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Try something different

With its vast agile space, glass-fronted seminar rooms and buzzing collaborative zones, BU’s new Fusion Building offers the perfect opportunity to reimagine learning scenarios – both inside the new walls and elsewhere on our campuses.

The Centre for Excellence in Learning (CEL) is supporting staff to ‘try something different’ and inspire our students through innovative learning.

  • There are resources on the Try something different pages of the CEL website, looking specifically at how academics can use the spaces for different learning scenarios.
  • The Try something different video includes advice from BU’s Professor Stephen Heppell, who is a world expert in contemporary learning.
  • A series of i:Innovate workshops will help staff explore different technologies to deliver the curriculum, take new approaches to assessment and feedback, reimagine teaching large groups and much more. View the full list of i:Innovate workshops on the Staff Intranet.

Try something different today – and see where it takes you.

Business Engagement and Networking

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The aim of the ‘Working with Business’ pathway is to develop your skills to connect with the business community including networking, identifying project funding – including Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) and building project teams involving businesses.

You will have the opportunity to hear from both internal and external speakers as to how they have developed networks to facilitate collaborations and engage with the university.

The next session: “Business engagement and networking” will be running on Wednesday 2 November from 2.00pm – 4.00pm and bookings are being taken now.

If you want to put your networking skills to the test there are a number of events running during November that involve the chance to meet with external organisations during the Festival of Social Science and Festival of Enterprise.

Please feel free to contact Jayne Codling or Rachel Clarke if you have any questions regarding knowledge exchange at BU. Both Jayne and Rachel are based within RKEO.

This session forms part of the Research and Knowledge Exchange (RKE) Framework.  Please see previous blog posts in the Development Framework for information on the separate pathways. rkeo-rke-working-with-business

 

 

 

 

Event: The Game Changer: Reloaded

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Date: Wednesday 16 November

Location: The Fusion Building, Bournemouth University

Event information:

Building on the successful Game Changer event held earlier in the year, Bournemouth University and NHS Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group present The Game Changer Reloaded – promoting innovation and fostering collaboration across Dorset. Join Richard Dolan, Dr Phil Richardson and Professor Jim Roach and a diverse collection of speakers to learn more about the art of the possible and the power of innovation to transform health services within the region.

Timings:

Session 1 – 9.00 am -3.00 pm: Speakers from BU and external organisations share their innovation journeys throughout the day providing inspiration and ideas to those attending as to how to get involved.

Session 2 – 3.15 pm  – 4.15 pm: Facilitation and networking: This session offers the opportunity to share ideas and develop future collaborations. There’s also the chance to begin to consider research ideas that could subsequently be progressed in order to obtain external funding in the future.

Each session will need to be booked separately.

Throughout the day there’s a pop-up innovation exhibition for guests to enjoy and to share and refine ideas.

It’s free: book now for The Game Changer Reloaded 

This event forms a number being run at the university as part of the Festival of Enterprise.

Need help with networking? – why not book onto the business engagement and networking session on 2 November for some hints and tips that you can put into practice.

Are you involved in a research project related to policing or crime reduction.. read on !

Magnifying-Glass

If you’re involved in a research project related to policing or crime reduction, you can share your work on the College of Policing website. (You will need to make sure that you have permission from your project/ research collaborators/ partners are aware of your intention and you have their agreement. )

The College of Policing website has a research tool that enables you to share  research using  the Policing and Crime Reduction Research Map. Criteria for use includes:

  • relevant to policing and crime reduction
  • of Masters degree level or above (and can include work/professional based project work)
  • ongoing and not completed can be included ( aswell as completed projects).

This tool has been trialled as part of the Higher Education Innovation Funded projects (HEIF 5+1 that were funded from August 2015 – July 2017) that were relevant to this sector. Check out these projects here:

Dr Sarah Bate: The identification of superior face recognition skills. Sarah’s research was also included on the website’s news pages.

Professor Wen Tang: Police training using gamification technology

This is a great tool to promote your research and develop opportunities for further collaboration and networking there-by extending the reach and potential impact. Both Sarah and Wen have very quickly received enquiries from members of the police force (from other parts of the UK), external collaborators and other institutions.

The map can be found here and information on how to add details of the research can be found using this link.

 

 

 

Save the date! Wednesday 16 November 2016

events

Save the date! Wednesday 16 November 2016

Event: The Game Changer: Reloaded

Location: The Fusion Building

About:

“The Game Changer: Reloaded” builds upon the success of an event held earlier in the year (The Game Changer), promoting innovation and collaboration across Dorset. In partnership with The NHS Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group (Dorset CCG) Innovation Team and with a variety of inspiring speakers including presentations from the  Orthopaedic Research Institute (ORI), Disaster Management Centre (DMC),  Amuzo and Guide Dogs.  The event aims to promote the art of the possible and demonstrate the power of innovation in order to transform health services within the region.

There will be no charge to attend the event  and the event will run all day. Registration will be required. Further details will be available shortly including information on how to reserve your free place.

Any queries please feel free to contact Jayne Codling or Rachel Clarke within RKEO.

Innovate UK – Events

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Innovate UK supports many events that bring together innovators, successful entrepreneurs and investors. At the events information is available on the support and funding available in addition to offering a great opportuntity to make connections and build networks. Find out more and register for these upcoming events:

Venturefest Manchester – Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, M2 3WS
Date: 21 September 2016
View agenda
Find out more & register >>

Venturefest Wales – SSE SWALEC, Cardiff, CF11 9XR
Date: 28 September 2016
View the full programme
Find out more & register >>

Venturefest South West – Sandy Park Stadium, Exeter, EX2 7NN
Date: 18th October 2016
View the agenda
Find out more & register >>

New Scientist Live – ExCeL London, E16 1XL
Date: 22 – 25 September 2016
Visit New Scientist Live and hear our Chief Executive, Dr Ruth McKernan CBE, speak about Healthcare of the Future.  Why not try your hand at building a hydrogen fuelled car or see the latest vertical hydroponic farming?
See what’s on
Find out more & register >>

Low Carbon Networks & Innovation Conference
– Manchester Central, M2 3GX
Date: 11-13 October 2016
Innovate UK is partnering with BEAMA and the Energy Innovation Centre to host an Innovation Hub, showcasing the innovations being developed by 16 micro-SME.
View the Programme
Find out more & register >>

Innovate 2016  – Manchester Central, Petersfield, M2 3GX
Date: 2 – 3 November 2016.
Innovate 2016 is our flagship event showcasing the very best of innovation talent and global opportunities for businesses.
View agenda
Find out more & register >>

Connected cities mission: apply to join trade delegation to India
Date:
7-12 November 2016
The Department for International Trade, Innovate UK and the UK Defence and Security Organisation are seeking businesses with expertise in fields that could allow them to take advantage of the growing smart cities market in India.
Find out more & apply >>

Want to be kept up to date with events in your area ?
Let Innovate UK know your location so they can keep you up to date about events in your area. Update my location>>

Engaging the social sciences with business

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A recent report published by the ESRC shows that social scientists are becoming increasingly engaged through their research. This is testament to how the knowledge exchange agenda has become embedded and been embraced. That said, what disciplines are involved varies, as does who they are engaging with. It is also striking, if not entirely unsurprising, that social scientists are more likely to engage with charitable and public sector organisations (49%) than with businesses (30%).

There are, of course, many reasons for this. However, it is important to emphasise that this is not for a lack of relevant insight! Indeed, this raises an important question about how the social sciences can and should engage with businesses to realise the impact of research-based insights. If opportunities for businesses engagement are in the eye of the beholder, then there is a need to make social scientists more aware about the possibilities. If we cannot identify our own value, we cannot expect others to see it.

Engaging with business is not the privileged domain of engineering and the sciences. The challenge, however, is ensuring that the value of the social sciences is not overlooked by businesses, or worse goes unrecognised. The onus, therefore, is on social scientists to demonstrate the relevance of their research to business,  just as they have to charitable and public sector organisations. This is about translation, making research insights accessible where the findings are non-obvious and engaging with businesses to co-produce new knowledge.

Click here to find out more about this research and the academics involved in this area of work.

The Sensors and Their Applications 2016 conference

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The Sensors and Their Applications XVIII (2016) conference will be held on 12th-14th September in London. The Sensors & Applications series of conferences provides an excellent opportunity to bring together scientists and engineers from academia, research institutes and industrial establishments to present and discuss the latest results in the field of sensors, instrumentation and measurement.

ensors and Their Applications XVIII (2016) conference wiill be held on 12th -14th September in London.  The conference is orgnasied by the Institute of Physics Instrument Science and Technology Group. In this year, the Sensors and their Applications conference will also feature an industry session to enable the conference partcipants to showcase the industry and technology transfer activities in sensor related areas.

Invited speakers will give lectures on important recent advances within the symposium, in addition to contributed talks and poster sessions.

Conference Themes

• Optical sensors
• Chemical and gas sensors
• Sensors in biology and medicine
• Advances in sensing materials
• Nanotechnology for sensors and actuators
• Smart sensors and interface electronics
• MEMS and silicon fabrication techniques
• Imaging: integrated actuators
• Thick and thin film sensors
• Sensor modelling
• Sensor packaging and assemblies

For further details on the conference and to register, please go to the event website.

Funding for arts and heritage

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As crowdfunding in the UK continues to grow, it is also becoming an increasingly important source of finance for arts and heritage projects. As a result local authorities, institutions, public bodies and foundations have begun to explore what this new form of finance means for the people and organisations they are supporting and how they can work with the crowd on identifying and funding worthy projects.

However, none of the matched funds to date have had a dedicated focus on arts or heritage projects. Linked to this, there has been little research done on the real impact of matched crowdfunding, such as whether or not it has the opportunity to generate more funding for the arts and heritage sector or increase awareness and public participation in supporting and initiating projects.

Crowdfunder is working with Nesta to  launch a matched crowdfunding pilot aimed squarely at the arts and heritage sectors. The pilot will provide two streams of £125,000 in matchfunding to arts and heritage projects that have received backing from the crowd. Nesta is developing the pilot in partnership with Arts Council England, Heritage Lottery Fund and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Crowdfunder will develop the matched crowdfunding platform for the pilot.

To find out more.

Innovate 2016 – The Global Spotlight on UK Innovation

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Innovate 2016 will be held at Manchester Central on the 2nd – 3rd November 2016.

Take part in the global showcase of UK innovation, hear from global thought-leaders and create real business opportunities at Innovate 2016. Find out about today’s business opportunities and future-looking trends across manufacturing, health, cities of the future and technologies of the future.

Hear from industry-leaders on topics such as:

  • Retaining the edge with disruptive business models
  • Manufacturing: Tackling the productivity gap
  • Implementing resilience in a city of the future
  • Next-generation medicine: The UK as a world leader
  • Emerging technologies revolutionising innovation

View the full agenda.

Inspirational speakers
Hear from top-level inspirational speakers from organisations including:  Siemens, Versarien, Amazon, University of Manchester, Hyperloop One, High Value Manufacturing Catapult and of course Innovate UK CEO Dr Ruth McKernan CBE and Catherine Raines, CEO from the Department for International Trade.
Support zone

Discover the breadth of funding and support for businesses  and meet with the organisations that exist to help business thrive. The Support Zone will be back featuring among others the UK Business Angels Association, British Business Bank, HMRC and Growth Hubs.

Register and find out more.

 

Creative England Interactive Healthcare Fund

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The South West Interactive Healthcare Programme  is currently seeking applications from the creative sector in addition to healthcare.

This £500,000 competition is funded by Creative England’s regional growth fund and run by South West and West of England Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) in conjunction with SETsquared.

The priorities themes for this competition are:

  • Enabling the health and care workforce, patients, their carers and families to work more effectively in care settings
  • Enabling patients and citizens to manage their health and wellbeing independently
  • Influencing and incentivising behaviour to improve health outcomes.

The funding is available to small or medium sized enterprises based in England (outside of Greater London) via investments of between £25,000 and £50,000. Funding will be allocated to support the uptake and market traction of innovative digital technologies that will clearly improve patient care and health service provision.

Applications will be assessed on a rolling basis and the final deadline for submissions is 30 September 2016. For the full guidelines and an application form, please visit the Creative England website.

Innovation defined? Outcomes and connections – Industrial strategy

So how do you use industrial strategy to make effective connections between what might otherwise be disparate forces and how do you then use those connections to deliver better outcomes?

(This blog post the final in a series of blog posts on Innovation : Blog post 1/ Blog post 2  / Blog post 3 /Blog post 4)

Success = research + innovate + scale

Fortunately, in the automotive sector, we have an outstanding example of how research, innovation, industry and government connects together and aligns through an industrial strategy, to deliver record results.

At the heart of the automotive industrial strategy for technology is an integrated end-to-end ecosystem, which is aligned to its shared ambitions and “The Low Carbon Vehicles Innovation Platform” is a great example of how the entire auto sector, proactively supported by government, was able to respond successfully to the challenge ahead of them.

The end-to-end ecosystem (pre-manufacture) of our auto industry
The end-to-end ecosystem (pre-manufacture) of our auto industry

It’s a powerful model, which aligns everyone around progressing the most promising technologies: from the early stages of research; through the mid stages of innovation; to the later stages focused on the capability to scale.

Read the blog post in full on Innovate UK’s website.

Proximity to discovery – industry engagement fund

andrew archery

Medical Research Council, GB

This enables a small number of research organisations to use creative approaches to building relationships with industry partners.

Short term people exchanges between industry and academia are seen as a key way of exchanging skills and knowledge and developing a longer term working relationship. Proximity to Discovery: Industry Engagement Fund can be used for people and knowledge exchange at the very earliest stage of a collaboration and may not necessarily be aligned to a specific project objective.

Funding for individual applications is not expected to exceed £250,000 and it should be spent within 18 months.

Closing date 15 November 2016.

Click here for further information

If you are interested in submitting to this call you must contact your  RKEO Funding Development Officer with adequate notice before the deadline.

For more funding opportunities that are most relevant to you, you can set up your own personalised alerts on Research Professional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s/Faculty’s Funding Development Officer in  RKEO or view the recent blog post here.

If thinking of applying, why not add notification of your interest on Research Professional’s record of the bid so that BU colleagues can see your intention to bid and contact you to collaborate.

 

Innovation defined? Outcomes and connections ….

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Following on from the blog posts (Blog post 1/ Blog post 2  / Blog post 3  last week  on  Innovation the next set of outcomes and connections introduces the concept:

Game changer 4 = UK innovators + Europe and the World

There is of course one set of relationships that will now be redefined, following the referendum decision to leave the European Union.

As reported to the House of Commons inquiry, the current EU programmes, are incredibly important to the UK, providing us with connections to both European collaborators and supply chains.

UK industry, RTOs and Catapult Centres currently win approximately 340 million euros a year of funding from Horizon 2020. It is about one third (31%) of the total funding for the UK and our SMEs win more funding than any other country.

Industry, like science, is a global endeavour and whilst it is critical that we successfully manage the transition of our relationship with the EU, we must also seize the opportunity to build new global connections and to redefine our collaborations and partnerships around the world.

Innovation defined? Outcomes and connections …

Innovate 2011v4

Following on from the  2 blog posts (Blog post 1/ Blog post 2)  earlier this week on  Innovation the next set of outcomes and connections introduces the concept:

Game changer 3 = UK innovators + crowding forward investment

A key criterion for public sector investment is that it is “additional”, that it doesn’t crowd out willing private sector investment.

Indeed, the goal of Innovate UK is quite the opposite – to crowd in private sector investment by building private sector confidence in tackling the markets of the future.

We shouldn’t, though, be satisfied with just simply crowding-in private sector investment; we should be proactively crowding it forward.

Leveraging the structure and robustness of Innovate UK’s competitions as a strategic platform through which the private sector (commercial and 3rd sector) can gain the confidence it needs to invest both earlier and more widely.

Game changing new connections to the ecosystem
Game changing new connections to the ecosystem

Read the blog post in full on Innovate UK’s website.

The Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Fellowships – funding available for post docs and recent graduates

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The Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Fellowships scheme is now open for applications. The scheme supports both post-doctoral academics and recent graduates.

Enterprise Fellowships stimulate excellence and encourage creativity and innovation in engineering by supporting the founders and leaders of tomorrow’s high-tech companies, be they spin outs or start-ups. The awards provide money-can’t-buy bespoke support and one-to-one mentoring from the Academy’s Fellowship, which is composed of some of the country’s most successful engineers from across academia and industry. Support is provided to both university-based academics wishing to spin-out a company, and also to recent graduates wishing to create a company.

Prior experience of commercialisation activities is not required, the desire and capability to succeed is more important and we will equip you with the necessary skills through a programme of training and mentoring.

Awardees receive up to £60,000 funding, 12 months expert mentoring from successful entrepreneurs, bespoke training and membership of the Enterprise Hub.

The Academy is a charity and does not take any equity stake in the companies formed.

So if you are a postdoctoral researcher at a UK-based university with an innovation or technology you wish to develop through a spin-out, or you have graduated within the last five years and are seeking to run a startup in the UK, then this scheme will be of interest to you.

The application deadline is Monday 17 October, and more details are available on the website, or contact the enterprise team.