The British Academy’s Small Research Grants scheme is the academy’s most popular scheme both in terms of applications received and number of awards made. The grants stand as one of the Academy’s highest profile programmes with awards made to academics working at around 100 Institutions around the UK.

Awards are up to £10,000 for projects up to 24 months and are provided to cover the cost of the expenses arising from a defined research project.

The April round of this scheme opens on 10th April, with a closing date of 5th June. In previous rounds we have been inundated with requests to apply to the scheme.

In line with the academy’s guidance, the University permits up to 5 applications for each round. To understand our criteria and selection process we have put together an Approach to Funder  document.

If you wish to express an interest in applying to the April round, please follow the guidance in the document.

We are launching a new Call for research projects that can be linked to policy in UK government. Open to all University research staff, there are 6 awards available for funding up to £8,000 each. All projects will be expected to have external partner involvement.

The funding may be used to build on a project already underway or for a new project. Costs are not restricted to staff hours and for example can be used for developing materials. Please ensure these are designed around changing and influencing policy.

This funding is to establish potential impact case studies for REF2027/8 and projects will be evaluated on the following:

• How well they link to policy-related research
• The nature of the impact and evidence collected
• Value for money

Suggestions for activity include:

• New research activity working in partnership with policymakers, particularly to better understand local, regional and national challenges
• Extending existing research activity
• Facilitating the use of existing research and the exchange of knowledge between universities and policymakers
• Activity and training to better equip academics, including postgraduate researchers and early career researchers, to communicate effectively with policymakers
• Partnerships and collaborations aimed at supporting evidence-based policy making

The funds need to be spent or allocated against spend by 31st March 2021. This is an internal application process and all projects will be reviewed by a panel consisting of the Dean of Research, Impact and Innovation, the Head of Research Support and the RIFs Manager.

Applications need to be submitted by Monday, 16^th November 2020 to the Dean of Research, Impact, and Innovation at cathy.smith@northampton.ac.uk

To apply download an application form here

Outcomes will be communicated by Wednesday, 25^th November 2020.

It will be a requirement of this fund that all impact evidence is uploaded onto PURE by the end of the project. For impact case requirements for the REF, refer to https://impact.ref.ac.uk

This month sees the launch of the Business Ideas & Innovation Grant (BIIG).

Are you working with a small business or organisation on a project/idea that could be progressed with our internal BIIG Competitive Fund? Open to all University led projects with businesses and organisations to work together to boost growth and development of ideas. You can apply for a grant of up to £5,000 which equates to approximately 8-14 days of staff time depending on your seniority and if additional resources or equipment is required.

Suggestions for activity include:

• Apply with an organisation you are already working with
• Use the fund to develop links with new organisations
• Help kick start an idea into a larger project, a KTP or funding bid, consultancy or research opportunities
• Support REF and research outcomes – could this help develop a paper or contribute towards an ongoing impact case study?

We can provide more guidance on the grant and help develop your project application. We are also signposting to other support mechanisms through projects such as Time2Grow and Alphas.

The funds need to be spent by May/June 2021.   This is an internal competitive application process and all applications will be scored against a matrix.  For an initial conversation please email Charlotte.patrick@northampton.ac.uk 

Application Guidance Notes and Funding Timeline can be found here

Deadline for companies to complete an Expressions of Interest is Friday, 9th October. Applications open to academics on Wednesday, 7th October. Interested in applying? Download an application form here

Funding Institutional (FI) is a searchable database containing data on funding opportunities, funders, and awarded grants, drawn from a wide range of government and private sources. You can now use your Scopus author ID to automatically create tailored funding opportunities based on your previous funding and research outputs.  You can share funding opportunities with colleagues through Pure, and set up alerts for new funding opportunities in areas that interest you.

Log in to www.fundinginstitutional.com through your institution – using your university log in details.  The interface is user-friendly, if you click on your circled initials once logged in you can access a full manual with tips and instructions on how to use FI.  You can see a brief overview here

Staff can use FI to:

• Search for funding opportunities
• Find new sources of external grant income
• Set up alerts to be notified automatically of new funding opportunities
• Share funding opportunities with other staff
• Find out the most active funders in your research discipline
• Analyse the awards trend over the years for your search query

Virtual 1-hour training sessions will be announced soon!

The next round of the Future Leaders Fellowship Scheme is now open for applications. This successful scheme is open to researchers and innovators from across universities, business and other organisations with funding available of up to £1.5 million over 4 years.

This grant will support each fellow to tackle ambitious and challenging research and innovation, develop their own careers and build collaborations. Business hosts will have the ability to attract an individual, or develop an existing employee, who will help create innovative solutions for their business.

Applicants from around the world are eligible to apply and the Scheme has been developed with levels of flexibility to support applicants from a wide range of experiences, disciplines and sectors. New for this year is the Reduced Hours Fellowship which offers additional flexibility.

Future Leaders Fellowships will grow the strong supply of talented individuals needed to ensure a vibrant environment for research and innovation in the UK.

To find out what is involved and how to apply, visit here or get in touch with us.

For tips on writing your application take a look at the new Future Leaders Fellowships blog

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has announced changes to requirements on ‘Pathways to Impact’.  As a result of this change, you will no longer be required to provide a ‘Pathways to Impact’ plan or complete an ‘Impact Summary’ within your grant application. These requirements will be removed for all UKRI opportunities by 1st March 2020.  Impact is a crucial component of the assessment criteria for this Call, and applicants still need to take Impact into consideration throughout their application.

UKRI are in the process of re-publishing the guidance documents following this announcement. It is important to note that the system change may not come into effect for a couple of weeks. If the system asks you to complete the Impact Summary section or attach a Pathways to Impact statement you should enter ‘N/A’.  Activities to realise impact do not have to be cost-incurring, but relevant costs can be included and must be fully justified within the Justification of Resources statement. The Case for Support page limit will not be increased as a result of this change. 

The full update from UKRI can be found here

Have you previously applied or interested in applying for the next round of UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships funding? The Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) have published their reflections on round one of the scheme.

The ESRC want to enable potential applicants to understand the characteristics of a good social science application. Helpful points to consider include:

• Quality/excellence is vital but must be evident across all of the assessment criteria.
• Applications that don’t address all aspects will not be competitive.
• Applicants need to be clearer on why they will gain from a long-term, flexible, fellowship as opposed to other mechanisms.
• Strong applicants consider leadership and career development not only for themselves, but also for the staff they plan to employ on the ward. Host commitment is crucial.
• Candidates need to be able to articulate their research and the intended impact of such an award on their career to an interview panel from range of different backgrounds.
• The scheme is for Early Career Researchers, not established academics.

You can read the full published article  here

The scheme aims to attract, develop and sustain research and innovation talent in the UK with two future rounds of funding taking place in May 2020 and October 2021.

Please visit the UKRI website or speak to a member from the RIFS team if you are interested in applying for the next round of funding.

The UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has now published the first of five tranches of information about delivery of the government’s funding commitments for Horizon 2020, Research Fund for Coal and Steel and Euratom R&T.

UKRI aim to provide specific information on the following areas prior to our exit from the European Union (EU):

• Further information about onboarding and other UKRI processes (17 October)
• Information about guarantee coverage (23 October)
• Information about UKRI contracts that UK beneficiaries will need to sign to access guarantee funding (by 31 October)
• Guidance on funding for UK bids submitted to Horizon 2020 after Exit if the UK leaves the EU without a deal and further information about the ‘in flight’ assessment process (by 31 Octobe

Information about how to prepare

UKRI has a special email address for inquiries: EUGrantsFunding@ukri.org

Additionally, the UK government’s Horizon 2020 Fact Pack can be found here

UKRI’s UK Research Office in Brussels has a factsheet here

For more information on the portal and to register your grant, please visit UKRI EU Exit