Thanks to strategic funding from the College of Science and Engineering (CSE), The Bayes Centre has been allocated up to £30,000 for small grants to enable University staff working in collaboration with industrial partners to convene and support partnerships that develop major funding bids for R&D investment in Space and Satellites (S&S) with a strong Data Science or Artificial Intelligence (AI) underpinning. Please note this is for internal University of Edinburgh applicants only. Eligibility Applications can be submitted by any member of academic staff as long as the project team includes academic and industrial partners. The normal maximum amount awarded is limited to £5,000, though we may be able to award up to £10,000 in exceptional cases, if this is justified by the scale of the opportunity the seed funding can unlock. We are only able to cover direct costs (not FEC or any overheads) and would normally expect projects to start on or before 1st June 2022. We ask applicants to seek approval from the lead applicant’s Head of School/Institute and to confirm this in writing at the time of application (a brief e-mail will suffice). We will take submission as confirmation that costings provided have been confirmed by the relevant finance/research support office. Please provide a breakdown of costs in the template provided. S&S is a priority area of the City Region Deal, with 15 years of R&D KPI targets set for CSE, so medium-/long-term thinking is encouraged in the area. We take a broad view of S&S focused around key societal challenges: Climate Change & Sustainability Food Security & Agriculture Financial Services & Environmental, Societal Governance Infrastructure, Transport & Asset Monitoring Crucially, for this call, we expect activities to involve a collaboration with an industrial partner and a focus on using Data Science or AI for the benefit of one or more of the application areas listed. Academics interested in identifying new collaboration opportunities with industry are encouraged to contact Business Development colleagues at their Schools/Units initially and the e-mail address for enquiries below subsequently. Bayes Members and Partners interested in identifying relevant academic expertise are encouraged to contact their Bayes Business Development manager or the e-mail address for enquiries below. The aim of the call is to support the development of major funding and partnership propositions, rather than the delivery of research activities. Some examples of appropriate activities we would seek to fund are: Employing a project manager to convene interdisciplinary groups and organise grant-development activities/workshops Employing a grant writer to assist with bid development activities Employing a researcher to carry out pilot work needed to de-risk funding applications Covering the costs of workshops or market/competitor research In line with funding conditions, all funding awarded must be spent by the end of July 2022. While the general expectation is that funds would be spent internally, it is possible to pay for services provided by organisations outside the University, provided standard procurement rules are followed. The Bayes Centre will provide additional in-kind contribution to funded projects in the form of business development, administrative and financial management support. Funding decisions will be based on the following selection criteria: Fit to the S&S theme, applicant team with relevant track record (including both academic and industrial partners), and clear articulation of use of Data Science or AI techniques. Clear plans and commitment to funding opportunities that will be pursued with an emphasis on scale and appropriate risk-reward balance. Clear articulation of activities and deliverables of the development project (e.g. preparation of bid documents, case studies, publicity assets, events, reports). Appropriate resourcing plan and level of resources leveraged in-kind, demonstrating commitment from all contributing individuals and their units. Addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion objectives, and the University’s Strategy 2030. Consideration of ethics, research integrity, equality, and diversity. If you would like to apply, please complete an application form here: https://forms.office.com/r/qBF6MRUJZV The deadline for applications is 1st May 2022 and we will accept applications through the online application form provided. Application outcomes will be notified within 10 working days. For more details on the bid development seed-funding call contact: Miguel O. Bernabeu, Deputy Director, The Bayes Centre (miguel.bernabeu@ed.ac.uk) This article was published on 2024-06-06