Research Fortnight - 09/12/2015

Updated daily at www.ResearchProfessional.
com
Founded by William Cullerne Bown
9 December 2015
The outsider: Talking to the

next Royal Society head p6
Brexit blasphemy EU referendum p5

Spending review David Walker says
Osborne has no plan p23
Starting gun fired on

Global Challenges Fund
Savill moots 5 per cent levy for councils interdisciplinary fund
The UK government has started the process of creating

its 1.5-billion Global Challenges Fund, announced
in the spending review. It plans to manage the fund
jointly with the research councils proposed interdisciplinary fund to ensure there is no overlap between the
initiatives. It is expected that the two will have separate funding streams.
However, it remains unclear how the two funds will
interact at a fundamental level, especially as the Global
Challenges Fund is expected to start running at least a
year before the interdisciplinary fund. The latter will not
be set in motion until the new umbrella body Research
UK, proposed in the Nurse review, is established.
That will require legislation that is unlikely to reach
parliament before April 2018. The whole process could
take even longer than that, says Philip Nelson, chairman of Research Councils UK. It helps if one can move
at some pace, but one has to balance pace with stability, he told Research Fortnight. We want a smooth
transition, without unnecessary disruption. Four
years would easily be within the scope of ensuring that
disruption would not happen. The timeline for the
reform will be set in early 2016, he says.
Details of the interdisciplinary fund, intended to
support research that falls outside the remit of the
seven research councils, are still under discussionnot
least, the amount the councils will have to contribute.
Theres a lot of detail to work through, but Nurse does
say that he sees the proportion of money being controlled at Research UK level as being small, says John
Savill, chief executive of the Medical Research Council
(MRC). I think the research councils chief executives
would see that in the order of 5 per cent.
It is thought that the Global Challenges Fund,
which will distribute grants until 2020-21, will be
split into two streamsone for thematic research and
another for capacity building in the UK. Governance
of the fund is likely to include representatives from a
number of departments, the research councils and the
national academies.
Proposals submitted to the fund will have to comply with the OECDs criteria for Official Development
by Cristina Gallardo
cgnews@ResearchResearch.com
Assistance funding, as the money comes from the governments ODA budget.
A source close to the councils says that an advisory
team of scientists with experience in overseas development and interdisciplinary research is expected to
be formed in March 2016, to come up with an evolving list of challenges that meet those criteria. This
could include research into antimicrobial resistance,
emerging viral threats, and animal and plant health.
It is likely that much research funded by the councils
will fit the bill already. Kieron Flanagan, senior lecturer in science and technology policy at the University
of Manchester, says it could be a positive development
if it freed up money for researchers in other areas.
However, he adds, how this plays out across disciplines and councils will be an issue, because its likely
to be easier to find ODA-compliant research in the MRC
or the Economic and Social Research Council than,
say, the Science and Technology Facilities Council.
Research council chief executives are also discussing
the wider implications of the governments commitment to the recommendations in the Nurse review of the
research councils. A major concern among researchers is
that the chief executive of Research UK would be able to
move money from one council to another after the government has handed out individual budget allocations.
The council heads are said to be eager for confirmation
of the chief executives powers and responsibilities from
government to dispel these rumours.
The government has yet to confirm whether it plans
to set up the ministerial committee that Nurse proposed.
Colin Blakemore, former chief executive of the MRC, says he is concerned
Every new opportunity
that as spending on research in govfor research funding
ernment departments decreases, this
from every sponsor in
committee might be used as a way of
the UK, EU, US & beyond
pushing some of this applied research
into the research councils, with a
Every discipline
demand that they should do it.
Every fortnight
Additional reporting by Anna McKie.
Issue No. 469
2 editorial
Research Fortnight, 9 December 2015

Edited by Ehsan Masood
news@ResearchResearch.com
Tel: 020 7216 6500
Fax: 020 7216 6501
Unit 111, 134-146 Curtain Road, London EC2A 3AR
Facebook funder
Research funding is about to get a major new player
The presence of significant philanthropic giving has become one of the
hallmarks of more-developed societies.
In recent years, some of the biggest donations to research and especially to science have come from Bill and Melinda Gates, and the billionaire
financier Warren Buffett.
Last week Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg said they would give away
99 per cent of their Facebook shares in their lifetimes. The couples shares
are currently valued at $45 billion (30bn). They have pledged the cash to
an array of causes including promoting green energy, building inclusive
communities, tackling inequality, and ending child poverty and suffering.
We should celebrate what is a selfless act. Zuckerberg and Chan, a
paediatrician, recognise that humanity faces many crises and they have
set aside funding of an order of magnitude appropriate to the scale of
the problems. The UK government should take note. Its 1.5bn Global
Challenges Fund isnt small by any means, but for the worlds fifth largest
economy, it pales in comparison.
But at the same time we need to be cautious. It will probably be a while
before the Facebook funding is available via the routes we know. Readers
shouldnt hold their breath for strategy-setting sandpit events or responsive-mode open calls, assessed by independent peer review anytime soon.
Philanthropists, at least in their early years of giving, like to do things
their way. At the same time they can be impatient to see results. They will
typically be advised by a small group of trusted experts working behind
the scenes. These are often people who dont always appreciate advice
from the wider public.
Instead, these advisers will in turn advise grant programme managers
on which conferences to attend and which researchers to get to know with
a view to funding them. They will argue that if the Manhattan Project didnt
need an open call for funding, then neither should a malaria vaccine.
That is true up to a point, but such an approach has its drawbacks.
When newly minted philanthropists descend with massive amounts of
cash, this scale of intervention can be damaging.
Often, the chosen recipients of such cash lack the capacity to know
what to do with very large grants. In science, very large sums can also
skew the direction of research.
In 2014 Gates acknowledged some of these problems on the occasion
of the 10th anniversary of the original grand-challenges approach, which
his foundation pioneered on the advice of a small number of experts and
without much consultation.
In spite of spending $1bn in 10 years, his foundations interventions
have made little difference to finding new vaccines or making genuine
advances in agricultural technology. I was pretty nave about how long
that process would take, Gates said.
Fortunately, Chan and Zuckerberg have promised that they will learn
from the experiences of Gates and others. They also say that their move
into giving is not a short-term thing, nor are they expecting quick wins.
Lets hope they keep to their word.
elsewhere
By cancelling the project, we are abdicating from global leadership.
Jon Gluyas, professor of carbon capture and
storage and geoenergy at Durham University,
says that it was bizarre and hazardous to
cancel the 1-billion competition for the UKs
first CCS scheme days before the UN climate
talks in Paris. Conservative Home, 2/12/15.
When energy is spent declaring that
something is not worth serious consideration, I know it is important.
The organiser of a recent conference on
the Kardashians Meredith Jones, reader
in gender and media studies at Brunel
University London, says that the negative
public response to the Kimposium made her
all the more keen to study the family. The
Conversation, 26/11/15.
If we made a factory that produces
10 cows a year rather than a million, no
one would even blink.
Xu Xiaochun, chief executive of Chinese
biotech firm BoyaLife, which last week
announced plans to clone a million cows a
year, says that people are applying double
standards to the company because of the scale
of its operations. Financial Times, 27/11/15.
Deaf young people are telling us they feel
the government is intent on making it
more difficult for them to go to university.
The government has announced that from
September 2016, universities will have to pay
for non-medical support staff for deaf students. Susan Daniels, chief executive of the
National Deaf Childrens Society calls on the
government to make sure deaf students can
still take degrees. The Guardian, 3/12/15.
ORES functions like a pair of X-ray specs
these specs actually work to highlight
potentially damaging edits for editors.
Senior research scientist at the Wikimedia
Foundation Aaron Halfaker says that an
artificially intelligent editing programme
will help the declining number of volunteer
Wikipedia editors to find suspicious content.
Wikimedia Blog, 30/11/15.
decade
This was supposed to
simplify and harmonise
clinical trials across Europe,
and it has not done that.
Richard Sullivan, the director of programmes at Cancer Research UK, says that
the charitys assessment of the European
Clinical Trials Directive two years on
suggests academic clinical trials have
doubled in cost and suffered long delays.
whats going on 3
whats going on
Royal Institution on track to clear debt as auction pays off
The Royal Institution has said that it is set to pay off a 2-million bank loan by January 2016,
following the sale of rare books from its collection on science and medicine for 1.14m at an
auction at Christies on 1 December. It sold 68 items, including first editions of works by Isaac
Newton and Charles Darwin. The charity was left with a 7.1m deficit in its general funds after a
10-year renovation of its Grade I-listed building at 21 Albemarle Street in Londons Mayfair.
Chris Whitty named chief scientist at the Department of Health
The former chief scientific adviser at the Department for International Development, Chris
Whitty, has been appointed to the same role at the Department of Health. This will see Sally
Davies, the chief medical officer, passing this part of her work to Whitty. She has held both roles
since 2010, when she took over as chief medical officer from Liam Donaldson but retained the
responsibilities of her former position as CSA.
Pfizer plans closure of Cambridge centre
The American pharmaceutical company Pfizer is planning to close its Neusentis research facility
in Cambridge, threatening 120 jobs. The company said that a final decision would be subject
to completing a consultation process and other legal requirements. The news comes just a year
after the companys failed bid to take over AstraZeneca, during which it cited the Neusentis unit
as evidence of its commitment to R&D in the UK and around the globe.
Better critical-thinking skills could counter radicalisation
Science, technology, engineering and mathematics courses are constructed in a way that fails to
appreciate ambiguity, nuance, or multiple points of view, according to a British Council report.
The reports author, Martin Rose, said that people involved in violent extremism are more likely
to have studied STEM subjects, and engineering in particular. Rose recommended reforming the
syllabuses of such courses as a way to counter radicalisation.
Research councils join national ORCID consortium
Research Councils UK has announced that it has joined the UKs Open Researcher and
Contributors ID consortium to accelerate adoption of the identification system. RCUK said that
its grants system would be ready to incorporate researchers ORCID numbers in early 2016, but
that having an ORCID number will not be a condition of receiving funding.
More public engagement in arts than sciences, study finds
UK researchers in the arts, humanities and social sciences do more public engagement than
their counterparts in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, according to a study
published by the Wellcome Trust. The survey of 2,454 research staff found that 88 per cent of
respondents in the arts, humanities and social sciences had taken part in public engagement
activities, compared with 78 per cent of respondents in STEM subjects.
Migration in Europe crucial for UK research, engineers say
The free movement of people within the European Union is critical if the UK wants to maintain
its excellent research base, the Royal Academy of Engineering has said. The comments
came as part of the groups submission to the House Lords Select Committee on Science and
Technologys consultation on UK membership of the EU.
4 news
news
Audit anxiety
Linking local research excellence to national productivity goals for the governments
regional science and innovation audits is a tricky job. Eloise Johnston reports.
The science and innovation audits that universities and
science minister Jo Johnson announced in the summer
will map the UKs skills and expertise in science and
innovation, region by region. The idea is to use them to
drive local growth and boost the UKs productivity.
At the start of November, the government announced
that it was accepting applications from local groups
wanting to lead audits in their regions. These groups
have been asked to form consortia, which should
include higher education or research institutions, innovation organisations such as the Catapult centres, Local
Enterprise Partnerships (LEP) and businesses. They have
until 29 January to submit their proposals.
Those who are working up their applications are
disappointed at the lack of clarity on the part of the
government. Quite often the government says its not
going to tell us the rules of the game and how were
going to win at this, which means you can spend too
much time navel-gazing, says one LEP member, who
wants to remain anonymous.
One cause of confusion is that there is little information available to advise how consortia should be formed.
For instance, it isnt clear whether they are expected
to focus on a range of subject areas or one specific
research topic, and regions have not been defined by
the government.
Doing it on a very large scale, like across the north of
England, feels very daunting, even in collaboration with
other universities, says Nick Wright, pro vice-chancellor of research and innovation at Newcastle University.
We would probably be looking to do something more
localised. But the problem is that LEP boundaries are not
necessarily the natural boundaries of industry.
However, Peter Simpson, director of the N8 group
of northern research-intensive universities, says that
because the audits are not too prescriptive, they offer
groups a chance to decide which areas they want to
promote to government. You can take this as an opportunity to shine a spotlight on areas that are not already
prominent on the national agenda and probably dont
have massive government funding, he says.
The source from the LEP agrees. Where you end up
on the spectrumwhether you focus on technologies
in sectors or on a geographical areaI think theres
an opportunity here to tell the government what they
should look like, he says.
Simpson stresses that the Department for Business,
Innovation and Skills must ensure that the audits
which will be carried out in waves of no more than 10

at any one timecan be compared with each other. Its
very easy to cut and slice in lots of different ways and I
would hope that there are means to ensure comparability of analysis, he says.
To address this, the government has hired a contractorwhose name is expected to be announced before
Christmasto oversee the auditing process and to
ensure that the final reports can be effectively compared. The contractor will also provide assistance to the
groups chosen to run the audits. This is in lieu of government funding to do the audits. In its call for expressions
of interest in carrying out the audits, BIS said that this
reflects the need for government and consortia to share
the responsibility.
The government has also set up a Smart Specialisation
Hub to help LEPs develop strategies to access European
Structural and Investment Funds. These strategies are
expected to tie in with the requirements of the audits
and so the hub will be working closely with the LEPs
as they develop their bids. The hubwhich is being
run by Innovate UKs Knowledge Transfer Network and
the National Centre for Universities and Businessesis
made up of representatives from businesses, universities
and investors, and is led by Susan Perriam.
She says that she expects to see a number of proposals from authorities bidding for devolution deals, who
are using the audits to push forward their own local
agendas. Others have been more hesitant. Ive heard
from some groups who say that they would like to have a
science and innovation audit but they dont think anybody will pay attention to them because theyre not big
enough, Perriam says.
But for some the concern is the amount of unexpected
work that an audit might demand. One of the issues we
are grappling with is trying to estimate how much work
is involved, says Wright. Were a little worried that
once you get into the audit, youll get mission creep.
You might think you have the resources for one thing,
but then find youve got to do that plus something else
then youve got a lot of unresourced work.
In addition, Simpson notes that theres no guarantee
of funding for the subjects your audit analyses. There is
the challenge of that there is no pot of gold at the end of
the rainbow, he says. But, equally, I think everybody
understands the opportunity this presents to define
what we want on the national agenda for the next five
to fifteen years.
news 5
Academy of Medical Sciences

plans rapid-response team
The Academy of Medical Sciences should have a rapid
response team so it can react to policy issues while they
are still live, its new president Robert Lechler has said.
In an interview with Research Fortnight, Lechleran
immunologist who took over the presidency from John
Tooke on 4 Decembersaid that the academy should be
the go-to place for ministers as soon as an issue arises.
Lechler says that the rapid-response team could be a
small group of people who are not going to produce the
biblical article on the subject but will produce something
really useful to politicians to navigate a complex topic.
Lechlers goal is to provide responses and advice while
politicians are still debating the matter, rather than coming in with an answer when the issue has gone. This is
part of a continuing plan to evolve the academy into a
more potent and loud voice in the UK landscape, he says.
But this will not replace the academys other policy
work, which he says has been responsible for building
its brilliant reputation and influence. For instance, the
academy is producing a report on public health, which he
by Anna McKie
amnews@ResearchResearch.com
says is a terrific piece of work, but wont be released until

next year. Creating a faster team to work in parallel would
greatly enhance the academys abilities, he says.
Lechler also wants to consider the academys place
in discussions on how to make the healthcare system
more sustainable. We need the NHS to be committed to
researchas it wishes to be, he says. But if its all the
time engaged in cost-cutting measures then its going to
be very difficult to give any serious priority to research.
Beyond this, Lechler plans to get the academy to
engage more with regions outside London and the
south-east of England during his presidencyfor
instance by relocating some council meetings, usually
held in London, to cities such as Glasgow. And public
engagement will continue be high on the academys list
of priorities, Lechler says. We need public support to
do what we do because ultimately its the taxpayer who
funds most medical research one way or another.
Blasphemy to speak out against EU, lobbyists say

Scientists and researchers are afraid to lobby for the UK
to leave the European Union in case of repercussions at
work, the campaign group Scientists 4 Britain has said.
The group, which is only campaigning via Twitter at
present, is made up of seven scientists or former scientists, who wish to remain anonymous. They are based in
London, Cambridge and Bath. The groups spokesman,
who asked to be referred to only as David, is a former
journalist who studied science at university.
Half of our active members are unable to release their
names. They feel it would impact their jobs or compromise their careers by speaking out against the EU, he
says. Scientists are at pains to protect their personal
and professional reputations and want to avoid being
misconstrued as isolationist.
He says that saying you are in favour of Brexit
amounts to blasphemy among scientists. He calls for
a more equal debate ahead of the UKs referendum on
leaving the EU, due by the end of 2017.
Mike Galsworthy, who runs the pro-EU campaign group
Scientists for EU, agrees that it is harder for scientists
to speak up in favour of Brexit. We need to encourage
these voices into the debate, he says. At this stage,
the country could go either way and so we do need a full
range of insights about our options on either path.
Scientists 4 Britain argues that leaving the EU would
by Eloise Johnston
ejnews@ResearchResearch.com
not have the negative effect on research that the pro-EU

campaign says it would. In fact, one research scientistfrom the group says that it wants to put forward a positive
message. Much as the economic arguments focus on
trade with the wider world, we will be emphasising the
global nature of research.
David says the group aims to show how cooperation would continue without the unscientific
political underpinning that comes with EU funds. He
adds: International collaboration can exist, and does
exist, beyond political alliances. Wed like to see science
being funded and run on an international rather than
supranational basis.
But Galsworthy argues that international science programmes require political support. If you didnt have the
EU youd have to set up a lot of mechanisms that copy huge
parts of what the EU does, he says. Although you probably wouldnt have the democratic input of the European
Parliament on how this taxpayer money was spent.
Scientists 4 Britain plans to launch a website and
Facebook group in January 2016, at which point David
says one of the group will reveal their identity. For now, the
group, which is not yet is affiliated to any Out campaigns,
is meeting more science activists and lobby groups.
6 news
i n t e r v i e w v e n k i r a m a k r i s h n a n
A scientists scientist
The Royal Societys new president Venki Ramakrishnan doesnt cut as imposing a
figure as his predecessor but he should not be underestimated, says Rebecca Hill.
This is still Pauls office, Im just borrowing it while hes

away, Venki Ramakrishnan tells me as I enter the halfempty office overlooking The Mall that has been home
to Paul Nurse for the past five years. Were speaking just
days before he takes over from Nurse on 1 December to
start his own five-year term as president. He already
looks quite at home.
Ramakrishnan speaks quietly and pauses before
answering questions. Its hard to imagine him holding
court with the movers and shakers of Whitehall in quite
the same way that Nurse does, but nothing in our meeting suggests he will be less effective in his own mission.
How does he think his presidency will differ from his
predecessors? He pauses. Paul and I have some things
in common, he says. Neither of us went to the top elite
schools for our education, and we eventually proved ourselves and rose up the ranks. But, he acknowledges, in
other ways theyre quite different. I have a lower-key
background, he says, so I think that will naturally lead
to differences in style.
The Indian-born structural biologist came to the
UK in 1999, after working in the United States for
many years. He now runs a well-respected group at the
Medical Research Councils Laboratory for Molecular
Biology in Cambridge investigating ribosome structure.
But even after 16 years there, he says he still feels new
to the country. Ive only just been accepted in my village, he jokes. Im still a relative outsider to the UK
establishment, but I dont think coming in fresh is a disadvantage because you have no preconceptions.
These experiences clearly drive his interest in immigration policy, which he is particularly keen to talk about.
Science relies on recruiting and interacting with people
from all over the worldmy own lab is highly international, he says. If we start putting up barriers to the free
movement of scientists, that prevents us from getting new
ideas and recruiting the best talent.
But Ramakrishnan is practical about
the issue, acknowledging that no country
allows open immigration. Thats not what
were objecting to, he says. Instead, he
wants to see a massive reduction in the red
tape, cost and time it takes to apply for a
visa to work in the UK. In addition, the government must make it clear that the country
wants to recruit the best researchers, wherever they come from. Thats the message
thats not coming across, he says.
Science is
a quest for
knowledge;
we need to
convey the
excitement.
His experience of working in the US and his ties to

India will no doubt be useful to him as he runs the Royal
Society, and he draws on examples from around the
world throughout our meeting. For instance, he notes
that a few decades ago the Indian government decided
to focus funding on research institutes rather than universities, which created a divide between teaching and
research that the country now has to address. People
need to keep in mind that education and research are
highly linked, he says when I ask whether the Research
Excellence Framework and its teaching counterpart
could cause such a divide. Britain has a strong research
base in universities, and that has to be maintained.
When it comes to the Royal Society, Ramakrishnan
sees its role as one of education and engagementhe
does not speak of strong lobbying, but rather of more
subtle approaches. You cant have science funding from
the government in a vacuum. A democratically elected
government is going to be responsive to what the public
wants, so we have to convey the message of how important science is at various levels, he says. Science is a
quest for knowledge; we need to convey the excitement
of what science is about.
He also stresses the importance of the scientific
methodhe wants to see more conceptual and critical
thinking taught early onand of evidence-based policymaking. For almost any decision you can ask, What is
the evidence? There are scientific ways of approaching
these things, he says.
So is Ramakrishnan very much a scientists scientist? Yes, thats probably true. I have a very active lab
and Ive probably published more major papers after
my Nobel prize in 2009 than in the five years before,
he says. What really matters is to keep doing good science. When I ask him whether hell continue to lead
his lab, he answers quickly in the affirmative. But wont
that be a lot to juggle? Again, he pauses. Yes, I suppose,
well see how it goes.
Its easy to warm to Ramakrishnan. His enthusiasm
for science is abundantly clear and his honest, considered responses are refreshing. Whether or not he will
have to harden his stance on some topics remains to
be seen, but as he readily acknowledges, he is only at
the beginning of his term. Im still feeling my way, he
says. Perhaps if you come a year or two from now, Ill
have another answer.
Something to add? Email comment@Research
Research.com
funding opportunities
Research Fortnight
9 December 2015
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. 469
JRF poverty and ethnicity

The Joseph Rowntree
Foundation invites
proposals for its poverty
and ethnicity programme
evaluation. The total
budget is worth 50,000
over 37 months [11].
EPSRC energy storage
The Engineering and
Physical Sciences Research
Council, as part of the
Research Councils UK
energy programme, invites
registrations of intent to
apply for the SUPERGEN
energy storage challenge
call II. The total budget is
4million [13].
UK-Brazil collaboration
The British Council,
via the Newton Fund,
invites proposals for its
institutional skills grants
for Brazil-UK training
programmes. Grants are
worth between 10,000
and 100,000 each [16].
Innovate UK/RCUK food
Innovate UK, Research
Councils UK and
the Government of
Indias Department of
Biotechnology, via the
Newton-Bhabha Fund,
invite registrations for
their UK-India research
and innovation bridges
competition on agrifood. UK project costs
are expected to range in
size from 800,000 to
1million [17].
n o t t o be
p h o t o c o pie D
For subscriptions call +44 20 7216 6500
Each entry is followed by a Web id
17

December
EU Directorate-General for
Communications Networks, Content
and Technology 2nd survey of
schools: ICT in education 1187505
EU European Space Agency drop
your thesis projects 1165985
EU Horizon 2020: Industrial
Leadership collaborative sharing of
spectrum prize 1180932
MOD Centre for Defence Enterprise/
Defence Science and Technology
Laboratory enduring challenge
competition 1175661
NIHR health services and delivery
programme commissioned calls:
15/144, 15/145 1186977
NIHR UK rapid response team
competition 1187384
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Thomas J
Alexander fellowship 1171030
AHRC anniversary essay competition
the way we live now debates five
to eight 1185414
DH policy research programme
radiation protection research initiative 1186855
Dystonia Society seed grant scheme
1175817
STFC access to Ultra, Octopus and
EPSRC laser loan pool 1173934
British Mycological Society small
grants 213758
SET for Britain Parliamentary and
Scientific Committee exhibition of
posters 260686
EU European Centre for Disease
Prevention and Control assessment
of tuberculosis under-reporting
through inventory studies 1187544
Innovate UK cross-platform
production in digital media
1175754
Private Physiotherapy Educational
Foundation individual scholarship
awards 1169390
Private Physiotherapy Educational Foundation research awards
1169389
Private Physiotherapy Educational
Foundation research awards for
novice researchers 1169388
18

20
21
22
23

Council/Newton Fund/
30 British
Thailand Research Fund innovative
and sustainable competitiveness in
food and drinks technology call

for research delegation 1187503
EU Digital Agenda for Europe experts supporting the identification
of technical specifications to be
referenced in public procurement
according to Article 13 of EU regulation 1025/2012 1185768
Innovate UK/ScotGov/Scottish
Enterprise/Scottish Diabetes Group
personalised diabetes education
and care 1187191
Allen Foundation research grants
194161
Autonomous Government of Catalonia international prize 204483
Berthold Leibinger Stiftung innovation prize 155224
British Biophysical Society young
investigator award 153194
British Entomological and Natural
History Society Maitland Emmet
research fund and grants 207742
British Institute of Radiology Sir
Godfrey Hounsfield lecture 152750
British Society of Periodontology
John Zamet memorial prize in periodontal research 1185377
British Trust for Ornithology
research grants 258591
Champalimaud Foundation vision
award 206992
Commonwealth Forestry Association
young scientist research award
1178215
Company of Biologists/Journal of Experimental Biology/
Development, Disease Models &
Mechanisms/Journal of Cell Science
travelling fellowships 205990
EU European Science Foundation
quantitative models of cellular and
developmental biology exchange
grants 1164860
European Academy of Allergy and
Clinical Immunology clinical fellowships 196140
European Academy of Allergy and
Clinical Immunology research fellowships 1157993
European Association for Cancer
Research/Pezcoller Foundation
cancer researcher award 254658
European Association of Plastic Surgeons Hans Anderl award 209843
European League Against Rheumatism knowledge transfer programme
187035
European Orthodontic Society WJB
Houston memorial research scholarship 1172184
31
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European Society for Surgery of the

Shoulder and the Elbow Europe-US
European Society for Surgery of the
Shoulder and the Elbow Europe-US
European Society of Contraception
and Reproductive Health course
grants 1170016
European Society of Contraception
and Reproductive Health project
grants 1170015
European Society of Regional
Anaesthesia and Pain Therapy
educational grant 1170467
European Society of Regional Anaesthesia and Pain Therapy research
grant 1170462
Handel Institute research awards
1163710
International Society for Antiviral
Research women in science career
development awards 1182346
Lady Davis Fellowship Trust postdoctoral research fellowships 185088
London Mathematical Society joint
research groups in the UK 206881
Musculoskeletal Association of
Chartered Physiotherapists International Federation of Orthopaedic
Manipulative Physical Therapists
presentation award 1172308
Musculoskeletal Association of
Chartered Physiotherapists MSc/
PgD route bursaries 1172293
Royal College of Psychiatrists in
Scotland research prize 152807
Royal College of Psychiatrists
Margaret Slack travelling fellowship
1165695
Royal Society of Chemistry energy
sector PhD thesis award 1184112
Society of Environmental Toxicology
and Chemistry best publication
awards 1161140
Weizmann Institute of Science visiting professorships 198003
YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
Eastern European Jewish studies
fellowship 1187633
American Jewish studies fellowships
1187632
Baltic Jewish Studies Fellowships
1187629
Funding search
Free text: 1234567 x
January
British Endodontic Society grants

for research workers 206210
clinical fellowship awards 209659
research grants 213041
British Society of Periodontology Sir
Wilfred Fish research prize 213035
European Association of Urology
clinical visit 252514
scholarships 252519
short visit 252521
Royal Society of Chemistry JWT
Jones travelling fellowship 256367
Royal Society of Chemistry stopovers in Commonwealth countries
1165005
8 funding opportunities
uk
highlights
New opportunities from UK-based funders.
Sports medicine travel grant

The British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine invites applications for its
external meeting sponsorship. Funding
sponsors the cost of an external, nonBASEM meeting in order to encourage
members to attend relevant sport and
exercise medicine meetings that they are
unable to get sponsorship for through
the NHS or other employees. Awards
are worth up to 500 each for full members and up to 300 each for associate
members.
Web id: 1185681
Email: amanda.harwood@basem.co.uk
No deadline [1]
Biotechnology grants 1
The Crossing Biological Membranes Network invites applications for the following
grants:
industrial-academic exchange grants,
worth up to 1,000 each.
Web id: 1187726
open innovation meeting grants,
Web id: 1187727
Email: jen.vanderhoven@shef.ac.uk
No deadline [2]
Travel grants
The Neuroanaesthesia Society of Great
Britain and Ireland invites applications
for its travelling fellowships. These enable
members of the society to undertake visits
for research, study or teaching. The total
budget is 5,000. Fellowships are worth
up to 2,500 each.
Web id: 1187733
No deadline [4]
UK-Brazil energy workshop

The British Council via the Newton Fund,
the National Council of Technological
and Scientific Development (CNPq), the
Brazilian National Council of State Funding Agencies (CONFAP) and the So Paulo
Research Foundation (FAPESP) invite
applications for their community-based
sustainable energy workshop. Funding
enables UK and Brazilian researchers
to come together for a workshop, to be
held from 15 to 20 February 2016 in Florianpolis, Brazil, and discuss the issues
and solutions of micro-grids within the
areas of wireless sensing and embedded computing, renewable energy and
social sciences. Grants cover all travel
and accommodation expenses.
Web id: 1187817
Deadline: 24 December 2015 [5]
Encephalitis PhD fellowship

The Encephalitis Society invites applications for its PhD fellowship. This enables
HEIs to host graduates in order for them
to obtain a postgraduate PhD research
qualification, focusing on the theme of
recovery and rehabilitation of encephalitis patients. The fellowship is worth up
to 12,500 a year to cover up to 50 per
cent of the full costs of a studentship,
including fees, stipend and consumables.
Web id: 1187826
Contact: Ava Easton
Email: ava@encephalitis.info

Early-career entomology
The Royal Entomological Society invites
nominations for the Marsh award for
early-career entomologists. This recognises an early-career contribution to
entomological science with a single or
ongoing impact to the field. The award
is worth 1,000.
Web id: 1187835
No deadline [7]
Wind energy technology

The Carbon Trust invites tenders for the
provision of dynamic thermal rating of
subsea cables. The tenderer will look into
the thermal optimisation of the sub-sea
cables in the operating conditions of
offshore wind farms. The contract is worth
up to 375,000 over 14 months.
Web id: 1187828
Email: olivia.i.burke@carbontrust.com
Deadline: 4 January 2016 [8]
Commonwealth awards
The Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK, in collaboration with the
government of India, invites applications
for their scholarships. These support UK
citizens who wish to study in a university
in India in 2016-2017. Up to two scholarships are available, including living
and rent allowance, a contingent grant,
tuition fees, and thesis and dissertation
expenses.
Web id: 1187798
Email: csfpout@acu.ac.uk
ScotGov Phytophthora species

The Scottish Government invites tenders
for its call on the risks of Phytophthora
species to the Scottish environment and
rural economy. The tenderer will develop
and use improved detection methods for
Phytophthora species to determine the
presence of the species in key environments in Scotland, in order to evaluate the risks of the species to plants in
trade, in commercial production and the
environment. The budget is worth up to
250,000.
Web id: 1187735
Email: bridget.mcgee@scotland.gsi.
gov.uk
JRF poverty and ethnicity

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation invites
proposals for its poverty and ethnicity
programme evaluation. Funding aims to
support an evaluation of the poverty and
ethnicity programme in order to learn
about the wider impact of the programme,
and the effectiveness of the poverty and
ethnicity programme model. The total
budget is worth 50,000 over 37 months.
Web id: 1187871
Email: phillipa.fairburn@jrf.org.uk
ScotGov farm assurance

The Scottish Government invites tenders
for the provision of a collaborative development of positive welfare indicators
for farm assurance. The tenderer will
undertake a research project that will consider the development of animal-based
indicators of positive welfare in animals
that could be used in farm assurance
schemes in Scotland. The total budget is
worth between 100,000 and 120,000.
Web id: 1187863
Email: bridget.mcgee@scotland.gsi.
gov.uk
EPSRC energy storage

The Engineering and Physical Sciences
Research Council, as part of the Research
Councils UK energy programme, invites
registrations of intent to apply for the
SUPERGEN energy storage challenge call
II. This supports collaborative research
that underpins the development of energy
storage technologies. Projects should
address materials, and materials design
and diagnostics. EPSRC expects to support
five projects for up to three years. The
total budget is 4million.
Web id: 1187763
Email: energyteam@epsrc.ac.uk
White rot in onion crops

The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, via its horticulture division, invites proposals to tender for the
provision of an investigation into the
control of white rot in bulb and salad
onion crops. The tenderer will develop
an integrated crop management strategy
for control of white rot, covering both
conventionally and organically grown
bulb and salad crops. The budget is worth
between 80,000 and 100,000 over a
period of two to three years.
Web id: 1187865
Email: cathryn.lambourne@ahdb.org.uk
Integration project
The Energy Technologies Institute invites
applications for its networks multi vector
integration project. This aims to understand the opportunity for and implications of moving to more integrated
multi-vector networks. The project may
receive 300,000 over nine months.
Web id: 1187862
Email: susie.winter@eti.co.uk
UK-Brazil collaboration
The British Council, via the Newton Fund,
invites proposals for its institutional
skills grants for Brazil-UK training programmes. Funding supports new training,
capacity building or community engagement programmes for staff or key community partners of Brazilian institutions,
where the programmes focus on developing specific scientific or creative and
innovative skills in conjunction with a UK
organisation. Grants are worth between
10,000 and 100,000 each.
Web id: 1187802
Email: newton@britishcouncil.org.br
Innovate UK/RCUK agri-food

Innovate UK, Research Councils UK and
the Government of India's Department
of Biotechnology, via the Newton-Bhabha
Fund, invite registrations for their UKIndia research and innovation bridges
competition on agri-food. Funding
supports collaborative industrial R&D
projects that propose new commercial
solutions to critical challenges impacting the agri-food sector in India. The
total budget is worth up to 10million,
of which 5m is provided by RCUK and
Innovate UK for the UK partners, while
DBT are providing matching funding for
Indian partners. UK project costs are
expected to range in size from 800,000

to 1m, and the percentage of the total
costs provided depends on the size of the
organisation.
Web id: 1187746
Email: support@innovateuk.gov.uk
Tuberous sclerosis awards 1

Tuberous Sclerosis Association invites
applications for its project grants. These
support a range of research projects
within the tuberous sclerosis complex and
that relate to understanding TSC and its
impacts, and treating and preventing the
manifestations of TSC. Grants are worth up
to 190,000 over three years.
Web id: 1187803
Email: alison.cooper@tuberous-sclerosis.org
DFID evaluation services

The Department for International Development invites tenders for evaluation
services. The tenderer will contribute
to improving the impact and value for
money of DFID's development spending
and support the effective delivery of its
strategic objectives.
Web id: 1187821
Email: ainsley-ritchie@dfid.gsx.gov.uk
Sports medicine awards

The British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine invites applications for the
following opportunities:
research award, in collaboration with
DJO Global. Web id: 1185677
MSc in sport and exercise medicine
bursary, worth 2,000. Web id: 1187840
travelling fellowship, worth up to
5,000. Web id: 1185678
Email: amanda.harwood@basem.co.uk
Digital social science prize

The Independent Social Research Foundation and Big Data and Society invite
applications for their essay competition
on digital social science. This recognises
the best essay on the topic of influence
and power. The prize is worth CHF1,000
(660).
Web id: 1187814
Email: essayprize2016@isrf.org
Prehistoric archaeology
The Prehistoric Society invites applications for its collections study award. This
supports the study of a specified area
of a museum's archaeological collections or archives relating specifically to
human prehistory. Grants are worth up
to 3,000 each.
Web id: 1187869
Contact: Tessa Machling
Email: t.machling@ucl.ac.uk
Sensors and metrology calls

The University of Birmingham's UK
National Quantum Technology Hub for
Sensors and Metrology and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council invite proposals via the following calls:
end-user driven demonstration activities. Grants are worth up to 500,000
each. Web id: 1185827
new academic collaborations.
funding opportunities 9

Web id: 1187855
Contact: Max Turner
Email: m.j.turner@bham.ac.uk
Aesthetics travel grants

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The British Society of Aesthetics invites

applications for its postgraduate travel
stipends. These enable participation in
conferences or research visits to other
universities on topics in aesthetics and
the philosophy of art. Stipends are worth
up to 800 each.
Web id: 1187743
Email: admin@british-aesthetics.org
Deadline: 1 February 2016 [28]
Royal Society medals

The Royal Society invites nominations for
the following medals:
Copley medal, worth 25,000.
Web id: 1187843
Rumford medal, worth 2,000.
Web id: 1187844
Email: awards@royalsociety.org
Oxford humanities networks

The University of Oxford's Research Centre in the Humanities invites applications
for its research network scheme. This
supports researchers seeking to establish, or consolidate, multi- or interdisciplinary research networks to be based
at the Radcliffe humanities building.
Awards are usually worth 2,500 and
are tenable for one year with possible
extension.
Web id: 1187824
Email: victoria.mcguinness@humanities.ox.ac.uk
Learning disabilities
The Baily Thomas Charitable Fund invites
applications for its doctoral fellowships.
These enable researchers to complete a
PhD on a topic relevant to people with
learning disabilities. Up to two fellowships are available per year, for three
years, which include annual stipends
worth up to 18,057, PhD registration
fees of 4,000, a grant of 5,000 per
year for consumable costs, and 300 per
year for travelling to conferences or visit
collaborators.
Web id: 1187774
Email: info@bailythomas.org.uk
Deadline: 1 March 2016 [32]
Legal scholars grants

The Society of Legal Scholars invites
applications for its small projects and
events funding. This supports projects or
activities that advance legal education.
Grants are worth up to 2,500 each.
Web id: 1187755
Email: secretary@legalscholars.ac.uk
Organisation theory prize

The Independent Social Research Foundation and Organisation Studies invite
applications for their essay competition
on organisation studies. These recognise
the best essay on the topic of autonomy and organisation. Prizes are worth
CHF7,000 (4,600) each.
Web id: 1187812
Radiography fellowship grant
Ancient mosaics grants
The Society of Radiographers, together

with the College of Radiographers, and
the College of Radiographers Industry
Partnership Scheme, invites applications for its doctoral fellowship grants.
These enable members to undertake
doctoral level research on radiography,
in one of the chosen research areas.
Two fellowships of up to 25,000 each
are available.
Web id: 1187848
Contact: Valerie Asemah
Email: valeriea@sor.org
Deadline: 1 April 2016 [35]
The Association for the Study and Preservation of Roman Mosaics invites applications for its grants. These are given to
cover the costs of travel or publication
relating to the study of ancient mosaics,
or work on the conservation or preservation of mosaics. Grants are worth up to
500 each.
Web id: 252001
Contact: Wendy Passmore
Email: membership@asprom.org
Innovate UK energy solutions

Innovate UK invites registrations for its
competition on energy game changer.
Funding supports technical feasibility
studies which encourage new entrants
into the energy sector and stimulate
the adoption of disruptive technologies
that address challenges faced by the
energy sector. The total budget is worth
up to 1.5 million. Each project may
receive between 25,000 and 100,000
for a period of six to 12 months, although
larger projects may be considered.
Web id: 1187856
Email: support@innovateuk.gov.uk
Deadline: 4 May 2016 [36]
Geotechnical engineer award

The International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering invites
nominations for its outstanding young
geotechnical engineer award. This recognises individuals under 36 years of
age who have made outstanding contributions to the practice or research
in geotechnical engineering through
contributing to one or more research
or industrial projects. The prize is worth
1,000.
Web id: 1187859
Email: secretariat@issmge.org
Deadline: 1 July 2016 [37]
Rehabilitation medicine
The British Society of Rehabilitation Medicine invites applications for the following
opportunities:
the Philip Nichols prize, worth 500.
Web id: 212291
travelling scholarship, worth up to
600. Web id: 212293
Email: admin@bsrm.co.uk
Orthodontics grants
The European Orthodontic Society invites
applications for the following opportunities:
the Beni Solow award, worth 2,500.
Web id: 1180564
research grants, worth up to 20,000
the W J B Houston research awards,
worth 2,000 each. Web id: 1180563
Email: eoslondon@aol.com
Applied microbiology fund

The Society for Applied Microbiology
invites applications for its president's
fund. This assists members to present at
scientific meetings or attend workshops
related to their area of work. Grants are
Web id: 202163
Email: julie@sfam.org.uk
Social behaviour prize
Biochemistry awards 1
The Independent Social Research Foundation and the Journal for the Theory of
Social Behaviour invite applications for
their essay competition on social theory.
This recognises the best essay on the
topic of social behaviour and its investigation. The prize is worth CHF7,000
(4,600).
Web id: 1187815
German history grants
uk
other
Renewed opportunities from funders based
in the UK.
Surgery of the hand

The British Society for Surgery of the
Hand invites applications for the Hong
Kong research fellowship. The fellow is
expected to complete one or two research
projects, and one or two reviews of clinical
material. The fellowship lasts six months
and is funded through a monthly allowance of 1,000.
Web id: 203439
Email: wyip@hkusua.hku.hk
No deadline [39]
The Biochemical Society invites applications for the following opportunities:

general travel grants, worth up to
750 each. Web id: 257440
visiting fellowships, worth up to
2,000 each. Web id: 251981
Email: rowena.mitchell@biochemistry.
org
The German History Society invites applications for the following opportunities:
conference funding, worth up to
1,000 each. Web id: 1182615
small grants, worth up to 1,000
Email: secretary@germanhistorysociety.org
Eye disease research

The National Eye Research Centre invites
applications for its PhD studentships.
These fund research which improves the
understanding of, and treatments for,
eye disease and sight loss. Grants are
normally worth up to 60,000 each over
three years.
Web id: 1165155
Email: sheryn.wembridge@bristol.ac.uk
Biochemical events
The Biochemical Society invites applications for its sponsored events grants. These
support single lectures or small events,
such as postgraduate research days or oneday mini symposia, at a higher education
institution. Grants are worth up to 500.
Web id: 1164785
org
AHRC/BBC new generation

The Arts and Humanities Research Council
and BBC Radio 3 invite applications for
their new generation thinkers scheme. This
enables early-career researchers working
in all areas of the arts and humanities to
attend a series of dedicated workshops,
develop new programmes and become
Radio 3's resident new generation thinkers. Up to 10 placements are available.
Web id: 1161307
Email: jeshelp@rcuk.ac.uk
Bibliography awards
The Bibliographical Society invites applications for the following opportunities:
the Katharine F Pantzer Jr research
fellowship, worth up to 4,000.
Web id: 202850
major grants, worth up to 2,000
Email: matthew.payne@westminsterabbey.org
Biosocial sciences
The Parkes Foundation invites applications for the following opportunities:
PhD grant fund, worth up to 3,000.
Web id: 187173
small grants, worth up to 800 each.
Web id: 210923
Email: secretary@parkesfoundation.
org.uk
Fish biology studentships

The Fisheries Society of the British Isles
invites applications for its PhD studentships. These support postgraduate study
that leads to a PhD in any field relevant
to fish biology, and fisheries science and
conservation. Studentships are based
on the NERC stipend rate plus a 1,000
supplement, and include a contribution
of 1,500 per year towards consumables.
Funding covers a period of three years.
Web id: 260066
Email: admin@fsbi.org.uk
Computer science award

The British Computer Society invites
nominations for the Roger Needham
award. This recognises a distinguished
research contribution in computer science by a UK-based researcher who has
completed up to 10 years of postdoctoral
research. The prize includes 5,000 and
the opportunity to give a public lecture
on the winning work.
Web id: 1170945
Email: awardscommittee@hq.bcs.org.uk
Physics public engagement

The Institute of Physics invites applications for its public engagement grants.
These support individuals and organisa-

tions running physics-based events and
activities in the UK and Ireland. Grants
are worth up to 2,000 each.
Web id: 257005
Contact: Sarah Barnes
Email: engagement@iop.org
Occupational therapy awards

The British Association of Occupational
Therapists' and the College of Occupational Therapists' UK Occupational
Therapy Research Foundation invites
proposals for the following awards:
the Elizabeth Casson Trust postdoctoral award, worth up to 10,000.
Web id: 259790
research career development grant,
worth up to 10,000. Web id: 259787
research priority grants, worth up to
80,000 each. Web id: 259785
Email: lesley.gleaves@cot.co.uk
Nuclear medicine
The British Nuclear Medicine Society
invites applications for its young investigators prize competition. This recognises
abstracts presented at the annual meeting concerned with the application of
radiotracers to diagnosis and therapy.
The prize is worth 500.
Web id: 161466
Email: charlotteweston@bnms.org.uk
Systematic research
The Linnean Society and the Systematics
Association invite applications for their
systematics research fund. This supports
small-scale research projects in the field
of systematics and taxonomy. Awards are
Web id: 257476
Contact: Mark Carine
Email: m.carine@systass.org
Mineralogy bursaries
The Mineralogical Society invites applications for the following bursaries:
postgraduate student bursaries,
worth up to 500 each. Web id: 187223
senior bursaries, worth up to 500
Contact: Kevin Murphy
Email: kevin@minersoc.org
Anaesthesia grants
The National Institute of Academic
Anaesthesia invites applications for the
Association of Anaesthetists of Great
Britain and Ireland anaesthesia research
grants. These support research focusing
on the following areas: patient safety,
innovation, clinical outcomes, education and training, related professional
issues, or the environment. Grants are
typically worth from 1,000 to 10,000
for small projects, and up to 20,000 for
larger projects.
Web id: 1171783
Email: info@niaa.org.uk
Canada scholarships
The Association of Commonwealth Universities invites applications for the
Canada Memorial Foundation scholarships. These support British students
or graduates wishing to pursue a post-
graduate course at a university or other

higher education institution in Canada.
The awards last for one year and include
funding for airfares, fees, maintenance
and other allowances.
Web id: 187203
Email: cmf@acu.ac.uk
Economic growth policy

The International Growth Centre, based
at the London School of Economics and
Political Science, invites proposals for its
central call on growth policies in developing countries. This supports high-calibre
research projects relevant to growth policies in developing countries within the
four themes of state effectiveness, firm
capabilities, cities and energy. Funding
covers fees, services, and expenses such
as equipment and overhead costs. There
are no limits on budget or duration for
projects funded under this call.
Web id: 1176308
Email: bruce.berghmans@theigc.org
Special economic projects

The Royal Economic Society invites applications for its special project grants.
These offer financial assistance for activities that further the understanding and
use of economics. Grants are worth up to
5,000 each.
Web id: 1166397
Email: royaleconsoc@st-andrews.ac.uk
Tuberous sclerosis awards 2

The Tuberous Scierosis Association invites
junior fellowships, worth up to
40,000 per year each over a maximum
period of three years. Web id: 1174466
PhD studentships, worth up to
15,000 per year each over a maximum
period of there years. Web id: 1179198
Email: alison.cooper@tuberous-sclerosis.org
Wellcome collaboration
The Wellcome Trust invites applications
for its collaborative awards in humanities and social science. These enable
teams to tackle major health-related
questions in the humanities and social
sciences. Awards are normally worth up
to 2million each over a maximum period
of five years, with most in the range of
1m to 1.5m.
Web id: 1182833
Email: hssgrants@wellcome.ac.uk
Mathematics prizes
The London Mathematical Society invites
nominations for the following prizes:
the Anne Bennett prize, worth
1,500. Web id: 1182685
the De Morgan medal, worth 1,500.
Web id: 1157796
the Frhlich prize, worth 1,500.
Web id: 1157797
senior Berwick prize, worth 1,500.
Web id: 208743
the Whitehead prizes, worth 1,500
Contact: Duncan Turton
Email: prizes@lms.ac.uk
ESRC impact prize

The Economic and Social Research Council invites applications for its celebrating impact prize. This recognises and
rewards ESRC-funded researchers who
have achieved, or are currently achieving,
outstanding economic or societal impacts
through their research and collaborative
working, partnerships, engagement and
knowledge exchange activities. A prize
of 10,000 will be made to the winners
of each category.
Web id: 1171231
Email: impact@esrc.ac.uk
Orthopaedic research
Orthopaedic Research UK invites expressions of interest for its general and translational research awards. These support
projects that address an identified orthopaedic clinical need. Awards are worth up
to 100,000 each.
Web id: 1185572
Email: info@oruk.org
Glaucoma research
The Royal College of Ophthalmologists
invites applications for the International
Glaucoma Association award. This supports postgraduate research into glaucoma. The grant is worth up to 75,000.
Web id: 211918
Email: daniah.ahmed@rcophth.ac.uk
ScotGov health services

The Scottish Government's Chief Scientist
Office, under the response mode funding
scheme, invites outline proposals for the
following calls:
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
Email: tom.barlow@gov.scot
American studies awards

The British Association for American
Studies, on behalf of the British Library,
invites applications for the following
awards:
the Eccles Centre postgraduate
awards in North American studies, worth
600 each. Web id: 1171851
the Eccles Centre visiting fellows in
North American studies awards, worth
2,250 each. Web id: 1171850
Email: awards@baas.ac.uk
Biochemistry awards 2
The Biochemical Society invites nominations for its centenary award. This
recognises a biochemist of distinction
from any part of the world. The award is
worth 3,000.
Web id: 1161323
org
Laboratory visits
The British Microcirculation Society
invites applications for its laboratory
visit grants. These enable postgraduate
students or junior postdoctoral workers
who are members of the society to visit a
jobs 11
Jobs
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Research Development Team
Lead (Engineering and Physical
Sciences)
38,896-46,414
increasing up to 52,219
College of Engineering and
Physical Sciences,
University of Birmingham
Closing date: 12 midnight,
04/01/2016
Details: Please visit:
www.hr.bham.ac.uk/jobs search
current vacancies and enter
Ref:53927
Group Head, Survey Research
Centre (Health and Biomedical)
c. 60,000
NatCen Social Research
Details: Applicants can download
an information pack at: www.
bloomsburyresourcing.co.uk.
For an informal and confidential
discussion about the role, please
contact Shahidul Miah
Tel: 07581 230 171
Group Head, Policy Research
Centre (Health)
c. 60,000
NatCen Social Research
Details: Applicants can download
an information pack at: www.
bloomsburyresourcing.co.uk.
For an informal and confidential
discussion about the role, please
contact Shahidul Miah
Tel: 07581 230 171
International Policy Manager
28,384
Economic and Social Research
Council (ESRC)
Contact: Lewis Preece
Email: lewis.preece@esrc.ac.uk
For more details and the complete
list of jobs, please visit:
www.researchresearch.com/jobs
9 December 2015
Dont let big data dilute your ethics

Getting to grips with the ethics around big data
is essential for researchers in a range of subjects,
and it could make you more employable, too,
says Emma Uprichard, associate professor
at the University of Warwicks Centre for
Interdisciplinary Methodologies.
She has just won 12,000 from the IBM Faculty
Award scheme to run a three-day postgraduate
course on big-data ethics in the second half
of 2016, which she says will teach researchers
techniques to respect privacy, confidentiality and
anonymity when using a diverse range of public
and interlinked data available online.
The three-day course will run annually and
accept up to 30 postgraduate students across
the universitys Centre for Interdisciplinary
Methodologies, Warwick Business School, and
the faculties of computer science, politics,
international studies and sociology.
Big-data ethics is going to be an increasing
issue for managers and employers across different
job areas, she says. People are going to face much
tighter regulations within their own institutions,
so having a background in ethics will increase their
employability.
According to Uprichard, many professional
ethics codes relating to research and practice dont
offer solutions to the increasing number of ethical
challenges constantly being posed by big data
and real time analytics. And, she says, most bigdata courses focus on coding, data extraction and
analysis rather than the ethics of using that data.
Very often all this data is linked in some way to
by Cristina Gallardo cgnews@ResearchResearch.com
a person and you cant get away from the ethical

and political implications of that, Uprichard says.
She wants to get researchers on her course to
discuss real-life dilemmas arising from scraping and
mining data, and ask more critical questions on the
use of big data. This will help them come up with
answers to research questions such as What are the
poorest areas of a city? without endangering the
subjects personal information, she says.
Uprichard has designed an interdisciplinary
course, saying that big-data ethics should not
only be taught only to computer scientists. Social
scientists are being trained to think in ethical ways
from very early on, but those approaches are out
of date, she says. Researchers are increasingly
turning to online tools with little or no ethical
guidance. Big-data ethics needs to be taught and
explored across the disciplines.
However she acknowledges that this will
mean her training is more general, and adds that
researchers should complement this with other
courses that are more specific to their fields.
Uprichards course materials, including a list
of recommended reads, will eventually be made
publicly available, online. But, if you want to start
now she recommends reading #SocialEthics: A
guide to embedding ethics in social media research,
which was published on 12November as part of
a project called Wisdom of the Crowd that gives
advice to integrate social media analyses as a valid
and ethical research methodology.
Learning-disabled researchers need support from academics

A lack of incentives and pressures on funding
are making it more difficult for academics to
engage people with learning disabilities in their
research, according to Craig Blyth, programme
director of the Learning Disability Studies
courses at the University of Manchester.
In the past, funders looked at partnerships
with learning-disabled people very positively,
he says. In more recent years, as weve seen
funding to research councils being cut, funding for
partnership research has proved a real challenge.
Another obstacle is the publication of research,
he says. If you work with learning-disabled
people it is very important that you use accessible
language, but if you want to get your article in a
top-rated journal that can be a challenge, he says.
You can write two versions of a paper, he says, but
this does take extra time. In 2012, the Partnership
Steering Group, led by Blyth and formed of people
with mental disorders such as autism and Downs
syndrome, or those with an IQ of less than 70, edited
a special edition of the British Journal of Learning
Disabilities. This project took about three years to
put together, but was worth the effort, Blyth says.
One of the biggest barriers is the attitude of
by Cristina Gallardo cgnews@ResearchResearch.com
academics to the work. There is still a perception

among clinical health researchers that these people
are in need of cure and control, they see them as
a set of diagnoses rather than a person, he says.
The bachelor and masters courses he runs aim
to address this. He invites people with learning
disabilities to teach the students. The idea was that
learning-disabled people could provide live insights,
rather than just having academics preaching about
how it is to have a learning disability, Blyth says.
But, he says, its important that researchers
consider their partners financial situation: Blyths
partners get paid as visiting lecturers for the hours
they teach, but cant receive money for any other
task as this might affect their long-term benefits.
Although his courses will not be run next year,
having failed to meet the universitys threshold
of 30 students, he is hopeful that the spirit of
the courses will remain. We need to challenge
academics so that they can really see the value
of learning-disabled researchers and the huge
range of skills that they have, provided that they
are given the right support, he says.
12 jobs
POLICY MANAGEMENT &
SUPPORT VACANCIES
Knowledge Transfer Manager
(maternity cover)
47,808-59,649
Enterprise and Innovation,
Coventry University
Details: Please visit
www.coventry.ac.uk/eandi
Email: futures.hr@coventry.ac.uk
Proposal Development
Consultant (two posts)
36,678-52,224
Enterprise and Innovation,
Coventry University
Email: futures.hr@coventry.ac.uk
Senior Contracts Manager
38,896, rising to 46,414
Research and Innovation
Services, University of Bath
Details: Applications must be
submitted via the University of
Bath website
Email: jobs@bath.ac.uk
Tel: 01225 386924
Head of Pre-Award and
Contracts
47,801, rising to
55,389

Tel: 01225 386924

Email: humanresources@surrey.
ac.uk
Tel: 01483 686363
Research Development Manager

38,896, rising to 46,414
Tel: 01225 386924
Research Administrator (parttime)

8,721-10,101
School of Computing and
Engineering,
University of Huddersfield
Email: hr@hud.ac.uk
Senior Clinical Trials Manager

35,511-45,954
Centre for Tropical Medicine and
Global Health, University of Oxford
Contact: Bethany Valentine
Email: tropical-personnel@ndm.
ox.ac.uk
Tel: 01865 612944
Head of Department
56,482-67,413
Food and Markets Department,
University of Greenwich
Email: jobs@gre.ac.uk
Knowledge Exchange and

Commercialisation Officer
25,000- 28,000
Research Management Office,
Animal Health Trust
Email: recruitment@aht.org.uk
Research Integrity and
Governance Officer (maternity
cover)
30,434-37,394
Support, University of Surrey
Business Development Officer

31.342-37,394
Research & Innovation Services,
Cardiff University
Email: hrsystemkenexa@cardiff.
ac.uk
Tel: 029 2087 9777
Senior Programme Manager NS
Central Commissioning Facility,
National Institute for Health
Research
Email: gmgrecruitment@nihr-ccf.
org.uk
Higher Education Policy

Advisers Institutions and
Research Teams (five posts)
21,255-36,519
Higher Education Funding Council
for England (HEFCE)
Email: recruitmentteam@hefce.
ac.uk
Tel: 0117 931 7444
Head of Research & Knowledge
Exchange
54,841-58,172
Bournemouth University
Email: hrvacancies@
bournemouth.ac.uk
Tel: 01202 961133
Chair in Development Politics
from 60,869
Department of Politics,
University of York
Email: recruitment@york.ac.uk
Policy and Research Manager
40,332-45,332 (inc LW)
Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Closing date: 12pm, 21/12/2015
Email: recruitment@jrf.org.uk
Tel: 01904 615943
Contracts Officer
Roslin Institute,
University of Edinburgh
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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
NS
jobs 13
Contact: Jane Anderson
Email: ebrecruitment@ed.ac.uk
BRC Research Administrator
29,800-33,860
Department of Surgery and
Cancer, Imperial College London
Post Award Finance Officer
34,335-40,448
Research & Enterprise
Directorate, SOAS
University of London
Details: http://jobs.soas.ac.uk
Research Project Administrator
(0.5 fte) 21,605-25,023 (pro
rata)
Institute of Criminology,
University of Cambridge
Email: personnel@crim.cam.ac.uk
Commercialisation Agreements
Officer
29,847-37,768
Services, University of Sheffield
Email: e-recruitment@sheffield.
ac.uk
Faculty of Science and Engineering,

University of Liverpool
Email: jobs@liv.ac.uk
Research Support Officer (Post
Award)
27,057-31,342
Research Support Office,
University of Liverpool
Email: jobs@liv.ac.uk
Research Theme Leader - Power
Networks Metrology
49,230-55,389
Faculty of Engineering,
University of Strathclyde
Email: humanresources@strath.
ac.uk
Research Development Officer
(BASS) 33,822-39,934 (inc
LW)
Research Support & Development
Office, Brunel University
Email: recruitment@brunel.ac.uk
Research Development Officer

(HLS) 33,822-39,934 (inc
LW)
Research Support & Development
Office, Brunel University
Finance and Research
Administrator
27,057-31,342
Email: recruitment@brunel.ac.uk
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research and academic
management and support roles at
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Plus you can register for free
email alerts and get new
vacancies sent directly to your
inbox every week.
REO Finance Officer (Post Award), Research and

Enterprise Directorate
34,335 - 40,448 per annum inclusive of London
Allowance
An exciting opportunity to join the Research Office supporting
academic staff in managing research projects and growing
research income. SOAS is the only HEI in Europe specialising in the study of Asia, Africa and the Near and Middle
East. With other team members this post will play a crucial
role in establishing a distinct post award function within the
Research and Enterprise Directorate
You will:
Have proven expertise in research post award management
Enjoy the opportunity to take responsibility and manage
operations in a changing environment
Have a methodical approach to your work, good sense of
priorities and be self-motivated, dynamic and efficient
Excellent communication skills with stakeholders at all levels
are key
Interviews will take place on 18/19 January 2016
Closing Date: 3 January 2016
Further information: http://jobs.soas.ac.uk
Communications Manager
(part time)
Applications are invited for the post of Communications
Manager with the Daphne Jackson Trust.
This is an exciting and challenging role that will offer the
right person the chance to make a difference in a small
but growing charity that offers fellowships for returners to
STEM after a career break of two years or more.
The post is 0.6 fte and is based in the Trusts offices in the
Physics Department at the University of Surrey, Guildford.
The Communications Manager is responsible
for managing, developing and implementing the
communications strategy of the Daphne Jackson Trust.
This is a fantastic opportunity that would suit someone
with a science background who wants an all-round
communications role with lots of potential.
Applicants will need to be able to manage content and
delivery across all communications channels, work
collaboratively and effectively with people both inside and
outside the organisation and raise the profile of the Trust.
Salary offered is pro-rata of 30K.

Closing date for applications is Friday 8th January with
interviews held in the week commencing 18th January.
We acknowledge, embrace and understand diversity.
Further information on the Daphne Jackson Trust, and this
role can be found on our website
www.daphnejackson.org
14 jobs
Group Head, Policy Research Centre (Health)
The Policy Research team runs around 20 projects covering general health, wellbeing and mental health projects; gambling and addiction; and health and social
care users and providers. Youll be responsible for shaping the strategic direction of
the teams work, winning new business, ensuring excellent outputs and good client
relationships and leading the team. A background in HE, government, or a global
charity with a health agenda will have given you an appreciation of the scale, impact
and reach of the role; and your management ability needs to be of a high order.
Group Head, Survey Research Centre (Health and Bio-medical)
Our Health & Bio-medical research team runs a portfolio of large scale and high
profile surveys in the area of health, well-being, lifestyle, diet and other related
subjects, and our research shapes public health policy. This exciting role will
involve developing the work of the team and maintaining our strong delivery
track record. Core accountabilities include improving the collection of health and
bio-marker data, supporting the development of our survey nurse fieldforce, and
establishing NatCen as a thought-leader in understanding health and well-being.
Strong leadership skills and a track record are essential, but you need not come
from a health background in this role, sound experience of managing large-scale
research projects is more important than sector knowledge.
Candidates for both roles must be experienced social researchers, with a strong
track record and excellent networks in health. Good technical and management
skills, including an appreciation of the highest standards of ethical behaviour and
legal compliance, are essential. As a senior leader within NatCen, youll need
to show that you can make a broader contribution to our overall direction and
performance. And (since youll be accountable for the wider dissemination of our
work, maximising its impact and raising the profile of the organisation) you must
relish the opportunity to advocate, negotiate and influence on our behalf. Finally, you
must share our absolute commitment to improving society by providing exceptional,
relevant evidence and insight.
NatCen Social Research is the leading

not-for-profit research organisation in Britain.
We believe passionately that high-quality
research can make a difference to government
policy, and improve the society in which we live.
One of our most important roles is in tracking
the health of the nation and health policy, and
were delighted to announce two opportunities
to lead our principal health research groups,
shaping their respective strategic direction and
developing robust income streams.
Research Group Heads
Circa 60,000 with more available for

an exceptional candidate London
Candidate information is available at www.bloomsburyresourcing.co.uk

For an informal and confidential discussion about the role, please contact
our retained consultant, Shahidul Miah, on 07581 230 171.
Closing date: Friday, 8 January 2016. Final interview: 20 January 2016
Where universities work together

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Its a simple place to form groups, share files and work on them together.
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laboratory in the UK or abroad to learn
new techniques, or for other scientific purposes related to microvascular
research. Each grant is worth up to 600.
Web id: 211754
Contact: Neena Kalia
Email: n.kalia@bham.ac.uk
Thyroid research award

The British Thyroid Foundation invites
applications for its research award. This
supports research projects into the basic
understanding of thyroid function or
thyroid disorders. The award is worth up
to 20,000 for a period of one year.
Web id: 207229
Email: research-award@btf-thyroid.org
Middle Eastern studies

The British-Kuwait Friendship Society
invites submissions for its book prize in
Middle Eastern studies. This recognises
the best scholarly work in English on the
Middle East which has been published
in its first edition in the UK. The prize is
worth up to 10,000.
Web id: 1170365
Paediatric endocrinology
The European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology invites nominations for its visiting scholarships. These enable members
or their collaborators to gather information and experience on a specific research
issue or on a laboratory technique in the
field of paediatric endocrinology. Four
scholarships, worth 2,500 (1,800)
each, are available annually. Funds may
be used to cover travel, housing expenses
and up to 500 for research materials.
Web id: 201519
Email: espe@eurospe.org
Forensic science scholarship

The Forensic Science Society invites applications for its research scholarship. This
supports research based on scientific
methods in the fields of forensic science,
criminal justice, forensic science policy
and practice, forensic medicine or crime
investigation. The scholarship is worth up
to 3,000 per year for a maximum period
of three years.
Web id: 210581
Crystallography thesis prize

The Institute of Physics' structural condensed matter physics group, in collaboration with the physical crystallography
group, invites entries for the PANalytical thesis prize in crystallography. This
recognises the best use of techniques or
methods in physical crystallography in a
successfully examined thesis, submitted
between 1 January 2014 and 31 December
2015. In addition to a monetary prize, the
winner will be invited to give the PANalytical thesis prize lecture at a group meeting.
Web id: 1172068
Email: matt.tucker@stfc.ac.uk
Archaeology scholarship
The British Archaeological Association
invites applications for the Ochs scholarship. This supports research projects within
the field of archaeology, art and architec-
ture from the Roman period until the nineteenth century, principally within Europe.
Scholarships are worth up to 5,000 each.
Web id: 1171796
Contact: John McNeill
Email: jsmcneill@btinternet.com
Lung disease research

The British Lung Foundation invites applications for its pump priming research
grants. These support research into lung
disease, with a preference for research
related to mesothelioma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer,
interstitial lung disease, and paediatric
respiratory conditions. Grants are worth
up to 25,000 each for a maximum period
of three years.
Web id: 1177470
Email: ian.jarrold@blf.org.uk
Royal Society awards

The Royal Society invites nominations for
the following awards:
annual medals, worth either 2,000 or
10,000 each. Web id: 1166925
the Armourers & Brasiers company
prize, worth 2,000.Web id: 210523
the Bakerian medal and lecture, worth
10,000. Web id: 210345
biennial medals, worth up to 2,000
the Croonian medal and lecture, worth
10,000. Web id: 210346
the Ferrier medal and lecture, worth
2,000. Web id: 1183019
the Francis Crick medal and lecture,
worth 2,000. Web id: 210355
the Leverhulme medal, worth 2,000.
Web id: 1170966
the Michael Faraday prize and lecture,
worth 2,500. Web id: 192726
the Milner award, worth 5,000.
Web id: 192735
the Mullard award, worth 2,000.
Web id: 160108
the Rosalind Franklin award and lecture, worth 30,000. Web id: 192744
the Wilkins-Bernal-Medawar lecture
award, worth 2,000. Web id: 210353
Email: awards@royalsociety.org
Ophthalmology scholarship
The Royal College of Ophthalmologists
invites applications for the Keeler scholarship. This enables the scholar to study,
research or acquire special skills, knowledge or experience at a suitable location
in the UK or elsewhere for a minimum
period of six months. The award is worth
up to 30,000.
Web id: 258498
Email: daniah.ahmed@rcophth.ac.uk
Midwifery research
The Iolanthe Midwifery Trust invites applications for its midwives award. This enables
candidates to undertake professional education, including master's and PhD studies,
or a project that helps to improve midwifery
practice. The award is worth up to 1,500.
Web id: 207776
Email: info@iolanthe.org
Arts and humanities study

TECHNE invites applications for its AHRC
PhD studentships. These enable students to undertake studies in various
subjects related to the arts and humanities. Approximately 50 scholarships are

available each year. Each scholarship
includes maintenance and fees for three
years for a full-time student, or for five or
six years for a part-time student.
Web id: 1182656
Women's health
Wellbeing of Women invites applications
for their research grants. These support projects in basic science, clinical
or translational research in the areas
of pregnancy and childbirth, including
pre-term birth, miscarriage and fertility,
quality of life issues such as menopause,
incontinence and prolapse, sexual health,
menstrual disorders and endometriosis,
and gynaecological cancers. Grants are
worth up to 200,000 over one to three
years.
Web id: 202472
Contact: Philip Matusavage
Email: pmatusavage@wellbeingofwomen.org.uk
Structural engineering
The Institution of Structural Engineers
invites applications for the Pai Lin Li travel
award. This gives members of the ISE the
opportunity to sample the technical,
economic, social and political conditions
in another country, and to examine how
these various factors affect the practice of
structural engineering. Grants are worth
between 1,000 and 3,000 each.
Web id: 1170136
Email: edutrust@istructe.org
Aesthetics essay prize

The British Society of Aesthetics invites
applications for its essay prize. This encourages and rewards new talent in the field
of aesthetics. The prize is worth 1,500.
Web id: 258544
Contact: Caroline Auty
Email: admin@british-aesthetics.org
Biotechnology grants 2
The Royal College of Physicians invites

applications for the Thomas Watts Eden
paediatric fellowship. This encourages
comprehensive study of health and disease in infancy and early childhood. Fellowships are worth up to 30,000 each.
Visits should last for at least one month.
Web id: 1183559
Email: trustfunds@rcplondon.ac.uk
The Crossing Biological Membranes Network invites applications for its proof of
concept funding. This scheme encourages
the formation of selected new multidisciplinary teams to develop innovative
solutions to overcome transport-related
industrial biotechnology and bioenergy
bottlenecks. Grants are worth between
5,000 and 50,000 each for a maximum
period of one year.
Web id: 1180834
Email: jen.vanderhoven@shef.ac.uk
British-Spanish scholarships
Physiology engagement
The BritishSpanish Society invites applications for its postgraduate scholarships.

These support postgraduate students
conducting research with a connection to
bilateral links and relationships between
the UK and Spain in any field of academic
interest. Grants are worth around 4,500
each.
Web id: 1170310
Email: info@britishspanishsociety.org
Scotland research visits
Paediatric fellowship
DFID agriculture & nutrition

The Department for International Development invites concept memos for its
competitive research grants to develop
innovative methods and metrics for agriculture and nutrition actions (IMMANA
grants). These aim to accelerate the development of innovative and interdisciplinary
methods, metrics and tools to advance the
scientific understanding of the linkages
between agriculture and food systems,
and health and nutrition outcomes. Up to
10 grants, worth up to 250,000 each over
a maximum of two years, are available.
Web id: 1182198
Email: immana@lshtm.ac.uk
Women graduate awards

The British Federation for Women Graduates invites applications for its foundation
grants. These help women graduates with
their living expenses while registered for
study or research at an approved institution of higher education in Great Britain.
Grants cover living expenses for one year.
Web id: 210194
Contact: Jean Collett-Flatt
Email: grants@ffwg.org.uk
The Physiological Society invites applications for its public engagement grants.
These support activities and projects that
aim to engage a public audience in the
field of physiology. Grants are worth up
to 5,000 each.
Web id: 1171613
Email: atailor@physoc.org
The Royal Society of Edinburgh invites

research visitors to Scotland scheme.
Grants are worth up to 300 for researchers from the UK, 500 for researchers from
Europe and 950 for researchers from
outside Europe. Web id: 257486
travel assistance grants, worth up
to 300 for travel within the UK, 500
for a visit to Europe and 950 for travel
elsewhere. Web id: 256344
university and industry liaison grants,
worth up to 600 each. Web id: 257485
Email: resfells@royalsoced.org.uk
Telemedicine/ehealth prize
The Royal Society of Medicine invites
abstracts for its telemedicine and ehealth
section prize for innovation. This recognises an innovation in the adoption of
telemedicine, telecare or ehealth related
to the areas of district or community care,
social care, primary care, hospital care,
or IT infrastructure for health or care
services. The prize is worth 500 plus one
year's membership to the society.
Web id: 1184199
Email: telemedicine@rsm.ac.uk
Health sociology
The Foundation for the Sociology of
Health and Illness invites applications
for the Mildred Blaxter postdoctoral fellowships. These enable individuals who
have recently completed a PhD degree to
disseminate the findings of their thesis
through publications and presentations,
or to develop a new programme of work
related to their thesis. The fellowship covers full salary costs for one year at spine
point 30 as appropriate, plus 2,500 for
research and conference expenses.
Web id: 1171918
Contact: Lindsay Prior
Email: fshiadmin@googlemail.com
NIHR health research

The Department of Health's National
Institute for Health Research invites
proposals for its programme development
grants for applied research. These support
the completion of necessary preparatory
work to submit a competitive stage two
full programme grant application. Each
grant is worth up to 100,000 over six
to 18 months.
Web id: 260944
Email: programme.grants@nihr-ccf.
org.uk
NERC/BBSRC aquaculture
The Natural Environment Research Council and the Biotechnology and Biological
Sciences Research Council invite applications for their knowledge exchange
fellowship in aquaculture. This supports
links between the academics and businesses within the UK aquaculture community, and provide expert input and
advice to the UK aquaculture network.
Fellowships are worth up to 100,000 per
year each, and will be paid pro-rata at 80
per cent full economic cost. Fellowships
are tenable for three years.
Web id: 1187850
Contact: Jodie Mitchell
Email: jodark@nerc.ac.uk
Intensive care fellowship

The Intensive Care Society invites applications for its foundation fellowship for
nurses and allied health professionals.
This aims to encourage new research
workers and promote intensive care
research in nursing and the allied health
professions. The fellowship is worth up to
3,000 to cover the costs associated with
postgraduate study.
Web id: 1179888
Email: jenny@ics.ac.uk
europe
highlights
New opportunities from European funders,
excluding funders based in the UK.
Theoretical computing
The European Association for Theoretical
Computer Science invites submissions for
its distinguished dissertation award. This
promotes and recognises outstanding
theoretical computer science PhD dissertations that were successfully defended in
2015. Three awards are available, each
worth 1,000 (700).

Web id: 1187713
Contact: Ioannis Chatzigiannakis
Email: secretary@eatcs.org
EU Asia-Pacific relations
The Directorare-General for International
Cooperation and Development (EuropeAid) invites tenders for the Asia-Pacific
research and advice network. The tenderer will provide European policymakers
with policy advice, specialised research
and analysis on the Asia-Pacific region
and on EU's relations with Asia-Pacific,
with the aim to promote EU's objectives in the region and to support policy
formulation and implementation. The
total budget is worth up to 1.5million
(1.06m) over 36 months.
Web id: 1187849
Email: fpi-4-grants-tenders@ec.europa.
eu
Atherosclerosis travel
The European Atherosclerosis Society
invites applications for its congress travel
grants. These enable selected researchers
from underfunded countries to travel
to the EAS congress to give poster or
oral presentations of their work. Each
grant includes congress registration, one
year's EAS membership, a complimentary
invitation to the social events, congress
welcome reception and networking evening, and up to 400 (300) towards travel
and accommodation for the congress.
Web id: 1187730
Email: office@eas-society.org
Fulbright US study
The Swedish Fulbright Commission invites
applications for its programme for the
study of US institutes for scholars. This
enables foreign university faculty and
other scholars to deepen their understanding of the US society, culture, values
and institutions by participating in a sixweek study tour to the US. Grants cover
all institute costs, including international
travel and allowances; domestic travel;
book, cultural, mailing and incidental
allowances and admissions; housing and
subsistence.
Web id: 1187748
Email: fulbright@fulbright.se
EU trade indicators
The Directorate-General for Economic
and Financial Affairs invites proposals for
its call on timely high-frequency indicators for global and regional trade. This
aims to construct a homogenous and
exhaustive set of regional trade variables
that together cover the whole world.
The framework partnership agreement is
worth 50,000 (35,300) per year over
four years.
Web id: 1187807
Contact: J Verhaeven
Email: ecfin-call-2016-tradeindicators@ec.europa.eu
EU information security
The European Union Agency for Network
and Information invites tenders for a
study towards a digital single market
for network and information security
products and services. The tenderer will
assess the current network and informa-
tion security market in the EU from an

economic and technical point of view,
identifying five sectors where EU players
have certain market advantages over nonEU players and analyse the reasons for
this. The contract is worth up to 50,000
(35,300).
Web id: 1187754
Email: procurement@enisa.europa.eu
Ocean reanalysis & monitoring

Mercator Ocean invites tenders for the
following contracts:
design and execution of research and
development of a global ocean reanalysis.
The contract is divided into four identical
lots, worth up to 240,000 each over 36
months. Web id: 1187771
design and execution of research and
development on the scientific evolution
of monitoring and forecasting centres
and global high resolution (MFC GLOHR) production systems. The contract
is worth 1.65million (1.17m) over 36
months. Web id: 1187773
Email: pierre.bahurel@mercator-ocean.
fr
Cardiology training
The European Society of Cardiology
invites applications for its early-career
training grant. This enables medical
graduates to learn an innovative method
or technique, and be familiar with the
organisation and work of an internationally recognised research group in
an ESC regular member country other
than their own. The grant is worth
25,000 (17,700) per year. Training
may be undertaken for any period from
six months to one year.
Web id: 1187709
Email: grants@escardio.org
Antarctic expedition
The Ecole Polytechniques Fdrale de
Lausanne, in collaboration with the
partnering polar institutes in Australia,
France, Norway, Russia, South Africa and
the UK, invites applications for its joint
call on the Antarctic circumnavigation
expedition project. Funding enables scientists to study the marine and terrestrial
environment of the sub-Antarctic ecosystem. Grants include a three-month round
trip of Antarctica in a single expedition,
access to a polar vessel and, if requested,
a grant of up to 200,000 (141,400)
per project.
Web id: 1187781
europe
other
Renewed opportunities from European
funders, excluding funders based in the UK.
Molecular biology prize

Eppendorf, in partnership with the scientific journal Nature, invites applications
for its award for young European investigators. This recognises contributions to
biomedical research in Europe based on
methods of molecular biology, including
novel analytical concepts. The award
consists of 20,000 (14,100) in cash,
and coverage of the prize winner's work
by Nature in print and in a podcast.

Web id: 205658
Email: award@eppendorf.de
Lung health research

The European Respiratory Society
invites applications for its child lung
health research fellowship programme.
This enables MDs undergoing specialist
clinical training in child lung health
respiratory diseases to develop new
research skills in this area and pursue
an academic paediatric career. Grants
are for 12 months and vary per host
country.
Web id: 1186670
Email: fellowships@ersnet.org
Spine research
Eurospine invites applications for its
research grants. These support clinical
and non-clinical research projects related
to spine disorders. Grants cover development funding worth up to 10,000
(7,100), pilot study funding worth
up to 30,000 and main study funding
worth up to 100,000. The total budget
is 180,000.
Web id: 1161272
Email: info@eurospine.org
Environmental humanities
Ludwig-Maximilians University's Rachel
Carson Centre for Environment and Society invites applications for the Carson
fellowships. These aim to bring together
scholars who are working in environmental history and related disciplines in order
to conduct research and written work
pertaining to the centre's central theme
of transformations in the environment
and society.
Web id: 1161936
Email: applications@rcc.lmu.de
Clinical training fellowships

The European Respiratory Society invites
applications for its clinical training fellowships. These enable members in the
early stages of their careers in respiratory medicine to visit a host institution
in a European country other than their
own, to learn a skill or procedure not
available at their home institution.
Funding covers living costs, calculated
depending on the host country, with a
flat rate of up to 700 (500) for travelling expenses.
Web id: 1186695
Email: education@ersnet.org
EU nanomedicine
ERA-Net EuroNanoMed II invites proposals
for its joint transnational call. This aims
to support translational research projects
that combine innovative approaches
in the field of nanomedicine, and to
encourage and enable transnational collaboration between public and private
research groups. Funding is awarded for
up to three years and may vary according
to the respective funding organisation's
regulations.
Web id: 253323
Contact: Amelie Vergne
Email: enmcalls@agencerecherche.fr

Blood transfusion
The International Society of Blood Transfusion invites nominations for the Jean
Julliard prize. This recognises scientists under the age of 40 who recently
completed work on blood transfusion
or related subjects. The prize is worth
US$5,000 (3,300).
Web id: 255546
Email: office@isbtweb.org
CERN student programme

CERN invites applications for its openlab
summer student programme. This enables
students wishing to work on advanced IT
projects to visit CERN, attend lectures,
and visit the accelerators and experimental areas. The programme lasts for
nine weeks and funding includes a CHF90
(60) per day allowance, health insurance
and travel allowance.
Web id: 1162212
Mycobacteria science
The European Respiratory Society, with
support from INSMED, invites nominations for its research award. This recognises a scientist or clinician in the field
of non-tuberculous mycobacteria science
and medicine. The award is worth 10,000
(7,100) and will be divided into two
parts; 1,000 as a personal reward and
9,000 as a research grant to the institution of the awardee.
Web id: 1183561
Geodesy award
The International Association of Geodesy
invites applications for its best paper
award for young scientists. This aims to
draw attention to important contributions by young scientists in the Journal
of Geodesy and to foster excellence in
scientific writing. The award is worth
US$1,000 (670).
Web id: 206263
Contact: KP Schwartz, President
Email: schwarz@ensu.ucalgary.ca
Biochemistry grants
The Federation of European Biochemical
Societies invites applications for the following grants:
combined practical and lecture courses grants, worth up to 15,000 (10,600)
special meetings grants, worth up to
40,000 each. Web id: 259690
Email: nyiri.kinga@enzim.hu
Doctoral programme
CERN invites applications for its doctoral student programme. This enables
postgraduate students to get practical
training and to prepare a doctoral thesis in applied physics, engineering or
computing. The programme provides a
monthly living allowance, insurance and
a lump sum for travel.
Web id: 259952
Deadline: 26 April 2016 [157]
Cardiology travel grants

The European Society of Cardiology
invites applications for its travel grants.
These enable young investigators in
basic cardiovascular science to attend
the annual ESC congress. Each award

includes free registration and travel costs
worth 500 (360).
Web id: 1157973
Email: councils@escardio.org
Deadline: 13 June 2016 [158]
Malnutrition grant
The Medical Nutrition International
Industry invites applications for its
grant for the best initiative relating to
an optimal nutritional care approach. This
recognises the most innovative national
initiative to fight malnutrition. The grant
is worth 30,000 (21,200).
Web id: 1172957
Email: secretariat@
medicalnutritionindustry.com
Deadline: 16 June 2016 [159]
Nanotechnology grants
The VolkswagenStiftung invites applications for its integration of molecular
components in functional macroscopic
systems grants. These promote the
advancement of molecular or nanoscale
units to more complex functional systems
at a macroscopic scale. Funding is available for up to six years. Supplementary
support for scientific exchange via summer schools, laboratory rotations and
conferences, sabbaticals and visiting
professorships is also available..
Web id: 1167889
Email: dettenwanger@
volkswagenstiftung.de
Deadline: 2 August 2016 [159.1]
Clinical pain research

The European Federation of International
Association for the Study of Pain Chapters
and the Grnenthal GmbH invite applications for the Grnenthal grants. These
enable young scientists early in their
career to conduct innovative clinical and
human experimental pain research in any
EFIC member country. Research proposals
on animals, computer simulations cell
lines or similar are not considered. Grants
are worth up to 40,000 per project over
a maximum of two years. The total budget
is worth 200,000.
Web id: 200951
Email: admin@e-g-g.info
Deadline: 31 December 2016 [159.2]
rest of world
Opportunities from funders outside of the
UK, Europe and the US.
Library award
The University of Queensland invites
applications for the Fryer Library award.
This supports research on Australian
studies utilising the collections of the
University of Queensland's Fryer Library.
The award is worth AU$10,000 (4,900).
Web id: 1172240
Email: fryer@library.uq.edu.au
Marine ecology
The Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences
invites applications for its grants-in-aid.
These aim to help defray the costs of BIOS
in-house charges or act as starter funds
to help with costs such as laboratory fees,
boat rental or similar, or projects that will
lead to continued research at the institute. Grants are worth between US$300
(200) and US$3,000 each.
Web id: 186355

Email: gillian.hollis@bios.edu
Army future research

The Australian Army invites applications
for funding under its army research and
development scheme. This supports
research that informs future land force
development and modernisation in Australia. The total budget is AU$500,000
(245,300). Grants are worth up to
AU$80,000 per project for up to 12
months.
Web id: 1177625
Email: army.research@defence.gov.au
Science fellowships
The World Academy of Sciences and the
Chinese Academy of Sciences invite applications for the CAS-TWAS president's
PhD fellowship programme. This enables
students from all over the world to travel
to China for PhD study for up to four years.
Fellowships cover the costs of travel from
the home country to China, visa related
expenses, and a monthly stipend from
CNY7,000 to CNY8,000 to cover accommodation and living expenses. Awardees
are also provided tuition and admission
fee waivers.
Web id: 208020
Contact: Tian Yanqiong
Email: president-fellowship@ucas.ac.cn
Addiction travel fellowship

The World Health Organization, the International Society of Addiction Medicine
and the Department of Mental Health
and Substance Abuse invite applications
for their grant in aid of travel fellowships
for physicians. These enable addiction
specialists to attend and present their
accepted abstracts at the society's annual
scientific meeting, to be held in Montreal, Canada from 20 to 22 October 2016.
Two fellowships, worth up to US$2,500
(1,700) each, are available to cover travel, accommodation and registration fees.
Web id: 196903
Email: isam.mdorozio@gmail.com
Deadline: 30 August 2016 [164]
Japan fellowships
The Matsumae International Foundation
invites applications for its fellowships.
These support research projects conducted in Japan, with preference for studies
in the fields of natural science, engineering and medicine. A monthly stipend of
220,000 (1,200) is available, as well as
travel and health insurance, a round-trip
air ticket and a lump sum of 120,000 on
arrival. Approximately 20 fellowships are
available for three to six months.
Web id: 260464
Email: contact@mif-japan.org
Deadline: 31 August 2016 [165]
Chinese studies
The Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation for
International Scholarly Exchange invites
applications for its research grants. These
support research projects related to Chinese studies in the humanities and social
sciences. Grants are worth up to 120,000
(84,800) over a maximum period of
three years.
Web id: 257819
Email: maggielin@cckf.org.tw
Deadline: 15 October 2016 [166]
usa
nih
Opportunities from the National Institutes
of Health. Recurring NIH calls include the
next closing date only.
Advancing erythroid cell biology (R01):

Aids-related
NIH ref: PA-16-039
Web id: 1171027
Drug discovery for nervous system disorders (R01): Aids-related
NIH ref: PAR-16-041
Web id: 258290
Advancing erythroid cell biology (R01)
NIH ref: PA-16-039
Web id: 256532
Drug discovery for nervous system disorders (R01)
NIH ref: PAR-16-041
Web id: 258308
NEI clinical study planning grant programme (R34)
NIH ref: PA-16-038
Web id: 150095
Exploratory/developmental
bioengineering research grants (R21)
NIH ref: PA-16-040
Web id: 166830
Innovative questions in symptom science and genomics (R21)
NIH ref: PA-16-023
Web id: 1187450
Clinical trial readiness for rare neurological and neuromuscular diseases (U01)
NIH ref: PAR-16-020
Web id: 1187430
Innovation grants to nurture initial
translational efforts development and
validation of model systems and pharmacodynamic markers to facilitate the discovery of neurotherapeutics (R21/R33)
NIH ref: RFA-NS-16-013
Web id: 1187481
BRAIN initiative: mechanisms and dose
and response relationships for targeted
central nervous system effects (R01)
NIH ref: RFA-MH-16-815
Web id: 1187785
BRAIN initiative: non-invasive neuromodulation new tools and techniques
for spatiotemporal precision (R01)
NIH ref: RFA-MH-16-810
Web id: 1187783
BRAIN initiative:new technologies and
approaches for large-scale recording and
modulation in the nervous system (U01)
Web id: 1177034
BRAIN initiative: transformative technologies for large-scale recording and
modulation in the nervous system (U01)
Web id: 1177037
18 funding news
usa
other
US funding opportunities available to UK
researchers.
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

International industry discovery and
development partnerships
Web id: 145706
No deadline [192]
YIVO Institute for Jewish Research East
European Jewish literature and arts fellowship
Web id: 1187631
YIVO Institute for Jewish Research fellowships in East European Jewish studies
Web id: 1187628
YIVO Institute for Jewish Research Polish
Jewish studies fellowship
Web id: 1187630
American Association of Immunologists
early career faculty travel awards
Web id: 188003
American Association of Immunologists
Pfizer-Showell travel awards
Web id: 188001
Chemical Heritage Foundation shortterm fellowships
Web id: 259214
Chemical Heritage Foundation Glenn E
and Barbara Hodsdon Ullyot scholarship
Web id: 189287
Chemical Heritage Foundation Socit
de Chimie Industrielle fellowship
Web id: 189290
International Society for Heart and Lung
Transplantation research fellowship
award
Web id: 210527
International Society for Heart and Lung
Transplantation transplant registry early
career award
Web id: 1171182
Newberry Library Weiss/Brown publication subvention award
Web id: 191967
University of Connecticut Humanities
Institute residential fellowships
Web id: 1187873
International Association for Dental
Research Colgate research in prevention
travel awards
Web id: 171174
International Association for Dental
Research/American Association for
Dental Research implantology research
group young investigator prize for student research
Web id: 171233
North American Native Fishes Association resaerch conservation grant
Web id: 189724
policy diary
January
20 AHRC: Best Practice Day for
Research Officers and Research
Managers, London.
http://rsrch.co/206QwSH
26 Vitae: Developing the Next Generation of Research Leaders, London. http://rsrch.co/1NL23gZ
AMRC: Essential Research Management, London.
http://rsrch.co/1gcWHls
Universities UK: Innovation in
Teaching and Learning, London. http://rsrch.co/1J7lQEC
28 WHEF: Future for Charity Law,
Funding and Social Investment,
London.
http://rsrch.co/1Ia9UCZ
February
11 WHEF: Next Steps for Computer
Science Teaching in HE,
London.
http://rsrch.co/1kPDwAY
23 AMRC: Developing New Funding
Schemes, London.
http://rsrch.co/1UQIjMW
Universities UK: Developing
your Access Agreement 201718, London.
http://rsrch.co/1FHV3hR
25 WBF: The Future for Biometric
Data and Technology in the UK,
London.
http://rsrch.co/1LeFGzQ
WHEF: Extending the Global
Reach of UK Universities
Policy Priorities, London.
http://rsrch.co/1MOMiX9
March
1 WHEF: The Future for the Catapult Network, London
http://rsrch.co/1LhAUG8
EPSRC: Council Meeting, London. To 2.
http://rsrch.co/1G7t0IJ
Universities UK: International
Higher Education Forum 2016,
London.
http://rsrch.co/1iIZc0b
10 WHEF: The Changing Shape of
Higher Education Admissions
and Next Steps for Policy on
Widening Participation, London
http://rsrch.co/1BlQVaO
22 WHEF: The Future for the Catapult Network, London.
http://rsrch.co/1LhAUG8
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
Green energy gets boost

A consortium of governments and a group of philanthropists
have separately agreed to fund clean-energy R&D to coincide
with the COP21 climate talks in Paris. Twenty governments,
including the UK, India, and Saudia Arabia, have formed
the Mission Innovation fund, which aims to double public
funding for clean energy research over the next five years
from $10 billion to $20bn. Meanwhile, the Breakthrough
Energy Coalition, a global group of private investors, led
by Bill Gates, Amazons Jeff Bezos and Facebooks Mark
Zuckerberg, says it will work to help commercialise the
results of Mission-Innovation-funded research.
Leverhulme awards 40m for research centres
The Leverhulme Trust has announced the winners of
its competition to establish four research centres. The
universities of Cambridge, Dundee, Liverpool and Sheffield
will each receive 10 million over 10 years to establish centres
looking at artificial intelligence, forensic science, functional
material design and climate change mitigation, respectively.
Innovate UK to launch call for technology projects
The innovation agency Innovate UK is to launch a call for
proposals in advanced materials, biosciences, electronics
and photonics, and ICT, to run between 18 January and
9March, It will target small and micro companies, and offer
funding of up to 33,000 for projects that last up to four
months, up to a total of 2 million.
Midlands energy research gets 180m boost
Private investors have trebled the funding for the crossdisciplinary Energy Research Accelerator, promised in the
chancellors autumn statement. In addition to the 60 million
announced for the hub by George Osborne on 25 November,
120m will be added from investors, including Jaguar Land
Rover and Dearman, and universities in the Midlands.
Queen Mary professor wins engineering prize
Yang Hao, an expert in microwaves and antennas from
Queen Mary, University of London, has won the Insitute of
Engineering and Technologys annual A F Harvey engineering
research prize. The 300,000-award was given in recognition
of his research achievements in microwaves and antennas.
Royal Society launches diversity award
The Royal Society is to award 5,000 to people who have
helped increase diversity in science, technology, engineering
and mathematics. The Athena Prize will be awarded every
two years and aims to inspire innovation and leadership in
diversity.
UK and Mexican universities establish closer ties
A collaborative programme called the UK-Mexico Visiting
Chair Initiative has been launched to promote academic
relationships in 24 universities in the two countries. It will
allow senior figures from 12 British and 12 Mexican universities
to spend up to two weeks a year working collaboratively.
europe 19
europe
Research ministers make plans to

tackle misconduct
The Competitiveness Council of national research ministers adopted a position on research integrity for the
first time at a meeting on 1 December, paving the way for
stronger action to reduce scientific fraud.
The Councils position highlighted the importance of
basing research on principles such as honesty, reliability and objectivity. Ministers called for actions ranging
from the consistent application of standards in Horizon
2020 to international training networks and changes to
publishing practices.
The move to address the issue has been welcomed by
research organisations and lobbyists, who say that the
ministers statement will bolster existing efforts. It follows
a 2013 report from the Global Research Council, which
called on governments to take action on scientific fraud.
This puts it on the political agenda as well as the policy agenda, says Maura Hiney, head of policy at the Irish
Health Research Board and head of the working group on
research integrity at Science Europe, an association of
European research organisations and funders.
Hiney says that the recommendations will help national funding agencies secure support for national research
integrity offices or joint guidelines between universities. Without the political awareness and commitment,
youre always going to struggle to get attention in the
face of competing calls on resources, she says.
The Council also suggests that the publish-or-perish
culture must change to reduce misconduct. It places
europe
in brief
Final 2016 budget approved

The European Parliament has
approved a 2016 European Union
budget deal, clearing the way
for the European Commission to implement it. MEPs
approved an agreement on 25 November, which was
reached with the Council of Ministers in a meeting of the
budget conciliation committee on 14 November.
Panel to direct open science
The European Commissions Directorate-General for
Research and Innovation is launching an Open Science
Policy Platform to advise on developing and implementing open-science policy. The platform will be governed
by 20 representatives from universities, science academies, research funding bodies, publishers and other
groups, and will be set up in early 2016.
No progress on R&D spending
Overall European Union spending by member states on
R&D remained at 2.03 per cent of their GDP in 2014,
well below the target figure of 3 per cent, according to
by Laura Greenhalgh
lgnews@ResearchResearch.com
the onus on journals, universities and fundersadding

weight to EU backing for open science.
However, the Councils statement makes no mention
of a research ombudsman, an idea research commissioner Carlos Moedas floated at a senior staff briefing in July.
We have emphasised that it is the universities that have
to take responsibility: if our people are misbehaving we
have to act, says Kurt Deketelaere, secretary-general of
the League of European Research Universities.
Instead, the council recommends institutions set out
clear institutional rules, procedures and guidelines
and start training and mentoring programmes to create
a climate in which responsible behaviour is expected.
At the Council meeting, Moedas said the European
Commission planned to update the EUs standard on
integrity issues: a code of conduct developed by the
European Science Foundation and Allea, the European
academies group, in 2011. It will also change the text of
Article 34 in the Horizon 2020 model grant agreement,
to set out integrity requirements more explicitly.
Julian Kinderlereran emeritus professor of law at the
University of Cape Town and chairman of the European
Group on Ethics, which advises the Commission on ethical matterssays the Commission should introduce
stronger sanctions on universities that break the rules.
Institutions have to accept responsibility, he says.
preliminary figures released by Eurostat, the statistics
office for the EU. Finland, Sweden and Denmark spent
the highest proportion of GDP on R&D, at 3.17, 3.16 and
3.08 per cent respectively. The EUs target of 3 per cent
was set as part of its Europe 2020 strategy.
More women apply for ERC funding
There has been a slight increase in the number of female
applicants for 2016 European Research Council Starting
Grants, as well as a rise in applicants from central and
eastern Europe, the ERChas said. The competition for the
grants closed on 17 November with 2,935 applications
received. The proportion of women applying rose from
34.5 per cent in 2015 to 36 per cent.
Esfri road map running late
The European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures
will present its updated road map five months late,
according to its vice-president. At a Horizon 2020 information day, Giorgio Rossi, a physicist at the University
of Milan and the incoming chairman of the forum, said
that the 2016 road map would be presented on 10 March.
20 view
s p e n d i n g r e v i e w n i c o l a b l a c k w o o d
Protecting the science budget is

a step in the right direction
It is traditional for chancellors to pull a rabbit out of the
hat on the day of the autumn statement. It writes the
headlines and can wrong-foot the opposition. This year
George Osborne pulled out two.
Almost as unexpected as scrapping the reductions in
tax credits was his announcement that the government
will not only protect the science budget in real terms,
but slightly raise the baseline from which this is calculatedin line with recent recommendations by the
House of Commons Science and Technology Committee,
which I chair.
The committee will have to scrutinise the fine print to
see whether this announcement is as good as it looks.
Many of those giving evidence to our inquiry on science
funding warned that existing spending could be tucked
into the ring-fenced science budget.
On the face of it, though, the governments announcement that it would protect the resource budget for
science in real terms over the course of this parliament,
while maintaining the 6.9 billion capital budget, is very
welcome. It halts the science budgets depreciation and
sends a signal that this government is committed to supporting the UKs world-beating science sector.
Successive governments have ring-fenced the science budget. But this did not stem the creeping rise
of inflation. Five years of flat cash since the coalitions
2010 spending review meant that the real-world value
of science resource funding fell by 6 per cent. This has
left the UK spending 1.7 per cent of GDP on science and
research, well below the OECD average of 2.4 per cent
and further still behind the 2.8 per cent and 2.9 per cent
spent by the United States and Germany respectively.
The committee called on the government to set out a
road map for increasing total science R&D investment,
including industry spending, to 3 per cent of GDP, which
is the European Unions target for 2020. The government
did not go that far, but it has made a
number of commitments to science
as well as the real-terms protection
for the science resource budget.
The government announced a
new Global Challenges Fund, worth
1.5bn over the parliament, as part
of its commitment to spend 0.7 per
cent of gross national income on
aid. The government also indicated
that it would implement the recommendations of the Nurse review
of the research councils, which
If Britain wants
to remain
a science
superpower, the
government must
match rivals
investment.
include integrating Innovate UK into Research UK, the

proposed umbrella body for the research councils.
All these areas were addressed in our report and we
would like to see the government clarify its position on
them in its formal response. A lot of questions need to be
answered about the details.
The way that the Nurse review recommendations
will be put into practice, for example, raises issues
about the role and influence of both Research UK and
the ministerial committee on science policy that Nurse
also recommended. How will the budgets of individual
research councils be affected? Will the inclusion of the
Global Challenges Fund squeeze spending on other areas
of research? To what extent does this represent a shift
from research expenditure that was previously borne by
the Department for International Development?
Greater transparency will also be needed about the
continuation and content of the science policy ring
fence: what was inside it yesterday, what is inside it
today and what will be inside it tomorrow?
At first sight, the spending reviews commitment
to maintain a separate funding stream for innovation
is welcome. But it remains to be seen whether other
changes affecting the complex network of organisations
that support the commercialisation of research in the UK
will improve the countrys record in this area. Perhaps
the biggest question is whether the conversion of some
of Innovate UKs grants into loans will help or hinder
companies and entrepreneurs.
In December we will be taking evidence from Paul
Nurse, as well as from Research Councils UK and the
Higher Education Funding Council for England, to
explore these issues further. We also need to hear the
governments perspective on the science and innovation
implications of the spending review.
If Britain wants to remain a science superpower, the
government must ultimately aspire to match the higher
science investment of rivals such as Germany and the US.
The Treasury must remember that spending on science
and innovation is not a subsidy, it is a strategic investment that creates high-value jobs, boosts productivity
and attracts inward investment. Lets hope the chancellor can afford to pull a few more welcome surprises out of
the hat for science funding in future.
More to say? Email comment@ResearchResearch.com
Nicola Blackwood is the Conservative MP for Oxford West
and Abingdon, and chairwoman of the House of Commons
Science and Technology Committee.
view 21
paul nightingale
Innovation shouldnt be a
branch of science policy
Chancellor George Osbornes decision to protect the science budget in the spending review reflects the power of
the science lobby and a cross-party consensus, established
by David Sainsbury when he was Labours science minister, that science needs stability. But this consensus has
stifled debate about the UKs problems with innovation.
Received opinion is that the UK is good at research,
but bad at commercialisation. This leads to science policy based on sustaining long-term funding for excellent
research and strategically allocating resources to areas
with economic or social potential. Innovation policy
then aims to boost tech-transfer and entrepreneurial
firms, chiefly by addressing their financial constraints.
Many recent policies fit this pattern. The 1.5-billion
Global Challenges Fund, 5bn for health R&Dwhich
includes the 1bn Ross Fund for malaria research
a Global Antimicrobial Resistance Innovation Fund,
the 250 million 100,000 Genomes Project, and the
reformed Research Excellence Framework all fit. So does
moving Innovate UK into the Research UK structure,
and replacing some grants with 165m a year in loans by
2019. The Nurse reviews plan to integrate the research
councils under Research UK and top-slice their funding
for strategic areas fits, too.
But one can be sceptical about the diagnosis and the
treatment. University research has a limited role in innovation, and in only a few areas. Customers and suppliers
are much more important. Additionally, total funding
for research is less important than how well the research
system aligns with societal needs. More money has little impact if it goes to the wrong places, and REF scores
dont matter if excellence and societal need diverge.
The current policy model emphasises invention at the
expense of innovation. Invention is an event; innovation
is the process of commercialising or otherwise applying
inventions. Innovation is an uncertain, experimental process that can take years, if not decades. It is technically,
socially and organisationally complex, so that theory is a
weak guide to practice. Scientific research can be helpful,
but it is neither necessary nor sufficient.
The valuable output of research for innovation policy
isnt commercialisable findings but talented people. The
focus on research excellence, particularly if based on
misleading metrics, and its separation from teaching
and training is problematic. Bringing Innovate UK into
Paul Nightingale is professor of strategy and deputy
director of the Science Policy Research Unit at the
University of Sussex.
Research UK may improve research commercialisation,

but it institutionalises innovation policy under science
policy, hindering its wider and more important roles.
The uncertainties of innovation and the UKs small
share of international research spending suggest that
policymakers will struggle to identify areas of future
revolutionary impact. The emphasis on start-up commercialisation also underestimates how underdeveloped
emerging technologies can be. Even big firms struggle
to innovate; small ones have very high failure rates and
are often terrible places for commercialisation. The reason so many entrepreneurial firms have trouble raising
money is that most arent worth funding.
Hence, Innovate UKs shift from grants to loans could be
a concern. It suggests an unrealistic view of how easy innovation is and where the market failures are. Innovative
firms face significant uncertainty, have long investment
horizons, suffer cash-flow problems, and have changing
financial needs over time. Many young and innovative
firms will lack the cash flow for Innovate UK loans.
Fortunately, Innovate UK has other options. For earlystage innovation, where benefits to society are more likely
than benefits to the firm, grants still make most sense.
For early-stage market development, equity investment
from professional investors is most appropriate.
Successful firms should then get debt funding from
commercial lenders. As Marc Cowling at Brighton
University has shown, public innovation credit guarantee funds, which underwrite the relatively small risk
of default, can address problems with debt markets. An
unfeasible loan is a badly designed grant; if loans are
commercially viable, they should come from commercial
firms, possibly with support from credit guarantees.
The shift from grants to loans is apparently based on
best practice in Finland, the Netherlands and France.
But translating policies across institutional settings is
not trivial. Finland may be popular in
innovation policy circles, but recently
its economic performance has been
the second worst in the European
Union. Frances is little better.
Spending reviews create opportunities to free innovation policy from
its Cinderella role. This one was neutral rather than negative, but it has
reinforced a misleading diagnosis of
the UKs problems.
Something to add? Email comment@
ResearchResearch.com
The valuable
output of
research for
innovation
policy isnt
findings, but
talented people.
22 view
s p e n d i n g r e v i e w s i m o n k e r r i d g e
Metrics arent mature enough to

drive research spending
As far as research goes, the outcome of the comprehensive spending review is better than expected. Even
so, while real-terms protection from a baseline of
4.7 billion a year is to be welcomed, as GDP goes up,
R&D investment as a proportion of that goes down.
At 0.49 per cent of GDP, UK spending on R&D is
already below the OECD average of 0.67 per cent. So
while the rhetoric is of greater investment in science
batteries will be included, as science minster Jo
Johnson tweeted after the announcementit remains
to be seen whether this investment is enough to meet
the countrys ambition. Are the batteries fully charged?
A lot will depend on how the money is spent. The
trinity of the higher education green paper, the Nurse
review and the spending review have set some ground
rules, but much is still uncertain.
Research UK, the umbrella body that Paul Nurse recommended in his review of the research councils, looks
set to take more direction from government. The first
sign of this is the supposedly new Global Challenges
Fund, the money for which is part of the overall settlement and looks likely to be directed by government
rather than academia. Haldane would not be amused.
The government has also pledged a review of the
Research Excellence Framework. It is rumoured that this
task will fall to a high-profile outsider, rather than the
Higher Education Funding Council for England.
There are clear indications that the government aims
to increase the use of metrics to determine the distribution of research funding. If the aim of the REF review is to
make research assessment cheaper, then its peer review
element will have to go or at least be drastically reduced.
The recent tender to provide HEFCE with citation
indicators looking at the all the journal articlesnot
just those submitted to the REFproduced by UK higher
education institutions over the REF 2014 period adds
weight to this hypothesis, but the
dangers are myriad.
Would it be possible to reproduce
the rough level of REF 2014s quality-related funding by manipulating
these data? Probably. Would the
same be true for the next REF? Almost
certainly not; once the drivers are
known, researchers and their institutions will aim to maximise these.
I shall be paying close attention to
what HEFCE does with the data from
that tender. Perhaps a middle road
Some processes
might become
so quantitative
that they drive
perverse and
unwanted
outcomes.
is intendedan interim REF refresh based on metrics

could be used to redirect, say, 5 per cent of the qualityrelated budget mid-period to reward emerging pockets
of research excellence. The first such refresh could come
in 2017. Just a thought.
At the moment metrics are not robust enough to be
trusted even for this, as The Metric Tidethe report from
HEFCEs independent review on metrics, of which I was
an authormade clear. The green paper nods to this,
asking: How could the data infrastructure underpinning research information management be improved?
Six of the 20 recommendations in The Metric Tide
address this issue. These include mandating unique
identifiers, such as Open Research and Contributor
ID; progress towards defined data standards, such as
the Common European Research Information Format;
agreed data semantics, such as the Consortia Advancing
Standards in Research Administration Information; and
open data-processing methods, such as those used by
Snowball Metrics. There is a rising tide of metrics; even
if they are not used for research assessment, they are
used, and we should ensure they are used responsibly.
Research managers and administrators are currently
grappling with many issues. A possible years delay to
the next REF is neither here nor there, but a full-scale
review certainly spices things up. Many are now collecting more metrics, but not only for the REF. It is not clear
what difference the creation of Research UK will make
on the groundnot much in the short term, I suspect,
particularly to processing grants. I imagine the research
councils are awaiting an influx of staff from HEFCE
before they start thinking about QR funding.
In summary, this is an excellent settlement for
research, which should be good for the university
sector as a whole. But looking at the detail, my fear
is that to achieve the savings needed for this investment, some processes might become so quantitative
that they will stop rewarding excellent research and
instead drive behaviour with perverse and unwanted
outcomes. I would urge interested parties to respond to
the research parts of the green paper and the imminent
review of the REF.
Something to add? Email comment@Research
Research.com
Simon Kerridge is director of research services at the
University of Kent and chair of the board of directors of
the Association of Research Managers and Administrators.
view 23
david walker
There is no master plan

Hes the toast of the labs this Christmas. Good old
George. The UK public sector may be shrinking to
become smaller than the United States. Austerity may
be freezing the vitals of those civil servants, social care
assistants and junior doctors still in jobs, but science is
OK. So lets celebrate.
Never mind that no science underpins the Treasurys
plan for tax and spend, although you can always find a
few economists who will disagree. Or that the Office for
Budget Responsibilitys forecasts allow considerably
less room for error than the Met Offices, even before
the latters supercomputer goes online. Chancellor
George Osborne has nipped and tucked the budget for
international development, repulsed the arch-Thatcherite in charge of the Department for Business,
Innovation and Skills, and seen science broadly all
right for the next quinquennium.
The Royal Society, the Campaign for Science and
Engineering and others are of course thankful for the
money. But it isnt just that. Its the absence of strategy.
Osborne gets called a political and tactical chancelloras if predecessors such as Gordon Brown, Ken Clarke
and Nigel Lawson werent. What commentators mean by
this is that Osborne makes spending and taxing decisions for a particular purpose.
This purpose is usually re-electing the Conservative
Party, as well as his own elevation. It also reflects a deep
and dogmatic commitment in favour of markets and
against government.
But you would be hard pushed to say the Treasury has
a strategy, in the sense of an overarching scheme for
the outcomes of spending. For energy, say, one hand
pulls subsidies back from carbon capture and renewables, while the other dishes them out to encourage the
French and Chinese to build a nuclear power station at
Hinkley Point.
Or take the spending reviews sweetener to establish
a University of Herefordshire, majoring in engineering.
This is clearly a sop to Jesse Norman, the persistent Tory
MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire. Its unconnected to any wider programme to boost business or
technology in the West Midlandsthis would be industrial policy, which is forbiddenlet alone any bigger
picture, such as backing UK agricultural engineering.
In parallel, you might ask where lies the strategy in
singling out aerospace and advanced propulsion just
as the key British playerRolls Royceis in dire financial straits and at imminent risk of foreign takeover and
possible breakup.
David Walker is head of policy at the Academy of Social
Sciences. He writes in a personal capacity.
Another example might be the 75 million to refurbish

the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge. However strong
the case, either locally or in wider scientific terms, the
move is entirely disconnected from regional strategy on
transport, housing and congestion. And how does it relate
to the parallel measures in the spending review boosting
science infrastructure in York, Lowestoft and Manchester?
It doesnt, because there is no strategy for science
beyond broadly maintaining the aggregate total of spending. Science is by no means alone in this. The Treasury
doesnt do strategy for criminal justice, social care, health
or education, all of them subject to bitty interventions
that dont add up, such as decanting offenders from prisons while cutting the budget for probation.
Traditionally, science is glad not to be strategised.
Whenever a strategy hoves into sight, scientists tend to
holler Haldane, and complain that autonomy and intellectual freedom are in jeopardy. This makes the muted
response so far to the proposals in the Nurse review
which the government says it will implementcurious.
On paper, Nurse is creating a mechanism for the government to start thinking in a much more organised way
about what it wants from public investment in science
and technology. The new ministerial committee headed
by the chancellor could make plans, and Research UK,
which would brigade the former research councils, could
put them into effect.
Perhaps the Royal Society and the others who have
greeted Nurse so warmly are relaxed about this prospect
because they know a thing or two about the Treasury.
They know that less than two years ago Nicholas
Macpherson, the Treasury permanent secretary, wrote a
public letter in which he angrily dismissed the idea that
the Treasury could be anything like a corporate centre
for government.
They know, from the evidence of the spending review,
that Osborne has no master plan for public policy.
Departmental allocations are ad hoc. Big, fundamental policiescombatting climate change is an obvious
exampleare diluted and downplayed
to suit lobbyists and business friends.
So raise a glass of seasonal cheer to
the chancellor. He has come up with the
money but, just as importantly, shows
little sign of having a plan for knowledge beyond such fashionable and
relatively small-scale concerns as flu,
graphene and antimicrobial resistance.
Scientists can get on with doing their
own thing.
More to say? Email comment@
ResearchResearch.com
Where lies
the strategy in
singling
out aerospace
just as Rolls
Royce is in
dire straits?
24 interesting if true
interesting if true
Guess who When we heard that Chris Whitty, the former chief scientific adviser at the Department for
International Development, had been appointed CSA at
the Department of Health, we dutifully called its press
team to ask about the role. However, it seems the head
of news was less well-informed. Who? Never heard of
him, said the spokesman, before adding, You do
know there is quite a lot going on in government at the
moment? And wed thought they might be pleased to
be given the chance to talk about something other than
junior doctors and the spending review.
Job done In what was probably the most important hour
for science this parliament, you would expect the Royal
Societys policy director, Tony McBride, to be glued to the
TV. Instead, rumour has it he was working on his leaving party invites, which landed in policy wonks inboxes
even before George Osborne had finished his speech.
Twitter on One announcement in the spending review
said that the government would implement the recommendations of the Nurse review. This includes replacing
the existing umbrella body with one named Research
UK, coincidentally tying in with Research Councils UKs
Twitter handle @research_uk. We wonder if Paul Nurse
came under pressure from social media teams to come
to that decision or if not having to change the handle is

one of the reviews cost-saving measures.
Whats in a name Meanwhile, it seems the UKs monarch
has changed the spelling of her name. Or at least thats
what you might think judging by the invitation to a
London mayoral hustings from the Centre for London,
Tech London Advocates and TechUK. According to an
email, the event will take place in the Queen Elisabeth
Olympic Park.
Data dodge It appears that Innovate UK has cut costs by
outsourcing some of its jobs to Wikipedia. When your
correspondent asked the FOI official what information
was in the agencys data warehouse, she received a
statement form the business intelligence team with a
nearly verbatim description from the subjects Wiki page.
Pubmed ninja A PLoS blogpost has tried to make using
the PubMed website a bit more fun. A game-style cartoon, Pubmed Ninja, invites you to Search, slice and
collect! However, we were disappointed to find that the
word Play in large and inviting print did not lead to
an actual game. Nonetheless, if you read down theres
another cartoon saying Level 9 Reached! followed by,
Phew! You must be really keen to get this far!
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by Cristina Gallardo cgnews@ResearchResearch.com