Please be advised EPSRC, on behalf of the UKRI Digital Research Infrastructure (DRI), has launched an opportunity on the UKRI Funding Service for access to high performance computing facilities which STFC and other communities may like to apply to.

This opportunity provides an open and flexible route to computational support for high quality projects across the entire UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) remit.

The scope of the call includes but not limited to:

• extended feasibility or proof of concept studies (at a larger scale than is possible in pump priming projects)
• computational projects which may not warrant a full grant application
• computational projects linking consecutive grant applications or aiding the preparation of a full grant or fellowship application
• large amounts of compute for ambitious, computationally intensive simulations and calculations
• collaborations with industrial and international partners
• increase the development of computational science skills, such as allowing students to work jointly with project leads to achieve the aims of the proposed research, leading to improved software and coding skills, and career paths

We particularly encourage applications that:

• involve early career researchers
• onboard and train new users
• significantly push the boundaries in computational research using High Performance Computing (HPC) in your field

This application process is purely for computing resources for up to 12 months. No funding is available to successful applicants.

You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for UKRI funding.

The opportunity closes on 23 April 2024 4:00pm UK time.

A webinar will be held on 12 March 2024 at 11:00am… continue to the full article

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In each volume of the journal Solar Physics, a few articles are marked as “Editors’ Choice”. The primary criterion is original, high-quality research that is of wide interest within the community.

Recently, Mike Lockwood and Mat Owens from the University of Reading had their paper marked as “Editors’ Choice”. We would like to congratulate them on their success.

The paper itself:
Lockwood, M., Owens, M.
Reconstruction of Carrington Rotation Means of Open Solar Flux over the Past 154 Years.
Sol Phys 299, 28 (2024).
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-024-02268-0

Furthermore, if you are aware of anyone in our community who has been recognised or awarded in any way, please let us know. We are eager to share these achievements within our community.… continue to the full article

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The Late-Stage Commercialisation scheme opened for Intention to submit (ItS) on 20th February. If you would like to apply for the Full Stage Late-Stage Scheme you must submit an ItS by the closing date 12th March at 17.00.

The main aim of the Late-Stage Commercialisation scheme is to support technology development addressing current challenges facing the PPAN community and the UK. This includes technologies or ideas originating from the core STFC funded areas of particle physics, particle astrophysics, astronomy, nuclear physics, accelerator physics, solar and planetary science, quantum science and computing that underpins these areas.

A secondary aim of the scheme, during the lifetime of the award is to further develop products and technology (move them through the TRL) working with industry where appropriate. Please note, to be eligible for this scheme the science or technology in your project should be within TRL stages 5-7.

To find out more and to help you provide the information we need for the ItS we have created a template you must use. This is provided on the funding finder… continue to the full article

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Council transition to the new Funding Service – STFC

During 2023, applicants to the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and other councils began the transition of funding opportunities via the UKRI Funding Service rather than the Joint Electronic Submission (Je-S) system. This is in line with the Simpler and Better Funding (SBF) programme, which aims to support the UK’s world class research and innovation system by reducing the burden of finding, applying for and managing research funding. Over the course of 2024, transition will continue with all new opportunities launched on the Funding Service and an increase in functionality to better support the review and award processes.

UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) principles of assessment and decision-making will continue to underpin our peer review policies and processes during and after the transition to the Funding Service.

Question sets and assessment criteria

A harmonised question set and assessment criteria has been agreed for all responsive mode opportunities running on the Funding Service.

To find out about core responsive mode application questions and assessment criteria, see how applicants use the Funding Service.

Although STFC does not run a responsive mode funding opportunity, these are likely to be the basis for other research grant opportunities which will be relevant to STFC as we transition. Several other question sets/assessment criteria have also now been agreed for other funding types including fellowships, commercialisation, travel and public engagement.

STFC opportunities will be based on one of the agreed question sets but, where required, will have additional opportunity-specific assessment criteria and questions. All assessment criteria will be published on the UKRI funding finder, and we will make assessment criteria explicit and clear for each funding opportunity.

You can also watch a number of training videos on YouTube to help familiarise yourself with the service How to use the UKRI Funding Service – YouTube

There may be some challenges in onboarding schemes during the transition to the Funding Service, as the team build out the service’s core capabilities. However, we are working closely with the Funding Service team and with other councils to minimise these and ensure that via feedback and iterations the Service is truly user-centered and supports all those involved in research funding.

STFC transition current position

STFC has now transitioned a number of opportunities onto the UKRI Funding Service:

• Early-Stage Research and Development
• Late-Stage Commercialisation
• Ernest Rutherford Fellowships
• Industrial CASE (and CASE Plus) studentships
• Applying for time on the DiRAC computing service.
• PATT Travel grants
• Public Engagement Nucleus Awards Stage 1
• Public Engagement Legacy Awards
• Astronomy observation and theory small awards
• Solar and planetary small awards
• Astronomy large awards
• Particle Physics Experiment consolidated grants
• Public Engagement Nucleus Awards stage two
• Leadership Fellowships in Public Engagement
• Projects peer review panel

There are also a number of opportunities which are being developed for onboarding in the next few months:

• Public Engagement Spark Awards (March 2024)
• Future Underground Dark Matter Science Experiments (March 2024)
• Accelerator institute grant review (March 2024)
• Gravitational waves consolidated grants (April 2024)

The Particle Physics Experiment consolidated grants round for 2024 is now live on the Funding Service for applications, but we are using a hybrid approach. This means that applicants will still provide most of the information we require via an attachment, rather than as questions and answers in the text box approach that has been implemented for other Funding Service opportunities. However, for the Gravitational Waves CGs and Accelerator Institute review we will be working towards bringing terminology (questions and criteria) used more in line with that agreed for the Funding Service.

An interim solution for major projects (PPRP) has been agreed and has now been onboarded to the Funding Service. Current functionality in the Funding Service means that all costings will need to be included on the application created by the lead organisation – we are unable to deliver the parent and child model. Lead applicants will be provided with a link to the opportunity when agreement has been made on a submission date. Applicants will be required to provide the more detailed financial breakdown that we need by email.

We are still working with the SBF team to discuss ways of using the Funding Service more effectively and efficiently for complex funding such as PPRP and consolidated grants.

As well as onboarding these opportunities for the first time, 2024 will see us hosting, for example, Ernest Rutherford Fellowships and Late-Stage Commercialisation on the service for the second time.

Further information on how to apply for STFC opportunities will be available on the Funding Finder.

We have now also used the Funding Service for expert review, principal investigator response and panel assessment with more activity of this type due in the next few months.

The STFC PATT grants have been selected as one of the opportunities for piloting the award process and we anticipate that this will take place in late February/March 2024.

We value feedback on your experience with using the Funding Service in any role so that we can continue to improve features and functionality. You can provide feedback either via email to grantspolicy@stfc.ac.uk or via form: your feedback will help improve this service (airtable.com)

Applicant guidance

As well as the specific opportunity guidance, the UKRI website includes more general information on using the Funding Service including setting up an account for the first time How applicants use the UKRI Funding Service – UKRI. On this page you will also find links to training videos to assist with your Funding Service journey.

The current STFC “guidance for applicants” web pages will be reviewed over the next month or so to ensure that content is in line with the Funding Service.

Reviewer guidance

For those of you who may be invited to provide a peer review on the new Funding Service you can find guidance on what you can expect How reviewers use the UKRI Funding Service – UKRI. The scoring scale used for reviewers has been harmonised and you will now be asked to rate between 1 and 6.… continue to the full article

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Dear Colleagues

A reminder that if you are planning on submitting an application to the STFC Astronomy Small Awards opportunity we advise that you begin the submission process early this year in order to account for additional time it may take on the new UKRI Funding Service.

The PDF guidance for applicants can be found here: Astronomy awards guidance for applicants – UKRI

The UKRI Funding finder information is as follows:

Solar and planetary 2024 – https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/solar-and-planetary-small-awards-2024/

Astronomy observation and theory 2024 – https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/astronomy-observation-and-theory-small-awards-2024/

Applicants are advised that there is no functionality to return for amendment on the new service and therefore applications that do not follow the guidance will be rejected on receipt.

Please pay particular attention to the Ethics and responsible research question box. You need to provide an answer to:

What are the ethical or RRI implications and issues relating to the proposed work (addressing the three bullets)?

As well as the three additional trusted research questions. Applications which fail to answer all 4 run the risk of being rejected.

Kind regards

The Astronomy Awards Team… continue to the full article

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Dear Colleague,

GPU eCSE call

We are delighted to announce a new programme of eCSE calls focussing on GPU-based software development. We invite proposals to develop software that facilitates research targeted at UKRI’s digital research infrastructure e.g. future Exascale supercomputing services, UK national AI services, national Tier-2 HPC services. The call is open to research across all of UKRI’s remit.

The first GPU eCSE call (GPU-eCSE01) opened on the 17 Jan 2024. The final deadline for proposal submission is 16:00 on 19 Mar 2024 via the ARCHER2 SAFE. Please note that for this call there is no separate technical evaluation stage or separate technical evaluation form.

Funding will enable the employment of an RSE (a Research Software Engineer, PDRA or equivalent) to work specifically on the relevant software to enable new features or improve the performance of the software to be run on GPU-based architectures. Funding can be requested for up to 36 person months of effort per project for a duration of up to 2 calendar years. There is flexibility in the way the effort is requested. For example, a project may have more than one person working on it or the effort could be spread over a greater number of calendar months, i.e. a staff member could work on the project at less than 100% alongside other commitments or it could be worked on by a staff member who doesn’t work full time. Please just get in contact with the ARCHER2 Service Desk (support@archer2.ac.uk ) if you wish to discuss possible scenarios. Projects are expected to start between 2-6 months after a call closes. Funding can be requested for staff located at the institution of the PI, third parties, or can include staff from the ARCHER2 centralised CSE support team at EPCC or a mixture of the above.

Projects may utilise the GPU component of ARCHER2 or other suitable GPU resources to complete the technical work. If the proposal plans to use the GPU component of ARCHER2, successful projects will be given access to these resources. If projects plan to utilise other systems, you should ensure you have suitable resources available to complete the project successfully. Please contact and arrange this access with the relevant service provider before submission. Researchers with codes in the DiRAC or STFC remit can get access to DiRAC GPU services via seedcorn. Please contact diracseedcorn@jiscmail.ac.uk by the end of February if you wish to get access DiRAC GPU services for this eCSE call.

More details of how to apply are available by following the link to the eCSE calls page from here: https://www.archer2.ac.uk/ecse/

Early Career Observer call

The eCSE Panel Meeting is the meeting where eCSE proposals are reviewed and decisions are made on which proposals to fund. As part of our commitment to encouraging and developing Early Career Researchers, we are offering a small number of places to such researchers to attend the eCSE panel meeting as Early Career Observers. The aim is to give Early Career Researchers a better insight into this competitive selection process, to assist them in the preparation of future funding proposals.

The deadline for applying to attend the panel meeting as an observer is 16:00 on 27 Feb 2024 via the ARCHER2 service desk, and details of the call are given here: https://www.archer2.ac.uk/ecse/observers/

An insight into the experience from one of our recent Early Career Panel Observers can be found here:https://www.archer2.ac.uk/news/2023/01/18/ecse-ec-obs.html

eCSE and observer call dates

Deadline for final GPU eCSE submission: 16:00 on 19 Mar 2024 (via the ARCHER2 SAFE https://safe.epcc.ed.ac.uk/

Deadline for Early Career eCSE Panel Observers call: 16:00 on 27 Feb 2024 (via the ARCHER2 service desk support@archer2.ac.uk )

Best wishes,

Chris Johnson

The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336. Is e buidheann carthannais a th’ ann an Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann, clàraichte an Alba, àireamh clàraidh SC005336.… continue to the full article

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The Education, Training and Careers Committee (ETCC) met on 28 November 2023. The main items on the agenda were: an update on Collective Talent Working; an update from STFC Science Board; ED&I Statements for Fellowships; Short Courses and Summer Schools 2023 and 2024.

ETCC welcomed Professor James McLaughlin as the interim chair, and new member Dr Cosimo Inserra.

Collective Talent Working
ETCC noted the recent UKRI update on Collective Talent Funding. The Collective Talent initiative aims to build on the collaborative working across the Councils previously and ensure that the talent landscape is less complex for the UKRI community. The initiative covers studentships and fellowships and is a long-term programme of change. From January 2024 there will be two award types rather than the numerous ones currently across Councils. These will be Doctoral Landscape Awards, which will cover the current STFC Doctoral Training Partnerships (DTPs) and Doctoral Focal Awards, which will cover the current STFC Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs). Discussions on collective awards to cover the STFC Industrial CASE awards are continuing.

Update from STFC Science Board
ETCC gave an update to Science Board at the September meeting. The update included an overview of ETCC and the main current challenges.

ED&I Statements for Fellowships
The 2022 Fellowship Review panel recommended the collection of ED&I statements from departments submitting Ernest Rutherford Fellowship applications. This was to assess the inclusivity of the selection processes and to develop best practice. ETCC noted the received statements and discussed recommendations for future best practice.

Short Courses and Summer Schools 2023 and 2024
Bids had been received for 14 Short Courses and Summer Schools 2024. The Committee recommended the following for funding:

• Advanced Cosmology and Extragalactic School (ACES)
• Artificial Intelligence and Astronomy with Public Engagement
• British Universities Summer School in Theoretical Elementary Particle Physics (BUSSTEPP)
• Data Analysis Workshop
• HEP Instrumentation School
• High Energy Physics
• Introductory Astronomy
• Introductory Course in Solar and Solar-Terrestrial Physics
• NExT PhD Workshop
• Nuclear Physics Summer School
• Planetary Surfaces Summer School

The pdf version of the report can be found here.

Further publicity ahead of the next call will be issued shortly.… continue to the full article

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The Royal Astronomical Society’s Keith Runcorn Thesis Prize
This is awarded annually and recently finished PhD students from UKSP disciplines are eligible.
Deadline: 31st January.
Note: To be eligible the thesis needs to have been approved between 31st January 2023 and 31st January 2024; Nominees do not have to be RAS members.
Further info:
https://ras.ac.uk/awards-and-grants/awards/2277-keith-runcorn-thesis-prize

The Royal Society medals and awards
Deadline: 23rd February.
Note: You do not need to be a fellow to nominate or be nominated.
Further info:
https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/awards/nomination-guidance/
https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/awards/… continue to the full article

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Dear colleagues,

The winners of the 2024 RAS awards have been announced.
https://ras.ac.uk/news-and-press/news/royal-astronomical-society-unveils-2024-award-winners

Congratulations to all winners. We are particularly happy to announce winners from our solar community:

Professor Valery Nakariakov (Warwick) – Chapman Medal
https://ras.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2024-01/Chapman%20Medal%20%28G%29%20-%20Professor%20Valery%20Nakariakov.pdf

Dr Nicola Fox (NASA, PSP Project Scientist) – Honorary Fellowship
https://ras.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2024-01/Honorary%20Fellowship%20-%20Dr%20Nicola%20Fox.pdf

Kind regards,
UKSP Council… continue to the full article

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Dear Colleague,

Each year the RAS recognises the best Ph.D. theses in astronomy and geophysics completed in the UK.

https://ras.ac.uk/news-and-press/news/call-nominations-ras-thesis-prizes-2023

Three prizes are available: the Michael Penston prize for astronomy, the Keith Runcorn prize for geophysics, and the Patricia Tomkins prize for instrumentation science in either astronomy or geophysics. The winners receive £1000 and an invitation to present the results of their thesis at a meeting of the RAS. The Michael Penston prize and Keith Runcorn prize runners-up will receive £50 book tokens.

Nominees must have completed their Ph.D. (viva held and all corrections completed) at a UK university during 2023. For more details and to submit a nomination, please click on the links below:

The Michael Penston prize, for theses in astronomy and astrophysics, including cosmology, astrobiology, etc.
https://ras.ac.uk/awards-and-grants/-michael-penston-thesis-prize

The Keith Runcorn prize, for theses in geophysics, including seismology, solar physics, planetary science, etc.
https://ras.ac.uk/awards-and-grants/awards/2277-keith-runcorn-thesis-prize

The Patricia Tomkins thesis prize for theses in instrumentation science for astronomy and geophysics – while the support is aimed at developing skills in scientific hardware such as electronics, detectors, and optics, the development of novel software specific to a hardware project will also be considered. The Patricia Tomkins prize is sponsored by the Patricia Tomkins Foundation.
https://ras.ac.uk/awards-and-grants/awards/2285-patricia-tomkins-thesis-prize

The deadline for nominations is Wednesday, January 31, 2024.

Kind regards,
Nush Cole – Awards and Grants Officer
ncole@ras.ac.uk… continue to the full article

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