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Virgin Media Shorts Competition Opens to Entries (UK)

Funding opportunities

The Virgin Media Shorts, which is a short film competition that champions undiscovered talent, has announced that its 2012 competition is now open to entries.

The competition is open to filmmakers and gives them the chance to show their work in cinemas, on TV, online and on mobile (via the mobile internet).  Prizes include: 13 film makers win a chance to show their work on 214 cinema screens nationwide; one winner will receive £30,000 to make their next film; and a People’s Choice winner will receive £5,000 of film funding and BFI mentoring.  Films must be in English or subtitled in English and be of a duration of up to 2 minutes and 20 seconds. The deadline for entries is 12 noon on the 12th July 2012.

Thinking of applying for a FP7 Health call? UKRO has some good advice…

The final version of the FP7 2013 Health Work Programme will be published in early July 2012, and at the same time two calls for proposals (INNOVATION 1 and 2) are expected to be launched with deadlines in late September and early October 2012. These calls will mark the last opportunity to bid for FP7 funding under the Health theme and no further calls are expected to be issued until the start of Horizon 2020 in 2014.

UKRO have provided some excellent tips for  those interested in taking up this last opportunity under FP7 with some hints and tips for preparing for their submissions on their website.

 

4th World Business Ethics Forum – 16-18 December 2012, Hong Kong

Funding opportunities, Research Ethics

The 4th World Business Ethics Forum (WBEF) will be held from 16 to 18 December 2012 by the School of Business of Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU).  BU have received an invitation to submit papers for presentation at the Conference.

The theme for this 4th WBEF is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainability.  HKBU welcome research papers related to this broad theme.  Suggested topics include:

Dimensions and theories of CSR; CSR and risk management; CSR and business ethics; CSR and strategic management; CSR and corporate sustainability; CSR and corporate governance; CSR reporting and capital market; Corporate sustainability management; Legal issues of CSR; CSR in Asia; CSR in China; CSR education; CSR case studies; CSR in western perspectives; and other related issues.

They anticipate that over 150 scholars and professionals across the world will attend the Conference.  Selected papers from the Conference will be published in a special issue of Journal of Business Ethics.

The deadline for paper submission is 30th June 2012.  Please submit the full paper and enquiries to the Conference Secretariat at wbef@hkbu.edu.hk.  Email submissions in Word format are strongly preferred.  Submission of full paper for review indicates that it or a similar version has not been previously published or is not simultaneously under review elsewhere.  Each submission should include FULL contact details, including the author(s)’ brief bio, institution affiliation, mailing address, telephone and fax number, e-mail address, topic area (up to three topics selected from the above).  Full paper should not be more than 40 pages in double-line spacing (all inclusive) and must follow the style guidelines of the Journal of Business Ethics (JBE).

For more details of the Conference, please visit the web site at http://www.hkbu.edu.hk/~wbef.  The Conference Committee will select full papers on a competitive basis, and author(s) will be notified by September 2012.

Exercising the precautionary principle

Another really interesting study which serves to remind of the importance of critically thinking through, what on the face of it might seem like a really good green iniative. This example relates to recycling of old spectacles by sending them out to countries where people may not have the luxury of an optician on every high street and designer glasses.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/24/health/research/donating-used-eyeglasses-is-a-poor-use-of-resources.html

I guess the question that needs to be asked is ‘If it no longer works for me why should anyone else want it?’ Most people who wear specs will have a drawer which has several old pairs – just in case. So how should we recycle them? And what about that drawer of old chargers, computer cables and leads, from items which you can no longer remember what appliances they originated from! Yes, we need to acquire less ‘stuff’ in the first place but we also need to develop creative solutions to repurpose all the stuff we already have filling drawers.

RBS EnterprisingU competition open to students and graduates

Funding opportunities

The RBS EnterprisingU competition has launched, with £40,000 worth of prizes!

The competition, created by Find Invest Grow and sponsored by RBS Group and LinkedIn, offers a unique online platform for students to “road-test” their business ideas, while building the framework for a professional business plan at the same time.

It is open to students and graduates of the past 5 years:  they don’t have to be economics grads with business experience – anyone can enter. The platform enables students to explore the viability of their business idea, by asking the right questions and building the appropriate framework.

Investors will be reviewing and judging entrants to decide on the 20 semi-finalists who will be selected to attend the training workshops.  The 10 finalists will be pitching their business ideas to a room full of investors,  with the chance of winning prizes of £25,000, £10,000, and £5,000.

The competition is now open, at: http://www.rbsenterprisingu.com

Encourage your students / recent graduates to apply!

The deadline for completed entrants is midnight on the 15th June 2012.

FP7 Security Partner Brokerage Event

Potential applicants to the 2013 FP7 Security call are invited to attend a brokerage event organized by the Security Mission Information & Innovation Group (SMI2G) on 22-23 May in Brussels.

 The meeting will be an opportunity to exchange information on the 2013 call of the FP7 Security programme and to stimulate networking for the creation of potential ideas and consortia. All stakeholders interested in the participation in a topic for this call as co-ordinator or partner are invited to this meeting.

The goals of the  meetings are to:

  • provide information on the 2013 Security call (6th call) and provide potential partners with information on what is expected by the European Commission;
  • exchange information on specific contributions to proposals as partners or co-ordinator; and
  • provide a networking opportunity to find partners in proposals.

Co-Director of CIPPM, Dr Dinusha Mendis, elected to the Executive Committee of the British and Irish Law Education and Technology Association (BILETA)

Dr Dinusha Mendis, Senior Lecturer in Law, and Co-Director of the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy and Management http://www.cippm.org.uk/ was elected to the Executive Committee of the long-standing British and Irish Law Education and Technology Association (BILETA) in March 2012 http://www.bileta.ac.uk/Membership/Executive%20Committee

Formed in April 1986 BILETA exists to promote the use of technology in legal education throughout the UK and Ireland.  The Association liaises with academic organisations and professional organisations such as the Higher Education Academy http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/disciplines/law and British and Irish Legal Information Institute (BAILI) http://www.bailii.org/ Dr. Mendis also represents Bournemouth University on the Society of Legal Scholars (SLS) Council http://www1.legalscholars.ac.uk/about/council/index.cfm which was founded in 1908 and celebrates 104 years in 2012.

At the 2012 BILETA Annual Conference in Newcastle (http://www.numyspace.co.uk/~unn_mlif1/school_of_law/bileta/)  Dr. Mendis presented a paper analysing the UK Digital Economy Act 2010. This Act attempts to enforce copyright law in the online environment, for example against downloading and file-sharing. Infringing users will be given three warnings after which they can potentially be disconnected from the Internet, also known as ‘three-strikes-and-you’re-out’. The law is controversial, and still to be implemented. Dr Mendis considers the proportionality of the measure and its effectiveness in the context of fast moving technology.

Research Outcomes System (ROS) – AHRC, BBSRC, EPSRC & ESRC – Reminder

  Following on from previous blogs, I wanted to remind you that the deadline for submitting research outcomes to the Research Outcomes System (ROS) is Monday 30 April 2012

ROS is the web-based system through which the holders of grants awarded by AHRC, BBSRC, EPSRC and ESRC are required to report the research outcomes resulting from those grants.  ROS is available all year round for submitting research outcomes, but every January to March (extended to April in this first year) we will be conducting an annual exercise to encourage submissions.  For this first collection period outcomes should be submitted for grants that are currently in ROS and:

  • started more than 12 months ago, or
  • have ended, but a final report has not been submitted, or
  • a final report has been submitted and relevant information has been transferred to ROS by a Research Council on your behalf.

The Research Councils are working to transfer all relevant final report information into ROS. If you have already completed a final report, please wait until that information is in ROS before adding any new or additional outcomes. Individual Research Councils will contact you when this information is ready to review in ROS.

ROS is available at www.rcuk.ac.uk/researchoutcomes and you can log-in using your Je-S account details.

A set of frequently asked questions and a number of video tutorials about ROS and how to use it are available on our website here. If you would like any further information or have any questions, please email us at: researchoutcomes@rcuk.ac.uk

Forthcoming info days and key networking conferences…

FP7 Information Day on The Ocean of Tomorrow 
Brussels, 6th June
The European Commission will be holding an information day on “The Ocean of Tomorrow 2013” call on 6 June 2012 in Brussels. The information day will be aimed at those interested in the applying to “The Ocean of Tomorrow 2013” cross-thematic call. The event is the day before the information day for the 2013 Environment calls, which will allow people to attend both information days, if desired.
Registration is not open yet; more information is available on this leaflet.

2012 European Industrial Bioenergy Initiative Conference
Brussels, 5th June
The aim of the conference is to make the EIBI better known to the various biofuels stakeholders. Stakeholders along the whole biofuels value chains will be invited to attend the conference. Details will be published on the EBTP website as soon as they are available. Registration will begin in early May.

Conference on Energy Efficient Buildings and Districts: Research to Accelerate Innovation
Brussels, 15th May
The Energy Efficient Buildings Association (E2BA) is promoting an industry driven research, demonstration and innovation (RDI) programme for energy-efficient buildings and districts, with the ambitious vision that all European buildings and districts will be designed, built or renovated to high energy efficiency standards by 2050. Its 150 members come from industry, research organisations, SMEs, public promoters and agencies. E2BA is currently developing a new Roadmap for RDI priorities in the energy efficient built environment field for the period 2014-2020 and beyond.

Seventh European Photovoltaic Technology Platform 
Amsterdam, 19th June
The conference will zoom into the challenges and opportunities of the European photovoltaic (PV) industry sector related to manufacturing as well as large-scale deployment. It will show how PV can continue to contribute to innovation and economic development in Europe when supported by adequate policies and measures.Innovation approaches, transition from incentive-driven to self-sustained markets for PV as well as long term scenarios will be analysed by selected representatives of the European Parliament, the Dutch government and world leading players of the PV industry.

The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) Titular Fellowships – 2012

Funding opportunities

The call for applications for the ACU Titular Fellowships is now open.

The ACU Titular Fellowships provide opportunities for staff from member universities and employees working in industry, commerce or public service in a Commonwealth country to spend periods of time in other member universities or relevant institutions outside their own country. Preference will be given to workers in the following priority subject areas: agriculture, forestry and food sciences, biotechnology, development strategies, earth and marine sciences, engineering, health and related social sciences, information technology, management for change, professional education and training, social and cultural development and university development and management.

A summary of the awards is as follows:

Swansea University Fulton Fellowship

Tenable at Swansea University. Awarded for any of the priority subjects listed above.

Country of Tenure: United Kingdom

 

The Worshipful Company of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales Fellowship

At least one Fellowship open either to professionally qualified accountants or to established members of university faculties or related fields. Tenable at a Commonwealth university which either provides courses approved by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, or provides courses in, or closely allied to, business education. Section A of the nomination form may be completed either by the head of the candidate’s firm/company, or by the Executive Head of the proposed host university.

Country of Tenure: Any Commonwealth country other than home country

 

Wighton Titular Fellowship in Engineering

Open to full-time staff, academic or technical, of engineering departments in any of the developing country universities in membership of the ACU. Intended especially for the enhancement of laboratory teaching capacity.

Country of Tenure: Any Commonwealth country other than home country

 

The University of Manitoba Fellowship

Tenable at the University of Manitoba. Awarded for any of the priority subject areas listed above.

Country of Tenure: Canada

 

The George Weston Limited, Canada, Fellowship

Awarded in agriculture, forestry, and food science/ food technology.

Country of Tenure: Any Commonwealth country other than home country

 

The University of Oxford Fellowship

Tenable at the University of Oxford. Awarded in any of the priority subject areas listed above.

Country of Tenure: United Kingdom

 

The Jacky McAleer Memorial Fellowship

In memory of Jacky McAleer, a former member of staff of the ACU, and in recognition of her long and outstanding service to the ACU. Awarded in the field of information technology, with priority given to the computerisation of record systems or computer-assisted learning.

Country of Tenure: Any Commonwealth country other than home country

 

The Gordon and Jean Southam Fellowship

Open to nominees of any of the Canadian universities in membership of the ACU. Awarded for any of the priority subject areas listed above.

Country of Tenure: Any Commonwealth country other than home country

 

Applications will be considered ONLY if the applicant is approved by the Executive Head (Vice-Chancellor, President or Rector) of a university in ACU membership. The ACU will also consider applications approved by the chief executive officer of a Commonwealth inter-university organisation. Fellowships will be tenable for up to a maximum of six months.

The closing date for applications is 1st June 2012

For further information and details of how to apply, please visit the webpage at http://www.acu.ac.uk/member_services/fellowships_mobility/acu_titular_fellowships or email acuawards@acu.ac.uk

If you are interested in applying then you should discuss your interest with Matthew Bennett, Tim McIntyre-Bhatty or John Vinney in the first instance.

The ENORMOUS benefits of open access publishing

Guidance

open access logo, Public Library of ScienceThe BU Open Access Publication Fund is 12 months old! Over the past year we have funded the publication of 18 papers authored by BU staff in open access, peer-reviewed outlets such as PLoS ONE.

Open access publishing turns the traditional publishing route (readers paying subscriptions to publishers) on its head as researchers pay a fee to the publisher to publish their research and in turn the publisher makes the article available free of charge to readers immediately on publication.

For researchers, open access publishing increases visibility, usage and impact or research, and institutions enjoy the same benefits in aggregated form.  Society as a whole benefits because research is more efficient, effective and more easily accessible, and delivers better and faster outcomes for us all. In addition there is increasingly evidence to show that countries also benefit because open access publishing increases the impact of the research in which they invest public money and therefore there is a better return on investment.

One of the UK’s major supporters of open access publishing, the Wellcome Trust, states that it “supports unrestricted access to the published output of research as a fundamental part of its charitable mission and a public benefit to be encouraged wherever possible.” The European Commission are also one of the major supporters of the open access movement and have recently announced plans to publish a proposal to increase open access to research result in the EU. It is anticipated that the plans will reflext the EC’s decision to  make all outputs from research funded under Horizon 2020 (due to replace the current FP7 programme) openly accessible. Previous research by the EC demonstrates that the broad dissemination of research findings can accelerate scientific progress and has significant benefits to both the scientific community and to society.

Despite all of this growing evidence to demonstrate the benefits to individual researchers, institutions and countries, few UK universities operate open-access funds for their staff. Recent research conducted by researchers at the University of Nottingham found that only 13% of the 52 UK universities who responded to their survey have a dedicated fund to pay fees for open access publishing. Of the remaining institutions who said they didn’t have such a fund, only 10% said they were likely to create one in the next 12 months.

We are very lucky at BU to have access to a dedicated central fund for open access publishing, clearly demonstrating BU’s commitment to supporting academic staff to publish and make their research findings freely available.

If you are interested in applying to the BU Open Access Publication Fund, click here for further information: BU Open Access Publication Fund

A new text linking tourism and retail

Progress in Retail and Tourism Research: The psychogeography of liminal consumption is a new text published by Routledge that links the areas of Tourism and Retailing.

This book offers new perspectives on the intersection between tourism and retail research that is liminal to both fields yet central to the tourist experience, standing as an important and illuminating realm of consumer behaviour.

The Book was edited by Charles McIntyre (School of Tourism) and amongst the contributing authors in addition to Charles were BU Lecturers Christine Harris (Retailing within towns and city centres as a tourist retail attraction), Corinna Budnarowska (Fashion retail formats as tourist retail destinations and attractions) and Sean Beer (Co-author Food and farmers’ markets.)

All credit must go to Charles who as an editor was tireless and dogged in his determination.  Sometimes it just doesn’t only take time, it takes a lot more besides.

Fran Biley’s research project featured in the Dorset Echo today

HSC’s Associate Professor Fran Biley’s recent research project has been recognised by the Dorset Echo today.

Working with Hannah Walker of the Dorset Mental Health Forum the project funded by a Big Lottery Fund, ‘Writing for Recovery’ aims to help mental health service users develop their creative writing skills. BU Occupational Therapist Lecturer Kirsty Stanley is also involved in the project which has 8 sessions over 8 weeks from May and is fully subsidised, so is completely free for the participants.

The project also has a branch in Eastbourne run by Dr Alec Grant of Brighton University and looks to make a real impact on participants lives as Fran is quoted “Creative writing has been shown to be very therapeutic and we are sure that this important initiative will be very enjoyable and it will also contribute to the health and wellbeing of course participants”.

EU funding available in the hard sciences for research, networking, visits and conference attendance

FP7 Artemis call for proposals: Funding supports industry-driven research projects in the field of embedded computing systems which aim to design, develop and deploy interoperable, cost-effective, powerful safe and secure electronics and software systems. The budget for this call is approximately €138.73 million and the financial contribution of the programme will be 16.7 per cent of eligible costs. Projects are expected to last for up to three years. Closing date 06.09.12

ESF Research conferences scheme: Grants support high-level research conferences lasting for three to four days in ESF member organisation countries. Closing date 15.09.12

 ESF Earthtime – the European contribution short visit and exchange grants: Grants should foster collaboration between European researchers working on topics relevant to geochronology and stratigraphy. Short visit grants provide €85 per day over a maximum of two weeks. Exchange grants provide €400 per week over a maximum of three months. Both awards provide actual travel expenses, worth up to €500. No deadline.

Autism as a priority for Horizon 2020?

The French government is to call for research into autism to be listed as a priority area in Horizon 2020, the successor to the EU’s Framework programme for research. The French minister for social cohesion, presented an outline of the plan at a recent cabinet meeting and will produce a detailed set of goals by the end of this year, following a decision to make the condition France’s ‘national cause’ for 2012.

The government intends to ‘intensify’ research in biology, physiology and the social sciences to expand knowledge of autism. This is likely to include an interdisciplinary research stream supported by the National Research Agency. The plan highlights the need to reinforce the rights of citizens with autism and to increase public awareness of the condition in order to support social inclusion. If you are interested in autism research and want to get in to EU funding, now would be a great time to start building links with French researchers in this area.

BBSRC – Raising awareness of commercialisation in postgraduate and postdoctoral scientists

Funding opportunities, PG research

 Closing Date for Applications: 25th May 2012

 This is  an exciting opportunity available to postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers* within the plant, microbial and environmental science disciplines, or those with an interest in these fields.

 Building on last year’s success, Syngenta, the world’s largest agribusiness company, are again hosting a Plant, Microbial and Environmental sciences workshop, at their world-class Jealott’s Hill research facility as part of the wider Biotechnology YES programme.

 We are particularly keen to attract teams from the plant, microbial and environmental sciences to this high profile workshop that will provide a unique opportunity for the participants to spend time at a world-class research facility, with the chance to have a look around and meet world-leading scientists. The workshop will have an emphasis on challenges such as:

  •  food security and production in a sustainable environment and using lower levels of inputs such as water, phosphorus and nitrogen;
  •  the effects of climate change on food production;
  •  the effects of global biodiversity collapse on ecosystem services;
  •  the production of liquid fuels without impacting on the environment, more effective strategies to control organisms such as crop pests, pathogenic bacteria and disease;
  •  making technology and marketing concepts to integrate crop protection with seeds more attractive to growers.

YES is an innovative competition aimed at raising awareness of the commercialisation of bioscience research. It is co-organised by the Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the University of Nottingham Institute for Enterprise & Innovation (UNIEI). As part of the wider national YES programme, we are also currently encouraging applications from teams of bioscientists who wish to enter the 2012 Biotechnology YES and Environment YES competitions.

Entrants form imaginary companies and bid for funding to commercialise their ideas. Through 3-day workshops taking place across the UK this autumn, participants receive training from entrepreneurs, patent lawyers and industry representatives in the business skills necessary to recognise, protect and harness the commercial potential of scientific research outputs.

The culmination of the competition is the preparation and presentation, by each team, of a hypothetical business plan for a new start-up company.  The competition is therefore fully in line with the government’s objective of encouraging economic and social impact and the competition is endorsed by a number of bio-based industries through their sponsorship.  In addition, the winning team of the national Biotechnology YES competition will receive a prize of £1000 and an invitation to the Rice Business Plan Competition in the United States.

Since its launch seventeen years ago, Biotechnology YES has provided entrepreneurial business training for over 3000 researchers from across the UK. In 2010, an independent review of the scheme highlighted that many former participants found YES to be influential in developing their careers, with several starting their own companies and many more becoming business professionals within the bioscience sector. (Review of Biotechnology YES).

 The closing date for entries into this year’s competition is 25 May 2012.

 More information may be found at the website: www.biotechnologyYES.co.uk or those interested in participating may wish to contact Tracey Hassall-Jones (tracey@biotechnologyyes.co.uk). 

 

EU-Canada Study Tour and Internship Programme – opportunity for students

This EU-funded programme offers students from EU Member States a unique in-depth experience of Canada and of EU-Canada relations during September 2012.

The intensive four-week programme begins in Brussels at the European Institutions and then moves to Canada, with study visits in Ottawa, Québec, Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver and Victoria. In addition, nine two-month internships will be offered to participants immediately following the end of the tour. These will take place at leading think tanks, foundations and cultural institutions across Canada. This immersion in Canada will offer a unique opportunity for an academic experience in a non-academic setting.
Participation in the tour is open to university students who, at the time of application, are in their third year of studies (or equivalent) or higher and are citizens of the European Union. Third-country nationals who have been legal residents in the European Union for at least three years (and for purposes other than study) before the start of the tour are also eligible; they must be enrolled at a university in an EU member state. A maximum of 33 students will take part in the tour.
 

Students will only be required to pay a participation fee of 750 EUR, plus pay for their food and other incremental costs during the programme. Further information and application forms are available here. The deadline for applications is Monday 30 April, and an academic reference will also be required.