University of Glasgow - Schools - School of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Health - News, Events and Social Media - News - Archive - September to November 2024

The Translational Research Initiative (TRI) would like to bring to your attention the following funding opportunities, seminars, events, workshops and support opportunities.

Funding Opportunities

MRC and BBSRC Impact Accelerator Accounts (IAA) Funding Call - now open!

New funding and support opportunities are available from the Translational Research Initiative (TRI) and funded by UKRI through the MRC and BBSRC Impact Acceleration Accounts (IAAs).

IAA grants are strategic awards aimed at accelerating the translation of discovery research towards impact, by supporting proof-of-concept studies, pump-priming and feasibility studies. IAA awards aim to accelerate development by providing locally administered, responsive and flexible funding to support preliminary translational work. IAA funds can also be used to support market assessment, development of business cases and access to external expertise. In this round, IAA awards may be up to 9 months in duration and all projects must be complete by 31st December 2025.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to discuss their proposal with the Translational Research Officer for your School prior to applying, or to email mvls-innovation@glasgow.ac.uk for general enquiries.

MRC IAA

Development projects up to £50k in value, to support the progression of an innovation along the translational pathway. Development projects may be up to 9 months in duration.
Partnership projects up to £20k in value, to develop new academic and industry interactions and enable knowledge exchange, events, collaborative working and cross-sector skills flow as well as funds towards thematic partnering events and enterprise and/or industry secondments. Partnership projects may be up to 9 months in duration.
Early Concept projects up to £20k in value, to support translational projects at an early stage of development or to generate evidence to support a later stage translational award. These awards are intended to bridge the gap between discovery research and early-stage translation and are suitable for projects that are considered too early stage for a full IAA development award. Early Concept projects can be between 3-4 months in duration.
For more information, please see ourMRC IAA webpage

BBSRC IAA

Development projects and partnership awardscan be up to £20k in value. Projects may be up to 9 months in duration.
Early Concept projects up to £6.5k in value, to support translational projects at an early stage of development or to generate evidence to support a later stage translational award. These awards are intended to bridge the gap between discovery research and early-stage translation and are suitable for projects that are considered too early stage for a full IAA development award. Projects can be between 3-4 months in duration.
For more information, please see our BBSRC IAA webpage.

Please see the links above for further guidance on eligibility and how to apply.

Application forms must be submitted via email to mvls-innovation@glasgow.ac.uk. Please contact the TRI team giving your expression of interest as soon as possible. The team are here to help shape applications at an early stage and to signpost to appropriate support teams, such as the Contracts team and IP & Commercialisation team where necessary, to help ensure that your application meets the requirements necessary for IAA funding.

Closing date for applications: Friday 7th February 2025, 4pm.

MVLS IEE Public Engagement Fund

We are delighted to launch the MVLS IEE Public Engagement Fund 2024-25. This is a rolling call to enable our staff and PhD students to deliver high-quality engagement activities. The award is for a maximum of £500 and is intended to support colleagues who do not have access to other funds for these types of activities. The fund will be open until the 30th June 2025 and all activity must be delivered by 30th November 2025. Further information and instructions on how to apply can be found here.

Innovate UK Mindset Extended Reality (XR): Digital Therapeutics for Mental Health

The aim of this competition is to develop digital therapeutic extended reality (XR) solutions to provide mental healthcare services. These solutions will optimally be applied and trialled following an R&D cycle of between 12 to 18 months. Solutions must have the potential to be adopted at scale to form part of the UK’s formal mental healthcare ecosystem.

Your project must undertake industrial research and development in the application of extended reality (XR), to provide mental healthcare therapeutic solutions. Your proposal must include the design and features of your solution and how it will be applied. Your project’s total eligible costs must be between £200,000 and £300,000. Up to 70% of costs can be covered, depending on project type and business size. For more information and to apply, please click here.

Deadline for applications: Wednesday 15th January 2025, 11 am

AI4CI Rapid Response Fund

The AI4CI Hub’s Rapid Response Fund offers an exciting opportunity for small-scale, high-impact projects that unite academic and non-academic partners from across the UK. This fund is designed to support collaboration on AI for Collective Intelligence research, with the potential to achieve concrete outcomes that pave the way for more significant research activities.

Projects must involve one or more UK academic partners and one or more non-academic project partners. Note: The academic project lead must be eligible to receive EPSRC funding. The consortium must commit cash or in-kind contributions from the academic and non-academic partner(s), ideally equal to or greater than the funding being requested. In-kind contributions may include staff time, access to equipment, data, software, tools or materials and must have a value assigned to them..

Most awards are expected to be under £50,000, but there is no formal limit on what you can request. We will fund 100% of directly incurred (DI) costs, including research staff time, travel and subsistence and consumables. The fund operates an open call with no formal deadlines and we aim to give you a decision within six weeks of your submission.

For further information and guidance on how to apply, please visit https://ai4ci.ac.uk/funding/. Not sure if your idea fits? Feel free to get in touch! Send the AI4CI Hub a short email to ai4ci-research@bristol.ac.uk with a clear description of your idea in no more than three paragraphs, and we’ll get back to you with advice.

TayHealthTech Grand Challenges - Call for applications

The Heriot-Watt/Dundee Universities co-led EPSRC Place Based Impact Acceleration Account: “Tay Health Tech” has released a call for proposals to support the translation of research into new health and care technologies. As Professor Sandy Cochran in the James Watt School of Engineering is a partner on Tay Health Tech the call is open to UofG researchers.

Applicants must be able to demonstrate the benefit to and application in the Tayside region. This could be through addressing an issue unique to Tayside, or common to the rest of Scotland or the UK, working with patients in Tayside, collaborating with business and/or industry in Tayside. While we recognise that Medtech for use in the health and social care system has the potential to impact more broadly than just Tayside, for projects to be eligible for this funding the impact in Tayside should be the primary benefit of the outcomes of the project, not secondary. If you have any questions regarding the eligibility of your project, please email TayHealthTech@hw.ac.uk.

Through a series of workshops, Tay Health Tech has identified four Grand Challenges:

Hospital at Home
Rehabilitation and prehabilitation
Testing
Prevention & Prognostics

Funding streams:

Up to £175,000 for projects lasting up to two years - they should be co-developed with end users to demonstrate technical and commercial feasibility. Projects must have proved the technical feasibility and market need for this funding option. Any collaborative partners should provide financial or in-kind support commensurate with the commercial opportunity.
Up to £50,000 for projects lasting up to six months - engagement with diverse patient groups, representative of the whole target population, is expected.

Important Dates:

Tuesday 28th January 2025, 2-3 pm– WEBINAR: potential partners for your project (register here)
Monday 17th February 2025, 1pm– Application deadline

Application process:

Support will be provided to triage proposal ideas, develop proposals or redirect ideas should they not align with the Tay Health Tech call. If you are interested in this call please email the Research Development Team at scieng-funding-news@glasgow.ac.uk indicating which funding stream you are interested in applying to, providing a *very* short description of your project ideas, and identify any partners you may have. We will then be back in touch. Full call details can be found at: Academia – TayHealthTech

Steve Bishop Collaboration for Innovation Early Career Award for Animal Science

This scholarship is aimed at those in the early part of their career as an animal scientist (postgraduate student or within three years of graduating with a PhD, or those working in commerce or industry with an equivalent level of experience without necessarily having a PhD).

Worth up to £5,000, the award is for specific short research programmes and/or training opportunities in the UK, overseas, with a new academic or industrial partner. The overall aim is to help support and develop a new partnership rather than a piece of work with a current partner or organisation. The successful fellows will have the opportunity to present the outcomes of their award(s) to leading figures from animal science and related sectors. In some circumstances the awards may be used to part-fund a project. Funds can be used in any relevant animal science sector.

The funding available is dependent upon the length of the visit. Applicants may request:

up to of £2,000 for projects up to 6 weeks
up to of £3,000 for projects up to 3 months
up to of £5,000 for projects up to 6 months

For more information on how to apply, please see the BSAS website for more information or contact awards@bsas.org.uk if you have any enquiries. Applications are accepted from both BSAS members and non-members. Please complete the on-line application form and return it by the application deadline of Friday 3rd January 2025.

Events and Workshops

RISE@UofG: Demystifying the Pitch

We are excited to invite you to our next RISE@UofG event on Monday, 27th January 2025, 4-6pm.

This session on “Demystifying the Pitch” will feature Sarah Hardy (Archangels) and Alex Lusty (Gabriel), alongside other investment experts, who will discuss the funding processes for new and aspiring start-up and spin-out founders at all points on their journey. You will have the chance to ask all the difficult questions and gain valuable insights into navigating the world of investment. The event, co-hosted by members of the university’s entrepreneurial teams, will conclude with a networking reception, including a buffet and beverages, for in-person attendees.

When: Monday 27th January 2025, 4-6 pm

Where: Advanced Research Centre (ARC), Room 237B and online

Booking Link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1110208346049

Skillfluence Connect to Collaborate Taster Session - Find your perfect R&D partner

Are you ready to develop collaborative R&D projects but lack the connections or confidence to engage with potential partners? Develop game-changing R&D projects with potential partners through Connect to Collaborate training.

Our training course Connect to Collaborate, developed in partnership with Skillfluence, will guide you through the process to help identify, and connect with potential partners.

The MVLS Partnerships team invites MVLS researchers to an online taster session for the programme on Wednesday 15th January 2025, 12 – 1pm. The taster session will introduce Skillfluence to showcase the full programme that will be covered and how you can apply, in addition to offering guidance on how to develop your own engagement plan. Please sign up to the taster session here. For more information, please click here.

Glasgow Science Festival 2025 - proposals deadline 13th Jan!

This is a reminder that Glasgow Science Festival proposals are open until Monday 13th January, we accept applications right up to the deadline so please feel free to submit your ideas now.

In 2025 the city of Glasgow turns 850 years old, the perfect excuse for a party! To mark the occasion, this year’s festival will run from the 5th to 15th June 2025 with the theme ‘Glasgow Celebrates’. We’re thinking party games, music and wanting to foster a feeling of excitement. Let’s explore the city’s culture, bring people together and share the best of research in a fun and informal way. This theme is widely open to your interpretation but as a guide, we want to celebrate all things Glasgow. From the growth of the city to the importance of the River Clyde. We want to celebrate the amazing scientific research being done here along with the people from past and present who have made all this possible. We are taking inspiration from the city coat of arms, which features an oak tree, robin, bell and two salmon, each with a ring in its mouth. Remembered by the poem:

Here's the tree that never grew, here’s the bird that never flew,

here’s the bell that never rang, here’s the fish that never swam.

We aren’t just celebrating Glasgow though. We warmly welcome colleagues from across Scotland and beyond, celebrating Scotland’s outstanding contribution to research, and the people behind it. Our partners have a very broad research base, so as always, please don’t worry if you have a great idea that doesn’t fit with the theme. Not all our activities will, and we would still want to hear from you. We will continue to offer our online content ‘Science on the Sofa’ throughout June. GSF is a STEAMS festival, encompassing Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, Mathematics and Social Science. Proposals from all fields are very welcome.

All information about the festival and how to submit your proposal can be found on our website . Proposals will remain open until Monday 13th January 2025.

A short video containing some highlights from the 2024 festival can be viewed on our YouTube channel Glasgow Science Festival 2024: Glasgow's Transforming (youtube.com). Looking forward to hearing your proposals! Any questions can be directed to sciencefestival@glasgow.ac.uk.

Introduction to Dr David Strain, Parliamentary Thematic Research Lead for Health

Dr David Strain (the Parliament's Thematic Research Lead for Health) is keen to hear about Health research that may be of interest to Parliament. There's a form for academics to fill out: If you would like to introduce yourself and your research to David, please fill out this form.

About Thematic Research Leads: they are prestigious and influential roles, designed in partnership with UKRI to facilitate and enhance the use of research evidence and expertise in Parliament through effective knowledge exchange and collaboration. Introducing yourself to the new TRLs is a great opportunity to be involved in their work. More information: Find out more about our Thematic Research Lead programme.

Intellectual Property (IP) Skills webinars

The highly popular webinar series on intellectual property is back with a new focus on IP skills. Find out more here. Last year we held a series of highly popular talks about the basics of intellectual property. This year we decided to shift focus onto practical skills that are essential for any innovative or entrepreneurial researcher.

Turning research outcomes into new businesses, products, and services is one of the primary ways in which the University of Glasgow delivers meaningful social, economic, and environmental impact beyond academia. IP is critical to this activity – many potential industrial partners and investors will only collaborate or provide funding with appropriate IP protection in place. This means IP is of enormous and growing importance for generating impact. This new series of talks will explore IP skills that are critical for generating impact: freedom to operate, prior art, IP discovery, IP safety, IP value, and IP strategy.

These talks will be led by highly experienced patent attorneys from Mewburn Ellis. Ample time will be devoted to questions and discussion. These talks are open to all members of the University community, but people who have not previously contacted the IP & Innovation Team are especially welcome. The next in this series of webinars will be held on Wednesday 8th January 2024, 12 - 1pm.

You can sign up for all the IP skills webinars in the series on these links:

#4 of 7: Niles Beadman will discuss IP discovery and capture. Get your free ticket here
#5 of 7: Sean Jauss will discuss ensuring the safety of your IP. Get your free ticket here
#6 of 7: Dan Thornton will discuss understanding IP value. Get your free ticket here
#7 of 7: Eleanor Maciver will explain what a commercially driven IP strategy is. Get your free ticket here

TRI Support

Clinical 1-to-1 drop-in sessions

The TRI are offering a translational research regulatory support scheme, aimed to provide interested researchers with personalised regulatory support from expert consultants. This initiative is funded by the Wellcome Trust and provides applicants with the opportunity to attend a 1-1 session with therapeutics and clinical device regulatory experts, who can provide tailored guidance and support on the regulatory requirements of clinical translational projects. Interested researchers are invited to submit a short application along with their questions to Dr Michaela Petaroudi, and successful applicants will be invited to attend an online meeting with the regulatory consultant. In case further support is needed, eligible researchers will be offered with the option to attend a follow-up session.

Who should attend? This event is open to all University of Glasgow research staff of all levels, who are actively involved in translational projects and have identified specific areas where regulatory support or advice is required.

When? Drop-in sessions are now available on-demand. Please email Dr Michaela Petaroudi to book or to register interest.

Case Studies and Information

Translational Case Studies

SITUATE - A situated digital platform for learning new health habits.
VascuSens - Self-reporting vascular graft development.

MVLS Informational Videos

Translational Research Initiative - A series of videos on aspects of translational research and what support is available at the University of Glasgow.