Category / Research news

2014 sees a surge in engagement with eBU

BU research, PG research, Publishing, Research news

Through immediate internal publication and open peer review, eBU is ideally placed to support the developmental needs of authors at any career stage, and I’m pleased to say that, so far, the 2014 issue has seen a levels of engagement from across the career spectrum. eBU has had two working paper submissions so far in 2014 (and there are plenty more in the archived 2013 issue!).

Firstly, under the Lifelong Health and Wellbeing theme, Sheetal Sharma (HSC) and colleagues submitted a paper titled Eliciting Nepali women’s views on childbirth and the newborn. A full text file of this paper has been openly reviewed and can be viewed here – http://ebu/index.php/ebu/article/view/17.  I understand Sheetal has just submitted this paper to an external journal, so best of luck and we await with great excitement to hear the outcome!

Secondly, under the Education, Learning and Practice theme, Jonathan Williams (again HSC) has submitted a paper titled Is student knowledge of anatomy affected by a Problem-Based Learning approach? A full text file of this paper can be read here – http://ebu/index.php/ebu/article/view/24.

eBU was also delighted to be able to support outputs from the 2014 PGR conference, and a number of PGRs have decided to use eBU to showcase their work. Why not take a look at the following abstracts and posters:

Business, Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth

Alice Bonasio – PGR Conf 2014 Abstract: Customer Engagement Through Crowd-Funding and Social Media: http://ebu/index.php/ebu/article/view/21

Lifelong Health and Wellbeing

Ben Hicks – PGR Conf 2014 Abstract: Using commercial computer game technology to benefit men with dementia residing in rural areas of Dorset: http://ebu/index.php/ebu/article/view/19

Sheetal Sharma – PGR Conf 2014 Abstract: Pregnant and ‘dirty’ for 40 days: A qualitative study of childbirth practice, beliefs and myths in Nepal: http://ebu/index.php/ebu/article/view/20

Jonny Branney – PGR Conf 2014 Abstract: Is spinal manipulation associated with changes in cervical inter-vertebral motion?: http://ebu/index.php/ebu/article/view/23

Research Methods and Practice

Jenny Roddis – PGR Conf 2014 Poster: Experience of interviewing: face-to-face vs. telephone: http://ebu/index.php/ebu/article/view/22

Technology & Design

Manuel Salvador – PGR Conf 2014 Poster: Automating Data Pre-processing for Online and Dynamic Processes in the Chemical Industry: http://ebu/index.php/ebu/article/view/18

Book Now! The Leverhulme Trust are visiting BU on Wednesday the 19th of March 2014

BU research, Funding opportunities, Grants Academy, Research news

Following on from our well attended visit from the AHRC and the British Academy I am pleased to remind you that the Leverhulme Trust will be visiting us next on the 19thof March – it is not too late to get yourself booked in….

Working on a variety of initiatives in R&KEO over the years, one element of development which we receive consistently excellent feedback, is the events we arrange where funders come to BU and present their organisations funding priorities and give advice on making an application. We have arranged for several funders to visit BU in 2014, we have already hosted visits from the AHRC and the British Academy and are pleased to announce our next arranged visit is with the Leverhulme Trust.

This will be taking place on Wednesday 19 March 2014, and Jean Cater (Mrs) The Assistant Director from the Leverhulme Trust which funds all academic disciplines will be visiting to discuss their grants and give advice on making an application.

Spaces on this event are becoming limited due to the room available so booking is essential!

Grants Academy members can be guaranteed a space by emailing Dianne. Or by emailing Staff Development

The booking hyperlink is:

Leverhulme Trust  funder visit

This is taking place mainly over the lunchtime period (12 midday until about 1pm -1:30pm ish) so please feel free to bring your lunch with you

We look forward to seeing as many of you who can make it.

eBU news, updates and success story!

BU research, PG research, Publishing, Research news, Research themes

eBU news: updates and achievements

It’s been a while since I posted about eBU. Since my last post there has been some exciting updates and progress to report. There are some new faces to welcome, a reminder to encourage students to submit, news that eBU is supporting outputs from the PGR conference and will support outputs from an exciting new conference, and…  (drum roll…) a paper originally submitted to eBU has been published in an external journal!

Welcome aboard!

Heather Savigny has joined me as a co-editor. I have met with Heather a few times now, and it is obvious that she is passionate about developing writing and scholarly skills. On this basis, Heather is a perfect addition to the team. We have both met with the new PVC Prof John Fletcher, and I’m glad to say that, like his predecessor, he is very supportive of eBU. Shelly Maskell from R&KEO has also come aboard and will provide vital support in helping develop eBU.

Encourage students to submit

One immediate challenge for eBU is not appeal to students. eBU launched a bit too late last year to appeal to students who would have made important submissions at the end of last academic year (dissertations etc), but hopefully we will be well placed to appeal to them this year! So I urge all academic staff to encourage students who produce good quality to a) encourage them to spend a little bit more time and format their work into a publishable output and b) offer some support to this end.

PGR conference

eBU is well placed to help early career researchers and students make that leap into the ‘publish or perish’ world of academia. On this basis, it is a tool that PGRs should take advantage of. We are actively encouraging people who presented their work at the PGR conference to submit their work to eBU. We have received a good number of abstracts and posters already, and eBU will be a great platform to showcase this work BU wide. Outputs associated with the PGR conference to have deadlines, and these are:

  • Please submit posters before Friday 14th March.
  • Please submit abstracts before Friday 14th March.
  • Please submit conference papers before 12th April

I would encourage those who made an oral presentations to write it up as a conference paper. There is guidance for PGRs on myBU and on the Graduate School website, but do feel free to get in touch with any questions. We don’t generally set deadlines, so please remember that you can submit any other papers you might have in the pipeline (e.g. review papers) at any time, and we will guarantee a quick internal and open peer review.

Future scope

Congratulations to Luciana Esteves from ApSci, who has been successful in winning some Fusion funding to kick-start an annual undergraduate research conference at BU – SURE@BU. This is something to look out for in the future, but it is worth stating now that eBU will play a key role in the publication of conference abstracts, posters, conference papers etc.

Success!!!

I’m glad to report that one of the submissions to eBU has been published by an external journal, and I believe others will shortly follow suit. The successful paper in question is a paper that I wrote with colleagues. However, it is a useful little case study to illustrate how and why eBU works.

Myself and colleagues in HSC and outside (University of Exeter, University of Plymouth and Westbourne Medical Centre) submitted a grant application in the second half of last year. In most grant applications you have opportunity to summarise the key literature, and this one was no different. Unfortunately whilst the grant application was unsuccessful, I took a senior colleagues advice and spent a little bit of time turning the application into a paper. After a few weeks I submitted it to eBU (the phrase ‘put your money where your mouth is’ comes to mind!). As I had a bit of a vested interest it was processed by editorial colleagues and reviews were uploaded after a few weeks. It really helped having two sets of informed but fresh eyes scrutinise the paper, and changes were made on the basis of these reviews. The paper was submitted to a journal and accepted with suggestions for minor changes.

When I wrote this article I was a Research Assistant here and, like many early career researchers, I had aspirations of becoming published in peer reviewed journals. One of my trepidations was getting that first publication. I’m now a PhD student here, and I’m sure the floodgates will open (along with another colleague have since have had another accepted!) as I now have many ideas for potential papers and now – thanks to eBU – I have no fear of the unknown!

Andy Harding

Doctoral Researcher and eBU co-editor

 

Workshop on Streaming Analytics Thursday 13th March 10:30.

BU research, EU, Fusion, PG research, Research news, Uncategorized

As part of a collaboration between BU and several other EU based universities and intitutions we will be hosting SAAT 2014 a workshop on the emerging area of streaming analytics. The workshop is open to all for the first day (the second day is taken up with management meetings). The focus of this workshop is on the technical aspects of how to provide streaming analytics.

Scalability and responsiveness of algorithms and architectures for large scale data streams are fundamental to harvesting the power of data generated in real-time networks. The workshop seeks to bring together industry and academic partners to explore specifically the requirements of data processing, the real-world target applications and develop from there the techniques required. The scope thus includes applications, scaling algorithms, streaming platforms, integration of streaming and batch algorithms, graph partitioning together with machine learning for streaming, concept drift and dynamic data analysis. Additional topics such as security issues and tool and platform development are of interest.

Aims:
The key aims in this workshop are several fold. Primarily we seek to identify the key issues associated real world streams of data, including key target applications. Integrated  solutions, combining appropriate topics from the scope which target likely directions in this field is the end goal. Specifically, the aim of the workshop is to facilitate interaction as a crucible for consortium building in advance of Horizon 2020 (call 1.A.1.1 from the 2014-15 draft work programme.).

Organisers: Dr. Hamid Bouchachia(DEC) , Dr. Damien Fay (DEC)

“Six-hit” for PR History

Publishing, Research news, Uncategorized

Collating and editing six books on the history of public relations is one of the main projects being undertaken by Professor Tom Watson of the Media School during his FIF-supported study leave.

The books will be the first-ever study of PR’s history outside North America. Collectively the series is entitled “National Developments in the Development of Public Relations: Other Voices” and is being published by Palgrave in its new Pivot model.

The first book, Asian Perspectives in the Development of Public Relations: Other Voices, is now in production and will be published in May. It will be followed by Eastern Europe and Russia (being edited), Middle East & Africa, Latin America & Caribbean, Western Europe and a final book of essays on the theorisation of public relations history.

“In public relations literature for several decades, it was assumed that PR was an American invention,” Prof Watson said. “And American scholars nationalistically purveyed that world view. Since the start of the International History of Public Relations Conference at BU in 2010, it was evident that PR and informational/promotional communications have many sources which depend on social, political and cultural influences.

“This series will shift the historiography of PR and related methods of communication away from the US to the ‘other voices’ of the series title. It is an important development that keeps BU as a world leader in PR and media/communication history research, alongside the work of the Centre for Media History.”

Prof Watson says publication of the series should be complete by mid-2015. Each Pivot volume is up to 50,000 words and is published by Palgrave in e-book and print-on-demand formats. The publisher undertakes to publish each book within three months of its submission.

Centre for Qualitative Research (CQR) Refreshes Its Web Presence

BU research, Featured, Research news, Research themes

The Centre for Qualitative Research (CQR), a long-standing resource for research practice and postgraduate learning at BU, has recently undergone a ‘refit’ of its web pages.  Content from the old site has been moved over to the new platform for Bournemouth University groups and centres. The new format now makes it possible to link with work taking place in other Schools and research sites. In addition, Impact, Public Engagement and Postgraduate Research links feature on every page.

CQR is held in high esteem globally for its innovative work and commitment to qualitative research. The refreshed web pages provide an international ‘shop window’ for CQR, School of Health & Social Care and BU more generally in regards to cutting-edge qualitative work. CQR has always engaged across Schools at BU and welcomes new opportunities for collaborate efforts.

The new CQR pages include information, resources and links organised around the following areas of research:

In addition, areas such as Biographic Narrative Interpretive Research, Cut-up Technique and Appreciative Inquiry are covered. A new page outlining the ‘Gay and Pleasant Land? Project and Rufus Stone’ has been added. The recently organised, cross-Schools ARTS in RESEARCH (AiR) collaboration is also featured.

The new web pages include new information and resources, links to further information and even videos for viewing pleasure! Last but not least, a photo has been added as a ‘Featured Image’ highlighting the essence of each page.

Have a look around this interesting site!

Latest Major Funding Opportunities

BU research, Funding opportunities, Research news

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

The BBSRC Visualising Research competition for designers, graphic artists, software developers, programmers and anyone with an interest in data visualisation is now open. The purpose of this challenge is to develop visualisations of the Gateway to Research data that can be easily understood by the public. Displaying these data in an accessible way will also have benefits for a range of sectors, stakeholders including policy makers, other funding bodies and the media. A prize of £2,000 will be awared on 28/4/14. The closing date for application is 21/03/14.

The EPSRC‘s Centre for Power Electronics is pleased to announce an external call for proposals for funding to carry out Feasibility Studies which align or deliver to the Centre’s vision. Central to this call is the need for submissions to deliver to the vision of the Centre in supporting innovation in the UK power electronics sector. Up to £70,000 per project is available. The closing date is 15:00 on 10/04/14.

In addtion, the EPSRC are support Cross-Cutting Topic Projects (scroll down on page for this call). Up to £300,000 is avaialble per proejct. The closing date for this call is also 15:00 on 10/04/14. 

Through the EPSRC, the RCUK Energy Programme invites expressions of interest from those willing to attend a workshop in Oxford to develop Phase 3 of the UK-India civil nuclear research programmes. The EoI must be submiited by 04/04/14. The workshop is expected to take place 10/06/14 to 12/06/14.

The MOD’s Centre for Defence Enterprise (CDE) (part of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl)), seeks applications regarding Novel electro-optic infrared technology. There will  be a webinar for this competition on Thursday 6 March 2014. The closing date is 08/04/14.

The NERC  Standard Research Grants  is an open competition for curiosity-motivated basic, strategic or applied research in the environmental sciences. Proposals are assessed on their scientific excellence. A minimum of £65,000 to a maximum of £1.2m is awarded. The next round will close on 22/07/14.

Through NERC, the ESPA-2014 Grants call is for ‘blue skies’ research projects designed to significantly advance global understanding on the way that ecosystem services contribute to poverty alleviation, with specific emphasis on generating new understanding that can benefit poor people in low-income countries (LICs). Research funded under ESPA-2014 is expected to inform thinking and practice over, at least, the next decade, representing a step-change in the knowledge and evidence that will underpin future activities in ESPA’s sphere of activity. Awards of up to £150,000 are available. The closing date is 16:00 on 14/05/14.

 NERC is inviting applications to host workshops. One of the activities that helps integration and interaction across the Biodiveristy and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (BESS) projects and extends BESS science into the wider community is through NERC’s programme of workshops and working groups. BESS has internal funds for supporting this activity which can be applied for at any time. Up to £8,000 can be awarded for each workshop, which could include travel for up to two international participants.

The Wellcome Trust invites application from PhD student or junior fellows, funded through the Wellcome Trust Medical Humanities (MH) programme, to undertake a three-month fellowship at the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST). The Fellowship allows unique access to a parliamentary and policy-making setting, thereby facilitating the real-world application of policy relevant research in medical humanities. Applications should reach the Wellcome Trust by 22/11/014.

The Wellcome Trust has announced the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology Fellowship in Society and Ethics. This scheme enables a Wellcome Trust-funded PhD student or junior fellow to undertake a three-month fellowship at the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST). If successful in applying, a fully funded three-month minimum extension to the PhD or fellowship award will be supported, and any maintenance grant will also be paid while based at POST. Travel and accommodation needs will also be considered. Closing date 02/04/14.

 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.

Upcoming event for staff and students: Simon Phelps ‘Starting & Growing a Business’

Research news

The Centre for Entrepreneurship is delighted to host a presentation by Simon Phelps a BU graduate and founder of Fluvial Innovation Ltd. Simon founded Fluvial Innovations Ltd alongside Bournemouth University in 2006. Fluvial Innovations Ltd designed, developed and patented the modular flood barrier – Floodstop.

Floodstop was specifically designed to fill a gap within the market for a functional and rapidly deployable flood barrier and is used throughout the UK, US and parts of Europe. Awards for Floodstop include Winner of Climate Week – Best Climate Ready Initiative 2013 and Emergency Planning Society’s Most Innovative Product of the Year 2009. To find out more about Floodstop or Fluvial please visit the website: www.fluvial-innovations.co.uk

Join us to hear more about Simon’s journey from being a Bournemouth University Student to running Fluvial Innovations as a growing and sustainable business. You will get a chance to hear about the steps Simon took along the way and find out about his up and downs on the road to success.

This event is for Bournemouth University Staff and Students only.

To book please visit: bit.ly/1lwiaFV 

Research Seminar on “The funding of infectious disease research – data, databases and making it all mean something”

Research news

We would like to invite you to our next Software Systems Research Centre (SSRC) and Smart Technology Research Centre (STRC) joint seminar given by Michael Head, University College London, on “The funding of infectious disease research – data, databases and making it all mean something”

 

Room: PG11 (Poole House, Talbot Campus)

Time: 3:00PM–4:00PM

Date: Thursday   06-March-2014

 

 

Abstract:

“Infectious diseases cause significant burden of disease both in the UK and globally. Research into these diseases is vital in order to further our understanding of them, and to aid the implementation of measures to prevent or treat infections. There has not previously been a systematic approach to analysing how funding monies are spent in this area of research. We created the Research Investments in Global Health (ResIn) study and obtained data from all the major public and charitable funding sources for infection-related research awarded to UK institutions for the period 1997-2010. We manually read each study and abstract (if provided) and assigned each study to a number of disease categories (e.g. HIV, tuberculosis, respiratory infections, antimicrobial resistance), as well as the type of science (e.g. laboratory studies, clinical trials) and several other areas.

We identified 6165 funded studies, with a total research investment of UK£2.6 billion. By disease, HIV received £461 million (17.7%), malaria £346 million (13.3%), tuberculosis £149 million (5.7%), influenza £80 million (3.1%), and hepatitis C £60 million (2.3%). We compared funding with disease burden (disability adjusted life years, DALYs, and mortality) to show where there may be low levels of investment relative to burden e.g. diarrhoeal infections (£254 million, 9.7%).  Further steps that we’d like to pursue include expansion from the UK to a global analysis that will allow more in-depth analysis of areas that should be prioritised in the future, and we are seeking funding to do that.

In the meantime, in order to make maximum use of our data, in collaboration with colleagues at Bournemouth University, we intend to create an online open-access database that will allow funders, policymakers and researchers to search and download the customised sections of the funding data, as well as presenting graphs and infographics as requested by the user.  We are also very much open to suggestions for any further collaborative ideas or funding opportunities.  See the study website, www.researchinvestments.org for more information and a list of our publications to date. Or contact Michael Head at m.head@ucl.ac.uk”

We hope to see you all there

Book Now! Leverhulme Trust – our next funder visit March 19th 2014

BU research, Funding opportunities, Grants Academy, Research news, Training

Following on from our well attended visit from the AHRC and the British Academy I am pleased to remind you that the Leverhulme Trust will be visiting us next on the 19th of March – it is not too late to get yourself booked in….

Working on a variety of initiatives in R&KEO over the years, one element of development which we receive consistently excellent feedback, is the events we arrange where funders come to BU and present their organisations funding priorities and give advice on making an application. We have arranged for several funders to visit BU in 2014, we have already hosted visits from the AHRC and the British Academy and are pleased to announce our next arranged visit is with the Leverhulme Trust.

This will be taking place on Wednesday 19 March 2014, and Jean Cater (Mrs) The Assistant Director from the Leverhulme Trust which funds all academic disciplines will be visiting to discuss their grants and give advice on making an application.

Spaces on this event are becoming limited due to the room available so booking is essential!

Grants Academy members can be guaranteed a space by emailing Dianne. Or by emailing Staff Development

The booking hyperlink is:

Leverhulme Trust  funder visit

This is taking place mainly over the lunchtime period (12 midday until about 1pm -1:30pm ish) so please feel free to bring your lunch with you

We look forward to seeing as many of you who can make it.

Towards Platform Agnostic Software Development for Games

PG research, Research news

We would like to invite you to the next research seminar of the Creative Technology Research Centre that will be delivered by Karsten Pedersen.

 

Title: Towards Platform Agnostic Software Development for Games

Time: 2:00PM-3:00PM                

Date: Wednesday 5th March 2014

Room: P302 (Poole House, Talbot Campus)

 

Abstract: With the rapid introduction and deprecation of mobile platforms it is becoming increasingly necessary to develop games in a portable manner so that as much work as possible is transferable between them. This talk looks towards changes which can be made to the development pipeline that can help create a game in a more platform agnostic manner, whilst still being able to utilize any unique features native to a device that the players will want to take advantage of. An explanation is provided of what DeepThought, the main tool facilitating all this, is and how it can be used to develop games in a modular and portable manner. The handling and inlining of different languages with a tool called Iffe will also be covered. Together, these two technologies can greatly simplify the development process by not just simply providing a cross platform game engine for existing platforms but also by providing a generic solution that can be adapted to any future technology.

 

We hope to see you there.

Networking opportunity with expert in Behaviour Change

BU research, PG research, Research news

To remind, we have Dr Falko Sniehotta from Newcastle University visiting on Tuesday 4th March (http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/?s=falko).

There are spaces left on the workshop for those that would like to sign up for this free workshop (plus free lunch).

For those that cannot attend the workshop (10am – 12pm), but would like to informally talk with Falko during our networking lunch (12pm – 1pm), then you are most welcome to join us in PG146, Talbot campus (though lunch will only be provided for those on the workshop).

Falko is keen to discuss potential research collaborations with BU staff and so would welcome the opportunity to meet with colleagues.

Forthcoming Seminars Organised by Women’s Academic Network

Post-award, Research news, Women's Academic Network

I’d like to invite you to the forthcoming  seminars  organised by the Women’s Academic Network.

 

Dr Cynthia Carter

Venue: K101

Date and time: Friday, 28 Feb, 14:00-16:00

 

Biography (http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/jomec/contactsandpeople/profiles/carter-cynthia.html):

Dr Cynthia Carter is a Senior Lecturer in the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies, Cardiff University.

Her books include Current Perspectives in Feminist Media Studies (Routledge, 2013); Critical Readings: Violence and the Media (Open University Press, 2006); Critical Readings: Media and Gender (Open University Press, 2004), Violence and the Media (Open University Press, 2003), Environmental Risks and the Media Routledge, 2000) and News, Gender and Power (Routledge, 1998). She is currently co-editing a companion on media and gender.

She is Founding Co-Editor of the journal Feminist Media Studies (Routledge) and is editorial board member of Communication, Culture & Critique (Wiley-Blackwell), Communication Review (Taylor & Francis), Communication Theory (Wiley-Blackwell), Critical Studies in Media Communication (Taylor & Francis), Fifth Estate (online), Journal of Children and Media (Routledge), Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, Sociology Compass (Blackwell), and Studies on Women and Gender Abstracts (Routledge).

Cindy will discuss her work with the Global Media Monitoring Project (http://www.whomakesthenews.org), the largest longitudinal study on gender in the world’s media. She has been involved in the study since 2000.

 

Professor Catherine Cassell

Title of presentation: The state of qualitative management research and future challenges for qualitative researchers

Venue: EB206

Date and time: Thursday, 03 April, 2014, 14:00-16:00

 

Biography:

Catherine Cassell is Professor of Organisational Psychology. Previously she was Head of the School’s People, Management and Organisations Division and head of Postgraduate Research programmes. Before joining MBS she held appointments in the Management School at the University of Sheffield and at Sheffield Business School. She was the founding chair of British Academy of Management’s Special Interest group in Research Methodology – a group she is still heavily involved with – and is currently a member of the Association of Business School’s Research Policy Committee. Professor Cassell is an Associate Editor of the ‘British Journal of Management’, inaugural co-Editor of ‘Qualitative Research in Organisations and Management: an international journal’, and on the Editorial Advisory Boards of five other journals. She is a Fellow of the British Academy of Management and an Academic Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Catherine’s research interests are in the area of organisational change and learning; and diversity and dignity in the workplace. She has a specific interest in the use of qualitative research techniques in both management and organisational research. Together with Gillian Symon from Birkbeck she has published a number of books and articles in this area, plus chaired and convened symposia at international conferences. She has also jointly edited special issues of a number of different journals all focused on the use of qualitative methods and alternative epistemological approaches in management and organizational research. Furthermore she has completed a two year ESRC funded project entitled ‘Benchmarking good practice in qualitative management research’ (with G. Symon and P. Johnson) where the team developed training materials aimed at enhancing good practice in the field. She has also received research grants from a number of organisations including ESRC, EPSRC, British Academy, ERDF and the EU and has supervised 15 doctoral students to completion.

For catering purpose, please book your place with Staff Development staffdevelopment@bournemouth.ac.uk

 

Christine Bosse

Venue: EB306

Date and time: Friday, 11 April, 2014, 15:00-17:00

 

She is widely known in the public for her direct and no-nonsense communication and is enthusiastically engaged in the societal debate for a better and safer world. She is a role model for many aspiring young people as the highest ranking female CEO in Denmark and was appointed the 22nd most influential business woman in the world in 2009 and 2010 by the Financial Times.

Stine Bosse serves as chairman of Flügger Denmark, The Royal Danish Theater, CONCITO, Børnefonden, and Copenhagen Art Festival. She serves as vice chairman of ChildFund Alliance and sits on the board of among others TDC, Allianz and Aker ASA. Additionally, Stine Bosse is the former chairman of the supervisory board of the Danish Insurance Association (Forsikring & Pension), and former board member of Grundfos, Nordea Bank A/S and Amlin plc. In the Spring 2010, Stine Bosse was appointed Advocate for the Millenium Development Goals by the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, to fight world hunger and poverty. Stine is also the founder of Women in Europe Network.

 

Latest Major Funding Opportunities

BU research, Funding opportunities, Research news

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

The AHRC and ESRC have developed a partnership with three organisations that are interested in hosting a funded Design Fellow within their organisation: The Design Council, Skills Development Scotland and The Cabinet Office Policy Lab. The Fellowship will fund design researchers to spend up to 12 months embedded in such organisations, working on a collaborative project that will be of interest and benefit to both the researcher and the host organisation. Awards must start between 1st August 2014 and 31st December 2014 inclusive. Closing date 24/04/14.

EPSRC are inviting research proposals from consortia across the Engineering and Physical Sciences communities to address the manufacturing research challenges in developing applications, production technologies and future processes that incorporate advanced functional materials. Up to £2.5m per proejct is available. EOIs are to be submitted by 15/04/14 with invited full proposals to be submitted by end July 2014

 As part of their community building exercise, EPSRC Centre – LiME (national centre in liquid metal engineering) have set up a special fund to support small-scale feasibility studies in the UK solidification community (excluding the original LiME investigators). A total of £144,000 has been ring-fenced to support a total of 6 studies, each at a cost of up to £24k (80% FEC). The duration of each feasibility study should not exceed 6 months. This support will provide proof-of-concept results for preparation of grant proposals to the relevant funding bodies. Closing date 14/03/14

The ERA-NET Bioenergy wishes to fund collaborative projects on integrated biorefineries. Projects must aim to provide optimal value by a complete, integrated utilisation of raw material from sustainable. Pre-proposals closing date 28/04/14.

 NERC are offering funding for the Oil and Gas sector. They have a call for innovation funding to facilitate the take up of NERC science and expertise by the oil and gas industry. The closing date for this call is 16:00 on 08/05/14.

NERC also have a number of Knowledge Exchange opportunties. All close on 06/05/14 with interview dates in June aNand July. These include:

  • Oil and Gas – developing a broader, strategic approach to mapping and engaging the sector, including identifying future opportunities and approaches to engagement
  • FASTNEt – understanding UK shelf water quality and productivity
  • Horticulture – to bring tangible benefits to business performance through sustained knowledge exchange and effective research translation
  • Environmental Nanoscience – for the Environmental Nanoscience Initiative (ENI) research programme in 2014 for a period of one year with the possibility of further extension
  • Future Cities – meeting the need of the Cities-Lab to access the UK environmental science base
  • International Ocean Discovery Programme – developing knowledge exchange activities and improve engagement with industry

 

The Technology Strategy Board, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) are to invest up to £13m in collaborative R&D and feasibility studies projects, to stimulate innovation in the UK’s  civil nuclear power sector.  Academic and research oganisations can apply but cannot lead a project. The total non-business involvement in a project cannot exceed 50% of the total project costs for collaborative R&D, or 30% of the total project costs for feasibility studies.   R&D projects to range in size between £500k and £3m and particularly encourage larger companies to work with SMEs.  A briefing event for applicants will be held in London on 19/03/14.  Applicants must register by 23/04/14. The deadline for feasibility studies applications is noon on 30/04/14.  The application process for CR&D projects is in two stages, with the deadline for  stage 1 (expressions of interest) also noon  on 30/04/14.
 
The Northern Ireland Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPSNI) in partnership with Technology Strategy Board, working with the Northern Ireland Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) and Invest Northern Ireland (InvestNI), is launching a Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) competition to stimulate the development of innovative technology solutions to optimise patient health and social care outcomes through improved medicines adherence, through the Medicines Optimisation call. Technology has a role to play to help improve medicines adherence. This competition is seeking to develop innovative solutions to improve medicines adherence in response to assessed needs. Taking the right medicines at the right time is a key step in the medicines management process and perhaps the most important in terms of health outcomes, assuming the appropriateness of the prescribed treatment.Register by 07/05/14 with deadline for submissions 14/05/14.
 
The Technology Strategy Board is to invest up to £4.75m in collaborative R&D and feasibility studies to stimulate innovation and growth in the manufacture of electronic systems. A briefing event and webinar for potential applicants will be held in London on 26/02/14. The deadline for registration is noon on 26/03/14. The deadline for expressions of interest for collaborative R&D projects, and for applications for feasibility projects, is noon on 02/04/14. 

The Wellcome Trust’s Research Resources grant scheme aids research by supporting projects to catalogue and preserve significant primary source collections in libraries and archives across the UK and Ireland. Between  £10,000 and £100,000 is available. The current theme is ‘Investigating development, ageing and chronic disease’ and the closing date for preliminary applications is 15/04/14. Other collections may also be considered.

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.

NRG talk on the Novelization of Comics in the 1970s

BU research, Research news

The next in the series of Narrative Research Group talks will take place on Wednesday 26 February at 4 p.m in CAG06. Paul Williams, Lecturer in Twentieth-Century Literature at the University of Exeter, will examine the ways in which ‘the novel’ was used in the 1970s to conceptualise ambitious comic projects. Although Will Eisner’s A Contract with God (1978) is frequently hailed as the threshold text popularising the ‘graphic novel’, it was one of several projects whereby comics were published in book form for adult readers in the 1970s. The talk will establish the different modes of production open to creators aiming for long, complete narratives. By outlining the main publication routes available at the time, we can start to explain why 1978 saw an exponential growth in book-bound comics for adult readers, before numbers dropped in 1979 and 1980.

Paul Williams is Lecturer in Twentieth-Century Literature at the University of Exeter, where he has been working since 2008. He has written on a wide range of genres, texts and media, including Cold War literature, Vietnam War films, hip-hop music and 1970s psychotherapy; his main publications are The Rise of the American Comics Artist (2010; co-edited with James Lyons), Race, Ethnicity and Nuclear War (2011) and Paul Gilroy (2012).