Funding

The Technology Strategy Board (TSB) is planning to launch a £8.5 million competition, which will fund R&D projects which stimulate innovation in the food and drink sector with an emphasis on providing healthy and safe foods.The competition is relevant to members from all sectors, please see details of the scope below.  Applications open on 20th May 2013. Competition Scope The call is expected to invite proposals for Feasibility and Collaborative R&D projects within the following scope; Integrating technologies to assist nutrient absorption Nutrient regulation and delivery Novel and healthier foods Safety, authenticity and traceability Production and Processing of food/nutrients  The Technology Strategy Board, together with the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Scottish Enterprise, is to invest up to £8.5m to stimulate innovation in the food and drink sector. Sitting between primary producers and retailers, the food processing sector has an important impact on food safety and quality, and forms a significant part of UK manufacturing output. The aim of this competition is to encourage innovative technologies and processes, to ensure that what we eat and drink can be made as safe and healthy as possible. Projects must be business-led and collaborative. We have allocated up to £7m to fund collaborative R&D projects, with up to a further £1.5m being available for smaller-scale feasibility studies. The competition comprises two strands: Strand 1: Feasibility studies must be collaborative, and may attract up to 65% public funding of project costs (75% for SMEs). We expect feasibility study projects to range in size from £50k to £100k and to last from six to 12 months. Strand 2: With collaborative R&D projects, we are primarily seeking to fund industrial research, with a business partner attracting 50% public funding of their project costs (60% for SMEs). We expect collaborative R&D projects to range in size from £250k to £1m and to last from one to three years. The collaborative R&D and feasibility study elements of this competition both open for applications on 20 May 2013. The deadline for registration is noon on 26 June 2013. The deadline for completed feasibility study applications and expressions of interest for collaborative R&D projects is noon on 3 July 2013. A briefing event for potential applicants will be held on 21 May 2013. To register for the briefing event please click here. 

The Society for Experimental Biology offers travel grants to support Biologists who wish to attend a Conference or gain research experience in the UK or abroad. The funding has been kindly offered to the Society by the Company of Biologists which also supports its meetings and offers reduced subscriptions to its journals. Application deadlines: 30th June, 30th September, 31st December.

The Institute of Horticulture invites entries for the Aberconway prize. This is awarded for the best thesis, dissertation or project in a horticultural or closely related subject. Applicants must be students under the age of 30 and the work must have been completed within the last five years. The prize is worth £500.  

Trees have significant impacts on rural and urban landscapes and contribute to our heritage, ecosystems, rural economy and wellbeing. Trees can also help to mitigate climate change by capturing and storing carbon. Research into the preservation of the health of trees, woodlands and forests, and associated interactions with the environment, economy and society has the potential to be of great benefit. Recently, new pests and pathogens have emerged as significant risks to the UK's woodlands, commercial forests and urban trees, and globalisation of the plant trade has led to a marked increase in the volume and diversity of plants and plant products entering the UK, which can lead to pests and pathogens, not previously present entering the country. Please see the call text in downloads for further information about the threats to tree health and plant biodiversity in the UK. A consortium of funders has established this joint strategic research initiative to bring the widest possible research capacity and capability to focus on the area of tree health and associated plant biosecurity issues. Each of the funding partners has a different mission and remit, but all of them agree that there is an urgent need for innovative and cutting-edge research to help ensure the future health and resilience of trees, woodlands and their associated ecosystems. This initiative will provide a commitment of up to £9M over the next few years to support strategic research in this area under the auspices of the Living With Environmental Change Partnership. The initiative also directly supports the objectives of the joint Defra and Forestry Commission Tree Health and Plant Biosecurity Action Plan launched in October 2011. For more information, go to: http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/funding/opportunities/2013/tree-health-and-plant-biosecurity-phase2.aspx

The Natural Environment Research Council invites applications for its standard research grants. This is an open competition for curiosity-motivated basic, strategic or applied research. Grants provide a minimum of £65,000 and a maximum of £1.2 million for directly incurred costs. In exceptional cases applicants may contact NERC prior to submission to request permission to submit a standard grant proposal that exceeds the maximum funding limit.  

Application deadline: 11 July 2013   Important: applicants should ensure proposals are completed as far in advance of the published deadline as possible to enable institution checks to be carried out before final submissions.   Summary Modular Training Partnerships (MTPs), previously known as 'Modular training for industry', fund the development of industrially-relevant short training courses at Masters level. Training should be developed in close collaboration with industry, and evidence of industrial demand is a key requirement for funding.   MTPs provide pump-prime funding for: -the development of individual training modules -preparation and marketing of course materials, and course launch   Clusters of complementary modules will also be considered if there is sufficient evidence of industrial demand.   Training should be delivered using the most appropriate method for the target industry (e.g. distance learning, web-based learning packages or residential 2-3 day seminar and workshop sessions).   Priority is given to applications in subject areas of significant need identified by industry, and applications that are within strategic priority areas. Applications are assessed by Committee E, which includes members from the industrial community. There are three application deadlines per year and proposals are considered at the next available Committee E meeting.

BBSRC's FLexible Interchange Programme (FLIP) supports the movement of people from one environment to a different one to exchange knowledge/technology/skills, developing bioscience research/researchers and addressing our strategic priorities. FLIP awards provide flexible opportunities for individuals ("the interchangers") moving between different organisations, disciplines and sectors at all stages in their career beyond the PhD (or equivalent). Awards In the region of 10 awards will be made in the first year, building to 20 per annum over subsequent years. Awards will typically: last up to 24 months cost up to £150k in total at 80% fEC be undertaken on a full-time, part-time or intermittent basis cover a contribution to the salary of the interchangers, reasonable travel and subsistence and costs associated with the interchange Applications outside these ranges will be considered with full justification.  

The Biotechnology and Biological Research Council invites applications for its flexible interchange programme. FLIP supports the movement of people between different environments to further the exchange of knowledge, technology and skills in the bioscience sector. Each award must look to develop an area of bioscience directly related to an awarded BBSRC grant. The majority of awards will support the movement, in either direction, of researchers between the science base and other sectors or disciplines, with clear and defined benefits for both the academic and partner organisation. BBSRC encourages non-academics to initiate a FLIP as long as an academic lead applicant can be identified. The interchanger should be qualified to PhD level and be employed by one of the organisations participating in the interchange, such as a research organisation, UK industry, or policy-making or charitable organisation. Awards will typically last up to 24 months and are worth a maximum of £150,000 in total at 80 per cent full economic cost, to cover a contribution to the salary of the interchangers, reasonable travel and subsistence, and costs associated with the interchange. Applications outside these ranges will be considered with full justification.