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Service Computing Seminar Series

As part of the SSC project, funded by Bournemouth University Fusion Investment Fund, we would like to invite you to the seminar series.

14:00- 15:00 Monday 29 April 2013
P410 (Poole House, Talbot Campus)

Speaker: Dr. Peng Liang, Free University Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Title: Ontology-based Software Architecture Documentation

Abstract.  A common approach to software architecture documentation in industry projects is the use of file-based documents (e.g., Word documents). This documentation approach offers a single-dimensional perspective on the software architectural knowledge contained. Knowledge retrieval from file-based architecture documentation is efficient if the perspective chosen fits the needs of the readers; it is less so if the perspective does not match the needs of the readers. In this talk, I will describe an approach we developed aimed at addressing architecture documentation retrieval issues. We employed software ontology in a semantic wiki optimized for architecture documentation. We also evaluated this ontology-based documentation approach in a controlled industry experiment involving software professionals. The efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed approach is found to be better than that of the traditional file-based approach.

14:00-16:00 Wednesday 1 May 2013
P402 (Poole House, Talbot Campus) 

Speaker: Prof. Marco Aiello, University of Groningen, the Netherlands
Title: The Smart Grid’s Big Data Generating Potentials

Abstract. The Smart Power Grid promises to not only provide for a more reliable distribution infrastructure, but also give the end-users better pricing, information, and freedom. The promise is fuelled by a pervasive digitalization of the energy production and distribution network that will finally involve utilities, governments, and end-users. The real advantages of the smart grid will be available to all, only if the physical infrastructure of energy distribution is supported by adequate information systems. In this talk, I will review the current state and possible evolutions of the concept of a smart grid, I will point to the (big) data that future information systems will need to manage and, finally, indicate possible uses for such information.

Speaker: Prof. Xinbo Gao, Xidian University, China
Title: Image Quality Assessment

Abstract. With the development of imaging technologies, visual information, recorded by images and videos, has become the main source for knowledge acquisition. In the process of image acquisition, processing, transmission, and storage, some artefacts or noise maybe introduced to images, which will degrade the visual quality. To improve the performance of image processing, it is necessary to assess image quality. Therefore, image quality assessment (IQA) is the prerequisite and foundation of imaging or image processing system optimization. The objective of IQA is to provide computational models to measure the perceptual quality of a given image. Recently, a large number of methods have been designed to evaluate the quality of images. In this talk, I will introduce some popular IQA metrics, especially several IQA metrics proposed by my group. They are organized into 3 categories, full-reference metrics, reduced-reference metrics and no-reference metrics.

School of Health and Social Care – PhD / Open Research Seminar on Wednesday 24 April 2013 in R201, Royal London House at 1-1.50 pm,

PG research

You are cordially invited to the lunch time seminar below which is one of a regular series of HSC PhD seminars which are open to all.  Please feel free to bring your lunch.

‘The voice of people living with Mycobacterium Ulcerans(Buruli ulcer) in the Amansie West district of Ghana’
Alex Effah

Abstract

Mycobacterium ulcerans (locally known as Buruli ulcer) is a rare dermatological (skin) disease which affects mainly children under 15 years of age in many developing countries. Due to lack of knowledge of the disease many sufferers seek medical intervention at a time when the disease has progressed leading to extensive ulcers which are difficult to treat. As a consequence many sufferers end up with severe lesions which have led to the destruction of major organs such as limb amputations, loss of genitals, varied forms of bodily disfigurements and prominent scars as well as other contracture deformities which affect their activities of daily living.

To-date the biomedical approach to understanding Buruli ulcer dominates the literature. It must be borne in mind that beyond morbidity and mortality Buruli ulcer inflicts enormous physical, social and psychological costs not only on the individual sufferer but his/her family and the community, yet there is lack of a rigorous qualitative study to understand the illness experience of people living with this devastating skin disease. This study therefore used the grounded theory approach to understand the illness experience of people living with Buruli ulcer in the endemic district of Amansie West. The constant comparative method of analysis led to the core category of Re-living the trauma of my ulcer. The grounded theory has uncovered the reasons why people with Buruli ulcer report late for medical treatment, the effects of the illness on their quality of life and well-being as well as their perceived support needs.  Recommendations and areas for further research into the lives of people living with Buruli ulcer are explored.

Alex Effah is at the write-up stage of his PhD.

Don’t miss finding out how you can engage with KTPs and SMART awards…..

Funding opportunities, Training

 

 

CALLNG ALL ACADEMICS WHO WISH TO ENGAGE WITH BUSINESSES!

Staff are invited to attend the:

 ‘Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) and SMART awards events’ 

 Both these schemes are UK-wide programmes funded by the Technology Strategy Board.

 

  •  KTP provides academics with opportunities for the practical application of their research. Importantly, they are an opportunity for academics to engage with the business community.
  •  SMART awards assist businesses to engage in research & development projects in areas such as science, engineering and technology, from which successful new products, processes and services can emerge. Whilst universities may not apply directly, they may act as a sub-contractor to an applicant.                      

  If you are interested in learning more about KTP and SMART awards, please come along to one of the following events:

 Event Dates:

 Friday 26th April         Breakfast Meeting   – Talbot Campus (KG103) –          8.30am – 10.30am

 ktpbreakfast2013.eventbrite.co.uk

 Tuesday 30th April         Executive Business Centre (7th Floor)     – Lansdowne –             6pm – 8pm

 ktpandsmart2013.eventbrite.co.uk 

(To book your place –  just go to the ‘Eventbrite link’ listed under each date.  There are only a limited number of spaces left, so please book asap to avoid missing out)

 

  • Local businesses are going to be invited to attend these sessions too, which will provide a valuable opportunity for academics to network and develop potential working relationships with them.

 

For further information, please contact Lucy Rossiter.

 

How’s our Slovene?

BU’s Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health was well represented at a recent conference run by the Midwifery Association of Slovenia in Čateẑ.  Professor Vanora Hundley and Luisa Cescutti Butler were invited by the President Anita Prelec to speak to midwives, nurses and students at their bi-annual conference: Skrb Za Dravje Žensk In Otrok.

I was asked to speak on the issue of intervention in early labour, something that is causing concern in many European countries, and whether midwives should be encouraging women to stay at home for longer. I started my session with a tentative “Dober dan” (Good morning) – my pronunciation must have been acceptable as I received a round of applause! However, the rest of my presentation was thankfully in English. The presentation was well received and clearly generated a lot of interest with discussion continuing over lunch.

Luisa, a senior lecturer in midwifery, spoke about the examination of the newborn baby and who should be involved – the midwife or the doctor. This was a question that we had discussed the previous day at a round table event with key stakeholders in Slovenia. Her presentation also gave us the opportunity to ask midwives what they thought. Participants were asked to complete a short questionnaire before the presentation and a second brief questionnaire afterwards. We are looking forward to seeing their responses – although we will rely heavily on colleagues from the University of Ljubljana to translate them!

Funding for our Slovenian trip was through networking grants – an EUNF award for Vanora to discuss research collaboration and an ERASMUS Preparatory Visit award for Luisa to explore the possibility of a staff mobility exchange. We both achieved these aims (more on that in our next blog), but this additional opportunity was too good to miss.

SOCIAD Project gains an FP7 Marie Curie CIG Award

Awarded & submitted bids, Funding opportunities

We have been recently awarded an EC FP7 Marie Curie Career Integration Grant (CIG) for a project entitled Social Adaptation: When Software Gives Users a Voice (SOCIAD). The project will provide engineering framework to develop software which will get users’ feedback at run-time and then use this feedback to adapt services and improve quality.

The total contribution of the EC is 100K Euros and the duration of the project is 4 years. Marie Curie CIG is a competitive grant. 912 proposals were submitted in our call which had the deadline of 18 September 2012 (read more..). Only 22% of the evaluated proposals have been selected for funding under this call.

The project team includes Dr. Raian Ali, Professor Keith Phalp, Associate Professor Jacqui Taylor and 3 existing PhD students and 2 new PhD students, the latter to start and be funded partially by this grant. The application for the first position is now open so please help us and circulate details of the post, so that we can attract excellent candidates:  http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/AGH143/phd-studentship/

CIG could be particularly useful funding mechanism for researchers / lecturers who recently joined BU. The next deadline is 18 September 2013 (read more..). CIG applicants must be experienced researchers from any country in the world, with at least 4 years’ full-time research experience or a doctoral degree. CIG is meant to encourage Experienced Researchers to settle in / return to Europe. To apply, you must have been actively engaged in research, but you cannot have carried out your work in the country of your host organisation for more than twelve months over the last three years. Finally, you must have never benefitted from a European or an International Reintegration Grant (ERG or IRG) nor from a Career Integration Grant.

If you are interested in applying to this grant and / or would like to know more please let us know and we will be happy to share our experience with you.

Grappling with the meaning of theory

Theoretical awareness is essential in the development and delivery of effective interprofessional education and collaborative practice. IN-2-THEORY – interprofessional theory, scholarship and collaboration, chaired by Sarah Hean from Bournemouth University is an international community of practice that aims to build theoretical rigour in this field.

IN-2-THEORY members Carol John (AECC, UK), Liz Anderson (University of Leicester, UK), Chris Green (University of Essex, UK), Cath O’Halloran (University of Huddersfield, UK), Richard Pitt (University of Nottingham, UK), Phil Clark (University of Rhode Island, USA) and Sarah Hean (Bournemouth University, UK) are currently working on a Best Evidence in Medical Education review into the effectiveness of Theory in Interprofessional Education. The protocol is available at http://www.bemecollaboration.org/Reviews+In+Progress/Interprofessional+Curricula/. 
Any critique welcome.

Finding (and defining) Friendly in New York City

Fusion, Research themes

‘Dementia Friendly’ is a sound bite used frequently at the moment in my field. This is in part due to the Prime Ministers 2012 Dementia Challenge which has a particular component aspiring to the creation of 20 dementia friendly towns/cities by 2015. But what does dementia friendly actually mean? and how do we know when we have an example of something that is dementia friendly? A colleague and I spent a week in New York City earlier this month and we were truly ‘wowed’ by the dementia friendly initiatives we witnessed. The first was at MOMA where they have an established programme for people with dementia that we were lucky enough to be able to join one afternoon. What made this programme dementia friendly? Three things in my view; first the educators (their term) made no attempt to ‘dumb down’ their offering to those with dementia (too often people with dementia are treated as less able without first having tested the waters to see if  just because the label of ‘dementia’ applied means that the person is unable to participate in various everyday activites ‘as usual’ or if it needs modified in some way, in this case participating in an arts appreciation programme). Two it was extremely difficult to tell who might have dementia and who were the accompanying family members and finally the contributions from the group reflected the individual perspective different people have on what is ‘art’, what they like, or in the case of one man what was ‘trash’ (every piece we stopped at!). We were also invited to join a choir rehearsing in a cathedral (an extremely modern building that we walked by twice before realising this was the cathedral, another story…) for the final time before performing at MOMA the following week (we didn’t get to see the real performance as back at BU by then). This choir group, known as ‘The Unforgettables’, was amazing, the two directors created an unbelievable energy in the room, there was laughter, fun, serious points made about music/signing. Individuals who could barely walk took their turn to stand by the piano and sing heart rending solos which brought a tear to the eye, a lump to the throat. By contrast, other couples sang humourous duets. This was an inspiring group to witness. The choir directors had again made a conscious decision not to ‘dumb down’ their approach but to encourage and challenge, in the same way that they would any other choral group. The results were incredible. We were offered hospitality by the group members, the only tell tale sign that one particular man had dementia was his bringing us 5 cups of iced tea and numerous plates of fruit/cake/biscuits as he didn’t remember that he had already been up to the table and brought us over some goodies. We also visited the Metropolitan Museum, again with long established groups for people with dementia. Some involve art making, others art appreciation, others tours of different parts of the museum. Again the underpinning philosophy is one of ability to engage, to promote intellectual stimulation, social interaction and also the programmes encourage a degree of physical activity by choosing exhibits at various places throughout the building (mental, physical and social stimulation being key to reducing risk of developing dementia, but also to maintaining well-being once diagnosed).

We went to New York because we had heard about the programmes and wanted to see if possible to learn and implement back here in Dorset but also to meet with academic colleagues, present at NYU, meet with the US Alzheimer Association (which has really made us think about donations and fund raising to support our work) and these were also very productive parts of the trip and reinforced that the approach we are taking at BU Dementia Institute is one that we should continue (mainly that engagement and collaboration with the range of stakeholders that has been guiding our work should continue). But what stands out for me is the energy and enthusiasm of those running groups for people with dementia and the huge engagement and enjoyment this approach created. The US might not have a ‘dementia friendly agenda’ being driven at a national policy level,  and New York might not immediately spring to mind as a place where one could live well with dementia, but the initiatives we saw clearly demonstrate the possibility to create dementia friendly environments even in places where sign posting might not be clear, transport busy and where the assumption that services ‘cost’ can be challenged (all the programmes we joined are free to those with dementia).

Success of FIF application within SMN strand

Fusion

Developing an International Face of Fusion

Following the success of  FIF SMN application two mutual visits were made. Professor Ramesh visited BU during Nov-Dec 2012 for 5 weeks. This was followed by a week visit by Dr Zulfiqar Khan during Feb 2013 to PES Institute of Technology, Bangalore, India. This activity resulted in significant achievements over all areas of FUSION in research, education and professional practice. Both Prof. C S Ramesh and Dr Zulfiqar Khan participated in teaching activities at BU and PES IT Bangalore respectively.

Education

Participation in education has resulted in enhanced students’ experience at level C and H. Level H students have produced journal publications, a major achievement of this activity and has provided example of engaging UG students in research activities through research informed education. Students’ engagement with research has enhanced their experience at BU, awareness of the international activities and advancement in nano-technology and nano materials. Publications by UG students will play a very significant role in the promotion of BU and raising its academic profile at international stage as leader in FUSION.

Research/Professional Practice

This programme provided opportunity of developing research proposals and bidding for external funding in collaboration with external academic and industrial partners.

One research proposals was developed in collaboration with academic partners as PES Institute of Technology, Bangalore, India, Visvesvaraya Technological University and industrial partners National Aerospace Laboratories India, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd India, Gas Turbine Research Establishment India and Ingersoll Rand India to target EPSRC-DST initiative. Through the development and submission of research proposal for the EPSRC-DST (BU/PESIT India) application significant industrial links have been initiated and will be further strengthened in near future, through the formation of an International Consortium in Renewable Energy & Renewable Technology (RERT).

A second research proposal was developed with PES Institute of Technology, Bangalore, India to target World Bank initiative  in Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP).

A joint research proposal to Erasmus Mundus JASMINE Techno III has been submitted as part of the fusion activity and has provided opportunity to increase and further strengthen collaborative links with cross-channel (France), EU & Indian partners.

In addition the proposed programme within FIF SMN resulted in publications of three journal papers of which two were published with the final year Design Engineering students. Four conference papers were submitted/ published of which 1 conference paper was submitted with UG final year Design Engineering student and PGR.

Further Plans

It is aimed to form an international consortium and strengthen exiting partnerships around the world including key academic partners such as PES Institute of Technology, Bangalore, India, Visvesvaraya Technological University, India, GIK Institute of Technology, Pakistan and Wisconsin-University Milwaukee, US.

This partnership will pave way for exploring future opportunities of tapping into external funds e.g. National Science Foundation (NSF), The World Bank, EPSRC-DST (Department of Science and Technology India), developing and submitting joint research proposals, developing case studies for UG and PGT taught provisions and staff/students exchanges.

Fusion in Action Conference

During the Fusion in Action Conference on Thursday April 18, 2013 the highlights of the programme in terms of activities in research, education and professional practice and successes to date were presented, which has been uploaded Fusion in Action 180413.

Finally I would like to thank BU for providing such a fantastic opportunity within FIF and the School for their continued support during the programme.

Dr Zulfiqar Khan

Director Sustainable Design Research Centre

DEC

‘The fatter forgetter’, the relationship between appetite and cognition.

Fusion

May 24th  11.30 – 12.30. Room R302, Royal London House.

You are invited to an interesting seminar looking at the relationship between appetite and cognition, delivered by Dr John Rye from the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. I met John when vising Canada in November following a successful fusion bid, and I am delighted he was keen to deliver such an interesting seminar here at Bournemouth University.

Dr John Rye is currently an associate clinical lecturer in the department of Rural Family Medicine, at the Universisity of Saskatchewan, Canada, He also provides GP coverage for Nipawin , Blaine  Lake and Big River as well as looking after long term care residents in Prince Albert and is part of the rural dementia group. He was formerly in family practice in Prince Albert. He has been part of the palliative care team in Prince Albert since its start in 1991, and shared on it at IHI in Nashville. He is currently on the board of the Rose Garden Hospice, a project for residential terminal care. He went to Canada from England in 1984 with his wife Christine who is a certified palliative care nurse and president of the PAParkland Hospice Palliative Care Association.

If you are interested in attending please let Michele Board, Associate Director BUDI, know to book yourself a place. mboard@bournemouth.ac.uk

State of Yawning – Santander Travel Scholarship awarded to Dr Simon Thompson

Awarded & submitted bids, Fusion

Studying yawning has the potentially benefit of identifying underlying neurological disorders. Strong evidence of a link between yawning and fatigue, and with multiple sclerosis, is known. Mechanisms involved in excessive yawning are not understood and my work has shown a definitive link between yawning and cortisol levels in normal people. However, since people with multiple sclerosis often yawn excessively, it is important to establish whether or not their cortisol levels rise as with normal people since prolonged rises in cortisol levels indicate stress and may also indicate adverse neurological symptomatology. My work has generated a new hypothesis to explain the occurrence of excessive yawning and is complementary to Dr Gallup’s theories on thermoregulation in multiple sclerosis, which is pioneering. I am meeting Dr Gallup (Princeton University) in New York to discuss further studies in order to stay ahead of research progress. This is an excellent opportunity for kudos for Bournemouth University in being the first to carry out such research.

BUDI Lunch time seminar – Rural Dementia Care

Dorothy Forbes, Associate Professor, Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta will be visiting BUDI on 25 April. Please join us for this lunch time seminiar at 12 noon until 1pm in CG13, Christchurch House, Talbot Campus.

Email mobrien@bournemouth.ac.uk if you wish to attend and feel free to bring your lunch.

Abstract

Key Messages from our Canadian Rural Dementia Care Research
The presentation will highlight our key findings from several dementia care qualitative and quantitative studies all conducted in Canadian rural settings. The presentation is structured on the Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (PARIHS) framework and will highlight the context, knowledge, and evidence needed and used, and how knowledge exchange is facilitated. How we initially assessed the Canadian rural home care context relative to dementia care will be described. This will be followed by an examination of the experience of living with dementia throughout the dementia care journey from the perspectives of persons with dementia, their family caregivers, and community-based health care providers. The knowledge needed and used by each of these groups, and the facilitators and barriers to knowledge exchange will be revealed. The impact of social support deficiency on use of home care services and an exploration of social engagement/social inclusion with this population will also be described. Lastly, facilitators that promote quality dementia care and quality of life for persons with dementia and their care partners will be described.

Bridging the Gap: Addressing new-graduate employability within the archaeological profession

Fusion, Post-award

The ‘Bridging the Gap’ project was funded by the Staff Mobility and Networking Stream. We were aware that the archaeology profession had concerns over skills gaps, and before attempting to bridge that gap we wanted to find out more…

‘Bridging the Gap’ 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.
‘For me the most positive aspect of the day was the HE sector engaging with the commercial sector… I was also cheered in that there seems to be an interest, willingness even, for the two sectors to interact more fully in the future’ Gary Brown, Managing Director Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd. FAME Representative (Federation of Archaeological Managers and Employers).
Links with professional practitioners, employers and BU have been strengthened and renewed through the Archaeological Professional Practice Forum and targeted visits. The response to this event from the archaeological profession has been extremely positive, and will facilitate improved participation of employers within the curriculum, at BU career events and as placement and volunteer hosts.
‘Get as much practical experience as possible. All experience is good experience!’ Angus Forshaw, Community Archaeologist, Wessex Archaeology.
First hand advice directly for students on improving employability has been collected from archaeology and heritage industry professionals.
‘I found it useful to hear that students who have made the most of their university experience by spending extra time volunteering, are far more likely to find work within their field after graduation. I believe that it is very important for students to fully understand this, and also the wide variety of opportunities for volunteering available to them.’ Amy LoGalbo, Level I Archaeology student.
Student participation in this project has been highly informative of student experience, attitudes and activities relevant to enhancing employability and career development within the archaeological profession. The individual students directly involved with the project clearly benefitted from experience of hearing from employers first hand and valued the opportunity to engage in debate and to feedback into actions.
‘I can think of no better development than a triad of student, university & employer working towards students exiting with a focus/direction and improved and evidential set of skills’. John Gale, Senior Lecturer in Archaeology, BU.
There has been positive engagement by academic and support staff, external practitioners and the students themselves. The information gathered has enabled the development of an evidence-based action plan that identifies areas and mechanisms for improving extra-curricular engagement and ‘industry readiness’ of archaeology graduates.

Business School Arrivals

The Business School has seen the arrival of its new Deputy Dean of Research, Andy Mullineux (formerly University of Birmingham) as Professor of Financial Economics. Additional to his wisdom he comes with an AHRC Research Award worth £687K. End of April he will be chairing a session and give a paper at the International Conference on the Global Financial Crisis in Southampton. At the same time the new Head of Department of Accounting, Finance & Economics, Jens Hölscher (formerly University of Brighton), came to Bournemouth as Professor of Economics. He can draw on research funds won under the EU’s Jean Monnet programme and will chair a session and give a paper at a conference on The Pacific Rim Economies in Seoul, South Korea, at the end of April. Both of them have high aspirations to boost the research culture within the school.

Gender and the Horizon 2020 agenda

Awarded & submitted bids, Fusion

Well, not only did I not get my pocket ‘picked’, but I also did not fall drunk from a balcony (an activity known as ‘balconing’ apparently) – despite the risk assessment warnings to the contrary.  These were the main dangers against which I had to sign a disclaimer for on my recent Fusion funded (SMN) trip to Barcelona.  Once there (and how nice to actually see the sun!) I actually spent most of the daytime meeting people and learning stuff – at the European Conference on Politics and Gender.

There were two major issues and outcomes of this trip for me. The first was information about gender becoming an integrated part of the Horizon 2020 research agenda.  Work being done under the COST programme is promoting the agenda that all research bids submitted under the Horizon 2020 umbrella have a gendered dimension; that research must consider the impacts on women as well as men. (This has also recently been noted in the THES). This is important and significant progress for both scientific innovations and more broadly, for anyone who has a sense of social justice!

The second aspect and outcome for me, was to the opportunity to meet potential contributors for a forthcoming issue of European Political Science that I am co-editing. The symposium concerns the status of women in political science, who, like other disciplines in the UK, are highly under-represented at senior levels.  For example, despite over 50% of undergraduate students being female, recent stats by  HESA show that women represent only 20.5% of the professoriate. These statistics suggest that we really need to be asking – what is going on? How does such a disparity exist?  I have already done some qualitative research around this area – (for a popular summary see women universities and zombies).  The main focus of our co-edited journal symposium however, is the status of women in political science across Europe. Contributions will come from Scandinavia,  Italy, Germany and Spain, as well as the UK. Our aim is to first map where women are in the discipline, to consider cultural differences and similarities, and to discuss what we can do to increase equality of representation between men and women across all levels of political science (with lessons for academia more widely and beyond).  If you are interested in this work either directly, or in terms of the broader issues it raises, please do contact me on hsavigny@bournemouth.ac.uk

 

 

 

 

Open call for NERC Knowledge Exchange Fellows and NERC Policy Placement Fellows

 

NERC are seeking to award a number of part-time Knowledge Exchange Fellows (KE Fellows) and Policy Placement Fellows, whose objective will be to increase the impact of NERC-funded science through a programme of work of their own choosing.

The KE Fellowships are intended to enable the sharing and flow of knowledge and expertise between the NERC funded researchers and their user communities.  The KE Fellows can be a focus for a school /department KE activity arising from NERC funded research. It is understood that in some cases a mix of funding will lead to an opportunity to generate impact but it is essential that NERC funding has played a key role. 

Focus of the Fellowships

The applications should focus on accelerating and amplifying economic impact and improvements in the quality of life from NERC-funded research through working with business, NGOs or government bodies. This could include:

  • strengthening existing partnerships
  • developing new relationships
  • researching new market opportunities
  • providing case studies of knowledge exchange from NERC-funded research
  • providing briefings and reports suitable for policymakers

 

Details of the two types of fellowship are:

       1. Knowledge Exchange Fellowships (KE Fellowships)

 

  • Up to four fellowships are available for those who submit a work plan of their own choosing to generate impact from NERC-funded research in their host institution.
  • KE Fellowships will cover the KE Fellow’s salary including superannuation, NI and specific allowances, plus up to £40k for travel and other associated work plan costs.
  • KE Fellowships are based in the institution where they are employed, and open to researchers at any stage of their career.
  • KE Fellows can last for a minimum of one year to a maximum of three years. Candidates can apply to spend between 20% and 80% of their time on the fellowship.
  • KE Fellows have to be employed by the host institution for the duration of their fellowship.

 

       2. Policy Placement Fellowships

 

  • Must be organised in collaboration with a policy-making body, for example a government department, devolved administration or agency. The placement is for a fixed term, for a specific project.
  • Placement is jointly funded by NERC and the partner organisation on a 50:50 basis.
  • Minimum length of placement will be six months and the maximum three years.
  • Placement fellows will be expected to spend at least 50% of their fellowship in the partner organisation’s offices, although some work might require time to be spent at other locations in the UK or abroad.

 

Closing date for applications: 10 June 2013

Interview dates: 16-18 July 2013

 

For further information on how to apply please visit the NERC website

Alternatively, if you have any queries please contact keschemes@nerc.ac.uk, 

or call Lynne Porter on 01793 411791.