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Association for Events Management Education (AEME) Annual Forum at Falmouth University in Cornwall

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Dr Caroline Jackson, Head of Events & Leisure Department, Faculty of Management was selected Chair of the Association for Events Management Education

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Martin Robertson, Jules Hecquet, Caroline Jackson, Debbie Sadd, Mary Beth Gouthro & Lénia Marques from the Department of Events & Leisure, Faculty of Management

Academics from the Department of Events and Leisure, Faculty of Management, attended the Association for Events Management Education (AEME) Annual Forum at Falmouth University in Cornwall, where Dr Caroline Jackson was elected as Chair of the subject association for the next three years. The Association was officially formed in 2004 to advance events education and research. Whilst mainly a UK Higher Education member organisation, there are industry and international members. Caroline, representing Bournemouth University, was one of the founding members of AEME and developers of events education and research.

Dr Debbie Sadd, Dr Mary Beth Gouthro, Martin Robertson and Jules Hecquet presented ‘Creative approaches to learning being used at Bournemouth University’ and Dr Lénia Marques presented ‘The Intercultural Classroom’. Dr Caroline Jackson presented with Dr James Morgan and Chantal Laws from Westminster University about the early stages of a research project being undertaken for the Business Visits & Events Partnership (BVEP) on Events being part of the Creative Industries. Over 50 Event Management educators attended alongside industry representatives. The theme of the conference this year was ‘Creative Risk’ which proved to be a lively topic to debate.

 

 

 

International Society of Biomechanics Conference Glasgow 2015

PG research, Research communication, Uncategorized

As the biggest conference of it’s kind, and by far the biggest conference I have attended, I really didn’t know what to expect with regards to the structure of the week, level of work being presented and what I could hope to get out of it. With over 1000 biomechanists from all over the world presenting their work and sharing thoughts and ideas, I was apprehensive to how my research and personal interests would fit into the vision of the wider biomechanics community. This apprehension was short lived. It was clear after the first day of presentations, that there is a clear vision to develop new technologies to enhance the way we can collect and interpret biomechanical data. It was encouraging to see other researchers making use of inertial sensing technologies, in a similar fashion to my current PhD research and to receive interest in my work from researchers in a similar position.

After the first few days of learning from others, good and bad, it was my turn to take the stage. As mentioned in my previous post, I was presenting research looking at the effect of playing surface on front-foot tibial acceleration during fast bowling in cricket . Although my initial apprehensions were placated by this point, the nerves of putting your research open to public appraisal from some of the top experts in the field, is an experience I’m not sure will ever be easy. Nonetheless, the amount I’ve learnt from this is something you can’t put a value on. The experience of presenting work you have put so much time and effort into, is both highly enjoyable and terrifying; but an experience I would love to repeat.

This week has taught me a lot about my field, it’s aims and aspiration and where my research fits into this vision. It has been immensely valuable not only from an intellectual point of view but in helping me develop into a well-rounded researcher, all the while meeting some lovely people along the way! An experience I would highly recommend to all researchers at any point in their career.

I would like to thank my supervisors Jonathan Williams and Raymond Lee for their support in this endeavour, and all the post-graduate support staff that have helped fund the trip; without them this trip would not have been possible.

 

ISB 2015

Latest Funding Opportunities

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Money Bear Funding

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

EPSRC

Healthcare impact partnerships

Funding supports projects that progress previous EPSRC-funded research in the crosscutting capability areas of disruptive sensing and analysis, and medical device design and innovation, towards impact within a healthcare application. Proposals must address at least one of the following healthcare technologies grand challenges:

  • developing future therapies;
  • frontiers of physical intervention;
  • optimising treatment;
  • transforming community health and care.

Award amount max: Total budget – £5 million, unspecified for each project Closing date: Intent to submit – 27/8/2015, Full submission deadline – 24/9/2015

Academy of Medical Sciences

Starter Grants for Clinical Lecturers

Starter Grants for Clinical Lecturers offer 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.

Award amount max: £30,000 over 1-2 years for consumables Closing date: 1/9/2015

Royal Society

University Research Fellowships

The scheme provides the opportunity to build an independent research career. Those appointed are expected to be strong candidates for permanent posts in universities at the end of their fellowships. The scheme covers all areas of the life and physical sciences, including engineering, but excluding clinical medicine and any researcher addressing a direct biomedical research question.

Award amount max: Up to £39,389.64 in salary, up to £13,000 for research expenses, estates & indirects for first year and specified amounts thereafter for 5 years. Closing date: 3/9/2015

NERC

Joint US–UK workshop on improving understanding of potential environmental impacts associated with unconventional hydrocarbons

NERC and the United States National Science Foundation (NSF), along with the Environment Sustainability & Energy Division of the Royal Society of Chemistry (ESED), are inviting applications from UK scientists to attend a jointly organised workshop on Improving Understanding of Potential Environmental Impacts Associated with Unconventional Hydrocarbons in Washington DC on 5-6 November 2015.

The deployment of hydraulic fracturing technology to exploit shale oil and gas reservoirs in the USA and now potentially in the UK has raised a number of environmental concerns.

Award amount max: All reasonable travel & accommodation expenses Closing date: 9/9/2015

Highlight Topics

NERC invites proposals for the second round of highlight topics, a route for funding strategic research. Highlight topics focus strategic research on defined subject areas, and will be delivered through independent projects.

The highlight topics in this call are:

  • Evolutionary biotic response to environmental change: limits to adaptation.
  • Coastal morphology: coastal sediment budgets and their role in coastal recovery.
  • Quantifying climate risk for adaptation and resilience planning.
  • Closing the global methane budget.
  • Reducing uncertainty in the integrity of potential carbon capture and storage sites.

Award amount max: Total call budget – £16 million, maximum per highlight topic – £4 million Closing date: Notification of intent to submit – 21/9/2015, Full submission deadline – 8/9/2015

Innovate UK

Internet of Things cities demonstrator

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is to invest up to £10 million* in a single collaborative R&D project to demonstrate the capability of the Internet of Things (IoT) in a city region. The aim of this demonstrator is to show how the large-scale deployment of IoT – where everyday objects are connected to a network in order to share their data – can benefit citizens by offering environmental improvements, economic opportunities, and more efficient and effective delivery of services such as transport, healthcare and energy.

Award amount max: £10 million Closing date: Registration of interest – 23/9/2015, Full submission deadline – 30/9/2015

Stratified medicine: connecting the UK infrastructure

This SBRI competition aims to accelerate and/or increase the development and adoption of innovative diagnostic tools in order to offer better targeted treatment to patients within the UK healthcare system.

Award maximum: Up to £10 million Closing date: Registration – 28/10/2015, Full submission – 4/11/2015

BBSRC

Flexible interchange programme

Our FLexible Interchange Programme (FLIP) supports the movement of people from one environment to a different one to exchange knowledge/technology/skills, developing bioscience research/researchers and addressing our strategic priorities.

Award amount max: Up to £150,000 Closing date: 15/10/2015

Modular training partnerships

Modular Training Partnerships (MTPs) fund 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.

Award amount max: Unspecified Closing date: 15/10/2015

Wellcome Trust

Seed Awards provide responsive, flexible funding, enabling researchers to develop a novel idea to a position where they would be able to be competitive for a larger award from the Wellcome Trust, or another source.

Their exploratory nature gives scope for the use of bold or innovative methodologies, and a broad range of possible activities; from pilot and scoping studies, to preliminary data gathering and proof-of-principle studies, to planning sessions and meetings of collaborative networks. They are not intended to fund discrete projects with no follow-on plans. We encourage applications which propose to carry out interdisciplinary research across our Science, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Innovations funding.

Award amount max: Up to £100,000 for up to 2 years Closing date: 22/10/2015

Medical Research Council

Skills Development Fellowships

Quantitative expertise: support training for very early career researchers in, or individuals changing disciplines to, areas covering mathematics, statistics, computation and informatics applicable to any biomedical or health-related data sources.

Expertise at the social science interface: with a focus on areas of health economics and/or mixed methods research.

Award amount max: Unspecified Closing date: 16 June 2016

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

You can set up your own personalised alerts on Research Professional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s/Faculty’s Funding Development Officer in  RKEO or view the recent blog post here.

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

Health Research with Real Impact Conference, 24th-25th June 2015

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On the 24th and 25th June, academics, clinicians, commissioners and public health officers gathered at the University of Central Lancashire for its second conference on Health Research with Impact organised by the UCLan’s Health Research Methodology and Implementation (HeRMI) hub.
This 2 day conference focused on evidence synthesis and implementation science, with presentations and workshops from national and international experts illustrated with examples from their research.

The conference started with several presentations of evidence synthesis: the constant challenge of keeping systematic reviews up-to date (Dr Maree Hackett, UCLan and The University of Sydney); improving accessibility of evidence for a specific clinical area through Cochrane Overviews (Dr Alex Pollock, Glasgow Caledonian University); and using qualitative evidence to inform global health care policy through improving their acceptability and feasibility for service users and practitioners (Professor Soo Downe, UCLan and Dr Claire Glenton, Norwegian Knowledge Centre for the Health Services). It was interesting that both Professor Downe and Dr Glenton highlighted that within global health policy the opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of qualitative evidence to inform policy arose when policy developed from quantitative data alone did not achieve the expected impact.

The first day finished with a workshop by Dr Alex Pollock on user involvement in systematic reviews where she described her experiences of involving physiotherapists and people with stroke to make decisions on which of the many different complex interventions should be included in a systematic review of stroke physiotherapy. This ensured that the review was relevant to both practitioners and patients. Dr Pollock demonstrated how practitioners and patients through a systematic process can be enabled to make key decisions in a systematic review traditionally performed by academics alone.

The conference then considered the context in which evidence is applied through two presentations and a workshop on Realist Evaluation (Professor Chris Burton, Bangor University and Dr Justin Jagosh, University of Liverpool). Dr Jagosh presented on the qualities of Realist methodology to help understand causation – what works, how and why? Professor Burton’s presentations focused on the context in which clinical practice occurs. The success of clinical practice/programme is determined by its interaction with the context in which it occurs and how participants (patients and practitioners) respond to them. Realist research makes theories more explicit by developing clear hypotheses about how, and for whom programmes might work.
Both Dr Lois Thomas (UCLan) and Dr Henna Hassan (Karolinska Institute, Stockholm) presented their experience of ensuring fidelity in the implementation of complex interventions. Professor Joy Duxbury (UCLan) continued the theme of implementing complex interventions in practice by presenting on reducing physical restraint in the North West NHS mental health in-patient settings. A theme throughout all of the presentations on the second day of the conference was the need to develop strong relationships between academia and practice to enable the co-production of evidence relevant to clinical practice.

HE Policy Update

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Monday

REF

A review – REF Accountability Review: Costs, Benefits and Burden, has looked at the institutional costs of the REF. The review revealed that institutions’ own total spend on the REF exceeds £230 million, of which £55 million went on preparing impact statements and £19 million for panellists’ time. REF 2014 cost almost £250 million (THE).

International Students

A Professor of international higher education at the UCL Institute of Education has spoken at the UK Council for International Student Affairs conference. He argued that universities must collect “hard evidence” to prove that the UK is no longer a welcoming place for international students if the sector is to effectively challenge government policies on immigration. Universities ‘must collect hard data’ on barriers to overseas students (THE).

NUS President

Megan Dunn, president of the National Union of Students, has spoken about the government’s plans to convert maintenance grants to loans. She has said the policy change is a calculated, regressive move by the government and that maintenance grants are a necessity, not a luxury. Maintenance grants are a necessity, not a luxury (THE).

Tuesday

Teaching Excellence Framework

A senior lecturer at Brighton University has written in the Guardian, critiquing the government’s plans to introduce a Teaching Excellence Framework. The piece suggests that evaluating universities for teaching will likely lead to a data driven culture where academics make decisions on the basis of whether it’s ‘good for the Tef’. What’s worse than a Ref for teaching? An Ofsted for universities (THE).

Wednesday

Access

Data published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills reveals that 85 per cent of English private school leavers who turned 19 in 2012-13 were in higher education, compared with 66 per cent of state school students. Access gap between private and state school pupils widens (THE).

Thursday

Disadvantaged Students

Universities in England have agreed to take more students from disadvantaged homes, fair access watchdog Offa says. Institutions have also agreed to spend £750m on outreach activities, bursaries and waiving fees for poorer youngsters. Universities agree to take more disadvantaged students (BBC News).

Tuition Fees

The number of universities charging £9,000 a year is growing, according to a published report by the universities’ access watchdog. The study by Offa shows the number has gone up from 130 to 139 in the past year. Number of universities charging £9,000 a year is growing, says watchdog (The Independent).

Friday

Student Visas

In a confidential letter to other ministers, Theresa May has apparently argued that universities should “develop sustainable funding models that are not so dependent on international students”. The letter is also reported to claim that students should be required to demonstrate a higher degree of financial backing as a condition for receipt of a higher education visa than is currently required. The Home Office has refused to comment on the leaked documents. Home Secretary proposes tougher rules for student visas (BBC News).

BUDI brings dementia awareness to life

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On Monday 13th July 2015, BUDI welcomed more than 50 members of the public at their annual Festival of Learning event. The event was opened by the BUDI Orchestra (formed of people affected by dementia and musicians) with an energetic and fun performance that included a rendition of the Peter Gunn theme by the Blues Brothers (complete with trademark sunglasses) and the Jaws theme tune.

Photo orchestra

Attendees were able to participate in a number of hands on activities, from sharing their thoughts on what makes a garden dementia-friendly, to discussing what they are passionate about in the dementia field with members of the BUDI team in speaker’s corner.

Poet Jonny Fluffypunk closed the event by reading out a poem that he created from sentences that attendees had written throughout the event about dementia. The poem entitled ‘A New Beginning’ is too good not to share……

Photo Jonny

A New Beginning

Dementia is…
a misunderstood and badly defined term
a term people are labelled with;
a term that restricts their freedom.
Restricts their choices.
Restricts their self.

Dementia is an illness often observed,
an illness that splits families

It is thinking scattered thoughts of yesterday
that muddle your tomorrow

It is trying to remember the past
and not the present

Dementia is my nuisance;
It is me needing the support
of my wife and family
It is knowing your face so well
but your name escaping me

Dementia is living in a world that makes no sense;
it is remembering tastes from the past;
it is the problem of making decisions
it is feeling your way in the world
and not being able to put it in words

But sometimes…
Sometimes I think
we were all born with dementia;
as a tiny child I could remember nothing
and now I am old I find nothing has changed

And dementia is an interesting way
to relive my life; an unknown journey
a unique experience for patient and carer

Dementia is protecting and helping your husband
as he makes this journey

It is brilliant but fleeting perfect memories

It is a chance to grow

It is a chance to engage creatively

It is a chance to reach a new humanity

Dementia is learning not to give up:
I was thrown out of church choir age 7
and now at 77 I play violin with BUDI

Dementia is learning that music is a wonderful thing
That it makes you happy and sad-
long live music and song!

Dementia is emotional-
how I wish I could love in the way
I have seen love shared here today

Dementia is partnership,
it is learning to change life
with the one you love

Dementia can bring you together
with the most wonderful people

Dementia is just a different journey

Dementia is personal and shared

Dementia is not the end; it can be a new beginning

Dementia is not the end.

Access government data for research through the ADRN

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The Administrative Data Research Network (ADRN) is “a UK-wide partnership between universities, government departments and agencies, national statistics authorities, the third sector, funders and researchers.” It works with researchers and government departments to provide access to administrative data on a case-by-case basis. Examples of the records they have previously provided include Child Benefit dataset, Road Accident data, Citizens Advice dataset and the General Practitioner Patient Register. In order to access data through the network, research team members are required to confirm that the data cannot be easily accessed through other routes, that there is clear scientific merit to the study, and to undergo accreditation through the ADRN.

So, if your next research study requires administrative data, it could be worth considering whether the ADRN may be able to provide it. Their website can be found at http://adrn.ac.uk/.

Uncategorized

Let’s Debate Higher Education

Wednesday 15th July 7.30-9.00pm, KG01, Talbot Campus.

As part of the Festival of Learning, this event gives you the chance to have your say and voice your opinions on key issues facing the higher education sector. You’re welcome to join us for the evening to hear what our panel members have to say and to participate in the discussion. Led by a diverse panel including: students, sabbatical officers and people in industry, the debate will be focused around 3 questions.

Should students be leaving university with upwards of £40k of debt? Have too many people got degrees nowadays? Do students add value to the local community?

We hope you can join us for this event with light refreshments, which will see lively debates and discussions. To confirm your attendance, please register for the event here. On the evening, please make your way to KG01 on Talbot Campus.

If you have any questions about this event, please contact Emma Bambury-Whitton

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Leisure Studies Association Annual International Conference 7th-9th July Kimmeridge House

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The Faculty of Managament are holding this significant international conference from today 7th July to Thursday 9th July. Some 90 delegates from over 12 countries will be in attendance and with 4 excellent Key Note speakers and 80 parallel papers the conference is set to be exciting and illuminating. The conference programme can be found at https://microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk/lsa-2015/

Funding Opportunities

BU research, Research news, Uncategorized

money bucketMedical Research Council, GB

Radiation oncology and biology

While the MRC already supports some research in this area, we wish to encourage a wider range of applications relevant to medical research. Research proposals may cover the spectrum of research from studies that explore important cellular and molecular mechanisms, through to more translational medical research that would underpin the development of new health interventions.

The MRC would particularly welcome applications on the following topics:

  • Improving the therapeutic effects of radiation in the treatment of cancer, including but not limited to combining radiation with drugs and biological agents, interactions with the tumour microenvironment, scheduling, and biomarkers of response.
  • Studies of approaches to improve long term health and minimise morbidity after radiation exposure, including radiotherapy treatment.
  • Understanding the fundamental processes associated with radiation injury from initial damage to pathogenesis, at the molecular, cellular, tissue and organ levels.
  • Research into the pathways involved in radiation carcinogenesis including, but not limited to, DNA damage signalling and repair, individual susceptibility and gene-environment interactions.
  • Development of novel biological approaches from radioprotection to treatment of radiation toxicity.

Applications are considered in competition with other applications received, but the Board/Panel will take into account the need for enhanced investment in this area.

Applications should be submitted to the relevant research board or panel in accordance with our standard deadlines. Applications that extend beyond a core health focus can be funded in partnership with BBSRC and EPSRC.

Cross-Council applications will be assigned a lead Council, which will draw on expertise from across Councils to take a single funding decision.

 

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, GB

Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Intelligent Automation feasibility studies

Up to £20,000 available for feasibility study projects to further broaden the knowledge base in intelligent automation within the manufacturing industry.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, under the Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Intelligent Automation, invites proposals for feasibility studies. Funding enables academic staff to undertake feasibility studies to broaden the knowledge base in intelligent automation.

Studies should aim to identify and develop ideas and approaches from other disciplines that can be applied to novel intelligent automation systems. A particular focus is on developing research areas that have not been applied widely within the manufacturing domain before. Possible areas may include the following: psychology; service robotics; computer science and artificial intelligence; soft robotics; 3D machine vision.

Funding available The maximum funding available for each feasibility study is £20,000. Grants will normally be of a maximum of six months duration. The studies are being funded at 80% fEC i.e. if your bid is successful you will gain a maximum of £20,000. Equipment The funding is intended to cover the costs of the PI and support staff in the completion of the feasibility study. Estates/indirects, consumables or equipment costs are not included in the grant. Any additional support you may need could be through matched funding. Eligibility All academic staff at UK Universities and associated Research Institutions who are able to hold a UK Research Council grant as Principle Investigator are eligible to apply.

Closing Date: 28th July 2015

 

Innovate UK, GB

Virtual and augmented reality contest

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are exciting technologies at an early stage of development. We are looking to provide support to businesses that want to apply these technologies in new and untested areas. Innovate UK is offering up to six businesses a maximum of £35,000 each to encourage innovation around VR/AR across the themes of music, retail, healthcare, education, construction and tactile technology.
The recent re-emergence of VR and AR has caused enormous excitement across a wide range of sectors.  The application of such technologies – not just for entertainment or information-sharing, but also in more technical and industrial contexts – offers users entirely new ways of perceiving and interacting with the digital world.  Through our IC tomorrow programme, we are looking for proposals from companies with innovative digital ideas relevant to developing these immersive technologies.  The companies will not only benefit from funding, but also the opportunity to collaborate with commercial partners  to accelerate development of their technologies. We want to see solutions with potential appeal to a wide commercial market. Successful applicants will be expected to trial their proposed solutions with their industry partners for at least three months.
  • trial your technology with major industry players while keeping your intellectual property
  • secure up to £35,000 to develop your solution
  • receive promotion, support and advice to speed up the commercialisation of your solution.

Closing Date: 18th August 2015

 

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, GB

Healthcare technologies grand challenges – NetworksPlus

The Healthcare Technologies Theme has recently announced a new long term strategy. To support this challenge-led approachEPSRC invites applications for NetworkPlus proposals that seek to establish new research communities around one of the Healthcare Technologies Grand Challenges.

The aims of the NetworkPlus awards are to:

  • Bring together experts from across all relevant research areas, with particular focus on those in engineering and physical sciences.
  • Bring focus to the relevant challenge area and identify new research strategies and opportunities for addressing the challenge.
  • Engage with interested users of research, including business, clinicians, patient groups and policy makers, to shape future research directions.
  • Identify and address the barriers to achieving the challenge.
  • Initiate preliminary or feasibility research to tackle the challenge.
  • To be collaborative rather than competitive in nature and work together where appropriate (e.g. joint events).

Networks are intended to be UK-wide and must have representation from several disciplines and institutions. It is essential that user engagement is considered in the wider network membership. Each proposal must explain the fit to the chosen challenge area and demonstrate evidence of how they will connect with on-going excellent research in the UK to grow and develop the network.

Peer review for this call will consist of a multi-stage process. Applicants should submit an Intention to Submit by 08 September 2015; those who have not submitted an intention to submit will be ineligible for this call. The closing time and date for full proposals is16:00 on 06 October 2015.

 

Economic and Social Research Council, GB

UK in a changing Europe senior fellowships

We are inviting proposals from senior UK based academics for Fellowships as part of the Council’s initiative on the UK in a Changing Europe. The aim of the Fellowship programme is to provide evidence and analysis across the broad range of issues and policy areas affected by the UK’s position in a changing European Union (EU).

The initiative will focus on the implications of changes in governance, policies and social and political attitudes within both the EU and the UK and the implications of these for the UK-EU relationship. Within that broad remit, it is planned to focus mainly, though not exclusively, on the following broad areas:

  • Foreign and security policy
  • Banking and financial services
  • Social policies
  • The impact of EU law

We anticipate supporting up to six fellows, dependent on quality of the proposals. The maximum amount available for each Fellowship is £200,000 at 100 per cent full economic cost (fEC) of which ESRC will pay up to 80 per cent and the host institutions is expected to support the remaining 20 per cent. Projects are expected to last for a maximum of 12 months in the first instance with the possibility of extension, subject to negotiation with individual fellows. Over the course of the grant the fellows on average will be expected to contribute at least 40 per cent of their time. Fellowships will be expected to start from January 2016. The closing date for proposals is 16.00 on 10 September 2015. Shortlisted applicants will be required to attend an interview in London during the week commencing 2 November 2015 (date to be confirmed), applicants must therefore be available for interview this particular week.

Appointed Senior Fellows will be required to work closely with the initiative Director Professor Anand Menon, Professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs at Kings College London. Potential applicants are strongly advised to familiarise themselves with the Executive summaries from the scoping reports.

 

Innovate UK, GB and other funders

Malaysia-UK research and innovation bridges competition

Innovate UK, Research Councils UK (RCUK) and the Malaysia Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT) are to invest up to £14.4 million in collaborative research and development projects to stimulate innovation in response to Malaysia’s urbanisation challenges.
This competition focuses on finding new commercial solutions to challenges that Malaysia is facing as climate change increasingly impacts upon its cities and its urbanisation trajectory, with the solutions expected to emerge through the translation of existing, excellent research.
The aim of the competition is to bring together companies (small-to-medium-sized companies and/or larger businesses), research and technology organisations, academics, public sector bodies and charities from Malaysia and the UK for the joint industrial research to develop innovative products, processes or services that meet critical challenges existing within the following five sectors:
  • health and well-being
  • improving environmental resilience and energy security
  • future cities
  • agritech (used to solve explicit urban food and nutrition issues)
  • digital, innovation and creativity
This investment from the UK side has been made possible through the UK Department of Business, Innovation and Skills-managed Newton Fund: www.newtonfund.ac.uk.  The goal of this competition is to find innovative solutions, through a collaborative consortium-driven approach. The principal market a project must consider is Malaysia. Projects must be collaborative, involving both UK and Malaysian participants. There must be a minimum of one UK business, one UK research organisation, one Malaysian business and one Malaysian research organisation in each project.
On the UK side, projects can be business-led or research organisation-led, and should preferably involve other non-business partners. The lead partner should be able to demonstrate a clear route to commercialisation of the proposed product/s or service/s, and should have a primary focus on the translation of research and/or knowledge. Given the heavy focus on translation of research, research organisations’ participation can be up to 50% of total project costs. Small or micro businesses could receive up to 70% of their eligible project costs, medium-sized businesses 60% and large businesses 50%.
For each project we expect the total UK and total Malaysian participant project costs to be £1m-£1.75m on each side, although we would consider projects outside of this range. Projects should last 24-34 months.
The competition involves a two-stage application process.  This competition opens on 30 June 2015.
Applicants must register by noon UK time 30 September 2015. The deadline for expressions of interest is at noon UK time on 7 October 2015.

Innovation projects

The specific aim of the Innovation Projects Open Call is to increase and accelerate the uptake and impact of NERC funded research outputs by supporting translational and knowledge exchange activity which delivers direct tangible and demonstrable benefits to end users, particularly businesses. Funds will be used to support projects which focus upon generating user applicable outputs from past and/or current NERC supported research and which translates them into outcomes that achieve impact. Since the strength of the relationship between end-users and researchers is often what underpins the likelihood of success of any translational and knowledge exchange activity, it is essential that end-users are involved in both the development and delivery of proposals.

The Innovation Projects Open call will not fund commercialisation work (please see the Follow on Fund) or research (please see other NERC funding).

Applications should fall within the NERC science remit and the science the work builds on must have been funded by NERC.

The Innovation Projects call is open to applicants based in:

  • UK higher education institutions (HEIs)
  • NERC research centres
  • independent research organisations (IROs) approved by NERC.

Deadline information Applications are invited between 14 July and 5pm, 22 October 2015.

 

Department of Health including NIHR, GB and other funders

Efficacy and mechanism evaluation programme – researcher-led workstream

The remit of the EME Programme includes clinical trials and evaluative studies of novel and repurposed interventions.  The term intervention is meant in the broadest sense and includes any method used to promote health, prevent and treat disease and improve rehabilitation or long-term care.

We support studies in patients which seek to:

  • evaluate clinical efficacy of interventions (where proof of concept in humans has already been achieved);
  • add significantly to our understanding of biological or behavioural mechanisms and processes;
  • explore new scientific or clinical principles;
  • include the development or testing of new methodologies.

The EME Programme WILL support:

  • research which seeks to determine definitive proof of clinical efficacy and size of effect, safety and possibly effectiveness;
  • studies that use validated surrogate markers as indicators of health outcome;
  • laboratory based, or similar, studies that are embedded within the main study, if relevant to the remit of the EME Programme;
  • pilot and feasibility studies where the later main study would be within the remit of the EME programme.

The EME Programme WILL NOT support:

  • confirmatory studies or trials of incremental modifications and refinements to existing medical interventions;
  • proof of concept, proof of mechanism in humans, nor ‘confidence in effect’ studies;
  • research into ‘global health’, where ‘global health’ can be defined as ‘areas where the health need is identified in developing countries (i.e. including diseases of developing countries), or where the health need does not yet exist in the UK but might in the future and the problem can be best addressed in developing countries;
  • research involving animals (funding is focused on clinical and applied health and care research. The EME Programme therefore does not itself fund basic research or work involving animals and/or animal tissue. See the NIHR research page for more information).

Closing Date: 10th November 2015.

 

Come to the Impact by Design creative networking event, on 11th July

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pecha-kucha-logo (2)Do you want to meet creative people, exchange ideas, create new ones, and find people to work with? Then come along to BU’s Impact by Design event! Presentations will be in a PechaKucha style which provides a conversation starter, a networking opportunity, and an informal night for people to come together, share and draw inspiration. And just as crucially, it’s a brilliant night out! The key to PechaKucha Night is its patented democratic system. Each presenter is allowed 20 images, each shown for 20 seconds – giving 6 minutes 40 seconds of fame before the next presenter is up.

Featured speakers:

Saturday 11th July, 6-8pm, Talbot Campus

To book a free place, visit: https://microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk/festival-of-learning/events/bournemouth-pechakucha-night/ 

Research Professional – all you need to know

BU research, Guidance, Uncategorized

Every BU academic has a Research Professional account which delivers weekly emails detailing funding opportunities in their broad subject area. To really make the most of your Research Professional account, you should tailor it further by establishing additional alerts based on your specific area of expertise.  The Funding Development Team Officers can assist you with this, if required.

Research Professional have created several guides to help introduce users to ResearchProfessional. These can be downloaded here.

Quick Start Guide: Explains to users their first steps with the website, from creating an account to searching for content and setting up email alerts, all in the space of a single page.

User Guide: More detailed information covering all the key aspects of using ResearchProfessional.

Administrator Guide: A detailed description of the administrator functionality.

In addition to the above, there are a set of 2-3 minute videos online, designed to take a user through all the key features of ResearchProfessional.  To access the videos, please use the following link: http://www.youtube.com/researchprofessional 

Research Professional are running a series of online training broadcasts aimed at introducing users to the basics of creating and configuring their accounts on ResearchProfessional.  They are holding monthly sessions, covering everything you need to get started with ResearchProfessional.  The broadcast sessions will run for no more than 60 minutes, with the opportunity to ask questions via text chat.  Each session will cover:

  • Self registration and logging in
  • Building searches
  • Setting personalised alerts
  • Saving and bookmarking items
  • Subscribing to news alerts
  • Configuring your personal profile

Each session will run between 10.00am and 11.00am (UK) on the fourth Tuesday of each month.  You can register here for your preferred date:

28th July 2015

25th August 2015

These are free and comprehensive training sessions and so this is a good opportunity to get to grips with how Research Professional can work for you.

Latest Major Funding Opportunities

BU research, Funding opportunities, Uncategorized

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

British Academy invites applications for the Newton Advanced Fellowships. These enable international researchers to establish and develop collaborations with the UK with the intention of transferring knowledge and research capabilities to advance economic development and social welfare of the partner country. Researchers may be working in any discipline within the social sciences and humanities. Applicants must have a PhD or equivalent research experience and hold a permanent or fixed-term contract in an eligible university or research institute which must span the duration of the project. The overseas partner must be based in Malaysia, Mexico or Thailand. Applicants should have not more than 15 years of postdoctoral research experience. Each fellowship lasts for one to two years and provides £37,000 per year to cover research support, travel and subsistence and training costs.

Maximum award: £74000. Closing date: 5pm, 16/09/15.

British Academy invites applications for the Newton Mobility Grants. These enable UK universities and research institutes to host international researchers in order to establish and develop collaborations around a specific jointly defined project in any discipline within humanities and social sciences, and with the intention of transferring knowledge and research capabilities to advance economic development and social welfare of the partner country. Both a UK-based and overseas-based applicant are required for this scheme. Applicants must have a PhD or equivalent research experience and hold a permanent or fixed-term contract in an eligible university or research institute, which must span the duration of the project. The overseas-based applicant must be at a research institution based in Malaysia, Mexico, South Africa, and Thailand.  Grants are worth up to £10,000 each for one year for Malaysia, Mexico and South Africa applicants, and up to £20,000 for Thailand applicants. The grants aim to cover travel and maintenance costs, although costs related to other eligible activities will be considered.

Maximum award: £20000. Closing date: 5pm, 16/09/15.

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, as a part of the Research Councils UK energy programme, invites intents to apply for its call on Research Challenges in Industrial Carbon Capture and Storage. Funding supports collaborative research projects that tackle challenges in industrial CSS and respond to the challenges of CO2 capture technologies for industry or whole systems understanding of CCS. Topics addressed may include: the range of current and future compositions, sources, conditions, scales and applications; scalability at a reasonable cost; the technology landscape; performance measurement and modelling; advanced materials; adsorption–desorption process; integrating industrial and capture processes; integrating modelling across scales for systems analysis; the level of industrial CSS needed in order to meet emissions targets; integrating industrial capture with power sector CO2 transport and storage; stranded CO2 sources. Must register your interest by 18/08/15.

Maximum award: not specified. Closing date: 4pm, 22/09/15.

Innovate UK and the Ministry of Defence, under its Defence Equipment and Support, invites registrations for their non-destructive evaluation competition. This seeks innovative technologies, concepts and solutions that optimise non-destructive evaluation within the deployed and fixed environment. Non-destructive evaluation refers to methods that permit the examination of materials, structures and components without causing damage that renders the subject unfit for use. Innovative solutions should provide a mixture of the following benefits: accurately measure or monitor equipment and components to optimise maintenance plans; reduce inventory costs by applying non-intrusive system monitoring; improve operational agility by reducing the logistical burden. Innovations may address one or more of the following three themes: open theme; airworthiness; individual protection. MOD may prioritise compact, portable and deployable solutions that improve operating capability, and drive supply chain and inventory efficiencies. All organisations that can demonstrate a route to market for their solution may apply. Must register your interest by 12pm, 12/08/15.

Maximum award: Not specified. Closing date: 12pm, 19/08/15.

Innovate UK and the UK Space Agency, via the Space for Smarter Government programme, invites registrations for their pace for smarter government competition. This seeks innovative technology solutions for phase one of the competition that contribute towards the aim of helping the public sector create sustainable operational services from satellite data and enable smarter, more efficient operations, reduce risk and enhance policy making. Solutions that lead to satellite-enabled services for the public sector in any of the following areas are particularly sought after: natural hazard risk management; environment; local authorities and devolved administrations; other. The competitions has two phases. The total budget for phase one is £700,000, in which individual contracts may receive up to £80,000 each for a maximum period of five months. Phase two intends to develop and evaluate prototypes and demonstrators from the promising technologies in phase one, and has a total budget of up to £500,000 over one year. Must register your interest by 12pm, 09/09/15.

Maximum award: £80000. Closing date: 12pm, 16/09/15.

Innovate UK, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Department for International Development invite registrations for their agri-tech catalyst industrial research awards. These support business-led collaborative projects that develop any relevant innovative solutions from across all sectors of agri-tech or other industrial sectors, and that advance the sustainable intensification of global agriculture, including aquaculture, by developing innovative solutions. This may include technology development, lab-based prototyping, product development planning, extending proof-of-concept using plot or field trials, exploring production mechanisms, and market testing. Projects must relate to the following areas: primary crop and livestock production, including aquaculture; non-food uses of crops, including ornamentals; food security and nutrition challenges in international development; challenges in downstream food processing, provided that the solution lies in primary production. Applications from the aquaculture and livestock sectors are particularly encouraged, as are crop sector projects targeting weed control and on-farm storage and management. Any UK business or research base partner undertaking research and development may apply. Projects must be business-led. Developing country partners must be involved for applicants targeting international development. Projects are expected to last for up to three years, and be worth up to £3 million each. Funding covers up to 45 per cent of total eligible costs for SMEs and up to 35 per cent for larger companies. Total research partner costs must not exceed 50 percent of total project costs. Projects that exceed £3m must be discussed prior to applying. Must register your interest by 12pm, 07/10/15.

Maximum award: £3million. Closing date: EOI due 12pm, 14/10/15.

Innovate UK and the National Council of Science and Technology of Mexico (CONACYT) invite registrations for their Mexico-UK collaborative industrial research and development competition, under the Newton Fund. This supports collaborative research and development projects that stimulate innovation across the following three sectors which underpin future Mexican socio-economic growth: agroindustry; energy; health. Funding aims to bring together companies, research organisations, academics and other collaborators from Mexico and the UK to work on projects which result in products, processes and services that provide solutions to key challenges existing within these three sectors. Projects must demonstrate high industrial relevance and commercial potential, as well as demonstrate that they have a positive impact upon the economic development and social welfare of Mexico, beyond primary commercial interests. Innovate UK primarily intends to fund industrial research, however applications for experimental development that have an overall focus on industrial research may be considered. Projects must be business-led and collaborative with a Mexican partner. Nonbusiness UK partners such as research organisations may participate. Must register your interest by 12pm, 07/10/15.

Maximum award: not specified. Closing date: 14/10/15.

Innovate UK, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Department for International Development invite registrations for their agri-tech catalyst early-stage awards. These support pre-industrial research feasibility studies that explore the commercial potential of an early-stage innovative idea, through review of research evidence and application potential in agri-food production, assessment of business opportunity or scoping for further development. Projects should relate to the following areas: primary crop and livestock production, including aquaculture; non-food uses of crops, including ornamentals; food security and nutrition challenges in international development; challenges in downstream food processing, provided the solution lies in primary production.Applications from the aquaculture and livestock sectors are particularly encouraged, as are crop sector projects targeting weed control and on-farm storage and management. Equine-related proposals, or those relating to forestry or wild-capture fisheries are not supported. Any UK business or research base partner undertaking research and development may apply. Projects should be collaborative and may be research base or business-led, but must include at least one business partner. Developing country partners must be involved for proposals targeting international development. Must register your interest by 12pm, 13/01/16.

Maximum award: not specified. Closing date: 12pm, 20/01/16.

Innovate UK, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Department for International Development invite registrations for their agri-tech catalyst late-stage awards. These support experimental development projects that test and validate innovative concepts in a commercial environment to demonstrate their economic and technical feasibility ahead of large-scale deployment. This may include first tests in a field trial setting, trialling an innovative concept in the real-life operational environment, investigating product safety and effectiveness, through to the validation of the final product design, and producing the final prototype. Projects should relate to the following areas: •primary crop and livestock production, including aquaculture; non-food uses of arable crops, including ornamentals; food security and nutrition challenges in international development; challenges in downstream food processing, provided that the solution lies in primary production. Applications from the aquaculture and livestock sectors are particularly encouraged, as are crop sector projects targeting weed control, and on-farm storage and management. Equine-related proposals, and those relating to forestry or wild-capture fisheries are not supported. Projects must be business-led and may be conducted by individual companies or business partners in collaboration. Research base partners may participate as subcontractors to a business. Must register your interest by 12pm, 13/01/16.

Maximum award: not specified. Closing date: 12pm, 20/01/16.

Medical Research Council invites applications for its integrative toxicology training partnership PhD studentship scheme. This seeks to build expertise in toxicology and related disciplines that is required to ensure the safe and effective development of drugs, chemicals and consumer products, and to provide better assessment of risk deriving from environmental exposure. Research projects should meet the main aim of ITTP in achieving cross-fertilisation with advances in other disciplines, in order to address emerging challenges in toxicology. The emphasis is on aligning modern cell and molecular biology with other fundamental and health-related disciplines to provide an integrative holistic approach in research and training relevant to predicting the toxicity of chemicals and drugs as well as to develop an understanding of the chemical, pharmacological and biological processes involved. Applications should be submitted from potential academic supervisors and each must include collaborative partners in industry, government agencies or other universities. The proposed work should be feasible to be conducted by a PhD student and successfully submitted as a thesis within four years. Applicants are required to attend an interactive day meeting at the MRC unit on 28 September 2015. These four-year studentships will start in October 2016.

Maximum award: not specified. Closing date: 30/11/15.

Natural Environment Research Council invites applications for its innovation internships. This aims to promote collaborations between academics, policy or civil society partners and generate evidence and case studies of how businesses and other organisations have used, or could use NERC funded research. Applicants may apply for internships of up to six months, based in business, policy and civil society organisations. Applications must be in the following areas: infrastructure; risk management; sustainable food production; environmental data; natural resources. PhD students who have completed their first year or research and postdoctoral researchers at any career stage may apply. Interns are expected to spend between 50 and 100 per cent of their allocated time with the partner organisation. NERC will cover direct salary costs, travel and subsistence costs. The partner organisation is expected to cover the overhead costs of hosting the intern. Internships may start from 1 November 2015 and should be completed by 30 April 2016.

Maximum award: not specified. Closing date: 4pm, 03/09/15.

Royal Society invites applications for its University Research Fellowships. These enable early-career scientists in the UK to build an independent research career in any area of the life and physical sciences, including engineering but excluding clinical medicine and direct biomedical research. Applicants must have three to eight years of research experience since their PhD by the application closing date. They must not hold a permanent post in a university or non-profit organisation in the European Economic Area; however, they must be an EEA or Swiss citizen, or have a relevant connection to the EEA or Switzerland. Fellowships are awarded for five years, but extensions may be awarded for three additional years. Awards include a maximum salary of £38,166 per year and research expenses of up to £13,000 for the first year and up to £11,000 for every year thereafter.

Maximum award: as above. Closing date: 09/09/15.

Royal Society, the Academy of Medical Sciences and the Newton Fund invite applications for the Newton Advanced Fellowships. These enable established international researchers to develop the strengths and capabilities through training, collaboration and reciprocal visits with a partner in the UK. Supported work may be on any subject within the natural sciences, including physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, engineering, agriculture, biology, medicine, the scientific aspects of archaeology, geography, experimental psychology and clinical or patient-oriented research. Applications should focus on a single project involving an international researcher and a UK-based researcher, both of whom should have a PhD or equivalent research experience. The international researcher should be one of the following: a China-based researcher supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China through the distinguished young scholar programme or excellent young scientist programme; a Malaysia-based scientist who applies under the natural science remit; a Mexico-based resercher who applies under the natural science remit; Thailand-based researcher who applies under the natural science remit. Each overseas applicant should work as an independent researcher in a university, academic research organisation or publicly funded or non-profit research institution in their home country. They should not have more than 15 years of postdoctoral research experience. Competency in oral and written English are required. The UK-based researcher must be an independent academic researcher who holds a permanent or fixed-term contract in a university or eligible publicly funded research organisation, including government research institutes. The applicant’s organisation must agree to host and administer the fellowship. Each fellowship is worth up to £111,000 over a maximum period of three years, to cover salary, research support, travel and subsistence, and training costs.

Maximum award: £111000. Closing date: 5pm, 16/09/15.

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

You can set up your own personalised alerts on Research Professional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s/Faculty’s Funding Development Officer in RKEO or view the recent blog post here.

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

HE Policy Update

Uncategorized

Monday

Gender Pay Gap

Female science professors are paid thousands of pounds less than their male counterparts, despite carrying out similar duties according to a report on the latest university salaries of senior scientists. The new figures emerged from freedom of information requests sent by the Sunday Times to more than 90 British universities, focusing on senior academics. Female scientists paid £5,000 less a year than their male counterparts, report finds (The Independent).

Quality Standards

HEFCE have launched a consultation on a new approach to quality assessment to meet the future needs of students, employers and the sector. The proposals are intended to move away from a process-driven, tick-box approach to checking standards in universities. Instead, there would be less emphasis on regular external institutional reviews and more focus on outcomes affecting students, such as drop-out rates, feedback from the National Student Survey and graduates’ employment prospects. University standards checks overhaul (BBC News).

Tuesday

Campus Extremism

David Cameron has responded quickly following the terrorist act in Tunisia warning that Britain was engaged in a generational struggle against terrorism and outlined plans to crack down on those who tolerate such extremism. This includes pressing ahead with legislation to blacklist extremists from appearing on the airwaves and speaking at universities. Schools will be told today to look out for pupils being groomed by extremists. Check schools for future terrorists, heads are told (The Times).

HE Innovation

Mike Boxell, Higher Education Expert at PA Consulting, has written a piece for the Guardian HE blog about the findings of their HE Survey 2015 which reveals how UK universities compare against their global competitors. The survey revealed that in almost every area of educational innovation, they saw the UK lagging international competitors and said the most important developments were happening overseas. The UK’s outmoded universities must modernise or risk falling far behind (Guardian Higher Education Network).

Wednesday

Jo Johnson’s Speech on HE

The Universities Minister gave his first major speech since the election on higher education at UUK. He reiterated the government’s recognition of the value of higher education to the success of the country but reminded the sector that it is vital they demonstrate value for money for students and the taxpayer.  He also restated the government’s commitment to widening participation and asked universities to consider introducing grade point average alongside traditional degree classifications. His speech focused on his commitment to introducing the Teaching Excellence Framework which will aim to ensure all students receive an excellent teaching experience and to build a culture where teaching has equal status with research. News blog: Jo Johnson asks TEF questions and gives ‘polished non-answers’ (THE).

Nurses/Allied Health Professional Degrees

The funding system for nursing, midwifery and allied health professional degrees is no longer working and needs to change, a joint statement by the Council of Deans of Health and Universities UK has said. It was also claimed that the existing system of National Health Service grants has left universities short-changed, as funding for nursing and physiotherapy courses is now the lowest of any subject in higher education. Universities call for nurse education funding reform (THE).

Thursday

HESA

The latest national data from the new Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey has been released. These statistics reveal that 93.3% of 2014’s Bournemouth University graduates are in work or further study six months after graduating. UKPIs: Employment of leavers (HESA). BU celebrates rise in graduate employability stats (Bournemouth University).

Coverage of Jo Johnson’s Speech

Degree classification/GPA- traditional degree marks will become obsolete and a new 13-point system will be introduced because too many students are receiving firsts and 2:1s, says Jo Johnson. Traditional university degree honours obsolete as new 13-point system unveiled (The Daily Telegraph).

Universities will have to show they are providing high quality teaching and giving value for money under plans outlined by Jo Johnson. Universities must prove they are excellent at teaching, minister says (The Guardian).

Friday

Immigration Debate

Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, has claimed that the Conservatives’ goal to cut net migration is driven by a negative account of immigration that risks damaging UK higher education. UK universities at risk from ‘ill-informed’ immigration debate, warns Cambridge v-c (THE).

‘Meet the Editors’ at BU Midwifery Education Conference

BU research, Featured academics, Publishing, Research news, Uncategorized

Slide1Dr. Jenny Hall and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen are holding a lunchtime at today’s (Friday 3rd July 2015) BU Midwifery Education Conference (#MidEd15) in Business School.  The one-hour session is advertised under the title ‘Believe you can write!’  Both BU academics are editors and on editorial boards of several prestigious health journals across the globe.       Slide2

Over the past few years CMMPH staff have written and published several articles on academic writing and publishing.  Some of these papers have been co-authored by BU Visiting Faculty, Dr. Bri jesh Sathian (Nepal), Dr. Emma Pitchforth (RAND, Cambridge), Ms. Jillian Ireland (NHS Poole) and/or Prof. Padam Simkhada (Liverpool John Moores University).

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen & Dr. Jenny Hall

CMMPH

Twitter accounts:  @HallMum5   /   @EvanTeijlingen