Project Funding for e-Learning 
2006/07

The Centre for Bioscience is pleased to announce the availability of grants of up to £4000 in the area of e-Learning.  These funds are available in order to further promote and support learning and teaching.  For the purposes of this funding round e-Learning is defined as:

'learning facilitated and supported through the use of information
and communication technologies'

Applications are welcomed for both pedagogic investigations and the production of learning and teaching resources. There are no restrictions on the areas the fund will cover, however applications in the following areas will be given low priority as they are already covered by other funding streams:
•	Plagiarism
•	VLE-specific solutions (i.e. those with limited potential to transfer to other VLE platforms)
•	Questionbanks
•	Statistics and numeracy

Successful projects will be grounded in the biosciences and based on sound educational principles. We support projects which present a case for why the use of technology might be expected to lead to an improvement in student learning (i.e. not e-learning for e-learning’s sake). If the application is to develop or produce a resource, your application must include a proposal to evaluate the impact of that resource on student learning.

Dissemination of good teaching practice is at the core of the Centre’s functions and so we expect projects to have wide applicability.  Due to their greater dissemination potential a group of small ‘stand alone’ resources will generally be preferred over a single large resource.

Each grant is deliberately capped at £4000 to maximise the areas we can fund and restrict each project to manageable proportions. Time is frequently quoted as a constraint to implementing changes and evaluating their impact on learning, so project money may be used to buy out staff time or to employ a student(s). We will not normally fund hardware or major software purchases.

We encourage applications where a project might work across a degree programme or multiple departments; proposed studies need not be restricted to consideration of a single module/course. 

If you have any questions regarding a proposal we encourage you to discuss your ideas with the Centre for Bioscience using the contacts noted below.  

Applications must be made on this form. If successful, the information provided on your application and subsequently confirmed with the Centre for Bioscience will form part of the Letter of Agreement.

Please submit one paper copy (signed) and a copy on disc no later than Wednesday 13 September to:

Anne-Margaret Campbell, Centre Manager,
Centre for Bioscience, 
Room 8.49n Worsley Building, 
University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT.

Tel: 0113 343 3001, Fax: 0113 343 5894, email: heabioscience@leeds.ac.uk

e-Learning Fund Application
2006/2007

1. Project title

	

2. Project leader
Title		
First name		Last name		
Department		
Institution		
Address		

		
Postcode		
Telephone		Fax		
Email		

3. Name(s) of project partners and critical friends
The primary focus of the Centre for Bioscience e-Learning Fund is to develop and disseminate good practice in bioscience learning and teaching. Funding will not be awarded if the project outcomes and benefits are limited to a single institution. Consequently, if you do not have project partners in at least two other higher education institutions you are required to involve 'critical friends' from at least two other higher education institutions to maximise the transferability of project outcomes and benefits.

Name	Dept. and Institution	Project partner or critical friend?	

			

			

4. Project Abstract
Please provide a brief abstract about the project for publicity use by the Centre for Bioscience
The text boxes will expand as you type.

	

5. Project description
Please describe the project, addressing each of the following criteria in turn. 
The text boxes will expand as you type.

a) With reference to the literature and other work the establishment of a case demonstrating a need for the development within the bioscience community

	

b) The likelihood the development will successfully meet that need

	

c) The applicability, currency and transferability of the development across the biosciences. How will you work with project partners/critical friends to maximise the transferability of project outcomes and benefits?

	

d) Tangible outcomes
Production of an abstract, Bulletin article, BEE-j manuscript, reports and a poster are a requirement of funding:
	Brief outline	
Abstract	A brief abstract about the project for publicity use by the Centre for Bioscience. Submitted as part of application form.	
Interim and Final Reports	Simple proforma-based interims and a final project report.	
An article in the Centre for  Bioscience Bulletin	A short article describing the project outcomes.	
Poster	Based on a simple Centre for Bioscience template. Coordinated by the Centre for Bioscience at the end of the project.	
Bioscience Education E-journal (BEE-j) manuscript	Submission of manuscript to Bioscience Education E-journal (BEE-j) See http://www.bioscience.heacademy.ac.uk/journal/ 	

In addition to those noted above, a selection of the following resources/activities should also be produced as part of the project and will be made available through the Centre for Bioscience. Please specify which of the following you intend to produce.
	Brief outline	
Briefing paper/s		
Case study/studies		
Guide/s		
Teaching resources		
Course materials		
Conference paper(s)		
Journal paper(s)		
Web-based material		
Workshop session		
Other (please outline) 		

If you are producing a resource (e.g. course material, CD-ROM, web-based material) please give details of how individual components (images, diagrams, student handouts etc) will be made available for independent redistribution via the Centre for Bioscience

	

e) Project Plan (incl. proposed start and end dates and milestones) 
i) The project must be completed within 12 months of the agreed starting date.
ii) We would expect projects to start by 01/11/06 and all projects must be complete by 31/10/2007 (unless you have agreed a later finish date with the Centre for Bioscience).
iii) Please remember to include the tangible outcomes and associated reporting dates in the timetable.

Key Activity	Activity period (dates)	Activity completion (date)	
Project start			

			

			

Project completion (normally no later than 31/10/07			

f) Evaluation: Please state how you will assess the impact of the project on student learning

	

6. Budget
The funding available in this round is limited, therefore to maximise return we will be looking closely at value for money in the proposed budget. 

Payment of the award will be made on satisfactory completion of the project report and, if applicable, delivery of project materials. 

The budget headings below are indicative. It is not necessary to enter a figure for each heading. Include VAT where appropriate; departmental or institutional overheads will not be paid. Costs will depend upon the nature of the project.

Purchase of computer hardware and major software will not normally be funded.
Time release*
* please indicate how this has been costed (number of hours, rate of pay). 
	£	
Administrative/secretarial support*
* please indicate how this has been costed (number of hours, rate of pay). 
	£	
Other assistance (please specify)*
* please indicate how this has been costed (number of hours, rate of pay). 
	£	
Training and professional development	£	
Travel and subsistence	£	
Consumables*
*any consumables must be individually detailed and costed.	£	
Other costs (specify)	£	
TOTAL	£	

7. How did you find out the Centre was offering this funding?

8. Supplementary notes:
a) The grant is cash limited and can be used for anything necessary to complete the project (with the exception of computer hardware and software as noted above). The grant will be subject to the submission of satisfactory 3 month progress reports and will be administered through the local institution’s financial arrangements.

b) Sustainability of web material: If your project proposal includes web-based material you must provide the following during the course of the project: 
•	computer server specification and configuration information to allow material to be fully mountable and maintainable. For example: IIS based webserver using SQL server or Apachie Webserver using PHP/MySQL or other software enhancements - we would need a full specification of requirements
•	access to your website via an authorised account allowing us to download a copy as backup, or an image on CD-ROM or DVD of the relevant web directories
•	details of the expected lifespan of your web service

c) In special circumstances we may be able to offer hosting facilities at the Centre for Bioscience. Full specification of your requirements is necessary, contact the C&IT Manager, Terry McAndrew, for details (T.J.McAndrew@leeds.ac.uk). 

d) Project material should be capable of being hosted / distributed via the JISC JORUM repository of learning and teaching materials - http://www.jorum.ac.uk/ . We would expect funded projects to seek this permission from their host institution where appropriate. 
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Projects will be deemed ineligible if any of the following is incomplete

9. Accessibility statement
All teaching materials, web sites etc must comply with appropriate accessibility guidelines (such as the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (http://www.w3.org/WAI/) in order to ensure fulfillment of your obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act (revised 2005) and specifically Part 4 (SENDA). (For further information contact Techdis at http://www.techdis.ac.uk)

I agree to ensure that any original material generated will comply with appropriate accessibility guidelines to fulfil my obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act Part 4 (SENDA).	
Signature of project leader:

10. Copyright statement
I agree to relinquish copyright on any original material generated so that it may be freely distributed to UK HE and FE institutions.	
Signature of project leader:

11. Head of Unit authorisation
I confirm that the proposer has my support in applying for a Centre for Bioscience Teaching Development Fund grant.	
Name: 

Position:
	
Signature: