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Parliamentary group flags natural resources crisis

The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology has published briefing notes on Evidence Based Conservation and Landscapes of the Future, which looks at tackling limited resources in the future.  The reports, intended to guide MPs, look at policy structures that might help the UK meet future challenges and how evidence can be used to support decisions within conservation.

Up in Arms?

University of Oxford investments in arms companies have been criticised by a group of students, graduates and lecturers in this week’s Lancet.  Freedom of Information requests made by the Oxford Anti-War Action group show that between 2008 and 2010 the university invested £4.5 million of its assets, through third-party funds, in BAE Systems, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and other UK and US arms manufacturers. The group has not said which other UK universities it believes invest their endowments in arms firms.

Meanwhile, another university is in hot water over its financial associations. Cancer Research UK has criticised Durham for accepting donations from British American Tobacco and claim that the tobacco industry seeks to gain unwarranted respectability by association with credible bodies such as universities.

Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Call for Proposals launched

The Call has a budget of 109M€ and a deadline of August 18th. A webinar organised by the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Group of the Energy Generation & Supply KTN was held last week  and the slides and a recording of the presentation are available on the pages of the Focus Working Group on the FCH JU 2011 Call. You will need to be a member of the Group to access these materials and the added benefits of joining are that you will also be able to work with other members of the fuel cell and hydrogen community to explore how to prepare a successful bid into the FCH JU Call, exchange experiences, gain insights into the 2011 topics, search for collaboration partners and find a range of information on how to work and apply for European funding.

Glasgow crowned green ‘super city’ of the future

Research commissioned by the HSBC, has found that thanks to its strong research and engineering capabilities, Glasgow will grow into a renewable-energy “super-city” in the coming decade. The report, Future of Business, was published on 2 June. It is based on a survey of some 500 British entrepreneurs and business managers from small and medium-sized companies.

Lecture Series – Reminder “Saving the Sound – Spreading the Word”

A reminder that Professor Sean Street will be holding a lecture “Saving the Sound – Spreading the Word” on Wednesday 8 June with registration from 5 pm at the EBC.

Despite the fact that the recording of sound and image is a relatively young science, the capacity and potential for electronic media to act as both chronicle and witness to our lives is enormous. The Centre for Broadcasting History Research in the Media School at Bournemouth University, has been working to save, preserve and digitise archives in a wide variety of forms, as well acquiring  paper collections relating to media regulation and history, for more than 10 years. In this lecture I want to argue that these are the new historical documents of our time, as important in their own way as the precious texts and artefacts preserved in our national archives, museums and libraries.

 There remains however in some cases the issue of making these valuable collections more widely available; matters relating to intellectual property rights restrict how much and how widely we can ‘spread the word’. There will come a time when such access is easier than it is today; in the meantime, it is important that we concentrate on preservation, and continue to enhance our teaching and learning as much as possible with these precious recordings. It is our responsibility as custodians on behalf of future generations, to ensure that the voice of the yesterday and today is saved securely, in order that it can provide a vital witness for tomorrow’s educational experience at every level.

Further details can also be found on the Research Blog’s Upcoming Events and the University’s Lecture Series Webpage

Peer to Patent website aims to strengthen applications

The Intellectual Property Office launched a Peer to Patent website on 1 June, enabling the science and technology community to view and comment on patent applications.  The office will upload some 200 applications in computing during a six-month pilot scheme, commentating that a similar scheme has been successfully run in the US and Australia. 

“Patent applications granted after using the Peer to Patent website review will be potentially stronger, giving businesses better protection to grow their innovative ideas. This will give the IPO access to a wider body of knowledge when deciding whether a patent should be granted,” said IP minister Judith Wilcox in a statement.  “The pilot will give experts the opportunity to comment on patent applications and share their vital expertise before patents are granted. It will also mean that inventions already known in the wider community will be filtered out more readily,” she added.

LIFE Programme & Resource Efficiency: Decoupling Growth from Resource Use

The EU’s 2020 Strategy sets the priority of moving to a more resource efficient, green and competitive economy. The LIFE programme has a long track record of innovative approaches for building a resource efficient Europe. This LIFE Focus publication aims to showcase how LIFE funding has generated a vast portfolio of know-how for a diverse range of beneficiaries and sectors: from LIFE Environment projects that have helped improve the resource efficiency of production processes to products that incorporate eco-design principles throughout their lifecycle. Other exemplary projects highlight approaches that can save water, reduce the negative impacts of transport, agriculture, fisheries and the food and beverage sector and lead to more energy-efficient buildings. The publication also shows how LIFE projects are helping to realise key EU policy goals such as better land use and planning, the development of green skills and Green Public Procurement. Todownload the publication,  click here.

Questionnaire launched on future of researcher development

The research careers development body, Vitae, is inviting post-docs and other research staff to complete a questionnaire on the future of research careers. It especially wants to find out how do to ensure that the UK can continue to produce a flow of highly skilled researchers in economically challenging times.  Together with other organisations, including Research Councils UK, the Confederation of British Industry and universities, Vitae will draft a national professional and career development strategy for researchers from 2012 to 2017. Submissions are due by 8 June

Sustainable methodology of conserving large historic vehicles in the museum environment

Dr Zulfiqar Khan, School of Design, Engineering and Computing, discusses the work undertaken by BU academics and the Tank Museum to conserve large military vehicles…

The Tank Museum Bovington has the largest collection of military tanks from World War 1, 2 & recent. These historic military vehicles and all other large objects have always been key entities, which provide a wealth of information and insight into the past design process, design methods, materials and manufacturing techniques. These rare & historic collections are valuable assets for our present and the future generation.

These historic vehicles like any other museum artefacts are associated with deterioration due to aging mechanisms such as corrosion, stress corrosion and fatigue crack propagation and wear in the interacting surface.

Large military vehicles such as military tanks were exposed to extreme physical and environmental conditions during the war, in addition after the war the vehicles were left unattended for an unidentified period in the uncontrolled environment resulting accelerated aging mechanisms.

Corrosion is one of the growing persistent problems in the military vehicles in the Tank Museum at Bovington. The historic vehicles are stored in the museum in two distinct controlled and uncontrolled environments with a transitional mode when vehicles move between the two. Varying environmental conditions together with operational factors pose a significant risk to the vehicles.

To preserve these vehicles in a valuable state for the benefit of the society, sustainable conservation techniques are required to slow down or suspend the deterioration within these historic vehicles.

Extraordinary interests and efforts of the Director of The Tank Museum at Bovington Mr. Richard Smith and Professor Mark Hadfield, Director Sustainable Design Research Centre (SDRC) at Bournemouth University lead to the design of a research project between BU and the Tank Museum.  Mr Adil Saeed has been conducting important research under the supervision of Dr. Zulfiqar Khan co-director SDRC, Dr. Nigel Garland and Professor Mark Hadfield as mentor.

Adil was recently invited as guest speaker by Forensic Institute Cranfield University at Shrivenham where his guest lecture was well attended and received. In addition Adil has also presented the outcome of the ongoing research in the Department of Materials at Oxford University, where member of the research consortia and Oxford university staff attended the presentation.

Recent research outcomes and results were also presented in a paper at an international conference of Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (STLE) in May 2011 at Atlanta, Georgia. STLE is highly reputable organisation with members around the world. The conference in May attracted around 400 papers with well over 1000 delegates, 70 multinationals industrial participants and 40 student posters.

The aims of the research are to indentify the aging mechanisms such as corrosion, stress corrosion and fatigue cracking, failure due to static and dynamic stresses including the role of residual stresses, deterioration in the interacting components and other potential risks in the historic vehicles through non-destructive methods and develop sustainable methodology for the preservation of these vehicles in different museum environments.

Guidance Paper for European Innovation Partnerships on Active and Healthy Ageing Steering Group released

The European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing working paper gives an overview on the EIP AHA’s targets and objectives and its role (headline target to add two healthy life years to the average life span of European citizens) and detailed guidance on the role and functioning of the high-level steering group, including a list of already nominated members in the Annex to the document. The group is composed of 33 members, including representatives from the European institutions, Joint Programming Initiatives, industry and European interest organisations, as well as a selected number of representatives from some EU member states. The paper also outlines a proposed timetable for the work of the steering group; the first meeting took place in May 2011, the strategic innovation plan should be finalised in autumn 2011, and the EC aims to analyse the plan by the end of 2011. It will then be presented in a Communication to the Council and European Parliament, and should then start with the implementation phase

EU University Association responds to initiatives on education & research

The EUA has published responses to two European Commission consultation documents – Green Paper on a Common Strategic Framework for future EU Research funding and Consultation on the Modernisation of Higher Education in Europe.

The Green Paper aims to define a new framework for EU research and innovation funding for FP8 and the Consultation relates to the ECs plans to adopt a new communication on the modernisation of higher education in the third quarter of 2011.

EUA sees the development of the European Research Area and European Higher Education Area as being crucially linked if Europe’s universities are to play their full part in contributing to the achievement of the Europe 2020 objectives.

Update!!! Latest position on future of EU funds 2014-2020

The EU budget proposals for 2014-2020 are expected to be published on June 29th and funding proposals in autumn 2011; the budget is not expected to be significantly more than for 2007-13. Debate on role of Europe 2020 agenda in determining funding priorities continues, but it is likely that there will be 15 to 20 thematic priorities. The EU is likely to propose a specific urban focus within the funds with city place based programmes developed.