Open call for media projects and activities

Introduction

Now that Aalto University is up and running there is a need to increasingly encourage interdisciplinary actions within education and to support the possibilities for young researchers to become more involved with educational development and the transfer of research knowledge into, for example, masters-level courses. Although Media Factory will continue to support research collaborations, as it did in 2008-9, we also want to enable the creation of experimental, smaller-scale research and education actions. In order to realise these it is our intention to provide support and funding in a flexible and accessible way. Further details are provided below.

Media Factory 2010 aims at funding new media-related projects within the Aalto-university. Projects proposed should be based on new research ideas or practices that clearly add value to the field of media. The evaluation of proposals will happen via a regular, recurring application process for smaller projects (max. 6000€) and, so-called, pitching events for larger projects (>6000 €, max. 25 000 €). Deadlines for the forthcoming calls are detailed in the application schedule below as well as further information about the submission of proposals.

We expect that suggested projects have a multidisciplinary basis that would be attractive to participants of all three Aalto schools and that they enable practical outcomes through collaborative pilot project efforts within research, education, art, design and other related actions. We especially value future-oriented projects and themes have potential for further development, after the initial support for the pilot phase by Media Factory. We require that every funded project should produce a final written report along with media documentation and/or an audiovisual prototype or demonstration that will be published on the Media Factory website and other official publication channels within Aalto.

For the larger projects a pitching event will be arranged for those applicants who are short-listed on the basis of their written proposal. During the pitching event the applicant is requested to make a five minute-presentation of the suggested project idea to a review panel. Further details about the pitching event will be provided later to those applicants who are approved for the pitching stage.

If funding is applied for efforts of any persons, these should be planned as waged efforts, subject to tax etc. Media Factory cannot provide tax-free grants. Additionally funding cannot be provided for the acquisition of durable equipment, software or sub-contracted services.

Academic staff and registered students within Aalto university.

Submission

The research proposal should be submitted by sending an e-mail to juhani.tenhunen(at ) aalto.fi by 4.00 p.m. latest on 8th of October or 26th of November (for larger projects) or 24th of September or 12th November (for smaller projects).

Format of the proposals

• The first page should show the title of the project
• The title should be followed by a 150 word abstract and keywords
• The research proposal should be max. 2 pages (Font 12, margins 2,5 and single-spaced)

The proposal should include:

• Background and description of the project
• Aim and details of the project and time schedule
• Persons involved, available resources and needed resources as well as the budget.
• The home department for the project should be mentioned along with names and contact details of relevant administrative staff, as the funding will be paid to a department within Aalto. (Please note the financial administration of the project shall also be the responsibility of the receiving department).
• The name and contact information for at least one member of the academic staff as contact person(s) in relation to the content of the application.

Instructions:

• Please inform about/negotiate your proposal and its financial administration within your department before submission.
• Education: Please explain the nature and status of the proposed media course/workshop etc. in relation to education in the home department. It is necessary to describe briefly how the studies will be administered. The applicant should explain how the proposal differs from the other media-related education in the department or in Aalto in general, for example, by utilizing innovative pedagogy or providing education in a new area. The proposed educational project plan should have an emphasis on student mobility, by being open for students from the different Aalto schools, and also include multidisciplinary aspects.
  
• Research: We can provide some seed funding for development of new research themes, (project) consortia etc. Funding will be limited to actions that aim to develop new multi-disciplinary media research.
• Applicants will be required to confirm that their proposal is a completely new item. In other words Media Factory cannot support or subvent existing projects, courses etc.

Judging and notification
The proposals will be judged according to the following criteria (* main criteria):

• Deemed importance of the topic to the field of media development
• Deemed potential of the proposal as a pilot to create new synergies
• Freshness/innovation of approach
• The comprehensiveness of the proposal
• The extent of future-orientation
• The extent to which the Media proposal aims at introducing new actions, operations, practices etc. within Aalto*
• Makeup of the project team or consortium
• Deemed relevance and importance of the project, as well as its aims and expected results, to more than one operational unit*
• Feasibility of the project plan overall
• Comparison with other proposals*

In the schedule above you will find the decision deadlines. Aalto Media Factory reserves the right to define the person(s) responsible for evaluation of proposals. Decisions are final and there is no possibility to make appeal. Media Factory reserves the right to make final decision on the total sums granted to successful proposals which may be less than those applied for. Media Factory reserves the right to negotiate with proposers in respect of changes deemed necessary to project plans in order that they may become funded.

For further information about Aalto Media Factory’s Open Call please contact producer Markku Nousiainen or project leader Juhani Tenhunen.

markku.nousiainen (at ) aalto.fi, +358 50 5692545
juhani.tenhunen (at ) aalto.fi, +358 50 5184087