Could I take this opportunity to remind colleagues of a service we are able to offer staff applying for research funding. I am aware that all areas now operate internal peer review of external funding applications over £5,000. However we are able to provide a ‘non-peer’ review of draft proposals for staff who would like additional advice. Peer reviewers naturally tend to focus on the merits of the research and the appropriateness of the methodology. By non-peer review we mean a review of the non-specialist aspects of proposals. We can review how well a proposal addresses issues such as user involvement, dissemination plans etc. as well as the overall presentation. It can be the extent to which these non-specialist dimensions have been addressed which can make the difference particularly when proposals are at the funding margin. We can also check that all possible eligible costs have been included to maximise cost recovery. I should emphasise that seeking this input from us is purely optional and it is up to the applicants whether they wish to accept advice we offer!
We are running a number of sessions in the Staff Development programme in the next couple of months and I would be grateful if these could be brought the attention of staff who may benefit from attending these. Details of these courses can be found via the following link, where bookings can also be made.
http://staff.plymouth.ac.uk//staffdev/courseinformation/intranet.htm
Please note that the Research Policy and Development team of the Research and Innovation department has moved office from 17a Portland Villas to room 103, 21 Portland Villas. The members of the team are myself, John Martin, Penny Gardiner and Wendy Miller. Internal mail for us should now be addressed to 21PV.
Martin Quinn
Deputy Director - Research and Innovation
