Frequently Asked Questions

Project plans should be submitted using a project proposal submission form. The eSTEeM Coordination Group will review and scrutinise the plans to ensure that they meet eSTEeM's criteria. Proposers will be informed as to whether their plan has been accepted and may also be invited to have a further discussion with the directors and/or School Scholarship Lead to develop or refine their plan where necessary. Projects will then be signed off by the eSTEeM directors.

Funding is limited with the expected maximum amount for each project being £3,000 for the total duration of the project. Any requests for external dissemination to UK and international conferences will only be considered upon evidence of progression in the form of an interim report or if a final report has been submitted and engagement with internal dissemination has already occurred. Requests must be made to the eSTEeM Management Team before the submission of an abstract and is dependent on the remaining budget within eSTEeM for that academic year.

Limited funding may be used for:

• Consultancies for Associate Lecturer involvement or Students as Partners engagement.
• Transcription costs.
• Other items negotiable with the Senior Manager, Scholarship once projects have been agreed.

eSTEeM will encourage you to take ownership of your own project evaluation; however, you will be supported in developing an effective evaluation strategy and advised about how to obtain the necessary permissions and carry out any necessary surveys. We will help you to develop skills in qualitative/quantitative analysis and will be on hand to assist with interpretation.

Each faculty at The Open University now has its own Scholarship and Innovation Centre. Therefore, in the first instance we would advise you to contact your relevant Centre to discuss your scholarship proposal. Where possible, we welcome cross-faculty projects that will accelerate and increase the impact of the University's excellence in scholarship applied across all disciplines for the benefit of OU students.

Yes! Our calls are open to all STEM staff, so keep an eye on our website for details. 

Many eSTEeM projects require assistance with the collection of quantitative and qualitative data. Therefore, if you do not wish to lead a project but would be interested in being involved with a project, then please complete the skills register which can be found under the 'Resources' tab and return it to us at esteem@open.ac.uk. We will keep your details on file and when an opportunity arises we will try to match ALs according to their skills, experience and area of interest.

Our long term aim is to be self-supporting or profit generating, so we encourage all project leaders to consider external funding opportunities. eSTEeM can add value to projects seeking external funding through our well established processes, so please come and talk to us. Many eSTEeM projects will provide pilot data that could underpin external bids.

Project calls are currently circulated once a year (December/January). If you have an idea for a project that you wish to discuss further, then please contact your respective School Scholarship Lead in the first instance, or you can get in touch with the eSTEeM Management Team at esteem@open.ac.uk. Please also keep an eye on our website and follow us at @OU_eSTEeM for updates.