Funding follow-up

Posted: August 20, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: meetings, project posts | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Further to a blog post titled Funders and trends in artistic research grants and work carried out as part of the KAPTUR Environmental Assessment report the project team have also been looking at examples of externally funded research projects at each institution. At the project team meeting held in July, each Project Officer talked about two projects at their institution and the Project Manager agreed to follow this up in a blog post. This information is now available in a spreadsheet:

The spreadsheet is also available via this link: http://www.slideshare.net/kaptur_mrd/funded-projects

The Project Officers reported that this exercise provided them with more contacts to follow-up on within their institutions and informed the development of the Research Data Management policies. It also provided the project team with a greater awareness of projects at other institutions.

Kaptur – six months into the project (1/3)

Posted: April 10, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: monthly reports, project posts | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

One third of the way through the project, and this is our update for the end of the sixth month:

WP1: Project Management

WP3: Technical Infrastructure

  • The Technical Analysis report has been through several iterations; the user requirement component has been sent to the partner institutions for final feedback; once this is received the requirements testing will take place leading to the choice of technical system for the pilot.

WP4: Modelling

  • The Project Officers reported on the trends in funding at their institutions (blog post)
  • Three of the four Project Officers attended the JISCMRD two-day workshop on institutional RDM policies (12-13th March, Leeds); this was extremely beneficial for Kaptur for several reasons:
    1. using the Chatham House Rule the JISCMRD projects could talk openly and plainly about the reality of creating and seeking approval for institutional RDM policies
    2. we had an opportunity to really understand the processes and workflows from more experienced projects (i.e. those who had received funding in the previous JISCMRD round 2009-11 or who already had institutional RDM policies)
    3. it was very interesting to hear how other JISCMRD projects were making use of the CARDIO and DAF tools from the Digital Curation Centre – we will be discussing this at our next project team meeting in April
    4. there was also the opportunity to ask questions of select representatives of the Research Councils UK (RCUK) which was very illuminating, particularly in terms of the EPSRC Expectations
    5. as most of the project team were able to attend we could discuss and share our own views over the course of the two days and come to a consensus of opinion – i.e. that we were aiming for a high-level aspirational policy based on University of Edinburgh’s policy
  • An RDM Discussion paper was drafted and was an agenda item at the UCA Research and Enterprise Committee meeting on 30th March; this Committee also have the role to approve an institutional RDM policy.
  • Representatives from 2 of the partner institutions attended the JISCMRD Data Management Planning (DMP) end of project event (23rd March) – this was useful in terms of discussion throughout the day, lessons learned from other projects, and also take-home resources which we may be able to implement – as well as a sneak peek at the new and improved version of the DCC’s DMP Online tool due to launch soon.

WP7: Dissemination

  • As mentioned above, 3/4 institutions attended the JISCMRD policies workshop and 2/4 attended the DMP end of project workshop (both March 2012).
  • Promotion of the Environmental Assessment report (blog post)
  • Beginning of an idea for more creative publicity material for Kaptur, to be followed up at our next project team meeting
  • The Project Manager gave a presentation on Kaptur to British Library staff as part of their Digital Conversations event (blog post)
  • The Project Director and Project Manager co-authored a written paper on Kaptur for the EVA London 2012 conference

4. Issues/challenges

As we are now a third of the way through the project it is a good point for reflection on both the work already accomplished as well as the work still to be done. Our focus continues to be on producing a pilot model for the visual arts sector and drawing on the strength of the collaboration across four partner institutions. Added to this is a growing sense of community across the JISCMRD programme (2011-13) which has benefited the Kaptur project team.

Funders and trends in artistic research grants

Posted: March 9, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: project posts | Tags: , , , | 3 Comments

Each Project Officer contacted their Research Office to provide answers to the following questions about funding for research at their institution:

1. Who are the funders that researchers are successfully applying to?

The following were all mentioned at least once: Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC); Arts Council England; British Academy; British Council; Chief Scientist Office; Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC); Economic and Social Research Council; European Commission; European Research Council; Glasgow City Council; JISC; The Leverhulme Trust; National Institute for Health Research (NIHR); The Royal Society; The Royal Society of Edinburgh; Scottish Funding Council; Technology Strategy Board; Wellcome Trust.

Of those, the most frequently mentioned were: AHRC (all four institutions); EPSRC (3 institutions); European Commission (3 institutions); and Wellcome Trust (3 institutions).

2. What are the trends?

All four institutions reported an increase in funding for cross-disciplinary research. In addition:

  • Institution A noted a trend towards bigger funding awards with collaboration encouraged.
  • Institution B commented that increasingly there is a need to demonstrate the economic benefits of research (enterprise and impact) and that the drivers for this were the government and the RAE/REF (Research Excellence Framework).
  • Institution C noted a trend towards crossovers between the arts and science.
  • Institution D commented that the Research Councils are funding much larger and complex projects such as collaborations between multiple institutions involving interdisciplinary and cross-departmental work on longer time-scales.

3. What are the procedures and timelines for the Research Data Management policy?

  • At institutions A and C the timelines are still being confirmed, however it is anticipated that a RDM policy will be presented at their Research & Enterprise meetings in Autumn 2012.
  • At institution B a discussion paper will go forward to the meeting at end of March, followed by a reasonable draft policy at the Research & Enterprise meeting in June, with the aim of this being accepted at the subsequent meeting in November 2012.
  • At institution D they have been working on a draft policy with an aim of tabling this draft at the Research & Enterprise meeting in October 2012.

Actions

  • Representatives from 3 out of the 4 institutions are attending the JISCMRD/DCC training on RDM policies in Leeds, 12th-13th March 2012.
  • Following the event a discussion document (1-2 sides of A4) will be prepared that can go forward to relevant stakeholders and the working groups.