Connect: Issue 68

December 2008 Issue 68

Keeping you in touch with opportunities from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

www.epsrc.ac.uk

Working with EPSRC to communicate research EPSRC has produced a set of three leaflets outlining the communications support available to researchers.

The series covers general communication and publicity through to more involved aspects of public engagement.

There has been some confusion in the research community about the help EPSRC can provide with these activities.

In particular, many researchers were unaware of the existence of the Public Communication Training Fund (PCTF) and were not clear on the difference between communications activities and taking part in public engagement.

There was also the misconception that communicating research is a time consuming process that solely consists of radio interviews and TV appearances.

The new leaflets aim to clarify communications issues and alert researchers to the help and advice EPSRC can provide.

If you would like copies of these leaflets or have any queries relating to communications activities contact Gemma Hulkes.

Contact: Gemma Hulkes, gemma.hulkes@epsrc.ac.uk

Do try this at home WANT TO know how to create fireworks from a crisp packet?

Turn rice into quicksand? Generate a cloud in a lemonade bottle?

Build a toaster-powered hot air balloon, or work out the speed of light using margarine and a microwave?

The Naked Scientists’ new book, Crisp Packet Fireworks, will show you how.

Easy and fun to do, whether you are eight or 80, the experiments will amuse, astound and educate in equal measure.

After you have seen the amazing results for yourself, read the lowdown on the science behind the experiment in the informative ‘why does it work’ section.

The Naked Scientists show you how to get truly amazing results from maverick science you can do at home – white coats and bunsen burners not required.

The Naked Scientists are part-funded by EPSRC.

EPSRC Communications Leaflets Public Communication Training Promotes the Public Communication Training Fund (PCTF), which is available to all researchers when applying for funding.

This fund is an optional, additional sum of money attached to research grants, which is made available to promote the spread of communications skills through the research community.

How We Communicate Provides information on how EPSRC can help you promote your research findings, through EPSRC’s press office and your university’s press office; through our corporate publications, promotional material and events; and through the EPSRC website.

Public Engagement Provides details of EPSRC’s Public Engagement Programme and how you can get involved, from taking part in science and engineering festivals to holding a Partnerships for Public Engagement award or even becoming a Senior Media Fellow.

New guidance for Justification of Resources EPSRC has updated its Justification of Resources (JoR) guidance for grant proposal applications and a ‘cut out and keep’ version can be found on page 3.

A number of JoRs are still being returned as incomplete.

This is causing delays to the processing of proposals and can cause proposals to miss panel deadlines.

The guidance is also available on the EPSRC website: www.epsrc.ac.uk/ResearchFunding/HowToApply/jor.htm

Crisp Packet Fireworks is available now from all good bookshops.

Inside 2 EPSRC workshops

2 Calls

Forthcoming EPSRC funding opportunities

of 3 Justification Resources guide

call for 4 Final council nominations

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Filmmakers wanted ASPIRING filmmakers are being encouraged to pick up a camera and build the world’s most entertaining science resource.

Planet SciCast, now in its second year, promotes science through entertaining short films made primarily by teachers and students.

New backing from EPSRC has extended the project’s ambitions to include films from professional scientists.

Short films are shared through the SciCast website, serving as entertainment for children and families and as a resource for teachers.

The best films are celebrated at an annual awards event.

The rules are simple: films should be short (under two and a half minutes); should demonstrate or explain some aspect of science; and must not, under any circumstances, be boring.

Contact: scicast@nesta.org.uk Further information: www.planet-scicast.com

Would you like to learn more about EPSRC? EPSRC is holding a series of workshops next year to provide an overview

Places are available to staff from all UK universities except those where specific alternative arrangements have been made.

Programme or activity-specific visits are not affected and will continue to be arranged as necessary.

Study Days have been scheduled for the following dates in 2009: 15 January, 23 April, 16 July and Autumn (date TBC)

of the organisation and an introduction to the peer review process.

The study days are aimed at university researchers and will be held at the EPSRC office in Swindon.

EPSRC’s Paul Tomsen said: “Universities often ask EPSRC staff to provide general information about EPSRC objectives, funding mechanisms and peer review processes. We realise the value of these activities and the importance of having channels open to pass on friendly advice to potential applicants, so we have decided to improve the way in which we communicate this information.”

The study days will be structured one-day workshops providing an overview of EPSRC and should answer the questions that university staff commonly ask. They will include an introduction to peer review, experience of a mock panel, advice on proposal writing and a series of short presentations on a range of topics including support for international activity, EPSRC mission programmes, knowledge transfer, public engagement and transformative research.

Calls

Due to likely demand, attendance could be restricted to people who are actively applying for research grants or other forms of EPSRC support now or in the near future. Requests for attendance by doctoral students, contract research staff or academics in fields outside EPSRC’s remit will, unfortunately, have to be declined.

Requests to attend Study Days should be made via your research office, and these or requests for specific advice should be made by e-mail to: EPSRC_Study_Days@epsrc.ac.uk Contact: EPSRC_Study_Days@epsrc.ac.uk

To receive all the latest EPSRC call information direct to your inbox sign up for our weekly e-mail alert: www.epsrc.ac.uk/emailalert

Next Generation Facility Users’ Call 2008 Closing date: 9 December 2008 EPSRC and STFC are seeking to support a number of project student focussed research projects to exploit the centrally supported scientific facilities. The call broadly follows the aims and objectives of the 2007 and will be managed by EPSRC; up to £3m will be made available to the call.

Contact: Dai Jenkins, dai.jenkins@epsrc.ac.uk

Research Council Follow-on Fund – Call for proposals Closing date: 26 February 2009 Up to 12 months funding available to develop the commercial potential of ideas generated by EPSRC research grant funding.

Contact: David Mahoney, david.mahoney@epsrc.ac.uk Discipline Hopping in Information and Communication Technologies Open Call This is an open call for discipline hopping awards to provide ICT researchers with an opportunity to experience research in another discipline and vice versa.

Contact: Claire Hinchliffe, claire.hinchliffe@epsrc.ac.uk

Collaborative Research Opportunities in Energy with South Africa Closing date: 31 December 2008 The Research Councils’ Energy Programme would like to encourage new and innovative collaborative projects focusing on energy related engineering and physical sciences with South Africa.

Contact: Jason Green, jason.green@epsrc.ac.uk

New Materials Research Equipment Services Open Call for Access Researchers from UK higher education institutions can apply to use equipment at seven new services. These services provide free access at point of use to UK academic researchers, including travel and accommodation.

Contact: www.epsrc.ac.uk/CallsForProposals/MaterialsEquipServices.htm

EPSRC/NSFC Joint UK-China Call in Nanospintronics Closing date: 27 January 2009 EPSRC and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) call for joint proposals between UK-based and China-based researchers focussing on the area of nanospintronics.

Contact: Jonathan Williams, jonathan.williams@epsrc.ac.uk

For up to date information and details of how to apply see www.epsrc.ac.uk

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Connect December 2008 Issue 68

How to write a good Justification of Resources (JoR) THE JOR should explain why the resources requested are appropriate for the research proposed. It should not be simply a list of the resources required as this is already given in the Je-S form. So that you don’t miss any costings from the JeS form or any justifications for the items requested, we recommend that you follow the cost to the proposal headings below (where appropriate).

Cost to proposal

Justification needed

Questions to consider and answer

Staff – directly incurred posts Researcher

• Need to justify why a researcher is needed for the proposed work.

• Is the work of sufficient technical difficulty to warrant employing a Research Assistant (RA)?

• Why has the level for the RA been requested?

Principal Investigator (PI) and Co-Investigator (CoI) time (please note: some Universities with prior consent from EPSRC put these costs in directly incurred posts)

• The time that the PI and CoI spend on the grant has to be justified.

• A PI or CoI can not request time for supervising postgraduate research students, writing publications after the end of the project, writing grant applications or peer review.

• How much time do you intend to dedicate to the project?

• Will you be doing all the research yourself?

• What work packages are the PI and CoIs involved with and why?

• Have you factored in enough time to work with project partners or visiting researchers?

• Are you only managing the staff on the project?

Travel and Subsistence

• Need to give a full break down of the costs in the JeS form for example how many people are travelling and where are they going and why?

• Visits – why these are the right people to talk to and how they can contribute to you meeting your objectives.

• Conferences – the advantages of conference attendance, how many, who will attend these and the type you want to go to e.g. national/ international/general/subject specific etc.

Other Directly Incurred Costs

• Need to give a description of what has been requested (however small) and why.

• Listing the individual items without description is not acceptable.

• Justify the need for any equipment requested.

EPSRC will fund equipment under £50k at 80% FEC. • Explain what the computers will be needed for and also justify the cost. If you are asking for a desktop and a laptop, then justify why both are needed.

Other Directly Allocated Costs

• In some cases, such as use of internal facilities and shared staff costs, the basis of the costing doesn’t need to be justified, but the need for the resources does.

• Explain what these are and why you need to use them.

Estates and Indirect Costs

• Does not need to be justified.

Research Facilities (at Research organisations)

• Only time needs to be justified.

• Explain what you are using the facility for and why you need to use this particular facility.

Pooled Technicians

• For example workshop or laboratory technicians based at the University. Usually not named – cost has to be justified.

• Explain why you are using a pooled technician and justify the amount of resource requested.

Infrastructure Technicians

• For example Health and Safety Officer at University.

Cost should be displayed separately to Estate and Indirect costs in the other Directly Allocated costs box. This cost does not need to be justified.

Staff – directly allocated posts

Exceptions PhD student

• Need to justify why a PhD student is needed for the proposed work.

• Will a student be skilled enough to tackle the research problems, and will they in all likelihood get a thesis out of it?

• If you are asking for both an RA and a student, is there sufficient work at the right technical level for both of them? Why are both needed on the project?

Equipment over £50k

• Need to justify all equipment over and under £50k. EPSRC will fund the first £50k of the cost of the equipment at 80% and the remaining amount at 100% FEC.

• Why do you need this equipment for this proposed research?

• What will it be used for and who will be using it?

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Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

EPSRC Contacts Head of Materials Mechanical and Medical Engineering Annette Bramley 01793 444398 annette.bramley@epsrc.ac.uk Head of Information and Communications Technology Liam Blackwell 01793 444217 liam.blackwell@epsrc.ac.uk Head of Energy Multi-Disciplinary Applications Rachel Bishop 01793 444241 rachel.bishop@epsrc.ac.uk Head of Peer Review Susan Morrell 01793 444462 susan.morrell@epsrc.ac.uk Head of Digital Economy John Hand 01793 444394 john.hand@epsrc.ac.uk Head of Nanotechnology and Next Generation Healthcare John Wand MBE 01793 444335 john.wand@epsrc.ac.uk Head of Knowledge Transfer John Baird 01793 444047 john.baird@epsrc.ac.uk Head of Mathematical Sciences and Public Engagement David Harman 01793 444304 david.harman@epsrc.ac.uk Head of Energy Research Capacity Jason Green 01793 444208 jason.green@epsrc.ac.uk Head of Engineering for Sustainability Philippa Hemmings 01793 444378 philippa.hemmings@epsrc.ac.uk Head of Cross Disciplinary Interfaces Kedar Pandya 01793 444317 kedar.pandya@epsrc.ac.uk Head of User Led Knowledge and Skills Alan Thomas 01793 442806 alan.thomas@epsrc.ac.uk Head of Infrastructure and International Jane Nicholson 01793 444065 jane.nicholson@epsrc.ac.uk Head of Physical Sciences Andrew Bourne 01793 444358 andrew.bourne@epsrc.ac.uk Head of Policy and Relationships for People Support Lucy Brady 01793 444147 lucy.brady@epsrc.ac.uk Maggie Wilson 01793 444333 maggie.wilson@epsrc.ac.uk Head of Business Relationships Emma Feltham 01793 444321 emma.feltham@epsrc.ac.uk Associate Director Research Capability Neil Viner 01793 444310 neil.viner@epsrc.ac.uk Associate Director Mission Programmes Alison Wall 01793 444176 alison.wall@epsrc.ac.uk Associate Director Research Base Programmes Clive Hayter 01793 444440 clive.hayter@epsrc.ac.uk Associate Director Economic Impact Vince Osgood MBE 01793 444084 vince.osgood@epsrc.ac.uk Senior Manager International Edward Clarke 01793 444438 edward.clarke@epsrc.ac.uk Senior Manager Public Engagement Joanna Coleman 01793 444209 joanna.coleman@epsrc.ac.uk IDEAS Factory Contact Susan Morrell 01793 444462 susan.morrell@epsrc.ac.uk

For current grant maintenance and grant assessment enquiries

Polymer Molecular Weight – extended service THE EPSRC-FUNDED polymer molecular weight characterisation service, provided by Smithers Rapra, has been extended to include gel permeation chromatography (GPC) with hexafluoro-2-propanol (HFIP).

The addition of HFIP to the range of solvents compliments the existing wide range of GPC techniques that include; room temperature dissolution with tetrahydrofuran and chloroform, high temperature GPC with polar or phenolic solvents, and aqueous based GPC for polymers.

GPC relies on the appropriate selection of solvent. With conventional solvents, some polymers do not dissolve readily at room temperature and have required the use of high temperature dissolution techniques that can alter the measured molecular weight distribution by thermal degradation. In addition, some polymer/solvent combinations produce a poor response from refractive index (RI) detection because the polymer and solvent refractive indices are too similar.

Extensive work at Smithers Rapra has shown that HFIP substantially improves the capability of GPC to include difficult to dissolve polymers such as polyamides and polyesters (e.g. PET). This solvent has also been proven to be appropriate for PEBAX (a polyetheramide) and acetals (polyoxymethylene).

Contact: gpc@rapra.net Further information: www.polymermolecularweight.net

Access to nano-related equipment THE EPSRC-LED Nanoscience through Engineering to Application programme is helping researchers access state-of-the-art facilities.

Nano-related research requires many different types of equipment to fabricate, characterise and explore nano scale systems.

Services detailed below offer free access to a wide-range of equipment to UK-based researchers.

For more information about specific services offered, please contact: Bristol: Fred Hale, Fred.Hale@bristol.ac.uk www.phy.bris.ac.uk/groups/nanophysics/EquipAccess.html Cardiff: George Lalev, nanoaccess@cf.ac.uk www.nanoaccess.cf.ac.uk Imperial College: Alexandra Porter, a.porter@imperial.ac.uk www3.imperial.ac.uk/materials/facilities/em/titan/epsrcaccess Leeds: Joy Bielby, j.bielby@leeds.ac.uk www.nanotechnology.leeds.ac.uk/facilities/lennf Manchester Metropolitan: Vladimir Vishnyakov, v.vishnyakov@mmu.ac.uk www.dri.mmu.ac.uk/driam Nottingham: Peter Milligan, peter.milligan@nottingham.ac.uk www.nottingham.ac.uk/nano/OpenAccess/openaccess.phtml Contact: Nicola Goldberg, nicola.goldberg@epsrc.ac.uk

Engineering Chris Elson 01793 444504 chris.elson@epsrc.ac.uk Technology Valerie Hibberd 01793 444560 valerie.hibberd@epsrc.ac.uk Science Jo Garrad 01793 444348 jo.garrad@epsrc.ac.uk EPSRC, Polaris House, North Star Avenue, Swindon SN2 1ET Telephone: 01793 444000 www.epsrc.ac.uk Editor: Christopher Buratta, christopher.buratta@epsrc.ac.uk Circulation amendments: connect@epsrc.ac.uk Š Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council 2008.

ISSN 1476-6485 Material may be reproduced providing the source is acknowledged.

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