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ST academic swaps British winter with busy schedule in warm Brazil

Dr. Miguel Moital, Senior Lecturer in Events Management in the School of Tourism, is currently visiting Brazil to speak at three universities. The trip started with a keynote speech at the II Scientific Forum of Gastronomy, Tourism and Hospitality organised by UNIVALI – Itajai Valley University, Santa Catarina state. His presentation on “Innovation in gastronomic events: developing creative proposals using supply mapping” closed the Forum. The keynote presentation builds partially on the material developed for the Event & Leisure Innovation unit that Miguel has lead at BU for 7 years. The audience consisted of undergraduate and postgraduate students, academic staff as well as tourism professionals.

Besides his keynote speech, Miguel lead two research workshops for masters and doctoral tourism students which focused on defining the scope of the research. He also met the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Post-Graduate Research where the development of a MoU between BU and UNIVALI was discussed. UNIVALI is the leading tourism post-graduate education provider in Brazil, offering the highest ranked Masters in tourism and one of the only two doctoral programmes in tourism available in the country.

In his second stop, Miguel will deliver a guest lecture at UNIRIO – Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro, whose campus sits next to the Sugar Loaf attraction. His third and final stop involves delivering two guest lectures at UFRN – Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte in Natal, north-east Brazil. UFRN also has a leading role in tourism post-graduate studies, offering a Masters in tourism (there are only 8 in Brazil) and the other of the two doctoral programmes in tourism. BU is developing closer ties with UFRN, with one of its tourism academics coming to Bournemouth for her post-doctoral study, which will be supported by Miguel and Dr. Luciana Esteves from the Faculty of Applied Sciences.

Latest Major Funding Opportunities

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

Arts and Humanities Research Council

International Placement Scheme: Shanghai Theatre Academy, for early career researchers, post-doctoral research assistants and AHRC-funded doctoral students to undertake a three to four month funded fellowship at the Shanghai Theatre Academy. Shanghai Theatre Academy IPS fellows receive a contribution of £600 towards their flights costs, their visa costs paid, plus a monthly allowance of £1200. Closing Date: 15/1/15

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

Modular Training Partnerships (MTPs) fund the development of industrially-relevant short training courses at Masters level. Training should be developed in close collaboration with industry, and evidence of industrial demand is a key requirement for funding. Closing Date: 4/2/15

FLexible Interchange Programme(FLIP) supports the movement of people from one environment to a different one to exchange knowledge/technology/skills, developing bioscience research/researchers and addressing our strategic priorities. The award may be for up to 24 months and cost up to £150,000. Closing Date: 4/2/15

Economic and Social Research Council

ESRC/DFID Joint Fund for Poverty Alleviation Research Outline Research Grants Call 2014-15. The purpose of the scheme is to provide a more robust conceptual and empirical basis for development and to enhance the quality and impact of social science research on poverty reduction. Scheme-funded research will have high potential for impact on policy and practice in low-income countries through the use of the new knowledge created. Awards will be between £100,000 and £500,000 from a minimum duration of one year up to a maximum of three years. Closing Date: 22/1/15 at 16:00

Urban Transformations Research Call. The ESRC invites innovative and ambitious proposals to support new research which adds significant value to the broad portfolio of cites and urban transformations research currently supported by the ESRC and other research funders. High quality proposals are sought which fill clearly identified gaps in the current funding landscape. Grants will be for a maximum of three years and between £750,000 and £1 million. Closing Date: 5/2/15

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

EPSRC Centres for Mathematical Sciences in Healthcare, will be awarding up to £6 million to support the creation of Multidisciplinary Research Centres, bringing together researchers working in the Mathematical Sciences with academics and stakeholders within the Healthcare Technologies space. Closing Date: 29/1/15 at 16:00

ERA-Net ANIHWA

The third call in the area of animal healths and welfare has opened. There are 20 funding organisations involved from 16 countries and a total budget of €10 million available. Closing Date: 12/2/15

Nesta

Longitude Prize 2014 is a challenge with a £10 million prize fund to help solve the problem of global antibiotic resistance. Closing Date: Applications can be submitted at any time

Wellcome Trust

Development Awards, worth up to £10,000 for a maximum of one year, are available to support the development of TV, radio, games or film projects that engage (as a whole or in part) with biomedical science and its impact on our lives in an innovative, entertaining and accessible way. Closing Date: Applications may be submitted at any time during the year.

Investigator Award, small or large (up to £3 million) and lasting up to seven years, provide flexible support at a level and length appropriate to enable researchers to address the most important questions of relevance to human and animal health and disease. Closing Date: 20/2/15

Investigator Award in Medical Humanties, in the range of £100,000 to £200,000 per year for up to five years, provide flexible support at a level and length to enable recipients to explore health, wellbeing or biomedical science in the contexts of the humanities. Closing Date: 23/1/15

Investigator Awards in Society and Ethics, in the range of £100,000 to £200,000 per year for up to five years, provide flexible support at a level and length to enable recipients to explore health, wellbeing or biomedical science in their social or ethical contexts. Closing Date: 23/1/15

Pathfinder Awards kick-start pilot projects that have significant potential to help develop innovative new products that address an unmet need in healthcare and offer a potential new solution. Pathfinder Awards fund innovative discrete pilot studies to develop assets and de-risk future development. Projects may last up to 18 months and the average award amount is envisaged to be in the region of £100,000, but up to £350,000 will be considered in exceptional circumstances. Closing Date: 6/2/15


Sustaining Excellence Awards, typically be in the range of £90,000 to £1,000,000 spread across three to five years, supports the enhanced delivery of existing outstanding public engagement projects and models of working, alongside strategic planning and organisational development and resilience. It aims to reduce the level of repeat project-based applications to other Engaging Science schemes, in particular People, Society and Arts awards, in favour of a longer-term approach to support. Closing Date: 18/2/15

Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKEO Support 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.

BU exhibits at the National Cyber Security Summit

The Bournemouth University Cyber Security Unit (BUCSU) exhibited at the annual National Cyber Summit in London on 20 November. The Cyber Security Summit 2014 welcomed high-profile representatives from the Cabinet Office, Home Office and National Cyber Crime Unit, as well as over 150 central government and police force leaders.

The BUCSU stand received quite a lot of interest from delegates, particularly around the newly developed Cyber Security Job Retention through Education programme, which includes the BSc Cyber Security Management course and the MSc Cyber Security & Human Factors course. This job retention programme will provide students with a 10-year education/employment plan while also ensuring employers retain their capable cyber security professionals for at least 10 years – it’s win-win for students and employers. As a standalone course, the MSc Cyber Security & Human Factors received particular attention from experienced professionals aiming to further develop their cyber knowledge in a part-time/distance learning course. Additionally, several delegates and fellow exhibitors expressed interest in our enterprise/consultancy engagement opportunities, so these will be followed up as well.

As the Cyber Security Summit brought together over 350 cyber security experts, senior officials and policy-makers from across public sector and industry to discuss the ever-changing threats posed by cyber-crime and share best practice strategies to help the UK effectively combat these threats, this was an ideal opportunity for us to inform the cyber community about the Unit and what we offer.

For more information, check out ComputerWeekly.com’s article on the event – Cyber Security a shared responsibility, says Cabinet Officer minister Francis Maude.

Congratulations to HSC student Mr. Jib Acharya

HSC PhD student Jib Acharya presented the preliminary results of his thesis research in a poster presentation entitled “A Comparative Study on Nutritional Problems in Preschool Aged Children of Nepal”

The poster was accepted at the 3rd World Congress of Public Health Nutrition Conference in Gran Canaria,  Spain, 2014.

Mr. Acharya’s poster was displayed as a traditional paper poster but also a digital poster on television screens around the conference.  The thesis work is supervised in the School of Health & Social Care by Dr. Jane Murphy, Dr. Martin Hind and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen.  The attendance of this conference was made possible due to the support of a Santander award.

Congratulations

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

Breastfeeding research presented in Cornwall

Congratulations to Alison Taylor, senior lecturer in midwifery who presented preliminary findings of her PhD as keynote speaker last month at the Cornwall  Real Baby Milk conference.  Alison’s presentation ‘Women’s Breastfeeding Experiences – shared using video diaries’ was very well received.  Alison’s fieldwork has been supported by the Iolanthe Midwifery Trust , she received the first Tricia Anderson award in 2008. Founded in 1983, the Trust supports midwives and student midwives to undertake further education and to carry out projects designed to improve the care of mothers and babies.

More details on the conference can be found at:

http://realbabymilk.org/couldnt-make-real-baby-milk-cornwall-conference-last-month/

Congratulations!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery, Maternal and Perinatal Health (CMMPH)

PhD Studentship Competition – An Update

The PhD Studentship Competition Policy has now been updated to include a new section on due diligence and the necessary checks that Schools/Faculty should take if any supervisory team are intending to apply for Matched Funding.

The Lead Supervisor must now complete a Matched Funder Due Diligence Form, to show at least in broad terms where the money being given comes from and assure that the organisation is appropriate for the University to be involved or associated with.

The core elements of due diligence involve taking reasonable steps to:

  • Identify the organisation, where are they based, who its directors are;
  • Verify the organisation, checking company registration details;
  • Know what the organisation’s primary business is;
  • Consider how the relationship with the University has come about; and
  • Comply with the University’s Anti-Bribery, Conflict of Interest, Fraud policies and the Code of Ethical Fundraising.

Where proposed matched funders are based internationally, due diligence checks must take into account any relevant circumstances arising in the particular country or region of the funder’s operations. Risks could arise from for example, internal conflicts, military action, and known terrorist or criminal activity in the area.

Final approval of the project will be subject to satisfactory due diligence checks on the proposed matched funder.

Both the Policy (see section The Matched Funder) and Proposal Form have been updated to reflect these changes and copies can also be found on the Graduate School Intranet.

Proposals, together with a copy of the Due Diligence Form and Letter of Support (from matched funder) should be submitted via email to phdstudentshipcompetition@bournemouth.ac.uk by Monday 19 January 2015

  • General questions about the PhD Studentship Competition should be directed to the Graduate School Team
  • Questions regarding the due diligence process should be directed to Legal Services

CEMP Media Education Summit makes national TV news in Czech Republic

CEMP’s annual Media Education Summit is taking place at the Goethe Institut in Prague this year and, yesterday, made the national news.

You can see the item here (it starts at 11:50): http://www.ceskatelevize.cz/ivysilani/10101491767-studio-ct24/214411058321120

It features an interview with the co-organiser, Jan Jirak, from the Metropolitan University of Prague, who comments that, until now all of the CEMP summits have taken place in England – “This is the first time the summit has been abroad. It is a great honour for us that they chose the Czech Republic, and that they invited the Goethe Institut and Metropolitan University to co-organise the event.”

It’s all in Czech, of course, but you’ll see some familiar faces from the conference footage!

A Fishy Tale: BS Consumer Researchers visit Norway

Last week Professor Juliet Memery and Dr Dawn Birch from the Business School, supported by the Cyber Security Unit, travelled to Tromso in Norway at the invitation of the University of Tromso.  The aim of the trip was to discuss future research collaborations and funding opportunities around the areas of food security, food crime, food waste and technology with a particular emphasis on fish and seafood.

Whilst there Juliet and Dawn met with academics from the University of Tromso, including Professor Svein Ottar Olsen and Professor Kåre Skallerud, as well as Pirjo Honkanen, Director of Research (Consumer and marketing research) and Petter Olsen, senior scientist, from Nofima, one of the largest institutes for applied research within the fields of fisheries, aquaculture and food industry in Europe.  A series of research presentations revealed a number of areas of mutual interest which will be scoped out and explored further with a view to securing EU/Research Council funding.  Additionally they met with analysts at the Head Office of the Norwegian Seafood Council to discuss their role and research in the seafood industry and explore potential opportunities for them to be included in future research collaborations.

Overall it was a very successful networking trip, and a reciprocal visit to Bournemouth is anticipated in the coming months to further strengthen relationships and collaborations.

NERC Innovation Projects

 

The Innovation Projects call supports projects that are likely to generate little or no commercial return, but which will deliver impact.

The call aims to increase and accelerate the uptake and impact of NERC funded research output by supporting translational and knowledge exchange activity which delivers direct tangible and demonstrable benefits to end users.  The Follow-on Fund is for those projects that aim to be fully commercialised with a revenue stream derived from licensing, spinouts, consultancy etc.

A maximum of £125k (£100k at 80% FEC) may be requested.  Projects are expected to start in May 2015 and to last for up to 12 months.  Smaller, targeted activities of three to six months are also welcome and NERC anticipates seeing a range of requests within the £125k limit, reflecting a diverse range of potential projects and activities.

The closing date is 16.00 hrs on 18th December, 2014

For further information go to  the  website

EPSRC are seeking new members for Strategic Advisory Bodies

The EPSRC is seeking applications from industrialists, academics and individuals working in the third sector and government organisations to join Strategic Advisory Teams (SATs), across the range of EPSRC’s Themes.

In addition, EPSRC, on behalf of partner Research Councils, is seeking applications for the RCUK Energy Theme’s Strategic Advisory Committee (SAC) and the Digital Economy Theme’s Programme Advisory Board (PAB).

Strategic Advisory Teams exist to provide Theme Leaders at EPSRC with strategic advice that will assist them to develop, implement and modify plans. The Energy SAC and Digital Economy PAB perform the same function for the respective cross-Research Council Programmes. These bodies consist of up to 16 members, depending on the needs of the Theme / Programme. They are devised as a flexible resource, enabling Theme Leaders to obtain the advice they need in a timely manner, drawing on a range of perspectives from across our key stakeholder groups. Further information and terms of reference for SATs can be found on the EPSRC website. Further information on the Energy SAC and the Digital Economy PAB can be found on the RCUK website.

Role and person specification

SAT Members are drawn from EPSRC’s stakeholder groupings. SAC and PAB members are also drawn from these groups, as well as the stakeholder groupings of other relevant Research Councils. Members of all strategic advisory bodies are expected to bring a broad strategic view to bear and to act as ‘generous generalists’, advising across the breadth of EPSRC’s portfolio and the portfolios of other Councils where appropriate.

Members are not required to act as representatives of their own organisation, research area or sector.

The specific requirements sought are:

Essential

  • Credibility in the relevant research communities, including academe or the user base.
  • Ability to take a strategic overview of research and skills needs relevant to the Theme.
  • An understanding of the international context within which the Theme sits.
  • Ability to work flexibly in a team and adapt to new ways of working, using both domain expertise and wider cross-disciplinary perspectives.
  • Appreciation of ethical issues and the need for responsible innovation in the conduct of research.
  • Preparedness to challenge EPSRC policies (and those of other Research Councils where appropriate) in a constructive way.
  • Willingness to help with two-way communication between EPSRC (and other Research Councils where appropriate) and the research community.
  • Willingness to devote sufficient time to the role.

As part of this exercise, a Chair for each SAT / SAC / PAB will also be identified. The specific requirements for the Chair are:

Essential

  • Experience of working with EPSRC or other Research Councils, normally through an advisory body.
  • Experience of chairing meetings
  • Ability to ensure that all SAT / SAC / PAB member views are heard, the recorded advice is representative of the views expressed and that all present have discharged their roles appropriately.
  • Knowledge of EPSRC’s corporate strategies and policies.

Operation

Each Theme’s Strategic Advisory Body meets at least two times per year. Additionally, they hold conferences to bring Strategic Advisory Bodies from all Themes together. SAT / SAC / PAB members may also be asked to take part in other EPSRC business (or that of other Councils as appropriate), including but not limited to workshops, advisory groups for specific activities and peer-review prioritisation panels.

Further information

The vacancies can be found here and the selection and appointment process can be found here.