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BRAD Week coming soon…..watch out for details!

Info Days, Training

final wordle

Just to advise you details of our next BRAD events programme will be coming out very soon….watch out for our announcements on the Research BLOG and BU Intranet and get yourself booked in via Organisational Development.

BRAD week will be held from the 29th of June – 6th of July 2015.

Please see the comments we received from people who attended our last BRAD event week in April.

Pop these dates in your calenders and get ready!

An overview of Information Security today and into the future

Knowledge Exchange

Kevin Henry is *the* guru in security certifications and training and we are delighted that he will be presenting at the University tomorrow and on Friday 12th of June.  Kevin is going to deliver a handful of lectures which will take you on an enlightening journey through the world of Information Security!

Kevin will present on the following topics:

Thursday 11th June

Shelley Lecture Theatre, Poole House

10.00am – 12.30 pm

Content of the CISSP

What is Information Security and its Role in Business?

2pm – 4pm

How is the face of Information Security Changing?

Hackers versus APTs

Where should my career go?

Friday 12th June

Shelley Lecture Theatre, Poole House

10.00am – 12.30pm

The Value of the CISSP and other Certifications

International Standards and Practices – An Overview of ISO/IEC 27001 and PCI-DSS

If you would like to attend any of the lectures please contact the BU Cyber Security Unit to reserve your place – 01202 962 557 or email 

Kevin is recognized as one of the Leaders in the field of Information Security worldwide. He has been involved in computers since 1976 when he was an operator on the largest minicomputer system in Canada at the time. He has since worked in many areas of Information Technology including Computer Programming, Systems Analysis and Information Technology Audit. Following 20 years in the telecommunications field, Kevin moved to a Senior Auditor position with the State of Oregon where he was a member of the Governor’s IT Security Subcommittee and performed audits on courts and court-related IT systems. The co-chair of the CBK for the CISSP and several other certifications, as well as an author with published articles in over ten books and magazines, Kevin is the principal of KMHenry Management Inc. and served until recently as the Head of Education for (ISC)2 and Vice President of ITPG, responsible for all educational systems, products and instructors for training programs. Currently Kevin is an Authorized Instructor for (ISC)2, ISACA, and BCI.

Visit the BUCSU website for more information on enterprise consultancy, research and education

Religion, Digital Reading and the Future of the Book

The final talk hosted by the Narrative Research Group this semester will take place tomorrow at 4p.m. in PG10. Our speaker is Dr Tim Hutchings from Durham University. Dr Hutchings is a sociologist and ethnographer of digital religion. His PhD (Durham University, 2010) examined the relationship between online and local activity in five online Christian churches, looking at emerging patterns of ritual, community and authority. His subsequent research has included studies of online Christian proselytism and storytelling (HUMlab, Umea University, Sweden), digital Bible reading (CRESC, The Open University) and contemporary pilgrimage (CODEC, Durham University). A list of his publications can be found here: https://durham.academia.edu/TimHutchings. Dr Hutchings is the Editor of the Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture and Conference and Events Officer for the British Sociological Association’s Sociology of Religion Study Group.

His talk will focus on Bible apps and the impact of digital reading on religious authority. All welcome.

UKRO launches new portal

Funding opportunities

UKRO logoThe UK Research Office has a new portal.

The new UKRO Portal maintains the functions and services of the old website, namely the UKRO articles with email updates and the extensive UKRO fact-sheets on Horizon 2020 and other EU funding streams.

In addition, the new Portal offers:

  • a new design, compatible with portable devices;
  • a streamlined, simple navigation;
  • a powerful new search engine with refiners and hash tags;
  • dedicated areas for European Liaison Officers and Research Council staff;
  • and a new event registration facility.

If you want to familiarise yourself with the new Portal, UKRO recommend you start by having a quick look at the subscriber area.

If you are not registered with UKRO, all you need to do is register with your BU email address (we are institutional members). Once registered, you can access all the UKRO content and manage your alerts so that updates are delivered directly to your inbox.

All in all, making engaging with EU funding just that little bit easier.

It’s time to fuel your creative vision

Business Engagement, Knowledge Exchange

Creative Britain 2015: Access to finance and skills, takes place for the first time at EventCity, Manchester on 17th September.

This event will connect 100 companies and several hundred delegates from the creative industries with over 1,200 Angel investors, Crowdfunder and professional VCT and EIS companies that can make their projects a reality.

Delegates from creative companies will learn about support in terms of skill development along with the solutions and infrastructure available to help turn concepts into reality and protect the value of their work. For Investors in the creative industries, the show will be a chance to view demonstrations and meet with some of the most exciting prospects in Film, TV, Digital, Gaming, Technology and Publishing.

Confirmed speakers include Innovate UK, TIGA and Creative Industries Arts Council England.

Click here for more information http://creativebritain.today/

 

NERC publish demand management quotas

Funding opportunities, Guidance

nerc-logo-50thNERC informed us in March that they were implementing new measures designed to raise discovery science standard grant success rates.  This included a reduction in the maximum value of a standard grant award (will fall from the current £1·2m to £800k (100 per cent full economic costing (fEC), £640k at 80 per cent fEC)), and a new institutional-level submission policy which limits the number of applications an individual research organisation can make.

NERC have just issued an update on demand management measures, which includes a full list of the quotas that will apply to the July 2015 and January 2016 standard grant (including New Investigator) closing dates for each institution.

Please note that following on from my previous blog post explaining the selection process to be adopted at BU, if you wish to apply to the NERC standard grant scheme then please contact the RKEO Funding Development Team in the first instance (please note that the application has been selected for the July call and so no further applications will be accepted).

Fusion Investment Fund – is it for you?

Funding opportunities, Fusion, Fusion Investment Fund

Lots of people know about the Fusion Investment Fund (or FIF as it’s affectionately known!). Since 2012 we’ve awarded £2m spread across more than 200 projects. Here are a couple of facts that you might not know though…

Professional Services staff can apply for FIF too

FIF is open to professional services staff as well as academic staff. If you have a great idea which could change the way we work here at BU and move us towards our Fusion goals, then we want to hear from you!

What sort of ideas?

Well, in the past, FIF has supported these projects from Professional Services staff…

Under the Staff mobility and networking strand we have supplied funding for:

  • Visiting US partners to conduct research about / promotion of Summer Schools
  • My Community: Our Heritage workshops at the British Science Festival 2013

Under the Co-creation and co-production strand we have supported:

  • BU Lego Challenge
  • Sharing PAL: Students sharing their experiences of Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) to create collaboration, engagement and learning
  • Global Skills: articulating international experiences in academic and professional contexts

Interested? Then do get in touch. See the links at the bottom of this post.

Erasmus for training

Did you know that our Erasmus funding is available for those who want to take training abroad as well as those who want to teach? Every year our academic staff visit European institutions to teach, exchange ideas and build their networks. What’s less well known is that staff (both academic and professional services staff) can apply for funding to go to a European Higher Education institution, or enterprise, to train, learn new techniques, share best practice and widen your horizons.

Erasmus provides up to €1,000 towards your travel and subsistence costs when travelling to another EU member country.

Priority will be given to staff who have not previously received funding from this strand so, if you’ve never considered it before, now might be your chance!

Want to find out more?

Well, hurry! Applications close this Friday at 12 noon. Visit the FIF website for further details and for information about how to apply. Sue Townrow, the FIF Co-ordinator, is available on both campuses this week so, if you’d like to meet, please get in touch. You can also contact us by email with any queries.

FIF – maybe it’s for you after all?!

Latest Major Funding Opportunities

Funding opportunities

The following funding opportunities have been announced. Please follow the links for more information:

 Arts and Humanities Research Council

Ten debates with themes of ‘The Way We Live Now’ and other individual debates, will be held to mark the tenth anniversary of the AHRC at universities and cultural organisations around the UK over the next year. An essay competition linked to the debates, with a series of three deadlines for each debate series, will be opened to help capture the ideas expressed at the debates. The first essay will relate to the first four four debates (Curating the Nation, The Challenge of Change, Faith and Education and Social Cohesion and the Common Good).  there will be ten prizes of £250 for the best essay on each of the ten debates and a best overall essay prize of £500.  Closing Date:  30/10/15.

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

The Sustainable Agriculture Research & Innovation Club (SARIC) has funding available for research grants (£3.5M) and research translation grants (£1.5M). Applications must fit the key challenge of predicitve capabilities for sustainable agriculture.  Closing Date: 16/09/15 at 16:00.

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

The Commitment to Privacy and Trust in Internet of Things Security (ComPaTrIoTS) Research Hub  is seeking to make a step-change in the broad research areas of cyber security.  This call aims to invest up to £9.8M over three years to support a small number of leading UK universities working coherently together as a single internationally recognised “Research Hub”, across the relevant disciplines, carrying out inter-related and interdisciplinary research into privacy, security and trust in the Internet of Things. Deadline for Registration of Intent: 20/07/15 at 17:00 Closing Date: 02/09/15 at 16:00.

Synthetic Biology Applications for Protective Materials. The EPSRC and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) seek to establish a number of cross-disciplinary consortia to expand research capability in the area of Synthetic Biology around the central challenge of creating stronger, and more resilient protective materials. Funds of up to £2 million are available for projects up to three years in duration. Closing Date: 1/10/15 at 16:00.

The Thermal Energy Challenge  invites proposals for collaborative research projects to undertake fundamental research that will investigate novel solutions in the thermal energy area.  Up to £5M is available tfor proposals related to the themes of Integration of thermal energy solutions into buildings, Thermal energy conversion technologies and  Hot and Cold energy storage.  Deadline for Registration of Intent: 30/06/15 at 23:59 Closing Date: 4/8/15 at 16:00.

Innovate UK

Fuels and lubricants: reducing cost of ownership. This MOD call seeks proposals with a value of up to £1M for novel ideas to reduce the cost of ownership of military assets through innovative approaches to fuel and lubrication use. Application Registration Deadline: 29/7/15 Closing Date: 5/8/15

Medical Research Council

The MRC and Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD) are investing up to £2M into the Prevention and management of chronic lung diseases. Proposals are welcomed that will generate new knowledge on interventions and their implementation. Closing Date: 15/09/15 at 16:00.

Natural Environment Research Council

CONICYT-NERC joint call on “Determining the impacts of ice loss and deglaciation on marine and terrestrial ecosystems in a region of rapid climate change“. Up to £1.5m is available to fund  three grants at ~£500k each (at 80% FEC) and an additional £300K from the overall budget is set asside in total to cover collective logistics of the projects. Closing Date: 27/7/15.

South African National Research Foundation

The National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa in partnership with prominent UK academies (i.e. the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering, and the Royal Society) and the British Council is pleased to invite applications for the UK – South Africa Researcher Links grants. Closing Date: 30/06/15.

Wellcome Trust

A Four-year PhD Studentship has been created to allow promising students undertake in depth post-graduate training inclusive of a first year of taught courses and laboratory rotations followed by a three year PhD project at one of the 31 programmes based in centres of excellence which can provide specialist training in developmental biology and cell biology, genetics, statistics and epidemiology, immunology and infectious disease, molecular and cellular biology, neuroscience, physiological sciences or structural biology and bioinformatics.  Students are recruited annually by the individual Programmes for uptake in October each year but the recruitment begins in the preceding December. Closing Date: Open.

 Intermediate Clinical Fellowships fund is for medical, dental, veterinary or clinical psychology graduates who have had an outstanding start to their research career.  Fellowships can be for up to five years and will cover research expenses and salary. Closing Date: 30/10/15.

A Postdoctoral Research Training Fellowships for Clinicians has been created to allow the refreshing their research skills or to explore a new research field or environment, to gain the skills  that will  help with longer-term research visions.  Awards are two to four years and fellowships typically would range from £250K to £400K and would cover salary and some non-salary costs.  Closing Date: 30/10/15 at 17:00.

The Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises (R2HC)programme funds public health research aiming to improve health outcomes of what works in humanitarian crises.  Proposals are being requested on Communicable diseases, including epidemics, Sexual and reproductive health and/or gender based violence, Cost effectiveness of health interventions or Ethical issues in the context of public health operations or research during humanitarian crises.  Those interested should send an expression of interest. Closing Date: 20/07/15.

The Translation Fund aims to develop new technologies in the biomedical area to help with unmet healthcare need. Concept notes must be provided in the first instance. Closing Date: 16/10/15 at 17:00.

Please note that some funding bodies specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your  RKEO Funding Development Officer

 

You can set up your own personalised alerts on Research Professional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s/Faculty’s Funding Development Officer in  RKEO or view the recent blog post here.

If thinking of applying, why not add notification of your interest on Research Professional’s record of the bid so that BU colleagues can see your intention to bid and contact you to collaborate.

BFX 2015 ACADEMIC CONFERENCE

 

Following from last years successful academic conference  (forming part of the BFX Festival)  will be running  for the second time between the 26th-27th September at Bournemouth University’s  Executive Business Centre.

This year’s theme is ANALOGUE TO POST-DIGITAL.  The BFX Conference is underpinned by a strong belief in the benefits interdisciplinary discourse, and aims to create a platform for these exchanges to take place around the field of digital moving images and related technologies. Contemporary still and moving images and their related practices sit in the interstices of the analogue and digital. The BFX conference invites participants to consider the trajectories of these movements as we engage in a discourse of the ‘post-digital’ in still and moving image.

Embedded within these fields are a range of themes such as: memory and the archive, media archaeology, hybridity, intermedia practices, folksonomies and virtual curatorships, the network, new pedagogues and education design. The conference welcomes approaches that consider the continuities and breaks in technologies and practices, as well as the range of possibilities that may be inspired by thinking about the post-digital.

The conference will also focus upon both academic discourse and artistic practice, and has included artist roundtables as part of their programme.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Prof. Charlie Gere, from the Lancaster Institute for Contemporary Arts and author of Digital Culture(2002), Art, Time and Technology (2006), Non-relational Aesthetics, with Michael Corris (2009), and Community without Community in Digital Culture (2012)as well as co-editor of White Heat Cold Technology (2009), and Art Practice in a Digital Culture (2010), and many papers on questions of technology, media and art.

Dr. David M. Berry, Director of the Sussex Humanities Lab and author of Critical Theory and the Digital, The Philosophy of Software: Code and Mediation in the Digital Age,Copy, Rip, Burn: The Politics of Copyleft and Open Source,the editor of Understanding Digital Humanities and co-editor ofPostdigital Aesthetics: Art, Computation and Design

Prof. Wolfgang Ernst. Professor for Media Theory at the Institut für Musik und Medienwissenschaft at Humboldt University, Berlin, where he co-runs the Media Archaeological Fundus. He is also author of Digital Memory and the Archive (2012), and a compilation of other literature including“Media Archaeography: Method and Machine versus History and Narrative of Media”, and From Media History to Zeitkritik (2013).

CALL FOR PAPERS AND SUBMISSIONS

You can submit your proposals by using this link, and this year you will notice that we have included the 3 new submission options, as an individual paper, as a constituted panel, and as an artist roundtable.

 

Interested in Opportunities in the New H2020 Research Infrastructure Work Programme?

Funding opportunities

The annual UK information day will take place on 21September 2015 in London at The Natural History Museum

The main focus of the event will be the integrated activities (IA) calls for Research Infrastructure (RI) networks.

These calls are aimed at existing national RIs wishing to network with other RIs in their field across Europe. Each proposal must offer transnational access to users as well as networking and joint research activities for the RI.

Find out about:

Starting communities: Up to €5 million available for groups not previously funded; two stage application process; open to all!

Advanced communities: Up to €10 million available for groups that have received previous IA funding; one stage application process; specific topics will be defined in the work programme.

Closing date: 30 March 2016

 There will also be a presentation about the E-infrastructures calls which will support implementation of the European policies on open research data, data and computing intensive science, research and education networking, high-performance computing and big data innovation.

–          User-driven e-infrastructure innovation: closing 31 March 2016

–          Platform-driven e-infrastructure innovation: closing 20 September 2016

 

A further email will be sent with additional  details and the registration link in the coming weeks. If others in your organisation would like to be notified please ask them to subscribe to the mailing list.

 

Facebook User Interface to suit Saudi Arabian culture

PG research

We would like to invite you to the latest research seminar of the Creative Technology Research Centre.

 

Speaker: Hana AlmakkySaudi_Facebook

 

Title:   Facebook User Interface to suit Saudi Arabian culture

 

Time: 2:00PM-3:00PM

Date: Wednesday 10th June 2015

Room: P302 LT, Poole House, Talbot Campus

 

Abstract: Social media has continued growing in Saudi Arabia. Millions of businesses and trades are now using social media for entertainment, advertisement and promoting themselves internationally.

 

Social networking sites, like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc., have gained huge popularity at personal as well as professional scale. Therefore, work is being done to evolve the modes of communication over these platforms, extensively.

 

My research explores the effect of Saudi cultures on the design of social media site of Facebook. This talk presents the updated results of the research and proposes a theoretical framework that guides the design of a user interface for Facebook to meet the Saudi’s expectations.

 

We hope to see you there.

HE Policy Update

Monday

First speech for Universities’ Minister

Jo Johnson gave his first speech as Universities and Science Minister at Going Global. He gave a warm speech about how international students are welcome to study in the UK and focused on the economic and social value brought to the UK by international students. Jo Johnson: UK aims to grow international education (THE).

Job-ready students

A survey by Universum revealed that 58 per cent of employers rated work experience as the most popular qualification, with a student’s personality coming second, with 48 per cent favouring this. Only 15 per cent said that they were looking for a degree from a specific university. However 16 per cent said that grades from a prestigious university were important. Leading employers prefer value work experience among graduates over grades, says new research (The Independent).

Tuesday

Loan Consultation

The BIS consultation on postgraduate loans has seen responses that stress concerns that loans for PhDs could threaten existing studentships and dampen take-up of doctoral study. Cautious response to PhD loans proposal (THE).

Wednesday

Going Global

David Willetts, the former Universities and Science minister, said in his speech at Going Global that the government should lift restrictions to allow British students to use state loans for fees abroad. He said it was one of his regrets that he was not able to get the policy implemented during his time as minister. David Willetts: allow student loans to be used abroad (THE).

Thursday

Budget Cuts

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced the government department covering higher education, BIS, will have its budget for this year cut by a further £450 million. It is not yet known how the savings at BIS will be found, but a Treasury statement mentions savings in higher education and further education budgets. Universities in firing line as BIS faces almost half a billion in new cuts (THE).

Friday

OFFA

The Office for Fair Access is to review how much poorer students benefit from financial support while at university. The project’s findings will be used by Offa to inform its guidance to universities as it prepares access agreements from 2017-18 onwards. Offa launches review of bursary impact (THE).

Neurogenetics in Bonn

Following on from a Fusion funded workshop hosted by BU on Psychiatric Genetic Counselling in February, two PGR students, Zara Ghodsi and Rosa Spencer-Tansley were invited by Dr Franziska Degenhardt to spend two weeks of training in Neurogenetics at the University of Bonn, Germany this May.

The course comprised the basis of human molecular genetics and disease gene identification in the first week and molecular genetics of specific disorders and novel statistical analysis of genetic studies in the second week. Sessions were led by world leaders in the field, including Prof. Markus M. Nöthen.

Both BU PGR students said: “We were happy to find that the course comprised of a  well-balanced mixture of molecular genetics and statistical analysis of genetic disorders. This meant we were able to consolidate our previous experiences in psychiatric genetic studies as well as expand our knowledge in new areas.”

They also added: “We found the discussions one of the most valuable aspects of this course; there was a wealth of experience and variety of viewpoints and ideas being shared ​amongst both lecturers and other students. This aspect of the course made us to evaluate what we had learnt already, consider future directions in the field of psychiatric genetics,  and  reflect on how we can integrate this information into our research projects. We enjoyed the whole experience of taking this course, exploring the beautiful city of Bonn and the rich culture of Germany”.

Their supervisor, Dr Kevin McGhee said: “I am delighted that both of my PGR students were offered this opportunity. I would like to personally thank Dr Degenhardt for her generosity and for the useful advice she gave Zara and Rosa on moving their projects forward. The course has provided further networking and collaborative opportunities for my students, hopefully leading to quality publications in the near future. On their return, we also identified how we will incorporate some of the course information into the final UG year Genetics unit.”

Zara will next be presenting a poster at the European Society of Human Genetics in Glasgow in June and Rosa is analysing her data for presentation at the World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics in Toronto in October. Zara is also supervised by Dr Hossein Hassani and Dr Demetra Andreou.

 

WAN speaker event: ‘Inspiring our futures: High profile women at BU’

Research themes, Women's Academic Network

A lunchtime Women’s Academic Network (WAN) event on the 4th June to participate in a panel composed of three senior, high profile BU women proved to be one of our most popular WAN events. This drew in a wide audience of female academics of all ranks from across all the Faculties of the University. We were additionally honoured to have in the audience our VC, Professor John Vinney and the PVC for Global Engagement, Dr Sonal Minocha.

The panel included Sue Sutherland (OBE) Chair of the University Board, Professor Gail Thomas, Dean of the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences and Head of Centre Excellence Learning and Professor Christine Maggs, Dean of the Faculty of Science & Technology.  The seminar topic focused on an interactive discussion of career progression, achievements and dealing with potholes, cul-de-sacs, obstacles and speeding highways along the way from the personal and professional perspectives of our three eminent speakers.

Professor Sara Ashencaen Crabtree opened by the event by welcoming the audience, introducing the speakers and warmly acknowledging all the support provided by panel members and her fellow co-convenors, Associate Professor Dr Heather Savigny and Professor Chris Shiel– not forgetting every member of the WAN community, whose numbers across BU grow weekly. This has helped to make WAN a powerful and exhilarating vehicle for achieving equality in diversity at BU.

The honesty, humour, courage and grit of the speakers in talking so candidly about their road to success was a revelation to the audience who were both moved and liberated to engage fully in discussions with the panel, plying them with questions, comments and sharing their own stories. This was the opportunity to demonstrate that strength in leadership lies in being able to reveal human vulnerabilities and aspirations – a lesson that was deeply inspirational to everyone in the room.

The VC closed the event with his own account – personal, unembellished and moving, staying on to discuss with WAN members his own vision for the future in respect of our shared aims. We, co-convenors, were delighted that the success of this event as another step towards assisting our fellow female colleagues on their paths to progress where the superb examples offered by our outstanding panel received a myriad of compliments from our enthralled WAN participants.

Reminder:  Next WAN event Chaired by VC Professor John Vinney, 7th  July, 5pm   TAG02, Tolpuddle Annexe, Talbot Campus.

 Topic: Getting to the top: A grand plan or serendipity?

Speaker:  Professor Judith Petts, CBE, Pro Vice-Chancellor Research & Enterprise, University of Southampton

Please note: this is an Open WAN Seminar – all academics, irrespective of gender, are warmly invited to attend.  For full details of, and registration for Event: Prof Judith Petts, PVC Southampton, please see https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/getting-to-the-top-a-grand-plan-or-serendipity-tickets-17003423698

 

Professor Sara Ashencaen Crabtree, Dr Heather Savigny & Professor Chris Shiel,

WAN Co-convenors

RKEO and Legal Services Coffee Morning at the Retreat – Thursday 25th of June

Coffee Morning, Funding opportunities

Our next RKEO coffee morning will be taking place on Thursday the 25th of June and will be held in conjunction with our colleagues from the Legal Services team.

Members of the RKEO and the Legal Services teams will be in the Retreat, Talbot Campus from 9.30 to 10.30am.

Come along and discuss your research plans with our RKEO team and check out how they can support you through the whole research funding process from applying to successful project management and delivery. We can also help you find the right funding opportunity, discuss the processes relating to funding schemes, as well as identifying potential collaborators and partners to strengthen your application. We can help with public engagement, knowledge transfer opportunities and much, much more….

Representatives from Legal Services will also be available to answer queries on matters such as contracting arrangements, freedom of information and data protection.

Come along and have a chat with us and see how we can help you, or just pop by and enjoy a coffee and a cake.

We look forward to seeing you!