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Hurry the FIF up! 4 weeks until the deadline!

Funding opportunities, Fusion

 

 

 

If you haven’t already sent in your application, don’t panic! There’s still time. With three funding strands available for staff there are a wealth of opportunities for both academic and professional support staff to take advantage of:                                                                                                                             

 In the July round:

  • the Staff Mobility and Networking (SMN) strand committee  funded 18 applications in July totalling £73K. 
  •  the Study Leave strand (SL) committee awarded £107K.
  •  the Co-Creation and Co-Production (CCCP) strand was the most popular of the three in round one with 47 applications. A total of £92K was awarded to successful applicants.

 For all the updated strand policy documents, Fund FAQ’s and information about applying, please visit the FIF intranet pages.

 

The Fusion Investment Fund is managed by Samantha Leahy-Harland. Please direct all initial enquiries to the Interim Fusion Administrator, Dianne Goodman, at Fusion Fund.

The Teaching Exchange Workshop Goes International

Training

Developed by Bournemouth University’s Dr. Anna Feigenbaum alongside Dr. Mehita Iqani, the Teaching Exchange Workshop was designed to foster a space for collegiate interaction and sharing experiences of the challenges and opportunities involved in teaching. Piloted at five Universities across the country in 2010-2011 through support from the Higher Education Academy, the Teaching Exchange Workshop offers colleagues a chance to work through departmental issues including curriculum development, diverse student expectations, and teaching time management.

Participating institution, the London School of Economics and Politics, said the workshop activities “got colleagues thinking creatively and learning from each other. These could be applied by any department wanting to improve teaching practice and make best use of their staff’s experience and knowledge.”

On November 8, 2013 Dr. Feigenbaum was invited to South Africa to facilitate the first international Teaching Exchange Workshop at Wits University in Johannesburg. Drawing on successes of the pilot workshops in the UK, the Wits workshop featured new participatory exercises for generating innovative assignments that bridge practice and theory, and for problem-solving challenges associated with teaching in a time of 24/7 email and social media access.

As a low-cost and high productivity model for teaching quality enhancement, Dr. Feigenbaum and Dr. Iqani are keen to see the TE Workshop continue to grow both nationally and internationally. To learn more about the Teaching Exchange Workshop, you can download a free TE Workshop handbook. You can also read a sample of pilot study results published in the Journal of Further and Higher Education.

Congratulations and Good Luck

News from the PVC

October saw an increase in activity for bids being submitted and a number of awards were won with congratulations due to Schools for winning research grants, consultancy contracts and organising Short Courses.

For ApSci, congratulations are due to Adrian Pinder for his consultancies with Natural England, Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, and Aluna Foundation, to Paola Palma for her contract with English Heritage, and to Jonny Monteith for his consultancies with Churchfield Farm, Roofing Cladding & Building Ltd, Sembcorp Bournemouth Water Ltd, Anesco, and Sherborne Castle Estates.  Good luck to Adrian Pinder, Roger Herbert and Adrian Newton for their consultancy to New Forest National Park Authority, and to Grants Academy member Amanda Korstjens for her application to AHRC investigating the feedback loops between our diets, societies and bodies.

For the Business School, good luck to Tim Ford, Mark Painter and Dean Patton for their consultancy to RBS Group, to Grants Academy member Max Lowenstein for his application to Socio-Legal Studies Association, to George Filis and Hossein Hassani who have submitted individual applications to the British Academy, to Aroean Lukman for his contract to the Japanese Society for Promotion of Science, to Juliet Memery and Dawn Birch for their application to British Academy of Management, and to Huiping Xian and Julie Robson who have submitted individual applications to the British Academy of Management.

For DEC, congratulations to Hongnian Yu and Shuang Cang (ST) for their Erasmus Mundus award with the European Commission, to Bob Eves and Siamak Noroozi for their Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Consolor, to Biao Zeng and Jian Jun Zhang (MS) for their contract with Hunan Tianpei IT Ltd for a match funded student, and to Zulfiqar Khan and Mark Hadfield for their contract with Future Energy Source.  Good luck to Katherine Appleton for separate applications to the MRC and ESRC, to Sarah Williams for her application to NIHR, to Simon Thompson and Jian Jun Zhang (MS) for their application to the British Academy identifying yawning in neurological disorders by facial capture techniques, to Jan Weiner, Samuel Nyman and Anthea Innes (HSC) for their application to Alzheimer’s Research UK, to Jianbing Ma who has applied to the Royal Society, and to Tania Humphries-Smith, Nigel Garland, Mark Hadfield, Clive Hunt and Philip Sewell for their EPDE conference with the Institute of Engineering Designers.

For HSC, congratulations are due to Anthea Innes and Michele Board for their successful Erasmus LLP with the European Commission, to Anthea Innes, Michele Board, Sarah Hambidge, Samuel Nyman and Jan Weiner for their ESRC Festival of Social Science application ‘Dementia in Dorset – what does this mean for you?’, and to Lee-Ann Fenge, Maggie Hutchings, Jen Leamon and Anne Quinney for their ESRC Festival of Social Science application ‘Promoting dignity through understanding narratives of care’, and to Anthea Innes for her contract with Quantum LifeCare.  Good luck to Sara Crabtree and Gail Thomas for their application to Wellcome Trust, to Jonathan Parker and Sara Crabtree for their application to the British Academy, to Luisa Cescutti-Butler for her short courses to Great Western Hospital NHS Trust and to Eastbourne District General Hospital, to Vanora Hundley, Edwin Van Teijlingen and Ann Luce for their application to the British Academy, and to Anthea Innes for her Wellcome Trust application.

Congratulations to the MS for Jian Jun Zhang, Jian Chang and Lihua You for their successful European Commission application for user centred computer animation techniques, they also, together with Xiaosong Yang, successfully secured a second European Commission application for ‘Dr Inventor’, to Stephanie Farmer for her consultancies with Borough of Poole and also Tribal Education Ltd, which the latter was joint with Anthony Minto, to Liam Toms for his consultancy with Doppelganger Productions, and to Rebecca Jenkins and Grants Academy member Mike Molesworth for their consultancy with Work Research Ltd.  Good luck to Barry Richards and Roman Gerodimos for their application to AHRC, to Chris Pullen for his application to the British Academy, to Roman Geromidos for his submission to The Spencer Foundation, to Jian Chang, Hongchuan Yu and Jian Jun Zhang for their Royal Society of Medicine application researching smart mobile production of computer animation, to Jamie Matthews for his application to the Japan Foundation Endowment Committee, to Lihua You and Jian Jun Zhang for their Royal Society application, and to Julian McDougall and Ashley Woodfall for their application to NESTA.

For ST, congratulations to Lisa Stuchberry and Jon Hibbert for their contract with Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group (NHS), to Richard Gordon and Mike Evans (ApSci) for their consultancies with the British High Commission Nigeria and also with the British Embassy, and to Ehren Milner for his consultancy with Dorset County Council.  Good luck to Grants Academy member Alessandro Inversini for his ESRC application on strategic and tactical use of tourism technologies in developing countries, to Andrew Adams for his British Academy application, to Grants Academy member Debbie Sadd for her Leverhulme Trust application, to Charles McIntyre for his consultancy to Winchester Council, and to Ehren Milner for his consultancy to Bath Museum Partnership.

Professional services staff can apply too….FIF-tastic!

Funding opportunities, Fusion

Not only does the Fusion Investment Fund provide opportunities for academic staff at BU, there are also options for professional services staff:

Staff can apply to Erasmus which is most appropriate for enabling academic and professional staff based at higher education institutions (HEIs) to spend a period of training or teaching between 5 working days and 6 weeks in a European HEI or enterprise.  Under training mobility, the purpose is to allow the staff members to acquire knowledge or skills relevant for their current job and their professional development and to help create cooperation between organisations. There are also opportunities to invite staff from enterprises to Bournemouth University to give presentations and provide teaching. Professional staff can undertake training at a European educational institution.

Another option is to apply to the standard element of the Staff Mobility and Networking (SMN) strand. Non-academic staff must be able to demonstrate through their application how their travel will benefit the academic process within BU and particular focus should be placed on the creation of sustainable collaborative networks of academics or professionals linked to specific outputs or partnership developments. 

 For more information please read the relevant policy documents and information available on the FIF intranet pages.

The Fusion Investment Fund is managed by Samantha Leahy-Harland and the Interim Administrator is Dianne Goodman. Please direct all initial enquiries to Fusion Fund.

FIF says ‘If you prefer to stay put, let the professionals and/or academics come to you!’

Funding opportunities, Fusion

Did you know that under the FIF you can invite an academic or professional to BU in respect to the development of projects or to provide training which is linked to any aspect of Fusion?

 

2 elements of the Fusion Investment Fund provide support for inward mobility:

The Standard element of the Staff Mobility and Networking (SMN) strand supports UK or overseas travel and subsistence in pursuit of any aspect of Fusion – research, education, and/or professional practice – with no minimum or maximum duration. Awards made will be between £1k and £10k. Particular focus should be placed on the creation of sustainable collaborative networks of academics or professionals linked to specific outputs or partnership developments. 

The Erasmus element of the Staff Mobility and Networking (SMN) strand provides opportunities to invite staff from enterprises to Bournemouth University to give presentations and provide teaching.

For more information please read the relevant policy documents and information available on the FIF intranet pages.

 The Fusion Investment Fund is managed by Samantha Leahy-Harland and the Interim Administrator is Dianne Goodman. Please direct all initial enquiries to Fusion Fund.

Why the RPRS is more than just another BU hoop in submitting a proposal

Undertaking internal peer review (the RPRS) at BU became mandatory for all Research Council UK (RCUK) applications over a year ago in response to many funders demand management measures (which include banning applicants with two unsuccessful proposals within a time frame from applying to that funder for 12 months). The European Commission will also bring in demand management measures for all European Research Council grants under Horizon 2020.

But the RPRS is more than just a mandatory hoop for RCUK grants. In fact, most of the applications we receive are on a voluntary basis for a range of funders and schemes and those who have undergone it once, tend to use the scheme several times because of the value it adds.  Indeed an analysis of recent RCUK submissions to the RPRS found that it has a 44% success rate when the proposals are sent off to the funder and with some finders such as the ESRC having a 15% success rate in 2012 – that is not a bad statistic!

The RPRS has been described by applicants as a ‘very valuable service’ giving a ‘positive’ experience. Not only are the comments helpful in further refining the bid, but the peer support helped eradicate the loneliness which often accompanies writing a proposal ‘[The RPRS] is a great support when writing bids – it can be a lonely business sometimes.

If you haven’t used the RPRS yet, why not give it a go for your next proposal?

 

BUDI – Hot in Malta

In October, five members of the BUDI team attended the annual Alzheimer’s Europe International Conference 2013, hosted on the very beautiful (and very hot) Island of Malta. This annual conference attracts practitioners, academics, carers, people with dementia, medical professionals and clinicians from all over the world.

This year Bournemouth University was represented by the BUDI team who were accepted to present four oral presentations (Ben Hicks, Clare Cutler, Anthea Innes and Derek Eland) and one poster presentation (Clare Cutler) showcasing some of BUDI’s innovative projects (Technology Club, Tales of the Sea, Malta Hospital Care, (Don’t) mention Dementia and War and dementia).

In addition to the presentations, BUDI was also invited to exhibit the (Don’t) Mention Dementia project in the main foyer of the conference suite. The exhibition attracted many people who filmed and photographed the exhibition.  Some people were physically touched by the stories and enquired about how this method could be replicated in other countries to give people with dementia a voice.

On the last day of the conference our very own Anthea Innes was invited to provide the closing conference key note speech. Anthea’s presentation touched on many of the challenges faced by people living with dementia and stressed that there is still much important work to do to make our societies dementia friendly to enable those living with dementia to live well with dementia. Whilst the presentation focused on the hard times ahead, it was concluded with a wonderful feel good message (provided by the voices of High School musical) that ‘we are all in this together’! This got a lot of laughs and was a great way to end the conference.

 

Above and beyond presenting we were given the opportunity to network with world leading dementia specialists at the annual INTERDEM evening meal and the Alzheimer’s Gala dinner (which had a very good band although you couldn’t really understand what the singer was saying, but never the less, you could hum along to the tune). The Gala dinner was preceded with a special visit to the Maltase Presidents summer palace, where the delegates were taken around sections of the very old and very beautiful house and gardens.  

After much hard work presenting, networking, and profiling BUDI and BU, we ended the conference with an evening relaxing on the beach and a bit of a boogie in a local bar!

 

Since being home we have started following up contacts made at the conference and look forward to some potential collaborations.

 

Clare Cutler, BUDI Project Manager

A Review of Gaming Technologies for Stroke Patients

PG research

Our next Creative Technology Research Centre Research Seminar will be presented by Owen O’Neil.

Title: A Review of Gaming Technologies for Stroke Patients

Date: Wednesday 13th November 2013

Time: 2 – 3PM

Venue: P302 LTCentre For Digital Entertainment

Abstract: Stroke is a global pandemic and the largest cause of severe adult disability in the world. Incidence rates in the UK suggest that over 150,000 suffer a first time stroke, and over 80% of survivors will suffer some form of motor disability. Rehabilitation typically consists of high volumes of motor practice to engage the mechanism of neural plasticity, a form of cortical rewiring that allows the brain to adapt after damage. Meeting the rehabilitation needs for this population through one-to-one physiotherapy care is currently not possible.  There is a growing impetus on research institutions to explore cost-effective methods for increasing access to rehabilitation that may promote improved functional recovery for patients at home and in the clinic. Recent approaches include the use of video game technology as a method of increasing patient engagement and upkeep to rehabilitation programs. Of particular interest is the emergence of low cost commercial off-the-shelf devices such as the Nintendo Wii and Xbox Kinect.  In this presentation we introduce the state-of-the art application of video game technology as a modality of upper limb motor practice. We translate current approaches and technology in the literature that show particular promise to meet the needs of this population.

Research wins for CMC

Awarded & submitted bids

The Corporate & Marketing Communications academic group the Media School is celebrating two successful research bids within 24 hours. The first is that Prof Tom Watson was successful in gaining a British Council Researcher Links Workshop award for a project to be conducted with Chulalongkorn University in Thailand.

The bid was chosen in competition with 400 submissions. The national coordinator in Thailand is Assoc Prof Jirayudh Sinthuphan of the Faculty of Communication Arts and the workshop will be held in Bangkok in February next year.

Both national coordinators will have early career researchers as deputy coordinators: Dr Ana Adi at BU and Dr Phansasiri Kularb at Chulalongkorn. Others involved in the project include Dr Dan Jackson, Prof Iain MacRury, Dr Georgiana Grigore and Dr Tasos Theofilou. The team may be expanded to include other colleagues and PGRs.

The second “good research news” is that Dr Grigore, Dr Theofilou and Prof Watson gained another grant for CSR research from the Arthur W. Page Center at Penn State University in the US. They won a similar grant in mid-year.

For 2013/14 funding, reports Marcia DiStaso, senior research fellow at the Page Center, a record number of proposals was received, but only 13 out of 43 were awarded grants. This is a very competitive process and it is unusual to win two-in-a-row. Dr Grigore wrote the bid document with contributions from her co-researchers.

Are you FIF aware?!

Funding opportunities, Fusion

Because the FIF team are lovely, lovely people we’ve decided to hold some awareness sessions to give you the valuable opportunity to make your Fusion bid the very best it can possibly be. Two sessions will take place where you can discuss your application/s with the FIF Manager, Samantha Leahy-Harland, and committee members and, in addition, Dr. Martin Pickard of Grantcraft will be running a two and a half hour session giving his expert and essential Fusion bid writing advice. Martin is a specialist in writing and supporting research grant applications and tenders, as well as providing administrative and management support services for ongoing projects (additionally there will be some 1-2-1s available with Dr Martin Pickard in the afternoon of the 20th of November).

Come along to find out what makes a great application, what the committee members like to see in proposals and errors to avoid.  

  • Wednesday 13 November at 12-1pm, S203, Lansdowne – with the FIF Manager and committee members
  • Monday 18 November at 2-3pm, Casterbridge room, THS, Talbot – with the FIF Manager and committee members
  • Wednesday 20 November, at 9.30am – 12 midday in, CG04, Christchurch House, Talbot Campus – with Dr. Martin Pickard.
  • Additionally we have arranged some 1-2-1s in the afternoon between 1pm-5pm with Dr Martin Pickard to assist you specifically with your Fusion Bids.

 If you are interested in attending any of these sessions or to book a 1-2-1 appointment please contact Fusion Fund to confirm your place and your preferred session.

For all the updated strand policy documents, application form and more information please visit the FIF intranet pages.

The Fusion Investment Fund is managed by Samantha Leahy-Harland and the Interim Administrator is Dianne Goodman. Please direct all initial enquiries to Fusion Fund.

 

Congratulations again to Sheetal Sharma!

PG research

 

Having won the poster prize at last Friday’s GLOW conference in Birmingham,  Sheetal Sharma found out today that she has also been awarded a travel grant from one of the organisations supporting the ECTMIC 2013 Conference she attended in September. 

Sheetal presented a poster at the 8th European Congress on Tropical Medicine & International Health, 2013 (ECTMIH-2013) which took place 10-13 September 2013 in Copenhagen (Denmark).  Sheetal’s abstract of the poster is officially published see http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/tmi.12163/pdf

The reference is:

Sharma, S., van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V., Stephens J.,  Simkhada, P., Angell, C.,  Sicuri, E., Belizan, J.M. (2013) Mixed-methods evaluation of a maternity care intervention in rural Nepal: measuring what works, Poster P.2.3.004 (A), Tropical Medicine & International Health  18 (Suppl. 1): 108–231.

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health
School of Health & Social Care

Latest Major Funding Opportunities

Funding opportunities

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

  • The AHRC are running an International placement scheme providing funded research fellowships at leading international research institutions.  The maximum award is unspecified, Closing date is 15 Jan 14.
  • The AHRC are offering Collaborative research grants in partnership with the São Paulo Research Foundation enabling transnational British and Brazilian teams to apply for funding for collaborative research projects. This is an open call with no set deadline.  The proposal total should not exceed £2 million.
  • The BBSRC are offering Modular training partnerships  designed to help develop master’s-level training in areas of significant need for industrial sectors. The award maximum is unspecified with a closing date of 28 Jan 14.
  • The BBSRC invite proposals for their Welfare of managed animals strategic priority area.  The maximum award is not specified, closing date: 09 Jan 14.
  • The BBSRC are offering funding for the Animal health research club.  The club’s research focuses on improving the resistance of farmed animals. A maximum of £5.5 million is available to support a variety of projects at 80% full economic cost.  Projects usually last 3 -4 years but funding of up to £2m for a maximum of 5 years will be considered. Closing date: 11 Dec 13.
  • The EPSRC ICT pioneers competition is now open,  providing recognition for UK PhD students who can communicate and demonstrate the excellence and exploitation potential of their research.  There are four prizes of £2000 each are available.  Closing date is 04 Dec 13.
  • The fourth call from CHIST-ERA is now open from ERA-Net CHIST-ERA.  Proposals for this call should be transformative and highly multidisciplinary research projects in ICST. The indicative budget is approximately €11.6 million, closing date 21 Jan 14.
  • EUREKA’s Eurostars programme  is supporting SME’s using research to gain competitive advantage.  Funding is provided on a country by country bases with an average project budget of €1.4 million.  The maximum award is unspecified with a closing date of 13 Mar 14.
  • The MRC are offering UK-Japan collaborative proposals, specifically looking at neuroscience disease challenges and the use of next generation opitical microscopy technologies.  The maximum MRC contribution will not be more that £120,000 over three years.  Closing date 05 Dec 13.
  • The MRC are offering a  Senior non-clinical fellowship  providing non-clinical researchers opportunities to become research leaders. The maximum award is not specified and the closing date is 30 Apr 14.
  • The MRC are awarding funds in Stratified medicine to support investigator-led methodological research into the challenges raised by stratifying patient groups. Over the next 4 years, £60 million will be committed to this area of research. Maximum award is not specified, closing date: 23 Jan 14.
  • The Royal Society of Edinburgh are offering Scottish Enterprise/RSE enterprise fellowships to encourage the development of a new Scottish businesses based around a technological idea.  Fellowships cover the fellow’s salary for one year.  There is no maximum award and it will close 28 Nov 13.
  • The Royal Society are offering funds to run small three-day South Africa-UK scientific seminars to bring together groups of early- to mid-career scientists from South Africa and the UK.  Grants are worth up to £12,000 to be used to cover costs of international airfares for up to 5 scientists, local travel costs, accommodation and organisational support.  Award maximum is £12,000, closing 18 Feb 14.
  • The TSB are offering Infrastructure for offshore renewables.  Funds will be given to collaborative, business led projects looking to reduce costs associated with offshore wind, wave and tidal stream energy generation through technology.  Registration closes 29 Jan 14 with a final submission date 05 Feb 2014 .
  •  Improving cell and tissue analysis for stratified medicine.  The TSB seek development of innovative technologies to enhance cell and tissue sample analysis.  Projects should be between £200,000 and £1.5 million and last up to three years.  Award maximum not specified, closing date: 04 Dec 13.
  • The Wellcome Trust are offering Doctoral studentships in medical humanities.  The award will cover stipend, conference travel, research expenses, overseas fieldwork, and university and college fees for up to 3 years.    Maximum award unspecified, closing date: 02 Apr 14.
  • The Wellcome Trust People Awards support projects to explore the impact of biomedical science on society, its historical roots, effects on different cultures, or the ethical questions that it raises. Up to £30,000 is available per project.  Closing date: 31 Jan 14.
  • Wellcome Trust are offering Capital funding for learned societies. This scheme provides funding, usually for up to £200,000, to projects that support the scholarly activities of learned societies. There is no specified deadline or maximum award.
  • Society and ethics doctoral studentships are available from the Wellcome Trust to enable scholars to undertake full-time research on a topic related to the ethics and society programme.  Maximum award is not specified, closing date: 02 Apr 14.
  • Research training fellowships are available from the Wellcome Trust to support medical, dental, veterinary or clinical psychology graduates who have limited research training, but who wish to develop a career in academic medicine. Award amount maximum not specified. Closing date is 07 Feb 14.
  • Society and ethics small grants are available from the Wellcome Trust to  support small-scale research projects, scoping exercises or meetings whose subject matter falls within the remit of the ethics and society programme. The maximum grant is £5,000. There is no closing deadline.

UKTI Education: call for case studies

UKTI Education has been set up by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) and UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) to help UK education and training providers win business overseas. Their primary objective is to identify high value commercial opportunities overseas and help the UK education sector to access and pursue them, encouraging collaboration and the development of consortia, where appropriate, and supporting and promoting UK bids.

The UK has a strong reputation internationally for excellence in education and training:

  • ­   4 universities in the global top 10; 29 in the top 200
  • ­   1.4m pupils studying at nearly 3,000 British Schools Overseas in 2012; forecast to grow to nearly 2m in 2017 and 2.75m in 2022
  • ­   more than 1 in 4 further education colleges teaching international students outside of the UK
  • ­   many UK operators already provide education products and services successfully in a range of countries across the globe

 In order to help articulate and promote the UK’s education and training offer to an international audience, UKTI Education is preparing a snapshot of the UK’s education and training capabilities, for publication on their website and in future sector prospectuses.  They would like to invite you to contribute examples to their growing library of case studies showcasing what the UK can offer international customers.  They would also welcome your input into their short survey of UK sector capabilities.  If you would like to participate, please complete the form (UKTI case study form) and return to joanne.irving@uktispecialist.com by Friday, 29th November 2013.

Text from UKTI call: We will presume that by sending us your case studies we have your consent to use and, where necessary, edit them for the purposes of publication.  We will, however, share final versions of your case studies with you before we start to use them for promotional activity. We may require additional information from you and may contact you to discuss your response further; when completing the form, please provide the name of a person who is able to provide this information.

SMN could just be the strand for you!

Funding opportunities, Fusion

The Staff Mobility and Networking strand (SMN) of the FIF may seem like your normal, everyday standard strand but look carefully and you’ll see it’s a strand with a difference. It has 2 elements meaning even more opportunities for you! Not only is there a Standard element which includes Santander, but there is also an Erasmus Staff Mobility element too!

This strand provides support in the form of subsistence and travel costs and for staff to:

  • Travel within the UK or overseas with respect to development of projects linked to research, education, professional practice or any combination thereof.  Particular focus will be placed on the creation of sustainable collaborative networks of academics or professionals linked to specific outputs or partnership developments.
  • Travel within the UK or overseas for academic conferences, where one or more oral presentation is being presented and there is clear evidence of additional institutional value in terms of network creation or partnership development. 
  • Travel to at least one university from the the UK Santander Universities Network or one of the Overseas Santander Partner Universities with respect to development of projects linked to research, education, practice or any combination thereof. Please see the following for a list of participating institutions
  • Travel overseas in order to develop academic partnerships or lasting collaborative ventures around research, education and/or practice. 
  • Undertake a programme of mobility and/or networking across a series of linked trips or visits which are inter-disciplinary, especially where they are clearly linked to the BU Research Themes or involve student and staff participation. 
  • Travel in support of a Study Leave application.
  • Invite external partners to visit the University. For example, this might include inviting academics from other institutions or professionals from businesses to visit BU to develop projects and/or co-convening or facilitation of an international workshop.

 Previously funded activities under this strand:

Bournemouth-Birmingham-Brasilia: Consortium Building and Joint Work (BBB).

Dr Raian Ali, a Senior Lecturer in Computing, is the Principal Investigator of the BBB project which creates a community of interest involving the computing groups of the University of Brasilia, University of Birmingham, and Bournemouth University. The three groups are focused on Software Engineering research and this timely research project focuses on adaptive software systems, particularly, cloud and service computing. Exchange visits as part of this project have encouraged partnership development and international collaborative working. 

  Archaeology Professional Practice Forum: Bridging the Gap

The ‘Bridging the Gap’ project has been a highly successful networking and information gathering exercise, which will inform and drive actions to better prepare students for careers within archaeology, to better meet the needs of the profession and to enhance both subject-specific employability and transferable skills. An Archaeological Professional Practice Forum event was held to gather information from archaeology practitioners, employers, recent graduates and current students on the nature and extent of the skills gap between graduation and entry-level employment within archaeology. It explored ways to improve the industry-readiness of our students in order to give our new graduates a competitive edge when seeking employment, and to service the needs of the profession.  

 Please be aware that the Erasmus scheme differs quite significantly from the other FIF strands. More information is on the Erasmus intranet page  and more general information can be found on the FIF intranet pages.

 The Fusion Investment Fund is managed by Samantha Leahy-Harland and the Interim Administrator is Dianne Goodman. Please direct all initial enquiries to Fusion Fund.