Each week this section will list funds available for academic researchers. Details should be submitted to research@thesis.co.uk
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) www.bbsrc.ac.uk
Gene Technologies underpinning Healthcare Despite recent rapid advances in animal cell technologies, especially in nuclear transfer and gene expression studies, there remain major technical hurdles that need to be overcome in order to realise the full potential of these technologies and to facilitate their safe application in healthcare. BBSRC wishes to promote basic molecular and cellular studies underpinning research in the areas of gene therapy, recombinant protein production, xenograft technology, development of new models including cell line alternatives and tissue engineering. Applications demonstrating the widest possible collaborative approach to understanding of basic processes underpinning these technologies are therefore sought in the following areas:
* Gene expression
* Gene delivery and targeting
* Germline manipulation, including transgenesis and nuclear transfer
* Cellular therapies, including nuclear reprogramming, epigenetics and stem cell research This initiative is open to UK universities and colleges and academic analogues approved by BBSRC, and BBSRC-sponsored institutes. Wide collaboration between groups is particularly encouraged to support the aim of broadening the science base in this area. Applications must be submitted on the normal BBSRC application form and the normal guidelines will apply. The form and guidance notes are on the web site. The length of the case for support must not exceed six pages. If the request is for more than one Research Assistant and/or greater than Pounds 600K, applicants should contact the Office for guidance. An objective of the initiative is to broaden the science base underpinning the technologies and therefore collaborative proposals which draw in new research partners are encouraged, particularly in areas where the current community is very small. The application should clearly indicate how the technology development underpins the strategic research in this area.
Deadline: June 1 General inquiries: Keith Iles, Science and Technology Group, BBSRC Office, Polaris House, North Star Avenue, SWINDON SN2 1UGTel: 01793 413226 Fax: 01793 413234 Email: keith. iles@bbsrc.ac.uk Scientific enquiries: Chris Thompson, at the same address. Tel: 01793 414667. Fax: 01793 413234. Email: chris.thompson @bbsrc.ac.uk
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council www.epsrc.ac.uk Life Sciences Interface Networks
EPSRC funding is available for the support of UK-based networks which link academic and industrial groups in new or enhanced collaborations.
Deadline: May 22 or September 1.
These should address an interface between life sciences and EPSRC. Queries to: Dr Lesley Thompson, Programme Manager, Life Sciences Interface, EPSRC. Tel: 01793 444317. Fax: 01793 444456. Email: L.Thompson @epsrc.ac.uk Management of Information (Link) Programme - for Fraud Control, Security and Privacy First Call For Proposals.
This programme will enable high technology companies in the Information and Communication Technologies supply sector, the UK science base and organisations in the financial, retail, distributive and service sectors to participate in collaborative research. This research will address issues concerning the reduction of fraud, and security and privacy issues, for corporate organisations and customer and consumer interests. All projects must be undertaken by a consortium that includes organisations from industry and the science base.
The subject area for proposals for the first call, is research work that will result in improved tools, techniques and methods, that can be used to improve the detection and prevention of fraud and improved security for the person and property, in all forms of electronic commerce.
Those contemplating submitting proposals should contact the programme managers and to obtain copies of the "Workplan and Guidance Notes for Outline Applications", ref. URN 99/638; and the Application Form, ref. URN 99/ST10, as soon as possible to express their interest .
Deadline: Outline Proposals, May 28.
Programme managers. EPSRC: Andy Rendell Tel: 01793 444 30. Email: andy.rendell@epsrc. ac.uk. DTI: Gerry Mogg. Tel: 0171 215 1390. Email: gerry. mogg@ciid.dti.gov.uk.ESRC: Martin Kender Tel: 01793 413 000 Email: martin.kender @esrc.ac.uk
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) www.esrc.ac.uk Evidence-based policy and practice: research resources in the social sciences.
Call for Submissions.
The Research Resources Board invites ideas as to how to strengthen the national capacity of economic and social science research to contribute more fully to the development of effective and efficient policy, and policy interventions. These are requested as initial expressions of interest in carrying out the work, together with an indication of the resources, which would be needed.
These submissions are to be provided with a maximum of three A4 sides of text, with an additional A4 side on the resource and institutional implications, for which a single side pro forma is provided.
Refer to website for details of strategic issues and possible approaches.
Deadline: Expressions of interest should be submitted in hard copy by May 17.
Joint Research Equipment Initiative (JREI) www.hefce.ac.uk/ initiat/jrei/
JREI is an annual competition run by the Research Councils, the Higher Education Funding Councils for England, Scotland and Wales, and the Department of Education for Northern Ireland (DENI). The aim of JREI is to contribute to the physical research infrastructure and to enable high-quality research to be undertaken, particularly in areas of basic and strategic priority for science and technology, such as those identified by Foresight.
The JREI will be run as two competitions.
Competition A: to fund bids for scientific and engineering research equipment requesting more than Pounds 12,500 but less than Pounds 150,000 from the JREI (inclusive of customisation and upgrading costs, and VAT). This competition will be funded and run through five of the Research Councils: BBSRC, EPSRC, MRC, NERC and PPARC. Applications should be made to the most appropriate of these Research Councils.
Competition B to fund bids for research equipment requesting Pounds 150,000 or more from the JREI (inclusive of customisation and upgrading costs, and VAT). This competition will be funded by the Higher Education Funding Councils and DENI. Applications should be sent to the most appropriate of the six research councils. In this competition only, running costs may be sought but should not be included in the Pounds 150,000 minimum threshold. Both competitions are open only to researchers in a UK HEI funded by a Higher Education Funding Council or DENI.
Deadline: May 31.
Further details and application forms are available on the HEFCE website. Contact: Andrew Fisher on 0117 931 7315 or e-mail a.fisher@hefce.ac.uk
European Science Foundation www.esf.org
European Latsis Prize 1999
The European Science Foundation invites nominations for the first European Latsis Prize. To be presented each year at the ESF's Annual Assembly, the European Latsis Prize will be awarded to an individual scholar or research group in recognition of outstanding and innovative contributions in a selected field of European research. The award, which will have a value of 100, 000 Swiss Francs, is designed to recognise and reward contributions of outstanding distinction and impact in the chosen field. The research field selected for the 1999 Prize is: "Research and/or innovation in education".
The criteria used in the selection procedure will be scientific excellence, societal impact and contribution to European progress.
Nominations may be received from institutions and individuals for an individual scholar, or from institutions generally for research groups, but self nominations will not be accepted. The nominator is requested to keep his or her nominations confidential.
Deadline: May 31.
Nomination forms can be downloaded from the ESF website and also available from: The Secretary General European Science Foundation 1 quai Lezay-Marnesia 67080 Strasbourg Cedex, France. Tel: +33 (0)3 88 76 71 17 Fax: +33 (0)3 88 36 69 45. Email: prize@ esf.org For further information, please contact the ESF Office in Strasbourg at the numbers indicated above.
Groundwater Pollution (GPoll) Exchange Grants 1999 - Call for Applications This programme is offering exchange grants to scientists wishing to initiate or to develop a collaborative project related to GPoll Activities. The main aim of the GPoll programme is to initiate and promote European, multi-disciplinary cooperation in research on pollution of groundwater. Emphasis is placed on four major activities:
* Analysis and detection
* Physical transport
* Chemical transformation and immobilisation
* Biotransformation All collaborative projects related to the GPoll activities listed above will be taken into consideration. Priority will be given however to projects involving collaboration between different disciplines. Candidates must be currently working in a European laboratory and applying for a stay in a different European country (justified visits to non-European countries may be taken into consideration).
At least one of the institutes involved must be located in a country supporting the programme (to date: Belgium, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, United Kingdom). Please refer to the ESF website for application procedures.
Deadline: May 29.
Send applications by post, fax or email to: Philippa Rowe, GPoll Programme Administrator European Science Foundation, 1 quai Lezay Marnesia, F-67080, Strasbourg Cedex. Email: gpoll@ esf.org. Fax: +33 (0) 3 88 37 05 32.
The British Library Research and Innovation Centre (RIC) www.bl.uk Information retrieval research - A call for proposals Proposals are sought in all areas of information retrieval, including studies of user needs and information-seeking behaviour aimed at providing evidence relevant to the design of retrieval systems. All proposals must address a genuine research question: proposals aimed solely at systems development or resource creation will not be accepted. Projects which aim to develop new methods and techniques will be expected to devote significant resources to their evaluation. Although proposals in any area of information retrieval will be considered, the Centre would particularly welcome proposals addressing one or both of the following two major action lines: Multimedia and image retrieval.
Retrieval on the Internet Proposals should be submitted following the guidelines set out in the centre's guide to the preparation of a research proposal. Copies of the guide and application forms are available from the RIC Support Unit at the address below. The guide is also available on the web at: www.bl.uk /ric /grant/guide.html. The application form is available for download as an Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) file at: www.bl. uk/services/ric/grant/grantapp.pdf Ten paper copies of the proposal, accompanied by the completed application form should be sent, marked "Information Retrieval Call", to the Library and Information Commission at the address below. The application itself should not be longer than eight A4 pages. An electronic copy of the proposal also should be submitted. This can either be on an accompanying PC-format floppy disk, or by email to libcom@lic.gov.uk. The file should be in MS Word 6.0 (or earlier) or Rich Text (.rtf) format. It is essential to submit both paper and electronic copies of the proposal in order to facilitate the work of the advisory panel and of the referees in the UK and abroad.
Deadline: May 7.
Applications are restricted to organisations and individuals based in the UK. Address: Information Retrieval Call, Library and Information Commission, 5th Floor, 19-29 Woburn Place, London, WC1H 0LU. Tel: 0171-3 8700. Fax: 0171-3 8701. Email: libcom @lic.gov.uk. Contact: Information Retrieval Call, Support Unit, Research and Innovation Centre, The British Library, 2 Sheraton Street, London, W1V 4BH. Tel: 0171-412 7051/ 7053. Fax: 0171-412 7251. Email: ric@bl.uk For further information contact: Martin Nail. Tel: 0171-412 7044. Email: martin.nail @bl.uk
Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) www.jrf.org.uk
Social Care and Disability Committee The committee supports research and development work in relation to people who are particularly excluded in society. This includes disabled people, people with learning difficulties, mental health and community care service users, psychiatric system survivors, disabled children and their families, and older people. A core criterion in judging all proposals is the extent to which those whom projects are intending to benefit (or research) are involved in identifying the issues to be addressed, and in planning and carrying out the project. We expect all proposals to reflect Britain's multiracial and multicultural society. Within the programmes we have an additional interest in issues which affect disabled people and service users in rural areas. We also expect proposals to be located within - or to draw on - the social model of disability and related social models. The social care and disability committee's priorities have been revised and reduced in the light of work funded at its February meeting. For the remainder of 1999 the JRF will be canvassing or commissioning proposals in four programme areas. The priorities within them are set out in detail on the JRF's website and should be consulted as the committee is unable to consider proposals which fall outside them.
1. Independent Living Contact: Alex O'Neil or Linda Ward.
2. Disabled Children And Young People Contact: Emma Stone or Linda Ward.
3. Race Equality Contact: Alex O'Neil, Emma Stone or Ratna Dutt.
4. Older People Contact: Alex O'Neil.
Deadline for the July meeting: June 1.
Contact information: Alex O'Neil, JRF (Tel. 01904 615942) Emma Stone, JRF (Tel. 01904 615942) Linda Ward, Norah Fry Research Centre (Tel. 0117 923 8137) Ratna Dutt, Race Equality Unit (Tel. 0171 8 2331)
Royal Society www.royalsoc.ac.uk/ gr_ifs.htm
Industry Fellowships Scheme This scheme, funded by EPSRC, BBSRC, PPARC, Rolls Royce plc and the Royal Society, provides opportunities for industrial scientists and engineers to carry out research or course development in a university or polytechnic, and provides similar opportunities for corresponding academic employees to undertake a project in industry. Subjects covered: all areas of science.
Applicants can be of any nationality and should be a mid-career stage. They should hold a PhD or be of equivalent status and should hold either a substantive academic post in an institute of higher education in the UK or be employed as a scientist, mathematician or engineer in an industrial organisation in the UK.
Deadline: June 4.
1999. Contact: Keith Wylde, 0171-451 2547 or email ukresearch.appointments@royalsoc.ac.uk Refer to website for notes and documentation. Any problems with downloading the forms, contact the Research Appointments Department. Tel: 0171 452 2542 or email: ukresearch. appointments@ royalsoc.ac.uk.
The ALS Association www.alsa.org/
Call for Abstracts - Scientific Research Grant Program The ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) Association is now receiving abstracts for multi-year grants and one-year starter awards. Grants for two or three years generally will not exceed $60,000 per year in direct and indirect costs. Starter grants are made to new ALS investigators in total amounts up to $35,000.
The association will support basic and clinical research. Clinical research includes research conducted with human subjects and materials of human origin, but not clinical trials nor patient management studies.
Please submit a one-page abstract.
Deadline: June 1.
The abstract should contain: contact details, project title and nature, its relevance to ALS, project timespan; total project funding and annual amount.. Application materials and instructions will be sent with the invitation to submit an application. This does not imply the proposal will be funded. All applications will be peer-reviewed by a scientific review committee and scored on NIH standards for both scientific merit and relevance to ALS.
Inquiries: tel 00 1 818 880 9007, or email ruth@alsa-national.org.
Ruth Papadatos, Research Coordinator, The ALS Association National Office, 001 Agoura Road, Suite 150,Calabasas Hills, CA 91301-5104, United States.
Funding listings are compiled by Sarah Knowles0171 782 3225Email: sarah. knowles@ newsint.co.uk.