A Resear ch Ser vices
Br ief in g
Vol 13 Issu e 2
research acti v e
2019
w h at's i n store f or research f undi ng? 1
2019
WHATTO W A T C H O U T F O R INTHENEWYEAR Last year saw a shakeup in the funding environment with the establishment of UK Research and Innovation. 2019 is shaping up to be just as eventful - but for different reasons gets what within its domain. Imagine much lobbying and jockeying for position. UKRI publishes it s Research and Innovat ion St rat egy
Skidmore hit s his st ride Appointed in December, 2019 will see the new sciences minister Chris Skidmore (above) settling into his role. What?s his angle? Well, on Brexit he?s swung from a remain supporter to an advocate of May?s deal, and in particular stopping freedom of movement, which won?t play well to the borderless research community. He?s also supported the stronger enforcement of immigration rules and has voted against the protection of residency rights for EU nationals who are already living in the UK. However he does seem to have a genuine interest in science policy, has championed the importance of R&D in the aerospace sector, and has supported researchers in gaining free access to the data that they need. The science budget is decided Last year the Chancellor Philip Hammond signalled that there would be a comprehensive spending review in 2019. However, little is yet known about how this will impact on research spending, but it will affect the science budget, including that allocated to UKRI. UKRI will also have to decide who
In May 2018 UKRI published a Strategic Prospectus. It was light on detail and heavy on aspiration. So 2019 should see the publication of this strategy. In addition, it promised ?a longer-term Research and Innovation Talent Strategy?, which is already overdue, as well as: -
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Reviewing its public engagement programmes and develop a new public engagement vision and strategy by March. Engaging with stakeholders to develop a strategy and action plan for equality, diversity and inclusion by April; Reviewing its open access policies to assess their effectiveness and make recommendations by December;
It also promised to scope a new Ethics Policy and Framework, and develop effective data and metrics to understand the research and innovation landscape in different sectors, technology domains and places. It?s going to be a busy year at Polaris House. 2
Plan S t akes off Plan S was launched last September by Science Europe to encourage the wider take up of open access. National research funding agencies from 12 countries have signed up, including UKRI. The Guidance on the Implementation of Plan S is open for public feedback until 1 February. This will be reviewed, published and available from the spring, and will feed into the new UKRI Open access policy, but for other cOAlitionS partners there may be a different timeframe or implementation route. So UKRI-funded investigators should be prepared to make their publications available in open access repositories - or not accept the funding. The UK leaves t he EU Brexit?s going to be the big one, of course. We had assumed that the UK would continue to participate in the final two years of Horizon 2020, given the agreement set out in the Joint Report published in December 2017. However, this was in the belief that the Withdrawal Agreement would be ratified. With recent events this is a lot less certain, it puts the future for UK researchers in doubt. The Treasury has promised to underwrite any commitments to
UK participation in successful projects that were submitted before 29 March 2019, but how this underwrite will be managed is unclear, and reports from those who have engaged with the team handling it are not reassuring. Wellcome reviews it s support for science As well as the government?s review, Wellcome has announced that it will be reviewing its provision of funding for research. There?s no timeframe for this, but it suggested that it will introduce any changes from 2021 onwards. In the meantime, it is appointing an interim director of science ?to lead Wellcome?s existing programmes of scientific support until the review is complete.? Although it says that ?planned science funding streams will continue,? I can?t imagine that a new - albeit interim - director won?t want to make her or his mark. Expect some tweaking, along the lines of the recent dropping of its seed awards in favour of springboard awards. Wellcome adopt s Researchfish The system is already used by the research councils to record outputs from its funded research. This year, the annual submission window will run between 4 February and 14 March. Wellcome will use it from February.
Guidance on t he Research Excellence Framework is published Following a consultation period at the end of last year, we should have the official guidance on submission to the REF in January. This will set the course for Betty et al until the final submission on 27 November 2020. However, it doesn?t end there. -
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In June there will be the deadline for submission of each HEI?s code of practice governing output selection and staff identification, which will need to be approved by Research England. In Sept ember the pilot submission system will be launched, and Between Oct ober and December Research England will ask higher education institutions to complete a survey giving details of their intended submissions.
GCRF Collect ive Programme calls are launched Although there?s some uncertainty about budgetary allocations, the GCRF juggernaut rumbles on. At the end of last year UKRI issued a number of GCRF pre-call announcements. There are at least 16 other calls due throughout the year (see pp 12-14) 3
The Nat ional Product ivit y Invest ment Fund grows The complex behemoth that is the NPIF - including the Strategic Priorities Fund and the Industrial Strategy Challenges Fund - will grow significantly. The allocation of funding for research and innovation, published in July 2018, stated that between 2018-19 and 2019-20 the NPIF would almost double, from £839 million to £1.5 billion. Of course, this isn?t set in stone, and will be affected by the comprehensive spending review. However, the Fund is already being spent, and the first fruits of the SPF were announced at the end of last year with £60m going to four projects in October. The NPIF is appearing in other areas too, such as the British Academy?s Global Professorships, the second round of which will close on 6 March. Offering up to 10 awards of up to £750,000 each, it?s one of the most significant schemes that the Academy has ever run, and is the largest of its individual fellowships. Want t o know more? Contact your Faculty Research Development Officer, or Phil Ward (p.ward@kent.ac.uk)
Si gnature Research Th emes
'Signature research themes' was a significant element of the University's recently approved new strategy, Kent 2025 (see page 5). But what do they mean, how will they be selected, and how can you get involved? We live in an age of metrics and measurement. We are being pressured to produce more, to assess more, to report more. In this environment we need to take stock and remember what it is to be a university, and what it is to be our University.
process of gathering ideas. We will be visiting schools, talking to researchers, academics and professional service staff about what each of us sees as our research strengths. From there, we will host a series of University-wide events to develop these further.
The founding VC, Geoffrey Templeman (below), envisaged Kent as a community of scholars, working across disciplinary boundaries to find answers to diverse and complex challenges.
At a time of league tables and rankings, of assessments and reviews, we want to create a haven for conscious questioning and dangerous ideas.
We want to re-establish this vision.
We want Kent to think differently. We want to establish strong and active communities around which our research can coalesce and once again, in Templeman's words, 'learn from each other...in a community where the people of the various disciplines mix up.'
'Signature Research Themes' are how we hope to rekindle the idea of a creative, constructive university. We want to build communities of strength, within which we can spark and engage, critique or concur, comment, clash and collaborate. It is vital that these Signature Research Themes are identified collectively through conversation, exchange and sharing ideas. We hope to uncover themes that are forward looking, dynamic, with the potential to build on our record of innovative, socially aware, radical and disruptive research. They will span the faculties, have an international profile, attract external income, engage and create impact.
Wan t t o k n ow m or e? There is a dedicated webpage for the signature themes at http://bit.ly/KentSRT. This will be updated as the process progresses. If you have any questions about the signature themes, contact themes@kent.ac.uk
A small group of colleagues, led by the Associate Deans for Research and Innovation, is beginning the
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K ent 2025 What will it meanfor researchand innovation? In the last edition of Research Active we mentioned that the new strategy, Kent 2025, was being revised following comments from Council. It has now been approved. Below we summarise the main points Research and innovat ion goals -
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Identify and invest in signature research themes (see p4) Adopt a ?researcher development?approach, to support all academics in their work - not just those working in signature themes Increase our external income to that of our peer group. Deliver on the two ?super centres?. Support career development at all levels, including PDRAs and professors. Expand and grow our community of PDRAs. Support and incentivise international collaborations and networks.
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Engagement , impact and civic mission goals
Implement at ion
?Engagement?and ?impact?have been foregrounded again. In previous iterations they were subsumed somewhat under 'civic mission'. -
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A new vision for Medway, with a specific focus on creative and digital industries, health and well-being, innovation and business-orientated programmes, higher and degree apprenticeships, and work based learning. Institute for Creative and Cultural Industries, focussed in particularly on Medway as ?a Creative City?. Kent and Medway Medical School, working with CCCU. Initially funding for 100 places starting in 2020, with first graduates in 2025. Brand and identity. We need to explain what ?UK?s European university? actually means, and our broader international dimension.
In order to do this, we need to focus on: -
A focus on ?civic initiatives? such as the Medical School, an Institute for Cultural and Creative Industries, and the Centre for Higher and Degree Apprenticeships. Engagement with secondary schools. To work with local organisations on sustainability and quality of life. To work with disadvantaged groups to promote access to the University. To actively promote access to our campus. To embed the UN Sustainable Development Goals in everything we do. To fundraise amongst our alumni.
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People: increase our staff:student ratio and recommit to equality, diversity and inclusivity, and leadership, responsibility, delivery and accountability. Organisation: think about a more consistent and joined up organisation. Infrastructure: develop our estate, including our digital environment. Finances: need to ensure they?re sustainable. Plans: develop implementation plans for all this. Furt her det ail
There are fuller plans in each of the three main areas. However, these are currently going through the committees of Senate (such as Research and Innovation Board), and will be made public in due course.
Specific project s These are a necessary focus to fulfill our ambitions. They are: 5
ERC Success The ERC provideslarge, prestigious grantsto researchers acrossEurope. They are difficult to secure, but recently Kent won an unprecedented three awards: two Consolidator Grantsand a Synergy Grant. The European Research Council is the benchmark for excellent research within Europe. We have a strong record of securing funding from the ERC, including support for the work of Prof Adrian Podoleanu, Prof Anneli Albi, Prof Zoe Davies, Prof Tracy Kivell, and Prof Heather Ferguson.
by the success of our three colleagues. We were one of just 10 UK universities to get two or more Consolidator Grants in the last round, and there were only 27 Synergy Grants given out across the whole of Europe. It?s a demonstration of our diverse research strengths, our support for nurturing talent, and our outward looking perspective.
This success has been boosted further by three recent substantial awards: -
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?They are timely too. We have just published our Strategy for the next seven years, and we have taken this opportunity to restate our values:
Dr Jan Loop (History) secured a ?10m Synergy Grant to examine the many ways in which the Qur?an influenced European cultural, religious and intellectual history in the period 1150-1850. Dr Mat t Skinner (SAC) was awarded a ?2m Consolidat or Grant to look at three newly discovered human fossils that potentially overturn our understanding of human evolution. Prof Ayse Uskul (Psychology) won a ?2m Consolidat or Grant to examine the role of honour in social interactional processes, and how this differs between cultural groups.
?We are outward looking, we embrace change and are willing to do things differently and see things differently. We value excellence and we support potential, wherever it may be found. Our university is based on equality, diversity, respect and we value each other. We are international in outlook.? Wan t t o k n ow m or e? To find out more about each of the newly funded projects, have a look at our dedicated webpage. http://bit.ly/KentERCsuccess
?These are huge achievements against fierce competition from across Europe ? indeed the world,?said Prof Philippe De Wilde, Deputy Vice Chancellor Research & Innovation. ?I am delighted
We also intend to celebrate this success at a University reception in February. Contact Phil Ward (p.ward@kent.ac.uk) for more detail.
New Eth i cs Ch ai r Prof Rachel Forrester-Jones who has moved to the University of Bath.
A new Chair of the University's Research and Ethics & Governance Committee has been appointed. Dr Anna Brown (Psychology) takes over from
The Committee regulates and monitors the work of Research Ethics Advisory Groups (REAGs) that review applications for ethics review. The Committee provides a forum for the sharing of best practice and also looks at complaints and appeals against REAG decisions, providing a final opinion in these cases. Dr Brown is a psychometrician 6
with extensive industry experience, now focusing on modelling response processes to non-cognitive assessments (personality, motivation, attitude etc.) using multidimensional item response theory (MIRT). Wan t t o k n ow m or e? Contact the Research Ethics & Governance Officer, Nicole Palmer (n.r.palmer@kent.ac.uk) , or look at our dedicated Ethics and Governance webpage http://bit.ly/KentEthics
LEV ERHULM E WHATYOUNEEDTOKNOWBEFOREYOUAPPLY Academics love the Leverhulme Trust. Other funders may be bigger, or bolder, or more ambitious. But Leverhulme seems to sing the song that academics want to hear. It funds blue skies research without the layers of political varnish. It funds curiosity-driven research that reflects an individual vision. It disregards disciplinary boundaries. It can take risks. It can fail. But what makes it tick? What is it looking for? How does it assess applications? And what are your chances of being funded? Here are notes from the recent Grants Factory session. background. I?ll talk a little more about what makes them tick later.
A soap opera st ory The Leverhulme Trust is built on soap. William Hesketh Lever, the founder of the Trust, was a Victorian businessman who was one of the first to recognise the value of packaging and branding. He produced Sunlight soap, which differed from the competition in being made of vegetable oil, pre-packaged and of a consistent quality. When he died in 1925 he left a significant proportion of the shares in his company for founding a trust to provide "scholarships for the purposes of research and education". It was the founding principle of the Leverhulme Trust - and the reason why the majority (75%) of any grant needs to go on people (?scholarship?) rather than any other direct cost. Meanwhile the company on which the Trust relied, Lever Brothers, merged in 1930 with Dutch company Margarine Unie to become Unilever, a company with a ?53.7 billion annual turnover. It?s a lucrative company to rely on.
How funding decisions are made Although the Board make the final decision on who gets funded, they rely for advice on academics. They don?t always follow what they say, but they do listen to them.
The Trust Board The links with Unilever go beyond finance. The Trust Board is the most important body within the Trust. It decides on policy, but it also decides on who gets the awards. So it?s worth spending a little time on understanding its membership and thinking. It is made of ex-Unilever employees, some of whom have been the CEO of the company. They are not academics, and many don?t have a background in the UK. So they?re straight talking, straight acting business people, often with an international 7
I?m going to concentrate on their Research Project Grants to understand how Leverhulme assesses applications. It?s the largest of their 13 schemes, accounting for 44% of their award value. It?s a two part process. At the outline stage your application is sent to a member of a relatively small advisory panel, consisting of 30-40 academics representing all of the disciplines within Leverhulme?s remit. The Trust will try and send it to someone working broadly in your area, but with such a small group of academics, the chances of them having a full understanding of your area is slim. Depending on
the amount, the application will either be seen by one (if it?s less than ÂŁ350k) or two (if it?s more than ÂŁ350k). Their comments are sent to the Director, who approves (or, indeed, overrules) them. If both the advisory panel member and the Director are supportive, the application goes to the full application stage. Here it is sent to four referees. These are people with more specialist knowledge, and aren?t members of the advisory panel. Based on these reviews, the trustees make the final decision. W hat t o wat ch out for The key to success with Leverhulme is to remember two things: first, it?s free of the politics of government funding, and secondly, both the trustee and the advisory panel are generalists. With this in mind you need to make sure that your proposal is easily understood by (and persuasive for) a generalist audience. It needs to make a clear case for funding. Remember, the trustees are businessmen (and yes, nine out of 11 of them are men), are generally decisive, but need the facts and the case clearly stated to them. Moreover, they don?t care too much about the obsessions of academia. They?re not too interested in the Research Excellence Framework or journal impact factors. They?re interested in the ideas, but want a plausible business case for putting them into practice. They?re not bothered by your standing in the field (although they must be convinced that you can do what is proposed). Both the trustees and panellists want to see originality, forward significance but also lateral significance (i.e. the significance on other disciplines). And they
positively welcome risk. They want to support a clear individual vision, an apparently fresh direction, and are happy if you disregard traditional disciplinary boundaries. What they definitely don?t want to see is ?empire sustenance?, or the sense that you?ve been ploughing the furrow for the last 30 years, that you?ve got a lab of 20 people dependent on you, and that this project will sustain them. Equally, they don?t want a sense of ?initiative sustenance?, or that they are being targeted as the ?funder of last resort?. Just because your area - or your project - has been dropped as a priority by another funder, it doesn?t mean that Leverhulme will be interested. Success rat es So what are your chances of success? For the Research Project Grants, the Trust tries to shortlist 50% to go through to the full application stage. Of these, they try to fund 50%. The overall success rate should, then, be 25%, but at the moment it?s more like 17%. However, look beyond the bold statistics. The outline is a fairly simple form, so you only need to do a limited amount of work at this stage. If you?re part of the 50%, then you know it?s worth putting in considerable effort to the full application because you know that you?ve got a real chance of getting funded. For the other schemes, there?s a wide range of success rates. In 2017 the Philip Leverhulme Prizes were only 8%, but the Visiting Professorships were 41%. Early Career and Major Fellowships were both 17%, and their standard Research Fellowships were 14%. It?s an attractive funder with a 8
refreshingly simple vision, but the success rates demonstrate the downside of this: it?s oversubscribed. But don?t let that put you off. If your work has an appeal beyond academia, if it is risk-taking and intriguing, if it disregards disciplinary boundaries and is willing to fail, Leverhulme may just be the place to try. A version of this article first appeared in Funding Insight in December 2018.
Wel come Five academics have started at Kent since September. Take a little time to look at their research interests, and do drop them a line if there are areas of overlap or complement yours. -
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Tim Aist rope (Politics & IR): post-truth politics, asymmetric warfare, cyber security, and implications of new media technologies for war and peace. Brianna Beck (Psychology): somatosensory perception (i.e. touch, temperature and, in particular, pain perception) Pascal Burgmer (Psychology): the psychological consequences of how lay people think about a variety of phenomena, including trust, distrust, creativity, effort, labour, and philosophical issues such as the separation of minds and bodies Ambrose Gillick (Architecture): practising architect, with a focus on community-orientated architecture St ephanie Morgan (KBS): Outsourcing, social identity, psychological contract, change management, social media, happiness
Pl an S
?Plan S? is intended to change the academic landscape, mandating that publically-funded research is made free at the point of access. But what is it, and how is Kent preparing for it? Sarah Slowe of the Office for Scholarly Communication explains all.
.W hat is Plan S? Plan S was launched in September 2018. It is an agreement between funders from 12 European countries, including the European Commission, UKRI and Wellcome, that the outputs of projects funded by them must be published in open access repositories or journals by 2020. 10 Principles Plan S is built around Principles. These include: -
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authors should retain copyright; OA fees should be standarised and capped; All scholarly outputs should be OA, though monographs may take longer. Consult at ion
An implementation task force, led by John-Arne Røttingen (RCN) and David Sweeney (UKRI) is looking at how to implement Plan S. They have released draft guidance for consultation for feedback by 1 February.
UKRI Review UKRI is reviewing its open access policy in light of Plan S. There are many outstanding questions on how Plan S will work in the UK. For example, which research outputs will count as 'funded' (as the body that provides the QR block grant, Research England, is also part of UKRI), and how will work co-produced with industrial funding be included.
We will continue to monitor the development of Plan S, and will work with you to make sure we are ready for the changes that will come.
How is Kent preparing for t his?
Plan S will, when implemented, have a huge effect on the publishing landscape in Europe. We are preparing for this by offering information, support and advice on OA to colleagues (see 'Want to Know More' box at the end). We have also signed up to the Leiden Manifesto, covered in the last edition of RA, and are reviewing our IP policy to ensure that it is in line with the principles required by the funders. We will continue to review and develop our repository service to ensure that it is compliant with the new policies. The current Kent Open Access policy already allows the greatest degree of sharing within the expectations of publishers and scholarly practice. With Plan S, articles are to be published under a Creative Commons attribution licence (CC-BY). Wecurrently use this group of licenses, although frequently the more restrictive CC-BY-NC/CC-BY-ND licenses. Information on these and differences between them are here:Copyright and Licences 9
Wan t t o k n ow m or e? There are a lot of open access resources already on our website. A good place to start is the 'Choose your route to Open Access: key links'. To understand what the Leiden Manifesto is, and the San Francisco Declaration on Open Research Assessment (DORA), have a look at our responsible metrics blog. Finally, if you have any questions or want to talk further, email us at osc@kent.ac.uk.
Research Counci l Success Rates How doesKent compare with other universitiesin itssuccesswith the research councils?Sarah Tetley, Faculty Development Officer for the Social Sciences, looksat the figurespublished by Times Higher in November. Each autumn Times Higher publishes an analysis of grants awarded by the UK Research Councils. For 2017/18 Kent was ranked 32nd out of 149 for award value, and 35th for award number. This is a considerable improvement over the previous year's figures, but is it indicative of a longer term trend? I looked at the statistics from the last eight years to find out. Applicat ions & Awards (201-18) The table below shows the number of Kent applications and awards since 2010. Applications have fluctuated quite widely during this time, from a high of 81 in 2011/12, to around half that two years later. Since then application and award numbers have risen. Success rates, too, have fluctuated, ranging between 20-35%, and averaging 27%. Broadly, Kent appears to achieve greater and more consistent success with the BBSRC and EPSRC, which affects our overall success rate.
Benchmarking Kent
Next St eps
Kent?s performance is broadly in line with the former members of the 1994 Group (bar chart, above), although there is considerable variation between the seven councils.
The data suggest that we need to do more to ensure that our success rate is improved for the AHRC and ESRC - and, to a certain extent, NERC, although we submit very few to it. Over the next few months Research Services will be looking at ways to support academics in doing so, including learning from the best practice in the sciences and other universities. It may mean revising our current peer review system, particularly for AHRC, ESRC and NERC, and we would welcome thoughts from applicants who have used it.
Interestingly, the councils to which we submit fewer applications (BBSRC, EPSRC and MRC) than our peers are the ones we for which we have a higher success rate; those to which submit more (AHRC, ESRC) we have a lower success rate.
Wan t t o k n ow m or e? If you have any thoughts on internal peer review, or want to find out more about the data, contact Sarah Tetley (s.r.tetley-8@kent.ac.uk) 10
GCRF
Wh at n ext f or t h e Godzilla of t h e f u n din g lan dscape? In the last edition we outlined the Global Challenges Research Fund, the ÂŁ1.5bn programme that has come to dominate the UK's funding landscape. But what's happened since then?
Call for part icipant s
Internally
We also hope to include others in the Conference who have an interest in the work that we are supporting, and intend to offer travel bursaries. More detail on these will be available in the spring.
The Conference Takes Shape
GCDC t raining school
Plans are in motion to hold a global challenges conference at the University in July 2019 on the theme of ?resilience?.
We have established a Global Challenges Doctoral Centre (GCDC) that will act as the nucleus of our GCRF PhD training activities. The Global Challenges Conference will include a training school for our GCDC students, and other students at the University that have an interest in issues and research affecting lower and middle income countries. More detail about this will be available closer to the date.
Within this there will be three themes. -
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a resilient societ y, including human rights, good governance and social justice. The lead for this theme will be Prof Elena Korosteleva. a resilient economy, including industry, commerce & technological development. The lead for this theme will be Prof Mark Smales. a resilient environment , including biodiversity, climate change and affected infrastructure. The lead for this theme will be Prof Paola Scaparra.
A programme for the conference will be available in the spring. Workshops and brokerage event s In the lead up to the event, funding is available to develop collaborations and research that will be presented at the conference.
Externally UKRI has been on fire with pre-call announcments and information days. Over the next two pages we offer a cut out and keep guide to what's going on, and what calls are planned this year. Wan t t o k n ow m or e? To find out more about GCRF at Kent, go to http://bit.ly/GCRFatKent For the Conference, go http://bit.ly/KentGCRF2019
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For the UKRI pre-call announcements, go to http://bit.ly/GCRF-a-go-go Any questions? Talk to Monika Struebig 11 (m.s.struebig@kent.ac.uk)
GCRF-a-go-go Abluffers' guidetotheraft of callsthat areonthehorizonthisyear Port folio/calls
Full call opening forecast
Informat ion day(s)
Leading council & highlight s
Cit ies and Sust ainable Infrast ruct ure GCRF (Re)thinking the off-grid city: Human-infrastructure interactions in the context of urban crises and urban challenge
tba
25th Feb, London; 7th Mar, Manchester
ESRC: The main aim of the (Re)thinking the off-grid city call is to support cutting edge research with a view towards creating actionable policy alternatives, engineering solutions and social innovations.
GCRF Sustainable energy and international development: beyond technology
Apr 2019
25th Feb, London; 7th Mar, Manchester
ESRC: Working with NERC and Innovate UK, ESRC is inviting proposals for innovative and interdisciplinary approaches that deliver cutting-edge research into the complex social, environmental, cultural, political and economic contexts that inextricably affect energy access and use in developing countries.
GCRF Gender and intersectionality and Education as a driver of sustainable development network plus
tba
7th Feb, London; 14th Feb, Birmingham 12th Mar, Edinburgh
ESRC: This collaboration will ensure that different academic communities are brought together to bring an interdisciplinary focus to each call. 2 streams; ?Gender and intersectionality?and ?Education as a driver of sustainable development?.Each network plus will facilitate the development of partnerships between academics, NGOs, policymakers and practitioners in both the Global North and South, allowing for integrated and cross-cutting activities.
GCRF Education in conflict and crisis research Network Plus
Two stage: Outline Mar 2019; Full submission summer or early autumn 2019
14th Feb, Birmingham 25th Feb, London 12th Mar, Edinburgh
AHRC: Key cross-cutting aims for the Network Plus call will include: building in-country research capacity in this field; diversifying and amplifying local voices involved in debates about education; strengthening the Education in Conflict and Crisis research community globally, including support for early career researchers; and building evidence that will inform policy and practice with the ultimate goal of more children and learners gaining access to better quality education in contexts of conflict and crises.
GCRF Education Interventions for Early Childhood Development
tba
?7th Feb, London; (14th Feb, Birmingham 12th Mar, Edinburgh)
(no further details yet)
Educat ion
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Food syst ems Cultures and Histories of Agriculture, Food, and Nutrition (Partnership Building Grants Calls)
Jan 2019
GCRF A combined Food tba Systems approach to developing interventions to address the Double Burden of Malnutrition
28th Jan, AHRC (no further details yet) Keele; 22nd Feb, Sheffield 26th Mar, Cardiff ?28th Jan, Keele; 22nd Feb, Sheffield; 26th Mar, Cardiff
(no further details yet)
Global Healt h GCRF Health and Context
24th Jan 2019; Closing date:2nd Apr 2019
7th Mar, MRC: interdisciplinary ambitious research Manchester addressing wider contextual factors contributing to the burden of infectious and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). These factors may include social, cultural, historical, and religious beliefs and practices, or wider ecological, biological and environmental factors.
Global Maternal and Neonatal Health funding call 2019
16th Jan 2019; Closing date: 24th Apr 2019
7th Mar, MRC, NIHR: First of three annual calls. £20-30m will Manchester be available to support research grants up to three years in duration and seed-funding grants up to one year?s duration. For the first call proposals focusing on the period of pregnancy and birth are encouraged, although preconception and postpartum applications will be considered.
Securit y Prot ract ed Conflict , Refugee Crises and Forced Displacement GCRF Development-based approaches to Protracted Displacement
February 2019, closing April 2019
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ESRC: Aims to achieve medium to long term solutions to protracted displacement by taking a developmental approach to understanding the needs of displaced populations with respect to health, education, employment and urban planning.
GCRF Preventing Conflict, Building Sustainable and Inclusive Peace Network Plus
Two stage: Outline Mar 2019 · Full summer or early autumn
14th Feb, Birmingham 25th Feb, London 12th Mar, Edinburgh
AHRC: to explore the interactions and inter-connections between key factors in the development and dynamics of conflict which cut across the GCRF portfolios- such as urban exclusion, health inequalities, unemployment, food insecurity, environmental stresses, low literacy levels and gender inequality.
GCRF Protection in Contexts of Conflict and Displacement Network Plus
Two stage: Outline Mar 2019 · Full summer or early autumn
14th Feb, Birmingham 25th Feb, London 12th Mar, Edinburgh
AHRC: Will fund a series of Network Plus awards that encompass a wider range of humanitarian contexts, geographical locations, social, cultural and historic contexts and conflict/humanitarian settings, for comparative perspectives and learning, ?south to south?capability development, knowledge exchange and policy-relevant outcomes.~Expect a targeted 13call early in 2019 for smaller scale research projects (up to £0.5 million and up to 24 months).
Resilience t o Environment al Shocks and Change GCRF Equitable resilience: ensuring resilience enhances the Sustainable Development Goals
UKRI GCRF Collective Programme - Multiple & Systemic Risks
Jan-19 7th Feb, London 22nd Feb, Sheffield
Early 2019
ESRC: Development of policy and interventions which address both disaster management and sustainable development together is currently a missed opportunity on a global scale. There is very little systematic evidence to inform policy and practice on how best to respond to this challenge and this call is designed to address this gap.
26th Mar, Cardiff
NERC : Projects will improve our understanding of how environmental shocks and stresses propagate through systems to create impacts across sectors, and how developing world countries can effectively build resilience to these systemic risks. The aim is to reduce risk and loss for exposed populations, protecting development gains and feeding into risk management planning and action undertaken by actors at all levels, from local communities to global.
GCRF Coherence Grants tba
n/a
No details released yet
GCRF Gender and intersectionality and Education as a driver of sustainable development network plus
Covered above (Education portfolio)
(Asabove)
(Asabove)
GCRF Global Engagement Networks
n/a- in second stage already
n/a
The Academy of Medical Sciences: The scheme allows researchers from across disciplines and from developing countries and the UK to hold networking events, to forge new links and generate innovative transdisciplinary research ideas to address global challenges. These new networks will then be better equipped to apply for larger grants offered by the GCRF programme and other funding initiatives. The maximum amount available is ÂŁ25,000 of which ÂŁ5,000 can be used for consumables for obtaining pilot data, archival research or fieldwork. The remainder can be used to contribute towards travel and subsistence costs, costs associated with networking events, administrative support and access to technical support.
Calls t hat cut across t he port folios
Ot her Global Challenges Research Fund Networking Grants
31st Jan 2019
For more on these, calls, contact your Faculty Research Development Officer or Monika Struebig (m.s.struebig@kent.ac.uk) 14
A w ards 1 A ugust - 31 December 2018
Below is a full list of awards received since 1 August. It does not include extensions or supplements. Those in orange are the largest grants in their faculties, but congratulations to all colleagues listed! Facu lt y of Hu m an it ies Ken t Sch ool of Ar ch it ect u r e Brittain-Catlin
Edwardian Liberals and their Houses
John S Cohen Foundation
£2,000
May
Autism Arts Festival 2019
The Arts Council of England
£38,435
Shaughnessy
Playing A/Part: investigating female autism through drama, interactive media and participatory arts
Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
£343,460
Laera
Performing Multilingualism for Monolingual Audiences: Creative Strategies and Practices in European
Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
£6,000
Norman
The Cartographic Imagination: Art, Literature and Mapping in United States, 1945-1980
University of Strasbourg
£500
Herd
Refugee Tales (Phase 2)
Arts Council England
£3,200
Sch ool of Ar t s
Sch ool of En glish
Sch ool of Eu r opean Cu lt u r e an d Lan gu ages Labadi
Rethinking Heritage for Development: International Framework, Local Impacts
Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
£198,358
Lin
Postdoctoral Study Visit Scheme
British Psychological Society
£1,200
Living assessment: measurement, thresholds and the health of disabled and at-risk children
Wellcome Trust
£13,372
Sch ool of Hist or y Anderson
Facu lt y of Scien ces M edw ay Sch ool of Ph ar m acy Krska
Optimising whole-person-centred deprescribing in older people with multimorbidity and polypha
National Institute of Health Research (NIHR)
£4,505
Temperton
Functional Characterisation of Mucosal Antibodies against Respiratory Pathogens (MUC-AB)
HIC-Vac
£17,286
Harnessing protein unfolding and aggregation in mechanotransduction
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
£440,147
Sch ool of Bioscien ces Goult
15
Brown
Advanced integrated approaches to macromolecular structure determination
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
£35,246
Robinson
A new generation of microbial expression hosts and tools for the production of biotherapeutics
European Research Council (ERC)
£517,224
Warren
Enhancing cobalamin (vitamin B12) production in E. coli to address demand and global security
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
£380,027
Warren
Enhancing cobalamin (vitamin B12) production in E. coli to address demand and global security
DuPont Tate & Lyle Bioproducts, LLC
£100,000
Michaelis
Identification of therapeutically exploitable vulnerabilities in triple-negative breast cancer cells
Breast Cancer Kent
£5,000
Xue
The amyloid suprastructure-function relationship
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
£363,265
Mulvihill
An enhanced online GPU facility for Early Career Scientists
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
£99,620
Tsaousis
ISEP2018 meeting - sponsorship from Cyprus Tourism organisation
Cyprus Tourism Organisation
£6,265
Geeves
SILICOFCM
European Commission
£337,906
Association for Computing Machinery, Inc.
£2,988
Sch ool of Com pu t in g Petricek
Documenting the history of prgramming errors
Sch ool of En gin eer in g an d Digit al Ar t s von Jungenfeld
Playing A/Part: investigating female autism through drama, interactive media and participatory arts.
Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
£50,797
Gao
Low-Profile Ultra-Wideband Wide-Scanning Multi-Function Beam-Steerable Array Antennas
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
£658,096
Zhu
5G HarmoniseD Research and TrIals for serVice Evolution (5G-Drive)
European Commission
£622,850
Sch ool of M at h em at ics, St at ist ics an d Act u ar ial Scien ce McCrea
Modelling removal and re-introduction data for improved conservation
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
£357,827
Dunning
LMS South East Mathematical Physics seminars 2018-20
London Mathematical Society
£3,000
16
Pech
COW Algebraic Geometry Seminar
London Mathematical Society
£4,000
Wang
Lenard-Magri scheme associated to PreHamiltonian operators
London Mathematical Society
£1,200
Sch ool of Ph ysical Scien ces Burchell, Price, Wozniakiewicz
Planetary Science at the University of Kent 2019 - 2022
Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
£879,806
Arnold
Lead zirconate, a prototypical antiferroelectric, for the development of dynamic pair distribution function analysis
Royal Society
£5,930
Hiscock
Re-activating redundant chemical agents in the fight against antimicrobial resistant bacteria
Royal Society
£19,987
Society for Research into Higher Education
£3,000
Facu lt y of Social Scien ces Cen t r e f or t h e St u dy of High er Edu cat ion Hope
Dual Professionals in Higher Education: From Professional Practitioner to Lecturer.
Ken t Bu sin ess Sch ool Acquaye
Re-evaluating the Transition to the Circular Economy: Models, Methods and Applications (ReTRACE)
European Commission
£269,372
Tunaru
Equity Release Mortgages: No Negative Equity Guarantee (NNEG)
Institute and Faculty of Actuaries
£46,892
Scaparra
Optimal investment strategies to minimize flood impact on road infrastructure in Vietnam
British Academy
£259,633
Rackley
Women's Legal Landmarks
Social & Legal Studies
£245
Kosaraju
Crimes of Child Sexual Exploitation in England - A socio-legal project promoting effective approaches to investigation and prosecution
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
£92,937
Ken t Law Sch ool
Sch ool of An t h r opology an d Con ser vat ion Fish
Mapping Cultural Values for the Natural Environment in the Ascension Islands
South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute
£13,092
Struebig
Biodiversity, environmental change and land-use policy in Sulawesi and Maluku
Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
£401,071
Griffiths
Great Crested Newts Modeling for the South Midlands
Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust
£25,260
Mahoney
Evolution of cell mechanisms underlying human dental reduction in Europe: fellowship for Mona Le Luyer
European Commission
£161,251
Struebig
Biodiversity and ecosystem processes in human modified tropical forests
Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
£107,285
Smith
Conservation social networking, ecotourism and land-use planning in Maputaland
Department for International Development
£294,449
17
Sch ool of Econ om ics Wahhaj
Enhancing access to weather index agricultural insurance in Burkina Faso - a new marketing approach
International Initiative for Impact Evaluation Inc.
£16,241
Savagar
Firm Dynamics, Market Power and Productivity Puzzles
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
£156,763
Wahhaj
Peer Effects of Child Marriage Law on Marriage Customs
Department for International Development
£17,028
Shibayama
A quantitative analysis of population ageing on economic growth and income inequality
Murata Science Foundation
£13,307
Social Science Research Council (US)
£17,093
Individual Donor
£50,000
Sch ool of Polit ics an d In t er n at ion al Relat ion s Voller
Transnational Diaspora Activism and Human Security in the Homeland: The Cases of Iraqi Kurdistan, So
Sch ool of Psych ology Wilkinson
Donation for Brain Injury Research
Sch ool of Social Policy, Sociology an d Social Resear ch Kendall
Migrant Health project evaluation
RedZebra
£1,000
Bradshaw
Evaluation of Early Positive Approaches to support Newham
Royal Mencap Society
£4,900
Kendall
Migrant Health project evaluation
Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust
£20,000
Kendall
Roma in the Lead Film Project
Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust
£500
Peckham
How general practice team composition and climate relate to quality, effectiveness and human resource costs: a mixed methods study in England
National Institute of Health Research (NIHR)
£404,316
Hotham
The impact of ?Connect for Wellbeing?towards improving service user outcomes and preventing the nee
Involve
£6,300
Kendall
Darzi fellowship.
Kent and Medway NHS Social Care Partnership
£15,000
Beecham
Unit costs of child care 2018-2020
Department of Education
£34,893
The REF Progress Review 2018 has recently been completed and went Pi l ot Ex erci se well. We are currently analysing the results and will be reporting strategies for the University?s submission in the coming months. Finalised Guidelines for the Submission will be issued by Research England this month (see p2).
REF The
focus
of
the
University?s
REF 18
development for this year is on impact and funding of over £300k has been allocated to support impact case studies from the DVC Research and Innovation's discretionary fund, faculty funds and the GCRF (Global Challenges Research Fund). In addition a further £300k has been made available to support the output part of the submission and will help schools to cover expenditure around the production and enhancement of research of research outputs.
Wh o Ya Gonna Cal l ? Confused by who you need to talk to in Research Services? Each school has a contact for each stage of the application process, below. In addition, some of us work across all schools on areas relevant to everyone (right).
-
REF: Betty Woessner, Claire Perera PE & Impact: Maddy Bell Ethics: Nicole Palmer Eastern ARC: Victoria Schoen KRIMSON: Renรกta McDonnell
School
Facult y
Finding funding, developing ideas
Cost ings, submission, cont ract negot iat ion
Post -award finance
SAC
Social Sciences
Sarah
Jo
Lynette
Economics
Social Sciences
Sarah
Jane
Ben
Journalism
Social Sciences
Sarah
Karen
Ben
KBS
Social Sciences
Sarah
Rob W
Ben
KLS
Social Sciences
Sarah
Jane
Ben
PolIR
Social Sciences
Sarah
Jo
Lynette
Psychology
Social Sciences
Sarah
Chris
Ben
SSPSSR
Social Sciences
Sarah
Chris
Simon C
CHSS
Social Sciences
Sarah
Andrew
Dominika
PSSRU
Social Sciences
Sarah
Jo
Simon C
Tizard
Social Sciences
Sarah
Rob W
Simon C
Architecture
Humanities
Michelle
Chris
Dominika
Arts
Humanities
Michelle
Andrew
Dominika
CMAT
Humanities
Michelle
Karen
Ben
English
Humanities
Michelle
Rob W
Dominika
SECL
Humanities
Michelle
Andrew
Simon C
History
Humanities
Michelle
Rob W
Dominika
Computing
Sciences
Helen / Monika
Karen
Ben
Bioscience
Sciences
Helen/ Monika
Chris
Dominic
EDA
Sciences
Helen / Monika
Jane
Dominic
SMSAS
Sciences
Helen / Monika
Jane
Ben
SPS
Sciences
Helen/ Monika
Rob W
Simon C
Sports
Sciences
Helen / Monika
Karen
Nigel
Pharmacy
Sciences
Helen / Monika
Karen
Nigel
KIE
Other
Helen / Monika
Andrew
Lynette
UELT/CSHE
Other
Sarah
Andrew
Dominika
Research Active is published termly by Research Services. If you have any questions, queries or clarifications, contact Phil Ward (p.ward@kent.ac.uk). The contacts above are also available at http://bit.ly/KentRScontact 19