There are now just over 2 weeks remaining to submit entries to the Chemistry World Science Communication competition. If you're feeling inspired but just aren't quite sure how to put your entry together see the Chemistry World blog for some top tips from our judges. This competition is a great opportunity to get yourself noticed by some expert science communicators and by the RSC's President, Professor Lesley Yellowlees. So why not fire up your iPhone or dust off a camcorder to make a short film, record an interview with a colleague or supervisor as an audio clip, or just put fingers to keyboard and submit a written entry.

When you're ready, go to www.rsc.org/cwcompetition to submit your entry!

As we come down from the high of Team GB's success in the Olympic Games you might be wondering what I get up to during the summer holidays (of course you might not!). I spend a significant time of June to September planning our Autumn surgeries and thinking about the things that members might like to see from us. We are also beginning put the last few things in motion for ChemCareers - this year is especially fun as we are holding an event in India - a first for us. more...

RSC Media Graduate (four Months fixed term contract)
 
We  urgently need a focused, proactive individual to support the RSC in managing and exploiting the phenomenal international response to a competition we launched that gained significant international press coverage, based on the question: Why does hot water freeze faster than cold water?
 
Your role will involve sorting submissions, coordinating judging, communicating with entrants, preparing for a prize giving event and working with the RSC team and its external partner to deliver this project - and possibly working on the publicity aspect of the results process.
 
You will need to be confident working with different technologies, possess strong diplomacy and administration skills and be a great communicator. You will also be happy handling a large amount of detail.
 
We are looking for someone who is studying science at degree level, or has completed, a degree in chemistry or physics.
 
If you want to be part of a team riding a very high PR wave from late summer to late autumn let us know.
 
The position can be based in London or Cambridge, will be 35 hours per week and you need to be available to start straight away.  You will probably need to be able to travel to London at least once a week. Salary £23,327 per annum.
Please send applications to jobs@rsc.org quoting reference number 12-97 and include a CV and cover letter.
 
Close date for applications: 1 August 2012
 

So, I went along to the CPD event with the Association of Career Professionals International (UK) a couple of saturdays ago and it was ace! I learnt all sorts of things including dealing with resilience:

•  How one becomes resilient in one's career and how to help those people who are struggling with resilience with their career because of redundancy or general unemployment. When things go wrong, your resilience is tested
• When you lose resilience you tend to lose confidence, move away (physically/emotionally) from your support network, lose your sense of purpose and lose emotional perspective and/or control
• Sometimes one needs to accept the situation, confronting the issue, only then can you move on e.g. I am unemployed and I need to get a job. It wasn't my fault that I was made redundant and I am still employable, it might take some time to get a job but I am prepared to persist at it.

more...

You know I say you shouldn't ignore the newspapers when you are searching for a job? Well, case in point: the Metro has a regular writer - John Lees, you know, the guy who's books I am constantly wittering on about? He's one of my career heroes and I am meeting him on Saturday at a careers CPD event in London....Anyway, my point is that he did an interesting article this morning: http://www.metro.co.uk/lifestyle/902438-john-lees-how-to-tick-an-employers-wish-list-during-a-job-interview and you should check it out. Did I mention I was meeting him? I might take a copy to be signed!

Following on from my blog earlier in the week regarding funding for PhDs I also have information for those of you doing a PostDoc:

Short-term Awards
UK-International
Royal Society

• International Exchanges Scheme

Available for travel to all countries outside the UK. 
An applicant can request:

• up to £3000 for one-off travel lasting up to 3 months;
• up to £6000 for multiple visits to be completed within 1 year (including a maximum of £1000 for research expenses);
• up to £12,000 for multiple visits to be completed within 2 years (including a maximum of £2000 for research expenses).

If collaboration is intended with partners in Taiwan, France, Ireland, China or Russia, the UK applicant can apply for up to £12,000 from the RS and the overseas applicant for up to the same amount from a partner organisation to fund a cost share project fixed at 2 years.
This has replaced the International Travel Grants (up to £4000 for conference participation or international collaboration up to 12 weeks) and the International Joint Projects (travel and subsistence up to £6000 to support international collaborations between two teams or individuals over the course of 2 years).

• Frontiers of Science

A series of prestigious international meetings (3 – 4 days) for ECRs
 
Royal Society of Edinburgh

• Bilateral Programme

Collaboration between researchers in Scotland and those in institutions with which the RSE has a Memorandum of Understanding. Visits are 1 – 4 weeks in duration.

• International Exchange Programme

As with the Bilateral Programme, but this covers other institutions.
 
BBSRC

• International Scientific Interchange System (ISIS)

Funding is available for:

• Short term travel awards (to initiate collaboration)
• Long term travel awards (for researchers to travel outside UK for up to 12 months)
• Access award (for stays of up to 1 month in another country to undertake a specific piece of work).

 
Cancer Research UK

• Research Travel Award

If researcher is funded by Cancer Research UK, this provides funding for travel, accommodation and research expenses up to £6000 for international or domestic visits of 2 weeks – 3 months
EPSRC

• Overseas travel grants

Funding for international travel and subsistence.  Primarily to support travel for the PI; support for other researchers can be requested but should be fully justified.
 
MRC

• Overseas Research

MRC will support the costs of up to one year of an MRC fellowship spent overseas (up to 2 years in case development awards).
 
British Mass Spectrometry Society (BMSS)

• Travel grants of up to £300 for International Meetings for BMSS members.  Priority is given to PhD students and ECRs.

 
COST

• COST funds Actions, which are networks centred on nationally funded research projects in fields that are of interest to at least 5 COST countries.  Their aim is to promote basic and pre-competitive research. There were 172 networks in 2002 relating to Chemistry. COST provides financial support to these networks for joint activities such as conferences, short-term scientific exchanges and publications.

 
ESF (European Science Foundation)

• ESF Exploratory Workshops

Between 25 and 40 workshops (1 – 3 days) across all scientific domains are funded, aimed at bringing together mature and young researchers.

• ESF Research Conferences

Provides the opportunity for leading scientists and young researchers to meet for discussions on the recent developments in their field.  Conferences last for 4 – 5 days and involve up to 150 participants.
 
Marie Curie

• Multi-Partner ITNs and Innovative Doctoral Programmes

Institutions or one institution can apply for funding to set up an international, intersectoral and interdisciplinary training programme for young researchers.
Others

• JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship for Foreign Researchers (Short term)

Funding for short-term visits for young pre- and post-doctoral UK researchers to conduct cooperative research in Japan.  Covers visits of 1 to 12 months.

• Canon Research Fellowship

Up to 15 fellowships are awarded annually by the Canon Foundation for European researchers to pursue a period of research (from 3 months to 1 year) in a Japanese institution.

• Universities’ China Committee in London (UCCL)

Grants for UK and Chinese to make research visits in the other country.  Maximum grants are usually £1500.

• Visiting Fellowships in Canadian Laboratories Program

Opportunity for promising emerging scientists to work with research groups in Canadian Government labs for one year.
 
 
Long-term Awards
UK - International
 
Royal Society

• Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Postdoctoral Fellowship

Funding for an ECR to spend between 12 and 24 months conducting cooperative research in Japan. It includes subsistence funding and return travel.  The Japanese host institution may also apply for a research grant up to ¥1.5 million (around £12,000) per year

• Leverhulme-Royal Society Africa Award

Three years funding (up to £60,000 p.a.) towards research expenses and costs for mobility and equipment.  This is to develop a collaborative research project between the UK and research institutions in Ghana or Tanzania.  Applicants must hold a fixed-term contract in a UK institution for at least the length of the collaborative project; the funding does not cover salaries (may be a bit advanced for ECRs).
 
BBSRC

• Japan Partnering Awards

Limited to research relating to food security or biotechnology and bioenergy.  Funds for travel, subsistence and other activities such as workshops or exchanges (up to £50,000 over 4 years).

• China Partnering Awards
• India Partnering Awards
• United States Partnering awards
• Brazil Partnering Awards

 
Marie Curie

• Intra-European Fellowships for Career Development

Provides funding for a research project (12 – 24 months) for post-docs undertaken in a different EU Member State or Associated country. 
 
FAPESP (Sao Paulo Research Foundation)

• Post-doctoral fellowship for 24 months to carry out research in Brazil

 
International - International
TWAS

• Fellowships for young scientists from developing countries to carry out postdoctoral research in developing countries other than their own (Brazil, China, India, Iran, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Thailand).  Between 12 and 24 months.

 
Institute of Physics (IOP)

• IUPAP Travel Grant Programme

Funding the attendance of women from developing and eastern European countries at regional conferences.
 
Interdisciplinary
EPSRC

• Postdoctoral mobility mechanism

A 12-month follow-on grant beyond the existing date of a research project, to facilitate the transfer into a different research discipline

• Flashlight funding (pilot)

Funding to bring together ECRs through a workshop and then provide support for the successful teams to work together in multidisciplinary research projects.  The technical focus of the pilot is “Engineering challenges in Science"

It's a pretty miserable day in London (and the rest of the UK) today but I may have some good news for you. My colleague Amy has sent me a list of places to find funding if you are a PhD student: more...

So, here we are again, on the eve of ChemCareers 2012 and it's seemed like an age to get here and suddenly it's upon us. There has been some last minute things to do but we are almost ready....

This year focuses on some different things and we will have much more time to talk, which seems to be the thing you valued most in past events. The idea is that the chat session will last about 3 hours and you can pop in/out as you wish but it gives you time to get plenty of information before we close the session.

Tune in tomorrow for a talk with our graduates. We take about 50 graduates on every year - we are the UK's largest recruiter of chemistry graduates and you will be able to find out more about what they do. I will also be on hand to discuss other graduate schemes, what they look for and what they ask you to do as part of the interview process..not to be missed!

Are you interested in finding out how science can influence policy? 
 
We are funding a fantastic opportunity for RSC members to spend three months working in the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST), getting to grips with explaining scientific research to policy makers in Westminster and learning more about the policy making process.
 
For more details of how to apply for this scheme, visit http://www.rsc.org/science-activities/parliament/westminster-fellowship-scheme/how-to-apply.asp.  The deadline for applications is 25^th May, so get writing!

It's a rainy day in London and I am here to do three things:

1. have consultations with members (so far 3 are booked in)
2. write my Chemistry World article - which is focusing on getting the most out of your professional body
3. catching up on all the things I should have done but haven't because I have been out of the office running careers hubs...which brings me nicely to ChemCareers 2012 more...