Sources for research funding

Each fortnight this section will list funds available for academic researchers. Details should be submitted to research@thesis.co.uk

Medical Research Council-Natural Environment Research Council Initiative in Environment and Health

The two councils are inviting joint bids from environmental and medical scientists on the relationship between human health and environmental variables. Collaborations between environmental and medical scientists have been relatively few and a primary purpose of this initiative is to encourage such collaborations. A key issue to be addressed is establishing whether or not there is a causal link between environmental variation and a health outcome.

There are no closing dates for this scheme.

Initial applications, in the form of outline proposals, should be submitted to the MRC. Those intending to submit proposals are encouraged to discuss their plans with MRC head office (see below for contact details). Researchers who are unfamiliar with MRC's funding schemes are advised to consult www.mrc.ac.uk/ fund_sch/rinfo_1.html.

Further information can be found on the highlight notice at www. mrc.ac. uk/nerc.html. Potential applicants should contact Dr Joe McNamara at MRC: Fax 0171 636 34; email: joe.mcnamara@ headoffice.mrc.ac.uk.

Dr Rachel Quinn is the NERC contact . Fax 01793 411502; email: rachel.quinn@ nerc.ac.uk.

The Linnean Society of London

Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1V 0LQ. www. linnean.org.uk Tel: +44 (0) 171 434 4479. Fax: +44 (0) 171 287 9364 The society covers biology as a whole, but its main focus is on the study of diversity - in evolution, ecology and systematics. There are a limited number of small grants available to a total of ca. Pounds 30000 each year.

Deadline: March 31.

Details available on the web page or contact the society for further information.

Joseph Rowntree Foundation

www. jrf.org.uk Work and Family Life . Second Call for Proposals In the 1990s there has been a growing public debate - and associated research and policy interest - on how the demands of family life and paid work can be balanced. This second call for proposals focuses on the community and employers and work. The foundation is interested in proposals that address the partnerships between these two arenas, as well as those that treat the employers and work arena separately. Proposals are invited to explore some or all of the following questions: i) What do we know about the nature and patterns of family friendly employment policy and practice in British-based firms, both within and outside the workplace? What is the relationship between company activities pursuing "corporate responsibility" agendas, and family friendly policy and practice within and outside the workplace?

ii) How will firms respond to the changing work/family framework? If good practice can be identified, can it be transferred, how, and under what prior conditions? Are there community frameworks and resources which encourage good practice by firms (and vice versa) and how do these relationships work?

Detailed guidelines on criteria and making a proposal can be found on the foundation's web site.

Deadline: March 19.

Two copies of research proposals in the appropriate format, together with two copies of a summary and full costings should be sent to the foundation at the following address: Barbara Ballard, Principal Research Manager, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, The Homestead, 40 Water End, York YO30 6WP. Tel: 01904 615931 Fax: 01904 620072 The National Kidney Research Fund

Research Project Grants Applications are invited for project grants to fund research into renal disease and the kidney. Grants are for a maximum of Pounds 75,000 and over 1 to 3 years. Eligibility: all applicants must be members of EU countries or resident in the UK and all work must take place in the UK.

Deadline: March 22.

Application forms may be obtained by writing, fax or email to the address below. Telephone requests cannot be accepted. The National Kidney Research Fund, Kings Chambers, Priestgate, Peterborough PE1 1FG. Fax: +44(0)1733 704699. Email: enquiries@nkrf.org.uk Fyssen Foundation, France

Aim is to encourage all forms of scientific inquiry into cognitive mechanisms, including thought and reasoning, that underlie animal and human behaviour; their biological and cultural bases, and phylogenic and ontogenetic development. The foundation supports research in: ethology and psychology, neurobiology, anthropology-ethnology, and human paleontology-archeology. Postdoctoral Study Grants: intended to assist French research scientists who wish to work abroad and foreign research scientists wishing to work in French laboratories. Awards of up to 120,000 FF per year to postdoctoral researchers under the age of 35.

Deadline: March 31.

Contact: Fondation Fyssen, 194 Rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris, France. Tel: +33 (0)1 42 97 5316 Fax: +33 (0)1 42 60 1795.

Leverhulme Trust

www. leverhulme.org.uk Special Research Fellowships.

To provide opportunities for those with a proven record of research who do not hold or have not held a full-time established academic post in a UK university or comparable institution. Fellows will be expected to undertake a significant piece of publishable research during tenure of the award. The scheme is based on a "pound for pound" system: the trust pays half of the fellow's salary costs and the host institution pays the other half. Up to 20 fellowships offered annually for a duration of 24 months. All fields eligible. fellowships to be taken up between the beginning of the 1999/2000 academic year and May 1 2000.

Fellowships can be held in universities or other higher education institutions in the UK. Applicants must meet all the following criteria: must not hold and must not have held a full-time established academic post in the UK; must be resident in the UK and have a first degree from a UK institution and have been educated in the UK or some other part of the Commonwealth for at least 2 years at secondary school level; must hold a doctorate or have equivalent research experience; must be under age 35 or be able to make a case for special consideration. Applicants must secure agreement from their universities to meet the funding requirements before applying.

For an application form SRF2 send an A4-size self-addressed envelope to the secretary of the Research Awards Advisory Committee at the address below. Or download the form and instructions from the website. Application details will not be available after March 81999.

Deadline: March 15.

The Leverhulme Trust, 1 Pemberton Row, London EC4A 3BG. Telephone 0171 822 6964 or email: rcowling@leverhulme. org.uk Fax: 0171 822 5084 Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council

www. epsrc.ac.uk Advanced Magnetics Programme. Eighth call for Proposals The programme encompasses four main themes: Structured Films, Information Storage, Advanced Hard and Soft Magnetic Materials, and Characterisation of Advanced Magnetic Materials. Linking the theme areas is the fact that one or more critical dimensions of the magnetic systems under investigation are normally constrained to a value which lies in the nanometre range. Whilst no area of the portfolio is precluded when submitting applications in response to the Eighth Call, at the seventh meeting of the Advanced Magnetics Programme Management Panel it was recognised that there is a need to stimulate research in Permanent Magnetic Materials, Exchange Biasing and Magnetic Spectroscopy. Projects that will lead to demonstrators in any area of the programme are also particularly welcome. Application forms, further details of the programme and assessment criteria are available on the website. Proposers are strongly encouraged to discuss their proposal in the first instance with the Programme Coordinator, appointed to facilitate links within the UK Magnetics Community and support the objectives of the Advanced Magnetics Programme. Contact details are below.

Proposals should be made on the EPS(RP) form, clearly marked AMP (Advanced Magnetics Programme) Deadline: March 26.

Contact details: At EPSRC, Polaris House, North Star Avenue, Swindon SN2 1ET Dr James Gordon, Associate Programme Manager, Functional Materials Group, Tel: 01793 444351, Fax: 01793 444470.

Email: james.gordon @epsrc.ac.uk Dr Mary Fridlington, Associate Programme Manager, Physics Programme. Tel: 01793 444445, Fax: 01793 444007.

Email: mary.fridlington @epsrc.ac.uk Programme Co-ordinator: Professor K O'Grady, Magnetic Materials Research Group, School of Electronic Engineering University of Wales, Bangor, Dean Street, Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 1UT Tel: (01248) 382513 Email: ogrady@ sees.bangor.ac.uk Fax: 01248 361429

Arthritis Research Campaign

www. arc.org.uk Project Grants Awarded to provide support for a single project designed to seek an answer to a single question or small group of related questions. The ARC will consider support of clinical projects, relating to pathogenesis, diagnosis or treatment, as well as projects of a more fundamental scientific nature, provided that they offer promise of advancement in the understanding of the rheumatic diseases. Educational project and equipment grants also available.

Deadline: March 29.

Details on the ARC Web or contact: Arthritis Research Campaign, Copeman House, St Mary's Court, Chesterfield, Derbyshire S41 7TD, UK Tel: +44 (0)1246 558033, Fax: +44 (0)1246 558007 Email r&e@arc.org.uk

The Royal College of Surgeons of England

Surgical Research Fellowship Scheme.

To be eligible surgeons should be a Fellow/ Member of the college, in a training post or an SHO who has passed the MCQ papers of the MRCS Eng examination. There are approximately 25 one-year fellowships in any branch/specialty of surgery.

Deadline: March 31.

For further information contact: Research Board, The Royal College of Surgeons of England, 35/43 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PN. Tel 0171 312 6672. Email: mcoomer@ rcseng.ac.uk. www. rcseng/au/uk/ res&aud/research

The James S. McDonnell Foundation

Program for Collaborative Pilot Projects In Cognitive Rehabilitation Research Will award up to $600,000 annually in support of cognitive rehabilitation research carried out by interdisciplinary teams of cognitive neuroscientists, cognitive psychologists, and rehabilitation professionals. Proposed projects should address how the research findings on brain plasticity, brain structure/function relationships, cognitive science, studies of learning, and information processing theory can be applied to the design of clinical interventions to help individuals with brain injuries improve their performance of functional, real-world tasks. Research teams proposing to identify the cognitive or neurobiological substrates of functional recovery with the goal of developing cognitive therapies are also appropriate. Preference will be given to projects that address ameliorating the cognitive deficits resulting from acquired brain damage rather than deficits resulting from developmental disorders or neuro-degenerative diseases. Proposal guidelines available on the website.

Deadline: March 15.

Address proposals to: Susan M. Fitzpatrick, PhD, Program Officer, James S. McDonnell Foundation, 1034 S. Brentwood Blvd., Suite 1850, St. Louis, Missouri 63117, USA. Direct questions to susan@jsmf.org. The JSMF prefers contact by email.Those without access please call 00 1 314-721-1532.

Funding listings are compiled by Sarah Knowles0171 782 3225Email: sarah. knowles@ newsint.co.uk.