Category / Research news

Euraxess – new workshops and events

BU research, EU, Research news

Euraxess UK is a British Council hub, which aids researchers in their career development, supporting mobility and acting as a support mechanism for researchers moving abroad or moving to the UK.

The following items have been highlighted in the current Euraxess Newsletter:

Researcher Links Workshop

Grants are now available for early career researchers to attend a Nutrition Policy to Practice in Pakistan: Exploring the Challenges and Research Opportunities workshop at the Serena Hotel, Islamabad, Pakistan between 8-11 March 2015.

Application forms can be downloaded from the website and the deadline to apply is 30 January 2015. Further eligibility criteria may apply, and applicants should read the Further Information document.

Researcher Links Complex Systems workshop in Brazil

Under the Researcher Links scheme offered by the British Council and FAPESP, there will be a workshop on Complex Systems held at the Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo, Sao Paulo, between 8-13 March 2015. The workshop is being coordinated by Dr Murilo S. Baptista and Prof José R. C. Piqueira, and will have contributions from other leading researchers.

Early Career Researchers from the UK or Brazil are invited to apply to attend this workshop before the deadline for applications, 23 January 2015.

Newton International and Newton Advanced Fellowships- UK/Mexico/Brazil

Scholarships and grants are announced for UK Researchers focusing on Clinical and Patient oriented research from The Academy of Medical Science/CONACYT -Mexico/CONFAP-Brazil. The duration and terms of the awards vary between partners. Further detailed information can be found on specific programmes can be found on the Academy’s website.

You can sign up to receive the British Council – Euraxess alerts direct to your inbox. For more information about Euraxess, please go to the British Council website. For example, read more about FameLab, part of the Northern Ireland Science Festival, which runs from 19 Feb – 1 March 2015.

Opportunity to engage with UK Science Landscape Project for the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology

BU Challenges, BU research, Research news

The Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology is looking at the UK Science Landscape. The aim of this project is to build a picture of the whole research landscape in the UK and to develop a stronger evidence base. This evidence base will help to inform future strategic decision-making and help the UK to maintain and develop its excellence in research.

As part of this project, the Council for Science and Technology (CST) wish to understand better how the UK’s research community defines itself and the links and interconnections that exist between research disciplines. To help to do this, the UK Knowledge Landscape Tool has been developed and has been designed to gather data from researchers on the disciplines, dependencies and key infrastructure they think make up modern research.

To be part of this and experimental approach, users can log on and create an account on the UK Knowledge Landscape website.

CST are interested in crowd-sourcing a large amount of data which will be analysed for statistically significant patterns across the whole body of responses and then used to produce outputs such as taxonomies or maps. The more responses the tool has, the better the mappings are likely to be, therefore, they would welcome your input.

American Psychology Teaching Conference opens with beautiful sunrise

Knowledge Exchange, Research news

Dr. Jacqui Taylor, Associate Professor in the Psychology Department at Bournemouth University recently presented and ran a workshop at the ‘National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology’, an annual conference for teachers of psychology to explore new ideas to enhance and broaden their teaching skills.  Below, Dr. Taylor summarises her experience:

 

“I welcomed the New Year by presenting a poster and workshop at the 37th Annual ‘National Institute on the Teaching Of Psychology’ in Florida. The first day dawned with a beautiful sunrise and an early 7:30 am breakfast session!
sunrise
My poster ‘The Evaluation and Assessment of Online Skills Through Online Group Discussion’ stimulated lots of interaction from delegates who were mainly interested in my use of reflection as an assessment tool. Increasingly, much of a psychology student’s learning occurs within electronic environments, however rarely are the new skills they develop in these contexts identified, improved or assessed. Over the past 5 years, I have addressed this important need, and examples from assessed online student discussions were presented in my poster to demonstrate an innovative way to develop and assess online skills. I made some good contacts with other lecturers who were using quite different quantitative rubrics to assess technical skills and I look forward to developing links with them.
Poster J Taylor
My second presentation was under a category called ‘Participant Idea Exchange (referred to as PIEs!)’ and consisted of a one-hour facilitated workshop session. My ‘PIE’ was on ‘Psychological Literacy: A Practical Approach’ and I presented with Dr Carolyn Mair (a past PGR and lecturer at BU). Psychological literacy is a new and important concept in psychology education which encapsulates the knowledge, skills and attributes acquired through the study of psychology and the ability to transfer learning from the academic setting into the real world. Despite an increasing number of academic and professional publications highlighting theoretical concepts and benefits of psychological literacy, there are few practical resources for psychology educators. This PIE addressed this need by discussing our two recent publications commissioned by the UK Higher Education Academy: ‘An Introductory Guide to Psychological Literacy’ (Mair, Taylor & Hulme, 2013) and ‘A Psychological Literacy Compendium’ (Taylor & Hulme, in prep).
Psychological Literacy PIE J Taylor
As the sun set on this year’s conference there were promises from many delegates to collaborate and share their teaching practice throughout 2015 and meet once again at the 38th ‘NITOP’ in 2016.”
Sunset to NITOP

UKRO Reminder – RISE workshop 22 January 2015

BU research, EU, Research news, Training

Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE): Information Event

In its capacity as UK National Contact Point for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, the UK Research Office is holding an information event for researchers who are interested in applying for the 2015 MSCA Research and Innovation Staff Exchange call, which opens on 6 January 2015, with a closing date of 28 April 2015.

Aim of the Research and Innovation Staff Exchange funding
The RISE scheme supports projects which promote international and/or inter-sectoral collaboration through staff exchanges and the sharing of knowledge and best practice. The scheme involves organisations from the academic and non-academic sectors, organisations based in Europe (EU Member States and Associated Countries) and outside of Europe (third countries).

Date and venue
Thursday, 22 January 2015
London South Bank University
Room 806, Keyworth Centre
Keyworth Street
London  SE1 6NG

Aim of Information Event
The event will provide participants with an in-depth overview of the RISE scheme. Participants should gain a clear understanding of the proposal format and the key issues relating to planning, writing and submitting proposals.

Who should attend?
The event is aimed at staff at UK academic and non-academic organisations, including industry, who are planning to submit a proposal to the RISE call.

Registration
Attendance is free of charge, but capacity at the venue is limited and places will therefore be allocated on a first come first served basis. Register via the UKRO workshop announcement.

The event will only take place if a minimum number of participants is reached. All interested participants will be notified by Friday 16 January 2015 at the very latest.

Agenda
The event will cover key issues relating to planning, writing and submitting proposals. A successful RISE 2014 project case study will be presented by the Principal Investigator.

Latest Funding Opportunities

BU research, Funding opportunities, Research news

The following funding opportunities have been announced. Please follow the links for more information:

 

 

 

Medical Research Council, GB

Molecular and cellular medicine – Research grants

The Medical Research Council invites applications for its research grants in molecular and cellular medicine. These are suitable for focused research projects that may be short- or long-term in nature. In addition, they can be used to support method development and continuation of research facilities and may involve more than one research group or institution.

Award amount – up to £1,000,000. Closing date 06/05/2015

Computational genomics analysis and training call for collaborative projects

The Medical Research Council’s computational genomics analysis and training programme invites applications for its call for collaborative projects. This is for collaborative projects that involve next-generation sequencing datasets to address important questions in biomedical science, aligning with MRC research priorities.

Applicants should be UK-based experimental and clinical groups with novel experimental designs or existing datasets making use of high-throughput sequencing methods. No experience in using next-generation sequencing methods is required.

Applicants may benefit from CGAT analytical capacity and expertise. In exceptional circumstances CGAT may also contribute funds for sequencing.

Award amount: not specified Closing date 30/01/15

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, GB

These support investigator- led research  activities addressing any topic within the council’s remit. Grants may be used for research projects, technology development, equipment or use of existing facilities, new facilities or infrastructure provision, research networks and coordination, and summer schools. Grants are tenable for up to five years.

Award amount max: Not specified Closing date: 28 Apr 15

Wellcome Trust, GB

The Wellcome Trust will shortly be inviting applications for phase two partnership grants of its Science Learning+ programme. The closing date is expected to fall in the last quarter of 2015 however application information has not yet been confirmed. The following call details are subject to change.

These grants support partnerships involving partners both in the US and in the UK or Republic of Ireland that aim to improve the knowledge base and practice of informal science experiences to better understand, strengthen and coordinate their vital role in science engagement and learning. Research should align with the following categories

Award amount max: Not specified Closing date: unknown

The Royal Society, GB

Newton mobility grants

The Royal Society offers Newton International Exchanges as mobility grants to provide international researchers with funding towards travel, subsistence and research expenses for either a one-off short visit to explore opportunities for building lasting networks or for bilateral visits to strengthen emerging collaborations.

Award amount: max £12,000 Closing date 19/02/15

Standard programme – Colin Pillinger International Exchanges award

This stimulates new collaborations within the natural sciences between scientists in the UK and overseas. Grants are worth up to £12,000 over a maximum period of two years. Researchers may also receive the Colin Pillinger international exchanges award of £10,000 to communicate their research to the general public.

Award amount: max £13,000 Closing date 17/02/15

AHRC/Cheltenham Festivals call for events at the science and literature festivals

To mark its tenth anniversary in 2015, the AHRC is looking to extend its partnership with Cheltenham Festivals by inviting applications from researchers to present their research at one of a series of four engaging public events at the Times Cheltenham Science Festival and the Times and The Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival in 2015. One event will run at the Science Festival, and three at the Literature Festival.

Award amount: not specified Closing date 09/02/15

Natural Environment Research Council – NERC, GB

Atmospheric pollution and human health in a developing megacity

The NERC and the Medical Research Council (MRC) in the UK (with input from the Newton Fund) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) are investing in a strategic research programme on urban air pollution in the megacity Beijing and impacts on health. NERC, MRC and NSFC are inviting Expression of Interest applications for a call under this programme.

The programme is split into four themes:

  • sources and emissions of urban atmospheric pollution
  • processes affecting urban atmospheric pollution
  • exposure science and impacts on health
  • interventions and solutions.

All applications must be collaborations between UK and Chinese researchers.

Award amount max: Not specified Closing date: 06/03/15

Urgency Grants

The Natural Environment Research Council invites proposals for its urgency grants. These allow scientists to respond rapidly to unexpected and transient events affecting the environment. Proposals must fall within NERC’s scientific remit.

Award amount: max £52,000 Closing date no deadline

Arctic research station

Researchers from the UK and their international collaborators may carry out environmental research relevant to the NERC remit at the Ny-Ålesund station on the Svalbard archipelago.

Award amount: not specified: Closing date 31/03/15

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Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your  RKEO Funding Development Officer

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.

Evaluation mixed-methods research grant awarded to FHSS team

BU research, PG research, Research news

Dr. Janet Scammell in the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences (FHSS) is leading on a new research project evaluating the impact of a new integrated respiratory service in Dorset.  The £20,000 mixed-methods research project is funded by the Wessex Academic Health Science Network on behalf of the Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group.  Janet Scammell is leading a research team in BU’s new Faculty of Health and Social Sciences comprising Desi Tait, Ashley Spriggs, Martin Hind, Caroline Belchamber and Edwin van Teijlingen.

The Dorset Adult Integrated Respiratory Service (DAIRS) is a new service that has been set up early 2014 to provide support and care for people with respiratory conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), bronchiectasis and pulmonary fibrosis.  The service aims to reduce the number of people who need admission to hospital and help individuals to feel more in control of their condition.  BU has been asked to evaluate early uptake and impact of the DAIRS running in Poole, Bournemouth and Dorchester.

 

Further information about this exciting project is available from:   Dr. Janet Scammell, Associate Professor and Professional Lead for Adult and Children & Young People’s Nursing

Telephone: 01202 962751

Email: jscammell@bournemouth.ac.uk

Introducing your Research Outputs Advisor

Awarded & submitted bids, BU research, Post-award, Research news

Hi there, my name is Pengpeng Hatch (formerly Ooi) and I am your Research Outputs Advisor within the Project Delivery Team. I work with academic colleagues to increase output volume, quality and impact, and for championing open access publishing across the institution.

Among the initiatives that I’m responsible for is the Writing Academy, geared to provide academics with the support they need to improve and enhance their academic writing. Last year, with the help from colleagues in RKEO, we organised a ‘Bubble-styled’ BU International Open Access week. I am also the institutional contact for all things ‘BRIAN’, our publication management system. Working closely with colleagues in IT, I oversee all planned development for BRIAN and I offer BRIAN training sessions to academic colleagues.

Previous to this role I was the Research Support Officer within the old Research & Knowledge Exchange Operations Team and was responsible for providing professional and specialist support and advice in the management of pre and post award Research and Knowledge Exchange activities which included costing, providing advice on budgetary planning, pricing and project management for the Media School. Before that, I was the Research Development Officer for REF2014 and was part of the team co-ordinating BU’s submission to REF2014.

Apart from international marketing management, my background also includes applied linguistics for language teaching, having gained my Postgraduate Cert. and Masters from Bournemouth University and the University of Southampton. Before moving to the UK, I taught English for 4 years in a secondary school in Miri, a fast developing oil town on Borneo Island, Malaysia. I am also currently undertaking a Doctorate in Education (Creative & Media) with the Faculty of Media and Communications.

Born and bred in Malaysia, I went through childhood and teen years in typical Chinese primary and secondary schools. Like most Malaysian Chinese who went through school surrounded by mostly Chinese, I spoke no English until I went to university at age 19. However, I did secretly read the Sweet Valley High series and Danielle Steel novels when I was supposed to be revising for exams in secondary school and I guess that’s where I learnt most of my English. Now, I have a particular interest in linguistics and sociolinguistics.

Outside of work, I enjoy travelling, sampling good food, crafting and walking the dog.

In metrics we trust?

BU research, Post-award, Publishing, REF Subjects, Research assessment, Research news

Back in May HEFCE launched a Call for Evidence on the role of metrics in research assessment. The Independent review chaired by by Professor James Wilsdon,  University of Sussex and supported by an independent steering group, is tasked with building on the previous 2008/9 pilot exercise to explore the current use of metrics for research assessment, consider the robustness of metrics across different disciplines, and assess their potential contribution to the development of research excellence and impact.

HEFCE received 153 responses (44% from HEIs, 27% individuals, 18% learned societies, 7% providers, 2% mission groups, 2% other). With the majority – 57% – of those who responded expressed overall scepticism about the further introduction of metrics into research assessment.

As part of the review three stakeholder workshops have been held/scheduled on key areas of interest and debate:

To date, all have been well attended and very lively. I was able to attend the I workshop in Sussex with some 150 odd other delegates including members of the metrics review panel, metrics developers and providers, researchers, university managers, and a range of stakeholders from across the research and HE community.

The day contained many thoughtful contributions from a range of speakers including: Dr Philip Campbell, Editor-in-Chief, Nature; Professor Stephen Curry, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College; and Dr Steven Hill, Head of Research Policy, HEFCE. There was lively discussion about the value, potential role, and unintended consequences of metrics in research evaluation. If you are interested in the future role of metrics in research assessment, I would particularly recommend reviewing the presentations from David Colquhoun, Emeritus Professor of Pharmacology at UCL and Dorothy Bishop, Professor of Developmental Neuropsychology, the University of Oxford.

For further insight you could also check out the Twitter discussion, which has over 1000 tweets tagged with #HEFCEmetrics, Impact story have also helpfully encapsulated much of the story/discussion via Storify.

The results of the review will be announced at the end of March and published in the summer. The report will make recommendation againsts three time horizons:

(1) What can HEIs do to improve research management now;

(2) Suggestions for the next REF;

(3) The longer term, including identification of programmes for further work.

Transdisciplinary Arts Practice: Moving Sideways to Move Forward

BU research, Featured academics, Research news

Transdisciplinary Arts Practice: Moving Sideways to Move ForwardWe would like to invite you to the next research seminar of the Creative Technology Research Centre.

 

Speaker: Bill Thompson (Video & Sound Artist, Lecturer in Music and Audio Technology, Bournemouth University)

Title: Transdisciplinary Arts Practice: Moving Sideways to Move Forward

Time: 2:00PM-3:00PM

Date: Wednesday 14th January 2015

Room: P335, Poole House, Talbot Campus

 

Abstract:

I’ll be discussing recent collaborative work with choreographer Ian Spink involving transdiciplinary practice across several projects in Scotland, as well as past work with choreographer Claire Pencak and archaeologists Antonia Thomas and Dan Lee at the Ness of Brodgar site in Orkney. I’ll also discuss  some of my work with / against technology in my solo and sound art practice as well my experience leading collaborative arts practice workshops with Ian Spink ( fast + Dirty ) and individually ( Fail Again, Fail Better ) at Guildhall School of Music and Drama and elsewhere.

We hope to see you there.

 

£9.5m funding – Integrated supply chains for Energy systems

Research news

 

Innovate UK has launched a funding competition with up to £9.5m available to address the need for a diverse mix of energy sources and systems.

The aim of this competition is to encourage cross-sector supply chains that can deliver integrated energy solutions to meet the many energy systems challenges of achieving a low-carbon economy by 2050.Projects should focus on both the demand and supply side across the energy networks of electricity, heat and combustible gases. 

 This is a two-stage competition with a first stage of feasibility studies. Up to three projects will then be chosen for follow-on collaborative research and development (R&D) following a collaboration workshop on conclusion of the feasibility stage. At each stage, projects must be led by a business. 
 

ESRC turns 50!

Funding opportunities, PG research, Research news

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is the UK’s largest organisation for funding on economic social issues. 

This year ESRC celebrates its 50th anniversary and will be holding a variety of exciting activities and events, such as a writing competition for ESRC-funded PhD students (May 2015), a look at 50 Years of Population Change (June 2015) and the ESRC Festival of Social Science (31 October to 7 November 2015).  For further details of events that they intend to hold as part of their anniversary celebration, along with details of potential funding opportunities, please follow the link.

Latest Funding Opportunities

BU research, Funding opportunities, Research news

 

 

The following funding opportunities have been announced. Please follow the links for more information:

 

 

Medical Research Council GB – Tackling antimicrobial resistance theme one: understanding resistant bacteria in context of the host – Innovation grants

Innovative Medicines Initiative invites proposals for its call on The Medical Research Council and partners have delayed the expected opening and closing date for proposals for their innovation grants within the theme tackling antimicrobial resistance – understanding resistant bacteria in context of the host. The expected opening date has been delayed from 3 November 2014 to 19 January 2015, and the expected closing date has been delayed from 13 January to 17 March 2015. Award amount – up to £250,000. Closing date 17/03/2015

Natural Environment Research Council – NERC – Large Grants

Large Grants replaced the consortium grant scheme in 2012.

They support adventurous, large-scale and complex research tackling big science questions that cannot be addressed through other NERC funding opportunities.

The minimum funding level for large grant proposals is £1·2m. The maximum funding level for large grant proposals is £3·7m, with a duration of up to five years. Closing date for outline proposals is 10/03/15

Innovate UK, GB – Urban Living – integrated products and services

Innovate UK is to invest up to £7m in collaborative R&D projects that develop products and services from integrated data generated by cities.

The aim of this competition is to stimulate innovations that can help cities meet the challenges of achieving sustainable growth and other pressures.

Ultimately, the goal is to make the lives of the people who live and work in them happier, healthier and more harmonious.

They are seeking proposals to prototype, develop and evaluate products and services. Specifically, these will need to use data from an integrated city management system to solve problems around the management and operation of cities.

They expect to fund projects of £350k to £700k. Closing dates – please note this is a two-stage competition that opens for applicants on 15 December 2014. The deadline for registration is at noon on 4 February 2015 and the deadline for expressions of interest is at noon on 11 February 2015.

 

British Academy, GB – International Partnership and Mobility Scheme

Wellcome Trust, GB The International Partnership and Mobility Scheme aims to support the development of partnerships between the UK and other areas of the world where research excellence would be strengthened by new, innovative initiatives and links.

The Scheme intends to strengthen research capacity/capability, with all partners gaining from the collaboration, and to initiate the development of long-term, links between the UK and overseas scholars whilst also encouraging an intra-regional exchange of expertise and knowledge sharing.

In this round the Scheme is open to three-year and one-year awards for research partnerships between scholars in the UK and scholars in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, Eurasia, South Asia, East and South-East Asia. Grants are offered up to a maximum of £10,000 per year for a period of one year or three years (£30,000) Closing date 11/02/2015

 

The Wellcome Trust, GB – Senior research fellowships in basic biomedical science

The Wellcome Trust invites applications for its senior research fellowships in basic biomedical science These support outstanding postdoctoral scientists based in academic institutions in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Fellowships are tenable for five years in the first instance, and provide a basic salary, normally of up to £55,000 per year, with an additional trust supplement of £12,500 per year.

Closing date 08/05/2015

The Wellcome Trust, GB – Senior research fellowships in clinical science

This scheme provides support for clinical investigators to further develop their research potential and to establish themselves as leading investigators in clinical science

The fellowship is for five years in the first instance, and provides:

  • a basic salary, as determined by the host institution
  • research expenses essential to the research programme
  • provision for public engagement costs.

Closing date 08/05/2015

Leverhulme Trust, GB – Philip Leverhulme Prizes

Philip Leverhulme Prizes recognise the achievement of outstanding researchers whose work has already attracted international recognition and whose future career is exceptionally promising. The prize scheme makes up to thirty awards of £100,000 a year, across a range of academic disciplines. The 2015 round opens on 5 January 2015 and closes to nominations on 14 May 2015

Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your  RKEO Funding Development Officer

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.