Research England Launches 'Old MacDonald' Funding Suite

On the farm: E-I--E-I-O
(Photo by Stijn te Strake on Unsplash)

Regular readers will know that there's a special place in our hearts for funders and policymakers who use random letters of the alphabet to name their initiatives. The European Commission are past masters at this, realigning all of their thematic directorates to the letter P in February, and launching a '3 Os' agenda in 2016.

Not to be outdone, the newly-flush Research England is making great headway in getting on this bandwagon being a leader in this field. Keen eyed applicants may have noticed that their two most recent schemes, Expanding Excellence in England (E3) and International Investment Initiative (i3), are a bold and brave attempt to shoehorn a vaguely descriptive title into a single vowel.

Meanwhile, in Oslo...

Norway: Jealous.
(Photo by Mikita Karasiou on Unsplash)

As we glory in the sunny, post-Brexit uplands of Britannia resurgent, more evidence has reached us of the 'envy of less happier lands.'

The Norwegian parliament in Oslo is currently in deadlock over ways to fully split its people and cause disbelief, hilarity and ill-will amongst its closest neighbours. As we know, this is the aim of all governments, as it gives people something to talk about in the awkward downtime between seasons of Love Island and I'm a Celebrity.

Coping with Rejection

Rejection is an integral part of academic life. Whether you’re applying for jobs or for funding, submitting journal articles or book proposals, or putting yourself forward for promotion, academics need to develop a thick skin in order to survive and thrive.

But rejection need not be crushing. At last month’s Early Career Researcher Network we looked at strategies for overcoming it and support available for coping with it.