Category / Research news

Make Your Voice Heard event reminder – some spaces still available

BU research, Featured, News from the PVC, REF Subjects, Research news, Research themes, Training

Logo with a megaphone and event title

It’s not enough just to do cutting edge research. We also know that we have to share it and pass on our findings or even our views about matters that are important to society.  Such profile-raising can help attract future research funding, raise our standing and that of BU and, with an eye on REF2020, help achieve impact.

Talking to journalists, using social media and updating blogs or websites does not come naturally to all of us and can be seen as just another demand placed on people who are already struggling with a busy schedule.

The communications department at the University have offered to make it easier for us to get our voice heard. They are hosting an event entitled Make Your Voice Heard to explore how to do this with impact and effect.

Taking place next week on 10 September 2014, we will discuss important topics, such as how academics can enrich the media and how to balance different stakeholder wants and needs. There will also be opportunities to acquire some practical tools, tips and techniques.

Ultimately, it would be great to see more of our staff sharing their unique and valuable perspectives on matters important to society and raising the profile of BU in the local, regional and national scene. Whether that’s through informed comment or sharing research outcomes, the communications team can help us do it more effectively.

‘Make Your Voice Heard’ runs from 9:00 – 14:00 on Talbot Campus and lunch will be provided. It is open to all researchers, from PGRs to Professors.

You can see the full schedule and book your place by following this link to the Eventbrite page. If you would like to find out more before booking, please contact Sarah Gorman (Corporate Communications Assistant).

Promote your research internally by contributing to the BU Research Blog

Research news

Blogging is an excellent way to share your research, reach new audiences and join new networks (see my previous blog post ‘The benefits of academic blogging – should you enter the blogosphere?‘). You can add your own posts to the BU Research Blog to promote your research internally and as the BU Research Blog is available externally then you get the added benefit of reaching external audiences too. Here are some top tips for contributing to the Blog:

1. Figure out what it is you want to blog about

You may be a researcher wanting to share your research findings, or you may want to raise your profile or find new collaborators. Maybe you’ve read something really exciting about HE policy or research in your discipline and want to share it? It may be that you may want to comment on one of the topical research discussions going on in the sector (such as open access). Whatever your reason for wanting to blog, think about who you want to reach with your writing – be it potential collaborators, potential employers, or people on the street.

2. Get access

If you don’t already have access to contribute to the Blog then contact Rhyannan Hurst in RKEO and she will set you up with an account.

3. Write good headlines

If you want people to read what you’ve written, you’ll have to make them want to. Don’t fall into the trap of typing up any old headline and hitting publish after spending ages polishing the blog post itself. Always ask yourself if you’d click on a link based solely on the headline (and be honest). If you wouldn’t, change it.

Descriptive headlines that tell a reader exactly what to expect often work well. You should think about getting key words in there, but don’t fret too much about search engine optimisation. It’s more important to make actual humans want to read your work.

Google Analytics shows us that the most popular posts on the BU Research Blog are those with interesting and sometimes bizarre headlines!

4. Use the internet properly

Remember to add links to sources, news articles and other people’s blog posts in your own. Use images or video when they are a better way to communicate than words.

And, thanks to the unlimited space online, you don’t have a word count. But as well as giving you the space to go in-depth when you want to, it means you can write short if the subject doesn’t need a dissertation-length exploration. Don’t write an essay just because you can.

5. Promote your blog post

After publishing your blog post then you should shout about it, ideally using social media such as Facebook and Twitter. Don’t be afraid to send the post directly to certain people who you think will be interested in it.

These have been adapted from Kelly Oakes, Science Editor of BuzzfeedUK’s blog post on ‘How to Start a Science Blog‘.

Latest Major Funding Opportunities

BU research, Funding opportunities, Research news

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

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) are now calling for proposals to their Dial-a-Molecule EPSRC Grand Challenge Network. The aim is to enhance/speed up existing chemistry research projects through the application of statistical methods. Proposals may cover applications such as: screening across a wide reaction space using Principal Components models; scoping, optimisation or robustness studies using statistical design of experiments (e.g. factorial, response surface, D-optimal design); and predictive modelling, PLS and data mining, applied to chemical synthesis. Funding, normally up to £2,000 per project, is available to enable activities. The deadline for applications is 12/09/2014.  

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) are now also inviting for applications to the Nuclear Energy University Programs (NEUP) Integrated Research Project (IRP) – US/UK Collaborative Funding Opportunity. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy created Nuclear Energy University Programs (NEUP) in 2009 to consolidate its university support under one programme. The RCUK Energy Programme (RCUKEP), led by EPSRC, would like to encourage the participation of UK researchers in this programme. In particular the RCUKEP will support the UK component of proposals including US/UK collaboration to the NEUP‘s small research projects solicitation. The deadline for applications is 12:00, 02/10/2014.

The Leverhulme Trust has announced that in January 2015 they will be inviting applications to their Early Career Fellowships. Early Career Fellowships aim to provide career development opportunities for those who are at a relatively early stage of their academic careers, but who have a proven record of research. The expectation is that Fellows should undertake a significant piece of publishable work during their tenure, and that the Fellowships should lead to a more permanent academic position. The Trust will contribute 50% of each Fellow’s total salary costs up to a maximum of £24,000 per annum and the balance is to be paid by the host institution. Given the prestige of the awards each Fellow may request annual research expenses of up to £6,000 to further his or her research activities. The closing date for applications will be 4pm, 05/03/2015.

The Leverhulme Trust has also announced that they will be inviting applications to their Emeritus Fellowships as of 01/09/2014 (today).  The fellowships offer to provide research expenses of up to £22,000 over up to two years to enable senior researchers who have retired from an academic post to complete a research project and prepare the results for publication. The deadline for applications is 4pm, 05/02/2015.

The Leverhulme Trust has also announced that on the 01/09/2014 (today), they will be inviting applications to their Study Abroad Studentships. The studentship offers maintenance and research expenses to allow applicants to spend a period of 12 to 24 months on advanced study or research at a centre of learning in any overseas country (excluding the USA). The closing date for applications will be 4pm, 12/01/2015.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) has announced that on the 02/10/2014 they will be inviting applications to their Biomedical Catalyst: Regenerative Medicine Research Committee. The translation of the burgeoning knowledge in regenerative medicine into new treatment strategies is a key objective of the strategic plan. The Regenerative Medicine Research Committee (RMRC) provides support for high quality proposals aiming to develop regenerative medicine therapies to improve human health. The MRC will meet the academic costs of the project only. The closing date for applications will be 4pm, 13/11/2014.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) has also announced that they will be inviting applications to their Clinician Scientist Fellowship (CSF) scheme as of 25/02/2015. The CSF develops outstanding medically and other clinically qualified professionals who have gained a higher research degree to establish themselves as independent researchers. The CSF provides full personal salary costs, together with support for research staff, consumables expenses, travel costs and capital equipment appropriate for the research project. The deadline for applications will be 08/04/2015.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) is calling for proposals for opportunities to work in the new Research Complex at Harwell. The scheme is for researchers wishing to occupy space within the Research Complex at Harwell (RCaH). For information on deadlines please visit the webpage here.

The Welcome Trust has announced that they will be inviting applications for Capital funding for public engagement and medical history. This scheme provides capital funding (normally above £200 000) for large-scale projects that support public engagement and/or medical history. Prospective applicants should contact the Welcome Trust in the first instance to explore whether their proposal meets their criteria. This should be done well in advance of the deadline for preliminary applications. If the criteria are met, applicants will be asked to submit a preliminary application, outlining the mission, background, aims and objectives of the proposal, targeted audience and partnerships. The Welcome Trust will then assess the preliminary application. If it is approved, a full application will be requested. The deadline for the preliminary application is 29/05/2015.

The Welcome Trust is inviting expressions of interest to the International Engagement Awards. The International Engagement Awards support public engagement projects and work that builds capacity for engagement with biomedical research in Sub-Saharan Africa, South-east Asia and South Asia. Please submit your expression of interest as early as possible but at least two weeks before any full application deadline. The following deadlines are for invited full applications: 13/03/2015 (expressions of interest must be received before 27th February); 11/09/2015 (expressions of interest must be received before 28th August).

Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKE Support Officer.

You can set up your own personalised alerts on ResearchProfessional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s RKE Officer in RKE Operations or see the recent post on this topic, which includes forthcoming training dates up to November 2014.

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

On Academic Writing

BU research, Research news

Writing is not easy, yet academics must write.  Communicating your research and ideas to your peers through writing is an essential part of an academic career, you may be doing brilliant research, you may be a fantastic speaker or teacher, but if you can’t express your ideas through the written word your career may flounder.  Writing lies at the heart of research.  There are no quick solutions, fixes or dodges and I don’t profess to have any, but I am interested in the process of writing and seek your help in exploring this.

The importance of writing is no great news and if you are, like me, dyslexic and find the challenge of writing exactly that, a challenge, then what can you do?  We all have different approaches to writing – our own coping strategies if you like – that allow us to get the words on the page, the thoughts and ideas clarified and expressed.  It is an intensely personal process and what works for me is unlikely to work for you.

So what does works for you?  How do you go about writing that difficult piece of prose?

Have a think while I share what works for me.

 

How I write

Ideas often flow better for me from conversation, but as an introvert I don’t have much time for conversation!  So I talk to myself, mentally rehearsing what needs to be said, framing initial ideas and nebulous arguments.  I can be seen on the walk to work deep in thought, in fact deep in silent conversation, and not always silent to the amusement of those that walk their dogs in the park I cross each day!

These silent conversations shape my initial draft, since when I sit down to write I am simply noting down the conversation.  I then refine this early draft picking out and questioning the logic, developing the argument as I craft iteratively the text before me.  For me writing is therefore a process of constant refinement, iteration and clarification as my ideas and argument take shape in the words that I write.

 

It’s different for everyone

Others work differently I know, my mother for example who is a retired academic talked to me recently of how she used to coin a statement, or phrase, something elegant and clever that she then picked at to see if it was true, forming her argument in light of it.  For others it is all about the research question that is being posed and I know that some of my colleagues believe that all your ideas should be formed and in sharp focus before you start to write.  It is a bit like having a beautiful artefact that they can see in their mind’s eye, which simply needs to be described.  I cannot write like this and my approach is more akin to that of Stephen King who, in his wonderful book On Writing, describes the process of writing as the excavation of a fossil with the story slowly emerging from the ground with work and care.  No one way of writing is any better than any other and each may have their own particular style that may also vary across discipline boundaries which leads to my basic question how do you approach the process of writing?

It is this question that intrigues me, a question that I would like to explore for its own sake but also perhaps because it might amuse me in time to write about it in a book or paper.

So what do I need, to help me explore this idea?

 

Getting involved

Well I need the help from my fellow academics, not just geoscientists like myself but social scientists, chemists, historians and engineers.  I am interested to know what helps you to write – a short email with ‘a brain dump’, a couple of paragraphs or a list of bullet points is all I need with your own reflections on how you approach the task of writing.  If you are not an academic but write a lot as part of your profession then drop me a line as well.  In return I will reflect on how I can best summarise, or collate your collective ideas, to play them back to the academic community in ways that would be useful for them.

So going back to the questions posed earlier – how do you write?  In framing your response it might help to reflect on the following questions, whilst also adding anything else that you feel it would be relevant for me to know.

How do you approach your academic writing?  Describe for me the process by which you shape your ideas and craft your prose from conception to completion of a piece, whether it is a journal article, a book or a chapter.

What is the most challenging part for you?  And how do you overcome this?

Where do you like to write?  Can you write anywhere – on the plane, train or in a stolen five minutes, or do you need a block of time and a quiet place, or a noisy coffee shop?

Do you write for a specific audience and journal or in a more generic form formatting once written for a particular journal?  Does this vary depending on the piece?  Do you always know where something is to be submitted before you start?  What in truth guides your choice – clinical analysis, convenience or simply the tradition in your discipline?

How do you write collaboratively?  Do you take the lead, or do you write truly by committee?

How much are you influenced by the norms of your discipline – and what is your discipline?

These are the types of thing I am interested in, I am trying not to be prescriptive and all I ask is that after some reflection you open up an email, insert my address – mbennett@bmth.ac.uk – and write to me something about how you write!  I will respond asking you to sign a consent form and with further details of the study and I promise to preserve your anonymity at all times, unless you specifically state that you are happy to be acknowledged.  Thank you.

EPSRC Engineering Grand Challenge workshops – how to get involved

Funding opportunities, Research news

EPSRC logoRead on if you want to take advantage of a brilliant opportunity to network and horizon scan, ensuring you are aware of the funding opportunities coming up…

Following the successful 2013 Global Grand Challenges London Summit (see here for a great overview written by participants), organised by the Royal Academy of Engineering, EPSRC set out to identify Engineering Grand Challenges. In order to start this process, EPSRC organised a two-day retreat, bringing together 25 academic, industry and government experts in facilitated discussions. Prior to the event, EPSRC University and Business Strategic Partners were invited to provide suggestions for the Grand Challenges.

The outputs of the retreat are included in the report below. Seven areas have thus far been identified as potential Engineering Grand Challenges:

  • Risk and Resilience in a Connected World
  • Controlling Cell Behaviour
  • Engineering from Atoms to Applications
  • Bespoke Engineering
  • Big Data for Engineering Futures
  • Suprastructures – integrating resource infrastructures under constraint
  • Engineers at the Heart of Public Decision Making.

Following the retreat, EPSRC approached 23 experts from across the engineering disciplines to ask their views about the themes identified as well as input from the EPSRC Engineering Strategic Advisory Team; their comments are included in the report. As a first stage EPSRC will convene a small high-level group to reflect further on the outcomes of the retreat, where necessary refining the number of challenges and their content.

Following this and in order to build momentum around the Engineering Grand Challenges, EPSRC intend to run three workshops in the Autumn so as to:

  1. Engage the research and user community to identify clear targets or milestones for each of the selected Grand Challenges areas
  2. Start the process of building collaborations and/or consortia as appropriate and
  3. Build advocacy for the Engineering Grand Challenges, particularly as EPSRC, working with its partners in academia, industry and government, is looking to build the case for Engineering and Physical Sciences ahead of the next spending review.

If you wish to attend one of these workshops EPSRC ask you to complete the survey (at the bottom of this page: http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/calls/engineeringgrandchallenge/) by 15 September 2014. If you have any queries please email engineeringgrandchallenges@epsrc.ac.uk

Activity Date
Expression of interest to attend 15 September 2014
Confirmation to attendees 02 October 2014
Birmingham workshop 14 November 2014
London workshop 19 November 2014
Edinburgh workshop 26 November 2014

 

2014-15 Round of the British Academy’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme – Now Open!

BU research, Funding opportunities, Research news

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The British Academy is now inviting applications to their Postdoctoral Fellowship scheme. The aim of the awards is to offer opportunities for outstanding early career researchers to strengthen their experience of research and teaching in a university environment which will develop their curriculum vitae and improve their prospects of obtaining permanent lecturing posts by the end of the Fellowship. The primary emphasis is on completion of a significant piece of publishable research, which will be assisted by full membership of an academic community of established scholars working in similar fields. A number of 45 awards are expected to be offered. 
 
This is an e-submission. The deadline for applicants to this scheme is 5pm, 08/10/2014, with the approver deadline at 5pm, 09/10/2014. However, please note that RKEO’s internal deadline will be 02/10/2014.
 
Please see the competition timetable for 2014-15 below:
  • Application forms, Outline Stage: available from  27 August 2014
  • Applicant deadline, Outline Stage: 8 October 2014
  • Result of Outline Stage announced: 21 January 2015
  • Application deadline, Second Stage: 25 February 2015
  • Final results confirmed: May 2015
  • Awards available for starting date: Not earlier than 1 September 2015 and not later than 1 January 2016

If you need any guidance or support please contact your RKE Support Officer.

 

BSA Ageing, Body and Society Study Group 6th Annual Conference: Researching Bodies – Call for Abstracts!

BU research, Research news

On Friday 28 November 2014, the BSA Ageing, Body and Society Study Group 6thAnnual Conference: Researching Bodies will take place at the British Library Conference Centre, London. The conference will include a keynote address by Prof Les Back (Goldsmiths University) who will speak on: Inscriptions of Love: the body as an impermanent canvas and a plenary panel on Researching Bodies.

Call for Abstracts:

The British Sociological Association are inviting submissions to the conference. They invite abstracts for poster and oral presentations that will be 15-20 minutes long. They are encouraging researchers to share their perspectives on ‘researching bodies’ and welcome abstracts on different theoretical and methodological approaches, emergent ideas, work in progress, practitioner perspectives, and emperical findings.

Abstracts of 250 words long should be submitted before midnight, 12/09/2014 online here. Those that submitted an abstract will be informed of the decision before 29/09/2014.

You can find further information about the call here.

 

Cancer Research UK – New Calls Announced!

BU research, Funding opportunities, Research news

Cancer Research UK has announced two new funding schemes. These awards have been developed to bring together experts from previously untapped research fields to bring a fresh approach to what they do, and help them accelerate progress.

The new Multidisciplinary Project Award will support collaborations between cancer researchers and scientists from engineering and physical science disciplines, to provide new insight and develop creative technologies and methodologies to better understand, detect, diagnose and treat cancer. Cancer Research UK are offering up to £500,000 to cover costs of equipment, salaries for PDRA’s, PhD’s, technical staff and associated running expenses and the funding period is for up to 4 years. The first deadline for applications is 17/11/2014 and decisions will be made in April 2015.

The new Cancer Immunology Project Award supports immunologists in non-cancer fields to bring their expertise and insight to cancer research, to deepen their understanding of the role of the immune system and its interaction with tumours. Cancer Research UK are offering up to £300,000 to fund salaries for researchers and technical staff, running expenses, and equipment costs for a period of up to 36 months. The first deadline for applications is the 16/11/2014; decisions will be made in April 2015.

To find out more about these schemes, please do visit the Cancer Research UK blog.

Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKE Support Officer.

You can set up your own personalised alerts on ResearchProfessional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s RKE Officer in RKE Operations or see the recent post on this topic, which includes forthcoming training dates up to November 2014.

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

 

Latest Major Funding Opportunities

BU research, Funding opportunities, Research news

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

The Academy of Medical Sciences is inviting applications to the Starter Grants for Clinical Lecturers scheme.  They are offering funding of up to £30,000 to cover the cost of research consumables. The grants allow research-active Clinical Lecturers to gather data to strengthen their bids for longer-term fellowships and funding. An application form can be downloaded. The deadline for applications is 5pm, 01/09/2014.

The BBSRC in collaboration with the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), announce a call to support fundamental bioscience that will address key gaps in the knowledge of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) biology. The total amount of funding available for the call is £6 million (BBSRC are contributing £5M, and Defra, £1 million). A letter of intent must be submitted before 4pm, 04/11/2014, and it is expected that the full application deadline will be at the end of February 2015.

The British Academy will soon be inviting applications to the BA Skills Acquisition Awards.  Quantitative Skills Acquisition Awards are available to support career development of early career scholars (within 10 years of the award of the doctorate) who are in established academic posts. These awards aim to develop and enhance their quantitative skills by providing an award to enable early career researchers to spend some time with a mentor at a specialist centre in the field.

The British Academy is inviting applications to the Elisabeth Barker Fund.  The Fund was established in memory of Elisabeth Barker (1910-1986), diplomatic correspondent and historian of modern Europe. It is intended to support studies in recent European history, particularly the history of Central and Eastern Europe. Grants may be made for individual, or collaborative projects and may support British scholars, or scholars from other European countries. The maximum award amount is £1,000 and the closing date for applications if 15/10/2014.

The British Academy is also inviting applications to their Elie Kedourie Memorial Fund. The fund, established by the family of Elie Kedourie, FBA, is to promote the study of Middle Eastern and Modern European History, and the History of Political Thought by recent postdoctoral scholars of any nationality. Awards are offered to support any aspect of research, including travel and publication. The maximum award amount is £1,000 and the closing date for applications is 15/10/2014.

The British Academy has announced that they will soon be accepting applications to the Stein-Arnold Exploration Fund. The Fund was established according to the terms of the Will of Sir Aurel Stein, FBA, to commemorate his friendship with Sir Thomas Arnold, FBA, for ‘the encouragement of research on the antiquities or historical geography or early history or arts of those parts of Asia which come within the sphere of the ancient civilisations of India, China, and Iran, including Central Asia. Research should be ‘so far as possible by means of exploratory work’, and applicants must be British or Hungarian subjects. Awards do not exceed £2,500. Application forms are being made available from 22/10/2014 and the deadline for applications is 03/12/2014.

The British Academy has also announced that they will soon be accepting applications to the Neil Ker Memorial Fund. The object of this fund is to promote the study of Western medieval manuscripts, in particular those of British interest. Applications are invited from scholars of any nationality, engaged on original research intended for publication. Applicants should be of postdoctoral status, or have comparable experience. Awards do not normally exceed £2,000. Application forms will be made available from 22/10/2014 and the deadline for applications is 03/12/2014.

The British Academy will soon make applications for the BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grants scheme available. Grants are available to support primary research in the humanities and social sciences. The first recourse for funding should be to your own institution (where applicable). Applications will not be considered for less than £500. The maximum grant is £10,000 over two years. Applications for collaborative or individual projects are equally welcome under this scheme. Applications forms will be made available from 03/09/2014 and the closing date for applications is 15/10/2014.

Dstl and BAE Systems are seeking proposals for the Autonomous Systems Underpinning Research – ASUR 2014 programme. This competition is seeking research proposals in a set of specific areas relating to technologies that are potentially applicable to enhancing the development and operation of future autonomous systems that will enable the UK Armed Forces to successfully meet the operational challenges that they will encounter over the next decade and beyond. Up to £2.4 million of funding is available for this competition. The deadline for applications is 13/10/2014.

The ELRHA (enhancing learning & research for humanitarian assistance) have now launched their Ebola Health Research call. The aim of the call is both to produce robust research findings that could contribute to the effectiveness of the response to the current outbreak, and help to draw lessons for future outbreaks of Ebola and other communicable diseases. Funding is being made available through the existing £6.5 million R2HC programme. Given the urgency of this situation, qualified researchers are invited to submit a preliminary Expression of Interest application to ELRHA by 11am, 08/09/2014.

The ESRC have made a pre-call announcement for the Transformative Research call. The aim of this call is to provide a stimulus for genuinely transformative research ideas at the frontiers of the social sciences, enabling research which challenges current thinking to be supported and developed. Successful applicants will receive a grant of up to £250,000 (at 100 per cent full economic cost (fEC)). ESRC will meet 80 per cent of the full economic costs on proposals submitted. Only two applications can be accepted from each eligible Research Organisation. Proposals should be pre-selected by the Research Organisation and will need to be submitted to the ESRC at the beginning of January 2015. The full call specification will be released in September 2014.

The Medical Research Council has mentioned on their website that they will soon be taking applications for the Biomedical Informatics Fellowship. The fellowship supports outstanding post-doctoral researchers who are seeking to move into the application of mathematical, statistical and computational methods to biomedical and health research problems. Applications are being made available from 05/05/2015 and the deadline for applications will be 16/06/2015.

The Medical Research Council has announced that they will soon be inviting applications to the Career Development Award (CDA) in Biostatistics.  This CDA in Biostatistics encourages broad training programmes in biostatistics to support talented early-career researchers who have recently completed their PhDs and who are working in – or seeking to move into – statistically based, health-related research. The CDA provides full personal salary costs together with support for consumables expenses, travel costs and capital equipment appropriate for the research project. The opening date for applications is 17/03/2015 and the closing date is 28/04/2015.

The Medical Research Council has also announced that they will soon be inviting applications to their Early Career Fellowship in Economics of Health. The fellowship provides early-career support to help individuals begin to establish a research track record in the field and to undertake further training. The EoH provides full personal salary costs, together with support for consumables expenses, travel costs and capital equipment appropriate for the research project. The opening date for applications is 05/05/2015 and the deadline for applications is 16/06/2015.

The Medical Research Council has also announced details of the Methodology Research Fellowship.  The fellowship supports post-doctoral researchers with a grounding in health research, not necessarily in a methodological discipline, who will advance the development and application of innovative methodologies in the context of challenging biomedical and health research problems. It will provide a significant career development opportunity for these researchers to become independent researchers in their chosen fields. Full personal salary costs will be provided, with support for research staff, consumables expenses, travel costs and capital equipment appropriate for the research project. The opening date for applications is 05/05/2015 and the deadline is 16/06/2015.

The Medical Research Council has announced details of the Molecular Pathology Nodes scheme. MRC and EPSRC invite proposals to establish high-quality molecular pathology nodes. Each node will be a multidisciplinary centre of innovative molecular diagnostic test discovery and development bringing together the research base, pathology/genetic services and industry. The call will have four phases, 1) Call workshop, 2) Expression of interest, 3) Proposal, 4) Monitoring. A workshop will be hosted on 01/10/2014 in London – the workshop registration form needs to be completed by 15/09/2014. The deadline for expression of interest is 10/11/2014 and for the proposal is 10/02/2015.

The Medical Research Council will soon be inviting applications to their Population Health Scientist Fellowship.  The fellowship supports outstanding early-career researchers to conduct research and develop the skills required to underpin a career in the population health sciences. The award provides a competitive personal salary and a research training support grant of up to £20,000 per year. The opening date for applications is 05/05/2015 and the closing date for applications is 16/06/2015.

The Medical Research Council is now inviting applications to their Senior Clinical Fellowship. The purpose of the scheme is to support outstanding medically and other clinically qualified professionals in their development to become research leaders. The fellowship will provide full personal salary costs, together with support for research staff, consumables expenses, travel costs and capital equipment appropriate for the research project. The opening date for applications will be the 25/02/2015 and the closing date for applications is the 08/04/2015.

NERC, in collaboration with Communicate 2014 (British Natural History Consortium) are inviting applications to the NERC bursary scheme. The scheme is open to NERC funded postgraduate students, postdoctoral researchers and NERC fellows only. Applications from students and researchers who have not previously attended Communicate will be prioritised. The deadline for applications is 9am, 06/10/2014.

The Agri-Tech Catalyst, run by the Technology Strategy Board and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, offers funding to innovative businesses and researchers to develop solutions to global agricultural challenges – this is the late-stage awards. There are two types of late-stage awards that projects may be eligible for: pre-experimental feasibility study awards and experimental development awards. Funding through the Agri-Tech Catalyst is available to UK businesses of any size, as well as researchers. The deadline for applications is 07/01/2015.

The Technology Strategy Board and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council are also inviting applications to the Industrial research awards. Industrial research awards enable applicants to evaluate the technical feasibility of an idea and establish proof-of-concept and potential routes to exploitation. Such proposals will embrace longer-term studies in all relevant disciplines that demonstrate the potential to advance the sustainable intensification of agriculture and have an economic impact. Registration for expressions of interest closes on 01/10/2014 with a submission deadline of 08/10/2014.

The Technology Strategy Board is inviting applications to their Adapting cutting-edge technologies project. They will be investing up to £7m in collaborative R&D projects to encourage technologies for road-vehicles that will deliver significant reductions in CO2 emissions and they expect projects to range in size from total costs of £500k to £2m, although they may consider projects outside this range. The competition opens for applications on 08/09/2014. The deadline for registration is noon, 22/10/2014 and the deadline for applications is noon, 29/10/2014.

The Technology Strategy Board and the Environment Agency are now inviting applications to the Non-intrusive river flow measurement competition. This competition is focused on the Environment Agency’s need to measure river flows in challenging locations where existing standard instrumentation cannot be used. However, a solution that could also be deployed in less demanding/normal river conditions would be ideal. In order to enter this competition, registration is required. Registration closes on 15/10/2014 and applications are due in by 22/10/2014. The award is still to be confirmed.

The Welcome Trust is inviting applications to the Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training and Science Initiative. The vision of DELTAS Africa is to support the African-led development of world-class researchers and research leaders in Africa. This new generation of scientists will play a major part in shaping and driving a locally relevant health research agenda in Africa, contributing to improved health and development in the continent. Some funding is available. A preliminary application should be completed by 5pm, 02/10/2014.

The Welcome Trust is now inviting applications to their Engagement Fellowships scheme. Engagement Fellowships champion the leaders of tomorrow by fostering the most promising developing talent. They are looking for individuals with a strong track record of engaging the public with ideas around biomedical science and/or medical humanities, who want to make a step-change in their careers. The deadline for applications is 13/02/2015.

Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKE Support Officer.

You can set up your own personalised alerts on ResearchProfessional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s RKE Officer in RKE Operations or see the recent post on this topic, which includes forthcoming training dates up to November 2014.

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

Developing Research Outputs

Research news

Well the summer is drawing to a close and you may, or may not, have had done what you planned in way of research this summer, but if nothing else I hope you have had some fun and enjoyed your leave.  I have chosen not to post on our research blog since stepping down as PVC at Christmas, but am breaking my silence to draw your attention to a couple of things – this is the first of two posts.  The second will follow in due course and is a request for some help with a piece of research.

I have put together for the autumn a seven week programme of seminars that deal with research practice drawing on my own experience.  The programme is independent of any official development programme, but forms a natural complement to other things running at BU, such as the Grants and Writing Academies.  The course caters for all types of research not just those based in the sciences and the weekly sessions will consist of a seminar with an opportunity for discussion, as well as time in which participants can discuss their current projects, papers and bids.

The programme is free and open to all members of academic and professional/support staff at BU.  A certificate of attendance and completion will be issued and registration is via Organisational Development: staffdevelopment@bournemouth.ac.uk

The only pre-requisite is that participant’s make a commitment via a ‘learning contract’ to attend each of the sessions, unless absent due to unforeseen circumstances outside work.  The programme will run on Tuesday lunchtimes (12.15 to 13.45) and starts on the 21nd October 2014.  Participants are welcome to bring their lunch if they wish.  The minimum cohort size is 8 and confirmation that the programme will run will be given by 1st October 2014.  If there is sufficient interest a second cohort may run in the spring term.  You will find further details at Staff Intranet including an outline programme.

Yawning In Paris – Dr Simon Thompson

Awarded & submitted bids, BU research, EU, Featured academics, Fusion, Grants Academy, Post-award, REF Subjects, Research assessment, Research Ethics, Research Integritiy, Research news, Research themes

I have taught at Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense on a number of occasions but I continue to be impressed by the enthusiasm and challenging questions the Master’s level students pose. Paris is rich with culture and the education system has many benefits. I am privileged to be part of a growing French research culture that respects skills and knowledge with cutting edge technology in neuroscience.

Sacre Coeur, roof-top; Gare du Nord, r.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eiffel Tower, roof-top.

This complements my experience at Bournemouth University and has enabled me to collaborate on projects that face difficult challenges with respect to ethics and use of expensive technology, namely fMRI scanning. Functional Magnetic Resonance Scanning is notoriously expensive yet the benefits to clinical research are potentially huge.

Modernism - or the Aliens have landed!

 

My study on yawning and cortisol at Bournemouth University [1] has now includes collaboration with three prestigious centres in France: Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, Amiens University Hospital, University of Picardy Jules Verne.

I hope to continue my Anglo-French meetings with the assistance of the Erasmus Travel Scholarship scheme in the future, as well as with funding from the French Embassy and the French Multiple Sclerosis Society.

 

[1] Thompson, S.B.N., 2014. Yawning, fatigue and cortisol: expanding the Thompson Cortisol Hypothesis. Medical Hypotheses. Doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2014.08.009.

Latest Major Funding Opportunities

BU research, Funding opportunities, Research news

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

The British Academy is inviting applications to their Mid-Career Fellowships. The Academy intends, through this scheme, both to support outstanding individual researchers with excellent research proposals, and to promote public understanding and engagement with humanities and social sciences. The aim of the scheme is to allow successful applicants to obtain time freed from normal teaching and administrative commitments. These Fellowships are covered under the Full Economic Costing (FEC) regime, but the Academy’s contribution to the salary of the Mid-Career Fellow will be capped at an upper limit of £80,000, awards can be held over a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of 12 months, beginning in the autumn of 2015. The deadline will be in 09/2014 for awards to be taken up from 01/09/2015.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) invite proposals for collaborative projects between the UK and the Republic of Korea in the field of Fuel Cell Technologies. EPSRC and KETEP each have up to £2.5 million available to support projects under this call. Proposals are invited from leading UK researchers wishing to either develop relationships with leading researchers from eligible institutions in Korea or to deepen existing collaborations. If you intend to submit a proposal to this call, you must register your intent by email to energyteam@epsrc.ac.uk by 4pm, 17/09/2014.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Advanced Metrology is offering funding for Feasibility Studies in the field of mathematics for metrology. This Centre has been created to develop the next generation of manufacturing metrology technologies for total machining and advanced surfaces.  Its main aim is to deliver a step-change in the link between measurement (through the science of metrology) and production, primarily for the benefit of advanced manufacturing industries. The feasibility studies should examine a subject area in the scope, review activity in it, identify key challenges and research questions not currently being addressed and develop full proposals for funding by established routes. Awards are limited to £50,000 at 80% FEC and to a maximum duration of six months. The closing date for applications is 12:00, 22/09/2014.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) invites applications for its Supergen Solar Challenge.  The Research Councils UK Energy Programme is looking to support projects that help address key challenges in Solar Technology. The areas to be supported are in: Materials and Process Development; Building Integrated Photovoltaics; Efficiency of PV technology; and Characterisation and Stability. There is up to £5 million available to support projects submitted in response to this call. It is intended that three to five projects will be supported through this call. The deadline for proposals will be 4pm, 04/11/2014.

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) are pleased to invite proposals for their Civil Society Data Partnership projects under Phase 3 of the Big Data Network. The Civil Society Data Partnership projects will establish or build on relationships between academic researchers and civil society organisations to demonstrate the value of improved data infrastructure, enabling collection and analysis of data which is of interest to civil society organisations and through enabling the sector to better utilise its own data. Proposals are invited for a duration of up to 18 months, with the latest start date of 14 February 2015. The budget of each Civil Society Data Partnership project will be a maximum of £250,000 (100 per cent fEC). Theminimum funding level is £50,000 (100 per cent fEC) and it is expected that proposals for both small and large projects will be received. The call will open on 22/08/2014 and the deadline for applications is 4pm, 02/10/2014.

The Medical Research Council’s (MRC) Confidence in Concept scheme provides annual awards of £250k-£1.2m to institutions, to be used flexibly to support the earliest stages of multiple translational research projects. It is intended to accelerate the transition /from /discovery research to translational development projects by supporting preliminary work or feasibility studies to establish the viability of an approach. The closing date for applications is 4pm, 17/10/2014.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) invites applications to its Proximity to Discovery: Industry Engagement Fund.  The fund will support a small number of research organisations to use creative approaches to building relationships with industry partners and 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. A total budget of £15 m is available to support CinC and Proximity to Discovery: Industry Engagement Fund. The closing date for applications is 4pm, 17/10/2014.

The National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research in collaboration with the Technology Strategy Board are inviting applications for its CRACK IT challenges.  CRACK IT Challenges is a challenge-led funding competition from the NC3Rs which is designed to: fund collaborations between industry, academics and SMEs; minimise the use of animals in research; and support the development of marketable products and/or improved business processes. There are up to three Challenges this year with a total of seven Sponsors, with funding ranging from £100k to £1m and contracts from 1-3 years.  The competition is open from 15/09/2014 and the deadline for applications is 12 noon, 19/11/2014. Please note that in order to apply you must register with the SBRI for the competition by 12 noon, 12/11/2014.  

The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) invites applications to its International Opportunities Fund. The scheme provides resources to NERC-supported researchers to allow them to forge long-term partnerships with overseas scientists that add value to current NERC-funded science. There are two grants available: 1) IOF Pump-Priming Grants – These aim to help researchers establish and develop new collaborative links with international partners. Proposals for IOF Pump Priming Grants may request funding of a maximum of £40k (at 80% FEC) for up to two years duration. 2) IOF Pump-Priming Plus Grants – These aim to support establishment of novel international collaborative links, as for the IOF Pump Priming grants, but allow for development of partnerships that require more resource. Proposals for IOF Pump Priming grants may request funding of a maximum of £320K (at 80% FEC) for up to three years duration. The closing date for proposals is 25/09/2014.

The Royal Academy of Engineering is now inviting applications for The Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship. The fellowship allows the academic to concentrate on full-time research and be relieved of teaching and administrative responsibilities. The purpose of the Fellowships is to cover the salary costs of a replacement academic who will take over the awardee’s teaching and administration duties for up to one year. The deadline for applications is 4pm, 27/10/2014.

The Technology Strategy Board and Offshore Energy Research Association of Nova Scotia (OERA) are jointly investing approximately $1.4m CAD (£755k) in collaborative R&D projects to develop enhanced sensing technologies for tidal stream energy applications.  The aim of this competition is to develop technologies that lead to the acquisition of better data, improved data analysis and collection methods, helping to reduce risk, uncertainty and cost to the tidal stream energy industry. Proposals must be collaborative and business-led, including at least one business from Canada and one from the UK.  This is a two-stage competition that opens for applicants on 06/10/2014.  The deadline for expressions of interest is at 4pm Greenwich Mean Time on 28/11/2014.  

The Technology Strategy Board will shortly be inviting registrations and applications for its call on Forensics. The call for proposals is seeking to achieve a step-change in crime investigation in the UK, through the application of novel techniques for gathering forensic evidence. The call will open on 01/09/2014. Registration closes on 22/10/2014 and the deadline for applications is 29/10/2014.

The Technology Strategy Board and the Environment Agency will shortly be inviting registrations and applications for their call on Non-intrusive river flow measurement. This competition is focused on the Environment Agency’s need to measure river flows in challenging locations where existing standard instrumentation cannot be used. However, a solution that could also be deployed in less demanding/normal river conditions would be ideal. In order to enter this competition, registration is required. Registration closes on 15/10/2014 and applications are due in by 22/10/2014. The award is to be confirmed.

The Welcome Trust invites applications to its Arts Awards that support scientific engagement through the arts. The scheme aims to support imaginative and experimental arts projects that investigate biomedical science and all art forms are covered by the programme: dance, drama, performance arts, visual arts, music, film, craft, photography, creative writing or digital media. The Trust invites applications for projects which engage adult audiences and/or young people. Funding can be applied for at two levels: 1) Small to medium-sized projects (up to and including £30 000) – Funding can either be used to support the development of new project ideas, deliver small-scale productions or workshops, investigate and experiment with new methods of engagement through the arts, or develop new collaborative relationships between artists and scientists. 2) Large projects (above £30 000) – This funding can be used to fund full or part production costs for large-scale arts projects that aim to have significant impact on the public’s engagement with biomedical science. The closing date is 08/11/2014.

Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKE Support Officer.

You can set up your own personalised alerts on ResearchProfessional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s RKE Officer in RKE Operations or see the recent post on this topic, which includes forthcoming training dates up to November 2014.

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

British Academy – calls released!

BU research, Funding opportunities, Research news

The British Academy have confirmed that they are now inviting applications for the below schemes in 2014-2015. If you wish to apply for these schemes, please do ensure that you contact the Research & Knowledge Exchange Office (R&KEO) as soon as possible – BU’s internal deadlines have been added to the below information.

Please note: The British Academy have asked us to inform you that the latest time at which applications will be accepted from both applications and approvers via eGAP will now be 5pm on the relevant deadline date (rather than midnight, as was previously the case).

 Please see below the timetables for 2014-2014 funding schemes:

Postdoctoral Fellowships

  • Application forms, Outline Stage: available from  27 August 2014
  • BU internal deadline to RKEO – 2 October 2014
  • Applicant deadline, Outline Stage: 8 October 2014
  • Result of Outline Stage announced: 21 January 2015
  • BU internal deadline to RKEO – 19 February 2015
  • Application deadline, Second Stage: 25 February 2015
  • Final results confirmed: May 2015
  • Awards available for starting date: Not earlier than 1 September 2015 and not later than 1 January 2016

 Mid-Career Fellowships

  • Application forms, Outline Stage: available from  13 August 2014
  • BU internal deadline to RKEO – 11 September 2014
  • Applicant deadline, Outline Stage: 17 September 2014
  • Result of Outline Stage announced: 17 December 2014
  • BU internal deadline to RKEO – 15 January 2015
  • Application deadline, Second Stage: 21 January 2015
  • Final results confirmed: March 2015
  • Awards available for starting date: Not earlier than 1 September 2015 and not later than 1 January 2016

 BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grants

2014-15 Round (Round 1)

  • Application forms: available from  3 September 2014
  • BU internal deadline to RKEO – 9 October 2014
  • Applicant deadline: 15 October 2014
  • Final Results confirmed: March 2015
  • Awards available for starting date: Not earlier than 1 April 2015 and not later than 31 August 2015

2015 Round (Round 2)

  • Application forms: available from  1 April 2015
  • BU internal deadline to RKEO – 30 April 2015
  • Applicant deadline: 6 May 2015
  • Final Results confirmed: July 2015
  • Awards available for starting date: Not earlier than 1 September 2015 and not later than 31 March 2016

Skills Acquisition Awards

  • Application forms: available from  3 September 2014
  • BU internal deadline to RKEO – 23 October 2014
  • Applicant deadline: 29 October 2014
  • Final Results confirmed: March 2015
  • Awards available for starting date: Not earlier than 1 September 2015 and not later than 1 April 2016

BA/Leverhulme Senior Research Fellowships

  • Application forms: available from  15 October 2014
  • BU internal deadline to RKEO – 13 November 2014
  • Applicant deadline: 19 November 2014
  • Final Results confirmed: March 2015
  • Awards available for starting date: Not earlier than 1 September 2015 and not later than 1 January 2016

Neil Ker Memorial Fund Grants

  • Application forms: available from  22 October 2014
  • BU internal deadline to RKEO – 30 November 2014
  • Applicant deadline: 3 December 2014
  • Final Results confirmed: March 2015
  • Awards available for starting date: Not earlier than 1 April 2015 and not later than 31 December 2015

Stein-Arnold Exploration Fund Grants

  • Application forms: available from  22 October 2014
  • BU internal deadline to RKEO – 30 November 2014
  • Applicant deadline: 3 December 2014
  • Final Results confirmed: March 2015
  • Awards available for starting date: Not earlier than 1 April 2015 and not later than 31 December 2015

You can set up your own personalised alerts on ResearchProfessional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s RKE Officer in RKE Operations or see the recent post on this topic, which includes forthcoming training dates up to November 2014.

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

Reflections on an Oasis

BU research, Fusion, Research news, Women's Academic Network

Our final blog concerning our Fusion Investment Funded study leave, ENABLE: Establishing Sustainable Research Networks and Building Learning Environments, is written with very mixed feelings in mind.

For seven months we have worked across Southeast Asia to develop and establish links and research collaborations, teaching and education partnerships and to rediscover our passion for social action as ‘professional practice’ associated with our disciplines. The work has been intense, tiring, sometimes frustrating, but always illuminating and productive. It was a wrench to leave.

The return journey began with raised anxieties, heightened a couple of weeks earlier by the awful shooting down of a Malaysia Airlines aeroplane following the same route (although by then re-routed), and exacerbated when we were separated into two distinct travelling units, Jonathan with one child and Sara with the other, because the previous university travel firm booked tickets as two separate families! To make matters worse only Jonathan and Isabel’s tickets showed up and we had to wait to secure the other tickets. We were then given seats at opposite ends of the aeroplane and had to wait again for re-seating. The flight began well enough and was fairly smooth, only briefly punctuated by a somewhat antisocial ‘ramming’ of chair in front into one of our legs with particular force by someone who thought ‘turn off your electronics’ meant send texts to your friends!

However, we landed in one piece and breathed a sigh of relief, or possibly resignation, until, as in our usual practice of each taking one of the children through immigration the UKBA officer asked Jonathan rather sternly ‘where is the child’s mother?’ and when indicating where Sara was the officer proceeded to say that children have to be seen with their mother because mother’s are in general the carers of children and if present they have to be with the child. ‘Red rags and bulls’ often appear to Jonathan in unjust situations and he, as usual, took issue with this, but whilst we all got through immigration clearance more quickly, the officer insisted that his rather warped and myopic view of British law and custom was now right. Oh dear! We wondered what had happened in the seven months we had been away and whether we were entering Gormenghast!

But, back to the project itself! Our four key objectives have been met throughout the project, with varying degrees of success and changing morphologies:

1. Establish a sustainable research network promoting social sciences and interdisciplinary research at BU:

We have made contacts with individual academics, departments and universities across Southeast Asia, notably Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), Universiti Utara Malaysia, alongside contacts with Massey University in New Zealand,  Hong Kong University, The Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Myanmar Institute of Theology.

We have given names and contacts to people abroad and within BU to follow up. Research projects are being developed, publications are in train or planned for the future.

2. Develop research streams of locally specific or cross-cultural relevance:

Our research, completed with the Orang Asli as part of the Tasik Chini Research Centre, has culminated in numerous publications being submitted, developed and developing, wide dissemination across many fora, and establishing on-going research links.

3. Engage and promote educational initiatives via guest lectures/research seminars, developing joint postgraduate research supervision and educational initiatives promoting student mobility:

We have presented lectures and seminars, provided postgraduate supervision and contributed to curriculum planning and development discussions, as well as negotiated an important credit transfer scheme (although uptake has been delayed until we can find students both able and willing to go on this exciting opportunity!). Professional papers have been written and submitted.

4. Engage in discipline-specific activities in relation to social work:

a number of discipline specific activities concerning social action and development have been undertaken, including curriculum planning, assisting in education developments in Myanmar and in Malaysia in reference to the new (to be implemented) standardised Malaysian Diploma Social Work, alongside contributing to NGO development work.

Overall, during the study leave period, there has been 57 outputs, also including on-going work and connections to be completed over time. The 57 outputs included:

  • 6 books (3 published)
  • 14 book chapters (11 published or in press)
  • 12 peer reviewed papers (9 published or in press)
  • 3 professional papers
  • 1 book review
  • 16 conference presentations/open lectures etc.
  • 10 blogs
  • 6 media presentations

During our time away we have worked across five countries: Malaysia, Hong Kong SAR, Australia, Myanmar and Cambodia in order to carry out our research or present it, along with capacity-building missions for professional, social work training. We have undertaken respectively between 24 to 28 flights (trying, when one of us dislikes flying) and stayed in some extraordinarily interesting as well as very grim places during our fieldwork, resulting in abuse from miscellaneous assortments of blood-sucking insects (outsized mosquitoes, the usual bed bugs and fever-inducing leeches) bedding down with us or boisterously noisy lizards, both small and decidedly large, showering us with ordure from above.

One of us was joyfully returning ‘home’ to pioneering fieldwork in Southeast Asia and the other was equally rapturous to be introduced to it. We have developed a new appreciation of the diversity of international driving styles when finding it not unusual to be driven by taxi in the wrong direction through chaotic Yangon in the middle of two long lines of equally erratic cars heading in the right direction – towards us. Above all, we remember the various wonderfully funny, kind, clever, intriguing and endlessly good-natured people we me: all our participants, our various helpers, interpreters, drivers, guides and advisors, the academic staff and students who welcomed us so warmly, the inspiring NGO workers and service users; not forgetting the local café owner in Penang, who wept when we left before running to get her camera for group photos to remember us by.

Also, we will always remember just how much our children, Isabel and Milly grew and developed in stature (in all ways possible): learning the research process, engaging with children amongst the village communities, and themselves collecting valuable data and compiling magnificent school projects on their adventures and experiences. The children put up with a good deal with great fortitude, willingness and humour (or when the going got tough – heavy irony), easily comprehending the importance of the work undertaken; albeit, as 10 year-old Milly gravely commented in her write-up later, ‘fieldwork has its dark side’! Indeed, so impressed were we with them that they will be contributing their experiences and acting as co-authors to the forthcoming book on the Tasik Chini area.

Alongside the outputs, the work is now to capitalise on the study leave by the development and submission of funded research projects. Currently, these include gendered rituals in professional working, problematizing research ethics and learning disabilities, understanding religion as resistance, and gender in higher education.

The study leave represented a life-giving oasis, somewhere to wash and attend to our own sacred cattle as in the photo from Cambodia, and we gratefully acknowledge the help and supported afforded us by Bournemouth University and our two main host universities in Malaysia (UKM and USM). We would encourage other academic staff to apply for study leave and we think that the productivity of our period of study leave indicates how important this can be to both individual academics but also to the greater good of Bournemouth University.

Jonathan Parker & Sara Ashencaen Crabtree

Latest Major Funding Opportunities

BU research, Funding opportunities, Research news

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

The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) have announced that their Collaborative Doctoral Partnerships scheme will be reopening next year. The AHRC is seeking applications from non-HEI Organisations or consortia to become Collaborative Doctoral Partners with the AHRC to support and provide high-quality doctoral training. It is recommended that you check the funding pages in spring 2015. 

The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council’s (BBSRC) have launched their Images with Impact – BBSRC anniversary image competition. The competition is seeking the best images that showcase UK bioscience and its importance in everyday life. The competition forms part of a series of engaging activities throughout 2014 to highlight the impact of BBSRC’s research base, world-leading bioscience, and its important contribution to the UK economy over 20 years. With this competition we want you to capture the exciting developments happening in bioscience today with images from the Great British public, its students and its researchers. There are fantastic prizes up for grabs, with a total prize fund of over £2,400. The deadline for submissions is 06/10/2014. 

The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council’s (BBSRC) Modular Training Partnerships scheme funds the development of industrially-relevant short training courses at Masters level. Training should be developed in close collaboration with industry, and evidence of industrial demand is a key requirement for funding. Modular Training Partnerships provide pump-prime funding for the development of individual training modules, and preparation and marketing of course materials, and course launch. The deadline for applications is 15/10/2014.

The Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) are pleased to announce that a Sustainable Aquaculture Call for Proposals will be published in September for collaborative proposals to support aquaculture related research, where aquaculture is the farming or cultivation of organisms such as fin-fish, molluscs and crustaceans. BBSRC and NERC have each committed £2·5m to this Call for Proposals. Additional co-funding from other partners, including the Agri-Food & Biosciences Institute (AFBI) and the Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science (CEFAS), is anticipated and will be available to cover the costs of their researchers on proposals. Applications for the scheme will be open from September 2014 and are expected to close early November 2014. 

Following on from the RCUK Lifelong Health and Wellbeing Exploratory Workshop ‘Transformational Approaches to Improving Hearing Aid Technology’, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) are highlighting this future call. It will aim to encourage Engineering and Physical Sciences (EPS) researchers to develop disruptive technologies for use in hearing aid devices. The estimated opening date is 16/09/2014 and estimated closing date is 27/11/2014. 

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) are offering a three month secondment opportunity to the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology; open to EPSRC funded PhD students. The deadline for applications is 03/10/2014 and the start date for successful applicants is from March 2015.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) in the UK and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) in India in collaboration with Department of International Development (DFID) are pleased to announce a joint call to fund Global Health Research which will bring together researchers from the UK, India and Low Income Countries. The MRC aim to fund work which addresses health needs of the most disadvantaged populations globally.  The scope of the call is research proposals that address major health needs of women and children in low resource settings, with a focus on issues relating to one or combinations of the following topics: Maternal, new born and child health (including women’s and girl’s sexual health); Nutrition and Infectious diseases (e.g. malaria). Applications must be submitted by 16:00 on the 21/10/2014. 

The Royal Society’s Professorship for Public Engagement in Science award is for a well-established scientist with exceptional scientific communication skills and media experience to support the Society’s public engagement work. The appointment will be for five years in the first instance with the opportunity to renew the professorship for a further five years. The maximum amount of time that the Society expects the successful candidate to commit to the Professorship is 50%. Therefore, the Society will provide a contribution to the salary of the successful candidate on a pro-rata basis depending on the time committed to the Society. This scheme is now open to applications, and will close on 16/09/2014.

The Royal Society’s Industrial Fellowship scheme is for academic scientists who want to work on a collaborative project with industry and for scientists in industry who want to work on a collaborative project with an academic organisation. It aims to enhance knowledge transfer in science and technology between those in industry and those in academia in the UK. The scheme provides a basic salary for the researcher and a contribution towards research costs. Closing date: 30/09/14.

The Welcome Trust’s Career Re-entry Fellowships scheme is for postdoctoral scientists who have recently decided to recommence a scientific research career after a continuous break of at least two years. It gives such scientists the opportunity to return to high-quality research, with the potential to undertake refresher or further training. The fellowship is particularly suitable for applicants wishing to return to research after a break for family commitments. Applications for this scheme are considered twice a year, details of the next round are as follows: Preliminary application deadline, 06/10/2014 (5pm); Invited full application deadline, 08/12/2014 (5pm); Shortlisted candidate interviews, 13-15/04/2014. 

The Welcome Trust’s Research Training Fellowships scheme is for medical, dental, veterinary or clinical psychology graduates who have little or no research training, but who wish to develop a long-term career in academic medicine. Applications are encouraged from individuals who wish to undertake substantial training through high-quality research in an appropriate unit or clinical research facility, towards a PhD or MD qualification. Applications are considered three times a year; the next closing date is 01/12/2014. 

The Welcome Trust’s Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowships scheme provides a unique opportunity for the most promising newly qualified postdoctoral researchers to make an early start in developing their independent research careers, working in the best laboratories in the UK and overseas. Candidates will be expected to identify an important biomedical research question and to develop and deliver a personal programme to achieve their research aims. The fellowship is for four years full-time and may be taken up on a part-time employment basis with the tenure of award lengthened accordingly. The fellowship provides an award of £250 000. Applications for this scheme are considered twice a year, details of the next round are as follows: Preliminary application deadline, 06/10/2014 (5pm); Invited full application deadline, 08/12/2014 (5pm); Shortlisted candidate interviews, 13-15/04/2014. 

The Wellcome Trust invites submissions for their Welcome Image Awards. If you are a research scientist, photographer or illustrator, your images could reach a global audience. The winning images will go on display at science centres and public galleries across the UK. The deadline for submissions is 30/09/2014.

Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKE Support Officer.

You can set up your own personalised alerts on ResearchProfessional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s RKE Officer in RKE Operations or see the recent post on this topic, which includes forthcoming training dates up to November 2014.

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

Make Your Voice Heard

BU research, Featured, News from the PVC, REF Subjects, Research news, Training

Logo with a megaphone and event title

It’s not enough just to do cutting edge research. We also know that we have to share it and pass on our findings or even our views about matters that are important to society.  Such profile-raising can help attract future research funding, raise our standing and that of BU and, with an eye on REF2020, help achieve impact.

Talking to journalists, using social media and updating blogs or websites does not come naturally to all of us and can be seen as just another demand placed on people who are already struggling with a busy schedule.

The communications department at the University have offered to make it easier for us to get our voice heard. They are hosting an event entitled Make Your Voice Heard to explore how to do this with impact and effect.

Taking place on 10 September 2014, we will discuss important topics, such as how academics can enrich the media and how to balance different stakeholder wants and needs. There will also be opportunities to acquire some practical tools, tips and techniques.

Ultimately, it would be great to see more of our staff sharing their unique and valuable perspectives on matters important to society and raising the profile of BU in the local, regional and national scene. Whether that’s through informed comment or sharing research outcomes, the communications team can help us do it more effectively.

‘Make Your Voice Heard’ runs from 9:00 – 14:00 on Talbot Campus and we will even be providing lunch. It is open to all researchers, from PGRs to Professors.

You can see the full schedule and book your place by following this link to the Eventbrite page. If you would like to find out more before booking, please contact Sarah Gorman (Corporate Communications Assistant).

I look forward to seeing you there…..

BU Learning and Teaching Fellowships 2014

BU research, Research news

In May 2014, the opportunity to apply for a BU Learning and Teaching Fellowship (BULTF) award was promoted across the University community. The award is intended to demonstrate the University’s commitment to valuing education excellence based on a fusion with research and professional practice and to encourage the widest dissemination of these activities. Any member of staff who is engaged in supporting and promoting excellence in student learning was eligible to apply, including: academic staff; staff in learning support roles, for example, subject librarians; study support staff; learning technologists; careers advisers, or placement support staff; and those supporting colleagues’ learning through staff development.

There were eleven applications this year and we are pleased that six colleagues were successful in meeting the criteria:

Dr Milena Bobeva, BS

Dr Bethan Collins, HSC

Joanna Hawkes, ST

Dr Mel Hughes, HSC

Marian Mayer, MS

Dr Mark Readman, CEMP

Overall, there were some good examples of very innovative practice; the comments included from peers and students lent strong support to the applications. The stronger candidates looked beyond direct teaching practice to the wider context of higher education, demonstrated willingness and the ability to extend themselves beyond their job descriptions/ roles, demonstrated drive and leadership. The best applications have clearly set their sights on national recognition and extending their influence beyond BU. 

Each award comprises a sum of £2000, presented to the individual Fellowship Holder in recognition of their excellent practice.  It is expected that successful candidates will use this opportunity to prepare themselves and their case for National Teaching Fellowship application in order to ensure that BU’s strength in education practice is recognised at national level. Well done to all!

Professor B Gail Thomas

Dean of HSC & Director of the Centre for Excellence in Learning