Connect: Issue 78

78

June 2010

www.epsrc.ac.uk

In touch with opportunities from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Hundreds enrolled at new PhD centres A major seminar will be held this summer to help coordinate PhD training across EPSRC’s new Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs).

collaborative partners and are expected to have recruited up to 3,000 students during their five-year lifetimes, with the final student cohorts starting from October 2013.

EPSRC are sponsoring a seminar in London on Monday 19 July at the Institute of Physics whose aim is to bring together the centre administrators so they can examine the potential for fruitful cross-centre collaborations and for developing best practice in organising themselves within their specific centres.

All of the centres have a strong emphasis on team working and problem solving for providing students with the transferable skills that will put them in high demand by academia, business and industry.

More than 600 students are now enrolled at 52 CDTs across the country – a £300m scheme to train the research leaders of the future.

CDT directors and their teams have been strongly encouraged to open up regular dialogue with EPSRC and with other related CDTs to establish good networking and best practice operation.

So far this has led to joint workshops, collaborations, summer schools and potential student placements.

CDT managers and EPSRC staff have also discussed some of the common issues and challenges arising from operating this large portfolio of CDTs. A key point was the evaluation framework for monitoring progress for the proposed review point in 2011. EPSRC has received enthusiastic input from delegates on the draft framework, which will now provide a firm basis for data and information collection across the entire CDT portfolio.

CDTs were established as a supportive and exciting environment for students to carry out a challenging PhD-level research project combined with taught courses.

The centres are working with around 500 industrial organisations as potential

Currently, the CDT portfolio comprises 52 new centres, plus another 17 longstanding current Life Sciences Interface and Complexity Science centres.

The CDTs span the breadth of EPSRC’s portfolio. Some are user-oriented centres (Industrial Doctoral Centres) where students spend 75 per cent of their time working in collaborating companies.

Others, in Digital Economy, Nanoscience and Energy, are part of the RCUK strategic themes.

Centre directors and their teams have been strongly encouraged to open up regular dialogue with EPSRC Following advice from its Council, EPSRC is not planning a major call for CDTs at the present time. However, EPSRC will continue to identify gaps on a programme by programme basis and address these through targeted activities.

Regular, cross centre networking meetings between CDT directors, CDT managers and EPSRC will be essential for success.

Further information: www3.imperial.ac.uk/ chemicalbiologycentre/ doctoraltrainingcentre/ dtc_admin_conf2010 Contact: Steve Milsom steve.milsom@epsrc.ac.uk Contact: Wing-Chau Tung w.tung@imperial.ac.uk

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RESUBMISSION POLICY

CONNECTING WITH INTERNATIONAL

NEW GRANT CLASSIFICATION STRUCTURE

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COLLEGE RENEWAL

Council considered the balance of EPSRC support for people (studentships, CDTs and fellowships) by programme area and career stage in the autumn.

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Preparing new proposals in light of EPSRC’s policy on resubmissions In order to help reduce the pressure on everyone involved in our peer review process, EPSRC no longer accepts resubmissions of proposals.

Using the peer review process to improve proposals puts extreme pressure on our pool of reviewers. EPSRC expects all proposals to be carefully planned and written, highly competitive bids for funding.

It can be hard to define what constitutes a resubmission. So, we’ve approached some experienced peer reviewers and asked what they think would differentiate a new proposal from a resubmission.

Professor Paul Raithby, University of Bath: “In order to succeed with a new proposal and differentiate it from a resubmission I think that it is important to reformulate the idea with a different focus and modified objectives. I try to use the constructive comments from the referees on the previous proposal and, depending on what they have said, either focus down and tighten up the proposal or consider expanding the objectives by bringing in collaborators who can add a new dimension to the proposal.

If it has been possible to do some work in the area, then, including new preliminary results is helpful, and this often opens up new directions that can be capitalised upon in the new proposal.”

Professor Ian White, University of Cambridge: “For me, a new proposal would be warranted if it concerned a separate topic from a previous proposal or introduced a major new concept that hadn’t been part of a previous proposal.”

Professor Mark Harman, King’s College London: “I think that a good ‘litmus test’ is that a new proposal would have a different set of objectives to any other previously submitted. I think it is important that researchers are not anxious about submitting proposals that really are different for fear that they may be branded as resubmission.

As referees, we should remember that many excellent researchers naturally tend to follow a particular line of research enquiry in their work.

I think it is important that researchers are not anxious about submitting proposals that really are different for fear that they may be branded as resubmission.

This inherently means that they will be using a similar overall approach to a set of problems, or will be attacking closely related problems in several grants. However, as prospective principal investigators, it is important that we reconsider all aspects of a proposal. The best way to do this is to start with a blank sheet for every new grant, and resist the temptation to use a previous ‘near miss’ as a starting point. Having said that, I certainly see no problem with the reuse, where appropriate, of refereefavoured aspects of a previous unfunded proposal.”

Professor David Hukins, University of Birmingham: “I would expect to see a new idea that didn’t appear in the original proposal. This could be a new way of doing the project or substantially changed aims. Whatever the change was, I would expect it to come from the applicants and not merely be in response to specific comments made by referees for the original proposal.”

When preparing any new proposal starting with a blank sheet is a good approach. When you’ve got a first draft, examine it critically and ask yourself: •

•

• • Are the resources required to carry out the work broadly the same?

If the answers to most of these questions, particularly the first two, are ‘yes’ then your proposal would likely be considered a resubmission. However, if your proposed work has different aims and objectives, targets a different problem or uses different techniques then it is unlikely to be considered a resubmission.

Contact details for all EPSRC staff can be found at: http://fd.epsrc.ac.uk/contacts/ search.aspx

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EPSRC calls – stay connected

CONNECTING WITH

International International working is embedded within all EPSRC programmes and it currently invests over £642m in a wide range of international related research and training – an increase of over £80m on 2009 and over 35 per cent increase on 2008 figures.

Working with RCUK offices in China, India, the USA and UKRO in Europe, EPSRC’s international team represents the interests of UK research on the global stage, seeking to stimulate partnerships, overseas collaborations, alliances with multinational companies and cooperation with international funding agencies.

One of the projects we will support from 2010 is a £2.5m India-UK collaboration in ‘Advancing the efficiency and production potential of excitonic solar cells’, building on existing research in both countries to develop cheaper and scalable solar cell manufacture.

EPSRC has worked with the Department of Science and Technology (DST) in India to co-fund this project through a joint call with matched-funding from each side.

To find out more about international research opportunities visit our web page or contact the international team.

To find out more about EPSRC funding opportunities please visit:

Contact: Edward Clarke edward.clarke@epsrc.ac.uk

www.epsrc.ac.uk/ callsforproposals

EPSRC International Research Funding Current portfolio as of 01/03/2010 Total = £642.65m Australasia £28.8m Canada £15.3m China £29.6m EU £273.8m

Non-EU Europe £36.2m India £12.1m Japan £28.1m South America £18.7m

Also, why not subscribe to EPSRC’s e-mail alert service or RSS feed. You will then be notified of all new EPSRC calls as they are published. See box below for further information.

calls

Fostering international partnerships

Remember to visit our calls web pages to keep up to date with all the latest EPSRC funding opportunities.

Accessing call information online gives you the greatest amount of time to respond.

United States £184.7m Rest of the World £14.5m Overseas Travel Grants £0.85m

£15.3m

or sign-up to e-alerts and RSS feeds.

£36.2m

£28.1m

£273.8m £29.6m

£184.7m

RCUK

£12.1m

Offices

£18.7m

£14.5m £28.8m £0.85m

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June 2010 Issue 78

Free open-access to nanoscale analysis and fabrication centre Free access to a range of state-ofthe-art atomic force microscopy (AFM) instruments and lithography equipment is now available to UK academics.

This equipment enables nanoscale imaging, force-measurement/manipulation, thermal analysis, fabrication and lithography for UK academics working within the physical, chemical and biological sciences.

The EPSRC sponsored centre is managed by the Nottingham Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Centre, supported by the Schools of Pharmacy and Physics and Astronomy. Training associated with the equipment of the centre can be provided on request.

Further information: www.nottingham.ac.uk/nano Contact: Dr Peter Milligan peter.milligan@nottingham.ac.u

International Collaboration Sabbatical A new scheme, launched by EPSRC’s Materials, Mechanical and Medical Engineering programme, will build stronger international research links.

The new International Collaboration Sabbatical (ICS) scheme is designed to nurture best-with-best international links.

It will increase the quality of international collaboration within the programme’s portfolio. ICS will allow top UK researchers to embark on extended overseas visits to world-leading research centres.

The ICS call has been launched this April as a pilot, initially focussing on building links with US research groups.

Visits should be built around a research programme and will be of 3 to 12 months duration. Funds are available to support four awards of up to £250,000 FEC in the first year of the call.

In line with objectives set out in EPSRC’s Strategic Plan 2010 and RCUK’s Our Vision for International Collaboration, the programme has identified a need to focus on fostering international excellence. ICS will break down some of the barriers to establishing close, lasting international links, for example investigators will be able to request travel and accommodation costs for family and key research staff. There will be a strong emphasis on the choice of host institution/ research group and on support offered by both the employing and host institutions.

Contact: Stephen Kemp stephen.kemp@epsrc.ac.uk

New grant classification structure introduced EPSRC will be introducing a new harmonised research classification structure to help to identify potential peer reviewers and monitor our portfolio of funded projects.

Each time we receive a new grant application it is classified in terms of its subject matter and aims.

The new structure will help us to identify the most appropriate reviewers for new proposals more easily and in a way which better reflects the complex nature of many of the applications we receive.

By removing artificial distinctions currently found within individual descriptions of

the research landscape of each council we will allow peer reviewers to represent their expertise fully and consistently.

While many reviewers and applicants find that their expertise fits within the remit of just one research council, others do not. Researchers’ expertise, and the proposals they write, will often span the remit of more than one council.

EPSRC will use these new classifications to help identify an initial pool of experts who can review a particular proposal.

It will not determine these selections in a mechanistic way. Nor will it be used in isolation. Further refinement and final choice of reviewers for research

proposals will continue to draw on a wide range of other sources of information.

Members of the EPSRC Peer Review College have already been asked to use the new structure to update the information we hold on their personal expertise and interests. We expect to be able to invite all Je-S users, including those who are not members of the College, to update their expertise using the new structure later this year.

Contact: Alex Hulkes alex.hulkes@epsrc.ac.uk

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Renewal of Peer Review College The exercise to renew the EPSRC Peer Review College is now well underway and invitations to join the college have now been issued.

The exercise to renew the college has asked prospective members to identify keywords from a new harmonised version of a research classification structure which have been agreed across all Research Councils.

This classification will aid us in identifying members by their area of expertise when choosing reviewers (see article on page 4).

As the new classification structure is not currently live within Je-S, collection of this data has been done offline. We are currently working through responses to our invitation and will respond to all of these in due course.

This exercise has been run slightly differently to previous college exercises. Existing members with a strong track record as reviewers have been automatically re-invited to serve. This represents about

70 per cent of members and matches well with the levels of re-invitation in previous college exercises. All holders of EPSRC fellowships (other than postdoctoral fellows) have been invited. The specific need to strengthen the international and user-based representation on the college has been addressed by seeking nominations from our key stakeholders. Finally, remaining gaps in expertise coverage have been filled by selecting from those people not on the previous college who had done a significant amount of reviewing for us, and particularly where this had been the result of nomination by investigators.

A full list of the new college membership will be available on our website.

Further information: www.epsrc.ac.uk/college Contact: Stephen Powell stephen.powell@epsrc.ac.uk

Closure of Postdoctoral Fellowships in Theoretical Computer Science The Postdoctoral Fellowships in Theoretical Computer Science scheme will be closed following discussions both internally and with the Information and Communications Technologies Programme Strategic Advisory Team.

There will not be a call for applications in 2010 or subsequently. Our rationale to close the scheme is outlined on the EPSRC website.

Further information: www.epsrc.ac.uk/about/progs/ ict/Pages/recentactivities.aspx Contact: Carol McAnally carol.mcanally@epsrc.ac.uk

Award winning KTP project based on EPSRC research EPSRC is keen to better harvest and exploit the fruits of the research and training we support.

The project has been a huge success, resulting in the development of a new suite of radar products.

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) represent an excellent way of building collaborations and facilitating knowledge exchange between academic and industry partners. EPSRC has a long-standing commitment to the KTP programme and sponsors a prize to the partnership that has most successfully transferred knowledge gained from EPSRC funded research.

The KTP helped the company to lower the cost of the production process and to manufacture a higher performance product line, which is being widely exported overseas. Navtech has expanded its workforce and the Associate, Anthony D’Souza, is now Navtech’s operations director. The collaboration has also helped to give valuable insights to the university into the technical, commercial and economic challenges faced by cutting-edge UK industry.

This year’s winner was Navtech Radar Ltd in partnership with the University of Bath.

This KTP, sponsored by EPSRC and the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), aimed to design, prototype and test a new compact, high resolution radar sensor for security applications.

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) is highly regarded as one of the UK’s best vehicles for Knowledge Transfer; EPSRC is the second largest of 18 sponsors.

Further information: www.ktponline.org.uk www.nav-tech.com EPSRC contact: David Mahoney david.mahoney@epsrc.ac.uk Navtech Radar Ltd contact: Anthony D’Souza Tel: +44(0) 1235 832419

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June 2010 Issue 78

EPSRC Contacts For further programme information: www.epsrc.ac.uk

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 Jason Green 01793 444208 jason.green@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 Rachel Bishop 01793 444335 rachel.bishop@epsrc.ac.uk Head of Nanotechnology Rachel Bishop 01793 444335 rachel.bishop@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

Study days make a start Earlier this year EPSRC announced the dates for study days for 2010. The first was held in February, while a second in May is full and no longer available for further bookings.

Remaining dates still available for 2010 are 26 August and 22 November. Dates for 2011 have now been confirmed and are to be held on the 17 February, 17 May, 14 July and 17 November.

The days give UK university staff a good understanding of EPSRC strategies and procedures, including how research proposals are peer reviewed. They also include a mock prioritisation panel.

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

Requests to attend study days should be made via your research office, and these requests or specific queries should be made by email to: EPSRC_study_days@epsrc.ac.uk Further information: www.epsrc.ac.uk/studydays

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 Senior Manager International Edward Clarke 01793 444438 edward.clarke@epsrc.ac.uk Senior Manager Public Engagement Jo Coleman 01793 444209 joanna.coleman@epsrc.ac.uk Michelle Lascelles 01793 444461 michelle.lascelles@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: Rachael Brown, rachael.brown@epsrc.ac.uk Circulation amendments: connect@epsrc.ac.uk Š Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council 2010.

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

Call for applications for phase 3 Life Long Health and Wellbeing A call for applications for the third phase of Life Long Health and Wellbeing (LLHW) was announced in May 2010.

Phase 3 will invite high quality innovative multidisciplinary applications that focus on major ageing-related challenges faced by the UK in the 21st century. This call presents an exciting opportunity that the engineering and physical community can participate in.

Lifelong Health and Wellbeing (LLHW) is a major cross-council initiative supporting multidisciplinary research addressing healthy ageing and wellbeing.

Some examples of research funded in previous phases can be found on the LLHW website: www.mrc.ac.uk/Ourresearch/ ResearchInitiatives/LLHW/index.htm

Further information: www.mrc.ac.uk/Utilities/Documentrecord/ index.htm?d=MRC006681 6