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Two New Books for Social Workers

Fusion, Publishing

Bournemouth University and Centre for Social Work, Sociology and Social Policy Professor Jonathan Parker has recently published two key books.

The fourth edition of the best-selling textbook Social Work Practice, published by Sage, represents a milestone in the book’s history. First published in 2003 to introduce the new qualifying social work degree in the UK, it formed one of the first books in the highly popular Transforming Social Work Practice series from Learning Matters, now an imprint of Sage publications, and edited from the outset by Professor Parker. The book rapidly became a best-seller, consistently in the top-three best-selling social work textbooks in the UK. The work was translated into Japanese, used in Southeast Asia and Europe and has proved popular during Professor Parker’s recent study leave in Malaysia.

The concept for the second book Active Ageing: Perspectives from Europe on a vaunted topic (Whiting & Birch), an edited collection celebrating the European Year of Active Ageing in 2012, was conceived during a weeklong symposium, held at the University of Málaga in April 2012. Academics and students from Spain, Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands and the UK lauded the contribution that older people make to our societies through the exploration and critical analysis of the concept of active ageing. Written in a context of increased population growth and ageing, and continuing fiscal pressures, the editors, Maria Luisa Gomez Jimenez and Jonathan Parker, brought together thirteen chapters comprising diverse insights into ageing and active ageing that offer a contribution to our understanding of these complex areas of modern human life.

Entertainment on the move – Innovation Contest

Funding opportunities

Investment of up to £100k is on offer for digital innovation in the music, publishing and games sectors.

Information in brief:

The IC tomorrow programme aims to stimulate innovation and economic growth in the digital sector and is offering four businesses up to £25k each to encourage digital innovation in the area of entertainment on the move in music, book and magazine publishing and games/interactive entertainment:

  • music on the move with the British Recorded Music Industry (BPI)
  • books on the move with the Publishers Association (PA)
  • magazine content on the move with the Professional Publishers Association (PPA)
  • interactive entertainment/games on the move with UK Interactive Entertainment (Ukie).
Further details:
  • Deadline: noon on Tuesday 29 July 2014
  • Full details: Click here
  • Awards: 4 x up to £25k

Impact Awards Announced

Steve Mould, science and TV presenter, announced the winners of PraxisUnico’s Impact Awards  held earlier this month at a ceremony held in Cardiff.

The awards were first established in 2009 with over 500 entries submitted, demonstrating the impact  of university research within the UK and around the world.

A solution to the problem of vision-limiting smoke generated in operating theatres during laparoscopic surgery – based on proven electrostatic precipitation technology, was the winner of the Business Impact – Aspiring category.

An international collaboration between the University of Wolverhampton and the University of Maiduguri in Northern Nigeria was the winner of the Collaborative Impact award; the Universities are working together to increase the numbers of high growth SMEs in a country with challenging, unstable conditions generated by six years of violent terrorist insurgency.

A digital analytics technology company built on ten years of research received the Business Impact – Achieved award.  The technology – developed by Queen Mary University of London, helps businesses benchmark how good their digital service should be and identifies underperformance, thereby improving the experience of employees, customers, and partners with regard to important digital products and services. 

Building on the success of The Impact Awards to date, The Research Councils and PraxisUnico are pleased to announce that in 2015 we will be working in partnership to deliver Awards that will recognise outstanding impact achieved through successful knowledge exchange and technology transfer, and the benefits these bring to society and the economy. 

The winners and finalists 2014:

Business Impact Aspiring Award

  • Ultravision™from Cardiff University (winner)
  • Ketsofrom UMI3/UMIP, University of Manchester (finalist)
  • STAR, remediation of tar and oil land contaminationfrom The University of Edinburgh (finalist)
  • Seralite® The power to know, the power to act from University of Birmingham (finalist)

Collaborative Impact Award

  • Knowledge transfer partnership working in Nigeria from University of Wolverhampton (winner)
  • Unique collaborative research training partnership with GSK from University of Strathclyde (finalist)
  • Local business support delivering regional business impact from University of Wolverhampton (finalist)

Business Impact Achieved Award

  • Actual Experience PLCfrom Queen Mary University London (winner)
  • Oxford Photovoltaicsfrom Isis Innovation Ltd, the University of Oxford (finalist)
  • Smarter Grid Solutionsfrom University of Strathclyde (finalist)

 

 

Latest Major Funding Opportuntities

Funding opportunities

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

The EPSRC Platform Grants are a flexible mechanism of providing underpinning funding to well established, world leading research groups. Platform Grant funding provides a baseline of flexible support (a platform) that can be used for the retention of key staff, feasibility studies, longer-term research and International Networking. This flexibility should enable the group to take a strategic view of their research which will be enhanced by the submission of standard research applications during the lifetime of the Platform Grant. EPSRC must receive your application the last working Friday in the month preceding the batch meeting.

The Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE) Research and Knowledge Exchange (RAKE) fund is an initiative supported by Barclays Bank and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) administered through ISBE. This initiative aims to encourage and support research activities from academics, third sector organisations, consultants and practitioners with the ambition of drawing together and generating an entrepreneurial community of practice to facilitate knowledge exchange and transfer. Applications are invited from individuals or teams. Collaborative bids which draw together any combination of third sector organisations, academic researchers, consultants and practitioners are particularly welcome. For this round of funding, the funder envisages awarding one grant of around £8,000 – £12,000. Closing date 25/07/14 at 17:00.

The MRC are inviting proposals regarding three aspects of Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance: Understanding resistant bacteria in context of the host (Collaborative and innovation grants), with outline applications are to be submitted by 02/09/14 with the full application to be submitted by 05/12/14 and Accelerating therapeutic and diagnostics development with EOI to be submitted by 02/09/14, networking workshops between November 2014 and March 2015, outline for consortia bid in May 2015 and full invited applications expected c. September / October 2015.

The MRC Industry Collaboration Agreement  (MICA) encourages and supports collaborative research projects between academic and industry researchers. It is an agreement between the commercial and academic partners to undertake collaborative research. The key feature of the MICA is its flexibility, allowing the level and nature of the industry contribution to vary according to scientific needs, from cash and time input to sharing compounds and staff. Companies of any size may participate, from spin-outs and SMEs to major pharma. There is no deadline for this call.

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME), (a NIHR Evaluation, Trials and Studies (NETS) programme, is an ongoing research funding opportunity funded by the MRC. The remit of the EME Programme includes clinical trials and evaluative studies of novel and repurposed interventions.  The term intervention is meant in the broadest sense and includes any method used to promote health, prevent and treat disease and improve rehabilitation or long-term care. There is a webinar on 22/07/14, from 15:00-15:45. The Research-led scheme will close on 30/10/14 at 13:oo

The Royal Society‘s International Scientific Seminars scheme is for Royal Society Research Fellows who want to organise a small two-day scientific seminar at the Royal Society at Chicheley Hall. The scheme provides funding for international airfares, UK travel costs, accommodation at the centre, hire of the meeting rooms and all meals at the Royal Society at Chicheley Hall, home of the Kavli Royal Society International Centre, for up to 20 participants. The maximum amount that may be requested for travel is £5,000. The scientific meeting may be specific to a particular field of science or cross disciplinary in nature. The award holders are responsible for all aspects of organising and delivering the scientific content of the meetings, although guidance and support is available from the Royal Society. Closing date: 31/07/14. Researchers who are ineligible for this scheme might consider submitting a proposal for a scientific discussion meeting instead.

The Technology Strategy Board, with Tech City UK Ltd and Cambridge Wireless, are to invest up to £1m to support micro, small and medium-sized businesses working on the Internet of Things (IoT). This competition will support innovative research projects centred in and around the clusters in Cambridge (equipment and communications) and London (software and services). A briefing event will be held in Cambridge on 08/07/14 and in London on 21/07/14. The deadline for video submissions is at noon on 03/09/14.

Through the Technology Strategy Board, IC tomorrow with the Entertainment on the move – Innovation Contest, is offering four businesses up to £25k each to encourage digital innovation in the area of entertainment on the move in music, book and magazine publishing and games/interactive entertainment: music on the move with the British Recorded Music Industry (BPI); books on the move with the Publishers Association (PA); magazine content on the move with the Professional Publishers Association (PPA) and interactive entertainment/games on the move with UK Interactive Entertainment (Ukie). The call closes on 29/07/14.

The Wellcome Trust University Awards allows universities to attract or retain outstanding research staff at an early to mid-stage in their careers by providing support for up to five years, after which time the applicant takes up a guaranteed permanent post in the university. Next deadline: 18/07/14 for preliminary applications and 26/09/14 for full invited applications.

The Wellcome Trust Research Fellowships for Health Professionals scheme is intended for practising health professionals who wish to carry out research in any area within the remit of the Society and Ethics Programme, either full-time or part-time, while maintaining their work commitments. The research should address a real-life issue in the candidate’s professional practice that is relevant to the Programme. An award will not normally exceed £250,000, exclusive of any standard Wellcome Trust allowances. The fellow’s salary is provided, plus appropriate employer’s contributions. Essential research expenses, including travel and fieldwork, are available, as is a set amount for travel to conferences, seminars and other meetings of a scholarly nature. Closing dates: 18/07/14 for preliminary applications and 26/09/14 for full invited applications

The Wellcome Trust Research Fellowships scheme is for individuals not yet in established academic posts, who wish to undertake a period of postdoctoral research. Due to the multidisciplinary nature of research on the social and ethical aspects of biomedicine and healthcare, Research Fellowships may provide postdoctoral researchers with support to enable them to obtain research training, either in a new discipline or in a new aspect of their own field, e.g. a humanities scholar who wishes to be trained in social science. Closing dates: 18/07/14 for preliminary applications and 26/09/14 for full invited applications.

Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKE Support Officer.

You can set up your own personalised alerts on ResearchProfessional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s RKE Officer in RKE Operations or see the recent post on this topic, which includes forthcoming training dates up to November 2014.

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

Stripping Back the Layers: Women’s spiritual quest for religious authenticity

Fusion, Women's Academic Network

Having failed to get it externally funded, I decided to hell with it! I would do the project anyway. It was too important a topic to abort on such flimsy grounds; and anyway in the social sciences funding has never been a precursor to undertaking excellent and original scholarship, and this promised to be that.

 

I have long been fascinated by religion and spirituality as integral to cultural diversity, and this interest has underpinned much of my scholarship in both social work and sociology. Gender studies are equally a passion and so it seemed natural to form a happy union of the two.

 

For the past eighteen months, and thanks to recent Fusion Funding for part of the project, I have been undertaking a cross-cultural study of women’s experiences of religious commitment across several faith groups in the UK and Malaysia. Both countries share a common historical heritage through the ties of colonialism, where additionally wide-scale migration has forged multicultural and therefore multifaith societies. Each modern nation also struggles to resolve the contradictions and paradoxes created through multiculturalism and claims to a specific national religion.

 

The aim of the study is to examine the constructions and meanings that women bring to religious beliefs and daily practices, which may be distinctive to those of men, particularly given the extremely powerful influences of patriarchy in organised religion. Thus, the working assumption behind this study is that women will bring their own gendered priorities and understandings as women (and variously as wives/partners, mothers, daughters and sisters) to their individual religious and spiritual beliefs.

 

For an in-depth ethnographic study the participant sample is extensive, and where by the end of this year, 48-50 individual narratives will complete the data gathering stage. The level of complexity is high for not only does this study cover two contemporary societies, but it also seeks to cover representatives from several different faith groups. Thus, in Southwest England I am seeking to capture the voices of Buddhist, Jewish, Christian and Muslim women, as well as hoping to access female followers of one of the ‘New Religions’.

 

Across Malaysia, I have covered the same groups but substituted Jewish participants for Hindus.  I also hope to access indigeneous Animists to compare with the revival in pre-Christian ‘nature religions’ that may be found in the evocatively pagan, Dorset/Somerset/Wiltshire landscapes.

 

Such a large and highly diverse sample group represents a major study of contemporary, gendered faith practices in modern, multicultural societies; and where despite woman-centric theological re-interpretations, such as, for example, Christian feminists theologies or Malaysia’s ‘Sisters in Islam’, the insights from this study are already proving to be original and profound. My initial hypothesis has been both affirmed and challenged by participants struggling to engage with the politics of ethnicity, culture, gender constructions and gender oppression; together with the business of daily negotiating the politics of church/temple/mosque/synagogue – not forgetting, of course, the politics of the home and family.

 

Participant accounts have been deeply moving at times; and where to my surprise, I have been frequently thanked for giving participants the opportunity to be able to express that which is so important to their individual integrity and sense of purpose in life – and yet which remains a submerged discourse. There are many reasons, political, social and personal for religious expression among women to be largely unheard (and sometimes even a forbidden) discourse in both countries. These too are critical issues of context that are analysed alongside the narratives.

 

With REF2020 beginning to appear over the horizon, I will seek to do justice to these remarkable narratives in my analysis and the research monograph and peer-reviewed papers being planned. However, what is strikingly apparent is the intense interest participants hold towards their own spiritual journey, where they are also eager to read the finished publications in order to find further insights and connections with other women: impact in itself.

 

What this reveals to me is that not only is the area of inquiry extremely rich in theme, nuance and contemporary relevance, but that in respect of social impact (however one defines that term) much more is needed of me. Accordingly I am pondering deeply on how I may return and somehow multiply the fruits of this research to the global community of women for whom it carries such intense meaning and many shared commonalities in an otherwise divided world.

 

Volunteering to be a participant

If this Blog has resonated with you as a woman embracing a religious faith, or as someone who may know of such, I would be extremely grateful if you would contact me directly on scrabtree@bournemouth.ac.uk. Muslim, Jewish and ‘New Religion’ women’s voices in England are still under-represented in the study but all participants from other faith groups are equally welcome.

Obesity prevention in men, findings from a recent HTA Report

Publishing

Media coverage HTA Report June 2014

HSC Open Seminar

 

“Obesity Prevention in Men” with Professor Edwin van Teijlingen

Wednesday 2nd July 2014

 

13.00 – 13.50pm

 

Bournemouth House, B126

 

 

On July 2nd Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen will present findings from a HTA report published this month.  Researchers from the University of Aberdeen, Bournemouth University and the University of Stirling examined the evidence for managing obesity in men and investigated how to engage men with obesity services. The evidence came from trials, interviews with men, reports of studies from the UK, and economic studies.

 

The research found that men are more likely than women to benefit if physical activity is part of a weight-loss programme.   Also eating less produces more weight loss than physical activity on its own.  However, the type of reducing diet did not appear to affect long-term weight loss.

 

Prof. van Teijlingen will highlight some of the key messages for Public Health policy and practice.  For example, that although fewer men than women joined weight-loss programmes, once recruited they were less likely to drop out than women.   The perception of having a health problem, the impact of weight loss on health problems, and the desire to improve personal appearance without looking too thin were motivators for weight loss amongst men.

This work has been funded as part of the ROMEO project (Review Of Men and Obesity) by the National Institute for Health Research, Health Technology Assessment Programme (NIHR HTA Project 09/127/01).

The full report can be downloaded here: http://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/118180/FullReport-hta18350.pdf

–xx–

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

Beckie Freeman

Academic Community Administrator| Health & Wellbeing Community

01202 962184 | rfreeman@bournemouth.ac.uk

Dorset Business Awards 2014 Launch

The Centre for Entrepreneurship is delighted to be attending the launch of the Dorset Business Awards 2014. Sponsoring the Entrepreneur of the Year Award again this year, Bournemouth University is is keen to showcase and recognise local entrepreneurs who have made an economic or social impact in the region.

The DBA launch is being held at Parley Manor and Mark Painter, Dr Lois Farquharson, Melissa Carr, Dr Chris Chapleo and Nikki Gloyns are amongst the attendees representing the University.

The Dorset Business Awards are run by Dorset Chamber of Commerce and Industy (DCCI) and award categories have included an Apprenticeship Training Award, Bournemouth University’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the Dorset Tourism Award and the Barclays Business Woman of the Year Award.  This year awards include:

  • Entrepreneur of the Year
  • Business Growth Award
  • Excellence in Innovation Award
  • Dorset Export Award

The awards celebrate local achievement and success in the various categories and are an excellent way for local businesses who enter to gain publicity and recognition in addition to being able to showcase their products or services to a wider audience.    Winners are also able to display the DBA KiteMark on their letterheads and literature.

The Dorset Business Awards 2014 Competition opens on Monday 23rd June and runs until 12th September.  Winners are announced in November at the Dorset Business Awards Gala Dinner.   Further information is available from the Dorset Business Awards website.

Dorset Business Awards 2014

Congratulations and Good Luck

May saw an increase in the level of activity for bids being submitted and awards being won with congratulations due to Schools/Faculty for winning research and consultancy contracts.

For the Business School, congratulations to Hossein Hassani for his successful British Academy project to research advance econometrics technique for analysing and forecasting sea level rise, and for his consultancy with Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.  Good luck to Donald Nordberg for his application to ESRC; to Maurizio Borghi for his short course with DEK International; to Dinusha Mendes for her contract to ESRC; and to Mehdi Chowdhury for his application to the International Growth Centre.

Sue Eccles

For HSC, congratulations are due to Clive Andrewes and Sarah Gallimore for their short course with the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, to Zoe Sheppard, Peter Thomas and Helen Allen for their awardwith the National Institute for Health Research, to grants academy member Jane Murphy and Joanne Holmes for their short course on nutrition, to Vanora Hundley for her match-funded studentship with the Isle of Wight NHS Trust, to grants academy member Carol Clark for her match-funded studentship with Anglo-European College of Chiropractic, to Edwin van Teijlingen for his match-funded studentship with Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, to Carol Wilkins for her match-funded studentship with Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, and to Keith Brown for his short course with the British Forces Social Work Service.

For MS, congratulations to Stephanie Farmer for her consultancy with Breda University of Applied Science, and to grants academy member Sue Eccles for her project with the Higher Education Academy.  Good luck to Kerry Rowland-Hill for her consultancy to THAT Bournemouth Company Ltd, to Liam Toms for his consultancy to Lyme Bay Brewing Ltd, to Julian McDougall for his application to ESRC, to Iain MacRury for his application to ESRC, and to Jian Chang and Jian Zhang for their application to EPSRC.

Mark Brisbane

For the Faculty of Science and Technology, congratulations are due to Jonathan Monteith for his four consultancies with Anesco, ESJA Properties Ltd, Bloor Homes Ltd and North Mead Farm Ltd, to Iain Hewitt for his consultancy with the Association of Roman Archaeology, to Mark Brisbane for his project with the Leverhulme Trust researching the archaeology of Novgorod, to Adrian Pinder for his two consultancies with Aquatonics Ltd and Wessex Water, to Genoveva Esteban for her two short courses with the Society of Biology and the Alice Ellen Cooper-Dean Charitable Foundation, to grants academy member Nan Jiang for his consultancy with Grads for Growth, and to Ross Hill for his consultancy with Environmental Systems Ltd.  Good luck to Rob Britton for his application to Fondazione Cariplo, to Neil Vaughan for his application to the Wellcome Trust, to Hongnian Yu for his application to the Japanese Society for Promotion of Science, to Adrian Pinder and Emilie Hardouin for their consultancy to Natural Resources Wales, and to Kathy Hodder for her consultancy to Fieldwork Ecological Services Ltd.                                                                                                                                     

For ST, congratulations go to Jonathan Hibbert for his consultancy with Bournemouth Borough Council, and to Richard Gordon for his consultancy with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.  Good luck to Stephen Page and Adam Blake for their contract to the European Commission, and to Heather Hartwell for her application to ESRC.

New Horizon 2020 calls for August 2014 Deadline – GV – 2014 Green Vehicles

Funding opportunities

Funder Deadline Date: 28/08/14

Award Budget Total : €129,000.00. (Each successful proposal is expected to receive between €3m and €20m although proposals for other amounts will be considered)

Main Pillar: Societal Challenges

Link To Call Details: https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/opportunities/h2020/calls/h2020-gv-2014.html#tab1

As part of the Societal Challenges pillar for the new Horizon 2020 programme, the European Commission have released a call on ‘Green Vehicles’ (H2020-GV-2014) within the Smart, Green and Integrated transport programme.

The commission’s objective in this call is ‘’to promote research, technological development, innovation and demonstration in support of improvements in energy efficiency of road transport vehicles including the use of new types of non-conventional energies into road transport such as electricity, CNG and LNG, renewable and tailored fuels.’’

Proposals are invited against the following topics:

Dependent on which topic is addressed a proposal may take the form of a research and innovation action or just an innovation action. The call details the action type that is relevant.

For more information please contact Paul Lynch, plynch@bournemouth.ac.uk or Eva Papadopoulou, epapadopoulou@bournemouth.ac.uk.

WAN Mentoring Event – July 10th

Women's Academic Network

Facilitated by: Dr Colleen Harding, Head of Organisational and Staff Development, Tamsyn Dent, Post-Graduate Researcher, Media School

This session is aimed at:  all staff, male and female, and will be of particular interest to those who are interested in academic mentoring for women, and who are willing to be a mentor; would like to work with a mentor; or who support staff who would like to engage in mentoring.  

When: July 10th 13:00 – 16:30

Where: The Octagon

The purpose of the event is to provide an opportunity for the Women’s Academic Network to:

  • Discuss the benefits of engaging in mentoring
  • Find out more about how mentoring currently works at BU
  • Consider some of the options available to set up an academic mentoring network that specifically supports the needs of female academics at BU
  • To identify the steps that we need to take in order to set up an effective mentoring network.

 By the end of the event participants will have:

  • Discussed some models of coaching and mentoring, including the findings from a doctoral study on the transitional space provided by coaching and mentoring for emerging academics
  • Discussed some of the research studies on mentoring relevant to women in academia
  • Identified the critical steps necessary to set up a mentoring network that specifically supports the needs of female academics at BU

 Register through staff development  

Latest Major Funding Opportunities

Funding opportunities

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

The BBSRC, the Technology Strategy Board and the EPSRC are to invest £45m in major integrated research and development projects through the Industrial Biotechnology Catalyst. Catalysts provide funding to innovative businesses and researchers working in priority areas with the aim of helping them to quickly turn excellent UK research into new or improved commercial processes and products. There are five types of award – early stage: translation; early stage: feasibility studies;  industrial research; late stage: pre-experimental feasibility studies; and late stage: experimental development – and, with the exception of translation awards which are academic, can involve a single business or be collaborative. Total project sizes can range from up to £250k for feasibility studies to up to £10m for experimental development. Please note that there are different closing dates for each type of award.

The ELRHA‘s Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises (R2HC) programme aims to improve health outcomes by strengthening the evidence base for public health interventions in humanitarian crises. The programme is the product of a strategic partnership between the Department for International Development (DFID) and the Wellcome Trust, with ELRHA overseeing the programme’s execution and management. R2HC’s second call for Expressions of Interests is now open, and will close on 10/07/14.  

The Leverhulme Trust Visiting Professorships are awarded to UK institutions that wish to invite an eminent researcher from overseas to enhance the knowledge and skills of academic staff or the student body within the host institution. The scheme covers maintenance, travel expenses and research costs. Visiting Professorships last for between three and twelve months. The closing date for applications is 4pm on 09/10/14.

As part of the International Exchanges scheme, the Royal Society now offers additional funding through its Kan Tong Po Fellowships. This support has been made possible through the generosity of the family of the late Mr Kan Tong Po. The purpose of this scheme is to contribute at the highest level of scientific research and education at the University of Hong Kong, Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the City University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, by awarding Visiting Fellowships each year to UK or US based scientists to collaborate with a Hong Kong based academic, or for Hong Kong based scientists to collaborate with an academic based in either the UK or US. The scheme covers all areas of the life and physical sciences, including engineering, but excluding clinical medicine. Closing date 01/07/14.

The Technology Strategy Board, along with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Invest Northern Ireland, the Scottish Funding Council and the Welsh Government, are to invest jointly up to £2.3m to establish Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) to improve the competitiveness, resilience and responsiveness of the agri-food supply chain. The aim of this initiative is to give businesses access to the UK knowledge base so that they can develop innovative solutions to global challenges facing the agri-food sector. We are looking to support up to 25 KTPs through this competition. Its scope spans primary production, including aquaculture, through to retail. This competition will provide new opportunities for open innovation and knowledge exchange across supply chains and sectors. It will help companies to mitigate commercial risk and improve business performance – and to achieve growth as a result.  The funders will also consider co-funding KTPs on an individual basis. The call closes on 11/02/15.

The Wellcome Trust invites applications for their Clinical PhD Programmes. Successful candidates will develop their potential to become academic clinicians within a structured and mentored training environment. Programmes will provide the individual trainee with opportunities to sample high-quality research environments before they develop a research proposal that is tailored to their individual interests. Please go to the website for specific programmes and their closing dates.

The Wellcome Trust Seeding Drug Discovery scheme aims to develop drug-like, small molecules that will be the springboard for further research and development by the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry in areas of unmet medical need. A two-point entry system has been introduced to enable projects at an earlier stage in development to be competitive for funding as well as to progress later-stage projects further towards clinical trials. The deadline for the preliminary application is  05/11/14 with the full proposal by invitation in May 2015.

 Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKE Support Officer.

You can set up your own personalised alerts on ResearchProfessional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s RKE Officer in RKE Operations or see the recent post on this topic, which includes forthcoming training dates up to November 2014.

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

Thursday at 9am – come along to the next RKEO coffee morning

The first RKEO coffee morning was a huge success and we’d like to continue this at our next event, this Thursday (19th June) at 9am in R303, Royal London House. We’ll be there until 10am. Come along for a pastry and an informal chat with members of the Research and Knowledge Exchange Office. We look forward to seeing you!

For your diaries, our next coffee morning is at Talbot again, in the new academic year – 30th October at 9.30am in the Retreat.

Goal Modelling for Investigating Fraud

Staff and students are invited to join us for the next Cyber Security Seminar…

‘Goal Modelling for Investigating Fraud’

Tuesday 17th June 2014

Lawrence Lecture Theatre, Talbot Campus

4pm – 5pm

 

Join us for this informative seminar presented by Clive Blackwell, who is currently a Research Engineer at Airbus Innovation Works.

This seminar will present a systematic process for analysing fraud using the KAOS tool, which is widely used in requirements engineering. Interestingly, Clive will analyse the case of Paul Ceglia vs Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, where Ceglia claims 50% of Facebook supported by an alleged contract signed by Zuckerberg. Clive believes this technique could be extended to help provide a general model for fraud and also aid better analysis of the cyber security of complex systems in general.

 If you would like to join us for this presentation, please book your place via Eventbrite. We will look forward to seeing you!

Speaker Bio: Clive Blackwell is currently a Research Engineer at Airbus Innovation Works where his main research is in threat detection and modelling. Clive was formerly a Research Fellow at Oxford Brookes University between 2010 and 2013, where his main area of research was in cyber security and digital forensics with a particular interest in the development of a scientific basis for digital forensics. He has over 50 publications including two books to his name.

Brush up yer BRIAN

Guidance, Post-award, Publishing, Research assessment

BRIANRKEO will be delivering some ‘Brush up yer BRIAN’ training on 19th June 2014 1pm for Media School staff and students. The session will cover:

  • What is BRIAN and why is it important
  • How to set up and maintain your BRIAN profile
  • How to ensure your details are correct
  • How to request a photo is uploaded
  • How BRIAN links to your external staff profile
  • How BRIAN data is used towards BUs KPIs

 To book on please register here.

International Early Labour Research Group – 2014 meeting

Photo (L to R): Mechthild Gross (Germany), Marie Nott (UK), Tine Eri (Norway), Helen Spiby (UK)., Viola Nyman (Sweden), Vanora Hundley (UK), Patti Janssen (Canada), Mary-Ann Davey (Australia).

Researchers from across the globe met in Prague recently to discuss early labour research and to plan an international collaborative study. The group has been meeting regularly since 2008 and produced a number of collaborative papers, including a special issue of Midwifery dedicated to early labour and guest edited by two of the team. The meeting was timely given the recent ACOG guideline, related to re-framing established labour at 6cm cervical dilatation.

Presentations included:

  • Meta-synthesis on women’s experiences of early labour – Tine Eri (Vestfold University College, Norway)
  • Clinical midwives and early labour – Viola Nyman (University of Gotherberg, Sweden)
  • Role of media and women’s behaviours in early labour – Vanora Hundley (Bournemouth University, UK) also on behalf of Helen Cheyne (University of Stirling, UK)
  • Early labour triage service on the experiences of women, partners and midwives – Marie Nott (University of Southampton, UK)
  • Scoping Review of definitions of early labour onset and validation of the prediction tool – Patti Janssen  (University of British Colombia, Canada) 
  • Women’s perceptions of pre-hospital labour duration – Patti Janssen  (University of British Colombia, Canada) 

Opportunities for future collaboration were discussed and projects were identified that could involve a number of settings.  The potential for a fit with European Union funding will be explored.  Virtual collaboration will continue with the next face to face meeting to be held at Grange-over-Sands, immediately prior to the Normal Birth Conference 2015.