Research and knowledge exchange

Issue 15: August 2015

The Sussex Researcher 
Message from the Research Staff Office

Hello everyone

I hope you are having a good summer. While the campus is quiet, we are busy putting together the programme of development events for researchers for the 15/16 year (more information next month). We are also making some developments to the research staff webpages, with a new page for international researchers and some general reorganisation to make the webpages clearer and easier to navigate; so expect to see some changes over the next few weeks.

You'll see from the 'Opportunities' section of this issue that this is the time of year that quite a few fellowship schemes are launched and other funding opportunities are open. It's not possible to list all opportunities here, so make sure you sign up for tailored funding alerts through Research Professional to ensure you are notified of opportunities relevent to you.

Best wishes and enjoy the last few weeks of campus calm,

Natalie James (Research Staff Officer, Research and Enterprise)

Events

Life Sciences Rosalind Franklin Symposium - 10th September: 09.00 - 17.00, Chichester Lecture Theatre.

Speakers include Professor Jean Beggs CBE FRS giving the Maynard Smith Lecture and Professor Anne Dell CBE FRS FMedSci giving the Cornforth Lecture. The Keynote Lecture 'Women, Leadership and careers in academia' will be from Dame Professor Julia Goodfellow FMedSci FInstP. Full programme and booking information

MedComms Careers Day - 16th September: 13.00-17.00, University of Manchester

This free event at the University of Manchester is an excellent opportunity to find out more about careers in medical communications. Meet with a number of medical communications professionals for a highly engaging session which presents medical writing and account management in MedComms as attractive career options. Programme information and book a place


News
New Online Course for Professional Development Planning

Vitae have developed a new online course to cover all the stages in the professional development planning process. Professional development planning is a key component of career progression and this course has been designed and developed using resources specifically for researchers who want to make the most of their opportunities, and create new ones!

The course is suitable for all researchers at any career stage. Those taking the course will carry out a range of activities to help them analyse experience and achievements, collect and organise evidence, select and prioritise areas for development and plan professional development goals.

To access the modular course you will need to register to the Vitae website using your university email address.

More information and take the course


ESRC Survey for Early Career Social Scientists

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) are keen to understand the experiences and issues faced by early-career social scientists. Therefore, they have commissioned a survey from researchers at the UCL Institute of Education to enable improvements to be made to existing support for early-career social scientists before, during and after their doctoral studies.

The ESRC do not wish to pre-define exactly who is an 'early-career social scientist' so are leaving it to potential respondents to self-identify themselves as part of this group.

The survey is open until 11th November.

Complete the ESRC Survey here


Distinguish yourself from other researchers - Register now for your ORCID identifier

When developing your academic career it is essential that your research outputs and citations are easily attributable to you. This can sometimes be a challenge, especially if there are other researchers with a similar name to you.

In order to distinguish yourself and your research you can register for free for an ORCID identifier, which you can use when you submit publications, apply for grants or patents, on your research blog or website and for any other research outputs. Your ORCID number will be unique and ensure that your research is immediately attributable to you.

An ORCID identifier takes 30 seconds to obtain and only non-sensitive information is held on the database. It is likely that the next Research Excellence Framework (REF) exercise will make use of ORCID numbers to track researcher's outputs, so make sure to get your ORCID identifier soon.

More information and register for an ORCID identifier


Opportunities

If applying for funding, remember to check funders' eligibility criteria carefully and discuss the opportunity with your host institution/department prior to preparing any applications.

British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships

These enable early-career researchers to strengthen their experience of research and teaching in a university environment, with the aim of developing their curriculum vitae and improving their prospects of obtaining permanent lecturing posts. Fellowships are tenable for three years and cover fellows' salaries, small-scale research expenses up to £6,000, costs towards the time of a mentor, and the host institution's estates and indirect costs.

Deadline for applications: 7th October 2015

More information and how to apply


Royal Society of Chemistry Research Fund

This enables investigators to purchase chemicals or equipment for their research project. Grants are worth up to £4,000 each.

Deadline for applications 18th September 2015

More information and how to apply


British Council Newton researcher workshop grants

These enable early-career researchers from the UK and researchers from eligible partner countries to participate in workshops that build research capacity in developing countries, promote links for future collaborations and enhance researchers' career opportunities. Workshops should last from three to five days and take place between 1 February 2016 and 31 January 2017. Matched funding must be secured from partner countries in order to receive funding.

Deadline for applications: 28th September 2015

More information and how to apply


Leverhulme Trust Early-Career Fellowships

These enable early-career researchers to undertake a significant piece of publishable work and to advance to a more permanent academic position. Each fellowship provides up to £24,000 per year to cover 50 per cent of the fellow’s total salary costs and may include research expenses of up to £6,000 per year. Fellowships are tenable for three years full time, but the trust may consider part time requests.

Deadline for applications: 10th March 2016

More information and how to apply


Contributions

If you have an article or information you would like included in The Sussex Researcher please send it to N.A.James@sussex.ac.uk


 

Research Staff Office
Falmer House
University of Sussex
T (01273) (87)7979
E N.A.James@sussex.ac.uk