As we outlined in our end-of-year newsletter in December, we are launching our second commissioning process!
In this second call, we are once more looking for research projects that explore the social justice dimension of technology design and how, collectively, we can develop responses that can make our digital society work for everyone. We will be funding up to seven projects with grants of a maximum of £40,000 each, submitted by a UK Higher Education Institution in partnership with one or more non-academic entities (community group, public sector organisation, industry partner). For detailed guidelines on eligibility, criteria and how to apply, please click here.
Applications are due at 5pm on 30th April 2020.
As a key focus of the call is collaboration, we are offering several ways to help you meet like-minded people, which may lead you to finding the perfect partner to work on a proposal with you. We have just launched our new improved Catalyst website for you to expose your ideas and explore other people’s. You can search Catalyst by keyword, organisation or theme to find potential partners, and you can upload your own project ideas by filling in this form.
To complement the Catalyst, we are holding several events for you to meet potential partners face-to-face.
- Networking Hours – If you are in the Newcastle area, please come along to our informal networking hour taking place in the Eat cafe of Newcastle University’s Urban Sciences Building (USB). This is at 5.30pm on 6th February 2020. Please sign up here if you are interested. All are welcome to come and mingle, explore and exchange ideas. Light refreshments will be provided. Please note that the USB is located in the Newcastle Helix and not on the University campus. (See map)
- Sandpit Events – Our main networking events will be held in Newcastle at the Catalyst Building on 27th February and at the Digital Catapult in London on 6th March. These are all-day ‘sandpit’ events designed to bring together partners from across the Not-Equal network, with the aim to facilitate collaborations, drive innovation and lay the foundations for potential research projects. You can sign up for the Newcastle sandpit event here and the London event here.
Other dates for your diary are the 12th, 18th and 24th March for our virtual Q&A sessions during which anyone can call, tweet or message us with questions about any part of our commissioning process; and 19th March when the Network+ Manager, Rachel Sparks, will run a 2-hour grant-writing workshop for Early Career Researchers.
To recap, here are our key dates:
| Date | Application Stage |
| 20th January 2020 | Call for Collaborative Proposals goes live |
| 6th February 2020 | Networking Hour – Newcastle |
| 27th February 2020 | Sandpit Event – Newcastle |
| 6th March 2020 | Sandpit Event – London |
| 12th, 18th & 24th March 2020 | Virtual Q&A Information Sessions |
| 19th March 2020 | ECR Writing Surgery |
| 30th April 2020 | Deadline for applications |
Meanwhile, please follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook, where we will be posting regular updates and details of our activities and events! And feel free to get in touch if you have any queries.
Best of Luck!
The Not-Equal Team
