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Using flow cytometry to monitor harmful algae in coastal waters: establishing a regional testing arena in Poole Harbour with national benefits

Awarded & submitted bids, BU Challenges, HEIF, Knowledge Transfer

This innovative HEIF-funded project aims to test the use of flow cytometry for its ability to replace outdated and labour-intensive ways of working (microscope assessments) for the detection of harmful algae in coastal waters. This is a research need currently under consideration by U.K. Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) government scientists but is not a service offered commercially by any environmental consultants. The societal need is food safety: harmful algae can accumulate in shellfish and cause human poisoning, resulting in conditions known as amnesic, paralytic and diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (ASP, PSP and DSP). Harmful algae are therefore monitored by both shellfish producers and public health scientists. Shellfish production is a significant part of the regional economy of Dorset (Poole Harbour is a major national site of oyster and mussel production for example) and harmful algae have been detected locally, sometimes resulting in shellfishery closures which can have major economic impact. The project is funded until summer 2017 and the core team is composed of Ian Chapman and Dan Franklin in the Department of Life & Environmental Sciences, with support from other LES colleagues via a project board.

Open Access in Horizon 2020

BRIAN, Guidance, open access, Publishing

horizon 2020Open access to peer reviewed publications has been anchored as an underlying principle in the Horizon 2020 and is explained in the Regulation and the Rules of Participation. If you are a beneficiary or hoping to be a beneficiary of a Horizon 2020 grant, you need to be aware of your obligations to publish open access. Below are some of the key points taken from Horizon 2020 guidance which can be accessed in full here.

Are you supposed to deposit?

All Horizon 2020 beneficiaries are required to deposit and ensure open access.

What to deposit

  • A machine-readable electronic copy of the published version publisher’s final version of the paper, including all modifications from the peer review process, copyediting and stylistic edits, and formatting changes (usually a PDF document)

OR

  • A final peer-reviewed manuscript accepted for publication final manuscript of a peer-reviewed paper accepted for journal publication, including all modifications from the peer review process, but not yet formatted by the publisher (also referred to as “post-print” version).

Where to deposit

Researchers should deposit in a repository for publications of their choice. In order to manage and monitor open access compliance, BU request that all authors publish in our institutional repository (BURO) this can be done easily through BRIAN. Further information on how to do this can  be accessed here.

When to deposit

Each beneficiary must deposit as soon as possible. To comply with HEFCEs Open Access policy this should be on acceptance of the article.

Open-Access-logoWhen should Open Access be provided

Each beneficiary must ensure open access to the deposited publication — via the repository — at the latest: (i) on publication, if an electronic version is available for free via the publisher, or (ii) within six months of publication (twelve months for publications in the social sciences and humanities) in any other case.

For open access publishing, researchers can publish in open access journals, or in journals that sell subscriptions and also offer the possibility of making individual articles openly accessible (hybrid journals).  Where the case, the Author Processing Charges (APCs) incurred by beneficiaries are eligible for reimbursement during the duration of the action. For APCs incurred after the end of their grant agreement, a mechanism for paying some of these costs will be piloted. In the case of open access publishing open access must be granted at the latest on publication.

Beneficiaries must also ensure open access to the bibliographic metadata that identify the deposited publication. The bibliographic metadata must be in a standard format and must include all of the following:

  • the terms [“European Union (EU)” and “Horizon 2020”][“Euratom” and Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018″];
  • the name of the action, acronym and grant number;
  • the publication date, and length of embargo period if applicable, and
  • a persistent identifier.

In all cases, the Commission encourages authors to retain their copyright and grant adequate licences to publishers. Creative Commons offers useful licensing solutions in this regard (e.g. CC-BY, see Creative Commons Licenses).

In the context of the digital era, the notion of’ publication’ increasingly includes the data underpinning the publication and results presented, also referred to as ‘underlying’ data. Beneficiaries must aim to deposit at the same time the research data needed to validate the results presented in the deposited scientific publications, ideally into a data repository, and aim to make open access to this data. But there is no obligation to do so.

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Latest Funding Opportunities

Funding opportunities

The following is a snap-shot of funding opportunities that have been announced. Please follow the links for more information:

Academy of Medical Sciences

SUSTAIN pilot programme

This programme enables female researchers to thrive in their independent research careers by providing interactive career development workshops, a peer support network and one-to-one mentoring. The programme covers travel to London as well as hotel accommodation and optional childcare support during the first regional workshop.

Maximum award: Unknown

Closing date: 02 Dec 16

British Academy

Conference Program

This supports conferences on subjects in the humanities and social sciences held at the British Academy’s premises in London, UK. Funding covers the costs of administration, catering, preparation of delegate packs and promotional material, and contributes to travel and accommodation costs for speakers, chairs and convenors.

Maximum award: Unknown

Closing date: 24 Feb 17 (recurring)

Economic and Social Research Council

Celebrating impact prize

The Celebrating Impact Prize, now in its fifth year, is an annual opportunity to recognise and reward ESRC-funded researchers and ESRC associates. It celebrates outstanding ESRC research and success in interdisciplinary, collaborative working, partnerships, engagement and knowledge exchange activities that have led to significant impact.

Maximum award: £10,000

Closing date: 01 Dec 16

Wellcome Trust

Research career re-entry fellowships

These fellowships provide postdoctoral scientists with the opportunity to re-establish their scientific careers after a continuous break from research of at least two years. Fellowships are tenable for four years and cover salaries, research expenses, materials and consumables, animals and travel and subsistence.

Maximum award: Unknown

Closing date: 04 May 17

Sir Henry Wellcome postdoctoral fellowships

These fellowships enable newly qualified postdoctoral researchers the opportunity to start independent research careers, working in some of the best research environments in the world. Fellowships provide £250,000 over four years, covering the basic salary determined by the host institution, and research expenses such as materials and consumables, animals, travel and overseas subsistence.

Maximum award: £250,000

Closing date: 04 May 17

 

Seed Awards in Science

Seed Awards in Science help researchers develop new ideas to make them competitive for larger awards (from us or other organisations).

Maximum award: £25,000 – £100,000

Closing date: 16 Mar 17 (recurring)

 

If you are interested in submitting to any of the above calls you must contact your  RKEO Funding Development Officer with adequate notice before the deadline.

For more funding opportunities that are most relevant to you, you can set up your own personalised alerts on Research Professional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s/Faculty’s Funding Development Officer in  RKEO or view the recent blog post here.

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

Welcoming Dr Caitlin Potter to the BU Eco-Coding team

Business Engagement, HEIF, innovation, Knowledge Exchange

ecocoding-with-subtitle

We would like to welcome Dr Caitlin Potter who joined our Eco-Coding team from Bangor University on the 31st October. Her previous work has been on microbial communities of peatlands using metagenomic techniques and she will bring expertise and experience to the Eco-coding project.

Now that Caitlin is with us we look forward to the next stage of the project; discovering what our urban pollinators have been feeding on.

Click here for more information on this project and check out our new project page on the BU Research Website.

CaitlinPotter

European Research Council – Consolidator Grants

Funding opportunities

ercWhat are ERC Grants?

The ERC Work Programme 2017 sets out the objectives and principles of ERC funding. ERC Starting and Consolidator Principal Investigators must demonstrate the ground-breaking nature, ambition and feasibility of their scientific proposal. ERC grants are open to researchers of any nationality, who intend to conduct their research activity in any EU Member State or Associated Country .

The ERC’s frontier research grants operate on a ‘bottom-up’ basis without predetermined priorities. Applications can be made in any field of research with particular emphasis on the frontiers of science, scholarship and engineering6 . In particular, proposals of an interdisciplinary nature, which cross the boundaries between different fields of research, pioneering proposals addressing new and emerging fields of research or proposals introducing unconventional, innovative approaches and scientific inventions are encouraged.

The next call for the Consolidator Grant closes on 9th February 2017. Consolidator Grants can be up to a maximum of EUR 2,000,000 for a period of 5 years (pro rata for projects of shorter duration).

Are you at this stage?

  • Have you been awarded your first PhD > 7 and ≤ 12 years prior to 1 January 2017 – cut-off dates: PhD awarded from 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2009 (inclusive)?
  • Can you demonstrate research excellence?
  • Are you starting or consolidating your own independent research team or programme?
  • Do you have several important publications as main author or without the participation of your PhD supervisor?

The ERC guidance for Starting and Consolidator grants guidance has recently been updated.

What next?

If you are considering applying to this scheme, please contact Emily Cieciura, RKEO’s Research Facilitator: EU & International, as soon as possible.

 

Research Professional alerts are changing

Funding opportunities

Research-Professional-logo‘Research Fingerprinting’ is a new development on the Research Professional platform that delivers highly relevant funding opportunities to researchers.  This will go live at BU on Tuesday, 8th November.

How does it work?

Using advanced, highly-targeted algorithms, in combination with their extensive industry knowledge and refined discipline taxonomy, Research Fingerprinting generates personal funding alerts for the majority of the researchers at our institution, based on publicly available information about your research interests and published work.

Once deployed, fingerprinting will perfectly match our researchers with their research interests and help deliver the most relevant funding opportunities into your inbox every week. You will be able to edit your fingerprint if you find that the some of the disciplines do not match your research interests.

You will already have alerts set up and so when this is switched on, you will receive two alerts on a Friday. You can compare these to see which is finding the most relelvant funding opportunities. This should be the Fingerprint and so you can then remove your previous selected alerts. The fingerprint will update as your research interests grow.

When will we get it?

Research Fingerprints will go live on Tuesday, 8th November.  All academics with an account will also receive an email directly from Research Professional explaining what ‘research fingerprints’ are.  If you have any queries about the changes then please contact the RKEO Funding Development Team.

Patient and Public Involvement – the findings of a pilot programme run by Parkinson’s UK

HomeThe findings of a pilot programme run by Parkinson’s UK to explore the difference patient and public involvement (PPI) can make to research are now available. Both researchers and those involved valued the contribution made by members of the public to the research process, with particular benefits relating to written information about the research, and to the study design. Both a two-page summary and the full report of the findings can be found at the link above.

If you’re interested in PPI, we’ll be running a session as part of the RKE Development Framework, targeted particularly at NIHR applications. More information will be made available as soon as possible here.

Stern review of the REF – what next?

Guidance, REF Subjects

ref-logoThe Stern review of the REF was published in July 2016. The government have accepted the main recommendations, and we are expecting in November a HEFCE technical consultation on implementation – to affect the next REF exercise (probably in 2021). It is expected that the new arrangements will be settled by the summer of 2017.

So what did Stern recommend – and what is likely to be in the consultation?

  1. The main thing that Stern might have done, but did not do – following widespread concern in the sector – was move to a metrics-based approach for the REF. Peer review and case studies will remain and there will be an opportunity to celebrate success wherever it is found in the REF – not a metrics based ranking. There may be new metrics, and a new Forum for Responsible Research Metrics has been launched, but the key is that these metrics should be used responsibly and carefully.
  2. All research active staff should be returned in the REF (and allocated to a unit of assessment).
  3. Outputs should be submitted at Unit of Assessment level with a set average number per FTE, but with flexibility for some faculty members to submit more and others less than the average. A total cap should be set based upon two outputs on average per FTE with an individual cap (e.g. six) and a minimum per FTE (potentially 0).
    There has been some concern expressed about these changes – Maddalaine Ansell (University Alliance) via Wonkhe and James Wilsdon in The Guardian, 29th July 2016. At BU, our strategy is that all academic staff should be active in research as part of Fusion, so we will not be moving towards teaching only contracts. We hope the sector will not do so either – we will consider pressing for all staff to be included and remove any risks around the definition of “research active” to avoid this
  1. The total number of outputs per UoA should be adjusted so that it does not significantly exceed the 190,000 reviewed in REF2014. This may require the average number of outputs submitted per faculty member to be below two.
  2. Outputs should not be portable. The review proposes that outputs should be submitted by the HEI where the output was demonstrably generated and that work should be allocated to the HEI where they were based when work accepted for publication. There may be some flexibility around maximum numbers when staff have moved- e.g. maximum three outputs from those who have left.
    Concern has been expressed that this will restrict employment options for early career researchers, e.g. Paul Kirby. James Wilsdon again “the broader move to reduce output numbers and decouple them from individuals should reduce pressure on those at the start of their career, or who take time out of research because of childcare, illness or caring responsibilities” Other views: – it might be fairer to early career researchers who will be recruited on potential not previous publications
  1. Institutions should be given more flexibility to showcase their interdisciplinary and collaborative impacts by submitting institutional level impact case studies
  2. Impact should be based on research of demonstrable quality. However, case studies could be linked to a research activity and a body of work as well as to a broad range of research outputs
  3. Guidance on the REF should make it clear that impact case studies should not be narrowly interpreted, need not solely focus on socioeconomic impacts but should also include impact on government policy, public engagement and understanding, cultural life, academic impacts outside the field and impacts on teaching – the report recommends that research leading to impact on curricula and/ or pedagogy should be included. BU welcomes these changes and we look forward to seeing more details of these plans.

So watch this space – once the consultation is launched the Research and Knowledge Exchange team will be working with the policy team to prepare a BU response. You can read more about BU’s policy and public affairs work on our intranet pages.

Interested in helping bees and other pollinators thrive in our towns and cities?

Business Engagement, HEIF, Knowledge Exchange

pollinator-logo-vector-1

The newly launched Pollinator Exchange is your one-stop resource

With pollinator numbers in decline in rural areas, there has been increasing focus on the many ways in which towns and cities can be made more pollinator-friendly. Urban green spaces such as amenity grassland in parks, gardens, verges or roundabouts offer plenty of opportunities for pollinators, provided they are managed correctly.

While much academic research has gone into this field in recent years, this is not always readily available to the people in charge of managing urban green spaces. Local councils, highway agencies and other authorities need clear, evidence-based practical advice to turn our towns and cities into places abuzz with pollinators.

The Pollinator Exchange website, www.pollinatorexchange.org developed by Bournemouth University, fulfils this role. It provides an interactive database of the latest research, practical guidance and projects connected to pollinators in urban areas. All resources come with a brief summary of their main points, allowing those with limited time to follow recent developments and implement key recommendations. Website users can browse the existing catalogue and also add their own resources, thereby contributing to ongoing knowledge exchange on this important topic.

Gill Perkins, Chief Executive at the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, was one of many staff from conservation and land management organisations who generously gave their time to help test and develop the website. She said: ‘Bumblebee Conservation Trust recognises that urban environments are becoming crucially important to reverse the decline in pollinators. The Pollinator Exchange site will facilitate communication and knowledge exchange between groundsmen and contractors, biodiversity officers and everyone who influences decisions on what to grow, making it a vital resource for all to learn best techniques.’

The Pollinator Exchange was funded through the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s knowledge exchange programme: the Higher Education Innovation Funding scheme. (HEIF 5+1 August 2015 – July 2016.)

Please visit www.pollinatorexchange.org for a closer view.

For more information on this project please contact the  Project Lead Kathy Hodder.

 

 

 

Hello from Sam Porter, Professor of Nursing Sociology and Head of Department of Social Sciences and Social Work

sam-porterHaving been at BU for three months, I thought I should introduce myself to the research community in the University and take this opportunity to tell you about some of my research interests so that anyone ploughing similar furrows can get in touch with a view to future collaboration.
Dual trained in sociology and nursing (a fact reflected in my neologistic job title), my interests span social sciences and health. Coming from a School of Nursing and Midwifery, a lot of the work I am bringing with me to BU tends towards the clinical end of the spectrum, but I am really excited by the prospect of being able to re-engage a lot more deeply in the social scientific aspects of health and care.

In terms of substantive topics, my main focus is on palliative care (for example, I have been doing a lot of work around support for patients and loved ones dealing with cancer cachexia or wasting). I also do work on supportive care for cancer patients and survivors (a current example of the kind of thing I am involved in here is a qualitative study using Habermasian critical theory to examine patients’ experiences of care while taking oral chemotherapy, and how those experiences affect medication concordance).
In addition, I am interested in arts-based therapies (I recently led a randomised controlled trial of the effectiveness of music therapy for young people with behavioural and emotional problems). The subject population of this trial is indicative of the eclecticism of my interests, which include maternal and child care. Another example of this interest is the work I’m doing with colleagues in Brazil and the UK seeking social media solutions to Brazilian women’s health problems in the first year after giving birth.
Bringing together arts-based therapy and palliative care, I am currently involved in a feasibility study looking at whether music therapy is effective in reducing anxiety in hospice patients who are reaching the end of their lives (or more precisely, looking at whether a full RCT would be effective in evaluating whether music therapy is effective).

As a person trained initially in qualitative research who drifted into the dark realms of trialling, I am aware of the strengths and weaknesses of these differing approaches. I am also deeply interested in how they can be used in combination. I do a lot of methodological work grounded in critical realism, which aims to develop and encourage novel approaches to evaluation research that are capable of robust measurement of outcomes, comprehensive analysis of processes, and critical evaluation of human consequences.

I think that’s probably enough exposure of my chronically dilettantist approach to knowledge acquisition, so I’ll end by saying that if any of this interests you, it would be great to have a conversation.
Best wishes, Sam

2017 BU PhD Studentship Competition!!!

PG research

Call for submission of up to 48 funded Postgraduate Research Projects now OPEN

The Graduate School is delighted to announce the launch of the 2017 BU PhD Studentship Competition, with up to 48 funded projects available.

At this stage, Academic Staff are invited to submit proposals for studentship projects which, if successful, will be advertised to recruit PhD candidates for a September 2017 start.

Full details can be found on the Graduate School Staff Intranet where the following information can be found:

Submission Deadline:

Applications should be submitted on the Studentship Proposal Form to the Graduate School via email to phdstudentshipcompetition@bournemouth.ac.uk no later than 9am on Monday 9 January 2017.

The Graduate School will manage the recruitment process along the following timetable:

Date Action
1 November 2016 Launch PhD Studentships Internal Competition – development of proposals
9 January 2017 Closing date for submission of proposals
23 January – 10 Feb 2017 Panel meetings
Before 28 Feb 2017 Feedback to supervisors and preparation of adverts
March – June 2017 Launch PhD Studentships External Competition – recruitment of candidates
September 2017 Successful Candidates start

AHRC Town Meeting on Anti-Microbial Resistance in the Indoor and Built Environment

Funding opportunities

amrAHRC Cross-Disciplinary Networking and Information Event (Town Meeting) on Anti-Microbial Resistance in the Indoor and Built Environment

Event date Event time Event location
30/11/2016 10:00 am – 3:30 pm Amba Hotel, Bryanston St, London

The event will provide an opportunity to discuss the potential innovative contribution of the arts and humanities to cross-disciplinary collaborative research on AMR. (See the pre-call announcement).

The meeting will start at 10.30am (registration from 10.00am) and finish around 3.30pm, and participants will be able to:

  • hear background on the Research Councils AMR initiative and the AHRC-led call on AMR in the Indoor and Built Environment
  • network and explore possible research partnerships and collaborations to support potential future applications under the call
  • speak to Research Council staff about possible applications.

Who is the event for?

The event is open to academic researchers, both from the arts and humanities and other relevant research fields, who are interested in cross-disciplinary research relating to AMR in the built environment and to potential partners from outside academia who might be interested in the opportunity to initiate possible collaborations that might lead to research bids. Arts and Humanities researchers with related interests and expertise but who may not have previously engaged directly with AMR are welcome to attend to learn more about potential opportunities in this area.

The event provides a chance to:

  • find out about the cross-Council AMR initiative and the AHRC-led call for pump-priming grants on AMR in the Indoor and Built Environment due to be launched in November 2016
  • discuss with experts the challenges and opportunities of interdisciplinary working and co-delivery with end-users in this field
  • put questions about the funding call direct to funders
  • network with potential collaborators from other discipline areas or as end-users of research.

How to Register

If you are interested in attending the event please contact AMR@ahrc.ac.uk confirming your interest and providing a brief summary of no more than 300 words, outlining your current role/ organisational affiliation and relevant research / professional expertise as well as briefly stating your potential interest in the AMR in the Built/ Indoor Environment funding call.

Please Note: For those invited to attend the event this summary information will be shared among other participants to support the networking aspects of the event. Your application therefore needs to include a statement confirming that you are happy for this information to be shared with other participants if invited to attend the event.

The closing date for expressing your interest in attending the event is 20 November 2016.

For more information regarding the event please contact Samuel Lambshead 01793 416000 or email s.lambshead@ahrc.ac.uk

If you are interested in attending the town meeting then please let the RKEO Funding Development Team know as we would be interested in receiving a summary of the meeting.