For further details, please contact:

Dr. Sophie Dale

Interdisciplinary Bridging Officer

bridgingthegaps at nottingham.ac.uk

Tel: 0115 84 68923

     
Feasibility Study Awards

 

This call is open, with a deadline of midnight on Thursday April 9th 2009.

 

Click here for the Feasibility Study Awards call document

Click here for the Feasibility Study Awards application form

Click here for details of the Feasibility Study Awards call 1 winners

 

 

The Bridging the Gaps Feasibility Study Awards Programme supports new interdisciplinary research projects at the University of Nottingham by providing pump-prime funding for staff and research consumables costs. The Programme focuses on the disciplines of maths, engineering and computer science, but has scope for the inclusion of any discipline at Nottingham.

 

Applications are invited for Bridging the Gaps Feasibility Study Awards of up to £10,000 each. A budget of £40,000 is available for this call.

 

Judging will take place promptly, and a decision will be available by early May 2009. The judging panel's decision will be final. Eligible projects must start after May 1st 2009. Funding can not be requested for projects that have started before May 1st 2009. Projects must be completed, and funding used, by December 31st 2009.

 

  • Proposed interdisciplinary research projects must start during 2009.
  • Applicants must be University of Nottingham staff – PhD students are not eligible to apply. Fixed term staff applicants should have a contract until at least December 31st 2009. There is no contractual restriction for named researchers.
  •  Applications must be made by at least two members of staff, one each from at least two of the following School of Mathematical Sciences, School of Computer Science, Faculty of Engineering. The creation of highly multidisciplinary teams is encouraged - applicants from other schools are welcome in addition to the compulsory two.

 

Interdisciplinarity
Favoured applications for Feasibility Study Awards will span at least two of the three disciplines of maths, engineering and computer science. Inclusion of other disciplines is strongly encouraged.

 

Inspiring and Informing
Award winners are expected to inform and inspire Nottingham staff during and after their project. Multi-school projects will be favoured, as will projects expected to result in long-term collaborations. Award winners will be asked to contribute to at least one Bridging the Gaps event in order to publicise Bridging the Gaps and interdisciplinary research at Nottingham. Dissemination of the research through seminars is encouraged.
 

Forward-Thinking
Feasibility Study Awards are intended to provide pump-prime funding; applications detailing how the collaboration will progress further in the future will be favoured. The inclusion of a named researcher is compulsory, and provision of early career research training is considered an advantage.

 

Eligible uses of Feasibility Studies Award funding (not exhaustive)

  • Research staff costs (including pension and NI contributions – see http://hr.nottingham.ac.uk/Upload/Content/files/1314/r-t011008+.xls
  • Research consumables
  • Equipment costs
  • Software costs
  • Textbooks
  • Travel and subsistence expenses required for the success of the collaboration
  • For other uses, please consult Sophie Dale (contact details below)

If a required item is more expensive than the norm (e.g. a high specification laptop), please state the reasons for this (e.g. higher processing speed for complex calculations).

 

Ineligible uses of Feasibility Studies Award funding (not exhaustive)

  • Follow-on funding for any project already in receipt of Bridging the Gaps funding
  • Buy-out of academic staff teaching
  • Studentship fees
  • Indirect costs, e.g. bench fees for lab-based subjects, personal insurance.

 

Judging Criteria

  • Strategic value of the application against the University of Nottingham research portfolio in maths, engineering and ICT, particularly interdisciplinary research.
  • Development of the applicants’ techniques and skills set.
  • Development of early career research staff – through training and exposure to interdisciplinary research.
  • Justification for utilisation of funding: estimates of costs.
  • Potential for development of new, long-standing collaborations across the fields of maths, engineering and ICT, within the University of Nottingham.

 

Preparing an Application

  • Download the Call for Applications (.pdf)
  • Download the Application Form (.doc)
  • Contact Sophie Dale if you would like to make contacts in other schools to increase the interdisciplinary links
  • Contact Sophie Dale (contact details left) to discuss your application if you require guidance in completion of the form or have eligibility queries
  • Request a (one-page maximum) CV for the named researcher(s) [not applicants]

 

Submitting an Application Electronically
Email the following to Sophie Dale (contact details left):-

  • Completed application form
  • CV for each of any named researchers [not applicants]