Sources for research funding

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

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 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: Proposals should be submitted for 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.

E-mail: 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 directly address issues concerning the reduction of fraud, and security and privacy issues, for both corporate organisations and customer and consumer interests. All projects must be undertaken by a consortium that includes organisations from industry and the science base, to provide the necessary expertise, experience and resources in a single tightly managed partnership.

The subject area for proposals for the First Call, is research work which 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 and for an informal discussion before making any further commitment.

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, together 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 Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) 6-26-3 Kioicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0094, Japan Tel: +81-3-3263-1721 Fax: +81-3-3263-1854 Invitation Fellowship Program for Research in Japan The programme allows Japanese scientists to invite fellow researchers from other countries to Japan to participate in cooperative activities. All fields of the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences are eligible. Applications for these programs must be submitted to JSPS through the head of the institution concerned by the Japanese scientist wishing to invite a foreign counterpart to Japan. JSPS does not accept applications submitted directly by foreign scientists or through diplomatic channels. Foreign scientists wishing to participate in this program are advised to establish contact with a Japanese researcher in their field and to ask him/her to arrange the submission of an application to JSPS. Application materials will be provided to the Japanese scientist.

Short-Term Programme.

Purpose is to invite senior scientists to participate in discussions, attend seminars, give lectures, or perform similar duties. Eligibility: 1.Senior scientists, university professors, and other persons with substantial professional experience 2.Citizen of country that has diplomatic relations with Japan.

Deadline: May 24.

Inquiries to: Head, Foreign Fellowship Division, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Jochi Kioizaka Building, 6-26-3 Kioicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0094, Japan.

London Mathematical Society (LMS) www.lms.ac.uk Programme and Conference Fund

Society grants for the support of mathematical research The Programme and Conference Fund is used to give financial support for mathematical research in the UK. The fund is administered by the LMS Programme Committee. Grants are made under five main headings which are described below. In general any mathematician working in the UK is eligible for a grant, but if an applicant is not a member then the application must be countersigned by an LMS member. Applications should be sent to the Executive Secretary at De Morgan House, 57-58 Russell Square, London WC1B 4HP. Applications cannot usually be considered between mid-June and mid-September.

Queries regarding applications can be addressed to Dr N.M.J. Woodhouse, Meetings and Membership Secretary. Tel: 01865 7943. Email: nwoodh@maths.ox.ac.uk) or to the Executive Secretary, Dr. D.J.H. Garling. Tel: 01223 337978. Email: d.j.h.garling@dpmms.cam.ac.uk).

Conference Grants Grants are made to the organisers of conferences to be held in the United Kingdom. Programme Committee tends to give priority to the support of meetings where an LMS grant can be expected to make a significant contribution to the viability and success of the meeting. The society wishes to support research students, and applications should include details of the extent to which research students will be involved in the conference. An application form, obtainable from the society's office , or (as a LaTex file) from the electronic archive , sets out conditions under which grants are normally made and requests the information Programme Committee usually requires when considering an application. Applications are considered three times a year and the deadlines for submission are 31st January, 31 May and 31st August.

Support of joint research groups The scheme is to provide support for groups of mathematicians, working in at least three different locations in the United Kingdom, who have a common research interest, who wish to engage in collaborative activities. The Society wishes to support research students and young postdoctoral mathematicians, and applications should indicate details of the extent to which they will be involved in the programme. An application should take the form of a letter giving details of: the proposed activities; a list of participants in the group; a provisional budget indicating how any grant awarded is likely to be used. Altogether the documentation expected might run to at most three A4 pages. Applications are considered three times a year, in February, June and September Deadlines: January 31, May 31 and August 31.

European Science Foundation (ESF) www.esf.org Standing Committee for the Social Sciences (SCSS) Exploratory Research Workshops Scheme Call for Proposals 1999 The SCSS has launched a scheme of small awards to support the development of social science research at the European level. The purpose of the workshops scheme is to offer social scientists the facility of "seed money" to both build and strengthen research contacts, to test innovative ideas and to develop potential collaborative research projects. Proposals are invited which demonstrate European added value through the adoption of a comparative research approach, and address basic research issues of medium to long-term importance. While applications in any topic field which meet these general criteria are welcomed, the SCSS would be particularly interested in receiving proposals on the following topics:

* Education, socialisation and the changing family structure

* The changing role of knowledge in society

* The funding of local government and services in Europe

* Open element Applications must be of the highest quality and demonstrate the potential importance of European research collaboration in the chosen field. In particular applications adopting an interdisciplinary social science approach are encouraged. Applicants should be groups of social scientists based in European universities and/or research institutes. For further details of the scheme and guidelines for applicants, please contact: Exploratory Workshops Scheme in the Social Sciences, European Science Foundation, 1 quai Lezay-Marnesia, 67080 Strasbourg Cedex, France Tel:+33 (0)3 88 76 71 42 Fax:+33 (0)3 88 37 05 32 Email: arocha @esf.org. Web: www. esf.org/social.htm Deadline: May 31.

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 Applicants can obtain information, and the documentation referred to above, from: 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 Medical Research Council (MRC) www. mrc.ac.uk Research into Health of the Public. Call for Proposals Health of the Public (HoP) is a new broad vision of public health that emphasises health-related as well as disease-related endpoints. Any area of research within the broad scope of the MRC's HoP definition will be considered. The MRC would particularly welcome applications in the following areas:

* Inequalities, such as gender, ethnic, geographic, and socioeconomic differences.

* Environmental, psychosocial, behavioural, and biological aspects, including the behaviour and risk perceptions of individuals, professionals, and organisations.

* Interventions: individual, community, and population based interventions including non-healthcare and policy interventions.

* Life course influences on health.

Deadline: Outline proposals, May 7.

These will be peer reviewed and successful applicants will be invited to submit full proposals. Funding will be available from January 2000.

Application packs can be obtained from Mrs Nazia Khan at MRC Head Office, 20 Park Crescent, London, W1N 4AL. Email: nazia.khan@ headoffice.mrc.ac.uk Tel: 0171-670-5259 To discuss your proposals, please contact Miss Fiona Cronin. Email: HOPCALL@headoffice.mrc.ac.uk Tel: 0171-670-5257 Fax: 0171-636-34 Alliance: The British Council Franco-British joint research programme http://www.britcoun.org/france Aims to promote the development of Franco-British scientific co-operation between universities and public sector research institutes in France and the UK.

Applications are now invited for the 2000 programme in pure and applied sciences, technology and applied social sciences.

Priorities: Pure or applied sciences: no priority areas are defined. Applied social sciences: all areas will be considered. However, projects in the field of bioethics, biotechnology and information technology will be particularly welcomed.

Preference will be given to those projects showing most promise for the development of new cooperation between the two countries, impact and innovation of research, involvement of young researchers and potential for subsequent funding (e.g. EU or industry). Applications must be made concurrently by the British and French teams that wish to collaborate. The British project leader should apply on a British application form available from, and to be returned to, the British Council in Paris: Science Section, The British Council, 9-11 rue de Constantine, 75007 Paris, Tel: +33 1 49 55 73 34, Fax: +33 1 47 05 77 02.

Email: carole.hemard @bc-paris.bcouncil org. The form can be downloaded from the website.

Deadline: May 1.