[CLOSED] 50th Anniversary Research and Development Awards
Context
SEMPRE was founded in 1972, growing out of the Reading Conferences on Research in Music Education that were started in 1966 by Arnold Bentley. Today, the charitable object of the Society is to ‘advance education and research concerning the psychology of music and music education for the benefit of people throughout the world’. This is achieved in three main ways: through publications (SEMPRE produces three journals in partnership with Sage Publications, Psychology of Music, Research Studies in Music Education and Music and Science, and a book series, SEMPRE Studies in the Psychology of Music, with Routledge); through awards that variously support early career researchers, travel in pursuit of defined research objectives, initiatives that cross disciplinary boundaries and attendance at conferences, as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award; and conferences, both organised by the Society itself and in association with sister organisations all over the world.
The 50th Anniversary Research and Development Awards
In 2022, SEMPRE will be 50 years old and, to celebrate half a century of international service to the music psychology and music education communities, and to further its charitable objects, the Society will be offering four research and development awards of up to £20,000 each. The purpose of the awards is to promote research and development in areas where a defined need resulting from disadvantage can be addressed in or through music. Disadvantage includes, but is not limited to, marginalised groups, of a particular phase within the lifespan from early childhood to old age, those who are identified as asylum seekers or refugees, those with social, emotional and mental health needs (SEMH), those with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND), those with neurodegenerative disease, those from ethnic minority groups, and those who are persistently economically disadvantaged and so less likely to realise their potential.
The anniversary awards will run from February 2021 to September 2022. The findings will first be disseminated through papers to be given at SEMPRE’s 50th Anniversary Conference that will be held in the Autumn, 2022, and subsequently submitted for peer-reviewed publication in one of the Society’s journals. Although the research will necessarily be applied in a particular context and likely to be relatively small-scale, it must have a strong theoretical basis that makes it capable of subsequent scaling up to be of wider benefit and to have significant impact for others. To this end, it should be shown how the project outputs could (a) be applied directly to make a difference in the quality of life of the group(s) concerned and (b) have the potential to be used to underpin further, large-scale grant applications to national and international funding agencies, or charitable funders. Preference will be given to teams that include early career researchers, and those who are supported by an experienced mentor. Applications may well be made collaboratively between a university and another organisation. Priority will be given to projects that are genuinely innovative. Bids can include direct costs (salary, travel and the purchase or creation of resources), but organisational overheads are excluded.
Timescale: The closing date for bids using the form on the SEMPRE website will be 30 November 2020. Bids will be evaluated by the SEMPRE Trustees, with expert advice as necessary, and results will be announced by the end of 2020. Projects can start from February 2021. Results are expected to be available, at least in provisional form, for dissemination at the SEMPRE 50th Anniversary Conference in Autumn 2022.
Applying
This award has now been closed.