November 2009 Issue 75
Keeping you in touch with opportunities from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
www.epsrc.ac.uk
Leading research for the future EPSRC
will set out its ambition for the future and how it will deliver UK science and engineering that leads the world. Set to be published in spring 2010, EPSRC’s new Strategic Plan will outline the organisation’s high level vision and goals for the next three to five years. EPSRC’s chief executive David Delpy said the plan would provide a clear strategy for EPSRC, in partnership with the academic community, to ensure science and engineering builds a sustainable, healthy and prosperous future for the UK. “Our Strategic Plan is being drawn up during a very challenging time,” he said, “both in terms of global issues such as climate change and in terms of the current economic situation. “It has never been more important for the engineering and physical sciences community to work together to show how important we are for the UK’s future, and why continued investment in our area is so crucial.” The plan draws on input and consultation from the academic community and EPSRC’s Council and advisory panels. It will also be informed by Government strategy and the wider global landscape, including research directions in other countries and the current economic climate. Adrian Paul, EPSRC’s head of strategy and planning, said the plan was now in an engagement stage, building on wider consultation earlier this year, and would be finalised for publication in the spring. He added: “Our Strategic Plan has been developed over a number of months and has included broad consultation, including the online consultation exercise carried out last March. “The plan has been informed by those views and ideas and we are currently taking it through a more focused engagement phase, talking to key groups, to ensure its key themes resonate with the wider community.” The Strategic Plan is a high level statement of EPSRC’s long term vision and goals and will set out the broad approaches to achieving them.
“It has never been more important for the engineering and physical sciences community to work together to show how important we are for the UK’s future.” Mr Paul said: “The new plan will clearly define our position in the context of UK and global research and training and will set out and respond to key factors that will include the economic climate and international activity. It is also important to provide continuity with our previous Strategic Plan, build upon our previous achievements, and provide leadership to the research community.” The Strategic Plan will not detail specific activities, targets, milestones and resources – it will provide the framework within which these will be formed. EPSRC’s delivery plan – set to be published in 2010/11 – will be guided by the Strategic Plan and will detail specific activities, targets and milestones, along with resources allocated to each activity. Contact: Adrian Paul, adrian.paul@epsrc.ac.uk
Follow EPSRC on Twitter: www.twitter.com/epsrc
Inside pressure on 2 Tackling Peer Review
panel process 3 New explained
3 Calls Forthcoming EPSRC funding opportunities
4 Nanoscience theme day update
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Safeguarding the peer review process: why is EPSRC looking to manage demand? In addition, a series of measures planned to reduce demand were implemented in a phased fashion from April 2009:
EPSRC
is currently implementing a number of measures to safeguard the Peer Review process. The measures build on the 2006 Research Councils UK review of the effectiveness of Peer Review and a need for the system to support EPSRC’s mission, as set out in its Delivery Plan, of supporting world class research, improving quality of life and promoting economic development. The 2006 RCUK review reported that the number of proposals to Research Councils had doubled since 1988/89 and increased 20 per cent in the last nine years (see Figure 1). The review concluded that the peer review process starts to become ineffective when success rates fall below 20 per cent. Not only has the number of proposals been increasing, the number of applicants has also been increasing as can be seen in figure 2. EPSRC has received a cash increase of 18.6 per cent over the last spending review period. However, this is primarily associated with meeting the additional costs of Full Economic Costs (FEC) and will not lead to an increase in the volume of research undertaken. This increase in the number of applicants and proposals means a greater burden is being placed on reviewers and panels. Unfortunately, the number of useable reviewers’ reports received has decreased over the years (see figure 3). On average 20,000 reviewers are approached for comments – in 98/99 EPSRC received 16,202 useable reviewers’ reports compared to 11,758 useable reviewers’ reports in 08/09. Currently only 59 per cent of reviews requested are usable.
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EPSRC no longer accepts uninvited resubmissions www.epsrc.ac.uk/ResearchFunding/HowToApply/ Resubmissions.htm
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Providing best practice and guidance to institutions (ongoing);
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Constraining repeatedly unsuccessful applicants from April 2010 www.epsrc.ac.uk/ResearchFunding/HowToApply/RUA.htm
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Enhancing transparency of review outcomes (ongoing).
Figure 1: Demand vs Budget 2500
40% 2000
35% 30%
1500 £m
25% 20%
1000
15% 10%
500
EPSRC is planning to address this issue by: •
45%
5%
Giving reviewers more flexibility e.g. ability to suggest a submission date
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Revisiting the reviewers’ incentive scheme to respond to feedback received from the community
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Exploring giving reviewers more feedback e.g. possibility of allowing reviewers to see other reviewers’ reviews
0%
0 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 Year value demand
Figure 2: Rising number of applicants
EPSRC budget
success by no.
Figure 3: Reviewers’ responses over time (as percentage)
14000 90%
12000
70%
8000
60% Percentage
Number of people
80% 10000
6000 4000
50% 40% 30%
2000
20% 10%
0 1996
2001
2008
0% 98/99 99/00 00/01 01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08 08/09
Year
Decision Date by Financial Year FTE Number of Staff in RAE Usable
Sum of Unique Investigators (Funded) at 1st April
Not responded Sum of Unique Investigators (Applied) at 1st April
Unable (all types)
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November 2009 Issue 75
Changes to the panel process EPSRC has updated the process used by Peer Review Panels for scoring and ranking proposals. The reasons for making changes to the process are: •
To improve the quality of the decision making process by focussing the panel discussion and assessment around the criteria on the new reviewer forms
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To demonstrate more clearly that panel decisions are directly based on reviewer comments and the principal investigator’s response as required by published EPSRC policy
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To enable the strengths and weaknesses of individual proposals relative to the assessment criteria to be explicitly identified and used for ranking, thereby increasing the transparency of the decision making process
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To improve the perceived objectivity and repeatability of the assessment process.
Whilst most aspects of how panels operate will remain the same, a change has been made to how pre-scores are determined and how the panel uses these to generate the rank ordered list. For each proposal, panel members will submit a pre-score for each section of the reviewer form (quality, impact, applicant, resources and management) based on the reviewer comments. The overall score agreed at the panel meeting will be based on the individual criterion scores given by the introducers, following discussion with the whole panel. Quality is the primary criterion and will be given the greatest weighting. Responsive mode panels will move to the new process when the majority of the proposals at the panel have been written in the new format that includes impact plans.
Calls
Prioritisation panels rely on the quality and completeness of the individual expert reviews given on each proposal. Panels have to compare many high quality proposals. To help them to discriminate effectively between these, reviewers are asked to answer all sections of the review as fully as possible. Generally, it is most helpful when reviewers can clearly identify all the strengths and weaknesses for each aspect of the proposal, and explain their overall conclusion by balancing these. Guidance on completing reviews is available both as online helptext on Je-S, and under the ‘forms’ section on EPSRC’s website. Contact: Emma King, emma.king@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
Senior Media Fellowships Closing date: 10 December 2009 We invite applications for Senior Media Fellowships from leading academic researchers with media experience who wish to spend time working more proactively with the mass media. Contact: Katherine Miller, katherine.miller@epsrc.ac.uk
Toshiba Fellowship Programme Call Closing date: 11 December 2009 The programme offers PhD-level researchers studying or working in a UK academic or Governmental institution the opportunity to kick-start their career by gaining up to two year’s experience in a Toshiba R&D laboratory in Japan. Details on how to apply www.toshiba-europe.com/eur/fellowship/index.htm
Senior Media Fellowships – Extensions 2010 Closing date: 10 December 2009 We invite current Senior Media Fellows to apply for an additional two years to build on their achievements in their current fellowship. Contact: Katherine Miller, katherine.miller@epsrc.ac.uk
Royal Society Industry Fellowships 2010 – Call for Applications Closing date: 24 March 2010 The Industry Fellowship scheme funded by, amongst others, the Royal Society and EPSRC, aims to enhance knowledge transfer in science and technology between those in industry and those in academia. Contact: www.royalsociety.org
The Collaboration Fund – Call for Expressions of Interest Closing date: 11 December 2009 The Collaboration Fund offers support to researchers wishing to work with a commercialising partner in taking forward business opportunities generated from EPSRC funded research. Contact: Mr David Mahoney, david.mahoney@epsrc.ac.uk
Digital Economy Research in the Wild Closing date: 31 March 2010 The Digital Economy Programme invites applicants to apply for short-term funding to perform their ‘Research in the Wild’. This call is about allowing researchers in the Digital Economy to expose and test their research ideas with potential beneficiaries. Contact: Dr Pamela Mason, pamela.mason@epsrc.ac.uk John Hand, john.hand@epsrc.ac.uk
For upcoming ‘Future Calls’ go to www.epsrc.ac.uk/ResearchFunding/Opportunities/FutureCalls.htm
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Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
EPSRC Contacts Head of Materials, Mechanical and Medical Engineering Mark Claydon-Smith 01793 444440 mark.claydon-smith@epsrc.ac.uk Head of Information and Communications Technology Liam Blackwell 01793 444217 liam.blackwell@epsrc.ac.uk Head of Energy Multidisciplinary 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 Next Generation Healthcare Claire Wagstaffe 01793 444586 claire.wagstaffe@epsrc.ac.uk Head of Nanotechnology Christopher Jones, 01793 444163 christopher.jones@epsrc.ac.uk Head of Knowledge Transfer John Baird 01793 444047 john.baird@epsrc.ac.uk
Evaluation of Nanoscience Programme ACADEMICS and industry representatives have met to evaluate the influence and success of the RCUK programme ‘Nanoscience through Engineering to Application’. The theme day, held in September, was led by an independent panel of experts who will publish a full report in December. The Research Councils’ action plan in response to the report recommendations will be published at the same time. The theme day included focus group sessions and open questions across a range of topics including doctoral training, the grand challenge approach and the quality of the links and communications between industry and academia. The panel commented on the positive steps taken to support the discipline in response to the 2005 theme day recommendations. Further information: www.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 Research Careers Strategy 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 444360 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 Katherine Miller 01793 444196 katherine.miller@epsrc.ac.uk IDEAS Factory Contact Susan Morrell 01793 444462 susan.morrell@epsrc.ac.uk
For current grant maintenance and grant assessment queries Engineering Chris Elson 01793 444504 chris.elson@epsrc.ac.uk Technology Valerie Hibberd 01793 444560 valerie.hibberd@epsrc.ac.uk Science Jan Tucker 01793 444046 jan.tucker@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 © Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council 2009. ISSN 1476-6485
Working with the ETI THE ENERGY Technologies Institute (ETI) hosted an open day for energy researchers across the UK to clarify the ETI’s role and its interaction with the academic community. Presentations focused on; ‘The UK Energy System and the Challenge of UK Targets’, ‘Where does the ETI fit and how does it operate?’ ‘Feedback from universities currently working with the ETI’ and ‘The ETI’s strategy and plans’. Networking and discussions took place throughout the day, held in September, stimulating some interesting debates and questions. The ETI is a partnership between UK Government, including EPSRC, and global energy developers BP, Shell, E.ON, EDF Energy, Caterpillar and Rolls-Royce. Its role is to accelerate energy technologies to help achieve UK carbon reduction targets. For further information about the Academic Day, the ETI and its Technology Strategy, please email clare.minnitt@eti.co.uk
Material may be reproduced providing the source is acknowledged.
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