The UK government recently published an updated note on UK participation in the EU research funding programme, Horizon 2020. The update includes details on the current negotiation status on future UK participation as part of Brexit discussions, as well as confirmation of the recently announced extension of the Underwrite Guarantee for UK participants in the event of a ‘no deal’ outcome.

The updated note follows previous updates issued following the EU referendum and outlines the current position in relation to the proposed Withdrawal Agreement between the UK and EU, the UK government’s Underwrite Guarantee (including the newly announced Post-EU Exit Guarantee Extension), and the UK government’s aspirations for UK participation in Horizon 2020’s successor programme, Horizon Europe (2021-2027).

Withdrawal Agreement

The note outlines the position in the draft of the Withdrawal Agreement between the UK and EU that UK participants in on-going EU funded projects will continue to receive an uninterrupted flow of EU funding for the lifetime of the project. Furthermore, it envisages that UK participants will be eligible to bid for Horizon 2020 funding for the duration of the programme, including after the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, as both partners and in coordinating consortia. read more

We are inviting high quality applications to a special call of the internal research support fund. A condition of this call is that awards must be spent by 31 July 2018. The form can be found on Research development website, here.

Form and Guidance Notes

Overview

This form enables you to apply for internal research funding, which supports a range of activity based on the following criteria:

• Sustainability of research, e.g. demonstrably leading to further research bids, collaborative projects, significant publications, or access to new research funds;
• The contribution that the application will make to the research strategy of both the Research Centre / School and wider University;
• Evidence of the applicant’s research and career ambitions.

What can be Funded?

The Research Support Fund will support a range of research-related activity such as participation at conferences of international standing, the preparation of large-scale bids (in general over £150,000, depending on the discipline) for external research funding, or lead to outputs of REFable quality. It will cover direct costs such as travel and accommodation, teaching time buy-out and research assistance, and conducting preparatory research trials. Under normal circumstances 50% matched funding must be evidenced, either from internal or external sources (above 50% matched funding will be at the discretion of the review panel, except for conference participation). There are limit to what funds are available and conference participation will be capped at £750 and for other activity such as bidding development or a pilot project a maximum of £3,000. There is no set format for your visit or project and examples of activity that could be funded include: read more

As reported earlier this year, a team from Salford led by Professor Laurence Kenney from the School of Health Sciences, recently secured a £1.4m grant from the Global Challenges Research Fund. The grant is for a project researching the potential for use of body-powered prostheses in low- and middle-income countries.

The project, a collaboration with the Universities of Southampton, Greenwich, UCL along with the University of Jordan and Makerere University in Uganda, is funded by the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The aim of the project is to develop a body-powered prosthesis that is optimised for adoption by prosthetic services in developing countries and which, crucially, is acceptable for users in those countries.

Laurence recently spoke to Research Professional about his experience of applying for, and winning, a major grant of this type from the Global Challenges Research Fund. In the interview, he reflects on the importance of building partnerships even before you have identified a source of funding to support the collaboration, and on how researchers from non-Russell Group universities can position themselves to win such a prestigious grant. read more

Given the on-going uncertainty and widespread misapprehensions about the eligibility of UK-based applicants to participate in EU research and higher education funding programmes, Universities UK (UUK) have issued a briefing note summarising the current position.

The key message is that, despite the UK’s decision to leave the EU, nothing has changed in terms of the UK’s status in EU programmes including Horizon 2020 and Erasmus+. UK-based applicants are therefore encouraged to continue to work with collaborators across the EU in developing applications for funding under both programmes.

The agreement on Phase One of the negotiations for the UK’s exit from the EU – announced in December 2017 – clarifies that the UK will continue to pay into the EU budget up until the end of the current budget period in 2020 and therefore there will be no change in the UK’s status in relation to these programmes until 2021 at the earliest. read more

The NIHR currently has five open calls on the theme of mental health with deadlines in late March/early April. These are:

• 17/110 EME Mental Health Themed Call – Closing date: 27 March 2018

Applications to the EME Programme may test interventions for the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of mental ill health, or the promotion of good mental health. Applications should examine the efficacy of interventions, and may explore the mechanisms underlying possible efficacy. Applications may investigate novel or repurposed interventions and technologies, but studies of incremental or minor improvements to existing technologies or the discovery of new biomarkers are not within the remit of the EME Programme. read more

The next round of Santander funding opens on Friday 12 January. Here you can apply for £500, £1,000 or £5000 to assist with travel costs for an international visit or project.

Further details, criteria and link to the application form can be found at:
https://www.salford.ac.uk/santander/santander-universities-travel-award-information-for-staff

Deadline 6 April 2018.

UKRO have today released the following notice regarding H2020 and the social sciences and humanities:

Net4Society, the network of National Contact Points for Societal Challenge 6, has published a document entitled “Opportunities for Researchers from the Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities (SSH) in Horizon 2020“. The document lists the current funding opportunities with relevance to socio-economic sciences and humanities in the ‘Societal Challenges’, ‘Industrial Leadership’ and ‘Excellent Science’ parts of Horizon 2020. read more

The L’Oréal-UNESCO UK and Ireland Fellowships For Women in Science are awards offered by a partnership between L’Oréal UK & Ireland, the UK National Commission for UNESCO and the Irish National Commission for UNESCO, with the support of the Royal Society, to promote, enhance and encourage the contribution of women pursuing their research careers in the UK or Ireland in the fields of the life and physical sciences.

The National Fellowships are offered under the umbrella of the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Programme, which has promoted women in scientific research on a global scale since 1998. read more

Please be aware that the Research Internal Support Fund is currently open for applications. The following types of project are sought:

Nesta has launched a call for expressions of interest to its ShareLab fund. The fund offers grants of between £15,000 and £30,000 for ‘projects that develop and apply collaborative digital platforms to tackle real world challenges’.

EOIs are especially invited on the theme of ‘prevention‘, e.g.: