The University of Birmingham is keen to develop meaningful global research links and, as a result, has created the Birmingham International Engagement Fund (BIEF). The BIEF allows University of Birmingham academics to seek funding for international travel to establish and develop research activity and engagement.
Although our partnerships are wide ranging and span all continents, we have identified North America as one of our key strategic regions in which we wish to develop more focused engagement and applications involving collaborators from North America are strongly encouraged.
Criteria for applications
The BIEF is open to all full- and part-time academic and professional services staff. Please note that only University of Birmingham staff can apply to the BIEF. It is not available to support student travel, including PhD students.
The primary criterion for an award from the BIEF is the quality of the proposed activity: only the highest quality proposals will be supported. Quality will be primarily judged on the extent to which the proposed activity strengthens the University’s international standing and ranking.
Further criteria that will be used to assess the suitability of activities are:
- Tangible outputs and the potential benefit of the outputs in terms of citations and/or reputation with academics and/or employers;
- The extent to which the visit will contribute to long-term collaborations with reputable international partners and connected opportunities to apply for external grants and resources.
- The standing of the applicant and how the visit will further develop their academic/professional services career, and their ability to deliver the expected outcomes;
- The value for money of the application.
Please note, as this is institutional funding to support the University’s international academic reputation, all applications should be clear about the benefits the application will have for the University or the applicant’s School. The BIEF is not designed to support the development of individual research without a clear indication of how this will also boost the University or School’s profile.
All successful applicants will be expected to present a short report on their trip, highlighting outputs and developing relationships, within two weeks of the completion of travel.
Applications
All applications must have the support of the applicant’s Head of School/Institute or Director; applications without this support will not be considered. For staff in colleges, the application will need the approval of the College Director of Global Engagement as the first stage of the process. It is therefore advisable to contact your school international lead and/or your College Director of Global Engagement to discuss your application.
- CAL – Professor Aleksandra Covoski
- CoSS – Professor Robin Miller
- EPS – Professor Zoe Pikramenou
- LES – Professor Richard Butler
- MDS – Professor Tracy Roberts
For Professional Services staff, enquiries should be addressed to Andréa Edwards and Luke Wales in Birmingham Global.
For more information on the Birmingham International Engagement Fund, please contact Catherine Lemon