Category / Fusion

It’s deadline day for Fusion Investment Fund applications

Funding opportunities, Fusion

If you would like to apply to any strands of the FIF please make sure you submit your application by the deadline which is 2pm today! No exceptions will be made to this deadline.

For all the updated strand policy documents, Fund FAQ’s and information about applying, please visit the FIF intranet pages.

 The Fusion Investment Fund is managed by Samantha Leahy-Harland. Please direct all initial enquiries to the Interim Fusion Administrator, Dianne Goodman, at Fusion Fund.

Service Computing Seminar: Servicing Big Data

BU research, Fusion

As part of the Service Computing Seminar (SCS) project, funded by Bournemouth University Fusion Investment Fund, we would like to invite you to the Service Computing Seminar

Title: Servicing Big Data

Time: 14:00-16:00 Wednesday, 18 Dec. 2013

Venue: PG143 (Thomas Hardy Suite, Talbot Campus)

Speaker: Prof. Athman Bouguettaya, Head of School of Computer Science and Information Technology at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia

 

Abstract

Big data is here and in a big way.  Big data is coming from all sorts of sources and means, including sensors, deep space, social media, smartphones, genomic, etc.  The cloud has been instrumental supporting the storage and processing of the ever increasing amount of data.  “Domesticating” the data, i.e., making it useful, however, has been a major challenge.  Service computing is the next major evolution of computing that aims at transforming massive data into artefacts that are acted upon, i.e., services. Service computing is increasingly being recognized as part of a broader agenda in Service Science. In that respect, service computing may be viewed as the “engineering” side of service science. Service computing broadly focuses at providing a foundational framework to support a service-centric view of designing, developing, and exposing data (and applications), whether it is in the enterprise or on the Web. In that respect, the Web is and will undoubtedly be the preferred delivery platform of service-based solutions. More specifically, Web services are currently without contest the key enabler for deploying service-centric solutions. Fully delivering on the potential of next-generation Web services requires building a foundation that would provide a sound design for efficiently developing, deploying, publishing, discovering, composing, trusting, and optimizing access to Web services in an open, competitive, untrustworthy, and highly dynamic environment. The Web service foundation is the key catalyst for the development of a uniform framework called Web Service Management System (WSMS). In this novel framework, Web services are treated as first-class objects. In this talk, I will first motivate the need for a uniform service management to service big data. I will then overview the core components of a typical WSMS. I will conclude by describing our latest research servicing sensor data.

 

Short Bio

Athman Bouguettaya is Professor and Head of School of Computer Science and Information Technology at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. He received his PhD in Computer Science from the University of Colorado at Boulder (USA) in 1992.  He was previously Science Leader in Service Computing at CSIRO ICT Centre, Canberra. Australia. Before that, he was a tenured faculty member and Program director in the Computer Science department at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (commonly known as Virginia Tech) (USA).  He is a founding member and past President of the Service Science Society, a non-profit organization that aims at forming a community of service scientists for the advancement of service science. He is on the editorial boards of several journals including, the IEEE Transactions on Services Computing, ACM Transactions on Internet Technology, the International Journal on Next Generation Computing, VLDB Journal, Distributed and Parallel Databases Journal, and the International Journal of Cooperative Information Systems. He is also on the editorial board of the Springer-Verlag book series on Services Science.  He served as a guest editor of a number of special issues including the special issue of the ACM Transactions on Internet Technology on Semantic Web services, a special issue the IEEE Transactions on Services Computing on Service Query Models, and a special issue of IEEE Internet Computing on Database Technology on the Web. He served as a Program Chair of the 2012 International Conference on Web and Information System Engineering, the 2009 and 2010 Australasian Database Conference, 2008 International Conference on Service Oriented Computing (ICSOC) and the IEEE RIDE Workshop on Web Services for E-Commerce and E-Government (RIDE-WS-ECEG’04). He has published more than 170 books, book chapters, and articles in journals and conferences in the area of databases and service computing (e.g., the IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering, the ACM Transactions on the Web, WWW Journal, VLDB Journal, SIGMOD, ICDE, VLDB, and EDBT). He was the recipient of several federally competitive grants in Australia (e.g., ARC) and the US (e.g., NSF, NIH). He is a Fellow of the IEEE and a Distinguished Scientist of the ACM.

Friday the 13th, unlucky for some, but not for FIF applicants! Last chance to apply!

Funding opportunities, Fusion

If you would like to apply to any strands of the FIF in this round please make sure you submit your application by the deadline which is 2pm on Friday 13 December. No exceptions will be made to this deadline.

For all the updated strand policy documents, Fund FAQ’s and information about applying, please visit the FIF intranet pages.

 The Fusion Investment Fund is managed by Samantha Leahy-Harland. Please direct all initial enquiries to the Interim Fusion Administrator, Dianne Goodman, at Fusion Fund.

Free money! Free money! 1 week left to apply-FIF!

Funding opportunities, Fusion

Okay so it’s not exactly free….you will have to do something for it but what if I told you that you will be hailed within BU, and who knows, maybe the world, as a researcher/support staff member extraordinaire! Your peers will bow down in the corridors in your honour, you will be met with applause when you enter the atrium.*

 I know what you’re thinking….’This sounds brilliant! Where can I find out more?’ Just point your mouse here, my friend, and all will be revealed.

*This may not actually happen.

 The Fusion Investment Fund is managed by Samantha Leahy-Harland. Please direct all initial enquiries to the Interim Fusion Administrator, Dianne Goodman, at Fusion Fund.

A Fusion funded ‘Royal’ visit

BU research, EU, Featured academics, Fusion

Santander Mobility Network Fusion Funds allowed me to visit King Juan Carlos University (Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, URJC) in Madrid, Spain, a few weeks ago. After being hit by the parvovirus 24hr after arriving in Madrid I finally managed to pull myself together and visit Dr Marcos Mendez at the Department of Biodiversity and Conservation, who had arranged for me to meet the Head of the Department, the Head of the Postgraduate School, some academics and undergraduate students. I introduced them to (and left them with several hard copies of) BU’s Summer Schools and our Master’s courses; we also discussed placement opportunities for BU and URJC students. One of them (from URJC) will be visiting us in the New Year funded by Erasmus placement funds. Academics at URJC Department of Biodiversity and Conservation are extremely keen in receiving BU students to work on the wealth of terrestrial and aquatic conservation projects that are running in the Department.

Overall, it was a very productive visit and we now are exploring funding opportunities to develop further this collaboration. If you know of any student looking for a placement, URJC can offer a great opportunity… in the wonderful town of Madrid. Drop me an email (Genoveva Esteban, School of Applied Sciences – gesteban@bournemouth.ac.uk) and I will get it organised.

Want some money?

Funding opportunities, Fusion

I thought that might get your attention! The latest call of the FIF (or the ‘Fusion Investment Fund’ for those of you who haven’t yet added this acronym to your vocabulary) is open for 2 more weeks so if you haven’t applied yet or haven’t seen my previous blog posts, let me give you the highlights:

 

 

So basically you could be given a pile of cash to enable you to do what you love! Pursue that dream of undertaking world-leading research or travel across the pond to work collaboratively with experts in your field. Become a hero and take your rightful place on that pedestal that your peers and students will put you on.*

 Sound good? Find out more.

 *BU cannot guarantee this.

 The Fusion Investment Fund is managed by Samantha Leahy-Harland. Please direct all initial enquiries to the Interim Fusion Administrator, Dianne Goodman, at Fusion Fund.

Bangkok conference “a big success”

Fusion

Speakers and delegates from 10 mainly Asian countries voted the 1st International Corporate and Marketing Communication in Asia Conference, held in Bangkok on November 18-19, “a big success”

The FIF-supported conference went so well that planning is already under way for the 2014 conference, also to be held at Chulalongkorn University in the Thai capital.

Representing BU at the conference were Prof Tom Watson, a co-organiser, and Dr Ana Adi, both of the Media School. Tom was a second day keynote speaker while Ana presented the outcome of research by her and Nathaniel Hobby on social media monitoring in higher education.

The conference, held at the Faculty of Communication Arts, was opened by the host’s Vice-President, Assoc Prof Dr Sittichai Tudsri. Including the Thai and UK organisers, 30 papers were presented by academics from Australia, Egypt, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.

“The conference especially sought Asian perspectives: alternatives to Anglo-American models of theory, practice and education. In this aspect it succeeded to everyone’s satisfaction,” Prof Watson said. “I believe that several international joint research projects will develop from the 2013 conference, which is also a major step forward.”

He said that delegates had welcomed the conference as filling a major gap in corporate and marketing communication academic discourse in Asia. “This reflected well on BU and I’m grateful for the FIF support that helped us devise and develop the conference. It’s an investment that has long term reputational and research value.”

Already, a Media School team researching CSR has linked with colleagues at Chulalongkorn University and a further connection with an Indonesian researcher may follow soon. The BU-Chula link was confirmed at the conference.

(L-R) Conference organisers Prof Tom Watson and Assoc Prof Jirayudh Sinthuphan with keynote speaker Prof Dr Ansgar Zerfas (Leipzig University)

eBU papers viewed over 800 times by BU community!

BU research, Featured academics, Fusion, PG research, Publishing, Research news

The internal side of eBU has only been live for a matter of months. However, in this time eBU has internally published and reviewed 6 papers. Initially envisaged as a developmental vehicle for early career scholars, submissions are coming (and welcome!) from both senior academics and authorship teams comprising students and staff.

Submissions include original research on the emotional geographies and dynamics of doctoral supervision (Fox), e-learning resources on nutrition for supporting cancer survivors (Murphy et al), and destination management in the creative industries (Long). Review papers have also been submitted on the role of patient choice and older people (Harding et al), banking for the public good (Mullineux) and consumer attitudes toward organic food (Howlett et al).

The breadth of submissions and the extent of author engagement are clearly positive. However, I am pleased to report that I am able to offer a better measure of the success, engagement and coverage that eBU is having. As the headline to this blog states, eBU submissions have been viewed over 800 times. This is a monumental amount of engagement, and shows the value of eBU and the interest it has built up among the BU community.

If you have something to submit for immediate internal publication and open peer review or want to view existing papers, you can access eBU when on campus by typing ‘ebu’ into your web browser address bar. Logging into eBU can be achieved by using your regular BU username and password credentials. When off campus eBU can be accessed via ‘View’ (if you do not have View on your home PC or laptop, it can be downloaded here).

Finally, watch this space for the external side of eBU!

Under-grad Midwifery Students and Examination of the Newborn – a pilot project.

BU Challenges, Fusion, Training

Five pre-registration midwifery students were successful in their application to take part in a pilot project which will equip them with the knowledge, skills and competency to undertake  examination of the newborn prior to qualification as a midwife. Midwives have always undertaken an initial examination of a baby soon after birth and the 24 hour ‘medical’ examination was traditionally undertaken by junior doctors or GP trainees. Following a change in doctor’s hours and a call for more holistic midwifery care, midwives began to take on the role of examining newborns following a period of rigorous training and education delivered through universities throughout the UK. Bournemouth University, for many years now, has been actively involved in educating midwives into this role, both locally and as far a field as Brighton and Gloucester. Currently the under-graduate midwifery curriculum does not offer this learning to its midwifery students although there is a strong push nationally for students to qualify with the skills. Two universities have already embedded the skills into their three year curriculum and BU will begin to educate and train students with the necessary skills/competencies in 2014 with a brand new midwifery curriculum. In the meanwhile we are fast tracking five motivated students. The students (Bex, Jenna, Katie, Luzie and Jeanette (not in photograph)  have to access all the post grad teaching and learning days (x5) which started last week. As well as undertaking an assessed presentation (6th day) with their qualified colleagues, they will have to undertake 30 newborn examinations under the watchful eye of their midwifery mentor who already has the qualification.  The unit leader (myself) will undertake their final assessment in practice in conjunction with their mentor. If successful the students will be awarded with 20 CPD credits for use after qualification.

Undertaking the pilot will be demanding for the students as they will still have to obtain their EU midwifery numbers, but it will not be at the expense of the pilot. Their under-grad training takes precedence.Furthermore a number of conditions were attached to the offers of a place:  the pilot cannot be used as mitigation for any referred  unit  in their 3rd year and the credits cannot be used to top up their degree should they not achieve the requisite 120 credits for completion.  All the students expressed strong commitment to obtaining the necessary skills and they have until September 2014 to complete. The pilot will pave the way for the new curriculum and will help with exposing any shortfalls in practice. I am immensely proud of the students for taking on this extra work. They have so many competing demands on their time and this will be just another. However it will provide the students with the skills to examine newborn babies when they are newly qualified midwives, which in turn will benefit women and their babies.  If anybody is interested in knowing more about the pilot please contact me on:  lcbutler@bournemouth.ac.uk

BOOK yourself into our last FUSION Awareness Session or our Bid Writing Workshop – Get as much help as you can…

BU research, Fusion, Training

For those of you who missed out on our valuable Fusion Awareness session yesterday Wednesday the 13th of November do not panic we are holding one more more session on:

Monday the 18th of November at 2-3pm in The Casterbridge Room (THS) Poole House – Talbot Campus

For any questions that you may have on Fusion specifically or for more information on the scheme and application process we would recommend you attend this last session (before the deadline – 13th of Dec at 2pm) where the manager of the Fusion Investment Scheme (FIF) Sam Leahy-Harland will be on hand with some of the Fusion panel committee members to answer your questions and to run through some useful information on applying to the scheme.

We also have some spaces on the Fusion Awareness Workshop Targeting the Fusion Fund with Martin Pickard on:

Wednesday the  20th of November from 9:30 – 12 midday in Christchurch House (CG04) on Talbot Campus 

This Workshop is an ideal opportunity to get some tips and advice from our expert bid writer and to further improve your chances with your own Fusion bid applications 

If you wish to book into either the Fusion Awareness Session on the 18th of November or the Fusion Workshop on the 20th of November with Martin please would you send me an email Dianne Goodman ASAP and I’ll get you booked in.

Don’t delay and give yourself the best chance !!!       

With three funding strands available for staff there are a wealth of opportunities for both academic and professional support staff to take advantage of:                                                                                                                     

 In the July round:

  • the Staff Mobility and Networking (SMN) strand committee  funded 18 applications in July totalling £73K. 
  •  the Study Leave strand (SL) committee awarded £107K.
  •  the Co-Creation and Co-Production (CCCP) strand was the most popular of the three in round one with 47 applications. A total of £92K was awarded to successful applicants.

 For all the updated strand policy documents, Fund FAQ’s and information about applying, please visit the FIF intranet pages.

 

Hurry the FIF up! 4 weeks until the deadline!

Funding opportunities, Fusion

 

 

 

If you haven’t already sent in your application, don’t panic! There’s still time. With three funding strands available for staff there are a wealth of opportunities for both academic and professional support staff to take advantage of:                                                                                                                             

 In the July round:

  • the Staff Mobility and Networking (SMN) strand committee  funded 18 applications in July totalling £73K. 
  •  the Study Leave strand (SL) committee awarded £107K.
  •  the Co-Creation and Co-Production (CCCP) strand was the most popular of the three in round one with 47 applications. A total of £92K was awarded to successful applicants.

 For all the updated strand policy documents, Fund FAQ’s and information about applying, please visit the FIF intranet pages.

 

The Fusion Investment Fund is managed by Samantha Leahy-Harland. Please direct all initial enquiries to the Interim Fusion Administrator, Dianne Goodman, at Fusion Fund.

Professional services staff can apply too….FIF-tastic!

Funding opportunities, Fusion

Not only does the Fusion Investment Fund provide opportunities for academic staff at BU, there are also options for professional services staff:

Staff can apply to Erasmus which is most appropriate for enabling academic and professional staff based at higher education institutions (HEIs) to spend a period of training or teaching between 5 working days and 6 weeks in a European HEI or enterprise.  Under training mobility, the purpose is to allow the staff members to acquire knowledge or skills relevant for their current job and their professional development and to help create cooperation between organisations. There are also opportunities to invite staff from enterprises to Bournemouth University to give presentations and provide teaching. Professional staff can undertake training at a European educational institution.

Another option is to apply to the standard element of the Staff Mobility and Networking (SMN) strand. Non-academic staff must be able to demonstrate through their application how their travel will benefit the academic process within BU and particular focus should be placed on the creation of sustainable collaborative networks of academics or professionals linked to specific outputs or partnership developments. 

 For more information please read the relevant policy documents and information available on the FIF intranet pages.

The Fusion Investment Fund is managed by Samantha Leahy-Harland and the Interim Administrator is Dianne Goodman. Please direct all initial enquiries to Fusion Fund.

FIF says ‘If you prefer to stay put, let the professionals and/or academics come to you!’

Funding opportunities, Fusion

Did you know that under the FIF you can invite an academic or professional to BU in respect to the development of projects or to provide training which is linked to any aspect of Fusion?

 

2 elements of the Fusion Investment Fund provide support for inward mobility:

The Standard element of the Staff Mobility and Networking (SMN) strand supports UK or overseas travel and subsistence in pursuit of any aspect of Fusion – research, education, and/or professional practice – with no minimum or maximum duration. Awards made will be between £1k and £10k. Particular focus should be placed on the creation of sustainable collaborative networks of academics or professionals linked to specific outputs or partnership developments. 

The Erasmus element of the Staff Mobility and Networking (SMN) strand provides opportunities to invite staff from enterprises to Bournemouth University to give presentations and provide teaching.

For more information please read the relevant policy documents and information available on the FIF intranet pages.

 The Fusion Investment Fund is managed by Samantha Leahy-Harland and the Interim Administrator is Dianne Goodman. Please direct all initial enquiries to Fusion Fund.

Are you FIF aware?!

Funding opportunities, Fusion

Because the FIF team are lovely, lovely people we’ve decided to hold some awareness sessions to give you the valuable opportunity to make your Fusion bid the very best it can possibly be. Two sessions will take place where you can discuss your application/s with the FIF Manager, Samantha Leahy-Harland, and committee members and, in addition, Dr. Martin Pickard of Grantcraft will be running a two and a half hour session giving his expert and essential Fusion bid writing advice. Martin is a specialist in writing and supporting research grant applications and tenders, as well as providing administrative and management support services for ongoing projects (additionally there will be some 1-2-1s available with Dr Martin Pickard in the afternoon of the 20th of November).

Come along to find out what makes a great application, what the committee members like to see in proposals and errors to avoid.  

  • Wednesday 13 November at 12-1pm, S203, Lansdowne – with the FIF Manager and committee members
  • Monday 18 November at 2-3pm, Casterbridge room, THS, Talbot – with the FIF Manager and committee members
  • Wednesday 20 November, at 9.30am – 12 midday in, CG04, Christchurch House, Talbot Campus – with Dr. Martin Pickard.
  • Additionally we have arranged some 1-2-1s in the afternoon between 1pm-5pm with Dr Martin Pickard to assist you specifically with your Fusion Bids.

 If you are interested in attending any of these sessions or to book a 1-2-1 appointment please contact Fusion Fund to confirm your place and your preferred session.

For all the updated strand policy documents, application form and more information please visit the FIF intranet pages.

The Fusion Investment Fund is managed by Samantha Leahy-Harland and the Interim Administrator is Dianne Goodman. Please direct all initial enquiries to Fusion Fund.

 

SMN could just be the strand for you!

Funding opportunities, Fusion

The Staff Mobility and Networking strand (SMN) of the FIF may seem like your normal, everyday standard strand but look carefully and you’ll see it’s a strand with a difference. It has 2 elements meaning even more opportunities for you! Not only is there a Standard element which includes Santander, but there is also an Erasmus Staff Mobility element too!

This strand provides support in the form of subsistence and travel costs and for staff to:

  • Travel within the UK or overseas with respect to development of projects linked to research, education, professional practice or any combination thereof.  Particular focus will be placed on the creation of sustainable collaborative networks of academics or professionals linked to specific outputs or partnership developments.
  • Travel within the UK or overseas for academic conferences, where one or more oral presentation is being presented and there is clear evidence of additional institutional value in terms of network creation or partnership development. 
  • Travel to at least one university from the the UK Santander Universities Network or one of the Overseas Santander Partner Universities with respect to development of projects linked to research, education, practice or any combination thereof. Please see the following for a list of participating institutions
  • Travel overseas in order to develop academic partnerships or lasting collaborative ventures around research, education and/or practice. 
  • Undertake a programme of mobility and/or networking across a series of linked trips or visits which are inter-disciplinary, especially where they are clearly linked to the BU Research Themes or involve student and staff participation. 
  • Travel in support of a Study Leave application.
  • Invite external partners to visit the University. For example, this might include inviting academics from other institutions or professionals from businesses to visit BU to develop projects and/or co-convening or facilitation of an international workshop.

 Previously funded activities under this strand:

Bournemouth-Birmingham-Brasilia: Consortium Building and Joint Work (BBB).

Dr Raian Ali, a Senior Lecturer in Computing, is the Principal Investigator of the BBB project which creates a community of interest involving the computing groups of the University of Brasilia, University of Birmingham, and Bournemouth University. The three groups are focused on Software Engineering research and this timely research project focuses on adaptive software systems, particularly, cloud and service computing. Exchange visits as part of this project have encouraged partnership development and international collaborative working. 

  Archaeology Professional Practice Forum: Bridging the Gap

The ‘Bridging the Gap’ project has been a highly successful networking and information gathering exercise, which will inform and drive actions to better prepare students for careers within archaeology, to better meet the needs of the profession and to enhance both subject-specific employability and transferable skills. An Archaeological Professional Practice Forum event was held to gather information from archaeology practitioners, employers, recent graduates and current students on the nature and extent of the skills gap between graduation and entry-level employment within archaeology. It explored ways to improve the industry-readiness of our students in order to give our new graduates a competitive edge when seeking employment, and to service the needs of the profession.  

 Please be aware that the Erasmus scheme differs quite significantly from the other FIF strands. More information is on the Erasmus intranet page  and more general information can be found on the FIF intranet pages.

 The Fusion Investment Fund is managed by Samantha Leahy-Harland and the Interim Administrator is Dianne Goodman. Please direct all initial enquiries to Fusion Fund.