17th call for strategic innovation and scholarship projects

20th July 2020

Posted 20th July 2020

Welcome to the 17^th eSTEeM call for projects. Addressing the degree awarding gap for specific student groups remains a priority for The Open University. The Access, Participation and Success Strategy details the University's strategic approach to supporting students from underrepresented and disadvantaged backgrounds to access HE and achieve equitable outcomes in each of the nations. Therefore, in this call we are prioritising projects from OU staff which will help us address some of the targets set in the national plans and agreements (links below).

We are seeking projects which investigate issues around registration, completion and awarding in respect of students with identified characteristics such as:

Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Students
Carers
Students with Disabilities
Issues relating to Student Wellbeing and Mental Health
Students with a Low Socio-Economic Status
Students in Secure Environments
Low Occupational Status
Low Previous Educational Qualification

We are interested in supporting both individuals and groups of scholars and we would like to receive:

Expressions of interest from individuals who would like to join teams; and
Fully worked-up project proposals from individuals or groups of colleagues.

Please note that this focus does not preclude you from suggesting other scholarship projects that you feel would fit within the eSTEeM portfolio. For example, we are happy to receive projects which address themes such as supporting students, online/onscreen STEM practice and assessment, together with other themes.

We still welcome projects which actively involve students as scholarly co-collaborators/co-investigators on the project team and not merely as study participants. We are happy to provide guidance on how exactly this might be achieved in the context of your project plan.

Widening Access and Participation Links

There is currently no specific Access Plan for Wales.

What to do next

Sign-off procedure for fully worked-up proposals

Please note that all proposals must be reviewed/endorsed by your School Scholarship Lead, in addition to your time allocation being approved by your Head of School, before submission to eSTEeM. Therefore, please ensure that you contact your Scholarship Lead as soon as possible, and well in advance of the submission deadline, to allow them sufficient time to review your proposal.

Pre-bidding Workshop: Thursday 3^rd September, 10.30-12.00 via MS Teams

School	Scholarship Lead
C&C	Shailey Minocha
E&I	Daphne Chang
EEES	Sarah Davies
KMi	Trevor Collins
LHCS	Duncan Banks
M&S	Rachel Hilliam
SPS	Jimena Gorfinkiel/Laura Alexander

We will be holding a pre-bidding workshop to assist colleagues with the preparation of an eSTEeM project proposal and discuss any project ideas that you may have. The workshop will take place on Thursday 3rd September, 10.30-12.00 via MS Teams. Please confirm your attendance by visiting the registration page by Tuesday 1st September.

Further details

The estimated duration of projects is around 12-18 months with each team member expected to commit a minimum of 10 days.

If you would like to register your interest in joining a project group, please email esteem@open.ac.uk indicating which issues you are interested in investigating and why. Alternatively, if you already have a worked-up proposal in mind then please download the current project proposal form which can be found below.

To assist you in preparing your proposal, please do not forget to view the current and previous eSTEeM projects and final reports. Please also visit the searchable Scholarship Exchange, which is the University’s repository of scholarship projects and reports.

The deadline for expressions of interest and submitting proposals is 17.00 on Friday 25th September 2020.

If you have any queries, or if you would like to discuss any initial ideas you have, then please do not hesitate to contact us at esteem@open.ac.uk. We look forward to receiving your proposals and expressions of interest.