This week a new budget estimator tool has been released to Flinders’ research community, with the aim to assist researchers prepare budgets for tied / competitive research grants, including category 1 grants and other research where budgets are to be calculated on direct research costs.

Benefits of using the tied/competitive research budget estimator tool include that: calculations encompass direct salary costs; on-cost rates can be easily adjusted; budget totals are summarised and available as both financial year or calendar year totals.

Hosted on the Flinders’ RDS website, this downloadable interactive tool systematically steps users through research budget considerations and construction.

Also accessible is the budget estimator tool for commissioned research, launched in February this year and developed to assist Flinders’ researchers to prepare budgets for commissioned / contract research, research tenders or consultancies.

• Commissioned or contract research includes Category 2 & 3 research such as Request for Tenders, Quotes and other commissioned research. The budget is usually costed on commercial terms and research is often eligible (in full or part) for Higher Education Research Data Collection (HERDC) purposes.
• Consultancies are when individual staff contract to provide their expertise to a third party on commercial terms. Note that consultancies can be counted as HERDC research income if it satisfies the definition of research.

Together these two budget estimator tools will enable ease of costing for research and consultancies by our research community.

If you require assistance in preparing a budget using this Budget Tool, please contact your local College Research Support staff.

If you experience difficulties using the tool, or require technical assistance please contact the Research Grants Team.

The newly released budget estimator for tied / competitive research grants is currently in beta testing so if you have any feedback please email research.grants@flinders.edu.au.

The National Health and Medical Research Council CEO, Professor Anne Kelso, will give a presentation via video conference on the peer review processes, outcomes and learnings from the first round of the new Investigator Grants scheme at the SAHMRI Auditorium on Wednesday 4 September 2019. 
There will then be an opportunity for feedback, questions and discussion.

Facilitated by Professor Steve Wesselingh, this session is open to and will be relevant to both researchers and research support staff.

When: Wednesday 4 September

Time: 3:30pm – 4:30pm

Where: SAHMRI Auditorium, North Tce, Adelaide

JDRF invites applications for grants of up to $2,000 for domestic travel or up to $4,000 for international travel to research institutions or scientific meetings, for the purpose of furthering the researcher’s expertise in the study of Type 1 Diabetes.

Travel grant applications are considered in two funding rounds each year, and travel must occur after the date of cut-off for consideration and before the next round’s deadline.

Timelines for the funding rounds are as follows:

Cut off for Consideration

• Round 2, 2019 5:00pm AEST – Wednesday 18 September 2019
• Round 1, 2020 5:00pm AEST – Monday 20 April 2020
• Round 2, 2020 5:00pm AEST – Monday 5 October 2020
  

There are three categories of application as follows:

• Early-stage researcher
• Mid-career researcher
• Allied Health/Nursing

The applicant must be committed to the mission of JDRF to prevent, treat and cure type 1 diabetes and its complications.

For more information and to apply, visit the JDRF website. For application advice and assistance, contact Amanda Wright, Research Grants Officer (NHMRC and Health).

Flinders University Library is pleased to be hosting Professor Ginny Barbour, Director of the Australasian Open Access Strategy Group (AOASG). Professor Barbour will lead three workshops to provide insight and context into Open Access. 

Professor Barbour has a distinguished career in publishing and academia in addition to her internationally renowned open access advocacy work. She is the current Chair of the Committee on Publication Ethics, former Chief Editor of PLOS Medicine, former Medicine and Biology Editorial Director PLOS and former Medicine Editorial Director PLOS and former Senior Editor of the Lancet. 

The AOASG is a national leader in open access scholarly communications particularly in advocacy, collaboration, and building capacity with Australian and New Zealand to advance open access. 

All Flinders staff and HDRs are welcome to join any of the sessions below, on 4 September:

The Changing Publishing Landscape & the drivers for change, 10am, ENROL

• Overview of international trends in scholarly publishing 
• The international publishing landscape with reference to the drivers for change (Read & publish deals, Plan S)
• What are Read & publish deals, Plan S, open data, and more
• Pre-prints and the citation advantage
• Open discussion and Q&A

An Australian perspective on open access, current landscape and future directions (ARC & NHMRC policy), 12pm, ENROL

• Grants & Open Access in relation to the ARC & NHMRC
• Current landscape & future directions
• Open access in Australia
• Open discussion and Q&A

The 21st Century Academic: Smart, Savvy and Social - Workshop, Activities, Demos and Networking, 3pm, ENROL

Flinders Library together with Prof Barbour

• Open access in Australian Universities
• Open access at Flinders University
• Data, software, OERs, IP, & bibliometrics considerations
• Demonstration in ResearchNow – Flinders’ new research information management system.
• Activities & networking
  

The Flinders University grant application support scheme for ARC Linkage grants is now open.

Subject to submission by the internal deadline, University Research Budget and College co-funding of up to a maximum of $20K pa for a maximum of three years is available, if the application to the ARC is successful.

Overall, the Flinders’ contribution can be a maximum of 20% of the external funding (combined ARC request and industry commitment) that comes specifically to Flinders University.

Applicants need to provide a submission-ready application to Research Development and Support by the internal deadline - 2 September 2019, together with a signed and completed co-investment form.

For advice, contact the ARC team at Flinders via email: arc@flinders.edu.au.

More information on other Flinders Grant Application Support schemes is available on the Flinders' website.

Three of Flinders’ superstars of science communication will represent the University at a South Australian Museum event to celebrate and share the state’s fascinating research.

‘Short Stories from Tall Poppies: A Night of Science’, on 4 September 2019, will feature some of SA’s best and brightest young scientists who have won Young Tall Poppy Science Awards.

Each Tall Poppy has just three minutes to share their story and take the audience on a journey of discovery, who will then vote for a People’s Choice Award winner.

For more information and to register to attend, see the Flinders newsdesk article.

WOMEESA is calling for women in earth, environmental and atmospheric sciences to nominate themselves for a database of women working in Australasia in those disciplines.

The database aims to provide a resource for people who are looking for women in those disciplines to speak at conferences, apply for jobs, work with media outlets on science stories, and more.

WOMEESA aims to create a unified Australasian network of women working in Earth and Environmental Sciences in academia, government and industry, and was formed during the Inaugural Dorothy Hill Women in Earth Sciences Symposium (Nov 2017).

Women in these research areas are invited to add their information to populate the database.

The Foundation for High Blood Pressure Research is funding transition grants for early career postdoctoral researchers in the field of hypertension and blood pressure research.

Individual research grants are available to researchers with no more than 5 years postdoctoral experience, and valued up to $20,000.

As early postdoctoral period can be a time of change in physical location or direction of research or a major career interruption, help with research during such stages of transition can facilitate career continuity and progression.

Researchers in new environments as a result of returning from overseas, going overseas, moving interstate or locally or returning from major career interruption would be considered for these grants. 

The Foundation normally will support 3 or 4 transition grants each year. Individual grants will be valued up to $20,000 for research. 

The closing date for application is Friday 8 November 2019. The Flinders internal closing date is 1 November 2019 for a completed final draft application. For application advice and assistance, contact Amanda Wright, Research Grants Officer (NHMRC and Health).

Please read the Information for Applicants and the Application Form for further details, which are available at The Foundation's website.

The Hospital Research Foundation (THRF) is pleased to invite applications for their 2019 Project Grant Round.

THRF’s Project Grants are available to support medical researchers at all career stages and for all types of medical research (basic science, clinical science and public health).

The grants are designed to support creative and innovative research projects or ideas that address a specific problem or question.

This round is divided into two streams: an Early Career and an Experienced stream. Please refer to the guidelines for more details.

Applications will close at 4pm Wednesday 25 September 2019. The Flinders internal closing date is 11 September 2019 for a completed final draft application. For application advice and assistance, contact Amanda Wright, Research Grants Officer (NHMRC and Health).

Please visit the THRF website for more information: https://www.hospitalresearch.com.au/research/grants/grant-rounds/project-grant-round-open.

Are you or someone that you know, one of Australia’s brightest minds who has PhD research that could change the world?

Amplify Ignite is your opportunity to move one step closer by pitching your research project to a live business audience in 150 seconds and win research funding.

AMP Amplify Ignite brings academia and business together, offering students a unique opportunity to receive professional coaching and mentoring over two days, to equip them with the right tools and skills to support their ongoing development and research.

Finalists have a unique opportunity to receive professional coaching and mentoring over two days (1 - 2 October 2019), equipping them with the skills needed to win. A total prize pool of $26,000 includes $5,000 for the overall winner, and $1,000 for the People’s choice award. 

Open to all PhD students who are currently enrolled at an Australian tertiary institution or have recently completed research (within 6 months) of the application opening date (31 July 2019).

Applications close 1 September 2019. The pitch-night will be held on 13 November 2019 in Sydney.

For applications, visit Amplify Ignite online.

Vacancies exist for volunteer Community Representatives on our Animal Welfare Committee.

People not employed by Flinders University, and who have never been involved in the use of animals in scientific or teaching activities, are encouraged to apply.

Please contact Dr Alison Elder, Animal Ethics Officer, for further details T: (08) 8201 5962, email: animal.welfare@flinders.edu.au.

Flinders is committed to maintaining the highest ethical standards in our research activities.