Category / Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

Funding – 3D printing solutions

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, innovation, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

InnovateUK_LogoA_Interim_RGBx320govuk[1]

Are you working with a business that may be interested in this funding opportunity?

Businesses can apply for a share of £4.5 million for innovation projects that develop smarter, better connected 3D printing solutions.

Innovate UK is investing up to £4.5 million in industrial research projects that will stimulate innovation in additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing.

Additive manufacturing is a well-established tool for rapid prototyping and tooling. It can provide direct production of end-use components and consumer goods. These can be in a wide variety of global market sectors – from medical devices to aerospace.

Businesses can apply for funding to help them explore and develop their wider digital manufacturing capability. Projects must show a significant innovation step in both additive manufacturing and connected digital manufacturing.

Competition information

  • the competition opens on 23 May 2016
  • applicants must register before noon on 20 July 2016
  • a UK-based business must lead the project and work with at least one other business
  • businesses could receive up to 70% of their project costs for industrial research
  • we expect projects to last between 1 and 3 years
  • we expect total eligible project costs for each project to be between £500,000 and £1.5 million
  • there will be a briefing event for potential applicants in London on 7 June 2016

Click here for more information.

Competion brief can be found here.

Innovate UK launches £15m manufacturing call

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

InnovateUK_LogoA_Interim_RGBx320govuk[1]
Innovate UK has opened a £15-million competition to support the development of novel technologies or production processes across the manufacturing industry.

Projects need to focus on identified technical or commercial challenges. Innovate UK will fund projects that aim to lead to increased UK SME productivity, competitiveness and growth.

Projects need to be led by a business and must involve at least one SME. They can be carried out by an SME working alone or in collaboration with other organisations. Projects with costs of £100,000 or more must involve working with other partners

Innovate UK are looking for projects which focus on any of the technical feasibility, industrial research or experimental development research categories.

Projects should last between 6 months and 3 years. They should range from total costs of £50,000 to £2 million.

Competition brief in full.

Competition guidance.

If you are interested in submitting to any of the above calls 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.

Opportunity to receive updates on knowledge exchange and innovation (AURIL Membership)

Business Engagement, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

AURIL

 

Association for University and Research Links  (AURIL) is the professional association representing all practitioners involved in knowledge creation, development and exchange in the UK and Ireland who work to ensure that new ideas, technologies and innovations flow from their institution into the market place. AURIL has more than 1600 members from universities and public sector research establishments across Europe.

The Association enjoys widespread international recognition through its success in influencing UK government policy. It has strong working relations with the Confederation of British Industry, Universities UK, the UKIPO, the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), HM Treasury and Higher Education Funding Councils.

Bournemouth University is a member of this association with a number of academic and professional services support staff members of AURIL.

A number of events are co-ordinated by AURIL during the year including the annual conference – a good way of keeping up-to-date with  what is happening within the sector aswell as a chance to network and meet industry contacts. For more information on this association click here.

You can also opt in to receive regular updates on topics such as EU funding, Local Economic Partnerships (LEP), Student Enterprise & Employability, CPD, Knowledge Exchange. To check out the full list of topics and to be added or to  update your current listing please contact Jayne Codling in RKEO.

The next series of updates will be sent by the end of the month so get your request in soon!

Business networking session – virtual and augmented reality

Business Engagement, Events, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

impact wordle 2

A networking session will take place on 23 May as part of “Impact Week, with the aim of to taking  a closer look at how research can have an impact and make a difference beyond academia, and the ways in which this can be achieved. Developing relationships with external organisations in order to form partnerships and collaborations are just one such way in which to recognise potential “need” for  research.

This is a themed networking session: H2H – bringing research to life (Human2Human). A business networking event on the topic of virtual and augmented reality

Time: 14.30-16.00

Location: PG10 – Talbot campus

Event description:

Virtual and augmented reality offers users new ways of perceiving and interacting with the digital world.  Not limited to the entertainment sectors, this approach can be adopted for both technical and industrial contexts.

This drop in session provides an opportunity to find out more about the topic and approaches currently being undertaken both within and outside the university.  Attendees will have the opportunity to network with academics from BU and local industry partners that may already be involved in projects or are keen to develop collaborations within this area.

Find out more and book now via Eventbrite

 

 

 

 

New frontiers on tech – big data, the cloud and Internet of Things

data management, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

Technology in the hands
IT giant, Intel Corporation, is undergoing a massive shift in strategy. While jobs fall by the wayside, Intel has its eye firmly on what analysts are calling ‘new frontiers in technology’, and there are signs that the other tech behemoths are set to follow suit.
Last week, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich outlined his strategy for the chip giant in the years ahead, as it struggles to move away from its dependence on the waning PC market.
The thrust of the new strategy is: ‘transforming Intel from a PC company to a company that powers the cloud and billions of smart, connected computing devices’ and this, says Krzanich, encompasses five core beliefs:
• The cloud is the most important trend shaping the future of the smart, connected world – and thus Intel’s future.
• The many “things” that make up the PC Client business and the internet of things are made much more valuable by their connection to the cloud.
• Memory and programmable solutions such as FPGAs will deliver entirely new classes of products for the data centre and the internet of things.
• 5G will become the key technology for access to the cloud  as we move toward an always-connected world.
• Moore’s Law will continue to progress and Intel will continue to lead in delivering its true economic impact.
For companies, these core beliefs form a clear virtuous cycle – the cloud and data center, the internet of things, and memory are all bound together by connectivity and enhanced by the economics of Moore’s Law. (Gordon Moore was an Intel co-founder so Moore’s Law is ingrained in the company’s psyche.)
Key to this is the “internet of things,” every device, sensor and console that has potential to connect to the cloud. This means that everything that a “thing” does can be captured as a piece of data, measured in real-time, and becomes accessible from anywhere. With this, cybersecurity is needed more than ever. Visit sites like https://privacera.com/platform/ for additional guidance or you can check out this site for additional reading on how companies like NetBrain are increasing the efficiency of network operation teams. You may also get expert advice from a crm consultant if you need help with crm cloud service.
Krzanich believes that: “the biggest opportunity in the internet of things is that it encompasses just about everything in our lives today – it’s ubiquitous. For most areas of industry and retail – from our shoes and clothes to our homes and cars – the internet of things is transforming everything and every experience. At Intel, we will focus on autonomous vehicles, industrial and retail as our primary growth drivers of the internet of things.”
In a time when technology is valued not just for the devices it produces, but for the experiences it makes possible, Intel is banking on the fact that a broader focus, and sharper execution will enable the company to take a lead in a smart, connected world.
Several major corporations have already taken the initiative to push frontier technology, such as Google with its Google Cardboard and Apple’s eventual (maybe?) 3D printer. Layoffs are the inevitable result and, in many cases, are already happening, as more and more companies find themselves having to look in new directions.
With Apple’s iPhone production on the decline comes more evidence that companies’ defining products won’t be what sustains them into the future and that Intel and Krzanich’s new focus on experiences rather than the devices that make these possible is the way to go.

Innovation awards – Partnership for Conflict, Crime and Security Research (PaCCS) – new call to be announced

Funding opportunities, innovation, international, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

esrc logo

 

Innovation awards under PaCCS focusing on Conflict and International Development

The ESRC and AHRC will shortly be launching a further call for interdisciplinary innovation awards under the Partnership for Conflict, Crime and Security Research (PaCCS) focusing on Conflict and International Development. (Pre-call.)

Find out more information including the proposed call timescale here.

AHRC 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.

Robotics & Autonomous Systems – US leads robotics investment boom

innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

robot_in_tomorrows_world
Rapidly increasing activity in the robotics sphere has led the Financial Times to herald an investment boom time for one of the hottest new markets in tech. And, as robots break free of factory production lines, the US and China are poised to take the lead from Japan and Germany.
After growing at a compound rate of 17 per cent a year, the robot market will be worth $135bn by 2019, according to IDC, a tech research firm. The Asian markets, Japan and China, which is in the early stages of retooling its manufacturing sector, account for 69 per cent of all robot spending. But it’s US investment, which has more than doubled to $587m in 2015, according to CB Insights, that is the major factor in global growth.
Although the amount of cash flowing into the sector is still at a relatively early stage, all the lead indicators of the innovation economy are positive, says the FT: patent filings covering robotics technology have soared, with China alone accounted for 35 per cent in 2015, and venture capital investments more than doubled last year.
“From private equity investors looking to build portfolios of robot investments, to new “incubators” such as Playground, started by former Google robotics chief Andy Rubin, the investment options have been proliferating rapidly.”
“The most interesting things are in Silicon Valley or the US,” Dmitry Grishin, a Russian internet entrepreneur and investor told the FT.
Surging investment in artificial intelligence is giving the US an early advantage in the race to dominate a new era of robotics, say investors and experts. Recent advances, particularly in deep learning, have shifted robotics from its core industrial market into areas such as self-driving cars.
However, as low-cost robots move into more consumer and business uses, such as drones, China’s hardware manufacturing expertise will also make it a more significant player, they believe.
AI, big data and the cloud
The threat from new AI and cloud technologies has also incentivised established players such as Japan’s Fanuc, the world’s largest maker of industrial robots, to up their game. The company plans to start connecting 400,000 installed machines by the end of this year, to collect data about their operations and improve performance and is banking on their proliferation as a means of competing with the likes of Google, in the data sphere at least. Similalry, Germany’s Kuka is building a deep-learning AI network for industrial robots.
While US companies such as Google and Facebook have led  investment in deep learning, Silicon Valley has also seen a wider start-up boom in AI and robotics. A collapse in the price of components, thanks to smartphone growth, has made it cheaper to launch robot companies. But the new entrepreneurs rushing into the field are different from the hardware engineers who historically dominated the field, experts say, and are just as likely not to even use the word “robotics,” with a focus, instead on autonomy and AI.
Complementing this activity, astonishing advances in academia are giving fuel to future visions of what may become possible, with scientists creating living ‘insect-computer hybrid’ robots with user-adjustable speed and gait and exciting innovation in powering the technology, such as ‘ATTO cells’ that will be instrumental in creating intelligent swarms of robots. This nascent technology is expected to enable automation at ten times the speed of the upcoming 5G technology, supporting the deployment of highly-demanding wireless services in domains such as reconfigurable robot factories, intelligent hospitals and flexible offices. Ultimately, individual robots will be able to tap into the computing power of other robots in the swarm and/or local computing power in their immediate environment.
Simplistic machines
But that’s the future and there are plenty of technological and ethical hurdles for robotics to address first. Current goals are infintely more modest: to build single-purpose robots that do one thing very well. If successful, these machines will quickly become part of the fabric of everyday life, much like today’s automated vacuum cleaners or cash machines, say experts.
Another key design feature of many of the early robots is that they will need to operate alongside people, initially at least, making humans more productive rather than replacing them altogether. The limitations of current automation technologies mean that robot companies are thus currently focused on keeping “the human in the loop,” with most experts believing that people will have an important role to play in directing and providing a vital source of learning for the machines for decades to come.
Rapid learning is, in fact, vital for robotics manufacturers’ initial products, according to Grishin. The trick, he says, will be to find a task that relatively simplistic machines are able to handle, then use knowledge gained in the field to rapidly add to their capabilities and usefulness. “First put them in consumers’ hands, then learn from their behaviour.” Thus the machine becomes a minimal vessel for more and more sophisticated software.
It’s a proposition that investors are finding increasingly difficult to resist.

Funding launched to encourage entrepreneurs in engineering or technology

Funding opportunities, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

Royal Academy Engineering

The Royal Academy of Engineering invites applications for its launchpad competition. Funding aims to encourage young entrepreneurs to start a new business based on their innovation in engineering or technology, with engineering defined in its broadest sense. The competition aims to:

•improve the skills of the awardee:

•develop role models of entrepreneurship;

•bring engineering innovations to market for a wider public benefit.

Applications are open to individuals or small teams. The lead applicant must be UK-based and aged between 16 and 25. They should have a viable and commercial business proposition with a large market opportunity, and be planning to set up a business within the 18 months following the application deadline. The feasibility of the initial product or service must have been proven preferably with a basic prototype.

The winner receives the JG Gammon award, which includes a cash prize of £15,000 and a year’s membership of the enterprise hub. This provides mentoring, training and networking opportunities with UK entrepreneurs and investors. Up to two other individuals or teams may be chosen as runners up.

Click here for more information on support for entrepreneurs.

Click here for more information on the launchpad competition – now live !

Vocational Learning Technology Fund

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

online training

The aim of this Ufi Charitable Trust investment programme is to offer early-stage funding of up to £50k to organisations that are looking to develop new services or improve access to and delivery of adult learning through the imaginative use of digital technology. This programme will provide funding and support to help ventures in developing their ideas into a more robust digital product or service. Click here for more information, including  funding criteria and deadlines.

 

 

New £10 million community business fund

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

coins money

Power to Change, a community enterprise support organisation, has launched a new £10 million Community Business Fund, which will provide grants of between £50,000 and £300,000 to community enterprises in England.

The funding is intended to increase the social impact of community enterprises and support them to increase trading income, secure assets or reduce costs.

Find out more here.

Pollinator Exchange HEIF project connects practitioners and academics in common pursuit of urban pollinator conservation

BU research, Business Engagement, HEIF, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team, Knowledge Transfer, Research news

Pollinators are vitally important ecosystem service providers. They have been credited with being responsible for pollinating one-third of the food we eat; indeed many of our crops are wholly or partially dependent on insect pollination. Hence, the decline in pollinator populations has been a cause of concern not just for scientists, but for governments and the public at large. In the UK, this has led to an official government strategy on how to best protect our pollinators: the National Pollinator Strategy (Defra 2014).

Taking into account the growing number of studies that show the vitally important role urban areas can play in pollinator conservation, the strategy recognises pollinator-friendly management across towns and cities as a key component in nationwide efforts to halt their decline. While understanding of urban pollinators’ needs and experience in managing urban green spaces for their benefit is accumulating, it can often be difficult for practitioners to find the practical advice they need to implement the right measures. This was highlighted at a recent meeting co-organised by Defra and the University of Bristol’s Urban Pollinators Project which recommended the establishment of a central repository of information for urban practitioners.

BU’s Pollinator Exchange HEIF project, launched in October 2015 collaboratively between the Faculty of Science and Technology and the Media School, aims to fulfil this role. It will result in an online portal that links practitioners, academics, NGOs, private gardeners, ecological consultants and anyone else with an active interest in urban pollinator conservation. Users are invited to share relevant guidelines, case studies, summaries of peer-reviewed papers and other content that will help urban green space managers make pollinator-friendly choices based on the latest evidence.

The project is supported by Bournemouth Borough Council and the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. A stakeholder workshop in May will provide potential users with the opportunity to comment on the portal’s content and usability, ensuring it will be both useful and intuitive when launched in July. For questions or feedback, please contact Project Manager Kathy Hodder (khodder@bournemouth.ac.uk) or Research Assistant Arne Loth (aloth@bournemouth.ac.uk).

TOMtalks: Tomorrow’s Oceans Matter: an evening of short talks and films

BU research, Events, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team, Research news

We have a fantastic event happening at BU on Wednesday 27th April, organised by the Litter Free Coast and Sea project with support from Bournemouth University.

It is an open event and anyone is welcome to attend. Details are on the eventbrite page.

There will be 4 excellent speakers sharing how they have been working to help protect and create cleaner oceans using some very innovative methods. There is a bit more information about the project below.

http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/tomtalks-tomorrows-oceans-matter-tickets-24595770612?aff=eac2

How does ocean plastic turn into boardshorts? Is 2 minutes enough to turn the tide of beach litter and can artwork from the tideline define our impact on the sea?

 

Wednesday 27th April, 6.30-9.00pm. Talks start at 7pm. Tickets are FREE and bookable on eventbrite. Tea & coffee provided. http://bit.ly/1TVqtfr

Seminar, Prof Edwin van Teijlingen, ‘Maternal Mortality in Nepal’, Wed 20th April, Royal London House, R303, 13:00-13:50.

BU Challenges, BU research, Centre for Excellence in Learning, conferences, EU, Events, Featured academics, Fusion, Fusion Investment Fund, international, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team, Knowledge Transfer, Knowledge Transfer Partnership, REF Subjects, Research assessment, Research communication, Research Ethics, Research Integritiy, Research news, Research themes, Uncategorized

Maternal Mortality in Nepal
Abstract: The session links various social and political factors that affect maternal mortality. Women dying in pregnancy and childbirth is very much a problem of and in low-income countries. This talk focuses on Nepal, one of the poorer countries of the world, to highlight a range of maternal health issues and wider influencing factors including globalisation and the influence of global organisations such as the World Health Organisation.

For further information regarding the Social Science seminar series, get in touch with Dr Mastoureh Fathi (mfathi@boutnemouth.ac.uk).

Security Research & Innovation Event 2016

EU, Events, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

cyber eye

The 2016 Security Research and Innovation Event​ will take place at the World Forum in The Hague on 1 and 2 June. The event aims to provide a forum for discussion between European Policy Makers, industry and knowledge institutions on the key security challenges for Europe.

The programme includes the Security Research Event (conference) organised by the European Commission, thematic workshops, an innovation room and a matchmaking programme​. The topics for discussion cover:

  • Cybercrime and Law enforcement technologies​
  • ​Financial Investigations and Fraud​​
  • Space and Security​
  • Forensics​
  • Integrated border management​
  • Terrorism

The event is free of charge to attend but registration is mandatory.

(Source: www.ukro.ac.uk – Sign up to set your own personalised alerts.)

 

Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) – events coming soon

EU, Events, HEIF, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team, Knowledge Transfer

events

A number of current HEIF projects are running events over the next few months. Please feel to register to attend and/or circulate to contacts you may feel would be interested:

Explore the application of rewilding concepts to Dorset.

Date: Thursday 5 May

Venue: Charlton Down Village Hall, near Dorchester, Dorset. DT2 9UA

For more information on the HEIF project click here.

Click here for more information on the event and to register.

FoodBiz

Date: Wednesday 18 May

Venue: Executive Business Centre, Bournemouth University

Follow  on Twitter: @EU_FoodSMART and visit the project website  www.foodsmartproject.net 

Agenda and register for FREE

Psychiatric  Genetic Counselling Workshops

Dates: Various in June and July 2016

Venue: Bournemouth University

For more information on this HEIF project click here.

Click here for more information on the event and to register.

 

#Digital4EU Stakeholder Forum Final Report Published

EU, international, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

euflag

The final report from the #Digital4EU Stakeholder Forum which took place in Brussels on Thursday 25 February 2016 is now available online.

This one-day event, organised by the European Commission, was centred around the progress made in creating a Digital Single Market (DSM) in Europe.

Commissioner Günther H. Oettinger, responsible for the Digital Economy and Society, Wepke Kingma, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the EU and Roberto Viola, Director-General of DG Connect, held keynote speeches during the event.

#Digital4EU 2016 was the second edition of the #Digital4EU Stakeholder Forum, which focused on President Jean-Claude Juncker’s digital priorities.

#Digital4EU 2016 covered the following five topics:

  1. The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) mobilising digital projects
  2. Delivering the Digital Single Market – from the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) to action
  3. The Digital Economy: the data and computing opportunities for Europe
  4. Innovate, start and scale-up
  5. Platforms, is there a need to regulate?

(Source: UKRO)

 

 

Biotechnology YES 2016 is open for applications

Funding opportunities, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team, Knowledge Transfer, Research news

Environment

Biotechnology YES is an innovative competition giving early career researchers from diverse backgrounds a practical insight into how to commercialise research and recognise the benefits of industrial collaboration, providing a springboard for their own career development into a multitude of sectors. The competition is delivered in partnership, funded by sponsorship,  draws on expertise from industry and the research community and aims to encourage an entrepreneurial culture in the UK postgraduate and postdoctoral base for the benefit of the UK economy.

The challenge for participants is to prepare an oral business plan presentation, in a team of four or five, for a hypothetical bioscience start-up company seeking equity investment. The plan is based on a plausible idea based on real markets and developed over the course of a three day residential workshop. The workshop encompasses presentations and mentoring sessions from leading figures in industry who give their time and advice for free. It culminates in the presentation of business plans to a panel of ‘equity investors’. These individuals come from industry and academia and have decades of experience and proven track records of professional success. Winners from the regional workshops progress to the final held in December.

Workshop dates will be posted on the Biotechnology YES and BBSRC websites once finalised and and include Syngenta, GSK and Unilever .

The competition is open to all bioscience researchers registered at a UK university not just those funded by BBSRC. However, if any of the workshops oversubscribed, Research Council funded researchers will be given priority.

Find out more and APPLY by visiting www.biotechnologyyes.co.uk or www.environmentyes.org

Biotechnology YES 2016 is open for applications until 27th May 2016.