Open Activities
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Condition of the Estate Survey
Condition of the Estate (COTE) Survey At Research England, we are undertaking a piece of work to better understand the current state of research infrastructure (buildings and capital equipment) across the English higher education sector. This work, termed the Condition of the Estate (COTE),...
Closes 7 November 2024
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Community Groups Funding Approval
One of the objectives of the Black in Biomedical Advisory Group (BBRAG) is to fund Black-led community/grassroots organisations to help sustain their objectives in the biomedical sector. We have decided as a group we would gain majority approval for each of our objectives once we were ready to...
Closes 7 November 2024
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Expression of Interest for Celebrating 30 years of CEDA: help us imagine our future event
On Monday 25th November 2024, we are hosting our 'Celebrating 30 years of the Centre for Environmental Data Analysis: help us imagine our future' event at our home institution in Oxfordshire. As the venue has limited capacity, we will be reviewing all registrations through this expression of...
Closes 7 November 2024
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Project Impact Survey
This survey is targeted at Green ERA-Hub project coordinators. The purpose is to identify projects that have contributed to societal challenges, SDGs and have influenced policy.
Closes 8 November 2024
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Celebrating 30 years of CEDA: help us imagine our future
On Monday 25th November 2024, we are hosting our 'Celebrating 30 years of the Centre for Environmental Data Analysis: help us imagine our future' event at our home institution in Oxfordshire. The event will showcase the breadth of work we do to enable environmental science research. It will...
Closes 8 November 2024
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ESRC Responsive Mode Round 1 Survey - Panel Chairs
This survey gives you the opportunity to share your views with us about your experiences working on Round 1 of Responsive Mode.
Closes 8 November 2024
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NQCC Tweezer Array Quantum Computing Workshop II
Join us for a workshop focused on the latest developments in advancing quantum computing based on tweezer array technology in the UK,and NQCC's role in it. Date: 6th December, 2024 Time: 10:00 am to 5:00 pm Location: NQCC HQ , R121, RAL, Harwell Campus, Didcot OX11 0FA ...
Closes 8 November 2024
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Funding Policy Team Survey
We are conducting this survey to gather your valuable feedback on the performance of the funding policy team. Your responses will help us improve our services and better support you.
Closes 8 November 2024
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BBSRC Committee E Member: Expression of Interest
BBSRC Committee E Member Thank you for your interest in applying to join BBSRC’s Committee E. Please read the role profile and expertise requirements for this position and provide evidence of how your expertise and experience address the criteria. Expressions of Interest...
Closes 12 November 2024
Closed Activities
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ESRC Responsive Mode Round 1 Survey - Case Officers
This survey gives you the opportunity to share your views with us about your experiences working on Round 1 of Responsive Mode.
Closed 5 November 2024
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Application form for UKRI’s Strategic Research Leadership Symposia
The UK Research and Innovation Strategic Research Leadership Symposia is a new and exclusive pilot initiative designed to support individuals who are transitioning into leadership roles in strategic UKRI investments, or those who are more established in their posts but wish to further develop...
Closed 5 November 2024
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ESRC Responsive Mode Round 1 Survey - Academic Panel Members
This survey gives you the opportunity to share your views with us about your experiences working on Round 1 of Responsive Mode.
Closed 5 November 2024
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ESRC Responsive Mode Round 1 Survey - User Panel Members
This survey gives you the opportunity to share your views with us about your experiences working on Round 1 of Responsive Mode.
Closed 5 November 2024
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International Away Day 28 November 2024 Registration
The event will be held at STEAM . Expected timings are 9:30am - 4:30pm. The address of the venue is: STEAM - Museum of the Great Western Railway Fire Fly Avenue Swindon SN2 2EY If you are driving, the main and closest parking is located at the Swindon Designer Outlet North...
Closed 4 November 2024
We Asked, You Said, We Did
See what we've consulted on. See all outcomes
We asked
In January 2024, we asked for feedback on the Medical Research Council’s (MRC's) draft public partnerships strategy. The strategy was drafted following a process of co-development and sets out MRC’s ambition and priorities for effective collaboration and genuine partnerships between the research community and wider society.
You said
We received 354 responses to the consultation. These responses came from a variety of individuals, groups, and organisations from the research community, the voluntary sector and wider society. The consultation responses were overwhelmingly positive. 87% agreed with the strategy overall, and 81% said that the strategy was written in clear language.
Respondents welcomed specific aspects of the strategy, including its inclusiveness, the focus on non-clinical research and the ambition to build long-term sustainable partnerships between the research community and wider society. Respondents highlighted specific initiatives which they considered vital to the success of the strategy such as, having a clear payment policy, appointing a new MRC programme director for public partnerships, and setting up a public advisory group at MRC.
Respondents recommended that MRC publish the new strategy in a variety of formats, alongside clear delivery (action) and evaluation plans.
We did
We used findings from the consultation to inform the final MRC public partnerships strategy. Key changes included:
- Clearly stating that this strategy is an initial three-year commitment to our long-term ambition
- Clarifying that the strategy has been co-developed
- Specifically mentioning the involvement of international researchers, public partners, and public involvement and engagement professionals
- Making clear that the consultation informed the final strategy
- Emphasising that this strategy is intended to be inclusive, and will be aligned with MRC’s Embedding Diversity in Research Design policy
- Acknowledging the importance of sharing power
- Making clear that we will implement our new payment policy for public partners, and that other rewards and recognition are additional to payment
- Emphasising that we will support public partners to take on leadership roles and responsibilities, such as chairing groups or co-leading projects
- Committing to publish our action and evaluation plans
The consultation findings have been summarised in an infographic and are detailed in full in our consultation report.
Next steps:
The final MRC public partnerships strategy will be published on the MRC website in summer 2024.
We asked
For opinions on the definition and scope of a categorisatino of UKRI funding as either 'Investigator-led' or 'Directed'.
You said
Only 8 responses were received, and there was no clear consensus on many questions. Most respondents were from universities.
We did
In the absence of opinion to the contrary we will continue to develop and apply the indicator to all UKRI funding. It will be applied as a binary indicator.
We asked
In April 2022, we asked for feedback on the new MRC expectations on the inclusion of sex in experimental design of studies involving animals, tissues, and cells. We also asked what MRC could do to aid researchers in implementing these requirements.
You said
We received 91 responses from researchers and research staff, with many constructive and detailed suggestions. We also received a written submission from the Academy of Medical Science, on behalf of their fellows.
We were pleased that many were already using both sexes in their experiments or were ready to begin doing so (32% and 5% of respondents, respectively). We recognise that many (57%), even though they were very often supportive in principle, felt barriers existed to implementing this in their research.
One of the most commonly mentioned concerns was a likely increase in grant costs. Respondents sought clarity from MRC as to how this would be handled. Ensuring animal welfare standards and the logistics of single housing male animals were also mentioned as barriers.
Roughly a third of respondents had questions about the changes, particularly around:
- When the new expectation would begin to apply and how compliance would be ensured
- How and when MRC would grant exceptions for single sex studies
- How MRC would handle grants where costs were significantly increased due to using both sexes of animal
The support from MRC that was identified as being most helpful was:
- Advice from MRC Head Office about applications
- Training in statistical design and analysis
- Written guidance
- Case studies or worked examples
We did
As a result of this feedback, we have been working to make more information available about the upcoming change and to ensure the research community receives the necessary support. We have:
- Updated our Guidance for Applicants with details about how to comply with these new expectations
- Made it clear that there is no retrospective application of this requirement for grants that have already been awarded
- Clarified that the requirement of including both sexes does not mean ‘balancing’ or using equal numbers of both sexes, as for many experiments this would result in unnecessary use of animals, but including both sexes as appropriate for the experimental design
- Made the cases where MRC will consider single sex studies clearer both on our website and in our Guidance for Applicants
- Planned a webinar for applicants together with NC3Rs to be held on 21 July 2022, in which animal handling and statistical design will be discussed, and applicants can ask questions
- Made it clearer on our website that there is no cap on MRC awards, and researchers should submit grant costings based on the cost of performing the work, and justified by the importance and potential of the work
In the coming months, we will:
- Update our guidance to Peer Reviewers to ensure proposals submitted to the deadlines starting from September 2022 are reviewed in accordance with the new requirements
- Develop case studies to show the level of information that would be required in applications, including examples of where single sex studies would be appropriate
- Ensure that MRC Programme Managers are available to support applicants that have further questions
- Look into what other support we can provide