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MADRIGAL: Making sense of DRM in Game Development

The MADRIGAL research project  funded by FIF (Fusion Investment Fund) was successfully concluded on the 31st of July. The project was led by Dr Marcella Favale, a Research Fellow from the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy & Management (CIPPM), and Co investigated by Dr Christos Gatzidis, Principal Academic BSc Games Technology and Dr Shamal Faily, Lecturer in Systems Security Engineering, .

As an interdisciplinary research project, MADRIGAL aimed at understanding how game developers make sense of Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology when developing video games, and explored the complex perspectives of content producers, users and legislators. Copyright self-enforcement through the widespread use of DRM technology is one of the hottest issue of the digital age, expecially because DRM is found on most digital products, from computer games to coffee machines. The  difficult issues – both legal and technological -raised by the use of digital locks are not sufficiently explored.

The project recruited Neil McDonald, a mature undergraduate law student with a background in IT consultancy and network engineering on a work placement in the BU Cyber Security Unit. Neil carried out a critical analysis of the scholarly and practitioner literature in copyright law, rights management and game protection technologies. In April Neil attended the Centre for Digital Entertainment Celebration 2015 event hosted at the Assembly Rooms in Bath and networked with games industry professionals who agreed to participate in the interview stage of the project.

An interim working paper was produced after the first phase of the project. This was submitted and accepted for the 9th International Symposium on Human Aspects of Information Security & Assurance in Lesvos Greece and was presented by the Dr Shamal Faily on the 3rd July. The paper was well received with the audience and has subsequently been published in the conference proceedings.

Within MADRIGAL, a number of UK-based game developers were interviewed on the subject of DRM deployment across a variety of gaming platforms. The interviews yielded some interesting and unexpected results. This data has led to the ongoing development of a qualitative model which will clarify the different factors that influence how video games developers appropriate content and rights protection.

Through the fusion of research, education and professional practice combining the fields of law, game technology and cyber security, MADRIGAL has given BU and the research centres involved an important track record in interdisciplinary research in content protection and human values, in line with the BU 2018 strategic plan. The data from the MADRIGAL project will also advance the development of a project proposal currently being drafted; this will target a Horizon 2020 Creative Industries call in late 2015.

The working paper is available here

Vitae and the Researcher Development Framework

Guidance, PG research, student research, Training

Vitae logoVitae is an organisation set up to promote career development in both postgraduate researchers and academic staff. Their Researcher Development Framework is intended to help people monitor their skills and plan their personal development. At BU we will be using this framework to format the training on offer for the postgraduate research students and academic staff.

The Vitae website is an excellent resource and the organisation regularly runs free training events for researchers, PGRs and those involved in research development. Upcoming events include Vitae Connections: Supporting Open Researchers.

The Researcher Development Framework (RDF) is the professional development framework to realise the potential of researchers. The RDF is a tool for planning, promoting and supporting the personal, professional and career development of researchers in higher education. It was designed following interviews with many successful researchers across the sector and articulates the knowledge, behaviours and attributes of a successful researcher.

There is a planner available on the Vitae website to help you assess which stage you are at with your skills and a tutorial providing guidance on how to use the framework.

Top 10 tips from researchers on using the Researcher Development Framework (RDF):

1. You might choose to use the RDF for short term as well as long term development. The RDF can be used in planning for your long term career ambitions but also to make a feasible short term plan. It can be useful to imagine your long term ambitions in order to focus your career path however the reality of progressing through to the higher phases may be more difficult to plan. In the short term, making decisions about how to progress to the next phase or what sub-domains are most important for you will be easier. Try to be realistic when setting these short term goals.

2. Use the RDF to highlight your strengths and areas for development and how these might be used to benefit/influence your personal, professional and career development.

3. Use the RDF to highlight your applicable and transferable skills. This is important for career progression within or outside academia.

4. Prioritise those areas which are most relevant. You don’t have to try to develop in all the areas of the RDF at once. There may be some sub-domains/descriptors where there is less relevance in progressing through the phases for you.

5. Draw on experiences outside of work to evidence your capabilities.

6. Progression to the highest phase in a descriptor will not be applicable to everyone but being aware of the possibilities can aid personal and career development.

7. Talk to others to get their views about your strengths and capabilities. Your supervisor, manager, peers, family and friends are a great source of information to find out more about yourself. Talk to them about how they perceive your capabilities. By understanding how others view you, you will be able to make more informed choices about your future.

8. To move from one phase to the next why not explore attending courses. These courses may be run at a local level (within your University) or may only be run nationally or internationally so awareness of opportunities for training is important. Vitae also run a wide range of courses which address many aspects of personal and career development.

9. Some phases may only be reached through experience and practice however good self-awareness and professional development planning will aid the process.

10. Networking is likely to enable you to reach more experienced phases.

 

Research Toolkit holds a wealth of guidance

Guidance

The RKEO team aim to provide you with tools to writing a successful application.  As part of this, you can find all sorts of information in the Research Toolkit on this blog.  Just look up to the top-right hand corner of the blog and you will see the link on the menu bar.

research toolkit

As well as specific guidance on writing sections of research council applications, there is also advice in the form of quick guides for various activities, access to concordat information, as well as advice on ethics and outputs.  Do explore what is available to you and let us know if there is anything else that you would like to see included.

 

 

American Sociological Association Annual Conference in Chicago, Puts Romance, Internet Dating and Relationships Center-Stage

Fusion, Women's Academic Network

By Professor Ann Brooks

The American Sociological Association (ASA) Annual Conference in August, set against the stunning backdrop of the city of Chicago and Lake Ontario, and the socio-cultural earthquakes of Ashley Madison and the political challenges of Donald Trump proved to be even more dynamic than usual. The theme this year was Sexualities in the Social World and attracted hundreds of iconic figures from the sociological world and global sociologists more generally. Iconic figures such as Sasskia Sassen, Sylvia Walby, Anne Swidler, Eva Illouz, Judy Wajcman, Eric Kleinenberg, Robert Sampson, Lynne Jamieson and many many more ….. a veritable whos who in the contemporary world of sociology, presented and contributed enormously to this major conference in sociology.

sexualities in the social world

Plenary sessions included: The Politics of Same-Sex Marriage: Public Opinion and the Courts; Modern Romance: Dating, Mating and Marriage; The Rise of Nonmarital Births; Internet Dating; Abortion in America; and in addition a huge range of Presidental (ASA) Panels included : Birth Control in America; Women on the Battlefield: Integrating Women into the U.S. Military; Aging and Sexuality; Cohabitation; and many many more.

I chose sessions to reinforce the new undergraduate course I am offering in Sem 2, 2015-6 entitled Love and Intimacy in Contemporary Society and these major Plenary sessions did not disappoint. In fact they turned out to be real highpoints of the conference. A packed Saturday evening Plenary Panel entitled Romance Matters included Eric Kleinenberg (NYU), Azis Ansari (Comedian, Author, and TV Presenter), Helen Fisher (Rutgers, psychotherapist and Consultant to match.com), Christain Rudder (Ok Cupid) and Eli Finkel (Northwestern) enthralled the audience with serious and amusing presentations. This was followed by the signing of the Anzari and Kleinenberg new book …Romance Matters. I have to say the students will really enjoy this bringing together of research and teaching.

ASA Eric Kleinenberg       ASA Keynote Modern Romanceaziz

 

I convened a session on Gender, Sexuality and Work with 5 excellent papers, many of which are being published within books or journals.

The Presidential address by Paula England looked at the Changing Nature of Sexuality and and a further Presidential Panel looked at the advantages and disadvantages of Internet Dating also as an evening Keynote panel.

ASA Presidential addressASA Internet Dating

A truly inspiring conference with significant relevance for my new BU course. Thank you BU and HSS for supporting this.

Professor Ann Brooks September 7, 2015

NIHR Research Design Service Grant Applications Workshop – now accepting applications

Are you thinking of applying for a research grant?

Would you like guidance on improving your chances of success at getting funded?

The Grant Applications Workshop, run by the RDS South West, is directed at researchers who are considering applying to peer-reviewed funding competitions for applied health or social care research and is designed to help you make your application as persuasive as possible. This free one-day workshop will next be held on Wednesday 4 November 2015 at Taunton Racecourse, Somerset.

The deadline for receipt of completed application forms and research proposals is 1pm Monday 5 October 2015. To find out more about the workshop and the application process visit their website, or contact them on rds.sw@nihr.ac.uk or 01823 342792.

Don’t forget, your local branch of the Research Design Service is based within the BU Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) on the 5th floor of Royal London House. Feel free to pop in and see us or send us an email.

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing

Research Ethics

emily Emily Rosenorn-Lanng Research Assistant

FullSizeRender Rebecca Johnson Research Assistant

FullSizeRender[1] Sarah Wincewicz Research Admin Assistant

 

 

 

 

 

 

Financial scamming is costing the UK public approximately £3.5 billion each year. It is a problem which has developed in recent years and has hit the press because of the relationship with charity mugging, or ‘chugging’ (charities coercing people to give money). Although both scamming and ‘chugging’ result in the coercion of money from donors, they differ in approach, perception and legality. Having a charity connection gives ‘chuggers’ a sense of morality, which gives them a sense of legality, allowing them to tug on the heartstrings of consumers and persuade them, sometimes by intimidation, to part with money. Once a donation has been made, and details have been obtained, charities feel they have the right to regularly hound their donors for further contributions, and have recently been discovered to sell their details on to non-charitable organisations.

The Daily Mail’s investigation into the story of former Army Colonel, Mr Rae, highlights the relationship between scamming and ‘chugging’. Charities who acquired Mr Rae’s personal details sold them up to 200 times to other charities and list brokers who then passed them to scammers who deceived £4,000 from him.

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To what extent is it a problem?

The following figures, specific to Mr Rae, demonstrate the relationship that ‘chugging’ has with scamming:
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The alarming figures demonstrate the impact of this relationship and raise plenty of questions. How valuable is personal information to a charity? Why are charities selling personal information to non-charities? Where are the moral boundaries in this? What part do charities play in the scamming of vulnerable people?

What are we doing about it?

Here at the National Centre for Post Qualifying Social Work and Professional Practice we are working with Trading Standards to tackle scamming and chugging. To do this we are looking into:

  • Early intervention
  • The cost to victims and the knock on effect of being scammed
  • Developing a sophisticated profile for a potential victim, allowing the creation of ethical mailing lists that charities and public bodies could use
  • Reviewing the understanding of the Data Protection Act to make it potentially easier to remove people from databases (mail, telesales and charity approach) for the most vulnerable
  • Developing good practice guides and advice for professionals working in this field and for vulnerable citizens and their families/carers.

We recognise that this will all take time, but there are steps that you can take today. You can help protect the most vulnerable members of society from this sort of exploitation. How? Have that conversation with Mum, Dad, Nan, Grandad, Aunt or an elderly neighbour. Keep an eye out for scam mail and an ear out for scam phone calls. Make them aware they have a choice as to whether to respond or not, or whether to donate or not.

Most of all, make sure they are not lonely. Time and time again, we hear how loneliness is a key factor in chugging and scamming. If we can ensure our friends and family are not so lonely, then we may be able to ensure they are less vulnerable.

HE Policy Update

Monday

Immigration

Theresa May has signalled that she would lead a cross-Whitehall crackdown this autumn to stop foreign students staying in the UK at the end of their courses, unless they have graduate-level jobs to go into. May demands ban on jobless EU migrants. (The Sunday Times).

Tuesday

Outreach

A survey has revealed that universities’ efforts to improve access for students from disadvantaged backgrounds are being weakened by over-reliance on data about where applicants live, rather than their individual circumstances. Focus on poor areas for outreach ‘may miss individuals’ (THE).

Wednesday

Drop-out rate

University drop-out rates fell sharply after tuition fees were increased, according to a report from Lancaster University Management School. It examined the impact of the 2006 round of fee increases, when they rose to about £3,000, indicating that drop-out rates had fallen by 16% with the biggest reduction in Russell Group universities. Higher fees ‘cut drop-out rate’ (BBC News).

Thursday

HEPI

A new report by HEPI that compares the UK and Germany’s higher education systems concludes that that the abolition of tuition fees in Germany cannot be a model for the UK because the two countries’ higher education systems are so different. German abolition of tuition fees ‘cannot be model for UK universities’ (THE).

NUS

The National Union of Students is calling for a boycott of the government’s counter-radicalisation strategy to monitor students. The NUS has launched a national tour (Students Not Suspects) in five cities to oppose it. NUS fights back against government’s ‘chilling’ counter-radicalisation strategy (The Guardian).

Friday

International Students

Max Conze, CEO of Dyson has said that the company would like more skilled foreign graduates who are educated at British universities, to be allowed to stay in the UK. Rugs to riches: Dyson announces record profits of £367m (The Guardian).

Funding available to support R&D – science, engineering and technology

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, innovation, Knowledge Exchange

Technology in the hands
SMART is a grant scheme which offers funding to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to engage in R&D projects in the strategically important areas of science, engineering and technology, from which successful new products, processes and services could emerge.
The scheme supports SMEs carrying out R&D which offers potentially significant rewards and that could stimulate UK economic growth.
Three types of grant are available:
  • Proof of market
  • Proof of concept
  • Development of prototype.
Any UK SME undertaking research and development may apply; applications are accepted on a rolling basis for assessment by independent experts.

NERC update to submission rules

Funding opportunities, Guidance

Following feedback from the community NERC have strengthened the guidance on their submission rules. Please refer to the NERC website for more details.  In addition the research grants and fellowships handbook has also been updated.nerc-logo-50th

Please note that these rules will apply for all future closing dates including the forthcoming Highlight Topic, Independent Research Fellowship and Large Grant closing dates. This includes international calls where applicants might be based at an overseas organisation, so Principal Investigators should ensure that all component proposals are aware and meeting the requirements.

The main changes are:

Applicants to a standard, large or knowledge exchange grant call may submit up to one proposal as the Principal or as a Co-Investigator, and one further proposal as a non-lead Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator. Involvement of a UK investigator in a submission to NSF (under the NSF-NERC Lead Agency agreement) counts as a submission as non-lead PI/Co-I to the July NERC standard grant round.  However, the submission rules are also in line with the demand management cap on institutional submission numbers to the standard grant rounds and so you must contact the RKEO Funding Development Team if you are considering applying to this NERC call.

Large grant proposals will only be accepted if an outline proposal has previously been submitted and invited to proceed to the full proposal stage.

There is further information on the NERC website confirming submission deadlines, proposal attachments, font sizes and margins.

New journal RIO to publish research proposals

Research Ideas & Outcomes (RIO) is the latest scholarly journal seeking to fix the broken scientific publishing system. It has been created specifically to enable and encourage the entire research cycle to be published, including research proposals and ideas.

RIO journal will be open for submissions for any and all parts of your research cycle from 1st November 2015. Official Website: http://riojournal.com/ Twitter: @RIOJournal

This post originally appeared on the LSE Impact Blog. See here for the full post and more information on the RIO Journal.

EC Info Day – Secure, Clean and Efficient Energy taking place on the 14th-15th Sept

Info Days

EC Info days: relating to Secure, Clean and Efficient Energy are being held on the: 14th-15th September 2015 in Brusselseuflag

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 – please bear in mind places are limited!

http://ec.europa.eu/research/index.cfm?pg=events&eventcode=0B56FA95-AFE0-D63B-DD0527FE301EC26C

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

 

 

 

 

Is the UK good enough at commercialising innovation?

Business Engagement, innovation

Innovate 2011v4A recent edition of the FT (Financial Times) examined a contentious topic: that the UK is not very good at commercialising the innovations that its universities and startups create. A comment from Hanadi Jabado, who directs a start-up accelerator at Cambridge university’s Judge Business School, sums up the issue under debate: “The UK leads the world in terms of research but if you look at the commercialisation of innovation, the UK lags behind. What we seem to be doing is to develop a concept and then sell it to international companies to optimise. We’re preparing the lunch, we’re cooking the lunch, but someone else is eating the lunch.”

Are we doing enough? Are traditional methods of evaluating the commercialisation of innovation no longer valid? And what more could be done? Read the article in full.

Creative, Digital & Design Business Briefing – September 2015

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, innovation, Knowledge Exchange

theme - creative-digitalThis is a monthly publication that provides a digest of useful information about funding, financing, support and events to assist creative, digital and design businesses with their innovation and growth strategies.

Highlights include:

European Funding Guide – Creative Industries

A short KTN guide to help you submit a proposal for the Horizon 2020 funding programme (H2020) & other European funding sources. It provides a brief overview of support, how to apply and useful links.

More information »

Internet of Things Cites Demonstrator

Up to £10 million funding competition to demonstrate the capability of the Internet of Things in a city region. Projects should involve at least one local authority, one local enterprise partnership and several businesses.

More information »

Digital forensics – up to £300K phase 1

The challenge from the Home Office, is to improve the speed, efficiency and effectiveness of recovering and automatically analysing data from the seized digital devices of suspects under investigation. Maximum value of £40K per project.

More information »

EU Stakeholder Partnership Event – Innovating Cities with Nature and Culture

Info Days, Training

The European Commission is organising a Stakeholder Partnership event on 20 October 2015 to facilitate networking, information exchange and cross-border partnerships of actors interested in addressing urban challenges through innoeuropevating with nature or by making innovative use of cultural heritage assets for regenerating cities. More information is available from the website.

In the autumn, under the Horizon 2020 work programme for 2016-17, the European Commission will launch new calls for large-scale demonstration projects in cities as living-labs for nature-based solutions to societal challenges and cultural heritage as a driver for sustainable development. These calls mark a shift from basic and applied research to a novel type of innovation actions based on a systemic approach to solve problems and promote a more resource efficient, greener and competitive economy. The calls will aim at engaging stakeholders in cross-sectoral partnerships and inter-disciplinary activities, which are deemed necessary for co-designing, co-developing and co-implementing innovative solutions, testing them in real-world conditions through demonstration activities and securing their market uptake.

The Stakeholder Partnership Event aims at presenting the strategic orientations and rationale behind the new approach for research and innovation in cities using nature and cultural heritage, and at offering an opportunity for information exchange and networking.

Representatives of public authorities and other stakeholders from cities and regions, industry and businesses, civil society organisations and from the research community are invited to join the event on Tuesday, 20 October 2015, at DG Research and Innovation, Rue du Champs de Mars 21, 1049, Brussels. Around 200 participants are expected.

Register now!

 

UKRO Information Event – Innovative Training Networks 7/10/15

Funding opportunities, Info Days, Training

ukro_logo-150x85Information Event: Horizon 2020 Innovative Training Networks (ITN) – Royal Veterinary College, London​​, Wednesday 7 October 2015

​​The current EU funding programme for research and innovation, Horizon 2020, offers exciting opportunities for academia and industry collaboration through European and international partnerships. These include schemes which are completely ‘bottom-up’, in that organisations can initiate projects on topics of their own choice.

The UK Research Office (UKRO), in its capacity as UK National Contact Point for the Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), is holding two information events on the 2016 ‘Innovative Training Networks’ (ITN) call for proposal, which will have a deadline in mid-January 2016.

Aim of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Networks

The ITN scheme supports joint research training and/or doctoral programmes, implemented by European partnerships of universities, research institutions, industry (incl. SMEs) and other non-academic organisations. The research training programmes are intended to provide doctoral students with excellent research skills, coupled with experience outside academia, hence developing their innovation capacities and employability prospects. ​

Aim of the events

The events aim to provide participants with an in-depth overview of the ITN scheme. Participants should gain a clear understanding of the proposal format for each scheme and the key issues relating to planning, writing and submitting proposals.

Event Registration is via the UKRO website.

Attendance for the event is free of charge, but registration is mandatory.

Places will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Further information on the venue will be provided to delegates once they have registered.

BU subscribes to the UK Research Office (UKRO). Please sign up to get updates direct to your inbox. You will also need to register to view the draft programme for this event.