APPLYING FOR RESEARCH FUNDING Sue Heath, Rose Wiles and Gabi Durrant, University of Southampton

1. APPLYING FOR RESEARCH FUNDING Sue Heath, Rose Wiles and Gabi Durrant, University of Southampton

2. ESRC opportunities • Other ‘early career’ opportunities • Shared experiences/lessons learnt

3. ESRC opportunities: • Postdoctoral Fellowships • Research Fellowship Scheme • Research Grant Scheme

4. ESRC POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS • For those just about to complete a PhD or who have completed in previous 2 years • 1 year FT or 2 years PT funding on research salary scale (c£22K) plus £4K expenses • ‘Time to gear up for a successful career’

5. POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS: OBJECTIVES • To produce publications to help secure a track record in your chosen specialisation & to improve opportunities for long-term employment in the HEI sector; • To disseminate your research findings to both academic and non-academic audiences;

6. To further improve your research and related skills through additional specialised training; • To allow you to carry out further limited research based on your PhD work and related work through developing proposals for further funding.

7. Not necessarily at same institution • Institution expected to find a ‘mentor’ (not your PhD supervisor) • Not confined to UK citizens

8. Application form: • CV • Abstract of thesis • Research and related achievements • Impacts of your research • Proposed programme of work

9. Next deadline: end of Jan 2006 (PhD to be completed by 1st Oct 2006) Decision by end of May 2006

10. ESRC RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP SCHEME • A period of concentrated research activity: ‘a significant career development opportunity for promising researchers’

11. A programme of work, not a single project • 2-3 years • To include training in, eg, advanced methods, teaching, research management • To consolidate previous research and theoretical/methodological development

12. If <10 years experience, a mentor will be appointed, & career development must be a strong theme • Full salary plus up to £5K expenses per annum • Can apply at any time

13. ESRC RESEARCH GRANTS SCHEME • Single projects from £15K to £1.5M • Up to five years funding • Basic criteria: quality, timeliness, track record and value for money

14. Small grants = <100K: good starting point for funding • Consider involving more experienced researchers • Electronic form plus 3500 word proposal (7000 words for bids over £400K)

15. Review process: • Sent to 3-5 reviewers for grading: A+ outstanding contribution A considerable contribution A- significant contribution B has merit, but not a significant contribution Reject – flawed design or not worth pursuing

16. If average grade of reviewers is less than A- the proposal is rejected • Otherwise, then seen by two members of the Research Grants Board (4 meetings per year) • Only 1/3 of alpha-rated bids get funded • Feedback: anonymised comments

17. NUFFIELD FOUNDATION OPPORTUNITIES (i) • Social Science Small Grants Scheme • Up to £7.5K for those new to social science research • Outstanding small projects linked to ‘the advancement of social well-being’ • Can apply at any time

18. NUFFIELD FOUNDATION OPPORTUNITIES (ii) • New Career Development Fellowships • Collaborative scheme: postdoctoral researchers and established researchers • Up to £150K over 3 years for salary plus expenses • Designed to facilitate ‘a change in direction’ for exceptional new scholars • Closing date Sept 12th 2005 for 2006 round

19. LEVERHULME TRUST OPPORTUNITIES • Early Career Fellowships • For those with a proven research record but not in an established post • Normally under 35 • 25 months funding: 50% salary costs, 50% from institution, plus £5K expenses per annum • Next round: January 2006