UKRI Delivery Plan Top Trumps

For us research policy nerds, the past week has been like Christmas. Each of the constituent parts of UK Research and Innovation, as well as the all seeing eye that watches over them, have all produced their Delivery Plans.

These flesh out the - ahem -  'Strategic Prospectus', which was published last year. How long are these valid for? Well, that's moot, but at least until the next Comprehensive Spending Review (so 2019-20) after which it will 'update our 'near-term actions' to reflect the financial years covered in the SR.'

Having his 'Cake'

After the summer break, welcome back. We're back with a bang and a brand new lookalike. Over at the subsection of the UKRI behemoth that deals with creative types, the AHRC, a new Director of Research took the helm before the summer.

Yes,Chris Morris, the former presenter of The Day Today, the seminal take on rolling news coverage in the 1990s, is back. Taking satire to a whole new level, the new show will poke fun at the insanity of modern quangoery, and in particular life inside a nine-headed pushmi-pullyu.

Any similarity to Edward Harcourt is, of course, entirely coincidental and completely outrageous.

Dude, Who's Got My Twitter?

@NIHR, apparently. Or possibly a forgotten Britpop band

It's a fast moving world in the Twittersphere, and you have to be quick to bag the Twitter handle that is, well, your birthright. Some, such as @BBSRC, were super sharp and got theirs [shame they won't be around much longer - Ed], although that might be more down to the implausibility of any other person/organisation having that acronym. But what about others who were - um - a bit slower or have common arconyms? Dude, who's got my Twitter?

The Joy of Six

Life on Quality St: the three speakers in action

The ‘Essential Elements of a Successful Application’ workshop is like the purple one in Quality Street: it’s a perennial favourite. We’ve been running variations on it since we began the Grants Factory in 2009, and there is always a good turnout and a stimulating discussion. I’ve written up some notes from previous sessions here, here, here and here (I could go on). Friday’s iteration was no different.

Figures behind the Figures: Prof Paul Allain

Each term I feature a different Kent award winner in the Research Services newsletter, looking at their research and discussing their career path and funding track record. Earlier in the year I featured Prof John Batchelor. Dr This time the spotlight falls on Prof Paul Allain in the School of Arts.  

Few can say that they cut their research teeth by slipping under the Berlin Wall in the 1980s to join a Polish theatre group travelling to the provinces to perform. But Paul Allain, Professor of Theatre and Performance, did just that.

He had been a jobbing actor in London, but had signed up to do a PhD at Goldsmiths to explore the physical performance styles for which Polish theatre was known at the time. He subsequently worked as a movement director, using knowledge gained from his training with actors such as Jude Law and Simon Russell Beale.

Beyond Its Natural End

Jes. No, not that one. 

When I was working at the Arts and Humanities Research Council a colleague was given the task of preparing procedures to revolutionise the application system.

“What, we’re going to share a common application form with all the other councils? With the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council? With the Medical Research Council?” I asked.

“Yes”, she answered simply. And while I scoffed, and was sceptical about the potential for the artists and lone scholars of the arts and humanities to find common ground with engineers and scientists, she was vindicated by history.

In 2002 the Joint Electronic Submission (Je-S) system was born. At first people were horrified. It was just so...complicated. It seemed to ask for the same information multiple times. And all those attachments. But over the years people have become, if not exactly fond, then at least accepting of it.

But it has begun to show its age. Last autumn the research councils announced that they were going to replace the creaking system. “Je-S is no longer a viable product,” they admitted. “It has come to a natural end and this is a fantastic opportunity to design a smarter, simpler, more user-friendly service in line with the latest digital standards.” Say what you like about the research councils, but they are wonderfully optimistic.

Generating Priorities

Deep in the heart of Death Star House, RCUK
workers tirelessly adjust the settings for the Priority Generator

Sometimes, calls for thematic programmes make complete sense. Sometimes they sort of make sense, once you dig a little deeper. Sometimes they make no sense at all.

It was the last category that prompted me to develop the Research Council Priority Generator for my blog. It was a tongue-in-cheek look at how the funders seem to jam together apparently random and often conflicting ideas to create new themes. The generator would give you Nanotechnology and Remembrance, for instance, or Progress towards Language, Radicalisation beyond Space and Expressionism in Transport.

None of these seemed a million miles from the real thing, such as Science in Culture, Lifelong Health and Wellbeing, Nanoscience through Engineering, Care for the Future and Living with Environmental Change. Indeed, the random generation of priorities gave us themes that were all too plausible, such as Progress and Islam, Technology of Wellbeing and Curating the Future.

AHRC Serves up Masterchef

Last week the AHRC announced an exciting link up with Masterchef to take forward its Creative Economy programme.

In a move which shocked the sector, the AHRC has appointed Gregg Wallace as its Creative Economy Champion. 

'Gregg is the ideal appointment,' gushed a spokesman for the AHRC. 'His focus will be on enhancing and extending the AHRC’s reach in the creative economy, emphasising the importance of arts and humanities research in generating impact across the sector.

'Oh, and improving its buttery biscuit bases, That will be essential.' 

Any relation to Prof Andrew Chitty is entirely coincidental.

Wallace

Chitty

Thoughts on BA Small Grants & Fellowships

Jack Carswell in action last week

Last week we hosted a visit by Jack Caswell the Assistant Head of Research Awards at the British Academy. The BA plays an important part in the research funding ecosystem: with the demise of smaller grants from the ESRC and AHRC, the BA is one of the few places where those working in the humanities and social sciences can turn if they want to undertake riskier, explorative research.

This may come as a surprise to many. The BA has something of a reputation as a fusty, traditional funder, a kind of Piccadilly gentlemen's club with an academic veneer. An unfair reputation, perhaps, but one that I've duly exploited for humourous ends in the past.

AHRC: 'We'll Start with a Poem...'

Custard Cream: In Demand

The Arts & Humanities Research Council turn 10 this year, and to celebrate they are planning to fund an art event loosely based on Chinese Whispers. Now read on.

A meeting of the Strategic Working Action Group on Greater Explanation of Research in the Humanities (SWAGGER (H)) at AHRC HQ in Death Star House. Conference-quality coffee is being served. They are in to their third hour. All the custard creams are gone. 

Chair: Right! So that's Working Group's acronym sorted. We're all happy with SWAGGER (H)? Those in favour..?
(A desultory show of hands)
And those against...?
(A desultory show of hands).
Motion carried! Excellent! Now on to item 2: plans to celebrate our 10th anniversary...yes, Alison, what is it?

'I Believe the Children Are Our Future'

EPSRC Scientists getting busy
with 'Adventures in Energy'

'Whitney Houston' and 'cutting edge research agendas' are not concepts that are usually sited side by side. Well, all that could be about to change.

As any Whitney fan will know, she believed that children were our future. Indeed, she suggested that we should teach them well and let them lead the way. Now, funders are beginning to see the gnomic wisdom of her words.

At the end of last month the Scottish Government took its cue from five year olds and issued a research tender for a project asking a key pre-school question: 'how high do birds fly?'

AHRC Announces Emergency 'Car Park Excavation' Scheme

AHRC: 'Plenty more where he came from'

The excitement surrounding the discovery of the remains of the last Plantagenet king, Richard III, under a car park in Leicester in August 2012, was reignited by his reburial at the weekend.

The AHRC has responded to the public excitement by issuing a NERC-style 'urgency' grant for anyone interested in digging up a local car park in the hope of finding a king.

EPSRC Christmas Ad Launched

Pigeon holes stuffed full of rejection letters

Hot on the heels of the mawkish Christmas adverts launched by John Lewis and Sainsbury's, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has unveiled its bid to capture yuletide hearts.

Their advert centres on a lonely applicant attempting to get funding from the notoriously cold-hearted Council.

FTU Bids for Regional Study

The VC and PVCs of FTU, getting into the Dickensian spirit

It may surprise readers to learn that the announcement of an AHRC/Design Council funding call focussed on Bristol/Bath was greeted with fevered excitement at Fundermental Towers University. You might reasonably have thought that, whilst FTU had expanded its sphere of influence to the very edges of the Kentish peninsular through its strategic 'R2D2' collaboration with Ebbsfleet White Horse (Unrampant), Snodhurst and Deangate Ridge Golfing Academy, this call was too geographically remote to be of interest to FTU. Not so.

The Battle of the RCUK Research Ships

NERC's new polar research ship

Excitement was palpable at Death Star House this morning as NERC unveiled plans for it's new polar research ship. Painted a bold, brazen red, with 'SCIENCE' emblazoned on its side, the ship will send out a positive signal that the UK is serious about scientific research.

The CEO of NERC, Prof Duncan Wingham, purred through what the ship had to offer. 'This vessel will be equipped to support oceanographic, marine ecosystem, geophysical and other research activities.'

Not to be outdone, however, Prof Rick Rylance, head of the AHRC, spoke to a hastily convened press conference elsewhere in the building.

'I'm pleased to announce that the AHRC will be launching a Humanities 'Super Yacht,'' he said. To gasps of astonishment, Rylance held up what was clearly a badly photoshopped image of a speed boat with 'HUMANITIES' written across it.

AHRC's 'Super Yacht': Rylance's Artist's Impression

'The yacht will be fuelled with the redundant words that have been stripped out of research proposals,' claimed Rylance. 'We've built up quite a stock pile of unnecessary padding. It's completely valueless in terms of application content, but we've found that it burns very nicely'.

He went on: 'we believe we have enough 'overarching's and 'lacuna's to power us around the world fifteen times. But should we ever get through these we have reserves of 'furthermore's and 'step change's.'

It is understood that candidates for the post of ESRC Chief Executive will be asked to present at interview a model of a possible SOCIAL SCIENCES research ship. Fundermentals has spoken to one of the front runners for the job, who has spent several nights gluing together match sticks to recreate the Dunkirk 'flotilla of small boats'.

Don't Call Me Drum n' Bass

Welcome back to a new term. As we dust off our tinsel-tousled hair from the break, it's time to turn our faces once again to the wonderland of research funding. And what better way to ease us into the new term than a quick lookalike?

You will have mourned the recent death of Naked Gun and Airplane actor Leslie Nielsen. Well, mourn no more: his spirit lives on in the candidate for the AHRC's Chairmanship, Drummond 'D&B' Bone.

Yes, I am serious. And don't call me Shirley.

Nielsen

Bone

Creative Visualisation

Lifting the lid on visualisation

The AHRC has launched a competition for 'designers, graphic artists, software developers, programmers and anyone with an interest in data visualisation' to design graphs and maps showing how grants from the UK’s seven research councils are distributed.

This follows the launch of the excellent Gateway to Research database, which holds information on all the projects that have been funded by the Research Councils.

Whilst, of course, both the database and the visualisation initiative are to be applauded, I can't help but feel that the AHRC is missing a trick here. After all, it is responsible for a huge range of disciplines, and it should be encouraging all, in every discipline (and of course, across-trans-inter-multi discplines) to visualise data in a way that is appropriate to them.

Fundermentals, as ever, is willing to wade in with some suggestions. All part of its public service remit, of course.

• Performance Artists: nothing lends itself to visualisation as much as mime. The AHRC should be encouraged to make a very large grant to someone in a stripey shirt exploring an invisible box full of data.
• Music: plenty of scope here for an opera. Or at least a Broadway musical? If they can make up something about rollerskating trains, then surely there's endless potential in the Repertorium of English Prose Sermons?
• Philosophy: what is data? Why are we looking at it? Who are we anyway?
• Theology and Religion: Visualising data as a religion. All should worship the data god. Atheists and agnostics will be shown pie charts and line graphs until they recant.
• Archaeology: we already talk about data being 'buried', of having to 'dig' for it.All you need is to see the Gateway as some kind of triumphal arch which we need to painstakingly piece together with trowels and very, very small brushes. If you could work Indiana Jones in, that would be a bonus.
• Creative Writing: Can't be too hard to visualise data as a novel. Probably a modernist, stream-of-consciousness thing that doesn't seem to make much sense, but everyone will say is tremendously clever for fear of seeming stupid.

I've only just scratched the surface. Whatever discipline you work in, I would encourage you to go along on the 24 January and heckle: 'This is all very well, but I think it's missing something. Have you thought about incorporating some action morphology? Perhaps with a side order of aesthetic ethnography?'

Grants Factory: AHRC Mock Panel

The final Grants Factory session of this term will take place on 11 Dec in the R&D Centre (G23), and will provide an insight into how the AHRC assesses applications. This is the first of the three ‘mock panels’ (there will be ones for the ESRC and EPSRC in the Spring and Summer), and will consist of two parts:

• Firstly, two experienced panellists, Dr Simon Kirchin (SECL, and Acting Dean of Humanities) and Prof Peter Boenisch (Arts) will give an overview of the priorities and processes of the AHRC, outlining how your proposal will be assessed;
• Secondly, Simon and Peter will lead a ‘mock’ panel, at which you will assess, discuss and rank a number of real applications, and decide which should be funded. This is invaluable to help understand the issues and difficulties faced by the AHRC panels, which will, in turn, help you to focus and draft your application more effectively.

Given the nature of the mock panel exercise, places are strictly limited, and allocated on a first come, first served basis, although priority will be given to those currently working on an application. If you're a member of staff at Kent, do let me know if you would like to take part.

RCUK Scrabble

It's holiday season, even for the good folks at Death Star Avenue. Now read on.

A holiday cottage on the west coast of Wales. Rain is lashing against the windows, and the casements are rattling. It's August. A group of RCUK apparatchiks are huddled around a game of Scrabble. It's clear they're playing an unusual variant of this family favourite in which only acronyms can be used.

Is There Something Missing from ROS?

'We've got a record of  the number of bodies.
Who cares about the original bodies?'

As many of you will be aware, the Research Councils (RUCK) introduced the 'Research Outcomes System' (or ROS)  to monitor the outputs of their funded projects. The new system was launched on 24 Nov 2011, and took the place of Annual Reports and End of Award Reports, simplifying the wordy demands of its predecessors so that investigators need only note what publications (and other outputs) have resulted from a grant.

On many levels this makes sense, and RCUK aren't shy of crowing about the benefits:

• It saves time. RCUK suggest this could be as much as 80% compared with the previous system.
• It can be used at any time during or after the grant.
• Multiple users can view the reports. 

And so on. All very good. But what struck me the other day is that the new system seems to miss out a crucial element of the End of Award Reports: monitoring and assessment. Whilst RCUK annual monitors compliance with ROS, there doesn't appear to be anyone checking the quality of the outputs or the success of the project measured against it's original aims and objectives.

Or am I missing something?

This seems to be a considerable oversight. When I worked at the AHRC, getting academic reviewers to assess the success of the project was a laborious but crucial element of the grant cycle. If a project was deemed to have failed to produce the intended goods, or had veered too widely from the original path, it could be labelled as 'unsatisfactory', and would have a limited time to come good. If it still didn't, the investigators would be barred from applying again to the Council.

Equally important, if the project had been seen to succeed beyond anyone's wildest dreams, it could be labelled as 'outstanding', and the investigators could bask in the glow of approbation.

Okay, so the old system may have smacked of the schoolroom, but I think it is important that investigators are held to account - for better or worse. The new system just seems to be a bit, well, quantitative.  As long as you give them a title or two, it doesn't really matter beyond that. The spaces are filled, the box is ticked, the numbers are counted.

As I say, I could be wide of the mark on this, and I'd welcome any thoughts from those in Death Star House as to the level of assessment that goes on post-project.