Research Impact and Parliament

My colleague Jacqueline Aldridge, co-author of The Research Funding Toolkit, attended a recent event hosted by the Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology (POST), which gave academic researchers an insight into how they can best contribute to the parliamentary process. 

Jacqueline kindly agreed to summarise the main points that arose from the day. Huge thanks to her for doing so, and do get in touch if you any questions arising from these.

ARMA Getting out of Here

Well excitement's mounting for the ARMA Conference next week. I hope to see some of you there: I'll be taking part in sessions on Key Performance Indicators with Jon Deer (lots of heckling for this, please), and on Using Social Media in Research Support with Adam Golberg, David Young and Julie Northam (heckling voluntary).

In addition I've teamed up with Jacqueline Aldridge to do a poster around the 'Grants Factory' concept. I've used my moribund cartooning skills to try and reinvigorate the lost art of the conference poster. Come along and see the real thing in all its g(l)ory.

If you tweet, the hashtag for the Conference is #arma2012, so you can join in virtually if you can't make it in person.

Research Funding Toolkit

My colleague Jacqueline Aldridge has collaborated with Prof Andrew Derrington (Executive PVC, Liverpool) to write a brilliant new handbook on how to prepare a successful grant application.

As I'm sure regular readers will know, drafting an application is no walk in the park, and it's easy to take rejection personally. This book gives you practical advice on how to structure and write a proposal so that it has the best chance of success. It offers hints and tips on understanding your audience, helping them to see the importance and urgency of your project, and making sure that your application stands out from the pile.

But enough sales talk. Have a look yourself. There's a sample chapter on the Amazon website, here. Jacqueline and Andrew have also set up a website, complete with blog, here.