Call for proposals

Academic staff in the Edinburgh Research Partnership and related areas in both Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt Universities are invited and encouraged to apply for pump-priming funding to start multidisciplinary research projects involving local participants from both engineering and the mathematical sciences.

Light touch application process: We have the money from EPSRC already. You tell us briefly (one paragraph might be enough) what you want to do (see below) and our internal ERP committee will respond quickly with a yes or no.

The main funding is for staff time recovery, so that an agreed amount of money will flow to your department for participating in this programme. We also have funds to support visitors etc. See the information below.

Background

This Bridging the Gaps project runs from January 2007 to December 2009 and is one of a small group of similar projects in the UK funded by EPSRC. It is coordinated by the Maxwell Institute for Mathematical Sciences, which is one of the Joint Research Institutes of Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt Universities forming the Edinburgh Research Partnership (ERP).

It aims to encourage new collaborations between academic staff in the mathematical sciences and engineering in the ERP (and related departments) through a range of pump-priming activities designed to break down the barriers (including lack of time and opportunity) to interdisciplinary collaborations. It aims to build novel and lasting collaborations from the ground up. We particularly encourage early career staff from the ERP and related departments to apply.

Funding

The project is funded by the EPSRC Bridging the Gaps scheme and is subject to some rules specific to this scheme. Heriot-Watt and Edinburgh Univeristies have jointly been awarded around 370,000 GBP to support the project.

Funding is available to offset some of the time of permanent academic staff involved in these various activities, and will be paid to the relevant departments or Schools. While it is up to the department or School involved to decide on what to do with this income, we hope that some of it can be used to benefit other research activities of the people working on this project. As a rule of thumb, most approved activities will get funding equivalent to 1 or 2 weeks Lecturer B rate with overheads. Also, there is money to cover the direct costs of visitors, seminars and workshops.

The scheme cannot be used to fund students or RAs or to hire temporary staff.

To apply for funding, please fill out the application form.

How to apply

Funding is restricted to academic staff in the Edinburgh Research Partnership and related areas in both Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt Universities.

Projects should involve local participants from both engineering and the mathematical sciences.

Please fill out the web form.

Access to the form is restricted.

Example activities

Highlighted activity - joint supervision of PhD students

Calling all supervisors of new (and other) PhD students.

Do you have a current or new PhD student starting a project that needs some mathematical or statistical input, or one that is mathematical and would benefit from interaction with researchers from another discipline?

Here we will offer some support for academic staff to take on joint supervision of a postgraduate project from another discipline as a way to start a multidisciplinary collaboration between the supervisors.

No partner in other discipline? Fill in the application anyway and we will try to find a match.

Problem scoping workshops

Proposals are invited for workshops, each to run over two days. They should include an instructive element to set out the background to the area of interest, a descriptive element to present details of specific problems that look promising, and, most importantly, an interactive element to get people talking together about how to solve these problems. Workshops may combined with the visitor programme to bring in external experts, including those from industry.

Multidisciplinary workshops are not always successful at generating new collaborations, so, the organisers of each workshop are required to ensure that people not only talk, but that groups of them collectively produce an outline plan of how to tackle individual problems presented in the workshops. If suitable for this programme, these plans will be considered by our Selection Panel and acted upon as soon as possible.

Working in pairs

We will offer space at the International Centre for Mathematical Sciences (ICMS) building in India Street for working in pairs. This has proved to be a highly effective mechanism to make rapid progress in joint research work, e.g. at Oberwolfach. The definition of pairs includes small groups and could also be linked with the visitor programme. The aim is to support short periods of concentration on an interdisciplinary project, e.g. to carry out an initial study ready for a larger grant proposal or to complete a piece of joint work.

Supervising in pairs

Here we will offer some support for academic staff to take on joint supervision of a postgraduate project from another discipline as a way to start a multidisciplinary collaboration between the supervisors.

Visitor programme

We will operate a visitor programme to bring key researchers (academic and industrial) to work with project participants. Important selection criteria will be the ability of the visitor to act as an exemplar of good practice in interdisciplinary working, as well as scientific excellence and detailed knowledge to contribute to specific problems. We will also coordinate other activities, such as workshops, seminars and working in pairs with the visitors to benefit a wider range of researchers.

The aim is to get local collaborations going, so the visitor should be acting in some way to facilitate or encourage that.

Short courses, conferences and visits

We will consider applications for funding from ERP academics to attend short courses or conferences in another subject area, or to participate in an appropriate multidisciplinary programme elsewhere.

Seminar programme and problem showcase

Volunteers and recommendations of internal and external people to give seminars to explain and publicise problems in need of solutions are very welcome.

Mathematician/engineer in residence

This will allow an individual to spend a concentrated period hosted in the department of another discipline. A requirement is that the resident makes contact with a wide range of research staff during their stay to find out what they do, and follows up promising topics by putting appropriate people in touch with one another.

This aims to maximise opportunities for unplanned casual interactions. We are open to suggestions to augment this activity, e.g. giving a short series of instructive lectures during the time in residence.

Contacts

Web: http://www.maxwell.ac.uk/bridgegaps

E-mail: bridgegaps@maxwell.ac.uk

Subject Specific Contacts: http://www.erp.ac.uk/contact.htm