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European News (w/c 14/9/15)

Funding opportunities, Info Days, Training

Every week I receive an email from UKRO updating me on the EU-related activities including funding calls, info days, tenders and other news which helps keep me up to date with the EU. As this blog can be accessed externally, we cannot give you all the information that they email, but you can get the full subscriber experience by registering at the UKRO website.UKRO logo

Highlights from the most recent email are:

  • UKRO ITN (Innovative Training Network) event on 7/10/15 – please see the previous blog post about this event
  • ERC Consolidator Grant Information sessions – see University of Sheffield on 3/11/15 and  London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine on 6/11/15 to register
  • Info Week for Societal Challenge 2 (Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, maritime and maritime inland water research and bio-economy) runs from 24/11/2015 to 27/11/2015
  • Experts are required for EC non-food Scientific Committees in the topic areas of Consumer Safety  and Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks – deadline 2/11/15
  • Did you miss the H2020 Co-ordinators’ Day on 8/9/15? You can see videos of the presentations to find out more about H2020 project management
  • The draft Work Programmes are being made available. Please note that they are still under review and should not be assumed to be finalised
  • EU and China have launched a new Co-Funding Mechanism for research and innovation

If you are looking for specific funding, please make use of BU’s subscription to ResearchProfessional or search on the Participant Portal. For tenders, please use TED – Tenders Electronic Daily.

Also being discussed on planet EU:

  • ResearchProfessional are reporting on changes to demand management within Horizon 2020 (log-in to our institutional account to read more)
  • There are concerns about a move to an increased emphasis on applied research and product development within the H2020 Societal Challenges Pillar, according to a freely available article from ResearchResearch.Research-Professional-logo

If you would like further assistance in developing your EU knowledge and engagement, please contact Emily Cieciura, Research Facilitator: EU & International

 

Introducing Francesco Buscemi, Lecturer in Creative Communications

Photo on 14-09-15 at 11.03 #2

I joined BU in June, shortly after my viva at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, and since my arrival I have understood that Bournemouth may be the ideal place where to refine my research and teaching, thanks to its stimulating and friendly environment.

From 1994 to 2010 I worked at the Italian creative industry, mainly TV, moving up the career ladder from Intern to TV Format Writer and Head of the TV Writers. I also wrote board games, short stories, commercials, comics, plays and word-game books. At the same time, I taught and did research at three Italian universities on television and format writing, semiotics, adaptation and other topics linked to my professional activity. Actually, I was applying Fusion without having visited Bournemouth…

In 2010 I decided to pursue a PhD, in order to devote more time to academia. My research focuses on how food habits reinforce or challenge ideologies and cultural perspectives in social and mediated contexts, and sometimes my studies exceed the boundaries of the media to ‘invade’ history and anthropology. In 2012 I was awarded the Santander Grant Fund for a study on Nazi propaganda and meat, and I’m a member and co-founder of FoodKom, a European research group on the mediatisation of food and the meal experience, based at the University of Orebrö.

In my teaching, I strive not to make the frequent mistake of teaching creativity uncreatively. In lectures and workshops, I always stimulate students’ imagination and facilitate learning through storytelling, creative writing and, why not, acrostics and limericks, as I’m a follower of game-based learning. By the way, find below a quiz on how creativity has been defined and send your answer to my email… No money for the winners, I’m afraid, only fame and glory!

Best wishes,

Francesco

Creativity is

A    b e _ _      i n       a         s _ _ a _ _ _ _          r _ _ _

Well done FIF applicants!

For those of you who don’t know, FIF is the Fusion Investment Fund. Staff can apply to the fund for up to £75k in support of projects which will move BU towards its fusion goals. In the recent round, 30 projects have been approved, across all four faculties, utlising £280k of funding.

Congratulations to all successful applicants and we look forward to seeing your progress over the comming months!

Want to know more about the fund – click here!

 

 

Have you checked out the interactive Research Lifecycle diagram yet?

If you haven’t then you most definitely should! Our Research Lifecycle diagram is a jazzy interactive part of the BU Research Blog that shows the support and initiatives that are available to staff and students at each stage of the research lifecycle. The information is general enough so as to apply to all disciplines and you can use it to organize and identify the many activities involved in your research. You can explore the Research Lifecycle to find information on how to get started with:

1. Developing your research strategy

2. Developing your proposal

3. The research process

4. Publication and dissemination

5. Impact

RKEO will be adding to the Research Lifecycle to ensure it always contains the most up to date information to support you with planning, organising and undertaking your research.

You can access the diagram from the links in this post or from the menu bar that appears on all screens in the Research Blog.

76,659 unique visitors in one year! A review of the readership of the BU Research Blog

We regularly monitor engagement with our award-winning BU Research Blog using the fabulous Google Analytics tool. Over the past year engagement has been incredible. The stats below are based on the period 11 September 2014 to 10 September 2015 (1 year).

On average during this period the blog received 76,659  unique visitors, each spending approximately 1.5 minutes on the site. The blog is generally much busier on weekdays attracting between 250 and 1,000 unique visitors each day. In total there have been almost 175,000 page views.

The majority of our visitors came, unsurprisingly, from the UK (64%) and over the past year we have received visits from people based in 192 different countries. After the UK, the next ten countries from which visitors most frequented the blog were:

  1. United States
  2. Philippines
  3. Germany
  4. India
  5. France
  6. Spain
  7. Australia
  8. Netherlands
  9. Canada
  10. Italy

Also unsurprisingly the majority of visitors came from Bournemouth and Poole (30.8%) indicating that the blog is alive and well among BU colleagues. The next ten UK cities from which visitors most frequented the blog were:

  1. London
  2. Southampton
  3. Birmingham
  4. Edinburgh
  5. Manchester
  6. Bristol
  7. Leeds
  8. Oxford
  9. Cambridge
  10. Sheffield

This map shows the locations of all the cities from where the blog has been accessed in the past year:

blog city map 14-15

 

Approximately 60% of visitors find us via internet search engines. The top search terms that led readers to our blog over the past year are:

  • sky
  • poverty
  • sport
  • good luck
  • research blog
  • bu research blog
  • environment
  • help
  • ref 2020
  • usa
  • transport
  • bournemouth university research blog
  • erasmus mundus fusion mobility
  • professor matt bentley

33% of visitors are direct traffic, i.e. via the web address, the BU Staff Intranet, or the Daily Digest email. This is excellent as it shows that you lovely people who work at Bournemouth University are using the blog – hooray!

Over the year 35% (25%) of visits to the blog were made by returning visitors and 65% (75%) were made by new visitors (last year’s figures shown in brackets).

Of those who access the blog direct (i.e. mainly BU staff) the 10 most accessed pages last year were:

This is all excellent news. We’re always open to receiving feedback about the blog – please email us at any time with any comments, suggestions, etc, or add a comment to this blog post.

If you would like access to add your own stories and posts to the blog then email Rhyannan Hurst (rhurst@bournemouth.ac.uk) and she’ll get you started!

 

RKEO faculty-facing staff – when and where?

RKEO has a number of posts that directly support colleagues in the Faculties with bid preparation and submission and the post-award management of grants and contracts. These staff members spend approximately 50% of their time based in the Faculty offices. Information on when and where you can expect to find them when they are working in your Faculty is available here on the Research Blog here: http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/contact/faculty-facing-staff/.

A Hub for Sporting Excellence and Research

PG research

I have been fortunate enough to have been accepted to present two of my recent studies at the British Association of Sport and Exercise Science (BASES) conference on 1st and 2nd of December this year. Not only am I lucky enough to have been chosen to present, I get to visit the scientific hub of English football. The conference is being held at St George’s Park in Burton-upon-Trent, the brand new national centre for English football. State of the art facilities make it a playground for sports and exercise scientists, one that I most definitely will enjoy.

Shoulder counter-rotation

One issue I address in this study is quantifying the relationship between three-dimensional spinal movement and shoulder counter-rotation. Shoulder counter-rotation is the max rotation of the shoulders in the opposite direction to the batsman after the back foot has landed. This counter-rotation is used by bowlers to help generate pace on the ball, however, high counter-rotation values have been shown to place bowlers at increased risk of lower back injury. The mechanism by which this occurs still remained unclear, as shoulder counter-rotation values only takes rotation at the shoulders into account (which could be caused by spinal rotation or whole body rotation). My study aims to fill in the gaps in this knowledge by looking at the relationship between shoulder counter-rotation values and three dimensional movement of the lumbar and thoracic spine.

The technology I have used in the above study is inertial sensing technology and is a novel method of measurement for spinal movement in fast bowling. Therefore, I am also presenting research looking at the reliability of these sensors and how they may offer a more portable alternative to the camera based systems that are used at present. Once again, I would like to thank Bournemouth University for supporting me with the dissemination of this research.

 

st_george_park_1

St George’s Park, Burton-upon-Trent

UKRO Visit – 14th October 2015 – Save the date!

Info Days, Training

UKRO logoDo you aspire to be an EU-funded researcher?

The planning for our annual UKRO visit from our European Adviser, Maribel Glogowski, is well underway. This will take place on Wednesday, 14th October 2015 at Talbot Campus.

There will be an information sharing session for RKEO-only staff in the morning with presentations for all staff in the afternoon (13:00 – c. 16:30). It is expected that the afternoon session will include a general introduction to EU funding and the draft Work Programmes to 2017. You can see the draft Work Programmes in the Subscribers’ area on the UKRO portal. As BU subscribes to this service, all staff can register.

Please register for this event as soon as possible by contacting Dianne Goodman. Once we have your details, we will send the full programme, when it is confirmed. The schedule for the day will also be announced on the Research Blog nearer the date.

If you have any burning EU funding information needs, do let me, Emily Cieciura, know as soon as possible, so that we can incorporate your query into the session, where possible.

From research proposals to job applications: Writing tips from the European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grants workshop

Funding opportunities, Guidance

Yesterday I attended an ERC Starting Grants session at the London School of Economics. Although I may never reach the heady, research heights of submitting a proposal to the prestigious, ERC Starting Grants Call (let alone progressing past Step 1, with 9% success rate!), the workshop provided a range of advice equally applicable to preparing: i) funding proposals and, ii) job applications. From the background search to the interview presentation, in many ways job applications are similar to research funding applications.

Firstly, the background search: if possible, find out who has recently received funding in your field. If applying for a position, identify previous successful candidates. What skills and experience did they have? Appreciating these will allow you write your application accounting for your own capabilities, whilst also identifying how the project or position can further your professional and personal development. Awareness of how the project/position can create opportunities to turn your weaknesses, to strengths, is an important advantage at the interview stage. Next, what are the priorities of the funder, company or institution? Does your CV fit the job roles and responsibilities? Does your project proposal satisfy the call?

Secondly, the writing: be ambitious, but avoid sounding unrealistic. Adhere to the application criteria and submission guidelines (even font-size, line-spacing, etc). Provide evidence of how your project is innovative, what makes you stand out, or what specific skills you can contribute. These should relate to the criteria of the position advert or the research call. Preparation is key; start writing as soon as possible, and expect multiple drafts. Build your proposal (or Personal Statement) logically, based on your previous research (or experiences and skills). Make the application a pleasure to read, but stick to the specific guidelines. If preparing a research proposal, use data and graphs; if preparing a Personal Statement, tell a story expanding on your CV. Ask friends and/or colleagues for comments on your application – informal peer-review in preparation for formal peer-review (the same applies when practicing your interview presentation). Importantly you want to convince those outside of your field how you (or your study) can provide a long-lasting difference.

If you are invited to interview, do your research, again. What are the values of the funder, institution or company? Who is on the panel? What is their background? Next, structure a convincing presentation aligned to your application; support each claim with an example, but be succinct and to-the-point. Maintain focus and momentum, but communicate your enthusiasm. Once finished, expect a range of technical and non-technical questions. Ultimately, interview questions will relate to the application criteria, and range from your subject-specific knowledge to transferable skills (i.e., project management skills). Finally, use questions as an excuse to show your audience what you know; view your ‘weaknesses’ as opportunities. If successful, celebrate; if unsuccessful, view as an opportunity. As the ERC Officer mentioned ‘many successful applications come from investigators who were unsuccessful with a previous application and subsequently improved their submission’.

So regardless as to whether you are an undergraduate looking to secure a placement/ postgraduate position, or a Senior Lecturer applying for research funding, translate what you have learnt from previous writing experiences to the opportunities presenting you here and now.

ERC Starting Grant Call

ERC Starting Grant – Funded Projects

EU Funded Projects – Host Countries

James Gavin, Lecturer (Exercise Physiology) – Faculty of Management

NERC Call for ideas for strategic programme areas

Funding opportunities

nerc-logo-50thNERC is inviting the environmental science community to submit new ideas for strategic research. NERC is seeking ideas for research challenges that should be priorities for strategic research investment through either highlight topics or strategic programme areas. NERC would welcome ideas from both researchers and those who use environmental science research.

Ideas for strategic programme areas should be submitted by 21 September 2015. Ideas for highlight topics should be submitted by 19 October 2015.

New guidance is available to explain what they are looking for, and how to submit ideas. The Strategic Programme Advisory Group (SPAG) will use these ideas to develop proposals for new highlight topics or strategic programme areas.

The aim of this process is to capture and build on ideas for excellent strategic science coming directly from the environmental science community. NERC first asked for ideas for strategic research last year, and 150 ideas were received by the cut-off date of 31 August 2014. NERC would like to thank all those who submitted ideas at that time. The ideas spanned all three of NERC’s strategic challenges (benefitting from natural resources, resilience to environmental hazards and managing environmental change) and covered a broad range of environmental science disciplines. Ideas were received from research and user communities, and from individuals and groups.

EC Info Day – EU Brokerage Event on Key Enabling Strategies taking place on the 1st of Oct 2015

Info Days

EC Info days: relating to EU Brokerage Event on Key Enabling Strategies is being held on the:

1st of October 2015 in Strasbourg, France euflag

Info days and brokerage events run by the EC are an opportunity to get an overview of work programmes covering the 2016 and 2017 calendar years, meet up and hear from others who are interested in the same programme and potentially form links and build consortia for future applications.

Please click on the link below to book or register your interest

http://ec.europa.eu/research/index.cfm?pg=events&eventcode=2DE41882-FADE-977A-8FDF508D5871C5AA

Please let Emily or myself know if you intend to go so we can co-ordinate if others also wish to attend.

Academic and Researcher Induction to Research and Knowledge Exchange at BU

Guidance

The Research and Knowledge Exchange Office (RKEO) invite all ‘new to BU’ academics and researchers to an induction. The purpose of the induction is to inform you of the following:

Signpost with the words Help, Support, Advice, Guidance and Assistance on the direction arrows, against a bright blue cloudy sky.
  • how we can support you when planning your research career;
  • how to apply for funding (the policies and processes around costs and approvals);
  • how to manage your successful research applications (including ethics, governance, risks and finance);
  • how we can support you on impact, public engagement, outputs and open access, case studies, and a whole lot more.

The third induction will be held on 28th October 2015 on the 4th floor of Melbury House. The format of the day is as follows:

9.00-9.15 – Coffee/tea and cake will be available on arrival

9.15 – RKEO academic induction (with a break at 10.45)

11.25 – Organisational Development upcoming development opportunities

11.30 – Opportunity for one to one interaction with RKEO staff

12.00 – Close

There will also be literature and information packs available.

If you would like to attend the induction then please contact Charmain Lyons, clyons@bournemouth.ac.uk for an official invitation. We will directly contact those who have started at BU in the last five months.

We hope you can make it and look forward to seeing you.

Regards,

The RKEO team

£2.5m funding for Advancing the commercial applications of graphene

Funding opportunities, innovation

InnovateUK_LogoA_Interim_RGBx320govuk[1]

Innovate UK and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) are investing up to £2.5 million in technical feasibility studies to target the applications of graphene with the greatest commercial potential.

More information on this competition.

Competition briefing & other supporting events:

Several briefing & consortium building events are being held  for this competition. In addition to learning more about the competition and scope, and meeting others working in the graphene industry, you will have the opportunity to pitch for collaborators. You are strongly encouraged to attend one or more of these events.

Event    Date   Location   Link to register 
Competition briefing event 8th September Cardiff Register here
Competition briefing event 23rd September London Register here
Competition briefing event 7th October Newcastle Register here

In addition to  Venturefest Manchester on 22 September a short briefing session on this competition will be given at the graphene breakfast meeting.

Queries

For queries about this competition, please contact support@innovateuk.gov.uk

 

 

Workshop on Falls (Older People) 01/10/15 – Purpose to develop multidisciplinary bids!

Funding opportunities

diagram fallsFrom recent discussions with BU colleagues it is clear that many staff across all four BU faculties are involved in research and practice that is connected to the prevention and reduction of falls occurring in the older population.

It is also recognised that communications between BU researchers in this subject area can be greatly improved and cross faculty, multi-disciplinary bids developed to meet future research challenges (RCUK and European Horizon 2020, UK Charities etc) and the improvement of falls services provided by the NHS.

RKEO is organising a 1 day Catalyst Workshop on Falls (older people) to be held on the 01/10/15 in the Executive Business Centre (EBC), Lansdowne. The workshop will be facilitated by an external company Knowinnovation.  This workshop is open to ALL BU academics whose research could be applied to falls, indeed emphasis is now on recruiting non-medical related academics to the workshop, to grow the multi-disciplinary content of future bids.

If you think that your research can add to a multidisciplinary approach and you are able to attend the full day workshop then please contact Mike Board or Dianne Goodman or Emily Cieciura for further information and book your place (dependent on remaining spaces!).