Category Archives: Funding Policy

Pre-mortems: Tell me why your current grant application or research project will fail

Posted on June 18, 2014 by Adam

I came across a really interesting idea the other day week via the Freakonomics podcast – the idea of a project “pre-mortem” or “prospective hindsight”  They interviewed Gary Klein who described it as follows: KLEIN:  I need you to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Application advice, Funding, Funding Policy, University culture | 4 Comments

Adam Golberg announces new post about Ministers inserting themselves into research grant announcements

Posted on April 2, 2014 by Adam

Here’s something I’ve been wondering recently.  Is it just me, or have major research council funding announcements started to be made by government ministers, rather than by the, er, research councils? Here’s a couple of examples that caught my eye … Continue reading →

Posted in British Academy, ESRC, Funding, Funding Policy, Research Impact, University culture | 4 Comments

ESRC success rates by discipline for 2012-13

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Adam

Update: 2013/14 figures here. With all of the fanfare of a cat-burglar slipping in through a first floor window in back office of a diamond museum, the ESRC has published its Vital Statistics for 2012-13, including the success rates by … Continue reading →

Posted in ESRC, Frustrations, Funding, Funding Policy, University culture | 1 Comment

Meanwhile, over at the ESRC…

Posted on September 3, 2013 by Adam

There have been a few noteworthy developments at the ESRC over the summer months which I think are probably worth drawing together into a single blog post for those (like me) who’ve made the tactical error of choosing to have … Continue reading →

Posted in Career Young Researchers, ESRC, Frustrations, Funding, Funding Policy, University culture | Comments Off on Meanwhile, over at the ESRC…

Is there a danger that research funding calls are getting too narrow?

Posted on July 4, 2013 by Adam

The ESRC have recently added a little more detail to a previous announcement about a pending call for European-Chinese joint research projects on Green Economy and Population Change.  Specifically, they’re after projects which address the following themes: Green Economy The … Continue reading →

Posted in ESRC, Frustrations, Funding, Funding Policy, Research Costs, Research Impact | 2 Comments

Demand mismanagement: a practical guide

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Adam

I’ve written an article on Demand (Mis)management for Research Professional. While most of the site’s content is behind a paywall, they’ve been kind enough to make my article open access.  Which saves me the trouble of cutting and pasting it … Continue reading →

Posted in Application advice, Frustrations, Funding, Funding Policy, Open Access, University culture | Comments Off on Demand mismanagement: a practical guide

ESRC success rates by discipline: what on earth is going on?

Posted on October 25, 2012 by Adam

Update – read this post for the 2012/13 stats for success rates by discipline The ESRC have recently published a set of ‘vital statistics‘ which are “a detailed breakdown of research funding for the 2011/12 financial year” (see page 22).  … Continue reading →

Posted in ESRC, Frustrations, Funding, Funding Policy, Public Sector, Research Costs, Research Impact, University culture | 8 Comments

News from the ESRC: International co-investigators and the Future Leaders Scheme

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Adam

I’m still behind on my blogging – I owe the internet the second part of the impact series, and a book review I really must get round to writing.  But I picked up an interesting nugget of information regarding the … Continue reading →

Posted in Application advice, Career Young Researchers, ESRC, Funding, Funding Policy, Research Costs, University culture | 1 Comment

An Impact Statement: Part 1: Impact and the REF

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Adam

Partly inspired by a twitter conversation and partly to try to bring some semblance of order my own thoughts, I’m going to have a go about writing about impact.  Roughly, I’d argue that: The impact agenda is – broadly – … Continue reading →

Posted in Funding, Funding Policy, Research Impact, University culture | 3 Comments

Are institutions over-reacting to impact?

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Adam

Interesting article and leader in this week’s Times Higher on the topic of impact, both of which carry arguments that “university managers” have over-reacted to the impact agenda.  I’m not sure whether that’s true or not, but I suspect that … Continue reading →

Posted in Funding Policy, Research Costs, Research Impact, University culture | 2 Comments