| Message from the Research Staff Office |
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Hello Everyone
Welcome to this issue of the Sussex Researcher. We've had a busy month in the Research Staff Office. It was excellent to see many of you at our first ever Researcher Development Coffee Morning. The turnout was great so we will be looking to run more in the future - we were glad to see that the cake went down well!
We also hosted the Research Staff Management and Development practice sharing event for Principal Investigators on 13th April. The event was well attended by PIs from across all Academic Schools and it generated lots of interesting discussion and ideas; see the article below for more information. This is just the start of our work to provide more assistance to PIs in supporting their researchers and we will be using the ideas from the event to inform future developments. Please also check out our new webpage for PIs and make sure your PI knows about it.
Spaces for the summer programme of training and development events are filling up. Take a look at the full events programme and book your place on your chosen events soon. May 25th will see the final Research Staff Forum of the academic year and will focus on career benefits of developing your enterprise skills. You will all receive an invitation for this shortly; we look forward to seeing you at the Forum and other events.
Best wishes,
Natalie James (Research Staff Officer) and Kirsty Bridger (Researcher Development Coordinator)
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| Getting Research Funded (Arts and Humanities) |
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Thursday 26th May, 14.00-17.00 - Book a place
The workshop targeted at Arts and Humanities researchers and early career academics will give a broad introduction to getting research funded through some trainer input, discussion and small group work. Participants will have the opportunity to focus on specific challenges they may have met in getting research funded.
By attending this workshop, participants will gain:
- An overview of the national research funding landscape.
- An introduction to research funding sources.
- Advice and guidance on creating effective research bids.
- An understanding of the university support researchers can gain to support their research funding application process.
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| Research Staff Reps Discuss University Support for Researchers |
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This month the Research Staff Reps met to discuss plans to support Sussex researchers over the next academic year and beyond. A lot of interesting ideas were generated as to how the University could support researcher's careers.
A few of the key ideas were:
- Facilitating links and networking between researchers with similar methods or research topics
- Greater clarity around teaching opportunities and responsibilities
- Practical and emotional support when job seeking
- Enhanced communication of fellowship and funding opportunities
- Training for Principal Investigators
- University wide celebration of post-doc research
We will be exploring these ideas over the coming months and will continue implement more support to meet the needs of researchers. If you have any more ideas on how the University could support your career please email researchstaffoffice@sussex.ac.uk.
For information about your Reps please visit our Research Staff Reps webpage.
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| Research Fellow Secures RLI Funding for 'Social Media for Academics' Workshop |
| Congratulations to Allan Debelle, Research Fellow in Evolution, Behaviour and Environment, who has secured funding from the Researcher Led Initiative (RLI) Fund for a 'Social Media for Academics Workshop'.
Allan is organising a half day interactive workshop, open to all Sussex researchers, on Monday 23rd May in which participants will explore the range of motivations and benefits for using Twitter to promote academic research and engage the public.
Through group activities, participants will test their Twitter skills, learning the most effective uses of Twitter. Talks from members of the University of Sussex who are experts in using social media will provide participants with ideas and solutions to their own social media questions.
Social Media for Academics, Monday 23rd May, 14.00 - 17.00 Book a place
The RLI Fund is available to support doctoral researchers and early career research staff to organise activities that will enhance their professional and research skills. For further information on how to apply for the RLI visit the Researcher Led Initiative Fund web page.
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| Wellbeing Workshops and Support for Research Staff |
Every Wednesday during the month of May the Staff Development Unit (SDU) are running wellbeing workshops that are open to all staff members. Workshops include themes of finding balance, mindfulness at work, time management and using your strengths.
These can be booked via your Sussex Direct login, for more information please visit the Staff Development Unit webpages.
The Research Staff Office is keen to bring more focus to researcher wellbeing in 2016/17. If you have ideas about how the University can support researcher wellbeing we would be very interested to hear from you, please contact us at: researchstaffoffice@sussex.ac.uk
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| Take 5: Twitter For Researchers (Online Course), Monday 23rd May - Friday 27th May |
| The 'Take 5' online bitesize course offers researchers at the University of Sussex the opportunity to gain an insight into Twitter. From tweeting and following to hashtags and Twitter chats, this course will give you a comprehensive introduction.
You will set up your own account and learn all the ins and outs of Twitter as well as ways in which you can establish and develop your personal learning network. The course is structured into bitesize sections that you can work through at your own pace.
Book a place and when the course is due to start you'll receive an e-mail with details of how to access the course online.
More information & booking.
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| EPSRC Presentation: Funding Opportunities for Early Career Researchers |
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 Earlier this month a representative from EPSRC, Lisa Coles, visited the University to give a presentation on EPSRC funding for early career research and First Grant applications.
Lisa is a Portfolio Manager for the ICT Theme with responsibility for the First Grant scheme.
View the presentation here.
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| Opportunities |
| Funding Call Opens to Tackle Big Challenges in Mental Health |
 MQ: Transforming Mental Health have launched a funding call for the Fellows Award, providing over £1 million to researchers exploring new and better ways to understand, treat and prevent mental illness.
The Fellows Award provides £225,000 over 3 years to supports scientists and clinicians establishing their independence. Researchers can be from all scientific disciplines and based anywhere in the world.
More information
Application deadline: 5th May 2016
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| Newton Researcher Links Workshops |
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 The British Council and the Newton Fund invite applications for their Researcher Links Workshops.
These give early career researchers from the UK and partner countries Brazil, Egypt, India, Turkey, Mexico and South Africa, the opportunity to form international connections that can improve the quality of their research through bilateral workshops. Workshops should aim to tackle global challenges and multidisciplinary proposals.
More information
Application deadline: 27th June 2016
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| Newton Researcher Links Travel Grants |
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The British Council invites applications for the Newton Researcher Links Travel Grants.
Researcher Links Travel Grants provide financial support for early-career researchers to undertake an international research placement to strengthen links for future collaboration, build research capacity in developing economies, and enhance the researcher's career opportunities.Researchers that reside in the UK can apply for funding to visit a university or research institution in one of the partner countries, and those residing in one of the partner countries can apply for funding to come to the UK. .
The Fund aims to promote the economic development and welfare of either the partner countries or, through working with the partner country, to address the problems of low-income and vulnerable populations (Partner Countries: Colombia, Egypt, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Turkey).
More information
Application deadline: 27th June 2016
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| Career Development Fellowship |
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 Cancer Research UK invites applications for its Career Development Fellowship which offers outstanding scientists 6 years of support to set up their first independent cancer research group in any area of CRUK's funding remit, with the exception of drug discovery and clinical trials.
Areas may include cancer biology, biomarker research, cancer aetiology, imaging research, pre-clinical research, early diagnosis, epidemiology, statistics and methodology, radiotherapy research, cancer prevention and immunology.
Fellowship covers salary for one postdoctoral researcher and one technician, and associated running expenses and equipment costs of up to £25,000 over a maximum period of six years.
More information
Deadlines: 11th August 2016
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| Ernest Rutherford Fellowships |
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The Science and Technology Facilities Council will shortly be inviting applications for the Ernest Rutherford Fellowships.
These studentships enable early-career researchers from the UK and overseas to establish an independent research programme in the fields of astronomy, solar and planetary science, particle physics, particle astrophysics, cosmology and nuclear physics.
More information
Application deadline: 22nd September 2016
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| Ramsay Memorial Fellowships in Chemistry for post PhD |
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Fellowships are awarded annually by the Ramsay Memorial Fellowships Trust to postdoctoral chemists who have already had some postdoctoral experience of research but who are in the early stages of their career, so that they may initiate a programme of original and independent research.
More information here.
Deadline for applications: 15th November 2016
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