RF474 PDF

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Founded by William Cullerne Bown
9 March 2016
Shadow business secretary

Angela Eagle talks policy p6
Budget allocations Global challenges
fund could be bad news for ESRC p4
Stern action Reimagining the REF p20-21
Birmingham cuts jobs

ahead of REF 2021
Union branch prepares for rolling strikes
The University of Birmingham is looking to make compulsory redundancies in a number of departments,

partly in response to the results of the 2014 Research
Excellence Framework.
Since the REF 2014 results, announced in December
2014, Birmingham has sought redundancies in its school
of engineering and the departments of modern languages, neuroscience, pharmacology and hydrogeology.
The university is understood to be considering making
24compulsory redundancies among 87members of staff.
Staff in the modern languages department are the
latest to go through the redundancy process. At the
beginning of February, Birmingham announced that up
to 12members of staff with teaching-focused contracts
could be made redundant, and that the department
would then create 10 research-active posts. Staff have
been told that this change, which will be implemented
by autumn 2017, is to strengthen the department following the results of REF 2014. In the exercise, 21.7per
cent of the departments outputs were rated 4* and
50.4 per cent were rated 3*, placing it in the bottom
third of the modern-languages unit of assessment.
The university said in a statement that the REF was
one of a range of factors for its decision.
Research Fortnight understands that some staff
whose jobs are at risk were moved from research to
teaching contracts ahead of the submission deadline for the first REF. However, staff have been told
that the strategy, which aimed to give the remaining
research-active staff more time to carry out high-quality research, has not been effective. The university has
also told staff that National Student Survey results
and the departments performance in national league
tables, justified the proposed changes.
A consultation document seen by Research Fortnight
suggests that the university had considered closing its
hydrogeology department. In the document, the university said that the decision was prompted in part by
by an assessment of submissions made to REFs main
panel B, which was published in January 2015 by the
Higher Education Funding Council for England. This
said, Hydrogeology appears to be in decline and there
by James Field
jfnews@ResearchResearch.com
is concern at the apparent loss of national expertise.

Although the assessment did not refer to a specific
university or department, just a few universities have
expertise in this area.
Following the consultation, the university has rowed
back on these plans and will now continue to provide a
hydrogeology masters, but with just two teaching-only
posts. The university confirmed that it was now only
seeking one compulsory redundancy in hydrogeology.
In late 2015, the University and College Union called
for Birmingham to delay the redundancies. In response,
the university said that any delay could adversely affect
our submission to the next REF, which will prove damaging to the long-term success of the university and the
level of research-grant income awards it wins.
In a statement sent to Research Fortnight on
7March, the Birmingham branch of the UCU said that
it opposes any use of ambiguous REF results to justify disinvestment in research and people. Last week,
the branch voted to take a formal ballot on industrial
action against the proposed compulsory redundancies.
If members are in favour, two week-long strikes will
take place in April and June, followed by an ongoing
one-day-a-week strike starting in the autumn term.
The university said in a statement that it took
redundancies seriously and that it anticipated the
overwhelming majority of posts would be lost
through voluntary measures. We continue to work
with those who are potentially affected to try and find
suitable alternative arrangements, the university said.
The University of Birmingham is a large organisation, with 7,000 employees, and in
common with other leading research
Every new opportunity
universities, we are focused on
for research funding
developing and innovating our
from every sponsor in
research in areas [in which] we can
the UK, EU, US & beyond
excel and ensuring that our students receive the highest standard
of teaching, informed by outstanding research, the statement said.
Every discipline
Every fortnight
Issue No. 474
2 editorial
Research Fortnight, 9 March 2016

Edited by Ehsan Masood
news@ResearchResearch.com
Tel: 020 7216 6500
Fax: 020 7216 6501
Unit 111, 134-146 Curtain Road, London EC2A 3AR
Interdisciplinary void
Lack of government commitment is disappointing
Almost since their inception, the UKs research councils have been urged
to work better together. With grand challenges increasingly dominating
funding priorities, they face additional pressure to stop working in silos.
The 2014 triennial review of the councils highlighted widespread concern about interdisciplinary funding. When former Royal Society president
Paul Nurse completed his own review in 2015, he stressed that the councils
needed help to fund this work. He recommended a joint interdisciplinary
fund, taking a top slice from each of their budgets. Nurse was reluctant to
be specific but said that the sum shouldnt be so small as to be ridiculous.
Imagine, then, our surprise when, on reading the Department for
Business, Innovation and Skills budget allocations published last week
(see News, page 4), there was little provision for interdisciplinary work.
The widely trailed Global Challenges Research Fund was expected to
fulfil at least some of this role. And yet, the government has seen fit to
grant less than half of the funds 1.5-billion five-year budget (and just
3per cent of the total 26.3bn science budget) to interdisciplinary work.
Management of the rest of the fund is divvied up between the councils
and national academies. If the recent Zika funding call from the Medical
Research Council is anything to go by, such calls will welcome interdisciplinary research, but will not require it. This is hardly the push needed
to get some academics thinking outside their labs or libraries.
The separate grand challenges programmewhich seemed to be the other
option for a top-sliced, centrally managed interdisciplinary fundappears to
have been converted into a brand for subject-specific projects such as the Sir
Henry Royce Institute, aka the Crick of the North. Even the annex to the BIS
document separates these projects into the councils they belong to.
And so, despite the rhetoric, we appear to have arrived where we started.
As before, the research councils will have to come together on an adhoc
basis for cross-council programmesan approach we know is riddled with
problems, from the selection of reviewers to councils competing interests.
If BIS is to continue pushing the councils to work better together, it
must give them the room to do so. As several of its top advisers have said,
BIS must also provide adequate funding to carry out such work.
But lets not pretend that the councils are the innocent parties in this.
The division of the global challenges fund also demonstrates the lobbying
power of research council leaders. Arguing that their researchers could
lose out, chief executives rail against giving a slice of their budgets to a
fund over which they dont have full control.
But the councils must know that they are living on borrowed time as
the shadow of the proposed umbrella body Research UK, and its all-powerful chief executive, looms large. The responsibility of making the seven
councils, with their seven separate budgets and seven separate leaders,
work together will fall squarely on his or her desk.
Heated discussions about Nurses recommendation that this person be
a scientist are inconsequential. More important is the need for a talented
negotiator dedicated to interdisciplinary work. Without such skills, any
movement towards more collaboration will fail.
elsewhere
Minor Botox has not fixed this bill.
Government must return to the drawing
board and give this vital, complex task
appropriate time.
The updated version of the governments
investigatory powers bill, published on
1March, has barely addressed the concerns raised over earlier drafts, says Shami
Chakrabarti, director of human rights organisation Liberty. The Guardian, 1/3/16.
The most expensive power station in
history.
The projected cost of building the nuclear
power plant at Hinkley Point is comparable
to that of the Three Gorges hydroelectric dam
in China, which generates about seven times
as much as Hinkley will, says Simon Taylor,
author of the book The Rise and Fall of Nuclear
Power in Britain. The Economist, 27/2/16.
Were too small to be effective. We are an
island; and we cant afford to be an island
in science.
The UK needs to remain a member of the
European Union if it wants its scientific
research to make a real difference, says Paul
Nurse, director of the Francis Crick Institute.
BBC Radio 4 Today programme, 27/1/16.
Ebola is the gorilla in the room. Its
driving everything.
Lawrence Gostin, a health-law and policy
specialist at Georgetown University in
Washington, DC, says that the response to
Zika is being heavily influenced by mistakes
from the recent past. Nature, 2/3/16.
So while we rejoice at the fact that we
will not face an even more restrictive FOI
regime in the near future, lets not forget
that the system we currently have remains
problematic.
A review of the Freedom of Information Act
has recommended surprisingly few changes,
but Christopher Murphy, lecturer in intelligence studies at the University of Salford,
says the systems flaws must not be forgotten. The Conversation, 2/3/16.
decade
Where these plans are felt
to be inadequate, funding
may be delayed until
acceptable plans have been
submitted.
The impact agenda makes its first appearance in the Particle Physics and Astronomy
Research Councils funding rules, which
say proposals must include plans for
knowledge transfer and outreach.
whats going on 3
whats going on
Firms say government has one-track-mind on innovation
The business lobby group the CBI has said that the excessive fixation on commercialisation of
research is obscuring a variety of routes to innovation. In response to a government consultation,
the CBI said that the plan to bring Innovate UK under the proposed umbrella body Research UK
would diminish the agencys impact and undo progress made in supporting business innovation.
Statistics authority calls for quicker access to public data
The UK Statistics Authority has said that it wants easier access to government data to improve
its publications. In response to a consultation on how the government should improve its use
of data, the authority said that piecemeal legislation in the area had hampered government
efforts to improve efficiency. The authority said that it wanted sources of government data to be
better linked, to avoid making separate requests for individual datasets from different bodies.
Amazon cloud computing offers researcher discount
Amazon Web Services, a cloud-computing provider, has said that it will waive its charges for
data transfer by researchers. Egress charges, which cover data transfer from Amazon Web
Services to the internet, typically account for around 3 per cent of a researchers total bill. The
maximum discount will amount to 15 per cent of a researchers total monthly spend. There is no
charge to upload data or to move data across related products.
MPs reject vice-chancellors plea for FOI exemption
An independent group of MPs asked to assess the Freedom of Information Act has recommended
that obligations on the respondent be stricter than at present. The Independent Commission on
Freedom of Information said in a report that it was not convinced by arguments put forward by
vice-chancellors that universities should be exempt from the FOI Act because it put them at a
competitive disadvantage compared with their private counterparts.
Charity chairman to take over as dementia envoy
David Mayhew, chairman of Alzheimers Research UK, is to become the governments next
champion for research on dementia. The envoys job, which has been held by Dennis Gillings
since February 2014, is to promote the UKs interests in dementia research to companies and
politicians in the UK and around the world.
UK scientists dont need the EU for collaboration
Angus Dalgleish of the pro-Brexit group Scientists for Britain, has said that UK scientists do not
need a supranational entity in order to form collaborations with researchers overseas. Giving
evidence to the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee on 1March, Dalgleish, an
oncologist at St Georges, University of London, said that universities would still see an influx of
European researchers and students in the event of a Brexit.
Working internationally muddles national research assessment, report finds
More than half of the research outputs used to assess the UK research base are created in
collaboration with countries competing with the UK in international rankings, a report from
Universities UK and consultancy Digital Science has said. The report found that quantitative
analysis of research in different countries was not effective because so much frequently cited
research came from a shared output of networked projects.
4 news
news
Global challenges fund weighs

heavily on smaller councils
The funding settlement for the Global Challenges
Research Fund could have an adverse effect on some of
the research councils other work, experts have said.
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
published budget allocations for the research councils,
the Higher Education Funding Council for England and
the national academies for this parliament on 4March.
As well as outlining the individual councils budgets,
it detailed their contributions to the global challenges
fund for research that will help the developing world.
The fund will distribute 1.5billion up to 2020-21 and
is worth 1bn over the spending review period, which
runs from 2016-17 to 2019-20. The four national academies combined will pay in and manage 45million until
201920; the research councils will contribute 346m.
During this period, the Arts and Humanities Research
Council and the Economic and Social Research Council
will contribute 25m and 35m, respectively, equating
to about 6per cent of their resource budgets. In contrast,
the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
will contribute 55m or 1.73per cent of its budget.
Kieron Flanagan, senior lecturer in science and technology policy at the University of Manchester, said that
the settlement might pose a particular problem for the
by Cristina Gallardo
cgnews@ResearchResearch.com
ESRC, which already spends a larger slice of its budget

on programmatic research, as opposed to responsivemode funding, than other councils. Its a very difficult
trade-off for the ESRC, he said.
Meanwhile, Paul Nightingale, professor of strategy
and deputy director of the Science Policy Research Unit
at the University of Sussex, said that it was not clear why
the councils with the smallest budgets were contributing proportionally the most.
In addition to the councils contributions, there will
be an unallocated stream for interdisciplinary research,
amounting to 377m up to 2019-20. However, Nightingale
said that, due to a consistent lack of incentives for people
to build interdisciplinary careers, some researchers had
moved to industry or restricted their focus to one discipline. The fund is assuming there is a healthy ecosystem
for interdisciplinary research in the UK and there isnt.
In a statement issued on the same day as the allocations, Research Councils UK acknowledged that
councils resource budgets and the creation of the Global
Challenges Research Fund would create pressures on
the councils and may necessitate difficult decisions.
NHS to scrap a third of national clinical directors

NHS England is getting ready to overhaul its network of
national clinical directors, including cutting eight posts.
Most of the present cohort of 24clinical directorswho
provide expert advice and research on conditions and
services ranging from obesity and diabetes to emergency
preparedness and critical careare coming to the end of
three-year terms. Their number is expected to be cut as
part of an ongoing review of NHS Englands clinical advisory mechanisms led by Bruce Keogh, the organisations
national medical director.
A spokesman for NHS England told Research Fortnight
that the organisation saw an opportunity to streamline
and strengthen its networkeven though the review has
not yet been finalisedbecause the secondment agreements with external research institutions for most clinical
director positions end on 31March.
From April, the directors will fit into an updated
structure that reflects NHS Englands improvement priorities, the spokesman said. The roles will fall into three
categories: major programmes, including cancer, mental
health and maternity; service improvement, including
dementia and emergency preparedness; and population
by Anna McKie
amnews@ResearchResearch.com
groups, such as children and older people.

Geraldine Strathdee, national clinical director for mental health, said the directors were a crucial link between
health care providers and government. It is a false premise
that if you get the structures and policy documents right, it
will all just happen. Its about using the leaders at the front
line who can make the change to good clinical practice.
However, the changes mean that there will no longer be clinical directors for certain conditions or fields,
including neurology, pathology and renal disease.
Alex Massey, senior policy and campaigns adviser at the
charity the Neurological Alliance, said that the decision
to drop the role of national clinical director for neurology
was a real step back.
When [the appointment was made] in 2013 it was
seen as strengthening the quality of clinical leadership
for neurology and giving the service a dedicated voice
at senior level, Massey said. It is a key role for making sure that neurology has parity of representation and
focus compared with other conditions.
news 5
Jisc bolsters cybersecurity in wake of

attack on high-speed network
The UKs higher education ICT agency Jisc is planning an
upgrade to its Janet network in response to a denial-ofservice attack in December.
Jiscs chief executive Paul Feldman told Research
Fortnight that the agency was working hard to improve
Janet, its high-speed network for UK research and education institutions. This includes increasing its technical
capacity with a mid-term upgrade and investing more in
the team that manages the networks security systems.
The sustained denial-of-service attack in December
resulted in disruption and limited connectivity for
users across the UK, and forced Jisc to close its website
temporarily.
It was a malicious attack, Feldman said. It was initially aimed at a particular institution in the north-west
of England, but then it became an attack on the wider
Jisc infrastructure.
He added that Jiscs dedicated Computer Security
and Incident Response team is usually able to fend off
attacks, but that this one was particularly well-funded.
The attacker, whose motive and identity are still not
known, also kept changing tactics, making it harder
to respond. The attacker did some things wed never
seen before, so it took us a bit of time to find the right
defence, Feldman said. Thats why this attack had a
particularly widespread impact.
by Lindsay McKenzie
lmnews@ResearchResearch.com
As a result, Jisc is now building and investing in protection from denial-of-service attacks. The key message
is, rest assured that weve learnt lessons and were making additional investment in the network to make it even
more resilient to attacks, Feldman said.
Jisc is also facing pressure to remain competitive
to retain universities subscriptions. At the moment,
the agency receives more than 80per cent of its funding from government and 10per cent from compulsory
university subscriptions. However, from the start of the
2017-18 academic year, universities will be able to
choose whether to subscribe to Jiscs services.
Jeremy Sharp, director of strategic technologies at
Jisc, said that the agency was confident, but not complacent that universities would stick with it. Traffic to
the network is doubling every two-and-a-half years, he
said. The aim is for it to support speeds of up to 600gigabits a second in the next two to three years.
Another option would be for universities to pick and
choose the services they want from Jisc, but Feldman
said that the agency would prefer to continue with the
all you can eat bundle subscription. We think most
universities will want access to everything we do, but
were willing to have that conversation.
Defra plans to cut back on official statistics

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
has proposed to stop publishing or narrow the scope of 39
of its statistical reports, as budget cuts begin to take effect.
In a consultation document published on 25February,
Defra said that the proposed changes would affect publications on agriculture, environment, rural, forestry,
fishing and animal and plant health. The department,
which will cut its costs by 15per cent during this parliament, said that it was looking to scale back to essential
data gathering. The changes would increase efficiency
and reduce the burden on survey respondents, it said.
Defra publishes about 140 official statistical reports
a year and is proposing changes to 39 of these, including plans to stop seven of them. The publications to
be discontinued include an annual survey of industry
investment in environmental protection and Air Quality
Statistics in the UK, a report on levels of certain pollutants across the UK, also published yearly.
Defra said the information contained in the latter
was available elsewhere, but James Longhurst, assistant vice-chancellor for environment and sustainability
at the University of the West of England, told Research
by James Field
jfnews@ResearchResearch.com
Fortnight that the loss of a collated dataset could be a

problem. It will be more difficult for researchers and the
public to access the data in the future, he said.
Martin Williams, former head of the air-quality programme at Defra, said that the department should stop
printing hard copies of the statistics to save costs, and
that interesting but not essential analysis could also go.
But the spreadsheet of the basic statistics, which usually
makes up the bulk of a report, should not be cut, he said.
The department also wants to stop collecting data on
numbers of poultry in the UK, to reduce the detail and
frequency of the Monitor of Engagement with the Natural
Environment surveywhich looks at the public use of
green spacesand to carry out the Farm Practices Survey
once every four years instead of twice a year.
A spokesman for Defra said that the department was
highly responsive, open and data-driven and that the
proposed changes were to make sure that it continues
to meet departmental and user needs while offering the
best possible value for taxpayers and businesses.
6 news
i n t e r v i e w a n g e l a e a g l e
Sounding board
As Labour remains in listening mode, Rebecca Hill talked to shadow business secretary and ministerial veteran Angela Eagle, seeking hints on future policy directions.
Angela is running late, the shadow business secretarys

adviser tells me over the incessant ringing of the division
bell calling MPs to vote, as I follow him through the greencarpeted warren of corridors towards Angela Eagles office.
The office is in a prime location, in the corner of the
Palace of Westminster with spectacular views of the
Thames. On her notice boards, an array of campaign posters
speak to her parliamentary experience. She was first elected Labour MP for Wallasey in 1992 and has held ministerial
or shadow ministerial positions under four Labour leaders.
How have the first six months in Jeremy Corbyns
shadow cabinet been, I ask once shes arrived. Well, its
hectic, she says. The brief is really huge and its very
spread about. It ranges from consumer protection to sciencewhich is a big area in itselfto business and trade.
Nonetheless, Eagle seems to be enjoying the challenge, especially the economic side of her brief. (Eagle
had been tipped for the role of shadow chancellor, before
it went to Corbyns close ally John McDonnell.)
But what about the science and technology side?
Eagle namechecks a few of the places shes visitedthe
Synchrotron Radiation Source at Daresbury, east Londons
tech hub, the aerospace company Reaction Engines in
Oxfordshireand reels off topics that have sparked her
interest, notably big data and virtual engineering.
When I ask how the government should be supporting
innovation, she says that her main concern is that it isnt
spending enough. Money spent on R&D, Eagle argues,
is seed-corn investment for the future. She singles out
government proposals to convert some of Innovate UKs
grants to loans for particular criticism. Im not certain
that a loan structure is remotely applicable to some of
these areas of high-risk innovative developments, Eagle
says. I just think that will put people off.
Labour has committed to creating an innovation policy and to increasing R&D spending to 3per cent of GDP
if it were to get into power. But it has yet to get down to
specifics. In the meantime, those
high up in the party are keen to
show that theyre listening to
experts. McDonnell has appointed an all-star cast to advise him
on economics, and Eagle has just
named financier and former Nike
executive Anthony Watson as
head of her business panel.
Will we see advisory groups in
other areas, I askmaybe some-
I have a problem
with stripping
departments to
their bare bones so
they cant even do
the day job.
thing for academia? Weve got to make sure that we

focus our policymaking in a way that doesnt just create
vast numbers of groups so we spend our whole time calling meetings and not doing anything, Eagle says. Im
not in a position to announce whether Ill have a science
group or not. I think the key thing is that we demonstrate that were interested in new ideas.
But what about the Conservative governments policies? The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
plan to slash spending and its number of sites and partner
organisations by 2020 is dominating discussion for those
working with the department. Its all driven by the need
to cut spending. Its not been driven by a strategy that
makes any sense, Eagle says. Its just very short-sighted.
The time when this huge wave of change is comingthats
precisely the time you need more investment.
But BIS is a big department, I counter; shouldnt it
be able to make some savings? I dont have a problem
with making certain that departments work effectively
and efficiently, Eagle replies. I do have a problem with
stripping them down to their bare bones so they cant
even do the day job. Her comments echo concerns
voiced by academics and policy wonks; the government,
she says, is trying to change too many things at once. If
you do that, you inevitably mess it all upyouve got to
leave some structures in place, she says.
Despite clearly being exercised by the issue, Eagles
agenda for the next few months will be dominated by the
UKs referendum on European Union membership. Shes
campaigning for the UK to remain, but, she says, that
doesnt mean she thinks the EU is perfect. Far from it.
It can be a frustratingly difficult institutional structure
to operate in. Having been a member of a number of EU
councils in her time as a minister, Eagle has first-hand
experience of those frustrations. But, she addsciting her
role in negotiating the European arrest warrant and banning white asbestosin general, the EU produces good.
Eagle acknowledges that immigration is a concern for
many people but, she says, theyre not worried about
tip-top scientists coming to do a year heretheyre worried about the implications of low-skilled immigration
that drives wages down. She insists that open, up-front
conversation is whats needed rather than pursuing a
crude numbers game, as she says the previous two governments have done. I think that conversation is quite
easy to have when you can speak to people about it, rather than sloganise it.
More to say? Email comment@ResearchResearch.com
funding opportunities
Research Fortnight
9 March 2016
every new opportunity every discipline
deadlines
focus points
Opportunities from previous issues of

Research Fortnight, listed by closing
date. European Commission and
associated funders marked EU.
Issue no. 474
NIHR horizon scanning

The National Institute
for Health Research
invites applications for its
horizon scanning research
and intelligence centre
competition. The budget is
worth up to 10million [8].
MRC Malaysia health
The Medical Research
Council and the Academy
of Science, Malaysia
invite proposals for their
UK-Malaysia joint health
research call. The budget
is worth 4million [10].
NERC/BBSRC aquaculture
The Natural Environment
Research Council and
the Biotechnology and
Biological Sciences
Research Council, via the
UK aquaculture initiative,
invite outline proposals
for innovation projects.
The budget is worth up to
1.2million [11].
Innovate UK/DH vaccines
Innovate UK, on behalf of
the Department of Health,
invites applications
for its competition on
new vaccines for global
epidemics. The total
budget is worth up to
10million [12].
Vehicle dynamics
The Rail Safety and
Standards Board invites
applications for its vehicle
dynamics competition.
The total budget is worth
4.5million [20].
n o t t o be
p h o t o c o p ie D
For subscriptions call +44 20 7216 6500
Each entry is followed by a Web id
17

March
EU Horizon 2020: Industrial

Leadership H2020INNOSUP-2016-2017 for a better
innovation support to SMEs topic
5 1186208
EU Horizon 2020: Innovative
Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking H2020-JTI-IMI2-2015-07 IMI
seventh call for proposals two
stage 1188183
MRC biomedical catalyst regenerative medicine research committee
1167138
National Research Fund Luxembourg/Aides la FormationRecherche PhD programme 1159901
National Research Fund Luxembourg/Aides la FormationRecherche public private partnerships PhD and postdoctoral grants
1159906
NERC environmental risks to infrastructure knowledge exchange
fellowship call 1188238
NERC marine renewable energy
knowledge exchange fellowship
1187385
NERC open knowledge exchange
fellowships 1188776
NERC/BBSRC aquaculture knowledge exchange fellowship 1187850
NERC/Marine Management
Organisation knowledge exchange
fellowship advancing the uptake
of scientific research in marine
management 1188323
Sarcoma UK grants 1179993
EU Shift2Rail H2020-S2RJU-2015-01 call for proposals
1188165
EU Shift2Rail H2020-S2RJU-2016-01 open call for proposals
1188166
Alzheimer's Society clinician and
healthcare professionals training
fellowships 1169483
Alzheimer's Society junior fellowships 1169481
Alzheimer's Society PhD studentships 258082
CRUK/DH experimental cancer
medicine centres 2017-22 Quinquennium 154831
18

19
20

21

22

23
DFID social accountability in the delivery of social protection 1188639

EU European Chemical Industry
Council long-range research
initiative innovative science award
261055
European Federation of Immunological Societies travel grants
1172627
ScotGov Chief Scientist Office clinical academic training fellowship
scheme 1161514
ScotGov Chief Scientist Office clinical research fellowship in progressive supranuclear palsy 1188009
STFC Innovation Technology Access
Centre challenge competition
1161003
WHO global polio eradication initiative call for proposals 1158074
Worshipful Company of Armourers &
Brasiers Venture prize 1170012
ESRC/Future Cities Catapult
knowledge exchange fellowship
1179016
Biochemical Society Krebs memorial
scholarship 251982
British Mycological Society small
grants 213758
European Association for Chinese
Studies/Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation library travel grant 211921
American Statistical Association
Julius Shiskin award for economic
statistics 187838
British Ecological Society outreach
grants 1168904
British Ecological Society research
grants 1168900
British Society for Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology research and
scholarship grants 205261
EU Joint Programming Initiative
on Antimicrobial Resistance third
joint call on transmission dynamics
1186215
Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust
Northern Ireland programme grants
1166757
Royal College of Radiologists
Prafulla Kumar Ganguli professorship 1165744
Medical Research Foundation
Alexander Fleming dissemination
scheme 1165099
MOD Centre for Defence Enterprise/
Defence Science and Technology
Laboratory enduring challenge
competition 1175661
Innovate UK/BIS/Advanced
Propulsion Centre driving UK
capability through low carbon
propulsion technologies 1185083
Online Funding Search

For full details of every funding opportunity, visit
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Online subscribers can view full details of any funding opportunity by
simply searching for the Web id number as free text in a funding search.
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Innovate UK/RCUK/Newton Fund/

Ministry of Science and Technology China UK-China R&I bridges
competition 1187617
Museums Association Esme Fairbairn collections fund 1163760
NIHR research for patient benefit
programme including obesity
themed call 1187889
Institute of Historical Research
Pearsall fellowship in naval and
maritime history 211538
Intensive Care Society foundation
fellowship for nurses and allied
health professionals 1179888
Royal Institution of Chartered
Surveyors Education Trust research
trust grants 180095
Society for the Study of French History research grants 1175973
Society for Theatre Research
research awards 190455
Action for A-T research grants
1169771
European Oncology Nursing Society
invited speaker grants 1183428
Organization for Autism Research
applied research grants 1173006
Campbell Collaboration systematic
review grants 1188663
Department of Defense bone marrow failure research programme
idea development award 1188319
EU ERA-Net SusAn joint call for
proposals on sustainable animal
production 1187900
MRC biomedical catalyst developmental pathway funding scheme
1176899
Action Medical Research for
Children project grants 259674
Association for Computing Machinery/Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Computer Society
Eckert-Mauchly award 251798
EU ERA-Net NORFACE dynamics of
inequality across the life-course:
structure and processes 1188046
EU ERA-Net OCEANERA-NET joint
call 1182230
ESRC transnational organised crime
innovation awards 1187934
EU H2020-EINFRA-11-2016 support
to the next implementation phase
of Pan-European High Performance
Computing infrastructure and
services (PRACE) 1187221
EU H2020-INFRADEV-3-2016/2017
individual support to ESFRI projects
and other world-class research
infrastructures call 1184985
EU H2020-INFRAIA-2-2017
integrating activities for starting
communities 1184999
EU H2020-INFRAINNOV-2016 support to technological infrastructures topic 2 1185003
EU H2020-INFRASUPP-1-2016
policy measures for research infrastructures 1185010
European University Institute
Fernand Braudel senior fellowships
207344
EU H2020-INFRAIA-1-2016/2017
integrating activities for advanced
communities topic 1 1184994
Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh plastic surgery and wound
healing award 1188465
8 funding opportunities
uk
highlights
New opportunities from UK-based funders.
Paediatric brain diseases

Action Medical Research for Children
and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy invite outline proposals
for their joint awards. These support
research into the treatment and rehabilitation of paediatric non-acquired
brain injury or cerebral palsy. Awards
are worth up to 250,000 each. Additional funding is available for attending
conferences.
Web id: 1184099
Email: info@action.org
Deadline: 30 March 2016 [1]
Brewers research
The British Beer & Pub Association invites
applications for its brewers research and
education fund. This supports research
and education in the brewing industry.
Web id: 1189058
Contact: Neil Williams
Email: nwilliams@beerandpub.com
UK/Brazil workshop
The British Council invites applications
to attend its researcher links workshop
on developing legal research networks
in Brazil and the UK. Grants enable earlycareer researchers based in the UK and
Brazil to attend a workshop on developing
legal research networks around agritechnology in Brazil. Grants cover travel,
accommodation and meals.
Web id: 1189111
Contact: Brian Jack
Email: b.jack@qub.ac.uk
Defra engine power

The Department for Environment, Food
& Rural Affairs, on behalf of the Marine
Management Organisation, invites tenders for the provision of English vessel
engine power monitoring. The tenderer
will test the engine power of a fishing vessel. The contract is tenable for
threeyears.
Web id: 1189020
Email: julia.medd@defra.gsi.gov.uk
Ecology awards
The British Ecological Society invites
nominations for the following awards:
founders' prize, worth 500.
Web id: 1186289
the Marsh award for climate change
research, worth 1,000. Web id: 1186292
Email: info@britishecologicalsociety.org
Deadline: 4 April 2016 [6]
NIHR horizon scanning centre

The National Institute for Health Research
invites applications for its horizon scanning research and intelligence centre
competition. Funding aims to designate
and fund a single centre of excellence that
will provide advance notice to national
policymakers on key emerging health
technologies. The budget is worth up to
10million over five years.
Web id: 1188997
Email: hsric2016_inquiries@nihr.ac.uk

Gynaecology education visits
The Royal College of Obstetricians and
Gynaecologists invites applications for
the Sims Black travelling professorship.
This enables practising obstetricians
and gynaecologists who are RCOG fellows
or members to visit countries overseas.
Web id: 1189078
Email: twelgama@rcog.org.uk
invite applications for their call on higher

education in Africa. This supports collaborative UK-South Africa projects relating to higher education in South Africa
and wider Africa. Each UK proposal may
request up to 630,000.
Web id: 1188821
Contact: Tim Pank
Email: newtonsouthafrica@esrc.ac.uk
Deadline: 3 May 2016 [14]
MRC Malaysia disease research
NIHR health services
The Medical Research Council and the

Academy of Science, Malaysia invite proposals for their UK-Malaysia joint health
research call. This supports research
on non-communicable diseases of relevance to Malaysia ,and particularly those
impacting the most vulnerable in society.
The total budget is worth 4million, with
up to 400,000 available per project.
Web id: 1187543
Email: international@headoffice.mrc.
ac.uk
NERC/BBSRC aquaculture
The Natural Environment Research Council and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, via the
UK aquaculture initiative, invite outline
proposals for their call for innovation projects. Funding supports the development
of new products, services or solutions
based on existing data, knowledge and
technologies for businesses, practitioners
or decision-makers to address key challenges facing the aquaculture industry.
The budget is worth up to 1.2million.
Web id: 1188483
Contact: Jodie Mitchell
Email: jodark@nerc.ac.uk
Innovate UK/DH vaccines

Innovate UK, on behalf of the Department of Health, invites applications for
its competition on new vaccines for global
epidemics. Funding supports projects
that aim to develop vaccines, vaccine
platform technologies and manufacturing
technologies that will enable an effective,
rapid response to future outbreaks of pathogens, including Chikungunya, CrimeanCongo haemorrgagic fever, Dengue virus,
Ebola, Hantavirus, Lassa, Marburg, Middle
East Respiratory Syndrome, Nipah, Plague,
Q Fever, Rift Valley Fever and Zika. The total
budget is worth up to 10million.
Web id: 1189044
Email: support@innovateuk.gov.uk
Psychological conferences
The British Psychological Society invites
applications for its international conference symposium scheme. This enables
member networks to convene a symposium at an international conference in
order to help the society showcase UK
psychology to international audiences,
by increasing member networks' presence
at international conferences. Grants are
worth up to 3,000 each.
Web id: 1188971
Email: liz.beech@bps.org.uk
ESRC education research

The Economic and Social Research Council
and the South African National Research
Foundation, under the Newton Fund,

invites proposals for the commissioned
workstream of its health services and
delivery research programme. Proposals
are sought on the topics of: improving
outputs of national clinical audits to
support organisations in improving the
quality of care and clinical outcomes; and
workforce interventions for the assessment and management of older adult
patients with cognitive impairments.
Web id: 1188960
Email: hsdrinfo@soton.ac.uk
Singapore science scholarship

The Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK, in partnership with
the National University of Singapore,
invites applications for its Singapore
commonwealth scholarships. These support PhD study at the National University of Singapore's Graduate School of
Integrative Sciences and Engineering.
Each scholarship covers tuition fees, a
monthly stipend and a computer, book
or conference allowance.
Web id: 1188993
Email: ngsenquiry@nus.edu.sg
NIHR commissioned calls 1

invites proposals for the following calls
under the commissioned funding stream
of its health technology assessment programme:
management of thoracolumbar fractures. Web id: 1189034
treating mental health problems
associated with a history of complex
traumatic events. Web id: 1188952
persistent acne in adult women;
family-based intervention for the management of asthma in children of south
Asian origin; secondary care treatment
for severe nausea and vomiting in pregnancy; carboprost versus oxytocin as
the first line of treatment of primary
postpartum haemorrhage; topiramate for
post-traumatic stress disorder; remotely
delivered behavioural intervention for
tics in children and adolescents with
Tourette syndrome; treatment for persistent anxiety disorder in adolescents
after an inadequate response to low
intensity psychological therapy; unscheduled bleeding in women using long acting
reversible contraception; prescribing
high-dose flouride toothpaste to older
patients. Web id: 1188970
Email: htacmsng@southampton.ac.uk
Vehicle dynamics
The Rail Safety and Standards Board
invites applications for its vehicle
dynamics competition. Funding supports
innovations that aim to make technical
improvements to rail vehicles, reduce
track damage, wheel and suspension
maintenance costs, and that increase

the use of vehicles for both fast and slow
lines. The total budget is worth 4.5million, with an additional 1.5m available
from Future Railway.
Web id: 1189084
Email: enquirydesk@rssb.co.uk
Medieval archaeology grant

The Society for Medieval Archaeology
invites applications for the Mick Aston
research grant. This supports the completion and publication of a research project
relating to settlement archaeology in
Britain or Ireland. The total budget is
5,000 and grants are normally worth
up to 500 each.
Web id: 1189066
Email: d.m.hadley@sheffield.ac.uk
Renal transplantation grant

Kidney Research UK invites applications
for its renal transplantation programme
grants. These support research focusing
on tackling rejection of transplanted
kidneys, making transplanted kidneys
last longer, and making more kidneys
available for transplantation. Grants are
worth up to 750,000 each over five years.
Web id: 1188920
Email: grants@kidneyresearchuk.org
Deadline: 24 June 2016 [22]
Psychology awards
applications for its postgraduate study
visits scheme. This enables postgraduate students to undertake study visits to
other institutions related to psychology.
Awards are worth up to 600 each.
Web id: 1188972
Email: elizabeth.beech@bps.org.uk
Deadline: 1 July 2016 [23]
Lithic studies bursary

The Lithic Studies Society invites applications for the Roger Jacobi bursary. This
supports research related to museum
collections and archives in the field of
lithic studies.
Web id: 1188727
Contact: Olaf Bayer
Email: chair@lithics.org
Deadline: 8 August 2016 [24]
Psychology grants
applications for its sections initiative
fund. This supports scientific initiatives
that promote or advance psychology.
Grants are worth up to 15,000 each.
Web id: 1188974
Email: liz.beech@bps.org.uk
Deadline: 1 September 2016 [25]
NIHR commissioned calls 2

invites proposals for the following calls
under the commissioned funding stream
of its health technology assessment programme:
Australian National Health and Medical Research Council call for primary
research on prophylactic antibiotics to
prevent recurrent lower respiratory tract
infections in children with neurological
impairment and on smoking cessation
interventions in children of school age.
Web id: 1189065
primary research on biological
funding opportunities 9

response modifier drugs for rare autoimmune diseases, and poorly controlled diabetes and outcomes of elective surgery.
Web id: 1188959
Email: htacmsng@southampton.ac.uk
ISSN 1358-1198
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N OT TO B E P H OTO C OP I E D
Sports and exercise research

The British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences invites applications for the
Professor Tom Reilly doctoral dissertation
of the year award. This recognises the best
doctoral dissertation by a BASES member
related to sports or exercise medicine. The
award is worth 500.
Web id: 1188085
Email: jbairstow@bases.org.uk
Deadline: 31 January 2017 [28]
uk
other
Renewed opportunities from funders based
in the UK.
MRC biomedical catalyst

The Medical Research Council invites
outline proposals for its developmental pathway funding scheme, under the
biomedical catalyst programme. This
supports projects that aim to improve
the prevention, diagnosis, prognosis or
treatment of significant health needs,
as well as projects that focus on research
tools which increase the efficiency of
developing interventions.
Web id: 1176899
Email: stephen.oakeshott@headoffice.
mrc.ac.uk
Anaesthesia travel grant

The Association of Anaesthetists of Great
Britain and Ireland invites applications
for its personal development grant. This
enables candidates to visit recognised
centres anywhere in the world for personal development. The grant is worth up
to 2,000, and covers travel and subsistence for up to two weeks.
Web id: 1183661
Email: secretariat@aagbi.org
Physiological symposia
The Physiological Society invites applications for its special symposium grants.
These enable members to organise special
symposia in honour of society members
who have made exceptional contributions
to physiology or to the society.
Web id: 1160303
Email: ccarr@physoc.org
Hellenic research
The British School at Athens invites applications for grants from the John Morrison
memorial fund. These support research
into all branches of Hellenic maritime
studies of any period. One to two grants,
worth 500 in total, are available.
Web id: 201545
Contact: Chryssanthi Papadopoulou
Email: assistant.director@bsa.ac.uk
Immunology grants
The British Society for Immunology
invites applications for its communicating immunology grants. These encourage
individuals to stimulate interest, discussion and understanding of immunology

amongst a wider audience, and support
education on immunology. Grants are
Web id: 257534
Contact: Hannah Hope
Email: h.hope@immunology.org
Soil science grant

The British Society of Soil Science invites
applications for its field equipment grant.
This enables institutions to buy field
equipment to aid in the instruction and
understanding of soil science. Grants are
Web id: 1168865
Email: admin@soils.org.uk
STFC telescope travel

The Science and Technology Facilities
Council and the Panel for the Allocation
of Telescope Time invite applications
for their linked travel and subsistence
grants. These provide travel and subsistence support for telescope time at STFC's
astronomy facilities.
Web id: 200066
Email: diane.greening@stfc.ac.uk
Scottish knowledge exchange

The Scottish Universities Insight Institute
invites registrations for its knowledge
exchange programme. Funding supports
programmes that address substantial
issues facing Scotland and the wider
world, which have the capacity to extend
knowledge and inform policy and practice. Programmes typically comprise seminars and workshops held over a period of
up to six months.
Web id: 259198
Contact: Nicola Allan
Email: info@scottishinsight.ac.uk
Ecology awards
The British Ecological Society invites
nominations for the Marsh award for
ecology. This recognises an outstanding recent discovery or development
that has had a significant impact on the
development or application of the science
of ecology. The award is worth 1,000.
Web id: 1168906
Email: info@britishecologicalsociety.org
MRC clinical fellowships

applications for the following opportunities:
clinician scientist fellowship.
Web id: 252449
senior clinical fellowship.
Web id: 252450
Email: fellows@headoffice.mrc.ac.uk
ESRC access to society data

The Economic and Social Research Council's Understanding Society innovation
panel invites proposals for experiments
and methodological innovation for longitudinal studies. This call invites proposals for studies to be incorporated in
the Understanding Society panel of data
collection from wave 10 onwards.
Web id: 1183751
Contact: Annette Jckle

Email: aejack@essex.ac.uk
Headache fellowship
The International Headache Society invites
applications for its fellowship. This supports the mobility of researchers and physicians working in basic and clinical research,
in order to increase the knowledge base
of headache disorders. The fellowship is
worth up to 50,000 over one year.
Web id: 1162237
Email: carol.taylor@i-h-s.org
Nuffield Foundation grants

The Nuffield Foundation invites applications for its grants for research and innovation. These support research, practical
experiments or development work in
the areas of children and families, early
years education and childcare, economic
advantages and disadvantages, education, law in society and social wellbeing.
Web id: 185280
Contact: Alison Rees
Email: arees@nuffieldfoundation.org
RAEng visiting fellows

The Royal Academy of Engineering invites
applications for its distinguished visiting
fellowships. These enable an academic
engineering department in a UK university to host an expert from an overseas
academic centre of excellence for up to
one month. Fellowships are worth up to
6,000 each.
Web id: 260314
Email: international@raeng.org.uk
CRUK preclinical grants

Cancer Research UK invites applications
for its new agents committee preclinical
combination grants. These support preclinical trial development of combination
treatments for cancer. Grants are worth up
to 50,000 each over six to 12 months.
Web id: 1177076
Contact: Kate Searle
Email: combinationsalliance@cancer.
org.uk
MRC career award/fellows

career development award.
Web id: 252442
senior non-clinical fellowship.
Web id: 252375
Surgery travel awards

The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, under the Ethicon Foundation
Fund, invites applications for its travel
grants. These enable candidates to spend
time overseas to enhance or obtain relevant surgical experience which is not
normally available in their own country.
Grants are worth up to 1,000 each for
visits lasting six weeks to two years.
Web id: 257378
Contact: Cathy McCartney
Email: c.mccartney@rcsed.ac.uk
Ophthalmology travel
The Royal Society of Medicine invites
applications for its ophthalmology travelling fellowship bursary. This enables
British ophthalmologists to travel abroad
to further the study or advancement of
ophthalmology, or foreign ophthalmologists to visit the UK for the same purpose.
Bursaries are worth up to 1,000 each.
Web id: 187528
Email: ophthalmology@rsm.ac.uk
Scottish engineering travel

The Royal Society of Edinburgh invites
applications for the John Moyes Lessells
travel scholarships. These enable graduates to pursue studies on any aspect of
engineering, including computer and
software engineering, in any part of the
world except the UK. Scholarships are
worth 1,250 each per month, pro-rata,
for up to oneyear.
Web id: 210203
Software development
The Software Sustainability Institute
invites proposals for its open call for
projects. This offers the assistance and
expertise of institute staff to research
groups, in order to improve the longterm sustainability of software across all
academic disciplines, from computational
biology to nuclear fusion.
Web id: 1185269
Email: info@software.ac.uk
Tinnitus research
The British Tinnitus Association invites
applications for its large research project
scheme. This supports projects that aim to
improve the lives of people with tinnitus.
The total budget is worth 75,000, to fund
one or two projects.
Web id: 1183694
Contact: David Stockdale
Email: david@tinnitus.org.uk
Cardiovascular conferences
The British Cardiovascular Society invites
applications for its travel bursaries. These
enable members to attend international
conferences, including the American
College of Cardiology conference, the
BCS conference and the European Society
of Cardiology conference. Bursaries are
Web id: 1173408
Contact: Cliff Grant
Email: bursaries@bcs.com
Fish biology grants

The Fisheries Society of the British Isles
invites applications for the following
opportunities:
small research grants, worth up to
5,000 each. Web id: 252530
the Wyn Wheeler research grant.
Web id: 206200
Email: admin@fsbi.org.uk
Occupational health nursing

The RCN Foundation invites applications
for the Mair scholarship. This enables
occupational health nurses to undertake
learning and development activities, such
as postgraduate studies or professional

short courses, in order to enhance patient
care, patient experience and development
in nursing practice. Bursaries are worth up
to 5,000 each.
Web id: 178863
Email: jan.gorman@rcn.org.uk
MRC molecular/cellular grant

The Medical Research Council invites proposals for its new investigator research
grant in population and systems medicine. This supports researchers who are
capable of becoming independent principal investigators within the areas of
molecular and cellular medicine. Grants
are tenable for threeyears.
Web id: 257869
Email: rfpd@headoffice.mrc.ac.uk
Dementia clinical trials

Alzheimer's Research UK invites expressions of interest for its global clinical
trials fund. This supports clinical trials
that have the potential to be of benefit
to dementia patients. Grants are worth
up to 500,000 per project.
Web id: 1184311
Email: research@alzheimersresearchuk.
org
Innovate UK KTP
Innovate UK invites applications for its
knowledge transfer partnerships. These
facilitate the transfer of knowledge, technology and skills, and help businesses
innovate and grow, by linking them with
a university and a graduate. Partnerships last between six months and three
years. SMEs must contribute a third of the
project costs, usually around 20,000,
whereas large companies must contribute
50 per cent of the costs, around 30,000.
Web id: 192286
Email: support@innovateuk.gov.uk
Women graduate awards 1

The British Federation for Women Graduates invites applications for its emergency
grants. These support women graduate
students who face an unforeseen financial
crisis. Grants assist with the completion
of an academic year's work.
Web id: 194245
Contact: Jean Collett-Flatt
Email: grants@ffwg.org.uk
MRC infections and immunity

grant in infections and immunity. This
supports researchers who are capable of
becoming independent principal investigators within the areas of infections
and immunity. Grants are tenable for
three years.
Web id: 257880
European studies events

The University Association for Contemporary European Studies invites proposals
for its small event grants. These enable
candidates to organise conferences or
workshops related to any aspect of contemporary European studies. Grants are
Web id: 1175707

Email: admin@uaces.org
Web id: 1162612

Email: lynne.guppy@bbsrc.ac.uk
NIHR commissioned call
Regional studies travel

invites expressions of interest for primary
research in two stages, under the commissioned funding stream of its health technology assessment programme. Proposals
are sought on the topic of promising
pharmacological therapy for the treatment of resistant bipolar depression.
There are no fixed limits on the duration
of projects or funding.
Web id: 1187497
Email: htacmsng@soton.ac.uk
NERC international fund

The Natural Environment Research Council, under the international opportunities
fund, invites proposals for its pumppriming and pump-priming plus grants.
These enable NERC-supported researchers
to forge long-term partnerships with
overseas scientists. Grants are worth
up to 250,000 each at 80 per cent full
economic cost over a maximum period
of three years.
Web id: 1160948
Contact: Weihao Zhong
Email: iof@nerc.ac.uk
Wellcome biomedical awards

The Wellcome Trust invites applications
for its people awards. These support
projects that are innovative and creative
and engage the public with biomedical
science or the history of medicine. Awards
are worth up to 40,000 each.
Web id: 255361
Email: pegrants@wellcome.ac.uk
MRC new investigator grant

proposals for its new investigator research
grant in population and systems medicine.
This supports researchers who are capable
of becoming independent principal investigators within the areas of population
and systems medicine. Grants are tenable
for three years.
Web id: 257885
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's UK invites applications for
its project grants. These support projects
that tackle major research challenges
related to Parkinson's disease. Grants are
provided for a maximum of three years.
Web id: 253799
Email: researchapplications@
parkinsons.org.uk
BBSRC young entrepreneurs

The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, under its Innovation and Skills Group, and the University
of Nottingham, under the Haydn Green
Institute, invite registrations for their
biotechnology young entrepreneurs
scheme. This aims to raise awareness
of the commercialisation of ideas from
the biosciences among postgraduate
students and postdoctoral scientists. The
prize fund is worth 5,000.
The Regional Studies Association invites

applications for its travel grants. These
enable members to present work, network
and participate in worldwide non-RSA
events in the field of regional studies.
Grants are worth up to 500 each and may
be used for travel costs.
Web id: 1164935
Email: travelgrant@regionalstudies.org
Radiology travel bursaries

The British Society of Head & Neck Imaging
invites applications for its travel bursaries.
These enable members to attend conferences and courses, or to undertake a period
of specialist head and neck radiology training or similar personal development. Bursaries are worth 1,000 each.
Web id: 1171725
Email: secretary@bshni.org.uk
Women's studies grants

The Feminist Review Trust invites applications for its research grants. These
support feminist scholars and activities.
Web id: 253602
Email: administrator@
feminist-review-trust.com
Wheat transformation
The National Institute of Agricultural
Botany, funded by the Biotechnology
and Biological Sciences Research Council,
invites applications for its call on community resource for wheat transformation.
Funding provides capacity for genes to
be transformed into wheat free of charge,
with half of the resource reserved for
researchers working on model crops to
encourage early testing of novel genes
in wheat, and the remaining half reserved
for researchers working on cereal crops,
wheat and barley.
Web id: 1183927
Email: croptransformation@niab.com
MRC new investigator awards

grant in neurosciences and mental health.
This supports researchers who are capable
of becoming independent principal investigators within the area of neurosciences
and mental health. Grants are tenable for
three years.
Web id: 257895
German history
The German History Society and the Royal
Historical Society invite submissions for
their German history essay prize. This
recognises the best essay on any aspect
of German history, including the history
of German-speaking people abroad. The
prize is worth 500 plus travel costs for
the annual meeting.
Web id: 1170667
Contact: Melanie Ransom
Email: royalhistsoc@ucl.ac.uk
jobs 11
Jobs
Policy, Management & Support plus Expert Committees
Highlights
Strategy Board Manager
27,355-38,163 plus 4,777 LW
Medical Research Council (MRC)
Closing date: 15/03/2016
Details: http://topcareer.jobs
Head of Research
48,650-56,900
Qualifications Wales
Details: To apply, please visit:
http://qualificationswales.org
Senior Research Officer up to
three posts 37,600-43,950
Research Officer
23,400-26,400
Research Fellow
30,738-37,768
Department of Electrical
& Electronic Engineering,
University of Surrey
Email: k.moessner@surrey.ac.uk
Senior Research Fellow in
Gender and Water Governance
47,808-59,058
Coventry University
Email: michel.pimbert@
coventry.ac.uk
Research Development Team
Lead (Engineering and Physical
Sciences)
38,896-46,414
University of Birmingham
Details: www.hr.bham.ac.uk/jobs
Head of Strategic Research
Projects and Partnerships (Life
Sciences)
47,801-55,389
University of Birmingham
Details: www.hr.bham.ac.uk/jobs
Director of Research and
Academic Strategy
NS
The Open University
Closing date: 12pm, 04/06/2016
Details: www.perrettlaver.com/
candidates
For more details and the complete
list of jobs, please visit:
www.researchresearch.com/jobs
9 March 2016
The leap from academia to consultancy:

could you make it?
Aldo de Moor was working as a senior researcher
at a lab in Belgium when he decided hed had
enough. Tired of the academic rat race, in 2007
he set up his own independent consultancy
called Community Sense.
De Moors expertise is in community informatics,
which looks at how ICT can be used to empower
people. Ive always been interested in the impact
my research could have on society, he says. But
I found I didnt have enough space to do that in
academia. The publish-or-perish culture was like a
straitjacket. I wanted more freedom and more control
to do the research I really felt was important.
The decision to quit wasnt easy. I had never
worked outside academia, de Moor says. It was
a real challenge to start thinking about how to sell
my expertise, and find people willing to pay for it.
Going solo isnt for everyone, says Jela Webb,
senior lecturer at the University of Brightons
business school. In 2000, after a successful
career in banking, Webb set up the consultancy
firm Azione, specialising in information and
knowledge management. If youre thinking of
doing consultancy as a full-time job, you need
to consider how youll cope with the peaks and
troughs. You wont always have a steady stream of
income and will need some money to fall back on.
That financial buffer is very important, de Moor
agrees. You can spend a lot of time just looking for
by Lindsay McKenzielmnews@ResearchResearch.com
contracts, especially at the beginning. But even

when work is slow, dont be tempted to lower your
rates. Be strict, and dont be afraid to let go of some
contracts. Some clients may think Im expensive,
but I tell them that if they want to hire me for my
innovative capacity, it comes with a price tag.
For those interested in consultancy but dont want
to go it alone, Webb suggests doing consultancy
work through your university. In addition to
minimising your legal and financial risks, your
institution may help you find work and facilitate
the process of drawing up contracts. A university
can also lend its branding and reputation, which
will be attractive to some clients. But there may
be strings attached; many universities will divert
the extra money you bring in to your departments
budget rather than your salary.
For de Moor, consultancy has not meant the end
of research. I still consider myself an academic
Im still publishing, still reading papers and
attending conferences. The only difference now is
that Im self-sponsored.
He adds that many of the academics he talks to
about his job are a little jealous. They often say
that they wish they were in my position, he says.
But they could be if they wanted to. Its just a
matter of preparing well, and then jumping.
Newtons Apple to grow second branch of policy workshops

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Newtons
Apple, a charitable foundation that aims to bridge
the gap between scientists and policymakers.
Academics, civil servants, special advisers and
members of the House of Commons Science and
Technology Committee set the group up after what
the foundations chairman Michael Elves says was a
disappointing number responses to government and
select committee calls for evidencet. We knew there
were people out there who had things to say, he
says. We decided we had to do something about it.
Under the foundations programme Newtons
Heirs, the group has held more than 65workshops
in the last eight years for over 1,600participants,
including PhD students and UK researchers.
The workshops cost the host university or society
between 750and 800for an afternoon. They
include talks from civil servants at the Government
Office for Science, present and former members of the
Commons science and technology committee, and
representatives from academic societies. Participants
discuss how science is dealt with in parliament, where
government science advice comes from and the role
of scientific societies in the debate. Attendees also
get several information booklets to take away.
Newtons Apple is now looking to expand this
programme to include an advanced workshop. For
by Lindsay McKenzielmnews@ResearchResearch.com
that, Elves says the foundation needed to raise

100,000and hire a full-time manager to help
relieve pressure from the groups trustees, who
give their time to the foundation for free.
Elves says that feedback forms suggest that the
workshop format is effective; researchers rarely, if
ever, leave without claiming to have significantly
improved their understanding of science policy.
But he adds that it is hard to measure the groups
wider impact on engagement. Were putting seeds
down, but we dont know yet whether theyll grow
into anything useful, he says. Certainly the need
for the workshops is still there, and the popularity
of the workshops with students is testament to the
fact that they recognise that need too.
For Julian Huppert, former Liberal Democrat MP
and a trustee of Newtons Apple, the workshops
really help people to understand how the policy
process works, what the drivers are, and how they
can use their knowledge to make a difference. He
adds that, although politicians and civil servants
should do more to understand how science and
evidence work, there is also an onus on scientists
to understand the needs of politics and policy, so
that they can contribute in a useful way.
12 jobs
Where universities work together

*Unity is the new way to work with anyone in universities and research.
Its a simple place to form groups, share files and work on them together.
Built by universities, for universities, with some help from us at *Research
Try *Unity now at www.unity.ac
Daphne Jackson
Fellowship Opportunities
Daphne Jackson Fellowships are unique they offer STEM
professionals, wishing to return to a research career after
a break of 2 or more years, the opportunity to balance an
individually tailored retraining programme with a challenging
research project. Fellowships are held part-time over 2 years
and include at least 100 hours retraining per year.
Call for proposals

The microbiome and
neurodegenerative disease
The Reta Lila Weston Trust is delighted to issue a request
for proposals for novel research on the microbiome that
will accelerate the development of therapeutics, identify
preventative strategies for neurodegenerative diseases and
neurocognitive decline or understand the resilience against
such conditions or decline in elderly individuals as a result of
microbiome activity.
Current sponsored fellowship opportunity:

John Innes Centre, Norwich (www.jic.ac.uk) Fellowship
hosted and half-sponsored by the John Innes Centre, an
internationally renowned centre of excellence
in plant and microbial science.
Closing date for applications: 18 March 2016
Up to 200,000 per project per annum for up to 3 years

is available.
The programme is open to UK institutes and charities only.
Researchers should be at or above the level of
postdoctoral fellow or equivalent from registered
charitable institutions.
The remaining funding will be secured by the Daphne

Jackson Trust from an additional sponsor.
For full details of this opportunity, eligibility criteria and how to

apply please visit our website www.daphnejackson.org
Application is a two-step process the first of which is a short

Letter of Intent. To register interest and receive materials
please email: microbiome2016@retalilawestontrust.com
or visit www.retalilawestontrust.com
RLWT Research Fortnight 89x125 Ad 2.indd 2
Contact the Daphne Jackson Trust office on 01483 689166,

or email djmft@surrey.ac.uk
05/02/2016 09:27
jobs 13
Help us shape the Welsh qualification system

This is an exciting opportunity to join a new high profile Welsh Government sponsored body. Qualifications Wales has been
established as the independent regulator of qualifications and the qualification system in Wales. The new body is responsible
for ensuring that qualifications and the qualifications system are effective in meeting the needs of learners in Wales - and for
promoting public confidence.
We are now recruiting our Research team to develop the evidence base to underpin our decision making and are working to
develop relationships with Universities so these posts will fit within a wider community of Research.
Head of Research
Band 5 - 48,650 - 56,900
Senior Research Officers (3 posts)

Band 4 - 37,600 - 43,950
Research Officer
Band 2 - 23,400 - 26,400

Closing date: 17 March 2016
For further information and to apply in Welsh or English, visit our website at
www.qualificationswales.org
Should you have any queries then please contact: recruitment@qualificationswales.org
UK News Editor, Research Fortnight

Published daily online and fortnightly as a printed magazine
Research Fortnight is essential reading in universities, funding
agencies, governments and parliaments.
At the interview, applicants will be asked to demonstrate:

Knowledge of the workings of universities, science,
government and parliament.
We have an opening for a talented editor to join our 20-strong

editorial team based at the Shoreditch head office of our
growing, London-based company.
Evidence of at least two original, published stories, either

written or commissioned.
You will have responsibility for running our online daily news
service and fortnightly magazine news coverage, working with
a team of reporters who regularly break stories at the heart of
political establishments in the UK, the EU and around the world.
High standards of rigour, accuracy and attention to detail.
You can expect to analyse government initiatives and the

policies of funders and universities, interview academics and
policy wonks, and interpret datasets.
Knowledge of one or more academic disciplines.

Curiosity, listening and mentoring skills.
If you can run a busy daily newsroom and value teamwork and
collaboration, please email a CV and a covering letter to
Ehsan Masood, Editor, Research Fortnight on
editor@researchresearch.com
The ideal applicant will be an experienced daily news editor,

or a senior reporter looking to make the transition to editing.
You will have worked on a newspaper or website; on a
magazine or journal read by scientists, or on a publication
read by other professionals, for example in engineering,
financial services, IT and law.
Please paste your covering letter into the body of the email.
This is a full-time position, however, flexible working

arrangements will be considered.
First interviews will take place in London on Tuesday

5 April 2016.
If you would like to have an initial discussion about the job,

please feel free to call Ehsan on +44 20 7216 6500, or contact
him by email at editor@researchresearch.com
The deadline for applications is 5pm on Friday 1 April 2016.
14 jobs
C A L L F O R A P P L I C AT I O N S
Policy Research Programme

Call for Applications
The Department of Health Policy Research
Programme invites Expression of Interest
applications in the following area:
1. Evaluation of the Integrated Personal
Commissioning Programme
EFIC-GRNENTHAL GRANT
RESEARCH GRANTS FOR CLINICAL AND
HUMAN EXPERIMENTAL PAIN RESEARCH
2016
These biennial grants totalling 200,000 from Grnenthal GmbH are

supporting young scientists early in their career to carry out innovative
clinical pain research in any member country of EFIC (see www.EFIC.org).
Individual research grants are valued at up to 40,000 per project for a
duration of up to two years.
Research grants are intended for clinical and human experimental pain
research. Research proposals on animals, computer simulations, cell lines
etc. will not be considered.
The decision of the awards is made independently by the Scientific
Research Committee of the European Pain Federation EFIC.
Please visit the Policy Research Programme

Central Commissioning Facility website at
www.prp-ccf.org.uk to access the research
specifications, application form, guidance notes
and closing date for the above call.
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATION: December 31st 2016

GUIDELINES, QUALITY CRITERIA,
ONLINE APPLICATION FORMS: www.e-g-g.info
CONTACT Mrs Gaby Erkens - E-G-G administration, c/o Grnenthal GmbH,
e-mail:admin@e-g-g.info, phone: +49 241 569-1304
Appl_Anzeigen_2016_RZ.indd 1
Policy and market intelligence for senior managers and their advisers
Coping with a constantly shifting higher education landscape can be exhausting.*HE is designed to help
by providing timely analysis of market trends and policy developments, cutting through the information
overload to make sense of what is happening.
With a subscription you gain:
8am Playbook
A highly readable weekday briefing on the day
ahead, plus a review of the morning papers.
Parliamentary Monitor
Daily updates of all relevant parliamentary activity
in the national and devolved administrations.
Hot Topics
In-depth coverage of major events from the
moment the news breaks, with regular updates.
Policy Watch
Concise coverage with analysis of the
implications for universities.
News
Succinct and timely analysis of political
developments and market shifts.
*HE Grid
An online event listing and planning tool.
Try *HE for free with a trial subscription. Contact aw@researchresearch.com
info.researchprofessional.com/he
09.02.16 20:40

Wellcome science learning
The Wellcome Trust invites applications
for phase two partnership grants of its
Science Learning+ programme. These
support partnerships involving partners
in the US and in the UK or Republic of Ireland that aim to improve the knowledge
base and practice of informal science
experiences to better understand their
vital role in science engagement and
learning. Project budgets should not
exceed 1.5million over a maximum
period of five years.
Web id: 1183310
Email: slplus@wellcome.ac.uk
MRC skills development fellows

applications for the following opportunites:
skills development fellowships
expertise at the social science interface.
Web id: 1184044
skills development fellowships
quantitative expertise. Web id: 1184042
Social science fellowship

The Academy of Social Sciences invites
nominations for its fellowships in social
science. These contribute towards
research in any area, discipline or interdisciplinary field of social science.
Web id: 1187347
Email: administrator@acss.org.uk
Mental health scholarships

Mental Health Research UK invites applications for its PhD scholarships. These
support research on schizophrenia and
adolescent mental health. Scholarships
are worth up to 100,000 each over four
years.
Web id: 1162590
Email: applications2017@mhruk.org
MRC/NIHR highlight notices

The Medical Research Council and the
National Institute of Health Research
invite proposals for the following highlight notice calls:
methods research on methodology for
stratified medicine. Web id: 1182862
methods research for assessing quality of life in carers. Web id: 1176698
methods research to support the use
of observational data in clinical decision
making. Web id: 1176702
Email: david.crosby@headoffice.mrc.
ac.uk
Architectural technology
The Chartered Institute of Architectural
Technologists invites entries for its award
for excellence. This recognises outstanding achievements in the practice of architectural technology. First prize is worth
1,500; second prize 750; and third
prize 550.
Web id: 251564
Email: awards@ciat.org.uk
Pharmacology awards
The British Pharmacological Society
invites applications for the Schachter
award. This enables postgraduates to visit
a laboratory in order to learn a technique

that cannot be conducted at their home
institute in the field of pharmacology. The
award is worth up to 1,850.
Web id: 211720
Email: paul.tizard@bps.ac.uk
Mechanical engineering
The Institution of Mechanical Engineers
invites applications for the Whitworth
senior scholarship awards. These support engineers intending to do research
by undertaking PhD or EngD degrees.
Scholarships are worth up to 22,500
each over three years.
Web id: 203005
Language awards
The Modern Humanities Research Association invites applications under its
conference grants funding scheme. This
supports conferences or colloquia in the
field of medieval and modern European
languages and literature, held in the UK or
the Republic of Ireland. Grants are worth
up to 1,500 each.
Web id: 208935
Contact: Tyler Fisher
Email: funding@mhra.org.uk
Textile history grants

The Pasold Research Fund invites applications for the Raine grants. These assist
staff in UK museums and other public
collections and institutions, including
curators and conservators, with objectbased research into textile history. Grants
are worth up to 500 each.
Web id: 195392
Contact: Steph Knox
Email: pasold@ed.ac.uk
Photography bursaries
The Royal Photographic Society invites
applications for its postgraduate bursaries. These enable postgraduates to
undertake study or research in photography, including digital and traditional
photographic media, the art and science
of photography and image-based written
work or research. Bursaries are worth
3,500 each.
Web id: 1174139
Contact: Liz Williams
Email: liz@rps.org
Applied microbiology
The Society for Applied Microbiology
invites applications for its hardship grant.
This assists members of the society studying towards a doctoral degree in applied
microbiology. The grant is worth up to
9,000 over three years.
Web id: 1165464
Email: julie@sfam.org.uk
Language testing
The University of Cambridge, under the
Cambridge English Language Assessment,
and in collaboration with the International English Language Testing System
Australia and the British Council, invites
submissions for the Caroline Clapham
IELTS master's award. This is awarded for
a master's-level dissertation or thesis in
English that makes a significant contribution to the field of language testing. The
award is worth 1,000.

Web id: 1172050
Contact: Gad S Lim
Email: lim.g@cambridgeenglish.org
Psychology awards
postdoctoral study visits awards,
worth up to 600 each. Web id: 206808
research seminar grants, worth up to
3,000 each. Web id: 206811
Email: elizabeth.beech@bps.org.uk
Economic and social history

The Economic History Society invites
applications for its bursaries for PhD
students. These assist students in
UK colleges and universities who are
researching economic or social history.
Bursaries are worth up to 5,000 each
over one year.
Web id: 1166394
Email: ehsocsec@arts.gla.ac.uk
Air quality travel award

The Institution of Environmental Sciences
invites applications for the Ian McCrae
travel award. This enables air quality
professionals to attend a conference or
training course in the UK or abroad. The
award is worth up to 1,000.
Web id: 1167309
Email: enquiries@ies-uk.org.uk
Psychoanalysis awards
The International Psychoanalytical Association invites applications for the following awards:
the Elise M Hayman award for the
study of the Holocaust and genocide,
worth US$4,000 (2,800).
Web id: 165086
the Hayman prize for published work
pertaining to traumatised children and
adults, worth US$4,000. Web id: 165091
psychoanalytic research exceptional
contribution awards, worth US$500 each.
Web id: 165105
Email: ipa@ipa.org.uk
ScotGov health services

The Scottish Government's Chief Scientist
Office invites outline proposals for the
following calls under the response mode
funding scheme:
health improvement, protection and
services research grants, worth up to
300,000 each. Web id: 192806
translational clinical studies research
grants, worth up to 300,000 each.
Web id: 1161521
Alzheimer's fellowship
Alzheimer's Research UK invites applications for its clinical research fellowship.
This supports research on Alzheimer's
disease and related dementias. The fellowship is tenable for up to three years,
and provides a salary and a contribution of
up to 20,000 per year towards research
and travel costs.
Web id: 257039
Email: research@alzheimersresearchuk.
org
NERC environmental research

The Natural Environment Research
Council, under its discovery science
programme, invites applications for its
standard research grants. These support
environmental research that is driven
by curiosity rather than by NERC's wider
strategic priorities. Each proposal may
request up to 800,000.
Web id: 254868
Email: researchgrants@nerc.ac.uk
europe
highlights
New opportunities from European funders,
excluding funders based in the UK.
Bone research grants

The International Bone Research Association invites applications for its research
grants. These support projects dealing
with bone biology and the improvement of fixation devices for maxillofacial
and hand surgery. Grants may be used
towards personnel, equipment, supplies
and external costs, and field expenses of
up to CHF3,000 (2,100).
Web id: 1188931
Email: info@ibra.ch
No deadline [101]
Sustainable energy study

Nordic Energy Research invites tenders
for a study on sustainable energy and
energy storage in sparsely populated
areas. The tenderer will produce a guide
for planning and concept choices, and
a technical solution for a pilot project.
The contract is worth up to NOK750,000
(61,500).
Web id: 1189062
Email: torill.meistad@nordicenergy.org
EU conference travel grants

The European Science Foundation, in
collaboration with EuroScience and Graphene Flagship, invites applications
for its ESOF2016 travel grants. These
enable young researchers to attend the
EuroScience Open Forum, to be held
from 23 to 27 July 2016 in Manchester,
UK. Grants are worth up to 900 (690)
each and cover registration, travel and
accommodation costs. Manchester-based
applicants only receive a grant for registration fees.
Web id: 1188982
Email: graphene-eu@esf.org
Deadline: 31 March 2016 [103.1]
EU skills supply forecast

Cedefop invites tenders for the production
of skills supply and demand forecasts. The
tenderer will produce regular European
skills supply and demand forecasts. The
contract is worth 1.2million (927,300)
over 48 months.
Web id: 1188954
Email: c4t-services@cedefop.europa.eu
Population and food supply

The Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture
and Forestry invites nominations for the
Georg and Greta Borgstroms prize. This
recognises individuals who are actively
engaged in research or work in the areas
of world population, food supply, and
associated ecological, demographic and
economic aspects. The prize is worth
SEK50,000 (4,100).
Web id: 1189048
Email: keiko.blesserholt@ksla.se
EU smart ageing prize

The ERA-Net Ambient Assisted Living
Joint Programme invites applications
for its smart ageing challenge prize. This
aims to source innovations in internet
connected devices and technologies that
empower older adults to achieve the quality of life they aspire to. The prize is worth
50,000 (38,600).
Web id: 1189085
Email: smartageing@nesta.org.uk
Crop protection
Bayer Crop Science, under its Grants4Targets initiative, invites applications for its
call on novel targets for crop protection.
This encourages the exploration of ideas
for novel molecular targets towards the
development of crop protection solutions
for weed, pest and disease control. Grants
are worth up to 50,000 (38,600) each.
Web id: 1189033
Contact: Dirk Nennstiel
Email: g4t.cropscience@bayer.com
EU maritime challenges
The Directorate-General for Maritime
Affairs and Fisheries, in collaboration
with the Executive Agency for Small and
Medium-sized Enterprises, invites applications for its blue labs call. This supports
innovative and viable solutions that aim
to address maritime and marine challenges, as well as opportunities in the
blue economy. Grants are normally worth
up to 500,000 (386,400) each.
Web id: 1189056
Email: easme-emff-calls@ec.
europa.eu
europe
other
Renewed opportunities from European
funders, excluding funders based in the UK.
Neuropsychopharmacology
The European College of Neuropsychopharmacology invites applications for the
following awards:
fellowship award, worth 1,500
(1,200). Web id: 261072
travel awards, worth 500 each.
Web id: 261070
Email: vienna2016@ecnp.eu
Applied systems research

The International Institute for Applied
Systems Analysis invites applications for
its postdoctoral programme. This enables
scholars to conduct research in collaboration with one or more of the institutes
research programmes or special projects.
Funding is typically provided for one to
two years.
Web id: 174769
Contact: Tanja Huber
Email: huber@iiasa.ac.at

Geodesy geophysics grants
The International Union of Geodesy and
Geophysics invites applications for its
grants. These support projects of importance to the international geophysical and geodetic community, which will
explore new scientific ideas and develop
future international initiatives. Grants are
worth up to US$20,000 (14,200) each.
Web id: 206243
Contact: Franz G Kuglitsch
Email: secretariat@iugg.org
EU social innovation
The Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs
invites applications for the European
social innovation competition. This recognises entrepreneurial ideas that turn
the challenges arising from the refugee
crisis and migrant integration into an
opportunity for Europe. Awards are worth
50,000 (38,600) each.
Web id: 1169987
Email: info@socialinnovationprize.eu
Molecular biology
The European Molecular Biology Laboratory invites applications for its international PhD programme. This supports
thesis supervision, a predoctoral course
in molecular biology, or the opportunity
to study for the EMBL international PhD.
Funding lasts for up to four years.
Web id: 257408
Email: predocs@embl.de
Neutron research
The European Neutron Scattering Association, in collaboration with the European
Crystallographic Association, invites nominations for the Erwin Felix Lewy Bertaut
prize. This recognises a European scientist
who has achieved experimental, theoretical or methodological contributions in the
analysis of matter using crystallographic
or neutron scattering methods.
Web id: 1184897
Email: vice.president@ecanews.org
Agriculture prize
The Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture
and Forestry invites nominations for the
Bertebos prize. This recognises research
of distinguished quality and practical use
within the areas of food, agriculture, ecology or animal health. The prize is worth
SEK300,000 (24,800).
Web id: 1168330
Email: keiko.blesserholt@ksla.se
Tuberculosis award
The Stop TB Partnership, in collaboration
with the Kochon Foundation, invites
applications for the Kochon prize. This
recognises major contributions to combating tuberculosis. The prize is worth
US$65,000 (46,200).
Web id: 250935
Contact: Jacqueline Huh
Email: kochonprize@stoptb.org
Neurochemistry meetings
The International Society for Neurochemistry's Conference Committee invites
applications for its financial support.
This supports the organisation of small

conferences on specialised neurochemical topics, as well as neurochemistry
symposia within meetings of other scientific societies or groups. The society
funds small conferences up to US$20,000
(12,200), and symposia up to US$7,000.
Web id: 1181845
Contact: Flavia Gomes
Email: fgomes@icb.ufrj.br
Psychology publication
The European Society for Cognitive Psychology invites applications from members for its early career publication award.
This recognises the first author of the best
article accepted for publication in 2015.
The award is worth 1,000 (770).
Web id: 250999
Contact: Michal Wierzchon
Email: contact@escop.eu
Criminology prize
Stockholm University and the Swedish
Ministry of Justice invite nominations for
the Stockholm prize in criminology. This
recognises achievements in criminological research or the application of research
results by practitioners or scholars for the
reduction of crime and the advancement
of human rights.
Web id: 259751
Email: jerzy.sarnecki@criminology.su.se
providing an overview of the effects of

interventions in health and social care.
Fellowships support the salary, systematic review training costs of up to 2,000
(1,500) and research expenses of up to
1,500. They are tenable on a part-time
basis of up to two days per week for up
to two years.
Web id: 213895
Contact: Sara Lord
Email: cochranefellowship@hrb.ie
EU telecommunications
EUREKA invites applications for its CelticPlus call. This supports information and
communications technology projects
that focus on research related to a smart
connected world. The average budget
for a Celtic-Plus consortium is between
1million (773,700) and 70m over two
to three years.
Web id: 1158474
Email: office@celticplus.eu
Innovation awards
The Materialise Group invites application
for the Mimics innovation awards. These
recognise research conducted with the
assistance of Mimics innovation software.
Awards are worth up to 5,000 (3,900)
each.
Web id: 259694
Email: mimics@materialise.be
Faroe Islands scholarships
Radiation award
The University of the Faroe Islands invites

applications for its travel scholarships.
These assist non-Faroese students with
travelling expenses in order to pursuehigher education or research. Grants are
worth up to DKK5,000 (520) each.
Web id: 202890
Email: setur@setur.fo
The Multidisciplinary European Low Dose

Initiative invites applications for the
MELODI award. This recognises young
researchers active in the field of low dose
ionising radiation. The award is worth
4,000 (3,100).
Web id: 1179628
Email: melodi.secretariat@sckcen.be
EU regional development
Hepatology fellowships
Interreg Europe invites proposals for

its joint call for European cooperation.
Funding enables local and regional public
authorities, and other local actors, to
improve the performance of regional
development policy and programmes in
areas relating to research, technological
development and innovation, competitiveness of SMEs, low-carbon economy,
and environment and resource efficiency.
Projects may be co-financed at a rate of
up to 85 per cent.
Web id: 1184608
Email: application@interregeurope.eu
The European Association for the Study

of the Liver invites applications for its
physician scientist fellowships. These
enable physician-scientists to take leave
from their clinical duties and spend up
to 12 months in a research laboratory.
Fellowships are worth up to 40,000
(30,900) each.
Web id: 1173277
Email: fellowships@easloffice.eu
Cardiology award
The European Society of Cardiology invites
applications for its outstanding achievement award. This recognises achievements of basic cardiology researchers in
the early stages of their careers. Awards
are worth 3,000 (2,300) each.
Web id: 251403
Healthcare review fellowships

The Health Research Board and the
Health and Social Care Research and
Development Division invite applications for the Cochrane fellowships. These
enable fellows to undertake training
in order to conduct Cochrane reviews,
Immunodeficiences research
The European Society for Immunodeficiencies invites applications for the
following opportunities:
travel grants to the ESID biennial
meeting, worth up to 1,000 (770) each.
Web id: 1166679
medium-term fellowships, worth up to
6,000 over six months, plus up to 500
for travel. Web id: 1173629
short-term fellowship, worth 1,000
over one month, plus up to 500 for
travel. Web id: 1173625
Contact: Valrie Kuffer
Email: esid.admin@kenes.com
Innovation communities
The European Institute of Innovation
& Technology invites proposals for
its call for knowledge and innovation

communities. Funding supports the
establishment of a partnership between
higher education institutions, research
organisations, companies, and other
stakeholders in the innovation process,
that aims to tackle societal challenges
through the development of products,
services and processes. Each knowledge
and innovation community may receive
up to 25 per cent of its overall budget. A
grant, worth up to 4million (3.1m), is
available for setting-up costs.
Web id: 1177733
CERN particle physics research

CERN invites applications for the Atlas
PhD grants. These encourage doctoral
students in particle physics research,
including computing for physics, to
obtain world class exposure, supervision
and training within the ATLAS collaboration. Grants cover two years of PhD thesis
work, including one year at CERN at a
rate of CHF3,679 (2,600) per month,
and one year at the home institute at a
reduced rate.
Web id: 1173947
Thrombosis exchange grant

The European Society of Cardiology's
Working Group on Thrombosis invites
applications for its young thrombosis
researchers exchange grant. This enables investigators to conduct research
on thrombosis at a host institution in
another society member country or
affiliated country. The grant supports
salary costs over a maximum period of
12months.
Web id: 1186168
Email: thrombosis@escardio.org
Arthritis and pain fellowship

ARTICULUM, via Pfizer UK, invites applications for its fellowship in arthritis and
pain. This enables young scientists to
conduct research on arthritis and pain.
Fellowships are worth up to 30,000
(23,200) each, and are intended for
salary support and travel costs.
Web id: 191817
Email: articulum@medacad.org
European history research

The Leibniz Institute of European History invites applications for the following
opportunities:
doctoral scholarships, worth up to
14,400 (11,100) each.
Web id: 1161881
postdoctoral fellowships, worth up to
21,600 each. Web id: 1161882
Contact: Ulrike Moritz
Email: ieg3@ieg-mainz.de
Neurology fellowships
The European Academy of Neurology
invites applications for its research fellowship programme. This supports
young neurologists who wish to carry
out neuroscientific research. Fellowships provide up to 2,000 (1,500)
per month, plus travel expenses of up
to 500.
Web id: 197729
Email: fellowship@eaneurology.org
Bone research scholarships
Medicine awards
The International Bone Research Association invites applications for the following
opportunities:
scholarships for clinical and scientific
residential stays at foreign host institutions, worth up to CHF12,000 (8,600)
each. Web id: 1165428
scholarships for clinical residential
visits at foreign host institutions, worth
up to CHF5,000 each. Web id: 1165427
scholarships for participation in
international congresses, worth up to
CHF2,000 each. Web id: 1165425
Email: info@ibra.ch
The Bial Foundation invites applications

for the following awards:
award for clinical medicine, worth
100,000 (77,400). Web id: 199192
merit award for medical sciences,
worth 200,000. Web id: 151807
Email: fundacao@bial.com
Deadline: 31 October 2016 [149]
Spinal cord research

The Wings for Life Spinal Cord Research
Foundation invites applications for the
following opportunities:
individual research grants, worth
up to 57,000 (44,100) per year each.
Web id: 195013
project research grants, worth up to
100,000 per year each. Web id: 257417
Email: rosi.lederer@wingsforlife.com
Natural resource awards

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development invites applications for the following opportunities:
conference sponsorship grants.
Web id: 180553
research fellowships, which cover
travel, a subsistence allowance of up to
11,700 (9,100) per week over 26 weeks,
and 165 terminal charge.
Web id: 180557
Email: tad.prog@oecd.org
Anaesthesiology exchange
The European Society of Anaesthesiology invites applications for its trainee
exchange programme. This enables European trainees to visit training centres
in Europe for three months. Awards are
worth up to 8,000 (6,200) each.
Web id: 190242
Email: tep@esahq.org
Surgery fellowship
The International Society of Orthopaedic Surgery invites applications for the
Alexandria SICOT fellowship. This enables
surgeons to undertake training in different specialised departments at the
Hadra Orthopaedic and Traumatology
University Hospital in Alexandria, Egypt.
Fellowships cover travel expenses of up
to 1,000 (770) and accommodation
for six months.
Web id: 1188282
Email: profahmedhassaan@hotmail.com
Interdisciplinary groups
Bielefeld University's Center for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF) invites proposals
for its research groups funding. This
supports the establishment of interdisciplinary research groups in the natural
sciences, humanities or social sciences.
Projects may receive up to 500,000
(386,900) each.
Web id: 1174079
Contact: Britta Padberg
Email: zif-applications@uni-bielefeld.de
Surgical oncology training

The European Society of Surgical Oncology invites applications for the following
opportunities:
training fellowships, worth up to
10,000 (7,700) each. Web id: 189865
young surgeons and alumni club
research fellowship, worth 2,000 over
one to three months. Web id: 1183954
Email: ana.galan@essoweb.org
rest of world
Opportunities from funders outside of the
UK, Europe and the US.
Australian telescope time

The Australian Astronomical Observatory
invites applications for its Anglo-Australian telescope service time. This is normally
allocated for programmes that require
a small amount of data to complete a
programme, to look at individual targets
of interest, or to try out new observing
techniques. Programmes may request up
to six hours of observing time.
Web id: 207557
Email: service@aao.gov.au
No deadline [153]
Library access fellowships

The State Library of New South Wales
invites applications for the following
opportunities:
the David Scott Mitchell memorial
fellowship, worth AU$12,000 (6,300)
over one year. Web id: 203303
the Merewether scholarship, worth
AU$12,000 over one year.
Web id: 203304
Email: scholarship.library@sl.nsw.gov.
au
National park research

The Project Tongariro invites applications
for the Tongariro Natural History Society
memorial award. This enables researchers
to study the flora, fauna, geology, volcanology, weather and natural and human
history of Tongariro National Park. The
award is worth up to NZ$2,000 (950).
Web id: 183326
Email: info@tongariro.org.nz
Scholarships for women

The Australian Federation of Graduate
Women's Fellowships Fund invites applications for the following opportunities:
the Queensland commemorative fellowships, worth approximately
AU$26,288 (13,700) each over one year.
Web id: 204812
the Freda Bage fellowship, worth
approximately AU$26,288.
Web id: 204807
Email: registrar@fellowshipsfund.com.
au
usa
nih
Opportunities from the National Institutes
of Health. Recurring NIH calls include the
next closing date only.
Rapid assessment of Zika virus complications (R21)

NIH ref: PAR-16-106
Web id: 1188977
No deadline [159]
Multidisciplinary research in vulvodynia
(R01): Aids-related
NIH ref: PA-16-102
Web id: 1188957
Modelling of infectious disease agent
study research projects (R01): Aidsrelated
NIH ref: PA-16-107
Web id: 1188999
Improvement of animal models for stemcell-based regenerative medicine (R01):
Aids-related
NIH ref: PAR-16-093
Web id: 1189041
Biomarkers for the Lewy body dementias
(U01)
NIH ref: RFA-NS-16-022
Web id: 1188995
Small vessel vascular contributions to
cognitive impairment and dementia biomarkers (UH2/UH3)
NIH ref: RFA-NS-16-020
Web id: 1189060
Cancer tissue engineering collaborative:
enabling biomimetic tissue-engineered
technologies for cancer research (U01)
NIH ref: PAR-16-105
Web id: 1188978
(R01)
NIH ref: PAR-16-102
Web id: 164198
Spermatogenic stem cell culture systems
to preserve and restore reproductive capacity in males (R01)
NIH ref: PAR-16-114
Web id: 1189040
Modelling of infectious disease agent
study research projects (R01)
NIH ref: PA-16-107
Web id: 201042
Pragmatic strategies for assessing psychotherapy quality in practice (R01)
NIH ref: RFA-MH-17-500
Web id: 1189061
(R03)
NIH ref: PAR-16-101
Web id: 1159149
(R21)
NIH ref: PA-16-100
Web id: 1159150
18 funding news
usa
other
US funding opportunities available to UK
researchers.
Department of Energy Oak Ridge National

Laboratory advanced short-term research
Web id: 200152
No deadline [186]
Sigma Theta Tau International/Hospice
and Palliative Nurses Foundation end of
life nursing care research grant
Web id: 211373
Sigma Theta Tau International/Midwest
Nursing Research Society research grant
Web id: 211376
Society of Ethnomusicology Nadia and
Nicholas Nahumck fellowship
Web id: 1171788
TREE Fund Hyland R Johns grants
Web id: 1181021
Department of Defense amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis research programme
therapeutic development award
Web id: 1188320
Department of Defense amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis research programme
therapeutic idea award
Web id: 1188321
Association for the Sociology of Religion
Ralph A Gallagher travel grants
Web id: 1173321
Smithsonian Institution short-term fellowships
Web id: 253068
Department of Defense breast cancer
research programme breakthrough award
Web id: 1188510
research programme breakthrough
fellowship award
Web id: 1188511
research programme era of hope
scholar award
Web id: 1188513
Society of Systematic Biologists graduate student research awards
Web id: 190558
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International generating improved
beta or islet cell sources through genetic
modifications
Web id: 1188641
American Society for Microbiology
Abbott award in clinical and diagnostic
immunology
Web id: 197499
American Society for Microbiology/
United States Federation for Culture Collections J Roger Porter award
Web id: 192706
policy diary
March
22 WHEF: The Future for the
Catapult Network, London.
http://rsrch.co/1LhAUG8
AHRC: Changing the Future Research Landscape?, Norwich. To
23. http://rsrch.co/1Lwumj8v
April
7 WHEF: Next Steps for Postgraduate Research: Funding, Student Experience and Transition
to Post-Doctoral Roles, London.
http://rsrch.co/1QZN0FO
12 WHEF: Improving Graduate
Employability, London.
http://rsrch.co/1QDrEia
14 WHEF: The Future of STEM
Subjects in HE, London.
http://rsrch.co/1HhJXXr
WSPF: Next Steps for the Northern Powerhouse Investment,
Infrastructure and Innovation,
Manchester.
http://rsrch.co/1nqYHJS
17 Royal Society: Future Directions
in STEMM for People with
Disabilities, London.
http://rsrch.co/1TpILnC
18 WHEF: Implementing the Teaching Excellence Framework, London. http://rsrch.co/1ZRYgH2
20 PraxisUnico, ARMA and AURIL:
Directors Forum, London. To 21.
http://rsrch.co/1UMy8MG
21 CSaP: Behaviour and Health
Research Unit Annual Lecture
2016, Cambridge.
http://rsrch.co/1ParSMv
AUA Annual Conference:
Creativity, Collaboration and
Complexity, Leeds. To 23.
http://rsrch.co/1TDN9ld
22 AHRC: The Politics of Academic
Publishing 1950-2016, London.
http://rsrch.co/1Oj41ov
27 Universities UK: Universities,
Communities and Business:
Collaborating to Drive Growth
and Power Innovation, London.
http://rsrch.co/1S9mUjU
AHRC: Leading for Impact,
London. To 28.
http://rsrch.co/1QNg2EC
28 WHEF: The Future of Enterprise
and Entrepreneurship in HE, London. http://rsrch.co/1ZaB6cM
Vitae, Leadership in Researcher
Development, Glasgow.
http://rsrch.co/1PVrcYe
May
4 Universities UK: Innovation
and Excellence in Teaching and
Learning, London.
http://rsrch.co/1J7lQEC
17 Universities UK: The Prevent
Duty: Ensuring Complaince,
London.
http://rsrch.co/1UMxHCh
37m for quantum physics

capital and skills
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council has
awarded 25 million to capital investment projects at seven
universities and 12m to three Quantum Training and Skills
Hubs in Quantum Systems Engineering. The skills hubspart
of the councils network of Quantum Technology Hubs, which
was launched in November 2014will be led by Imperial
College London, the University of Bristol and University
College London.
Vaccine technologies get 10m injection
The Department of Health has announced that it will fund a
Small Business Research Initiative competition for work on
novel vaccines and vaccine technologies. The competition
will run in two streams: the first has a budget of up to
6million for exploring scientific and technical feasibility;
the second stream will offer up to 4m for projects at a more
advanced stage of development. The registration deadline is
27 April, the application deadline is 4 May.
EPSRC allocates PhD training funds
Forty universities are to receive a share of 167 million from
the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council for
doctoral training. The Doctoral Training Partnerships awards
range from 489,000 to 18.5m, covering training for PhD
students starting in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 academic
years. Funding was allocated on the basis of the EPSRC
research income and fellowships at the institutions.
UK scientists win European brain prize
Three British neuroscientists have won the Brain Prize,
awarded by Denmarks Grete Lundbeck European Brain
Research Foundation, for their work on the mechanisms of
memory. Tim Bliss, Graham Collingridge and Richard Morris
were announced as winners of the 1-million (779,000)
award on 1 March. In a statement, the foundation said
their work had revolutionised the understanding of how
memories are formed, retained and lost.
Scottish Genomes Partnership receives 6m boost
The Scottish Genomes Partnerships has received 6 million
from the Scottish government and the Medical Research
Council to coincide with its official launch on 1 March.
The aim of the partnership, between the universities of
Edinburgh and Glasgow, is to speed up genomic research
and improve access to personalised treatments for NHS
Scotland patients.
Wales launches largest ever health research project
The Welsh government has announced a wide-ranging
research project into the health of the nation, to be led
by Cardiff University. HealthWise Wales, announced on
29 February, will be a confidential research study in which
260,000 people will be periodically asked about the state of
their health. The information will be used to help NHS Wales
plan for the future, the Welsh government said.
europe 19
europe
Danish and Swedish pharma would vie

for EU drugs agency post-Brexit
The heads of the pharmaceutical industry associations
in Denmark and Sweden have staked claims for their
respective countries to host the European Medicines
Agency, should the UK vote to leave the European Union.
In an interview with the Danish medical news website MedWatch, published on 29 February, Ida Sofie
Jensen, chief executive of the Danish Association of
the Pharmaceutical Industry, said that the association
would put pressure on the government to do everything
it can to attract the London-based EMA to Denmark in
the event of a Brexit.
The UK remaining in the EU would be the best thing
for all of us working in biotech and pharmaceuticals, but
if the UK did leave then Denmark would be an obvious
location for the agency, Jensen said. When a biotech
company or a company in the pharmaceutical sector has to
decide where to place its headquarters, the preferred places
now are Boston, the UK, Switzerland, and Denmark. Boston
is in the United States and Switzerland is not in the EU.
Jensen cited good relationships between the industry, universities, public authorities and hospitals in
Denmark in support of her claim. But, she said that the
merger between the Danish medicines agency and the
Danish health authority, which occurred between 2012
and 2015, did weaken Denmarks case.
Any bid by Denmark to host the EMA would face com-
europe
in brief
Call for EU to back

interdisciplinary PhDs
The European Commission should
set up a stream under its Marie
Skodowska-Curie Actions programme dedicated to interdisciplinary doctoral training, the EuroTech Universities
Alliance has said. Actions such as the Innovative Training
Networks for doctoral-level researchers are organised
by scientific discipline, the alliance said, meaning that
interdisciplinary proposals miss out.
UK wins most from extra ERC grants
The European Research Council has named 59young
researchers to receive a Starting Grant, after an additional 86million (66.5m) was made available for the
programme. UK institutions are the biggest winners,
securing 13of the additional grants. Other successful
countries include Switzerland with seven, and Germany,
France, Israel, and the Netherlands, with six each.
Commission moves on open-science plans
The European Commission has published a draft
open-science agenda and is seeking volunteers for an
open-science policy advisory group. The draft is organ-
by Craig Nicholson
cnnews@ResearchResearch.com
petition from Sweden. Anders Blanck, the chief executive

of Lif, the Swedish association of pharmaceutical research
companies, wrote on its website on 25February that the
Swedish government should immediately start lobbying
for the agency to move to Sweden. If the referendum
in the UK leads to a rejection of the EU, the government
should immediately launch intense lobbying for Sweden
to become a new host to the EMA, he said. My advice is
to already start planning for such advocacy.
Sweden has a tradition of translating academic research
at the Karolinska Institute, and the firms AstraZeneca and
GE Healthcare are investing billions of euros in facilities
there, Blanck said. But Jensen countered that Swedens
research environment had weakened since Swedish
firms such as Astra and Pharmacia merged with UK firms
and moved their headquarters to the UK. [Sweden] has
great universities and great hospital environments, but
they dont have the industry, she said.
The EMA, which was set up in 1995, is a decentralised EU agency. On 12February, Karen Taylor, research
director of the UK Centre for Health Solutions, a Deloitte
consultancy, said in a blog post that it was clear that the
EMA would relocate its UK headquarters to another country within the EU in the event of a Brexit.
ised around five broad themes: fostering open science,
removing barriers, developing infrastructures, pushing
open access, and embedding open science in society.
Expert group to review EIT
Education commissioner Tibor Navracsics has responded
to criticism of the European Institute of Innovation and
Technology by setting up an expert group to help identify areas for improvement. Speaking to the European
Parliaments Industry, Research and Energy Committee,
Navracsics said that he realised that concerns about the
EITs performance were important, and that he and his
staff would work to fix the problems.
No more funds likely for Horizon 2020, Smits says
Robert-Jan Smits, director-general of research at the
European Commission, has said that Horizon 2020 is
unlikely to receive more money in an upcoming review
of the EU budget. Speaking in Brussels on 16 February,
Smits said that he had asked for increased funding for
Horizon 2020 under the mid-term review of the EUs seven-year budget plan, but that he did not expect to get it
due to the enormous crises Europe is facing in terms of
refugees and the political situation in Ukraine.
20 view
s t e r n r e v i e w s i m o n k e r r i d g e
Stern should look west for a

broader view of efficiency
Much of the rhetoric in recent consultations on research
has been around efficiency. In 2014, the government commissioned The Metric Tide report to lookagainat the use
of metrics in research assessment, potentially as a cheaper
alternative to peer review in the next Research Excellence
Framework. The report was clear: metrics cannot act as a
replacement for peer review at the moment. Their coverage and robustness are not up to scratch.
The four pages on research in the 2015 higher education
green paper again focused on efficiency. It proposed an
interim mini-REF, perhaps based on metrics. The recently
released draft consultation on the next REF, prepared
by the Higher Education Funding Council for England,
also discusses metrics, and supports development of the
Forum for Responsible Metrics. That consultation was put
on hold until after Nicholas Sterns ongoing review of UK
research assessment, which looks once more at metrics.
The focus on metrics as the great hope for more
efficient research assessment is perhaps misplaced.
Research assessment is but one small part of the research
ecosystem, as the Stern review has recognised.
To truly make efficiency savings we must take a
broader view. We need a more holistic approach to
research-funding infrastructure, which does not necessarily mean putting the research councils in charge of
the quality-related block grant. For example, is it really
sensible or necessary for the REF and the research councils to have different open-access policies?
Here we can learn from our American colleagues, in particular from an initiative called the Federal Demonstration
Partnership. The aim of the partnershiptagline
researchers doing science, not administrationis to
get federal agencies, academic institutions and researchpolicy organisations to streamline administration.
In the UK the research councils run the Research
Organisation Consultation Group, but this is lower key
and smaller in remit, with around 10 representatives
from institutions and a similar number from the councils. Initially intended as a coordinating
body, it has tended more to be a forum
for exchanging information. In contrast,
the FDP has numerous representatives
from 10 participating federal funders
and, crucially, three representatives
an academic, a technical expert and an
administratorfrom each of the more
than 150 research institutions involved.
Three times a year, the partnership
brings hundreds of academics and pro-
We need a
more holistic
approach to
researchfunding
infrastructure.
fessional staff face to face with decision-makers from

funding and regulatory agencies. The meetings spawn
groups to work on reducing administrative burdens and
improving efficiency in research. When funders have
ideas, they test them in collaboration with a few universities. Groups also work to produce documentation and
share good practice. Working groups typically have weekly teleconferences to keep driving the agenda forward.
The benefit to funders and institutions easily outweighs
the commitment required. One good example of such benefits is the Faculty Workload Survey, which measures the
time academics spend administering federally funded projects. It is a great tool for identifying the pinch points.
The UK, where many systems and processes have
been introduced without sufficient consultation, badly
needs this sort of overarching approach. Looking to the
future, for example, the forthcoming replacement for
the research councils electronic submission system for
grant proposals must work for everyone, not just the
councils. Various initiatives cover some of this ground,
but no regular forum brings everyone together.
To realise the wider benefit, all the players need to
meet and talkgovernment, the funding and research
councils, other major funders such as the Wellcome
Trust, universities and research institutions. Academic,
technical and administrative staff should be present,
with other players as appropriate to the domainsoftware vendors, for example, when questions of system
interoperability are discussed.
Perhaps a UK equivalent of the FDP needs to be
developed over time, beginning with small-scale pilot
schemes. But, with the focus on efficiency and the
potential for structural change, there is an opportunity
to start the ball rolling. The Consortium for Advancing
Standards in Research Administration Information, an
international not-for-profit organisation that works
to streamline research administration, has recently
launched a UK chapter with the intention of addressing a small subset of the issues that the FDP covers. This
could be a model for, or part of, a much larger initiative.
I hope that the interested parties will take this opportunity to get together, on an ongoing basis, to ensure
that existing and new processes are as efficient as possible. Not to do so would be ridiculous.
Simon Kerridge is director of research services at the
University of Kent and chairman of the board of directors of
the Association for Research Managers and Administrators.
view 21
ben martin
Research assessment needs to go

back to the drawing board
We have now had seven attempts at national research
assessment, dating back 30 years to 1986. In that time,
what was intended as a policy tool has become more
like an elite sport. Research assessment is now a hugely
expensive pursuit, characterised by minutely detailed
preparation and a win-at-all-costs mentality.
Here I want to focus on one consequence of this
approach: the narrowing of what counts as good work.
The Research Excellence Framework owes its present
bloated proportions to repeated efforts to address this.
As the cost, influence and scope of research assessment have grown, one thing has remained constant;
assessment has always been structured around disciplines, notably in the make-up of its peer-review panels.
As a result, the most highly rated departments are
those perceived to have contributed most to the disciplinary mainstream. This puts pressure, particularly on
young researchers, to steer clear of interdisciplinary or
non-mainstream research.
Related to this restriction is the shrinking of the kinds
of output submitted for assessment. Researchers produce
many thingsinstruments, techniques, books, contract
research, trained people and so on. And yet the idea of
excellent research has become almost synonymous with
a paper published in a high-impact journal. Once again,
this disadvantages interdisciplinary work, user-oriented
research, or long-term, large-scale work that can only be
conveyed in a book.
After seven attempts it is clear that assessment panels
based on traditional disciplines are reasonably effective
at evaluating departments doing mainstream research
in that discipline. But such panels are not capable of
dealing with, or treating fairly, any department or unit
operating outside the mainstream.
Whats more, as research assessment exercises have
reinforced disciplinary boundaries, government science
policy has moved in the opposite direction. Since the
1993 science policy white paper Realising our Potential,
the focus has been on addressing the needs of research
users, contributing to economic growth and serving
society. Because economic and social problems do not
fall neatly within a single discipline, this almost inevitably drives academics towards interdisciplinary research.
Ben Martin is professor of science and technology policy
studies at the Science Policy Research Unit, University of
Sussex. This article is based on his recent working paper
What is Happening to Our Universities?
Consequently, there is a fundamental contradiction lurking at the heart of UK science policy. First, we
urge academics to engage with the wider world, pushing them down an interdisciplinary route. Then, every
five years or so, we impose on them a discipline-based
assessment system, forcing them to box themselves up
into a single disciplinary pigeonhole.
You might think that this would have prompted a fundamental rethink of how research is evaluated. But it
seems that too much has been invested by too many to
allow such a move to be contemplated.
When a software company finds a bug or vulnerability in one of its programs, it rarely goes back to drawing
board. Instead, it releases a patchan add-on designed
to fix the flaw while leaving the basics unchanged. You
could see the assessment of research impact, the most
significant new feature of the REF, as the research-policy equivalent of such a patch.
The aim is laudable. Looking at societal impact, rather
than publications, is more likely to recognise the contribution of interdisciplinary, user-oriented and locally
relevant research. The result, though, is that assessment
takes up still more time and resources.
Despite this, there are still many forms of impact
that the REF did not capture, especially those too diffuse, complex, or long-term to be summed up in a neat
impact story. Moreover, researchers are now encouraged to take a very proprietary attitude towards their
work, and to downplay the collective aspects of research
and the fact that many pieces of interrelated knowledge
act together to have an impact.
No doubt these and other criticisms of impact assessment will be widely aired and noted, not least in the
ongoing review of the REF by Nicholas Stern. We will
complain that impact assessment is simple-minded, and
REF 2021 will be made more elaborate, more burdensome and more time-consuming. It will also encourage
still more sophisticated game-playing.
Instead of more of the same, we need
to change direction. That needs to begin
with a debate going back to fundamentals: what do we want from research and
how do we intend to get it? Everything
should be up for grabs, up to and including the dual funding system. Will Stern
start such a debate? Or will he just
release another patch?
Something to add? Email comment@
ResearchResearch.com
There is a
fundamental
contradiction
lurking at
the heart of
science policy.
22 view
v i e w f r o m t h e t o p f i o n a f o x
Gagging-order exemption for

researchers wont fix the problem
Less than a year ago, I raised the alarm about a Cabinet
Office ruling that civil servants must seek ministerial
permission before speaking to the media. Given that
thousands of research scientists sign the civil service
code, I feared that this would have a chilling effect on
scientists already wary of the media.
Now we learn that from 1 May, all government grants will
include an anti-lobbying clause to prevent public money
supporting activity intended to influence or attempt to
influence parliament, government or political parties.
Many scientists are dismayed. In an email, Richard
Pancostwho directs the University of Bristols Cabot
Institute, which studies environmental uncertainty
called the policy a direct challenge to some of our
fundamental ideals about freedom of speech, public transparency and fostering of open dialogue. The
research councils, national academies and the Higher
Education Funding Council for England are all seeking
clarification and possibly an exemption for researchers.
Others have reassured me that scientists were not the
policys intended target, and say it will be fixed behind
closed doors. I am struggling to feel reassured by this, even
leaving aside that it would be hard to celebrate an exemption for scientists while former colleagues in the aid agency
Cafod and the sexual health charity Brook are barred from
using government money to try to change policy.
I am less confident than some that the government
would never seek to discourage scientists from speaking
out. Our experience at the Science Media Centre suggests
otherwise. Even though a gagging order on government
scientists in Canada sparked international protests a few
years ago, the reality is that similar restrictions were
already in place in the UK, albeit not in writing.
Thousands of researchers working for government labs
need permission from press officers to talk to the media.
We need only look at David Nutts 2009 sacking from
his position on the Advisory Committee
on the Misuse of Drugs to be reminded
that some ministers are not keen on advisers pointing out discrepancies between
evidence and policy.
Many similar examples never make
the news. One scientist working at a government lab told me that as part of her
induction she and colleagues were told to
avoid saying anything that might embarrass the minister. The head of another
government lab doing trials relating to
badgers and bovine tuberculosis told me
We should
not rely on
our political
leaders
championing
the openness
we need.
that the scientists would never do media interviews,

because any summary of the research would reveal that
the evidence supporting a badger cull was weak, which
would be interpreted by the department as lobbying.
So while I agree that there is scant evidence that the
Cabinet Office is aiming to extend such restraints to university scientists, I also think we should not rely on our
political leaders to champion the openness we need.
The other thing that scares me about this kind of
policy is the message it sends to those communications
managers who are already wary of researchers engaging
in public debates on contentious topics. Many research
council press officers see the threat of such government
edicts and work hard to challenge them. But not all.
Before waiting for clarification of last years gagging order, one research council emailed all its funded
researchers highlighting the policysomething we
discovered only after a usually media-friendly scientist
turned down an interview on the Today programme. In
some ways the biggest danger of this policy is that it will
strengthen the hands of those who already prefer to play
it safe and keep quiet.
This matters because we need to hear more from scientists about the contentious issues of the day, not
less. The Science Media Centre has always been wary of
campaigning scientists who stray beyond their field into
lobbying. We also support government chief scientific
adviser Mark Walports view that scientific advice in policymaking should be on tap but not on top.
But the campaigning scientist is a far cry from the one
who simply states where the weight of evidence lies in
a debate on fracking or e-cigarettes. It may make civil
servants twitchy, but that doesnt make it lobbying.
More than ever, we need to hear from the researchers doing the experiments and gathering the evidence
on issues from the effectiveness of a sugar tax and plain
packaging for cigarettes, to neonicotinoid pesticides
and ash dieback. No politician need ever act on scientific
evidence alone, but to drive the best experts out of the
discussions would be a disaster for debate.
Lets hope that an exemption for university researchers is secured. But the wider issue is a question of public
interest and deserves public debate. Its not just about
the rights of scientists to speakits about everyone
elses right to hear them.
Fiona Fox is chief executive of the Science Media Centre.
view 23
j a c q m i n & l e f e b v r e v i e w f r o m t h e t o p
(Some) academics make the best

higher education ministers
Recently, Graeme Reid pondered whether science
ministers were more effective if they had professional
experience of science [RF 10/2/16, p23]. Looking at UK
ministers from the past few decades, he concluded that
those who did the most for science were distinguished
by political skill and enthusiasm for their brief, rather
than specialist scientific knowledge.
Indeed, he suggested that a scientific background
might disadvantage a minister, as it could give colleagues the impression of bias and blur the line between
specialist advice and political decision-making.
We have recently studied a similar question: do higher
education ministers do a better job if they have worked
in academia as a lecturer, dean or rector? Analysing data
from across Europe we found that they doat least as
measured by university rankings. The most effective ministers combine university experience with electoral success,
and their impact seems not to depend on the amount of
money they have to spend.
The study grew out of a lunchtime conversation about
a higher education policy that, we thought, was so misguided it could only have been devised by someone
who had never worked in a university. To see whether
there was any evidence for this intuition, we looked at
the records of the higher education ministers active in
20European countries between 2003 and 2011.
It is difficult to compare the performance of different
countries higher education systems. University rankings
are, to say the least, an imperfect measure of achievement; they are heavily biased towards top-notch research
activity in the hard sciences, for example. We settled,
however, on the Academic Ranking of World Universities
known as the Shanghai ranking. This is the closest thing
to a standardised measure available, as it is at least transparent in its methods and consistent over time.
To gauge a ministers performance, we looked at how
well the nations universities did in these rankings during
his or her tenure, controlling for a number of socioeconomic and political factors. We found that countries with
ministers who had been academics showed a significantly
greater improvement in their universities aggregate rankings than those who had never worked in universities.
There are a number of reasons to expect academics to
make more effective higher education ministers. First,
Julien Jacqmin is an assistant professor in economics
at the University of Lige; Mathieu Lefebvre is assistant
professor at the University of Strasbourg. See also
Research Policy, v 45(5), p 987-98, 2016.
they have specialist expertise. Universities are peculiar

institutions; familiarity with these peculiarities could well
be an advantage in running a higher education system.
Second, ministers who have come from a higher education background will bring huge social capital. The benefits
of strong social and professional connections to those
charged with implementing your policies are obvious.
Third, regardless of personal connections, a background
in academia sends a strong signal to other academics, giving a minister a head start in building credibility and trust.
Fourth, there is considerable evidence from political
economics that education is an advantage in any position of political leadership. The more highly educated a
leader is, the more effective his or her policies tend to be.
One thing not significantly affected by a ministers
background is funding: academics-turned-ministers are
no looser with the purse strings. This suggests that their
impact is institutionalthey are better on average at devising policies that boost universities without spending more.
But, before we parachute a professor into every higher
education ministry, there are other factors to consider.
Most importantly, the ministers who make the biggest difference are those who have both worked in a university
and won an election. Academics who enter government
without climbing up the political ladder are no more effective than ministers who have never worked in universities.
Politics is just as strange a world as academia.
Navigating it successfully requires experience and commitment, and electoral success seems to be a crucial rite
of passage in building political credibility. Our findings
are in line with studies of prime ministers, mayors and
ministers of finance and development showing how a
political leaders background, both inside and outside
politics, influences his or her performance.
We can, then, begin to build up a picture of the ideal
higher-education minister. An expert but not a technocrat, he or she is comfortable with the
political process and has first-hand
knowledge of how both universities
and governments work.
Is this enough to pinpoint the best
person for a particular job? Given the
personal, professional and political
complexities involved, we would be
cautious about drawing such a firm
conclusionbut we believe we may
have found a useful rule of thumb.
Something to add? Email comment@
ResearchResearch.com
Universities
are peculiar
institutions;
understanding
their peculiarities
could well be an
advantage.
24 interesting if true
interesting if true
Redundant communications The Department for Business,
Innovation and Skills is cutting its budget by 30to
40per cent, a plan that will involve making a fair few
people redundant. We were interested to see where it
does plan to spend its money when we noticed a job
advert from the department posted online. According to
the ad, not only does BIS want to hire four media relations staff now, it also wants to keep peoples details on
file for a talent pool for future vacancies over the next
12 months. Seems to us that the department is bracing
itself for some bad press over the next year.
Digital disconnect The power of digital (it is a noun,
apparently) to transform teaching and learning was a
hot topic last week at Jiscs Digifest conference. But the
exciting potential of technology to enhance blended
learning in flexible collaborative spaces seemed to
be a little lost on some of the more grounded delegates.
One was heard remarking, Honestly, some of the things
they say. Its like theyre from another planet.
Fizzled out Were sure that no one would begrudge the
winners of the Brain Prizethe 1-million (770,000)
award considered the Nobel of neurosciencea glass or
two of champagne. Even if it is 10.30am and youre under
the gaze of Fleet Streets finest (who would surely not be
in a position to judge drinking on the job). To celebrate

the success of Tim Bliss, Richard Morris and Graham
Collingridge, the Science Media Centre popped the cork
on a bottle of bubbly at the press briefing with the winners last week. But spare a thought for Collingridge,
who had to phone in from Ottawa at 5.30am and could
only listen to the glasses being charged. To add insult to
injury, Collingridge wasnt told that the press conference
had finisheda voice from the speaker piped up at the
end, saying, Im still here...
Copypasta Its not very remarkable that Labour MP for
Cambridge Daniel Zeichner and the shadow business secretary Angela Eagle are on the same page when it comes
to the UKs referendum on membership of the European
Union, but its uncanny that they seem to match each
other word for word. Discussing potential lost dosh
from the European Research Council, Eagles comment
on Labours press website said, these figures highlight
the risk to our universities of the UK leaving the EU.
Meanwhile, Zeichners comments on the subject were
exactly the same when they surfaced on the website of
Cambridge Network, a local technology organisation. Is
this a case of great minds thinking alike or a press officer
giving up on even pretending that politicians can summon an original thought?
*HE is a new service for your whole university that provides highly analytical, robust
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Shadow business secretary

Stern action Reimagining the REF p20-21

Birmingham cuts jobs

The University of Birmingham is looking to make compulsory redundancies in a number of departments,

is concern at the apparent loss of national expertise.

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Global challenges fund weighs

ESRC, which already spends a larger slice of its budget

NHS to scrap a third of national clinical directors

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Angela is running late, the shadow business secretarys

thing for academia? Weve got to make sure that we

every new opportunity every discipline

Opportunities from previous issues of

Issue no. 474

NIHR horizon scanning

Each entry is followed by a Web id

EU Horizon 2020: Industrial

DFID social accountability in the delivery of social protection 1188639

Online Funding Search

Innovate UK/RCUK/Newton Fund/

Paediatric brain diseases

Defra engine power

NIHR horizon scanning centre

Research Fortnight, 9 March 2016

invite applications for their call on higher

MRC Malaysia disease research

NIHR health services

The Medical Research Council and the

Innovate UK/DH vaccines

ESRC education research

The National Institute for Health Research

Singapore science scholarship

NIHR commissioned calls 1

maintenance costs, and that increase

Medieval archaeology grant

Renal transplantation grant

Lithic studies bursary

NIHR commissioned calls 2

Research Fortnight, 9 March 2016

Reproducing Research Fortnight by

Sports and exercise research

MRC biomedical catalyst

Anaesthesia travel grant

individuals to stimulate interest, discussion and understanding of immunology

Soil science grant

STFC telescope travel

Scottish knowledge exchange

MRC clinical fellowships

ESRC access to society data

Contact: Annette Jckle

Nuffield Foundation grants

RAEng visiting fellows

CRUK preclinical grants