Research at The Open University

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Research development

  1. Horizon scanning
  2. Bidding workshops
  3. Support for large/collaborative bids
  4. Proposal clinics
  5. Expert/quality Review
  6. Review of unsuccessful bids

Horizon scanning

  • Identification and dissemination of external funding opportunities via weekly R&E newsletters and the R&E twitter account
  • Dedicated horizon scanning for individuals or groups of academics specific to their research areas (available on request)
  • Research Professional support and training – creation of bespoke funding searches 

Bidding workshops

Advice and support for academics and their faculty research support teams including best practice, facilitating exchange of ideas and the development of collaborative bidding teams for:

  • Large, strategically important calls
  • Cross-disciplinary and/or cross faculty calls
  • Calls aimed at Early Career researchers and/or funding postgraduate research programmes

Support for large/collaborative bids

Assist academics and faculty support teams with:

  • Consortium and budget development
  • Assistance with submission systems
  • Organisation of internal meetings
  • Compilation of bid sections
  • Bid writing assistance (non-research sections)
  • Expert/quality review and organisation of peer review

Proposal clinics

Assist academics who will be a project PI (consortium or sole applicant) and their faculty research support teams via a series of proposal clinics to:

  • Develop the proposal concept to ensure it meets funder, call and evaluation guidelines
  • Identify areas where additional support is required
  • Review, discussion and identification of further development for the draft proposal
  • Review and evaluation of the full proposal

Expert/quality review

In depth review of the application against the funders review criteria (if available) to ensure the application meets the call requirements, aims & priorities. Areas of focus include:

  • The aims and objective are clear
  • The proposal reads well and is understandable to a non-specialist
  • The non-research sections are suitable described
  • Management is suitably robust, training provision is clear and costs are justified

Review of unsuccessful bids

  • Make recommendations on how to enhance the application in response to funder feedback
  • Assist with resubmission plans
  • Identify alternative funding schemes