EPSRC Funding to Support Research Scientists with Caring Responsibilities: Call for Proposals

EPSRC funding to support research scientists with caring responsibilities: Call for proposals

EPSRC has awarded strategic funding to Oxford University with the aim of widening access to leadership careers in scientific research. Following a successful pilot in 2011/12, the University is seeking to use these funds to support and retain research scientists with caring responsibilities, including:

• Women and men who have taken, or are currently taking, a career break to care for a child or close relative (including for maternity/paternity/adoption reasons)
• Women and men who are working part time because they have caring responsibilities.

Applications are invited from women and men working within the EPSRC research remit for grants to enhance their research careers – in particular, to help researchers get back ‘up to speed’ following a career break or to address specific challenges arising from their caring responsibilities . In the previous round grants were made to women returning from maternity breaks for:

1. Research and administrative assistance for a few months (e.g. data collection or analysis)
2. Attendance at UK and overseas conferences
3. Collaboration and learning visits to overseas research institutions
4. Visits of research collaborators to Oxford
5. Training courses
6. Teaching buyouts in Colleges and Departments
7. Equipment purchases (under £10K) for newly independent researchers seeking to establish their laboratory

Any reasonable applications will be considered providing the link to career development in scientific research can be demonstrated. Please be aware that grants for equipment purchase can only be made where a direct link to establishing/re-establishing independent researcher status can be made. Grants will not be made for laptops, books or childcare.

Previous grant holders comments on the scheme:

“ In order to get my research up and running again, it was very important to have concrete plans for the research I would do during the months following my return to work, and the EPSRC grant inspired me to make such plans and then gave me the funds to carry them out.” (Mathematics)

“The main barrier of an academic nature which was overcome was that, after a few months of having returned to employment -- and the life-work tensions that this inevitably generates -- I was able finally to have some quality thinking time, without the interruptions of a day in the office and the pressures of University Full Term.” (Computer Science)

“It was not easy for me to travel immediately after my return to work, with two young children, three years old and six months old. The EPSRC provided me with the resources to pay for my collaborator to come visit me instead: this was absolutely crucial, since it allowed me to focus intensively on my collaborative research, without taking me away from my young baby.” (Mathematics)

“Obtaining this grant was particularly beneficial to me since I recently had a 6-month maternity leave, and my area of research, DNA nanotechnology, is an extremely fast-paced field, where even short gaps may significantly decrease the freshness of your work and render you less competitive.” (Physics)

Although, it might sound like a small amount of money, it really made a huge difference to my work.” (Chemistry)

“It gave me a tremendous uplift in confidence, which is really important especially after maternity leave.” (Chemistry)

“I think that one of the great strengths of the scheme was its flexibility in terms of what you could use the money to do. It was a great opportunity for me to explore potential new collaborations.” (Earth Sciences)

Scheme Guidelines

1. Applications are invited from women and men at all stages of their scientific research career, from D.Phil. students to University Lecturers, including post doctoral researchers, Fellows etc.
2. Applications from individuals who have returned or will shortly return from a career break for family reasons in any time frame will be considered, but we expect most “returners” to have come back to work in the past 3 to 5 years. The career break to care for a child or close relative should normally have been at least 6 months.
3. There will be two closing dates for applications: 31 August and 21 September 2012.
4. All funds must be spent by 31 March 2013; no extensions will be permitted.
5. Grants can only be made to individuals working within the EPSRC remit (see link below).
6. Grants cannot be used to pay for childcare, books or laptops.
7. As a guide, the size of each individual grant is not expected to exceed £10,000 per applicant, although an application may include more than one element – for example salary for a research assistant and conference attendance.
8. In order to enable the University to meet its reporting obligations for the grant, recipients will be asked for a one page report on their use of the funds by March 15th 2013.
9. Recipients are asked to report any expected under spend as early as possible, so that funds which are no longer needed can be reallocated where appropriate.
10. All applicants must have their department’s written support. Applicants applying for buy-out of college teaching will also need the written support of their college.

Application Process

Applications should be submitted on the application form (see below) attached by email to:

Decision Making

Applications will be considered by a panel comprising Divisional representatives and Personnel Services in September 2012. Applicants will be notified in writing as soon as possible after decisions are made. There will be no right of appeal.

Further information

For details of EPSRC’s scientific remit, please see:

For all other queries, please contact:

(Personnel Services) or

(MPLS Divisional Office)

Oxford–EPSRC funding to support research scientists with caring responsibilities: Call for proposals

APPLICATION FORM

• All funds must be spent by 31 March 2013; no extensions are permitted
• All grant recipients will provide a short report on the use (and effectiveness) of the funds at the end of their award

KJD/VH

24 July 2012