Business Secretary Greg Clark has announced a major new investment in UK talent and skills to grow and attract the best in science and innovation from across the world.

The inaugural UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Future Leaders Fellowship Scheme is set to receive £900 million over the next 11 years, with six funding competitions and at least 550 fellowships awarded over the next three years.

UCL researchers are frequently among those to receive government backing. Recent examples include the Department of Physics & Astronomy’s Krishna Manojkumar Jadeja, who has received funding for his project on ‘coherent gamma rays,’ along with a team at the Department of Medical Physics & Biomedical Engineering led by Professor Gary Royle, whose proton therapy proposal has received backing from the National Institute for Health Research.

Flexibility for researchers

Delivering the keynote speech at the International Business Festival in Liverpool last month, Clark outlined £1.3 billion worth of investment for British universities and businesses.

The money is intended to develop the next generation of entrepreneurs, innovators and scientific leaders and secure Britain’s future economic prosperity, and is the single biggest investment in science in 40 years. He said: “The money will help ensure the UK invests 2.4% of GDP in R&D by 2027 and help us become the world’s most innovative economy by 2030.”

Clark explained that the investment will provide up to seven years of funding for early-career researchers and innovators, including support for part-time awards and career breaks, in a bid to provide researchers with the flexibility needed to tackle ambitious and challenging research areas.

Key international collaboration

Commenting on the announcement, Clark added: “We are a nation of innovators, with some of the world’s greatest inventions created on British soil – from penicillin to the first computer programme. We want to retain our global reputation as a destination for world-class scientists and researchers, by providing opportunities to find and nurture the next Ada Lovelaces and Isaac Newtons.

“International collaboration has been key to many of the most significant discoveries and breakthroughs and I want the UK to remain the go-to destination for the best scientists and innovators. We are investing in the rising stars of research and innovation to ensure the UK is where the products and technologies of tomorrow are developed.”

The scheme is open to businesses as well as universities, and is also open to researchers from around the world, in a bid to ensure the UK continues to attract exceptional talent from around the world.

Supporting the Grand Challenges

Clark also announced that complementing the Future Leaders Fellowship Scheme, the Royal Society, Royal Academy of Engineering, British Academy, and Academy of Medical Sciences will collectively receive £350 million for the prestigious fellowships schemes. This funding will enhance the research talent pipeline and increase the number of fellowships on offer for high skilled researchers and innovators.

For the next five years, £50 million has been allocated through the National Productivity Investment Fund for additional PhDs, including 100 PhDs to support research into AI, supporting one of the Grand Challenges within the Industrial Strategy and ensuring Britain is at the forefront of the AI revolution.

• Read the full speech from the International Business Festival
• Sign up to the UCL Global update for international news and funding opportunities

UCL Research Catalyst Award Winners – 2016/17

Congratulations to this year’s winners of the Santander Universities Research Catalyst Awards!

We wish our UCL colleagues best of luck, and look forwarding to seeing the outcomes of these exciting collaborations.

Here’s the full list of winners:

The Santander Universities Research Catalyst Awards, in line with UCL’s Global Engagement Strategy, seeks to engender innovative research collaborations between UCL and universities and research institutions abroad.

While the Research Catalyst Awards focuses solely on collaborations with universities in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico, UCL provides various other global engagement funding opportunities for its academics and researchers.

An excellent funding opportunity is again running for UCL students with an interest in China.

The Chinese Government Scholarship scheme covers tuition fees, medical insurance, accommodation and a living allowance for successful applicants to study in China for a period of up to one academic year.

Students must satisfy the following criteria in order to be eligible to apply:

• Be a national of a country other than China
• Be under age 45 and with at least two years of undergraduate level study

UCL will be shortlisting nominations for this scholarship scheme.

How to apply

In order to submit an application for consideration by the UCL panel, please send the following documents by email to Chris Cook (c.cook@ucl.ac.uk), Global Engagement Office Partnership Officer, as soon as possible and by 9am on 13 February 2017 at the latest:

1. CV
2. Academic transcripts (find more information on how to obtain UCL transcripts here)
3. Two recommendation letters from UCL academics
4. Study Plan (minimum of 500 words)

For more information visit the Chinese Government Scholarship website.

UCL researchers collaborating with partners in South Africa can apply for new funding to support their work.

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the National Research Foundation (NRF) are inviting collaborative proposals that contribute to the economic development and welfare of both South Africa or wider Africa more broadly.

Proposals should offer additional value to existing programmes of education research, addressing the following themes:

• Organisation of higher education systems, higher education institutions (HEIs) and alternative providers
• Equity in higher education access and participation
• Curriculum, pedagogy and modes and levels of provision
• Higher education for the public good
• Higher education and the labour market.

Between four and six projects will be funded through the scheme, to which the ESRC has allocated up to £2.5 million and NRF has allocated RAND 10 million.

Each joint proposal may request £415,000 – £630,000 (at 100% Full Economic Costing) from the ESRC and R1.67m to R2.5m from NRF over 20 months in duration. Each project will require both a UK and a South African principal investigator.

For further information visit the ESRC website.

The deadline for proposals is 3 May 2016.

A new round of Santander Universities Research Catalyst Awards launched in November 2015, with the aim of fostering new research collaborations between UCL and universities in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico.

Colleagues from across UCL applied for funding, with the winners shown below.

The Catalyst Award winners will undertake their visits over the coming academic year, in order to develop collaborative activities with their chosen partners.

Congratulations to all of this year’s winners.

UCL academics helping developing countries to combat corruption have secured British Academy funding to support their research.

Professor Alena Ledeneva (School of Slavonic and East European Studies) and Dr Christian Schuster (Department of Political Science) are part of teams that recently secured grants from the Academy’s £4 million global anti-corruption research scheme.

Run in partnership with the Department for International Development (DFID), the scheme funds projects that will identify new initiatives that can help developing countries tackle corruption and the negative impact it has on millions of people’s lives.

Professor Ledeneva is working with academics at the Basel Institute on Governance (Switzerland) and SOAS on a project proposing to emphasise the role that informality plays in fuelling corruption and stifling anti-corruption policies in East Africa.

Drawing on a global network of scholars, Dr Schuster is co-investigator on a project researching civil service reform and anti-corruption in developing countries. The initiative will obtain tools and evidence from eight countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe, investigating the impact of civil service practices in key areas such as recruitment, dismissal and integrity management.

Their research will provide new evidence for use by DFID and its partners.

Lord Stern, President of the British Academy said: “Endemic corruption is an enormous international challenge that blights far too many countries and research such as this is one of the most worthwhile ways that the UK can offer practical support.”

• Read the latest UCL Research news here
• Find out more about The School of Slavonic and East European Studies here
• Read more news from the Department of Political Science

An excellent funding opportunity has arisen for UCL students with an interest in China. The Chinese Government Scholarship scheme covers tuition fees, medical insurance, accommodation and a living allowance for successful applicants to study Chinese language for a period of up to one academic year.

Students must satisfy the following criteria in order to be eligible to apply:

• Be a national of a country other than China
• Be under age 45 and with at least two years of Undergraduate level study

UCL will be shortlisting nominations for this scholarship scheme.

How to apply

In order to submit an application for consideration by the UCL panel, please send the following documents by email to Oliver Tomlinson (o.tomlinson@ucl.ac.uk), Partnership Officer, as soon as possible and by 19 February at the latest:

1. CV
2. Academic transcripts (find more information on how to obtain UCL transcripts here)
3. Two recommendation letters from UCL academics
4. Study Plan (minimum of 500 words)

For more information about the Chinese Government Scholarship programme, visit their website.

UCL academics, including doctoral (PhD) students and postdoctoral researchers, are invited to apply for funds to help organise collaborative workshops for the 2014-2015 academic year involving participants from UCL and research institutions in France.

In July 2013, UCL and the Institut Français signed an agreement to collaborate on a series of workshops over a period of three years, focusing specifically on research in the humanities.

The agreement aims to build on existing, and explore new links, between UCL and French academic and research organisations.

By providing funding each year for three workshops between UCL and French academics, all held at UCL, the agreement is aimed at encouraging junior and senior scholars to establish new directions for possible research collaborations– not only in their own areas of expertise, but also across disciplines.

During the 2013-2014 academic year, the UCL European Institute organised three highly successful workshops under the theme of ‘In Places(s) of Memory’

For further information, including how to apply and requirements for this year’s funding, download the call for proposals PDF

Deadline for receipt of applications: Friday 30 May 2014

UCL academics, including doctoral (PhD) students and postdoctoral researchers, are invited to apply for funds to help organise collaborative workshops for the 2014-2015 academic year involving participants from UCL and research institutions in France.

In July 2013, UCL and the Institut Français signed an agreement to collaborate on a series of workshops over a period of three years, focusing specifically on research in the humanities.

The agreement aims to build on existing, and explore new links, between UCL and French academic and research organisations.

By providing funding each year for three workshops between UCL and French academics, all held at UCL, the agreement is aimed at encouraging junior and senior scholars to establish new directions for possible research collaborations– not only in their own areas of expertise, but also across disciplines.

During the 2013-2014 academic year, the UCL European Institute organised three highly successful workshops under the theme of ‘In Places(s) of Memory’

For further information, including how to apply and requirements for this year’s funding, download the call for proposals PDF

Deadline for receipt of applications: Friday 30 May 2014

UCL is offering two fully funded scholarships with partner, Zhejiang University (ZJU), to study a Masters degree in Contemporary Chinese Studies, taught in English, over two years.

Zhejiang University is one of the top-5 universities in China, located in the beautiful city of Hangzhou, 30 minutes by rapid train from Shanghai.

The scholarship will cover fees, accommodation and provide a living allowance of £166 per month.

Current final year UCL students, across any subject area, are invited to apply. UCL alumni holding a UCL Masters degree ‘with distinction’ are also eligible for the scholarship but will complete the ZJU programme in just one year.

The UCL application deadline is 23 April 2014, 10am

Full details on how to apply, and the ZJU eligibility restrictions, can be found on the ZJU website

Complete applications should be sent to:

UCL Office for International Affairs,
48 Gordon Square,
London
WC1H 0PJ
c/o Dr Andrew Pink

The two successful candidates will be notified by the end of the day on 30 April 2014.

If you have any queries, please email Dr Andrew Pink at a.g.pink@ucl.ac.uk