SEDA Research and Evaluation Small Grants 2017

What are SEDA small grants? 

SEDA small grants continue to be a very sought-after source of support for researchers wanting to learn more about issues associated with educational development.  They are available to provide support for research and evaluation in staff and educational development with the aim of continued improvement in the quality and understanding of educational development practices. Examples of the types of projects which have been completed span a wide range of themes including building and evaluating the impact of fellowship (Wisker, 2004); CPD habitus and the UK Professional Standards Framework (Hall, 2007); integrating the student voice into the PGCert (Peat, 2009); how to get academic peers to develop their scholarly activity (Parker and Quinsee, 2011) and developing a shared situational judgement/case-based training resource for supporting the development of Graduate Teaching Assistants in Higher Education (Mountford-Zimdars et al., 2016). Examples of previous reports can be found on the SEDA web-site.

Who are they for?

SEDA members, or staff working in an institution that holds SEDA membership. Applicants do not have to be based in educational development units.

What do they offer? Up to £1,000 for research into educational development practices. There are a maximum of five grants, one of which will be reserved for a ‘developing researcher’ in order to encourage capacity building. All proposals should involve collaboration either within or beyond the institution.

When is the deadline? 12 noon on 30^th January 2017.

What are the benefits?

• Opportunity to research a valuable area and disseminate to the wider community.
• The grant can be used to pay for time release, administrative support, equipment, travel or attendance at a SEDA conference or other event to disseminate the outcomes.
• As part of the process, we require submission of an article on the results/research for Educational Developments magazine and/or IETI as well as the submission of a proposal for the SEDA conference, which is a great opportunity to network and share with other educational developers.
• Each researcher/team is allocated a mentor from the Scholarship and Research Committee who will provide advice throughout the project.
• Whilst the sum awarded may seem small, experience suggests that recipients have welcomed the external recognition for the activity they want to carry out. They have also seen the money as providing a spring-board for further scholarly activities.

How do I apply? 

Proposals must be submitted using the application which can be found on the SEDA website by the deadline of 12 noon on 30^th January 2017. Proposals should be emailed to office@seda.ac.uk under the heading SEDA Research and Evaluation Grants.

What criteria will be used to evaluate the grants? 

SEDA Research and Evaluation Grants are competitive bids and SEDA normally awards up to five projects annually. The bids are judged by the SEDA Scholarship and Research Committee against the extent to which they:

1. Demonstrate awareness of, and build on, current literature in educational development
2. Entail appropriate and achievable methodology within the context and timescale of the project (including ethical implications where relevant)
3. Include a realistic project plan with timescale, deliverables and providing value for money
4. Involve collaboration and identify clear implications for educational development, beyond the individual’s immediate practice
5. Indicate any experience or an interest in pedagogic research and evaluation.

Applicants will receive feedback against these criteria including the areas of strength in the proposal and those that could be improved.

What is the timetable? 

• Proposals must be received by the SEDA office by 30^th January 2017
• All applicants will be notified of the results by 31^st March 2017
• Projects are expected to complete by 31^st July 2018

Further information?

For further information concerning SEDA Research and Evaluation Grants, please contact the SEDA office (office@seda.ac.uk).

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Charles Buckley (SEDA Scholarship and Research Committee)