Discipline Hopping Awards
Are you, or do you know, a PhD student in the field of ageing and age-related diseases who is considering transferring from Biological/Biomedical to Social Sciences, or vice versa, or hopping from academia to policy making institutions? If so then this funding call could be for you!
| One of the principle agreed aims of the UKAgeNet network is to create a forum for knowledge exchange, discussion and collaboration among UK centres and networks on ageing-related research, with a particular focus on the integration between biomedical and the social sciences and arts & humanities. To stimulate this interdisciplinary collaboration, we are delighted to announce the availability of 2 bursaries of up to £5000 each to support PhD students in the field of ageing and age-related diseases to train in a new discipline and promote interdisciplinarity across researchers based in institutions who are part of UKAgeNet or are members of the Dunhill Medical Trust Academy. |
The proposed project can be an extension of the PhD program of work, a new interdisciplinary angle or a new project. Involvement of the supervisors is an advantage, but not essential, provided there is a letter of support. Discipline hopping is defined as traversing the Biological/Biomedical to the Social Sciences, or vice versa, or hopping from academia to policy making institutions (see eligibility criteria below).
The scheme, funded by a Dunhill Medical Trust Academy Excellence Award for Senior Leadership conferred to Professor Ilaria Bellantuono (of the University of Sheffield Healthy Lifespan Institute), aims to:
- Facilitate the development of interdisciplinary skills of the next generation of ageing researchers by immersing them in environments which challenge traditional academic silos;
- Develop vital new research collaborations across disciplines in the main challenge areas related to the field of ageing;
- Facilitate the sharing of insight and learning and establish synergies and connections needed for the integration of the biomedical- and the social- based sciences needed to tackle challenges holistically.
- Allow PhD students to work directly with stakeholders to accelerate impact (i.e. with policymakers and non-governmental organisations.
Promote equality, diversity and inclusion in environmental research
Eligibility and Criteria
- Open exclusively to PhD members of the Dunhill Academy Trust Academy (see here for details on applying), or PhD students based in a founding member institution of UKAgeNet.
- The project/activity must clearly align with one of the broad areas covered by remits of the UKAgeNet network and the Dunhill Medical Trust Academy, which loosely correspond to:
- Understanding of ageing
- Understanding of treatment of age-related disease
- Delivering and developing evidence-led services, products and interventions that improve our experience of later life
- The project/activity must be of clear benefit to the future career development of the PhD student discipline hopper.
- The project must demonstrate engagement from members of the teams at more senior levels from the home and host institutions and needs to be signed off by the student’s supervisor
- Discipline hopping is defined for this call as a hop from either;
- a) the biological/biomedical to the social sciences, and b) vice versa
- c) sector to sector (i.e. academia to policy making)
- Placements must be completed by 4th November 2025.
Eligible Costs and Activities
Funding covers only directly incurred costs and may be requested to support the following types of activities:
- Extension to PhD student salary for the specific purpose of completing the project output (expected to be 2-3 months);
- Travel and subsistence costs for the ECR discipline hopper
- Consumables
To Apply
To apply please complete the application form below and submit by 5pm on 4th November 2024 to ukagenet@sheffield.ac.uk.
All members of the application team, including the current PhD supervisor (if the PhD student is the applicant) and the host of the discipline hop, as well as the Head of the Institution/Organisation hosting the researcher must approve the application.
A disciplinarily diverse panel consisting of unconflicted members from the UKAgeNet network and Dunhill Medical Trust will rank all applications.
Applications will be assessed on the criteria above, namely:
- The feasibility and quality of the project proposal
- The alignment to the challenge areas
- The proposed benefit to the future development of the PhD student
- The sustainability and potential impact of the new partnership
For further information, please contact ukagenet@sheffield.ac.uk.
Timeline
1st August 2024 – Call opens
4 November 2024 – Call closes
25 November 2024 – Outcome to applicants
2 December 2024 – Exchanges can begin
4 November 2025 – Exchanges must end
Mid February 2026 – Programme meeting/workshop (to share outcomes)
Successful Candidates
Successful applicants will be informed by 25th November of the outcome of the applications. Exchanges can begin from 2nd December 2024, and so early conversations with the institution regarding the placement and potential contract extensions are essential. All funds must be spent by the end of 2025 – there are no opportunities for extensions. All successful applicants agree to participate in a concluding workshop and complete a case study report about their experiences.
