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Fusion Investment fund 2014/15 – Making sense of DRM in game development (Madrigal)

The United Kingdom is Europe’s second largest video game market and the fifth largest in the world. Almost all videogames developers now implement techniques that are designed to protect and enforce copyright law. This restrictive technology is now beginning to hamper the ability of gaming companies to innovate by imposing platform boundaries and these measures now appear to also be problematic to the game development lifecycle. The roots of this complex problem are grounded in several disciplines including copyright law, cyber security, and creative technology. This restrictive technology can prevent you from copying certain CDs or DVDs to a portable device to watch during your train journey or even go as far as to dictate which brand of coffee capsules you put in your expresso machine.

This is Digital Rights Management (DRM).

The Madrigal project has been awarded a Fusion Investment Fund to investigate, identify and communicate how game developers make sense of DRM technology when developing video games. At present virtually no empirical research exists on how much videogame developers really know about the relationship between DRM and copyright law in terms of boundaries to DRM implementation, or on their real expectations from currently available DRM technology. Do they really understand it? Do they like it? Do they implement it regularly? Do they respect the boundaries? Is DRM legal? Other pressing issues that need addressing include, does DRM really stifle competition? After all the developers are protected by copyright law, but where do the issues with DRM really lie?

These questions surrounding the issue of DRM have gained more coverage recently thanks to the Apple trial. In which Apple was accused of anti-competitive behaviour because it refused to disclose its DRM to competitors. The collection of this entirely new data on the complexities of DRM will form part of the basis for a wider-reaching research project involving not only legal and IT scholars at BU but also international academic and industry partners. With its research expertise in copyright law innovation, usable security research, and game development, and its institutional drive for fusion across inter-disciplinary research, education, and professional practice, BU is uniquely situated to start tackling this problem.

If you would like further information on this research feel free to contact us or to tweet us. We look forward to any feedback. Also, if you are interested, keep tuned, as we will tell you what we learned from our experience at the end of the project (July 2015).

Dr. Marcella Favale (Principal Investigator) Centre for Intellectual Property Policy and Management, BU, mfavale@bournemouth.ac.uk, @MFavaleIP

Dr. Shamal Faily (sfaily@bournemouth.ac.uk) and Dr. Christos Gatzidis (cgatzidis@bournemouth.ac.uk), Faculty of Science and Technology, BU

Neil McDonald (Research Assistant ) BU Cyber Security Unit (BUCSU) @BUCybersecurity (nmcdonald@bournemouth.ac.uk)

PG Researcher Development Workshops – What’s available in January 2015

PG research

Here’s what’s coming up in January 2015:

  • Tuesday 13 January 2015 – Presentation Skills – Places are limited – if the workshop is full – add your name to the waiting list
  • Thursday 15 January 2015 – Academic Writing – 1 Day Course – Places are limited – if the workshop is full – add your name to the waiting list
  • Friday 16 January 2015 – Repeat: Academic Writing – 1 Day Course – Places are limited – if the workshop is full – add your name to the waiting list
  • Wednesday 28 January 2015 – Library Information & Using Researcher Tools
  • Wednesday 28 January 2015 – An introduction to Case Studies
  • Thursday 29 January 2015 – An introduction to Action Research

Further details and information on how to book your place, are available via myBU (Graduate School PGR Community).

Don’t forget that you’ll need to log on with your student username and password.

Sage Publishes Kip Jones’ Ten ‘Rules’ for Being Creative in Producing Research

Delicious links, PG research, Publishing

Sage Publications online presence, “Social Science Space” has published BU Kip Jones’ “Ten ‘Rules’ for Being Creative in Producing Research’ on its website.

Since the changing of the year seems to be the time for lists, top ten lists, etc., Jones decided to compile his about being creative whist producing cutting‐edge research. Jones warned, “Not for the faint‐hearted!” The list is available here.

Students and Academics with further interest in arts-based research and dissemination are welcome to join the Arts in Research (AiR) Collaborative. More information here.

 

 

Research Professional – all you need to know

Guidance

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:

27th January 2015

24th February 2015

24th March 2015

28th April 2015

29th May 2015

23rd June 2015

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.

Maternity research in Afghanistan

PG research, Publishing, student research

Just after I blogged about the first publication for 2015, I was informed by BU PhD student Rachel Arnold that our article: “Understanding Afghan health care providers: A qualitative study of the culture of care in a Kabul maternity hospital” is included in the first issue of 2015 of the journal BJOG.

 

BU has provided Open Access funding to make this paper freely available, which is especially important for readers in low-income countries such as Afghanistan or Nepal.  The paper can be found at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1471-0528.13179/pdf

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health , Bournemouth University

Reference

Arnold R, van Teijlingen E, Ryan K, Holloway I. Understanding Afghan healthcare providers: a qualitative study of the culture of care in a Kabul maternity hospital. BJOG 2015; 122: 260-267.

 

First BU publication of 2015

Publishing

Those working in the reproductive health field or in local media will be familiar with the phenomenon of the reporting of the first baby born in the New Year.   For example, you may have read a short item of the first baby of 2015 born just after midnight with a lovely picture of the baby with proud parents and/or midwife.

 

This BU Research Blog is the equivalent of the first publication for 2015.  I contributed a chapter called ‘Sociology of Midwifery’ to the edited book Sociology for Midwives published by Polity Press (Jan. 2015) and edited by Ruth Deery, Elaine Denny & Gayle Letherby.

The Polity Press website lists three reviews of the book by eminent academics in the field of midwifery:

“What is the point of sociology for midwives and midwifery? A sociological perspective can give us a different understanding of reproduction and maternity care. It can help us challenge our ‘common sense’ assumptions about how people and the world tick. This new book provides midwives and midwifery students with a readable comprehensive and up to date review of the field of sociology applied to reproduction and maternity care. The editors bring together a very impressive amount of material and present it in an accessible and clear way. Their facility for handling complex theoretical and detailed empirical material is admirable.”

Jane Sandall, King’s College London

 

“The editors and authors of this fine volume have produced a wonderful introduction to the value of a sociological imagination in the practice of midwifery.”

Barbara Katz Rothman, City University of New York

“The authors set out to ‘stimulate the sociological imagination’ of their readers. The combination of theoretical analysis and application of sociological theory to specific practice situations provides extensive opportunities for this to take place. Readers who are new to the sociology of maternity care will find ample material to excite and engage them. Those who already have dipped into this vast and fascinating field will find new applications, angles and perspectives that can cast a fresh light on why we do what we do in maternity care, and that provide possible routes for positive change in the future.”

Soo Downe, University of Central Lancashire

For more details of Sociology for Midwives, see:  http://www.politybooks.com/book.asp?ref=0745662803

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health

Bournemouth University

Mission Accomplished – Establishment of research collaboration, student and staff exchanges with the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

 Back in April this year I reported that I had been awarded Fusion Investment funding to establish a research, staff and student exchange partnership with the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. As part of that mission, I visited the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) from the 22nd April to the 26th April, 2014. The visit involved a number of meetings with the lead UKZN academic contact (Professor Lesley Stainbank), the Dean of the School of Accounting, Finance and Economics and the Acting Vice Chancellor of the University. I was also able to meet with the students at UKZN’s campuses in Durban and Pietermaritzburg. In addition, I presented an academic paper on the effect of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) guidance on greenhouse gas disclosure by UK firms.

 

On my return to BU, I submitted a proposal for the establishment of research, staff and student exchange to the BU International and UK Partnerships Committee (IUPC). The proposal was approved at the committee’s meeting in July 2014. Professor Lesley Stainbank then visited BU for familiarisation from the 27th to the 29th October 2014 as proposed in the fusion fund application. While at BU, Professor Stainbank had a number of meetings with, among others, the Acting Dean of the Business School (Professor Keith Wilkes), Director of International partnerships (Kerry Berry), the Associate Dean for Student Experience (Mark Ridolfo) and other academic members of staff who would like to visit UKZN. The visit by Professor Stainbank to BU brought to an end the project and in that respect I consider that the mission to establish research, student and staff exchange has been accomplished.

 

I am also happy to report that the paper I presented at UKZN has now been accepted for publication by the British Accounting Review which is a 3* Association of Business Schools (ABS) rated journal. BU has kindly paid for the paper to be published as open access. The paper can be accessed at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890838914000560. The other outcome of the project is that I have now started working with Professor Lesley Stainbank on research projects.  Professor Andy Mullineux (Faculty of Management) will be visiting UKZN next April as part of the partnership agreement and other staff members from the Business School (now part of Faculty of Management) have also expressed an interest in going to UKZN.

Dr Ven Tauringana

 Associate Professor of Accounting

Faculty of Management

 

Autumn Statement: funding announced to help businesses create the next generation of products

Funding opportunities

New funding announced in the Autumn Statement will help businesses create the next generation of products in innovative areas from robotic tools and printable electronics to carbon fibre composites.

  • £61 million will be invested across the High Value Manufacturing Catapult centres whose cutting-edge equipment and expertise is helping around 2,250 manufacturers create innovative technologies and products
  • a £28 million investment will create a new world-class research and development centre – the National Formulation Centre – specialising in the development of formulated products such as medicines and chemicals

For the full news story click here. 

 

£210K available for Wearable Technologies Innovation

Funding opportunities, Knowledge Transfer

 

 

 

 

The IC tomorrow Wearable Technologies Innovation contest will offer six businesses up to £35k each, to encourage innovation in wearable technology across the themes of hospitality, accessibility, entertainment, design, sport and wellbeing, health and safety. Winners will benefit from the contest funding as well as the opportunity collaborate with the one of the contest challenge partners, which include Disney, Amey and Network Rail, Atos, Queen Mary University London, Loughborough University and McLaren, and glh Hotels.

Click below to   register your place:

London: 28 January 2015

Manchester: 29 January 2015

Have your say on an a 2015 Cyber Security Innovate UK funding competition scope

Funding opportunities

Innovate UK is committing up to £4M to fund novel and innovative ideas in ways to counter cyber threats in industries such as healthcare, transport, energy and smart cities through a competition opening in March 2015.  

Attend the workshop in London on 15 January 2015 and have the chance to help identify challenge areas to be addressed that will feed into the scope of the competition brief. Also your knowledge can help shape the competition by providing insights and observations around cyber threat challenges facing our digital economy.

Click here to register your place.

Latest Major Funding Opportunities

Funding opportunities

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

Arts and Humanities Research Council

Applications are being can be made to the International Placement Scheme for  short term fellowships to the Yale Center for British Art, The Huntington Library, The Smithsonian Institution, The Harry Ransom Center, National Institutes for the Humanities Japan, The Library of Congress and the Shanghai Theatre Academy. Scholars receive a contribution of up to towards their travel, their visa costs paid,  plus a monthly allowance. Closing Date: 15/01/15 at 16:00

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

BBSRC/EMBRAPA joint wheat call – pump-priming awards. Together with the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation ( Embrapa) a joint call for collaborative research proposals in wheat research. Up to £75k over a maximum duration of 12 months will be provided to the UK partners. Closing Date: 24/2/15

Economic and Social Research Council

There will be up to six fellowships available as part of the UK in a Changing Europe Senior Fellowships. 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 maximum amount available for each Fellowship is £200,000.  Closing Date: 22/1/15

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

The SUPERGEN WIND CHALLENGE 2015 invites proposals for collaborative research projects to undertake fundamental research that will underpin the development of Wind Energy technologies.  Up to £3m will be available and anyone intending to submit a proposal must register their intent by e-mail.  Registration of intent: 20/1/15 at 16:00; Closing Date: 26/2/15 at 16:00

European Union

Transnational SOLAR-ERA.NET. The objective of the SEII is to boost the development of the PV and CSP sector beyond “business-as-usual” in the areas of Research and Development, Demonstration and Deployment with €12M available between 17 countries.   Closing Date: 27/3/15 at 17:00 CET

Innovate UK

Agri-Tech Catalyst – round 4. The Agri-Tech Catalyst, run by Innovate UK and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, offers funding to innovative businesses and researchers to develop solutions to global agricultural challenges.  Early and Late Stage Projects will have a typical project size between £150K and £500K. Closing Date: 17/6/15

The Industrial research awards for the Agri-Tech Catalyst fund can have a duration up to three years and a budget up to £3M.  Closing Date: 1/4/15

Building whole-life performance. There are funds of £4M for collaborative R&D projects that can lead to better whole-life performance of buildings. Closing Date 1/4/15

Integrated supply chains for energy systems. Investment up to £9.5m in innovations that will address the need for a diverse mix of energy sources and systems over the next three decades and beyond. Closing Date: 11/2/15

Natural Environment Research Council

Sustaining Water Resources for Food, Energy & Ecosystem Services in India- Scoping workshop. NERC is inviting applications from UK scientists to attend a jointly organised workshop with the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), in India on 11-12 March 2015. Applications from researchers working in the fields of water security, ecosystem services, hydrological processes, hydrogeology, freshwater ecology, water quality and related disciplines are welcome. Closing Date: 12/1/15 at 16:00

Royal Society

International Exchanges Scheme. This scheme is for scientists in the UK who want to stimulate new collaborations with leading scientists overseas through either a one-off visit or bilateral travel with up to £12000 available. Closing Dates: 10/2/15 (cost-share round with Russia/RFBR) or 17/2/15 (standard round).

Wellcome Trust

Principal Research Fellowships are available for seven years in the first instance, and provide both a personal salary and research programme funding in full. Closing Date: Open

Research Resources grant,s forming part of the Medical Humanities grants portfolio, are available between £10 000 and £100 000. Small grants of up to £10 000 may be awarded to assess the content, condition and research potential of collections in preparation for a full application. Closing Date: 15/4/15

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.

European Funding Opportunities for SMEs – Webinar 12/1/15

Funding opportunities, Knowledge Exchange, Training

Join the Knowledge Transfer Network for a lunchtime webinar on 12th January 2015 to hear more about European funding opportunities and initiatives available to UK registered SME’s.

Although, universities cannot always bid directly to all calls (some must be submitted by the company), knowing what is available may enhance your conversations with business contacts.

Find out more about the Horizon 2020 SME instrument from the UK National Contact Point, Jane Watkins, who will also introduce the new ‘Fast Track to Innovation’ instrument to be launched in January 2015.

SME Instrument

  • A new-dedicated SME scheme to fill gaps in funding for early stage, high-risk research and development. It targets all types of SMEs and provides support across all areas of innovation, science and technology

Fast Track to Innovation Instrument

  • Fast Track to Innovation instrument aiming to speed up the time from idea to market and to increase the participation of industry, SMEs and first time applicants. It will support small consortia of three to five organisations with strong business participation to give promising ideas the last push before entering the market. It is open to ideas in any area of technology or application and to any legal entity established in the EU or in a country associated to Horizon 2020

In addition, Graham Mobbs (European Operations Manager – Innovate UK) will discuss the Eurostars Initiative.

Eurostars

  • The Eurostars programme is targeted at innovative SMEs wanting to take part in collaborative research with partners across Europe and associated countries. The SME takes the lead in a transnational consortium, with the aim to develop innovative products, processes and services, ultimately to gain a competitive advantage.

If you can’t wait until January please take a look at the dedicated UK SME Horizon 2020 and European Initiatives webpage: www.h2020uk.org/smes

The webinar will be on the 12th January 2015 at 12 noon. To book your place please register via the eventbrite link below:

http://ktnsmeeuropeanfunding.eventbrite.com

marc.burke@ktn-uk.org

07515334818

Introducing Alice Brown, your Funding Development Officer (SciTech)

R & KE Operations

I am a Funding Development Officer supporting the endeavours of the Faculty of Science & Technology to succeed in being awarded research funding. I am here to provide assistance in the pre-award process. My work days are Tuesdays to Fridays. I will either be at Melbury House or in Christchurch House (phone number 01202 68247). Please do not hesitate to leave me emails any time and I will attend to them as soon as possible.

As a brief background to myself, just before commencing in this role, I was the Senior Research & Knowledge Exchange Officer at the Arts University Bournemouth as secondment cover. During that time, I managed research degree students and academic research, under which there was funding development work. Before that, I have relocated with my family from Australia, having worked for 7 years in the Western Australian State Government in legal, policy and research roles.

My interests are travelling, hiking, painting and fine dining.

HE Policy Update

Monday

UUK report

In the first year of the new charging regime (2012-13), UUK report Patterns and trends in UK higher education confirms that the number of first year undergraduates enrolled in UK institutions fell by 16.7% compared with the previous year. The number of first year postgraduates also dropped, by 3.8%. Impact of higher fees on HE laid out in UUK report (Times Higher Education).

Tuesday

Overseas influence of UK universities

William Hague gave a speech at Greenwich University in which he described the international impact of the UK’s universities and their role in promoting democratic values in a time of growing authoritarianism.  He also highlighted the importance of universities as places for exchanges of ideas and cultures and the long-term influence of attracting overseas students. Hague says UK universities deliver overseas influence (BBC News Online).

Private Colleges

MPs on the Public Accounts Committee held a hearing on controls over public-backed funding at private colleges, following a report by the National Audit Office. Martin Donnelly, Permanent Secretary at BIS, who appeared at the hearing faced particular criticism. Going on to call the private provider situation a “complete scandal”, Ms Hodge said HEFCE had warned BIS about the potential for problems in 2010. Hodge tears into government over private colleges (Times Higher Education).

Wednesday

Nick Clegg

The Deputy Prime Minister has said he has learned his lesson over the tuition fee U-turn and has made an impassioned plea to young voters alienated by the Liberal Democrats’ broken tuition fee pledge. In a question and answer session with young people organised by the Bite the Ballot voter engagement drive, he argued that the coalition had introduced a fairer fees system. Nick Clegg ‘has learned lesson’ from breaking tuition fees pledge (The Daily Telegraph).

Postgraduate study

New HEFCE research based on the Intentions After Graduation Survey (IAGS) 2013 shows that over half of graduates who plan to go onto postgraduate study end up not doing so because of finance issues.  Intentions after Graduation Survey (HEFCE).

Thursday

REF2014 Results

The REF results revealed that 30% of the research submitted was classed as world-leading (4*), 46% was internationally excellent (3*), 20% was nationally recognised (2*) and 3% was nationally recognised (1*). Mark Leach, founder of Wonkhe said that the results clearly demonstrate a substantial grade inflation which while positive, may undermine the sector’s credibility and bargaining power with an austerity Treasury that simply will not buy it. Despite this, he argues that the REF shows how a mature society can find reasonable ways to fund and support the creation of new knowledge and the individuals that power it – fairly and with accountability to the taxpayers. The REF: fascinating, flawed and essential (Wonkhe).

Friday

UCAS Report

In its End of Cycle report for 2014, UCAS says the number of students who secured places in UK universities broke through the 500,000 barrier for the first time in 2014, rising 3.4 per cent to 512,000. However, when it came to actual results, the proportion of English 18-year-old students entering higher tariff universities having achieved the equivalent of ABB or better at A level fell to 82 per cent in 2014, after a high point of 89 per cent in 2011. Ucas report suggests fall in entrance grades at selective universities (Times Higher Education).

REF Results-London

London universities are breaking up the traditional dominance of Oxford and Cambridge, according to official figures on research excellence. Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, said that unless there was an increase in overall budgets, funding would increasingly be concentrated in fewer places, such as the so-called “golden triangle” of London, Oxford and Cambridge. London overtaking Oxbridge domination (BBC News).