one-page A4 application, as a single PDF document. Please label your PDF attachment with your name, and in the subject line of your email, please type 'Building Global Engagements Call'.

Applications should comply with the following:

1. Title of the project.

2. Brief description of the project's international partner(s), background, defined outcomes, clear objectives and how they will be achieved with milestones where appropriate, and the impact of the project.

3. Fit to the call's assessment criteria as clearly outlined in theirguidelines http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/Calls/2012/BuildingGlobalEnga gementsInResearch.pdf. It is critically important given the short timescales of this internal selection process that expressions of interest are made against these assessment criteria.

4. Estimated budget and key items feasibility within timescale (funds to be spent by the 31 March 2013).

All expressions of interest must align with EPSRC's criteria and note that research is global and EPSRC need their portfolio of sponsored research and researchers to be able to collaborate and cooperate with appropriate internationally leading researchers from across the globe - both in basic research and in tackling globally important challenges and enabling 'best with best' collaboration.

Applications MUST be received by *4pm, Monday the 6 February 2012* for internal review and should be sent to lynn.forsyth@ed.ac.uk. All enquiries should be sent to the Dean International, Professor Robin Wallace mailto:A.R.Wallace@ed.ac.uk and Dean of Research, Professor Bob Fisher mailto:rbf@inf.ed.ac.uk. Decisions will be made by the Dean International and Dean of Research by Wednesday the 8 February 2012.

Wednesday 18 January 2012

Leverhulme Research Leadership Awards 2012

Leverhulme Trust Research Leadership Awards http://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/funding/RLA/RLA.cfm *deadline 30^th April2012* This is a prestigious competition aimed at researchers who have completed a PhD but who are still relatively early on in their academic career. The University as a whole can only submit one application so potential candidates should be made are aware of the internal selection process. Please note that this internal selection process requires Schools and Centres to demonstrate their support for the application. The scheme in brief

The Leverhulme Trust funds research in all areas except the type of medical research that could be funded by the Wellcome Trust or MRC. The Trust aims to fund research which does not fall easily within the remit of the UK Research Councils. For more information about Leverhulme's ethos, visit http://leverhulme.ac.uk/about/about.cfm.

The Research Leadership Award provides substantial funding to allow a researcher early on in their academic career to establish a research team. Funding is in the region of £800,000-1,000,000 and lasts for up to five years. This scheme has run once before, in 2006-7; Edinburgh was not successful under this competition.

Internal selection process

The University's Research Policy Group (http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/governance-strategic-planning/resea rch/rpg)

will make the final decision about which University of Edinburgh candidate will be put forward for the Leverhulme Research Leadership Scheme. Potential University of Edinburgh candidates will be required to submit the following information to the internal selection process:

  • A copy of their CV
  • A one-page outline of their proposed research. This needs to include a brief statement on why Leverhulme will like this research, and an approximation of the resources required (students, research assistants, etc.).
  • A statement from the Head of School or Centre stating why the candidate is both excellent both in themselves and in their fit to the School's/Centre's research strategy.

This information must be submitted to Emma Gliori (emma.gliori@ed.ac.uk) 51 4055) by *4pm, Thursday 16th February 2012*. There is no limit on how many applicants from any one School or Centre may submit applications to the internal selection process, but Research Policy Group reserves the option to ask Schools and Centres to rank their candidates if required.

Applicants and Schools are reminded that Leverhulme seeks to fund research that does not easily map to the aims and remits of the UK Research Councils.

Further information

If you have inquiries not answered by the information given here or Leverhulme's website, please contact Emma Gliori (emma.gliori@ed.ac.uk <mailto:emma.gliori@ed.ac.uk>; 51 4055) in the first instance.

Friday 6 January 2012

Urgent deadline AXA Research Fund Postdoctoral and PhD Fellowship Schemes

AXA Research Fund have launched their 2012 Postdoctoral Fellowship and PhD Fellowship schemes.

The deadline for receipt of the names of potential candidates is 5pm on Friday 13th January.

Details can be found at: http://researchfund.axa.com/post-doctoral-fellowships and http://researchfund.axa.com/doctoral-fellowships.

In essence, the proposed research must fall within the scope of one of the following risk areas:

Life risks

  • Longevity and long-term care
  • Emerging biomedical risks
  • Addictions and at-risk behaviour

Socio Economic Risks

  • Geopolitical risks
  • Financial, economic and social risks
  • Major corporate risks

Environmental risks

  • Climate disasters
  • Socio-economic consequences of natural disasters
  • Risks arising from climate change

Further details of these themes can be found at http://researchfund.axa.com/areas-of-research-eligible-for-funding)

This year AXA have adopted a 2-stage approach for both Postdoctoral and PhD schemes.

Round 1 invites universities to indicate in which *research fields* it considers that it will submit applications for these schemes. The eligible research fields are as follows:

  • Biology & Biochemistry
  • Biology & Genetics
  • Economics & Business
  • Environment/Ecology
  • Geosciences
  • Immunology
  • Mathematics
  • Microbiology
  • Neuroscience & Behavior
  • Plant & animal Science
  • Psychiatry/Psychology
  • Social Sciences, General

For the research fields we put forward , we are invited to provide some accompanying text on the strengths of the University in this area and any other 'relevant information'.

The deadline for submitting our chosen research fields is noon on January19th. We will then hear from AXA how many candidates we can put forward in each scheme, but these will not exceed 2, and may be less!

*What we need at this stage.*

To determine which research fields we put forward from Edinburgh, we need to know who the potential candidates are.

If you have a potential candidate, can you email to: Hamish.Macandrew@ed.ac.uk

  • their name
  • which of the 12 research areas and 10 risk areas they would apply for

*by 5pm on Friday 13th January*.

Depending on the number of candidates proposed at this stage, we may need an internal filtering of research areas to maximise the chances of success.

Please note that it is not until Round 2 that institutions will be required to submit the names of candidates. This round opens on January 26th and closes on March 1st. It is at this stage that Research Policy Group will determine which candidates represent Edinburgh based upon the number we are invited to field. These candidates will then be approached directly by AXA and invited to complete the application paperwork by noon on March 29th, with the results of the competitions announced on June 29th.

For further information on the schemes, or the University's process, please contact Hamish.macandrew@ed.ac.uk