sandpit
YorVoice Sandpit event
Aim
YorVoice is a SPARKS-funded initiative to establish York as the world-leader in radical, interdisciplinary research into the human voice. As part of YorVoice, we have money to commission around 4 to 6 projects of around £20k each, lasting for up to 12 months (there is, however, considerable flexibility in terms of the size/ scale/ duration of the projects). Funding will be allocated via a sandpit event.
What is a Sandpit ?
A sandpit is an interactive and participative process, aimed at stimulating novel and adventurous research ideas and enabling interdisciplinary collaborations. The outcomes are not predetermined but are defined during the sandpit by the group.
Over the course of the Sandpit (two half day online workshop, and one full day in-person workshop) you will have a chance to connect and talk with others with an interest in the human voice and explore how you might work together to make a difference in this area. From these discussions, you will develop new ideas that will need a collaborative approach bringing together different perspectives and expertise. The final stage of the sandpit will be a short pitch presenting your project idea to the YorVoice steering committee at the final workshop. Funding decisions will be made on the basis of your slides and decisions communicated quickly, with projects starting as early as March 2024.
Benefits of YorVoice funding:
Opportunity to meet and work with new people on exciting new, interdisciplinary projects
Support provided in the form of training, networking, and mentoring
Access to equipment and resources from across different departments
Administrative support provided by YorVoice
Workorder associated with your specific project
Use of the funding is very flexible, e.g. it can be used for staff buy-out
Dates:
9th/ 11th January 2024, 10:00-13:00 online
18th January 2024, 10:00-16:00 in-person (location tbc)
It is essential that you are able to attend all of these sessions.
We will also organise some breakfast/ lunch slots during the week between the online sessions and in-person session for people to network and meet informally to discuss potential project ideas. Dates and times tbc.
Criteria:
Funding decisions will be made by the YorVoice Steering Committee on the basis of the following criteria:
Focus on individual variability in the human voice
Interdisciplinarity; involving collaboration across at least two departments
High research quality
Focus on one or more of the YorVoice impact themes (technology, healthcare, social justice, performance, pedagogy)
Growth potential; i.e. possibility for developing the project in the future
Track record of holding research funding will not be used to evaluate projects, as long as it is clear how the project will be delivered. Indeed, priority will be given to projects involving early career researchers. Priority will also be given to minoritised researchers.
Registration:
You can register your interest in the Sandpit event via our short application form. Because of the intensive and interactive nature of a sandpit, we need to limit the number of attendees to a maximum of 30. If we receive more than 30 applications, the YorVoice team will have to make some decisions about who can attend to ensure a mix of participants from different disciplines and different career stages. Please remember that you need to be able to attend all of the sessions.