Book now at ienrol research to access Flinders’ researcher training and development opportunities. Workshops, information sessions, seminars and drop-in sessions aim to provide ongoing development and support to all researchers.

Key workshops in the next three weeks include:
   Animal Researcher Information Session - ResearchNow Ethics & Biosafety;
   Covidence - Systematic review webinar - Flinders Library
plus scheduled drop-in sessions that enable you to meet and work directly with our RDS teams.

Click on the links below to view the course details.

Animal Researcher Information Session - ResearchNow Ethics & Biosafety, Friday 22 November 2019

Covidence - Systematic review webinar, Monday 25 November 2019

Animal Researcher Information Session - ResearchNow Ethics & Biosafety, Monday 25 November 2019 

Drop-In Sessions: Industry, Government, International & Internal grants, Tuesday 26 November 2019

Drop-In Session: NHMRC and Health grants, Wednesday 27 November 2019

Drop-In Sessions: ARC grants, Monday 2 December 2019

Drop-In Session: NHMRC and Health grants, Wednesday 4 December 2019

Further courses scheduled for later in the month and beyond are available at ienrol research.

The NHMRC 8th Annual NHMRC Symposium on Research Translation was held in Melbourne, from 19-20 November 2019. The symposium reflected on how we might optimise the use of health and medical research data, to inform health care policy and practice. The social, ethical and legal issues in the context of health data was also a focus.

The closing session at the Symposium was a panel discussion, facilitated by Professor Fred Watson, Australia’s first Astronomer-at-Large, and featured panel members, Professor Louisa Jorm, Ms Lauren Solomon and Dr Phillip Gould. The topic will be ‘Health and medical research data: who owns it, who is doing what with it, do you know about it and does it matter?’ The Plenary session is available for viewing on the 2019 Symposium webpage.

The NHMRC has hosted an annual symposium since 2012. Each year, more than 300 delegates have participated, comprising NHMRC's community of researchers and others with an interest in the creation and use of research evidence, to share information and experiences, and to be challenged by new ideas.

In the coming weeks, all the plenary sessions will be available for viewing via the Symposium website.

The inaugural Flinders’ internal Health Research Showcase, will highlight the excellent capacity and capability that exists in health research throughout the University and awaken multi-disciplinary collaboration potential within our University.

Spanning clinical, medical, nursing, allied health, psychology, bio-science, public health, rural and remote health, engineering, digital health, health services through to health policy, you will hear about research that is making a difference. Join us to connect and explore opportunities to work together in developing health solutions that can have an positive impact on peoples’ lives.

On Monday 16 December at Alere, this half day event will improve visibility of Flinders' health research activities and develop synergies across all Colleges and health-related research Institutes.

The showcase will feature an expert panel discussing existing collaborative research activities, outlining the secrets behind a successful collaboration, and the benefits, outcomes and impact of their work.

Also featuring spotlight presentations from each of our Colleges to highlight health-related activities and capabilities. 

Lunch will be provided as well as an opportunity to network with health colleagues to further explore potential collaboration following the Showcase.

Register for attendance at Eventbrite by 5 pm Monday 9 December (Registration is essential).

The event is open to all Flinders staff and clinical affiliates involved in health research, or with the potential to work across collaborative health related disciplines. Please share amongst your networks.

The Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) have announced the opening of the Clinical Trials Activity (Rare Cancers, Rare Diseases and Unmet Need (RCRDUN)) Initiative.

The initiative aims to reinforce Australia’s position as a preferred destination for clinical trials by supporting new opportunities for clinical trial participation and associated benefits from accessing the latest research by members of the Australian community living with a medical condition for which there are limited effective treatment options. 

There are four separate opportunities open under RCRDUN initiative across the following areas:

• Rare Cancers, Rare Diseases and Unmet Need 
• Childhood Brain Cancer 
• Neurological Disorders 
• Reproductive Cancers 

Attention is given to under-researched health priorities and conditions, with funding across these areas expected to support the deployment and use of innovative trial designs and recruitment strategies to provide high-quality evidence of the efficacy of new health treatments, drugs and devices in addition to the Implementation of new health treatments, drugs and devices to improve health and wellbeing. Further information on the rationale of the initiative can be found on the Department of Health website.

Applications must be submitted electronically using NHMRC’s online Research Grants Management System (RGMS) with Minimum data for applications is due 22 January 2020. Applications close 5 February 2020, with deadline for certification in RGMS by 4 February 2020. If you are intending to apply, contact the NHMRC team in Research Development and Support (RDS) for information on application support and deadline for compliance review. 

The Grant Guidelines for the Linkage Program (2019): Linkage Projects for funding applied for in 2020 and the Grant Guidelines for the Linkage Program (2019): Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities for funding commencing in 2021 are now available on GrantConnect.

Key dates for these schemes have been updated on the ARC Timelines available on the Flinders' ARC funding schemes page.

Forecast Opportunity View LP2020

Forecast Opportunity View LE2021 

For further information regarding eligibility, please see the ARC website.

The Heart Foundation have released their 2020 awards calendar.

See below for information on the awards available and the opening and closing dates, including Flinders internal closing dates.

Partnership Engagement Grants

Partnership Engagement Grants enable researchers to partner with the Heart Foundation to apply to NHMRC, ARC and other funding bodies, for large-scale cardiovascular research projects. Success in this grant provides the applicant partnership support when applying for the large-scale funding.

The program is predominantly aimed at NHMRC Partnerships for Better Health Projects (Partnership Projects) and ARC Linkage Projects, however other partnership grant types will be considered. By partnering with the Heart Foundation, researchers benefit from association with a large, reputable organisation that will enhance their ability to attract further funding. The award provides financial, reputational and in-kind support. A successful application would be one that aligns with the Heart Foundation’s strategy, priorities and values. 

The grants are open to all researchers with cardiovascular research projects of interest to the Heart Foundation and all applications must have the support of a Heart Foundation representative. If you do not have the support of a Heart Foundation representation, you will be unable to submit your application. 

Round One applications open on 27 January 2020 and close 20 March 2020. The Flinders internal closing date for a completed final draft application is 6 March 2020.

Round Two applications open on 15 June 2020 and close on 31 July 2020. The Flinders internal closing date for a completed final draft application is 17 July 2020.

Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Awards

This award is to provide grant funding for research groups and/or individuals conducting research in the cardiovascular health sphere/community. Projects are expected to produce tangible outcomes with the potential of creating high impact change in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cardiovascular health research community, whilst also providing a capacity building opportunity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff and/or students.

Applicants will be required to demonstrate how the requested funding will benefit both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and/or communities, as well as how it will benefit the development of knowledge for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cardiovascular health management. 

Applications open on 10 February 2020 and close on 3 April 2020. The Flinders internal closing date for a completed final draft application is 20 March 2020.

Health Professional Scholarships

Health Professional Scholars are established health professionals who have become active in research through the undertaking of a PhD. Applicants will be encouraged to continue their cardiovascular health practice during their PhD, whilst being encouraged to develop evidence-based health practice and research translation. 

Health professionals who have a strong research background are uniquely placed to champion and lead the translation of research into practice, with the potential to produce immediate health outcomes. 

Applications open on 3 February 2020 and close on 27 March 2020.

Vanguard Grant

Vanguard Grants are available to researchers for concept studies with the potential to improve cardiovascular health in the short term. They are designed to test the feasibility of innovative concepts. It is anticipated that a funded Grant may lead to larger, more rigorous testing in the future. The projects will provide tangible outcomes with the potential to improve cardiovascular health. 

To be eligible, an applicant must be involved in any area of cardiovascular health research including biomedical, clinical, public health and health service delivery and only one application per applicant (Chief Investigator A only) is allowed.

Applicant can apply for funding for up to two years, with up to $75,000 of funding per year.

Applications open on 24 February 2020 and close on 24 April 2020. The Flinders internal closing date for a completed final draft application is 8 April 2020.

Future Leader Fellowships

Future Leader Fellows are emerging leaders, the best and brightest in cardiovascular research. Being awarded a fellowship will allow a researcher to build their research capacity as they become leaders of research groups.

The fellowship funds a generous salary along with project funding, to facilitate high impact research outcomes and assist researchers in leveraging funds from further sources to help support their career.

Applications open on 2 March 2020 and close on 1 May 2020. The Flinders internal closing date for a completed final draft application is 17 April 2020.

Postdoctoral Fellowships

Postdoctoral Fellows are early-career cardiovascular health researchers, developing research skills and independence. This fellowship is the first step in fostering tomorrows research leaders, developing the sustainability of cardiovascular research in Australia. 

Fellows must be in their first three years post awarding of their PhD on the application closing date and be involved in any area of cardiovascular health research including biomedical, clinical, public health and health service delivery. 

Applications open on 16 March 2020 and close on 15 May 2020. The Flinders internal closing date for a completed final draft application is 1 May 2020.

Collaboration and Exchange Awards

Open to Heart Foundation funded scholars or fellows, this award provides an opportunity to visit national or international research facilities to collaborate and share knowledge. 
Recipients have the opportunity to exchange innovative ideas, knowledge and skills, and to further and strengthen their activity and career. 

Award will cover up to $5,000 to support activities for up to 6 months.

Applications open on 6 July 2020 and close 14 August 2020. The Flinders internal closing date for a completed final draft application is 31 July 2020.

For advice and application assistance on ay of the above opportunities, contact Gareth Rees, Senior Research Grants Officer (NHMRC and Health), Research Development and Support.

For more information, visit the Heart Foundation website.

Purdue University Archives and Special Collections, a division of Purdue University Libraries, offers competitive Research Travel Grants for visiting scholars.

The purpose of these grants is to support the research of scholars (faculty, students, and independent researchers) whose research cannot progress satisfactorily without consulting materials onsite. One or more grants of up to USD $2,000 will be awarded to individual scholars studying one or more subjects represented in Archives and Special Collections' collections.

Intended to support research using the collections as a historical resource, the grants require the onsite use of at least one of the Archives and Special Collections' rare or unique collections. Rare book collections include the history of engineering, science, and transportation (Goss Library of the History of Engineering), the history of economics and political thought (Krannert Special Collection), and the history of typography and book design (Bruce Rogers Collection). Preference will be given to applicants needing funds to travel from out of state or out of the country and who plan to publish or publicly disseminate the scholarly results of their research.

For onsite visits between April 1 and October 31, the deadline for applications is 7 January 2020. The Flinders internal closing date for a completed final draft application is 17 December 2019. For application advice and assistance, contact Mary Lyons, Senior Research Grants Officer (IGII).

For more information, including the application process and eligibility to apply, and the collections available, visit the Purdue University website.

To better support applicants and assist the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) and Research Development and Support (RDS) to manage the ARC Linkage Infrastructure Equipment and Facilities (LIEF) round for LE21, the RDS is calling for Expressions of Interest (EOI) from researchers who are intending to lodge an application to the ARC for the upcoming LE21 round.

The EOIs are due by Wednesday, 5 February 2020. As LIEF funding requires cash contributions from collaborating parties, a co-investment approval from the relevant College and the DVC(R) will also be required.

The EOI and co-investment form and information on the process for ARC applications at Flinders is available on the Flinders' ARC schemes page.

Please note that the EOI and Co-Investment Application Form are required regardless of whether the lead Institution is Flinders or another university.

Key dates for LE21 are:

For Stage 1 – LIEF bids led by Flinders University and other organisations, EOI to be submitted to RDS and their relevant College by Wednesday, 5 February 2020.

The College will consider LE21 EOIs and advises which bids are supported by Wednesday, 19 February 2020.

The DVCR will review College supported bids and makes his final decision on University contribution by no later than Wednesday, 4 March 2020.

For Stage 2 – LE21 Full Application Submission, LE21 applications are to be submitted to RDS for review with:

• Completed Flinders University certification form
• Signed ARC written evidence form for CIs and PI
• Signed ARC written evidence form for other organisations confirming cash and in-kind contributions, where possible, by Wednesday, 11 March 2020.

Submission ready LE21 application are to be submitted to RDS via RMS, with signed ARC written evidence form for other organisations confirming cash and in-kind contributions by no later than Wednesday, 25 March 2020.

Applications will close in RMS on 1 April 2020.

For more information, or application assistance, contact the ARC team in RDS via arc@flinders.edu.au.

The Australian Research Council's (ARC) Implementing Arrangement with the European Research Council (ERC) will provide opportunities for ARC funded early career researchers to travel to Europe to temporarily join ERC funded researchers and research teams. 

The initial stage of the process will entail ERC grantees expressing an interest in hosting ARC funded early career researchers. A list of interested ERC grantees will be provided to the ARC to distribute information on the opportunities to ARC eligible organisations.

The onus will be on eligible Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) recipients to follow up directly with the ERC grantees. 

Only those DECRA recipients whose award is closely aligned with an ERC funded research project will be eligible to participate in collaborations identified under the arrangement.

Additional ARC funding will not be provided through this initiative. Visiting DECRA recipients may be incorporated into the research teams of the ERC funded Principal Investigators (at the Host Institution of the ERC projects) for the duration of the visit, so that any relevant expenses can be claimed under the ERC grants, supporting the team and the activity as outlined in the Implementing Arrangement.

Researchers who are planning to apply for a DECRA could consider if there are research teams funded by the ERC which might be appropriate for collaboration opportunities if their application was successful.

For further advice, please contact the ARC team at Research Development and Support.

Flinders Microscopy and Microanalysis (FMMA) now encompasses instruments across both the College of Science and Engineering and the College of Medicine and Public Health. Their continual aim is to improve the experience and the research outcomes of Flinders staff and students who their our facility and services. 

To ensure that they maintain their high standard of services, FMMA technical staff are available to assist users with training, experimental design, specimen preparation, data collection, processing, analysis, and report writing.

A sample of the types of instruments and services available include:

• light microscopy and sample preparation capabilities provide a range of imaging solutions, ideal for imaging cells and other biological samples. Access to equipment for sample preparation and labelling or staining is also available.
• a suite of instruments can provide information about surface and interfaces with unparalleled chemical sensitivity and nanoscale spatial resolution. FMMA offers a range of materials characterisation services and access to advanced instrumentation.

To streamline user access and training for their core facilities, they have new user induction forms. Please contact the relevant instrument facility manager with any questions regarding the forms.

In order to access an instrument, the first step would be to get in touch with FMMA – the team of instrument leaders and technical staff will be able to help select the best approach and can also help with any training requirements for new users.

Following an extensive review of FMMA fees and charges they have simplified the internal billing process across all instrumentation. From October 2019 they moved to a monthly billing cycle. This ensures that one internal bill for usage across all FMMA equipment is received at the end of each month. 

The Spencer Foundation's Research-Practice Partnership (RPP) Grants Program is intended to support education research projects that engage in collaborative and participatory partnerships with project budgets up to USD $400,000 and durations of up to three years. Intent to Apply forms are accepted once a year for this program.

The Spencer Foundation views partnerships as an important approach to knowledge generation and the improvement of education, broadly construed. Over the long term, they anticipate that research conducted by RPPs will result in new insights into the processes, practices, and policies that improve education for students, educators, schools, universities, families, and communities.

Proposals to the Research-Practice Partnership program must be for research and other activities aimed to support collaborative partnerships between academic researcher(s) and a broad array of practitioner(s) of education.

Principal Investigators (PIs) and Co-PIs applying for a Research-Practice Partnership Grant are expected to have an earned doctorate in an academic discipline or professional field, or demonstrated professional experience appropriate for this program. Note: If the PI or Co-PI from the practice side of the partnership does not have an earned doctorate, they are expected to have appropriate professional experience to serve in this role in the partnership. 

The Spencer Foundation does not award grants directly to individuals. The PI associated with the administering organisation for this grant could be either the practitioner or researcher of the partnership. At least one Co-PI should be from the other member organisation(s).

The Intent to Apply closes on 8 January 2020. The internal closing date for a completed final draft of the Intent to Apply is 18 December 2019. For application advice and assistance, contact Mary Lyons, Senior Research Grants Officer (IGII).

For more information, visit the Spencer Foundation website.

The Houghton Library at Harvard University supports research opening new perspectives on its collections.

The Visiting Fellowship program offers scholars at all stages of their careers funding to pursue projects that require in-depth research on the library’s holdings, draw on staff expertise, and participate in intellectual life at Harvard.

Houghton also provides fellows with access to other libraries at the University, and opportunities to exchange knowledge and promote their research through its publications, and scholarly and public programs.

Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse amount of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

The library particularly welcomes proposals that reexamine its collections through a global lens and/or demonstrate how the holdings of a rare book and manuscript library can contribute to discourse around contemporary social, political, and cultural issues. New fellowships on gender and sexuality studies in the performing arts, and early modern black lives underscore Houghton's commitment to diversifying perspectives on our collections.

Fellows receive a $3,600 stipend and are expected to be in residence at Houghton for at least four weeks within their fellowship year (July through June), though these do not have to be consecutive weeks.

The application deadline for 2020-2021 fellowships is Friday, 17 January 2020. The Flinders internal closing date for a completed final draft application is 3 January 2020. For application advice and assistance, Mary Lyons, contact Research Grants Officer (IGII).

Please note that due to the Houghton Library building renovation, the fellowship year will start later than usual, running from September 2020 through June 2021.

For more information, visit the Houghton Library website.

Visiting health economist with the University of York, UK, Professor Richard Cookson will share an overview of his research at a Health Translation SA and SAHMRI event next month. 

Professor Richard Cookson is a professor at the Centre for Health Economics at the University of York and has co-chaired various international working groups on equity, and his UK public service includes working in the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit and serving on NICE advisory committees and the NHS Advisory Committee for Resource Allocation.

He has helped to pioneer “equity-informative” methods of health policy analysis including methods of distributional cost-effectiveness analysis, methods of health equity monitoring for healthcare quality assurance, and methods for investigating public concern for reducing health inequality. 

The 11 December event, organised by Health Translation SA and SAHMRI’s Aboriginal Health Equity Theme, will be split into a forum in the morning, and a workshop into the afternoon, exploring the role of equity-informative health economics evaluations to support service and policy decision making.

The morning’s forum will be held in the SAHMRI auditorium from 8.45 – 11.15 am. Professor Cookson will share an overview of his research on equity informative economic enquiry. Exploring the nature and role of equity-informative health economic evaluations, he will discuss important gaps in the evidence base for reducing health inequalities.

A panel conversation will then consider the important of equity in health, and the opportunities and next steps for SA.

A workshop will then be held from 11:15am – 4pm a to explore the potential for developing and applying equity-informative evaluations in SA.

Register for the forum and workshop at the Eventbrite page.

The Heilbronn Institute for Mathematical Research is offering a number of grants of up to £7.5K to fund focused research groups to work on adventurous and challenging mathematical problems, or to discuss important new developments in mathematics.

These grants will support travel and local expenses for groups to come together to focus intensively on a problem or to discuss a significant new development in mathematics.

The Institute expects these groups to be normally 8 or fewer people. Groups are encouraged to include international participants but should also involve a substantial UK-based component.

Proposals from these areas of research, interpreted broadly, will be given priority:

• Pure Mathematics,
• Probability and Statistics, and
• Quantum Information.

Proposals are to be received by Thursday 16 January 2020. The Flinders internal closing date is 2 January 2020 for a completed final draft application. For application advice and assistance, contact Mary Lyons, Senior Research Grants Officer (IGII).

For more information, visit the Heilbronn Institute for Mathematical Research website.

The Playford Memorial Trust, together with a range of industry partners and all three SA universities, is offering 30 tertiary scholarships for the 2020 academic year. The aim is to help students make the most of their studies, achieve their potential and contribute to the State’s knowledge and research base. 

Each year, the Trust and its partners across industry, government, the education sector and the community provide close to $500,000 in scholarships, internships and awards to university undergraduates, Honours, Masters, and PhD students. 

To be eligible for a Playford Trust scholarship, the student applicant must be an Australian citizen or a holder of a permanent resident visa, and resident in South Australia. For some scholarships they must be an Australian citizen. Check the selection criteria for the each scholarship to ensure eligibility.

The Trust also has the requirement that the applicant intends to spend a significant part of their career in SA, or be likely to provide a benefit to the State.

The scholarships on offer in 2020 include: 

• Regional Science and Engineering scholarships to help 1st year students with the expense of relocating to Adelaide.
• Honours and 4th year scholarships covering a wide range of subjects. Some provide the opportunity to work with industry partners to develop specific research.
• A new Master of Teaching available to a student commencing at Flinders University, who meets the entry criteria for teaching physics and or mathematics at secondary level.
• PhD scholarships for longer-term research focusing on the Trust’s priority areas – all of strategic importance to South Australia.

Details of all scholarships (and links to their new online application platform) can be found under the Scholarships tab on the Playford Trust website. 

The Bupa Health Foundation (Foundation) is seeking to invest $1 million in an alliance of organisations who collectively have the capacity and capability to deliver research that leads to improvements in the Mental Health and Wellbeing for children and adolescents (4-17 years).

Expressions of Interests (EOIs) for research that meet their criteria and is likely to deliver clear benefits to the mental health of the Australian community are being invited.

The Foundation believes there is great value in bringing together diverse teams to solve complex problems and as such is looking to fund applications from an alliance of organisations that will call upon their breadth of understanding, experiences and skills to deliver an innovative and bold research project.

Proposals should represent an alliance that brings together diverse research partners. This should include different organisation types (i.e. private, public, academic, community or government), disciplines (i.e. within health, education, economics and social sciences) and perspectives (i.e. prevention, treatment, consumers, providers).

$1 million (exclusive of GST) is available for allocation. As the Foundation is looking to fund a research alliance delivering outcome-driven research we anticipate that this grant will support 1 to 2 projects depending on scope and budget for applications received. Funding will commence in 2020 and will be allocated over a funding period of up to two years depending on the agreed project timeline and milestones.

The 2019 Foundation Grants Program has a two-stage evaluation process. In Stage One the Foundation is seeking EOIs to participate in the Program. This will include information on the organisations who will make up the research alliance as well as a high-level overview of the proposed research and its expected impact on improving mental health for children and adolescents.

If you require any assistance bringing together diverse research partners for the stage one EOIs, please let the Research Grants and Tenders team know your intention to apply by the 27 November 2019. To expidate this process, please provide the following information to the team:

• Names and types of partner organisation (i.e. private, public, academic, community or government)
• Disciplines (i.e. within health, education, economics and social sciences)
• Perspectives (i.e. prevention, treatment, consumers, providers).

Stage one EOIs are to be submitted via the online webform by 5pm (AEDT) Friday 20 December 2019. The Flinders internal closing date for a completed final draft EOI is 6 December 2019. For application advice and assistance, contact Rupali Saikia, Research Grants Officer (IGII).

A downloadable working template of the online form and the guidelines are available at the Foundation's website.

If an initial EOI is successful, stage two applicants will be notified the week commencing Monday 27 January 2020. Successful applicants will be invited to complete the full Request for Proposal (RFP). This will include a presentation to the Grant Evaluation Committee in Sydney in the week commencing 16 March 2020.