SECRE Fund 2022

We have a small pot of money – £9,500 – to award funds for PhD students and Early Career Researchers to go on short exchanges to companies or institutions in Europe or North America. These exchanges need to happen this year – the visit needs to happen and funds claimed by 31st December 2022 – so we realise this will be short notice to get something organised. A short report is also required once the exchange has happened, along with other conditions – see below.

Exchanges and funds reclaimed by 31st December 2022

The fund is open to all SINAPSE PhD and ECR Members at one of the partner universities.

Deadline for applications is 30th September 2022

Click here to download application form

Purpose

The purpose of the funding is to provide research training and development opportunities for doctoral students and early career researchers working within SINAPSE, while at the same time building experience of international collaboration with academia and/or industry.

Conditions of Award

The funding must be used to support doctoral students or Early Career Researcher exchanges in Europe or North America only. Each exchange must be for a minimum period of at least two weeks.

SINAPSE will select the candidates in an open competition from within the Pool.  Exchanges may build on existing or establish new collaborations.

*** Exchanges need to have taken place and funds claimed by Dec 31st 2022 ***

Criteria for selection will include:

  1. likely benefits to the research of the candidate (new skills, techniques likely to be acquired) as result of the exchange;
  2. likely benefits to the longer-term career of the doctoral student or Early Career Researcher as result of the exchange;
  3. evidence of wider benefits to the Pool as a result of the exchange; and
  4. prospects of sustained collaboration as a result of the exchange
  5. Exchange will happen and funds claimed by Dec 31st 2022

Each successful doctoral student or Early Career Researcher candidate may be the recipient of a single award only, up to a maximum value of £5,000.  Most of our exchanges in the past have been to universities but work with companies is particularly encouraged.

The funding must not be used for attendance at conferences, training seminars and the like.

Eligible costs are restricted to economy travel (flights and other transport to and from the host organization) and subsistence at the rate allowed by your institution (e.g. £60 day subsistence, £160 night hotel). The costs of the research are not eligible.

A two-page report will be required at the end of the exchange. We also require

  • Acknowledgements on any publications that transpire from the collaboration
  • A paper on the collaboration to be submitted to the next SINAPSE ASM

The candidate and proposer [senior research colleague] must both be members of SINAPSE – defined as someone who has a profile on the ‘People’ section of the SINAPSE website. The membership self-registration process can be completed at http://www.sinapse.ac.uk/@@join.

If assistance is needed with this, email richard.mosses@glasgow.ac.uk.

The funding is available only to SINAPSE members who belong to one of the seven partner Universities: Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, St. Andrews, Stirling, and Strathclyde.

***  The deadline for submission of applications is 30th September 2022  ***