Fu IN ll A Lis SI D w E ar t o ds f R : — e P ce 23 nt
Research Active The Newsletter of University of Kent Research Services, Vol 6, Issue 3, April 2012
THINK BIG
It’s clear that the funding landscape is changing. Inside this edition of Research Active we report on the visit by the Chief Executive of the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Prof Rick Rylance (p4).
Rylance talked about the AHRC’s intention to ‘concentrate’ funding on fewer recipients, and that smaller institutions will need to think about forming partnerships, collaborations and consortia. He is not alone in this. The ESRC Delivery Plan talks about ‘focusing our resources on longer, larger grants that deliver ambitious social science’, and EPSRC has stated that ‘the funding of longer, larger research grants is key to achieving
EPSRC’s strategy to deliver greater impact than ever before.’ Elsewhere Wellcome has restructured its grants programme so that it provides substantial, long term funding through its ‘Investigator Awards’. Hand in hand with this is an increasing move by funders to be directive in what they prioritise. This can take the form of specific, interdisciplinary calls, or for certain areas to be highlighted as priorities, which (as BBSRC suggested) ‘have some advantage in competition.’
The latest award figures (p2-3) suggest that Kent has the potential to benefit from this, but has not yet grasped the nettle of longer, larger, targeted funding. It received awards from four of the seven Research Councils, but the largest number of awards given by any one funder came from the British Academy. However, the BA’s nine awards accounted for only 2% of the funding. These awards provide important
6 Months of Kent Peer Review The Kent Peer Review (KPR) system was introduced on 1 Oct 2011. Since then, approximately 94 applications have been eligible for KPR, of which almost two thirds have gone through the system (65%). Most of the applications have been to six funders: the EC/FP7, EPSRC, Leverhulme, BBSRC, AHRC and ESRC. The overwhelming majority of users have been very appreciative of the reviews, and have found the feedback helpful. All have found it less bureaucratic and more flexible than they had feared. Response times have been much quicker than anticipated: most have been within a week, and some have been received overnight. Over the next six months Research Services will continue to monitor and amend the system so that it fulfils its aim of encouraging applicants to share their proposals with those who understand both the subject and the funder. For more information, contact Phil Ward (p.ward@kent.ac.uk).
seedcorn or small scale funding, but we need to raise our sights. To prepare larger applications does require considerably more work, but the research that is made possible with this increased funding easily justifies the extra time and effort. Over the next few months we will be targeting individuals whom we consider to have the potential to take advantage of the funders’ priorities, who have the leadership, the knowledge and the links to bring together successful consortia. They will be provided with the institutional support to achieve this. However, I would encourage you all to be ambitious, to talk to your Funding Officer about external priorities, the internal funding available to support large and complex grants, and how you can achieve a step change in your research through a large grant. PVC Research
INSIDE THIS EDITION Overview of Funding New Awards
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Research Council News
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Inside the Smoke-Filled Rooms 5 REF Update
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Welcome to New Staff
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Upcoming Events
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Choice Cuts from the Blog
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ResearchActive is edited by Phil Ward. Contact him for more information or clarification on any of the items in this edition. In addition, 1 for the latest from the world of research funding, go to fundermental.blogspot.com, or Twitter @unikentresearch & @frootle
An Overview of Research Funding, Jan-Mar 2012 This term sees the reLa Troube British Other (1% turn of the ‘big’ Research Uni 3% Academy or less for Councils to the top of 2% each Wellcome the awards table: A third funder) 10% 3% Pilgrims of the awards (32%) Hospice came from EPSRC, and a 4% quarter (27%) from Royal BBSRC. However, the Society 7% rebirth of the BA’s Small Grants had the biggest effect on numbers: nine STFC 7% of this term’s awards came from this funder. Leverhulme
Award Value
EPSRC 32%
BBSRC 27%
Largest Individual Awards (titles of projects listed opposite) Humanities: Dr Ben Hutchinson (SECL): £70,000 from Leverhulme.
7%
Split of Total Award Value by Faculty
Award Number (>1 Award) 10 8 6 4 2 0
Sciences: Dr Wei-Feng Xue (Biosciences): £428,737 from BBSRC. Social Sciences: Dr Miri Song (SSPSSR): £113,476 from Leverhulme.
Humanities Sciences Social Sciences
FULL LIST OF AWARDS: 1 Jan—31 March 2012 Below are awards for more than European Culture & Languages (SECL) £1000 made this Term. It does not Dr Ben Hutchinson: Modern European Languages and Literature include extensions or supplements. (Leverhulme, £70,000) Dr Vikki Janke: Acquisition of SynHUMANITIES tactic and Pragmatic Aspects of Control and Binding: a Comparison beArchitecture Dr Manolo Guerci: Great Houses tween Autistic and non-Autistic Chilof the Strand: the Ruling Elite at dren (BA, £9,922) Home in Tudor and Jacobean Eng- Dr Ellen Swift: Design for Living: Artefact Function and Everyday Soland (Paul Mellon, £1,000) cial Practice in the Roman World (BA, £1,300) Arts Dr Roberta Comunian: Music Prof Jon Williamson: Mechanism and the Evidence Hierarchy (AHRC, Communities (AHRC, £7,134) Dr Duska Radosavljevic: The Role £14,218) of Ensemble Theatre in Redefining Prof Jon Williamson: Evidence & ‘Playwriting’ and ‘Writing for Per- Causality in the Sciences (Mind, formance’ in the 21st Century £2,000) (AHRC, £20,513) Dr Ben Thomas: Alfred Drury and History the New Sculpture (Paul Mellon, Prof Grayson Ditchfield: The Cor£4,500) respondence of Francis Blackburn 2
(1705-87) (BA, £1,422) SCIENCES Centre for Molecular Processing Prof Mark Smales: Investigation & Manipulation of mTOR Cellular Signalling to Generate Novel CHO Host Cells with High Growth and Productivity Characteristics (BBSRC, £324,214) Prof Mark Smales: Development of Predictive Tools for the Isolation of Highly Productive Recombinant Mammalian Cell Lines (BBSRC, £48,336) Medway School of Pharmacy Dr Scott Wildman: Luminal Fluid Regulation of Renal Tubular Transport Mechanism: P2 Receptor Control of Sodium and Water (Wellcome, £80,481)
Biosciences Dr Dan Mulvihill: Development of Simultaneous Multi-Plane Acquisition Imaging Systems (Royal Society, £119,321) Dr Mark Shepherd: Porphyrins as a Novel Antimicrobials: Photodynamic Inactivation of MRSA through Accumulation of Endogenuously Porphyrins (Royal Society, £15,000) Dr Wei-Feng Xue: Quantitative Investigations into the Molecular Mechanisms of Amyloid Fibril Fragmentation (BBSRC, £428,737)
Dr Stephen Lowry: Direct Detections of the Asteroidal YORP Effect (STFC, £1,590) Prof Adrian Podoleanu: Imaging of Neuroglobin (Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Trust, £17,500) Dr Mark Price: What Role Does Impact Drive Chemistry Play in the Lithosphere of Mars? (STFC, £99,972) Dr Jorge Quintanilla: SEPnet Collaborative Agreement (STFC, £94,157) SOCIAL SCIENCES
Computing Dr Eerke Boiten: Networks on Formal Methods and Cryptography: CryptoForma II (EPSRC, £90,227) Prof David Chadwick: Sticky Policy Based Security APIs for the Cloud (EPSRC, £117,079) Prof Michael Kolling: Greenfoot 2 (La Toube University, £77,368)
Kent Business School (KBS) Dr Diogo de Souza Monteiro: The Use of Mobile Technology to Enhance Nutritional Information Provision for Health Diet Choices (BA, £7,400) Dr Mark Hampton: How Can Tourism Promote Inclusive Growth in Small Island States? (World Bank, £22,111) Engineering & Digital Arts (EDA) Dr Nathan Gomes: Distinguished Dr Patricia Lewis: Mumpreneurs: Visting Fellowship for Prof Chiani Reframing Women’s Entrepreneurial Activity (BA, £3,650) (RAE, £6,000) Prof Sarah Spurgeon: Finite Time Kent Law School (KLS) Orbitally Stabilizing Synthesis of Complex Dynamic Systems with Bi- Dr Emily Grabham: The Politics of furcations with Application to Bio- Prognosis: HIV, Anti-Retrovirals, and the Definition of Disability in the UK logical Systems (EPSRC, £329,465) Dr Paul Young: Integrated Smart Equality Law, 1996,2005 (Socio-Legal Antennas for 60 GHz Wi-Fi (UK- Studies, £1,300) India ERI, £19,762) Dr Francesco Messineo: Shared Responsibility in International Law Mathematics, Statistics & Actuarial (University of Amsterdam, £4,699) Science (SMSAS) Anthropology & Conservation (SAC) Dr Jim Griffin: Advanced Bayesian Dr Metin Eren: Can Olduvai Gorge Computation for Cross Disciplinary Shed Light on Africa’s Middle Stone Research (EPSRC, £104,922) Age? (BA, £8211) Dr Steffen Krusch: Skyrmion- Dr Jim Groombridge: Ecology of Skyrmion Scattering and Nuclear Non-Native Ring-Necked Parkeets in Physics (EPSRC, £100,427) Europe (University of Antwerp, Dr Bas Lemmens: From Hyperbolic £12,467) Geometry to Nonlinear Perron- Dr Matt Hodges: Sensing the Past Frobenius Theory (EPSRC, £98,832) (BA, £9,978) Dr Markus Rosenkranz: Computer Dr Patrick Mahoney: Enamel Algebra for Linear Boundary Prob- Crown Formation Times for Human lems (EPSRC, £99,957) Deciduous Maxillary Molars (Royal Society, £9,221) Physical Sciences (SPS) Dr Matt Struebig: Conservation of Dr Donna Arnold: Structure- Hipposideros Ridleyi and Other Property Correlations in Porus Man- Threatened Bats in Oil Palm Estates ganese Oxides (Royal Society, (Mohamed bin Zayed Species Con£12,000) servation Fund, £6,430) 3
Dr Joseph Tzanopoulos: SCALES (EU, £30,360) Economics Dr Alex Klein: Reconstructing the National Incomes of Britain and Holland (Leverhulme, £25,937) Dr Alex Klein: Agglomeration Economies in the Long Run: Empirical Analysis Using the United States Census of Manufacturers 1860-2007 (BA, £10,000) Prof Iain Fraser: Scale Dependence of Stocks and Flows in the Valuation of Ecosystem Services (Valuing Nature Network, £3,418) Dr Katsuyuki Shibayama: Economic Growth and Environmental Sustainability: an Economic Analysis of Nuclear Power ex-ante and ex-post the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster (Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, £7,500) Politics & International Relations (PolIR) Prof Richard Whitman: Assessing the Global Role of the EU: Future Research Directions (James Madison Trust, £42,525) Psychology Prof Dominic Abrams: Attitudes to Age in Rights– and Duty-Based Cultures: a Comparison of the UK and Taiwan (BA, £4,000) Dr Roger Giner-Sorolla: Perceptions of Humanity: Moral Implications for Technology (ESF, £6,754) Social Policy, Sociology, and Social Research (SSPSSR) Dr Ben Baumberg: To Further Understand the Impact of Social Influence and Relating Pressures on Applying for Benefits (Elizabeth Finn Care, £35,969) Dr Laura Holdsworth: Invicta Project Evaluation (Pilgrims Hospices, £107,503) Prof Roger Matthews: Evaluation of the Chrysalis Project (Commonweal Housing, £27,136) Dr Miri Song: Mixed Race Parents’ Racial Classification of Their Children (Leverhulme, £113, 479)
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NERC Introduces Demand Management NERC has become the third Research Council - after EPSRC and ESRC - to explicitly state that they want universities to 'self regulate' their applications. This was triggered by worries about success rates in some of their schemes falling to 16%. They want institutions to strip out applications which NERC would define as 'uncompetitive' (i.e. scoring 6/10 or below at panel). Initially, the measures are quite light touch. They will provide data on university success rates and, if these are thought to be too low, will advise on best practice in supporting applications.
Notes from AHRC’s CEO The AHRC Chief Rick Rylance visited in February and provided an insight into the Council’s current thinking. The AHRC had received a good settlement from the Comprehensive Spending Review, but it was clear that: there should be no duplicate funding, either between funders (such as ESRC and BA), or types of funding (QR and RCUK); there was a need to focus on excellence. Essentially, this meant concentration and collaboration. The AHRC funds 85 institutions, but 75% of its funding goes to just 30 of these, and 39% to just 10. This trend will increase. there was a need to demonstrate results, particularly the impact that AHRC funded research had had. there was a need for 'efficiency
Research Council News
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gains'. RCUK were being asked to do more with less. Although Rylance himself was not keen on quotas and penalties, institutions would be encouraged to proactively review and develop excellent applications. Following on from this, Rylance out lined a series of issues that were occupying his thoughts., including: Interdisciplinarity. The distinctions between pure and applied, between responsive and strategic, will disappear over time, suggested Rylance. Both HEIs and funders will collaborate more and more. 'Second Generation Problem.' He was worried about succession and sustainability in the sector, particularly with senior colleagues no longer needing to retire. 'Partnership World'. He identified a new world emerging, which would require different ways of undertaking research and providing education. He suggested that we all needed to think of the opportunities that this provided, rather than getting anxious about the change.
AHRC Expands its Peer Review College The AHRC has appointed 220 members to its peer review college, bringing the total membership to more than 1500. The AHRC says the new members, representing close to 70 UK research organisations, have been selected in “priority areas”. Six members of the new college come from Kent:: • • • • • •
Dr Kate Bradley (SSPSSR) Dr Maria Drakopoulou (KLS) Dr Emily Grabham (KLS) Dr Ben Hutchinson (SECL) Dr Grant Pooke (Arts) Dr Axel Stahler (SECL)
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EPSRC Completes its Remit Review In March the EPSRC completed the ‘Shaping Capability’ review of its remit With all the ‘shaping’ now completed, the EPSRC has decided to reduce funding in 14 areas, increase funding for 17, and maintain funding in 82 out of a total of 113 areas. The council has not revealed by how much it will cut or increase funding for the fields. Those to be cut are: biological informatics, CMOS device technology, cold atoms & molecules, conventional generation and combustion, engineering approaches to manufacturing operations, hydrogen and alternative energy vectors, material engineering ceramics, mathematical physics, mobile computing, speech technology, surface science, sustainable land management, synthetic organic chemistry, and transportation.
ROS Begins The Research Outcomes System (ROS) has extended the deadline by which award holders have to provide details of outcomes arising from RCUK funded research. As this is the first year for the system there are a number of glitches still being ironed out. The new deadline is 30 April. They are working to get information from final reports added to the system. If you are affected by the new system and have any questions, contact Sue Prout (s.c.prout@kent.ac.uk).
John Baldock Invited to Assess ESRC Future Leaders The PVC Research has been invited to the ESRC’s first commissioning panel for the new Future Leaders Scheme.
Inside the Smoke-Filled Rooms As well as supporting academics in applying for and managing grants, Research Services also services two committees: the Board for Research and Enterprise (BRE, a formal committee of Senate) and the Directors of Research Network (DoRN, an informal forum). Below are some issues discussed at the last meetings. Full minutes of both are available on the website.
Research Centres The BRE approved the establishment of the following centres: • Centre for Heritage Research & Development • Centre in Cyber Security. In addition, it approved the continuation of: • Anglo-Chinese Business and Management Centre • Centre for Biocultural Diversity • Centre for Critical International Law • Centre for European, Regional and Transport Economics • Centre for Federal Studies • Centre for Tourism in Islands and Coastal Areas • Kent Crime and Justice Centre • Centre for the Study of Philanthropy, Humanitarianism and Social Justice • Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience and Cognitive Systems
Humanities Research Centre Forum The DoRN heard about the Humanities Faculty’s plan to convene a forum for the directors of its 22 centres. It would be an opportunity for the directors to hear about the work being done in the other centres, to share good practice, and to potentially form collaborations. The Forum was commended as a good initiative, particularly in light of the requirements of the REF Environment statement. Members of other faculties were invited to attend; it would take place in the Marlowe Lecture Theatre between 12-2pm on the 6 June.
New Members of Research Services After the departures of staff members over the winter (see the front page of the last edition of Research Active), Research Services has recruited four replacements: • Dr Helen Leech will be providing maternity leave cover for Karen Allart. Prior to taking up this post she was a PDRA in the Medway School of Pharmacy. • Brian Lingley will move from Kent Innovation and Enterprise to become the Faculty Funding Officer for the Social Sciences. • Traysi Higgin will start as a Senior Accounts Clerk. • Kate Noone will take over from Rachel Donald as the Contracts Assistant.
REF Equality & Diversity Project Kent will be taking part in a project to monitor equality and diversity (E&D) issues for the REF. DoRN heard about this project, which is being led by Oxford Brookes University and is intended to examine the effect of the REF on research careers. The project is seeking a diverse and broad group of fourteen members of staff to take part from Kent. Their involvement will be limited to a telephone interview. Human Resources will be running a lunchtime seminar to provide information on the project, which will take place on 27 April. In addition, HR has developed a series of ‘pathfinder’ diagrams that outlined the support available for staff in developing their research careers. They are available on the HR website. 5
Research Strategies Executive Group, consisting of the VC, PVCs and DVCs, has been concerned about the recent fall in research awards, and the fact that 70% of academic staff did not hold a current grant. It has therefore requested that all Faculties and Schools produce updated research strategies that should include: • Key themes or strengths of each School and Faculty; • School and individual targets; • Research monitoring systems. These should map on to the REF Section 5a, which outlined a Unit of Assessment’s research strategy and strengths. Both BRE & DoRN were broadly welcoming of this, although they were concerned about the additional workload in the lead up to the REF pilot exercise, as well as questioning how meaningful the strategies would be. Moreover, it was felt that if the University was serious about prioritising research, it should not be considered in isolation, but as part of the wider demands on academics’ time. There was a pressing need for a comprehensive review of workloads across the University, and for there to be investment and effective management systems to balance them. If you have thoughts on this do feed them back to your School DoR.
I’ve heard about the REF Pilot Exercise - what’s it all about? You probably know that the final submission deadline for the REF is 29 November 2013. Well, we’re having a dress rehearsal a year early. This means that we’re collecting all the data about staff, research outputs, impact, research income, PhD students and the general research environment, and putting it all together in the required format for the end of November this year. We’re looking at around 80,000 data items for more than 20 subject areas, between 4 and 500 staff and say 1,600 outputs. Then of course there’ll be 20+ narratives about impact and the research environment, and maybe 60 impact case studies. Sounds like a big job. Who does all this work? It’s a team effort! For each subject area there’s a working group of academic and admin staff who are responsible for writing the narratives about how we manage, support and promote research and
Pilot Exercise impact in schools, and evaluating which are the best research outputs to include. Central services, in the form of the REF Technical Group, provide those 80,000 data items and the REF Steering Group oversees the whole exercise. If you have any questions about the REF in your discipline, the best person to contact is your REF UOA Co-ordinator - details from http:// bit.ly/ref-contacts. Who’ll be included in the REF Pilot Exercise? All academic staff who will be in post on the 31 October 2012, with a contract of at least 0.2 FTE which includes the requirement to do research are technically eligible to be included. Equality and diversity are at the heart of the REF, and we’re finalising the Code of Practice
which explains how the decisions about which eligible staff are included will be made. It’ll be circulated to all staff shortly. All members of the REF working groups have training on equality matters to make sure that all decisions to do with the Pilot Exercise are made fairly. I may not have 4 outputs. Can I still be included in the Pilot Exercise? Possibly. HEFCE acknowledges that various things may have affected someone’s ability to produce 4 items of research output in the period, such as early career status, maternity leave or part time working. There’s a framework for calculating whether a reduced number of outputs may be allowed for some people. We’ll be asking all academic staff whether any ‘individual staff circumstaqnces’ have affected them, and HR will manage a confidential process to work out how many outputs are needed. Some examples are on the Equality Challenge Unit website, http://bit.ly/refisc.
WELCOME! 34 academics have joined the University since the beginning of the year. This term eight more have come to Kent. Welcome to them all. Dr Antonis Alexandridis (SMSAS) focuses on financial engineering and artificial intelligence. More precisely his research interests include financial derivative modelling, pricing and forecasting, weather risk management, machine learning, neural and wavelet networks, stochastic calculus, wavelet analysis and signal denoising. Dr Doug Andrews (SMSAS) does research in actuarial science, which has an international perspective focused on investments, risk management, financial economics, aging, and the management of pension and social security plans.
Dr Vladimir Gubala (Pharmacy) has research interests in overlapping fields of therapeutics and biomedical diagnostics, broadly defined as ‘theranostics’, with a particular focus on design and development of rapid diagnostics tools for treatment monitoring. Dr Matteo Migliavacca (Computing) works in networked systems, with an emphasis on system building and evaluation. Dr Richard Misek (EDA) has research interests in screen technologies and aest het ics, post production, remix cinema, digital spacetime, urban space, video art. 6
Dr Julien Murzi (SECL) specialises in the philosophies of logic and language and in metaphysics, but also has interests in formal semantics and proof-theory. Dr Zaki Wahhaj (Economics) focuses on economic development and applied theory. His current research deals with the themes of social norms and household decision-making in developing countries. Dr Scott Wildman (Pharmacy) focuses on urinary system physiology, in particular the nature and regulation of epithelial transport processes along the nephron, and the epithelial cell function in the urinary bladder.
Events of May Your cut-out-and-keep guide to the busy month of May. All events are free, and tea/coffee or lunch is provided. If you want any more information on any of these, contact Phil Ward (p.ward@kent.ac.uk)
ERC Starting Grants
Marie Curie Fellowships
PVC Seminar: Europeanisation
Keynes LT3 4 May, 12-30pm-2pm
Keynes LT3 4 May, 2pm-3:30pm
Peter Brown Room, Darwin 9 May, 12:30pm-2pm
The next round of European Research Council Starting Grants is due to open in July, with deadlines early in the new year. These grants are very generous, offering those with 2-12 years postdoc experience up to €1.5m for 5 years. Competition is fierce, but success rates are on a par with those for Research Councils. Jo Frost, our UK Research Office (UKRO) rep, will provide an insight into these grants, and Funding Officers will be on hand to offer practical advice about what you need to do to apply.
Jo Frost (UKRO) will follow up her ERC talk by providing more information on the Marie Curie Fellowships. These are intended to encourage mobility for researchers within Europe. They can be on an individual basis, or as a network. The MC schemes are popular, and they have recently been revised by the EC. Jo will tell us more about these changes, and what the Commission has planned for the next Framework Programme.
To mark Europe Day a special PVC’s Lunchtime Seminar will look at ‘Europeanisation.’ Speakers include Dr Paolo Dardanelli (Politics & International Relations), Prof Roger Vickerstaff (Economics, and Dean of the Brussels Campus), Dr Simone Glanert, and Dr Ben Hutchinson (SECL, recently awarded the Leverhulme Prize, see p2-3). The Seminars offer a chance to find out about what research is happening across the University, and to meet others outside your School.
Pros & Cons of EU Funding
Understanding & Applying to NIHR
Writing Better Bids
Peter Brown Room, Darwin 9 May, 2pm-3:30pm
Senate Building 10 May, 10am-4pm
Venue: KS4 30 May, 10am-12pm
This is a rerun of last year’s sellout seminar that offers a warts and all view of the European funding. The EC is notorious for the complexity of its applications, but unlike the UK funding for research is ringfenced and growing. Jenny Billings (CHSS) and Simon Thompson (Computing), both veterans of EU funding, offer their insights into the highs and lows of applying for, managing and reviewing European applications. Places are limited, so book early.
Government funding for healthrelated research is distributed by the MRC and the NIHR. The MRC deals with basic research, the NIHR with research that will affect the NHS, including social care and public health research. Last year it gave out £210.5m of research grants through a range of programmes. This event will be a chance to understand how these differ and fit together. The programme will include talks by members of NIHR, as well as those who have had NIHR funding, and have helped with applications in the past. Contact Phil Ward (p.ward@kent.ac.uk) for more details, or if you want to take part.
This perennial favourite runs three times a year, and provides those attending with an overview of what makes a good application, and how to draft your application so that it is clear, readable and convincing. Prof David Shemmings provides insights based on the ’Grants Factory’ method developed by Prof Andrew Derrington (formerly Dean of Social Sciences, now PVC at Liverpool) and Jacqueline Aldridge. These are always well attended; book now if you’re planning to draft a proposal.
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CHOICE CUTS FROM THE BLOG For the latest news and rumours from the world of research funding, log on to http://fundermental.blogspot.com/ Research Council Priority Generator 29 March 2012 Ever wondered how the RCUK chiefs come up with the strategic priorities? Do they sometimes seem - well - slightly random? Well Fundermentals has managed to get its hands on the software programme that they use to devise their clever, cross-cutting, interdisciplinary programmes. For the first time we, the people, can click RCUK's 'button of power' and create whole new areas of research endeavour. Go to http://rcukprigen.moonfruit.com/ to have a go yourself. ERC Inundated with Synergy Applications 31 January 2012 The ERC’s Synergy scheme was launched last year to encourage academics to group together to be more than the sum of their parts. As it was a pilot they were only planning to fund 10 or so grants, but by close of play on 25 January they had received 710 applications, making a success rate of 1.41%. This brings back the heady days of the first round of the Starting Grants in 2007, when 9167 applicants applied for one of the 299 awards on offer. I hope that this experience does not deter the ERC from running the scheme again. There's obviously a pan-European appetite for such funding Let's hope they recognise the demand, and provide the funding to at least push the success rate into double figures.
Yes, these distinctions, these groupings, are very, very important.
Light up the Cigars, Boys 12 March 2012 I was very excited to read about the elevation of the Universities of York, Durham, Exeter and Queen Mary's to membership of the Russell Group. My excitement was tempered, however, by a concern that RG was beginning to lose its elitist edge. After all, with this move the 94 Group becomes more of a select group than the RG: 94 has a svelte membership of 15 against the morbidly obese RG 24. In fact, the Russell Group is now less selective than the University Alliance (23 members), and only slightly more selective than the Million+ group of post-92 universities (26 members). I would suggest that a self-selecting group—let’s say Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial—should break away and form a ’premiership’ RG. But why stop there? Once this is up and running the case could, nay should, be made for distinguishing between the 'Ancient' Premiership of Oxford and Cambridge, and the 'Modern' Premiership of Imperial. If this distinction isn't made, how will league tables, potential students and funders tell them apart? We need this distinction or all sorts of chaos will ensue. Institutions might be treated equally, with quality research being recognised wherever it is found - and then where would we be?
Ultimately, however, there needs to be a Supreme Champion of Champions, a Summa Cum Laude University, by itself, for itself, standing proud, above the rabble, alone. But how can we select this RG Sine Pari? Of course, for this we should rely on the tried and tested methods of self-selecting groups the world over. Light up the cigars, boys, and let's fill this room with smoke. The REF & Edited Books 27 February 2012 Prof Andy Miah, writing on the Guardian HE blog, highlighted the effect that the RAE/REF was having on edited books. He described them as 'the biggest loser' in RAE2008, when very few were submitted. Of course, there was a number of valid reasons for this, but Miah highlighted the danger this presented: as these assessment processes become more entrenched, they will increasingly affect behaviour. There’s a danger that a time will come when edited volumes are a thing of the past. That’s fine if that’s what everyone wants, but we shouldn’t stumble into it blindly. If edited books are seen to have worth then allowance needs to be made for them in the REF. Otherwise journals and monographs will continue to be prioritised, and edited books will wither on the vine.
Lookalike Corner Thanks to all of you who have written in with your look alikes. Unfortunately most were unusable, our lawyers said. However, we are able to bring you the new Chief of the STFC, Prof John Womersley, and his blood brother Sir Bob Hoskins. Without the cartoon rabbit not even their mums could tell them apart. 8
Hoskins
Womersley