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Kennedy Scholarships 2013-2014

PG research

for postgraduate study at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

 Open to: British citizens ordinarily resident in the UK who will have graduated by the time of taking up an award and who have spent two of the last five years studying at a university in the UK.

 Available for Graduate Programmes:

  • Special Student/non-degree
  • Master’s
  • PhD (external finding is welcomed for funded doctoral programmes)
  • Visiting Fellowship – Year of additional research towards UK PhD

 Award offers:

  • Full fees and health insurance
  • Tax free stipend of $2,500
  • Opportunity to be part of a Scholarship Programme valued by the Kennedy family and with distinguished alumni in leading positions in the UK and US.

 Closing date 28 October 2012

www.kennedytrust.org.uk

020 7222 1151

Frank Knox Memorial Fellowships 2013-2014 Harvard University

PG research

Fellowships are available for five graduates, men or women from the United Kingdom, to study for up to two consecutive years in one of the Faculties of Harvard. The value of each Fellowship is at least $26,000 plus tuition and health service fees.

 Information about the fellowships can be found here

 Details of the competition and an application form can be completed online here

 The competition is open to British citizens at the time of application normally resident in the UK who wish to attend the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard Business School, Graduate School of Design, Harvard Divinity School, Graduate School of Education, Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Law School and Harvard School of Public Health and:

  • Are studying for a first or higher degree & will graduate in the academic year 2012-13; OR
  • Are a UK-registered PhD student hoping for an additional year as a Visiting Fellow at Harvard; OR
  • Have completed a first or higher degree and graduated most recently no earlier than 2008.

 Applications close 23.59 on Sunday 28 October 2012.

 Enquiries regarding the Fellowships are welcome. Please call Annie Thomas on 020 7222 1151.

Rufus Stone reviewed in The Qualitative Report

Patricia Leavy, well-known author and innovator, has reviewed Rufus Stone the movie for the on-line qualitative journal, The Qualitative Report.  Entitled, “A Review of Rufus Stone: The Promise of Arts-Based Research” the review is available for download.

Patricia is an independent Author, Researcher and Commentator who lives in Kennebunk, Maine USA. Among her 11 books she is the author of Method Meets Art: Arts-Based Research Practice (Guilford Press), Essentials of Transdisciplinary Research: Using Problem-Centered Methodologies (Left Coast Press) and the research-informed novel Low-Fat Love (Sense Publishers). For more info please visit her website.

Just some of her responses to Rufus Stone the movie:

  • Rufus Stone is both an incredible short film and it embodies all that is best about arts-based research.
  • I am absolutely blown over by how good Rufus Stone is.
  • The film is not only a glaring look at how homophobia and intolerance can shape people’s experiences, but it is also a film very much about looking at who we are, how we became who we are, and how we allow our lives to unfold.
  • Anyone of any age and background can sit and watch this film, understand it, learn from it and emotionally connect to it.
  • This film was as good as most Oscar-nominated shorts, and vastly superior to many.  In my opinion, it was just about as good as a short film gets.

“If research is intended to teach, illuminate, shed light on topics of import and challenge our assumptions, Rufus Stone is an exemplary piece of research”.

FP7 Social Sciences & Humanities ‘Global Europe 2050’ Report Published

Research Professional gave a great summary of the FP7 Social Sciences and Humanities ”Global Europe 2050′  foresight report. This report is the output of an EC expert group; it presents and qualifies three scenarios that identify the main pathways Europe could follow over the next few decades:

1. The ‘Nobody Cares’ scenario, where Europe is in a ‘muddling through’ process;

2. ‘Europe under threat’, where Europe is faced by an economic decline and protectionist reactions; and

3. The ‘European Renaissance’ where the EU continues to enlarge and become stronger with more efficient innovation systems.

Any bets on which way we go…?!

Radio coverage of dementia research in Dorset

Dementia has received a good bit of local coverage on BBC Solent over the last three days. This kicked off with a panel discussion featuring people with dementia talking about their experiences of living with dementia on Saturday ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/p00xrth3 Feature starts 1hr 4minutes into the show)

On Sunday morning dementia continued as a topic for discussion with the issue of how to make churches dementia friendly (available to listen to at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/p00xrtlx (Feature starts 1hr 44 minutes into the show)).

Then on Monday morning Bournemouth University Dementia Institute were given the opportunity to talk on the News Hour about the low rate of diagnosis of dementia in Dorset and to highlight key findings from a project focusing on Dementia Friendly Tourism that Anthea Innes and Stephen Page have been leading that is currently being written up for publication. (feature starts 42 minutes into the show
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/p00xrtsw).

The whole notion of ‘Dementia Friendliness’ is one that is catching on in the UK and beyond with Dementia Friendly Communities being supported by the Prime Minister’s Dementia Challenge. The dementia work at BU embraces this concept and is actively applying it not only to the tourism and leisure research mentioned above but in our overall approach to our research and education work.

Beyond the Office?

News from the PVC

What’s in an office?  Furniture, a favourite mug, pictures of ones’ family, a pile of unanswered correspondence, a stack of marking and a shelf or two of books?  Some of us are lucky enough at BU to have our own office, others have to share, while others prefer to work at home on a corner of the dining room table or in a room the more pretentious of us call a study.  Besides my office I have a work room at home too.  It’s in the roof and you can hear the rain on the skylight, a sound I find delightful and elemental – nature’s music.  We justify these spaces by the need to ‘think’ and that creative thoughts need peace and quiet or that we need our academic possessions around us.  Maybe this is all true, but I very rarely refer to the books on my shelves these days, since it quicker now to look online and most of my academic library is stored on my hard drive.  Yes I value the calm, the routine of going to my office, the isolation from distraction it provides but it is exactly that, isolating.

I have worked in shared offices, in fact I wrote my PhD and a book more recently in one and have shared offices at times throughout my academic career.  The power of concentration overcomes most distractions, although I myself am a distraction to others, muttering to myself as I write, re-casting sentences by reading them out loud, getting up to pace and then sit down to write some more.  But to be office-less is perhaps a step further?  I supervise students from the US and I am always surprised when a deadline approaches and they reply ‘off to the Starbucks to work’.  And work they do deliver, with music in their ears, coffee to hand, in the middle of the bustle of daily life; I am not sure I could do this?

But in truth what is actually stopping me from trying?  You see people commuting on the train, working hard, making me feel guilty as I idly stare out of the window.  How can they work in such conditions?  I often rationalise it unfairly by saying ‘well they are not doing anything creative or that requires deep thought’, but this is just nonsense.  In truth you can work anywhere given a focus.  I just prefer to run to the isolation of my office and as a result I am less productive and perhaps more isolated.

The recurrent theme here is isolation;  your office isolates you from the world around, a defence mechanism to keep out the hassle and the distractions, but there is a down side.  Over the last year or so in my current role I have tried to find ways of keeping in daily contact with academics throughout BU to be a conduit for their concerns and to listen to their needs.  In truth, I am always interested in and keen to talk about research – my own if anyone will listen, but chiefly other peoples if they are prepared to tell.  So this Wednesday I am about to abandon my office for a month – an office sabbatical if you like – as an experiment into being office-less and to try to enhance my own level of engagement.  Wherever possible my meetings have been switched out of the Office of the Vice Chancellor and between times I will hang out and try to work in the coffee shops and open access spaces across both campuses.  The purpose, well to see what it is like to be office-less for a start, to fight the isolation provided by ones office and ultimately to see if it enhances my accessibility to the people I represent – the academics that make our University strong.  So when you see me about, huddled in the corner of the coffee shop, feel free to stop and talk!

Support for your funding proposal from the RDU

Guidance

Why is the internal peer review of research proposals important?

  • The competition for research funds is high and is likely to increase.  Research Council funding presents a particular challenge – with the ESRC having one of the lowest success rates.
  • In recent years funders have expressed their growing concern over the number of poor quality research proposals they receive, with the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) taking the action to implement a ban on submissions from unsuccessful candidates who fail repeatedly and requesting evidence on steps institutions take to improve academic skills in producing research proposals.
  • Internal peer review has been credited with producing higher quality research proposals and increased success rates and is a process encouraged by the Research Councils.

What is the RPRS? 

  • It is a university-wide scheme, that manages the peer review of funding applications, and supports academics while they are developing or finalising their proposals.

Who reviews the applications?

  • The Peer Reviewers are a selection of BU academics who have a considerable track record in successfully gaining research funding, who sit on funding panels and who review research proposals for funders.
  • We select two reviewers to review your proposal.

Who can apply to the RPRS?

  • The service is open to anyone at BU and for any type of research funding.

What kind of feedback can I expect?

  • Peer reviewers will provide feedback on the proposed research in terms of topic selection, novel value, clarity of ideas proposed and advise on how the proposal can be further strengthened. They may also provide the names of potential collaborators where applicable.
  • The Research Development Unit will provide feedback on general structure and style, clarity of ideas, timescales proposed, estimated costs, potential funders, eligibility for funding schemes, and any potential ethical issues.
  • Feedback will be delivered within 3 weeks of submission – often before.

How do I submit an application?

  • Contact RKE Operations to obtain a rough costing for your proposal. RKE Operationswill guide you through the process
  • Send in a Word or PDF version of your electronic submission draft (such as Je-S) and submit to Caroline O’Kane
  • The Research Development Unit will undertake review of the proposal and forward to 2 experts
  • You will receive feedback within 2-3 weeks

Remember

  • Please allow sufficient time in your proposal development to allow for the  mandatory internal deadline of five working days for the submission of Research Council bids via the Je-S system.
  • This also applies to applications made via the E-Gap2 and Leverhulme Online e-submissions systems (affecting applications made to the British Academy, the Royal Society and the Leverhulme Trust).

Who can I ask for further help?

  • Caroline O’Kane in the Research Development Unit manages the RPRS and will answer any questions you have.

 

Find out how to apply for Joseph Rowntree Foundation funds

Funding opportunities

On 10th October,  Tony Stoller,  is coming to BU.  Not only is he Chair of Trustees for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and of the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust, he is  also a media historian and a doctoral student at Bournemouth University.

Tony will be hosting a lunchtime session all about the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and how best to apply for JRF funds.

Tony will be talking about:

  • What is the JRF?
  • What kind of work does JRF fund? 
  • What does JRF look for in a proposal ?  
  • What can you do to maximise your success when you are applying to JRF?
  • How do you apply for JRF funds?

Why should you attend?  If your work is broadly concerned with poverty in the UK, communities and our aging society, then JRF will be  worth knowing about.  Come along and find out more about research funding opportunities.   

The detail:

  • Time:  1-2pm
  • Date: 10th October 2012
  • Place: PG146, Talbot campus

To attend: click here

For more information please contact Caroline O’Kane

 

 
  

Pilot project for archive digitalisation gets under way which will ease access to info for researchers

German organisation DFG is to finance a pilot project that will digitalise archives across Germany in an attempt to save data and make it easily available for researchers which is great news if you have German collaborators. The pilot project will distribute just under €200,000 to each participating archive to test different ways of data digitalisation and access. The projects vary in length depending on each archive’s needs, but should last for over a year. The archives are supplying about a third of the costs from their own resources, and are in turn setting their own areas of interest. The state archive of Saxony, for example, will focus on the digitalisation of microfiches and microfilms. Hopefully this will pave the way for the UK archiving system too!

EU acknowleges need for single framework for professional development of researchers

A study part-funded by the European Science Foundation (ESF) and tested the professional development framework developed by the UK’s Vitae in different European settings has released some very interesting findings. The study into the feasibility of implementing a professional development framework for researchers across Europe has found that there is demand for such a framework, although nations vary in their readiness to participate in it.  Now that this recognition has been gained, expect a framework to follow!

 

Intranasal inhalation of oxytocin improves eye-witness identification: RDF grant report

Post-award

In 2011 myself and Ben Parris from the Psychology Research Centre were awarded a small RDF grant to investigate whether intranasal inhalation of the hormone oxytocin can improve eye-witness identification.  We designed an experiment where participants viewed a short video-clip of a perpetrator stealing a wallet from someone’s bag.  Participants then inhaled either an oxytocin or placebo nasal spray, and after a 45 minute interval to allow central oxytocin levels to plateau, were presented with a line-up of ten faces from which they had to either select the perpetrator or state that he was absent.  To date we have tested 70 participants and found a facilitation in the oxytocin condition.  In a second experiment, we asked participants to complete the ‘One-in-Ten’ task, a test of spontaneous eye-witness memory that has been well-used in previous work.  Again, we found a clear facilitation in performance in the oxytocin condition.

These findings follow recent work that has demonstrated that oxytocin can improve face recognition performance in standard cognitive tasks in lab-based settings.  In addition, work from our lab is currently under review for publication demonstrating that oxytocin can improve face recognition in individuals with prosopagnosia (face blindness).  This RDF grant has therefore given us the funding to carry out key investigations demonstrating novel applications of oxytocin inhalation in more applied settings.

I also presented findings from the oxytocin project at the April meeting of the Experimental Psychological Society, and was delighted to meet Dr Markus Bindemann from the University of Kent who is something of an expert in eye-witness identification.  We are now collaborating with Markus, and have plans to develop a bid to the Leverhulme Trust on the back of the publications that we hope will result from these investigations.  We are also about to welcome a new PhD student to our lab, who will be further developing the forensic aspect of this work in more real-world national security settings.

The pump-priming that was made available to us via the RDF scheme has provided us with the opportunity to collect the initial data and publication basis that we need to develop a large external bid, and we hope that this is the beginning of a fruitful line of research for our laboratory.

BU EU Showcase Event date announced!

I am very excited to announce the date for this year’s EU Showcase Event! Last year’s event was a tremendous success and this year’s looks like it will be even bigger and better!

We all know the importance of getting involved in EU funding as national funds dwindle, greater importance is placed on international collaborations and of BUs strategic focus on internationalisation. This event will celebrate our successful EU award holders who will share their tips for engaging in EU funding.

We have presentations on schemes to help you start your EU career (Christos Gatzidis on the Leonardo scheme of the Lifelong Learning Programme and Bogdan Gabrys and Rob Britton on Marie Curie schemes) and schemes for those already engaged (Anthea Innes on applying for an FP7 grant and Adrian Newton on being a Partner in an FP7 consortium). We also have top tips on how to network effectively to become involved in EU funding (from the very experienced Dimitrios Buhalis and Cornelius Ncube). Finally I will be launching 3 very exciting internal EU focused funding competitions at this event to help you engage in EU funding and we have presentations from those who won funding through 2 of these schemes last year.

The informal and informative event will be opened by Matthew Bennett in Kimmeridge House  on 14th November. Plenty of coffee, tea, lunch and cake provided and due to the restriction of room size, registration is essential. This takes only 10 seconds on the Staff Development website.

The event will be finished in plenty of time for you to drive/ catch the uni bus to the Executive Business Centre (EBC) to hear the Inaugural Lecture Dementia: personal journey to policy priority by HSC’s Prof. Anthea Innes.

Women in Research

The University is in the process of applying for membership of the Athena SWAN Charter a processing being led by Professor Tiantian Zhang (Head of Graduate School).  Athena’s aims for- the advancement and promotion of the careers of women in science, engineering and technology in higher education and research and involves the University accepting six key charter principles, namely:

i.     To address gender inequalities requires commitment and action from everyone, at all levels of the organization
ii.     To tackle the unequal representation of women in science requires changing cultures and attitudes across the organization
iii.     The absence of diversity at management and policy-making levels has broad implications which the organization will examine
iv.     The high loss rate of women in science is an urgent concern which the organization will address
v.     The system of short-term contracts has particularly negative consequences for the retention and progression of women in science, which the organization recognizes
vi.     There are both personal and structural obstacles to women making the transition from PhD into a sustainable academic career in science, which require the active consideration of the organization

This development is a welcome one and an important step forward for a modern and progressive University such as ours.  The need to support and promote women in research is clear and I am sure that few would argue against this but if in doubt the need was elegantly made by a recent report published by the Royal Society of Chemistry on the ‘Chemistry PhD: the impact on women’s retention’.  One of the striking figures from this report is that only 12% of third year female PhD students want a career in academia and that young women scientists leave academia in far greater numbers than men.  This set me thinking about the issues more generally and much of what is identified in the report based on a review of Chemistry Department is no doubt relevant across all research sectors.  In particular I was struck by the phrase ‘women do not wish to pursue an academic career . . . because they perceived the rewards on offer insufficient to overcome the challenges and compromise entailed’.  The career being: to all-consuming, leading to compromise and sacrifice in other aspects of life; overly competitive and insecure in terms of tenure especially while post-docing; and poorly supported in terms of sound and fair advice which is often unduly negative.  It was the last point that made stop and think most; what sort of advice do we provide, what sort of role models do we project and how do we encourage, mentor and support future academics of whatever gender?  There is a lot in this and I would be interested in your views on this subject, especially from our own graduate students.

 

 

 

 

Royal Society Industry Fellowships

Funding opportunities

This scheme is for academic scientists who want to work on a collaborative project with industry and for scientists in industry who want to work on a collaborative project with an academic organisation.

It aims to enhance knowledge transfer in science and technology between those in industry and those in academia in the UK.  The scheme provides a basic salary for the researcher and a contribution towards research costs.  The scheme is  funded by the Royal Society, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Natural Environment Research Council, Rolls-Royce plc and BP plc.

Eligibility requirements

The scheme covers all areas of the life and physical sciences, including engineering, but excluding clinical medicine.  The applicant must:

  • have a PhD or be of equivalent standing in their profession
  • hold a permanent post in a university, not-for-profit research organisation or industry in the UK
  • be at a stage in their career when they would particularly benefit from establishing or strengthening personal or corporate links between academia and industry as a foundation for long-term collaboration and development

Applications involving spin-offs or small companies are encouraged. Applicants should clearly state how the fellowship will benefit the not-for-profit research organisation, especially in cases where the applicant has financial involvement within the company. Applicants should also state which complementary skills the employees at the company can offer. 

Applicants should ensure that they meet all the eligibility requirements, which are explained in the scheme notes (PDF).

Value and tenure

The scheme provides the applicant’s basic salary while on secondment. The employing organisation continue to pay national insurance and pension contributions.  Research expenses may be claimed up to the value of £2,000 per year. Awards can be for any period up to two years full-time or a maximum of four years pro rata, i.e. an award could be held at 50% part-time for four years enabling fellows to maintain links with their employing institution more easily.

Application process

Applications are initially assessed by Industry Fellowship panel members and a shortlist is drawn up.  Shortlisted applications are then sent for independent review and are finally considered at a panel meeting, together with their nominated and independent references.

It is expected that applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application 4 months after the closing date of 5th October 2012.

 The RKE Operations team can help you with your application.

British Academy Calls

Funding opportunities

The British Academy have a number of funding opportunities available at present.  To find out more details, please follow the links below:

Mid-career Fellowship – Deadline 2/9/12

Skills Acquisitions Awards– Deadline 31/10/12

Small Research Grants – Deadline 7/11/12

If you are interested in any of the above then the RKE Operations team can help you with your application.