Tagged / Public enagagement

February 2, 2023

Which of us is human? Our experience being part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science

By Dr Maxine Gee and Dr Rachel Moseley

Back on a rainy November day in 2022, Drs Maxine Gee and Rachel Moseley transported members of the public into a future where robots and humans live and work together. The public met our future confederates and were posed the task of identifying which of the two was human and which was a robot. Our mission: to increase understanding and empathy for autistic people.

You might ask: What on earth do robots and the future have to do with autism? How can science-fiction have anything to say on this topic?

This event was held as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science, an annual, UK-wide, free celebration of the social sciences to which BU has contributed for over ten years.

Our underlying research

Wall-E (Photo by Michael Marais on Unsplash)

The idea for the activity was based on shrewd observations by Dr Maxine Gee, Principal Academic in Screenwriting (Faculty of Media and Communications). Dr Gee studies how post-human characters (e.g. robots and other forms of artificial intelligence) are portrayed in media. What kind of qualities are written into these characters to signal to the audience that they’re not human? What qualities do screenwriters use to communicate that they’re not to be trusted, and what qualities make us root for them? You might think about Wall-E, whose expressive features and gestures make him highly lovable, or Data from Star Trek, whose attempts to understand and mimic the people around him endear him to the audience. Compare them with the Terminator or HAL, whose logic and unemotionality in pursuing their objectives inspire fear or distrust.

Dr Gee found that in science fiction screenwriters often distinguish human characters by expressions of emotion, and by the ability to tell stories so these characters can connect with others, express themselves and their identity, and also sometimes to lie or con their way out of situations. Moreover, characters in these films and television shows are perceived more positively when they express these characteristics.

These assumptions are based on a fundamental error: the idea that there is just one, ‘right’ way that humans express emotions and communicate. While each one of us is unique, most ‘neurotypical’ people have brains that work more similarly than dissimilarly to one another. People who are ‘neurodivergent’, though, have brains which function in more markedly different ways. This colours everything about the way they move through and experience the world, and gives rise to different ways of expressing emotions and communicating.

Autistic people are one such group, and this makes life very difficult for them. Being autistic is like having a mind which works on a different operating system, an apple mac in a world of Microsoft PCs. Because non-autistic people speak a slightly different social and emotional language, they can sometimes overlook or misunderstand autistic expressions of emotion, leading to stereotypes of autistic people as ‘wooden’ or, indeed, ‘robotic’.

Humanoid robot (Photo by Maximalfocus on Unsplash)

You might have heard of the Uncanny Valley effect in robotics – the more human-like a robot appears, the more unnerved people are by the slight deviations that shockingly reveal their artificiality. Research suggests that a similar process might be at work when autistic and non-autistic people interact, where differences in emotion and social behaviour can be unnerving for non-autistic people. From a very early age, non-autistic children distance themselves from autistic peers, while not necessarily being able or willing to consciously explain why. Autistic people are often socially excluded or bullied for their differences.

Dr Gee chatted to Dr Rachel Moseley, principal academic in Psychology, whose research focuses on mental health in autistic people. They noticed a parallel where many media portrayals of autistic people display traits which tend to mark out non-human characters in science-fiction – unemotionality, “cold” logic, rigidity in manner and movement. Since these features are often written to portray non-human characters less than sympathetically, we wondered whether there might be a link between these “less than human” portrayals of autistic people and the stigma they face.

Our public engagement activity

With the help of Bournemouth’s general public, we performed a field experiment. The public were told that one of our two colleagues from the future was a robot, and asked them a series of questions to try identify who was human. While we did have one robot and one human character, both were in fact carefully written to reflect different portrayals of autistic people. In the portrayal where autism stereotypes dovetail with robot characters, “Chris” (our robot) was logical and unemotional, without a lot of humour. In contrast, “Alex” was playful but diffident, constantly eager to please.

“Chris” and “Alex”, two of our actors.

They were based on autistic descriptions of camouflaging, which is when neurodivergent people consciously try to hide their differences and ‘act neurotypical’, from the way they make eye-contact, to copying their body language and speech mannerisms. Just like non-human characters are perceived more positively when they express emotions and social behaviours, autistic people are perceived more positively when they perform camouflaging behaviours, and it helps them avoid bullying or social exclusion. The problem is that camouflaging is exhausting, and it reinforces a sense of low self-worth. Autistic people who spend a lot of time camouflaging tend to have poorer mental health and also be more vulnerable to suicide.

We wondered whether the general public, who might be used to depictions of non-human characters, would be led to identify Chris (our stereotypical autistic portrayal) as the robot. Actually, we found that people were conflicted, with guesses balanced between the two characters. People noticed the Uncanny Valley aspect of Alex’s mannerisms, and knew there was something different about this character.

Max and Rachel in a discussion session with a group.

We explored their ideas about the traits they tended to associate with robot characters, and pointed out how these overlapped with representations of autism. In explaining how different types of brain give rise to different ways of socialising and communicating, we spoke about the painful efforts that autistic people go to hide their differences in order to be accepted. Concluding, we invited people to think about their assumptions of what it means to be human (and the inherent flip side of ‘not-human’), and the harm these assumptions could cause for people who don’t display those most common ways of behaving.

We measured the impact of this activity on attendees using surveys, the results of which might also feed into future research. Asked if the event increased their understanding of autism and empathy for autistic people, most of our respondents gave positive responses on the day. Those who responded two weeks later likewise gave mainly favourable responses, with one commenting “It was a very clever and accessible way to teach people about autism”, and others suggesting we should take the performance to schools. We especially valued one response by an autistic person in our audience: “I thought while watching that both could very easily be autistic and was scared that they might just say that being autistic was just like being a robot and that we had no feelings. Very happily surprised”

We ran the activity in thirty-minute slots throughout the day, welcoming over fifty attendees in total. Our immense gratitude goes to the Public Engagement team, our fantastic student actors, and our many colleagues who helped us during this event. We feel that the event was especially special in that it was co-produced, written and acted by an evenly split team of autistic and non-autistic people. One of our autistic actors had a fascinating and poignant insight into the double-bluff of playing a character who was camouflaging their autism just obviously enough for the audience to notice:

“Because I was so used to hiding it all … It was hard to not automatically revert back to covering it all up. Because the aim of being just an autistic person in real life is to try and not show your autism… So, it’s interesting to have to do that, force myself into that kind of corner in a way. … really seeing it and going, “Ah, but this isn’t what I usually do,” or “This is what I usually do,” or “Maybe I can do this in the future,” sort of thing. It almost made me feel slightly more comfortable taking in, kind of, showing a little bit more of me”

As we’re passionate about working towards a world where different ways of existing as a human are valued equally, we’re delighted with this feedback and look forward to taking our work further.

If you’re interested in engaging the public with your research, start by exploring what support is on offer at BU for research communications, impact and engagement. If you’d like to take part in this year’s ESRC Festival of Social Science, explore the other events that took place last year and look out for the call for proposals in March 2023.

December 8, 2022

Cafe Scientifique now taking place online – Tuesday 13 December 6:30pm – Understanding emotional wellbeing

Public engagement Adam Morris

Understanding emotional wellbeing – sign up to join Cafe Scientifique online.

This event was originally postponed due to staff illness, however, our cafe venue had mistakenly double booked our new date, and so are now unable to host us in person.

Rather than postpone again, we will be holding this event online over Zoom, at the planned date and time of Tuesday 13th December, 6:30 – 8pm.

We appreciate that this will be disappointing to those of you looking forward to joining us in person. Normal service will resume for our February event.

Our online event will follow the same format as our in-person events, though the break may be shortened or removed. Our speaker will present her research for about 40 mins, followed by time for questions. It will be entirely up to you whether you’d like to keep your camera on and be visible to the speaker and other attendees, or to keep it switched off. You will be able to ask your questions via the chat, which will be read out for you by our host.

To join the online event – register on eventbrite.

About this event

At Café Scientifique, you can explore the latest ideas in science and technology in a relaxed setting. Enjoy listening to a short talk before engaging in debate and discussion with our guest speaker and audience. We’ll be joined by Dr Laura Renshaw-Vuillier.

Society tells us that we should always try to be happy. But life isn’t perfect and expecting constant happiness can actually be unhealthy.

Negative emotions, like sadness or anger, are a normal part of life – we all experience these. The problem arises when we try to suppress them in order to only feel ‘happy’ emotions. In doing so, negative emotions paradoxically become more overwhelming and we might turn to harmful behaviours to make us feel better.

In this talk we’ll explore practical tips, based on research, to help us better understand, accept and manage our emotions. This talk will also briefly touch on eating disorders and the role of emotions on these conditions.

Please note: this talk will explore research in the area of emotions, but it is not an intervention or treatment. You should seek advice elsewhere if you think you need help.

To join the online event – register on eventbrite.

November 2, 2020

Café Scientifique 3 Nov – Hydrotherapy for Learning Disabilities

Public engagement Adam Morris

Join our online Café Scientifique, where you can explore the latest ideas in science and technology in a relaxed setting.

About this Event

At Café Scientifique, you can explore the latest ideas in science and technology. Enjoy listening to a short talk before engaging in debate and discussion with our guest speaker and audience.

We’ll be joined by Carrie Tbaily on Tuesday 3 November from 7.00pm until 8.30pm.

Researcher Carrie Tbaily is bringing her ten years of experience as a physiotherapist into the world of research, as she investigates the potential of hydrotherapy for learning disabilities.Join us to discover what a learning disability really is and how this population is excitingly diverse. We’ll also look at what current research can and can’t tell us about hydrotherapy, and how Carrie’ upcoming research plans to fill those gaps.

Book your free ticket

December 5, 2019

The Future of Manufacturing is Distributed – Copyright, 3D Printing and 3D Scanning

Business Engagement, conferences, Fusion themes, Public engagement, REF Subjects cippm

On 3rd December 2019, Prof. Dinusha Mendis was an invited speaker at the International Copyright Law Conference 2019 held at the Millennium Hotel London. Labelled as the ‘ultimate guide to the operation of copyright’, this event brings together a range of international speakers from different sectors.

The 2019 edition focused on Copyright and AI, Brexit, legal tech and copyright, funding of copyright claims as well as legal case law and legal updates.

Prof. Dinusha Mendis from the Department of Humanities and Law at Bournemouth University, explored the copyright issues surrounding technologies such as 3D printing and 3D scanning and offered a number of insights from her recent research including insights from her recently published co-edited book, 3D Printing and Beyond: Intellectual Property and Regulation.

The event held over two days included speakers from practice, academia and policy.

A full list of speakers can be accessed here: https://law.knect365.com/international-copyright-law/speakers

The 2-day agenda can be accessed here: https://law.knect365.com/international-copyright-law/agenda/1

August 19, 2019

Cafe Scientifique Tuesday 3 Sept – Eye Tracking as a Window to the Mind

Public engagement, Student Engagement Adam Morris

Photo Mark Dolby, Flickr.

Café Scientifique takes place on the first Tuesday evening of the month at Café Boscanova

Enjoy listening to a short talk from our guest speaker before engaging in debate and discussion around that topic

We’ll be joined by Dr Tim Slattery from the Faculty of Science & Technology on Tuesday 3 September from 7:30pm until 9pm (doors open at 6:30pm) No need to register, make sure you get there early though as seats fill up fast!

Eye tracking as a window to the mind

The movements of your eyes can reveal a lot about what you’re thinking. Join us to discover how researchers at Bournemouth University are studying eye moment, in order to understand the mental processes behind everyday tasks, like reading and navigation. Alongside a talk, we’ll have interactive demonstrations to show what state of the art eye tracking technology is capable of. We’ll discuss how eye tracking is already being used and what the future may hold when eye tracking becomes more widespread, even embedded in our personal devices.

If you have any questions please do get in touch

Find out more about Café Scientifique and sign up to our mailing list to hear about other research events: www.bournemouth.ac.uk/cafe-sci

You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter

March 26, 2019

Reminder: Funding opportunity – Being Human festival

Funding opportunities, Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement Adam Morris

Being Human festival 2019

A reminder that the Being Human festival is now inviting applications for 2019.

The sixth annual Being Human festival will run 14-23 November 2019. Led by the School of Advanced Study, University of London in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the British Academy, Being Human Is the UK’s only national festival of the humanities, and is one of the largest national platforms for public engagement with humanities research.

This year the festival theme is ‘Discoveries & Secrets’. This could involve anything from art historians uncovering painted-over masterpieces, archaeologists excavating ancient burial sites, historians making discoveries in archives, literary scholars discovering lost texts. More broadly it could include uncovering secret histories, or making new discoveries about seemingly familiar people, places, communities – the possibilities are endless. As ever the overarching aim of the festival is to take research in the humanities and share it in creative, fun and engaging ways with non-specialist audiences.

There are three main pathways to getting involved:

‘Small Awards‘: apply to Being Human for funding of up to £1,500 to enable activities.
‘Hub Awards‘: apply for a larger grant of £2,000- £4,000 to coordinate multiple activities as a Festival Hub. (Only a small number of these awards are made every year)
‘Open Call‘: organise an activity that does not require funding.

Further details, and answers to some Frequently Asked Questions are available on the Being Human website. The hashtag on Twitter is #BeingHuman19

The deadline for applications for funding is 5pm Monday 8 April.

If you would like some advice on developing ideas, feel free to contact Adam Morris (Engagement Officer).

January 16, 2018

Meaningful Impact and its “Long Tail”

Public engagement, Publishing Kip Jones

A recent article in the Qualitative Research Journal, written by BU’s Lee-Ann Fenge and Kip Jones with input from Camilla Gibson, Strategic Equality and Inclusion Manager, Hampshire County Council’s Adult Services, talk about what it takes to create meaningful community impact with academic research and outputs.

Patience and perseverance remain the watchwords. Locating, then nurturing, community partnerships are key to the success of this kind of approach. The authors consider how tools—including a film and a method deck of cards—were shared with community organisations, and how, in turn, these organisations use the tools to develop awareness of the needs of older LGBT people within their organisations and communities. In the article, Gibson recounts the way in which the tools were used with success with over 4,000 Adult Services staff in Hampshire.

If we are really serious about “impact”, we must remember that, in the case of dissemination of research at least, impact is not always a moment in the sun—an explosion of a scientific “breakthrough” on the public scene—then yesterday’s news. Good research has a “long tail”— (in statistics “a large number of occurrences far from the ‘head’ or central part of the distribution”). To achieve this, first, it takes tenacity on the part of the research team, or an ability to be a bit blinkered about its work, and a willingness to stick to the team’s goals and commitment over the long term. Secondly, it takes allies, and these are often community members, service providers, and so forth, who are energised by the work and take up the mantle. Finally, to create real impact, it takes resources available to carry out the work—not necessarily of the size or scope of the original research funding, but just as important to success.

Funds raised by the very process of REF activities should, therefore, be put to work and managed directly by the researchers creating the impact who are aware of the research potential and maintain familiarity and connectivity with community partners.

The article, Meaningful dissemination produces the “long tail” that engenders community impact can be downloaded here.

January 9, 2018

Cheltenham Science Festival Over-Ambitious Demo Challenge

Public engagement Natt Day

Cheltenham Science Festival is on the look-out for contestants to take part in their 2018 Over-Ambitious Demo Challenge at Cheltenham Science Festival 2018 (5-10th June).

If you have an idea for an over-ambitious science demonstration that’ll keep the audience on their toes right until the very end, then why not pitch your ideas and get involved! In previous years demos have ranged from ballet dancing on corn-starch through to steel-cutting sausages.

If you have any questions, feel free to email science@cheltenhamfestivals.com. If you are interested in applying click here. The deadline for applications is midday Monday 29th January.

December 1, 2017

Nominate an Award Lecture for British Science Festival 2018

Public engagement Natt Day

Do you know or work with a promising early career scientist? If so, why not nominate them for an Award Lecture at the British Science Festival 2018!

The Award Lectures aim to promote open and informed discussion on issues involving science and encourage scientists to explore the social aspects of their research. Previous Award Lecturers include the likes of Maggie Aderin-Pocock and Brian Cox.

Awards are available in seven different areas:

Margret Mead: Social Sciences
Isambard Kingdom Brunel: Engineering, Technology and Industry
Charles Lyell: Environmental Sciences
Charles Darwin: Agricultural, Biological and Medical Sciences
Rosalind Franklin: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Daphne Oram: Digital Innovation
Jacob Bronowski: Science and the Arts

The selected lecturers will receive an all expenses paid trip to the British Science Festival in Hull to present their talk as well as a £250 honorarium and an invitation to the Festival dinner.

To find out more information and apply, click here. Deadline for applications are 9am 2nd January 2018.

November 6, 2017

Book Now Developing a Public Engagement Event

Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement, Training Natt Day

Are you interested in engaging the public with your research but have no idea where to begin? Do you already have an idea for a public engagement event and want to make it a reality? If you’ve answered yes– or even maybe– to either of these questions then our forthcoming workshop on Developing a Public Engagement Event is for you!

Our workshop offers a step-by-step, practical guide to turning your research into a fully-fledged public engagement activity through a series of interactive talks, hands-on activities and take-away resources that will help guide the way through the murky world of engaging with the general public.

The session will explore:

What public engagement can look like
How to construct a narrative from your research that can become an event
How to design a public engagement activity and adapt this to different audiences
How to evaluate your events and make the evaluation work for you

By the end of the session you should feel fully equipped to deliver some public engagement with research and feel confident to participate in some of our upcoming events.

The session will run from 1pm – 4pm on Wednesday 15th November 2017 on Talbot campus (room tbc). To find out more and book your place, click here.

If you want to arrange a more 1-2-1, tailored session around public engagement with your research, or would just like to chat through some ideas, we are always available to provide support. Just drop Natt Day (our Engagement Officer) an email and she’ll be in touch.

November 3, 2017

The countdown has begun for the ESRC Festival of Social Science

Public engagement biddled

With our first event on Sunday, the KEIT team are running around finishing the final touches and getting the events ready for the Festival.

We would love for you to attend the free events that interest you, engaging in the research Bournemouth University creates is what we love to see people do! Check out the line up below and book your FREE tickets today, you definitely don’t want to miss out.

Sunday 5^th November:

Me and My Green Space

With Dr Holly Crossen-White, Dr Angela Turner-Wilson, Annie East, Dr Nathan Farrell and Tom Clark (RSBP)

In this fun, interactive event for the under-12s, we will be exploring what green spaces mean to you, how you feel in green spaces and your favourite ways to use them. By the end of the session the group will craft a joint artistic representation of your ideas of green spaces in the community. Drop in event from 11am-6pm at Kingfisher Barn, Granby Road, BH9 3NZ

Tuesday 7^th November:

Exploring the Impact of Brexit on the Social Care Workforce

With Dr Rosie Read and Professor Lee-Ann Fenge

This workshop explores research and evidence around Brexit and the social care workforce at regional and national levels and considers how research can be best presented to enable the sector to develop informed responses to the challenges linked to Brexit. BOOK TICKETS

Wednesday 8^th November:

Seldom Heard Voices

With Professor Lee-Ann Fenge and Dr Wendy Cutts

Join us for an afternoon of entertainment in words and music as we showcase the marginalised voices that our research has supported over the past five years. The show, presented in association with the Bridport Literary Festival, will explore topics such as youth and disability, homelessness, old age and kindliness. Booking available via Britport Literary Festival website

Readiness to Radical Change for Organisational Sustainability Post-Brexit

With Dr Mohamed Haffar and Sara Horani

In a post-Brexit world, our organisations will be faced with the need to adopt strategic changes as the UK’s role in international trade will be taking new directions. Join us to explore how you can measure and enhance employee readiness for change. This can help you to determine the required actions to achieve sustainable competitive advantages for your organisation in the post-referendum economy. BOOK TICKETS

Performance in Pairs: Human Minds Acting Together

With Dr Xun He and Juan Camilo Avendaño Diaz

In this interactive talk, we will explore recent findings that suggest when we perform tasks together our cognitive functions and behaviour can be guided by others’ minds. See first-hand some of the psychological experiments that show how human minds seem to be “acting together”. BOOK TICKETS

Thursday 9^th November:

Brexit: Next Steps for Businesses and Trade Policy

With Dr Sangeeta Khorana and Professor Jens Holscher

This workshop invites academics and businesses to discuss the possible options around several pressing post-Brexit issues: (a) What form of economic relationship can be best re-negotiated within the short timespan (until October 2018) between the UK and EU? (b) What will be the impact on small and medium sized British firms? What steps are proposed to ensure that British firms remain competitive after Brexit? (c) Implications for UK trade policy making, focusing in particular on future trade arrangements with the WTO and other countries. Booking via invitation only

Putting Social Science into Project Management

With Karen Thompson and Paul Summers

Recent research has challenged the prevailing view of project management as a technical activity. Our one day event will explore how research methods from social sciences have uncovered new understandings within the field of project management through seminar sessions, discussions and a poster exhibition. BOOK TICKETS

The Impact of Financial Scams on Older People: Tackling Loneliness through Connections and Creativity

With Professor Lee-Ann Fenge and Dr Sally Lee

There is growing recognition from the government alongside health and social care agencies of the negative impact of loneliness on health and well-being. This event will provide a forum for staff from key agencies and the public to come together and explore current research, best practices and develop a new understanding of how loneliness can increase susceptibility to financial scam involvement and gain knowledge about how we can combat this threat through connections and creativity. BOOK TICKETS

Friday 10^th November:

Thank-you for Coming: Why Gratitude Matters

With Dr Fiona Cownie and Kate Bond

Is ‘thank-you’ the most powerful phrase you use in your working life or do you find it difficult to say ‘thank-you’? This seminar explores the power of gratitude and highlights the challenges people and organisations find in expressing gratitude. You will leave with a new understanding of the nature of gratitude and with an action plan which you can implement within the work or volunteering environment. BOOK TICKETS

Saturday 11^th November:

Supporting Care Leavers into Higher Education: What works?

With Dr Sue Eccles and Dr Vanessa Heaslip

This interactive workshop showcases recent research undertaken at Bournemouth University into the experiences of Looked After Children and those supporting them as they consider, enter and transition through university. This group of (potential) students often face more challenges when considering their future than many other young people but our study suggests that, with additional support and guidance, they can and do become successful graduates. Through discussion and mini-research activities, you will have the opportunity to link the findings from this study with your own experiences and consider how we can work together to fully engage and support these young people into higher education. BOOK TICKETS

Miracles in the Mundane: Hitchhiking and Micro Adventures

With Dr Michael O’Regan

Join hitchhikers and social scientists, as we think with and through hitchhiking and micro adventures. We will be hosting a series of talks and discussions around hitchhiking and micro-activities to explore the modern experiences of passengering, ethical encounters, trust, the cost of speed and acceleration, driverless cars, social entrepreneurship, self-sufficiency, automobility and infrastructure from a social science perspective. BOOK TICKETS

Check out the ESRC website for more information on the fantastic events running across the entire Country!

September 18, 2017

Public Lecture Day – a trip to the past

biddled

We had some amazing research shared at our Public Lecture Day last week, the audience was captivated in the historical and archaeological research conducted at BU, there’s probably never been such a large group of people talking so enthusiastically about chickens!

We were joined by;

Dr. Vanessa Heaslip talking about the Human Henge project and Cultural Heritage Therapy

Penelope Foreman who taught us the use of colour in Neolithic monuments of Northern Europe.

Dr. Julia Best who got us excited about chickens and their use in Iron Age to Medieval Europe.

Dr. Angela Turner-Wilson who gave us insight into the Health and Wellbeing of the Roman World

Dr. Vanessa Heaslip who taught everyone the benefits of Cultural Heritage Therapy and how this inspired the Human Henge project.

It was great to see such a fascinating spread of research shared with an engaged audience, who were hungry to learn more in the Q&A sessions.

Look out for our film!

We were lucky enough to be able to film the September 2017 Public Lecture Day so if you couldn’t join us on the day, you will get the chance to engage with us on Facebook when we upload the talks… make sure you keep an eye on your feed for them!

Our next Public Lecture Day will be in the new year, if you would like to find out more closer to the time feel free to sign up to our mailing list by emailing us.

August 31, 2017

Bournemouth Air Festival: what have we got in store for you?

biddled

Bournemouth Air Festival this year is a brilliant opportunity for you to come along and get involved at our Science tent! You will find us on the promenade towards Boscombe pier. We have many different free activities happening, from 3D printing to the VR of past landscapes where students have been collaborating with the New Forest National Park Authority to create virtual reality visuals of past landscapes.

These activities will give you an insight into the research Bournemouth University are doing in technology, whilst giving you the opportunity to get involved and have a go with the tech they are using!

We will also have other activities for people to get involved with, ranging from learning everything about the brain and all of its amazing secrets, to making your own model lung and slimy snot. You will be able to learn all about the amazing aspects of the body whilst having fun doing it.

If the 3D printing is something you really want to have a go at, make sure to come down and join us on the Thursday! Oleg Fyrazinov will be joining us at the air festival for one day only so make sure you don’t miss out. We will also have the pleasure of working with the University of Southampton over the weekend at our stand so come and see what they will have in store… certainly not something to miss if you’re a learning fanatic.

We look forward to seeing you get involved with our jam packed schedule! Check out our Twitter and Facebook for more regular updates on what we are doing!

Read on below to see the full range of activities on offer throughout the weekend…

VR of Past Landscapes – Students on the Games Technology course at BU have been collaborating with the New Forest National Park Authority to create virtual reality visualisations of past landscapes. The New Forest want to engage the public and raise awareness of the heritage of the forest, and BU staff and students are able to perform research into issues related the virtual reality (immersion, navigation aids, comparison of presentation platforms, etc.). The students have created a number of different virtual reality environments of archaeological sites (including first and second world war airfields that may be of particular interest to the air festival visitors) that could be used as interactive exhibits. Users will be able to explore the environments by controlling their own path and interacting with objects in the environment.

Financial Scamming – Sally Lee will be helping the audience understand the risk of financial scamming and how to protect themselves through a ‘Scams and Ladders’ game to get people thinking whilst having fun. It is a way for the researchers to get the public aware of the risks of scamming (affecting more than 3.25 million people in the UK) whilst in a format that is readily accessible and will get people engaged at the Air Festival

3D Printing/SHIVA – BU’s SHIVA software was developed to assist disable children to use their artistic talents and create their own 3D models. New software allows children and young people to use touch screen and eye-tracking technology to create their own shapes, which are then brought to life by 3D printers. Stop by and see the 3D printer in action, giving you an idea of how the changes in technology are helping make all activities accessibly for all ages and abilities.

Brilliant Brain – Brains: your personality, your memories, your feelings and the words you speak – they’re all wrapped up in the squishy grey matter between your eyes. Come down and explore to model brain, ask your most baffling questions to a scientist and learn the brain’s amazing secrets.

Microbiology and Wildlife Conservation – Have you ever met a microbe? They are all around us as well as inside of us, but invisible to the naked eye! Stop by and try out our high definition microscopes and see if you can spot the creatures. You will be able to find out why microbiology is such an important part of our daily lives and vital for the functioning of our natural world. We have several different types of microbiology for you to explore; so far we have the following sections: 1 – Microbial life forms; 2 – Invertebrates 3 – Shells, fossils and skulls; 4 – African wildlife endangered species/ conservation; 5 – Conservation craft corner

Maths Games – BU researchers have developed two new and exciting computer games that get your brains ticking over to solve maths problems as part of the fun. Try your hand at the quick and easy Maths Run game and enter your high score on our leader board to be in with a chance of winning a prize at the end of the day!

Maritime Archaeology – There will be a small display on the aviation used during the First World War, as well as showing you the local marine archaeology around Bournemouth and how shipwrecks are attacked by the biology in the sea.

Heathland Management – Britain is home to around 20% of the world’s lowland heath, which humans created by clearing woodlands in the past. Our local heaths are popular for recreation and are home to many archaeological features. This activity will consider how these landscapes have changed over time, as well as what the best way to manage and preserve them is for future generations

Falls Prevention – Balance is the body’s ability to stay upright and in control of the movement. It is necessary for all daily activities, but over time, adults lose this ability. The interactive drop-in session will show the importance of falls prevention, testing your balance with simple by fun tests. Come and learn more about your balance and what you can do to avoid a fall.

Madagascan Mysteries – The rainforests of Madagascar are filled with Special species. Come to the tent to find out what we have learnt on a joint expedition between staff and students from BU and the Bournemouth Natural Science Society. See displays showcasing the images of some of the wonderful wildlife found and get involved with our exciting, hands-on, all ages interactive learning activities for the full experience!

Slimy Snot and Breathing lungs – This activity will be fun for all the ages! Come along and make your own model lung and unlock the mysteries of how they work and learn the secret life of your snot and how it helps keep your lungs healthy.

University of Southampton – The University of Southampton will be joining us to get the public engaged with what the researchers at their University have been working on and the benefits it will bring to society! These activities consist of: The Circular Bio economy who are looking at how to use living processes to turn our rubbish into energy and useful products; the Centre for Population Change who are discussing ‘migration through the nation’ via giant puzzles and connect4; Sustainable Infrastructure Systems who are showing how they are creating sustainable, clean resolutions to tackle and solve environmental issues. We’re also joined by Cancer Research UK who are doing make a cell out of air dough and a targeted therapy game and the Barclays Digital Eagles who are bringing along their Raspberry Pi Game.

October 26, 2016

Cheltenham Science Festival – Public Engagement Opportunity!

Public engagement Joanna Pawlik

With the Call for Ideas now being open for next year’s Cheltenham Science Festival, we would like to encourage you to take part in this opportunity. There are many benefits of taking part in public engagement events so make sure to apply before the deadline on Monday 21st November

You can find out more about the call and submit your ideas here http://www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/science/science-in-the-square/call-for-ideas-2017

Cheltenham Science Festival is a 6-day celebration of science with a programme of vibrant and thoughtful discussions, hot debates, mind-blowing performances, participative workshops and hands-on exhibitions.

The Festival is original and lively, and welcomes the audience to join scientists, engineers, comedians, writers, mathematicians and performers to explore science in new ways.

Each year we look for fresh new ideas to create a broad and stimulating programme. We are keen to trial new formats and inventive ways of talking about science, and to attract people who would not normally consider attending a Science Festival.

The themes for 2017 are:

Music and Sound,

Mysteries of the Mind

and Our Future World.

Whether you are a researcher in a lab looking for a place to talk about cutting edge research, a freelance science communicator with a fabulous science show, or an audience member with an idea that you think we should explore at the festival, we would love to hear from you.

Submit your idea: http://www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/science/science-in-the-square/call-for-ideas-2017

If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch with Hana Ayoob hana.ayoob@cheltenhamfestivals.com

Don’t forget to submit your proposal for next year’s Festival of Learning! Find out how to apply here

July 4, 2016

Dr. Dinusha Mendis invited to present her research at the House of Lords and at a leading London Law Firm

Business Engagement, conferences, Post-award, Public engagement cippm

House of Lords1 In the last few months, Dr. Dinusha Mendis, Associate Professor in Law and Co-Director of the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy and Management (CIPPM) was invited to speak at the House of Lords and deliver a keynote speech at a leading London Law Firm, Herbert Smith Freehills. The invited talks involved disseminating her recent research into the intellectual property (IP) implications of 3D printing.

Earlier this year, Dr. Mendis was invited by Herbert Smith Freehills LLP, to deliver a keynote speech at their annual Intellectual Property Update Conference . The event attended by over a 100 delegates, included companies such as BBC, BT, Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays, Jaguar Land Rover, Sky Plc, Sony, PLC Thomson Reuters, Oxford University Press, Walt Disney, Warner Bros Entertainment, Wellcome Trust and Unilever to name a few.

Dr. Mendis delivered the keynote speech on ‘The Challenges and Opportunities Presented by 3D Printing’. In delivering the keynote, Dr. Mendis spoke about the research carried out for the UK Intellectual Property Office Commissioned project, which was completed in 2015, whilst also giving an insight into the research being carried out at present.

The IP Update Conference was chaired by Mark Shillito (Partner, Head of Disputes, UK and US; and Global Head of Intellectual Property).

Further information on the presentations and the speakers can be found on the Conference programme.

Herbert Smith Freehills LLP is an award-winning leading London law firm which has 24 offices spanning Europe, US, Asia, Australasia and the Middle East.

During Spring 2016, Dr. Mendis was invited to present her research on 3D printing in the context of its impact of emerging technologies copyright and software at the House of Lords, Palace of Westminster.

The event was organised by Mr. Julian Hobbins, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) and hosted by Lord Tim Clement-Jones (Spokesperson for Creative Industries) of the House of Lords.

Dr. Mendis’s presentation titled ‘3D Printing, Copyright and Software: What is the Mischief’? explored the intellectual property implications surrounding Computer-Aided Design (CAD) files needed for 3D printing and the legal position from a UK and European perspective.

Other speakers on the day included Mr. Richard Bach, Assistant Director of the Cyber Security Digital Economy Unit DCMS and Mr. Richard Pharro, CEO at APMG – Cyber Essentials.

May 30, 2016

Emotion, Power and Politics in Richard III, 8 July, 6.30pm, BU at the Freud Museum – Tickets now available

BRIAN cyates

‘The Psycho-Cultural Dynamics of

Emotion, Power and Politics in

Richard III’

Friday 8^th July 2016,

6.30-8pm

Venue:

The Freud Museum, 20 Maresfield Gardens, London NW3 5SX

Tickets:

https://freud.org.uk/events/76491/the-psycho-cultural-dynamics-of-emotion-power-and-politics-in-richard-iii/

Richard

The Freud Museum in association with Bournemouth University and the Media and Inner World research network present a special panel discussion on the themes of Shakespeare’s Richard III and the motivations of its characters and the play’s relevance for contemporary understandings of emotion and politics. The event includes the performance of some key speeches from the play as performed by actors from the award-winning theatre ensemble, The Faction.

Panel speakers include:

Michael Rustin (University of East London), Margaret Rustin (Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust), Rachel Valentine Smith and Mark Leipacher (The Faction) Chair: Candida Yates (Bournemouth University).

Followed by a drinks reception 8-9pm

& celebration of Candida Yates’ latest book,

The Play of Political Culture, Emotion and Identity, Palgrave Macmillan

October 2, 2015

THE BOX SET MINDSET AND THE FORENSICS OF POPULAR CULTURE: A Day Conference 28th November 2015

cyates

THE BOX SET MINDSET AND THE FORENSICS OF POPULAR CULTURE

A day conference organised by

The International Association of Forensic Psychotherapy

and

Media and Inner World Research Network

in association with

Bournemouth University and the University of Roehampton

28 November 2015, 9.30am – 6pm

The Wesley Centre, London, 81-103 Euston Street, London NW1 2EZ

Representations of crime and criminal behaviour have long been central to the history of popular culture and now seem to dominate the landscape of the popular cultural imagination. From Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes books through to Hollywood films such as The Silence of the Lambs and television shows such as Law and Order, the forensic dilemmas underpinning dramatic fiction have regularly fascinated audiences. In recent years, there has been an explosion of interest in long-form television series that grapple with forensic dilemmas involving gangster and mafia groups, murderers, drug barons and corrupt political figures and organisations. Our fascination with these shows has been intensified by technological shifts that allow us to ‘binge-watch’ box sets so that aspects of the experience of addiction also arise in us as avid viewers and fans.

This one-day symposium brings together members of IAFP and the Media and the Inner World research network to explore the psycho-cultural appeal of well-known television dramas, in which the forensic themes of murder, violence, and revenge play a key narrative role. Focusing on highly successful television series such as Forbrydelsen/The Killing, Breaking Bad and House of Cards, this event will apply the expertise of eminent forensic psychotherapists and senior academic researchers to discuss why and how audiences relate to such programmes and their dark, compelling themes and characters. The production of such drama is now big business thanks to the box-set mindset it invokes, and it is significant that forensic ideas often lie at the heart of the storylines.

What fantasies are at play when engaging with the psychopathologies of crime on show in such programmes and what makes them such compulsive viewing? What do these forensic themes and their dominance in popular culture tell us about the psychodynamics of contemporary society and the fantasies that circulate within it? How can an understanding of these processes enhance the practice and theories of forensic psychotherapy and also create a dialogue with academic researchers in the field of media and cultural studies? We hope to address these questions throughout the course of the day through an exciting programme of panels and discussion groups.

To register and pay for the seminar please go to: http://forensicpsychotherapy.com/events/47-the-box-set-mindset/event-details

For assistance please contact Genevieve.Baker@uwclub.net

August 14, 2015

Latest Funding Opportunities!

Funding opportunities, Public engagement nprajapati

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

British Academy

Mid-career fellowships

Through Mid-Career Fellowships, the British Academy intends both to support outstanding individual researchers with excellent research proposals, and to promote public understanding and engagement with humanities and social sciences.

The aim of the scheme is to allow successful applicants to obtain time freed from normal teaching and administrative commitments. The time bought by the scheme should be devoted to the completion of a major piece of research, and the Academy will also look for evidence of a clear commitment to a strategy of public engagement with and communication of the results of the research during the period of the Fellowship.

The awards support outstanding individual researchers and outstanding communicators who will promote public engagement and understanding of the humanities and social sciences. Applicants should set out in their proposals specific plans for the dissemination of their research to a broad audience, in addition to publication in the usual academic press and journals. Awards will be judged both on the excellence of the research proposed and on the capacity of the applicant to communicate with a broad audience. Applicants are invited to indicate ways in which their proposed programme will contribute to advances in understanding, including public understanding, in their subject area and to the identification of appropriate strategic priorities in the social sciences and humanities.

These Fellowships are covered under the Full Economic Costing (FEC) regime, but the Academy’s contribution to the salary of the Mid-Career Fellow will be capped at an upper limit of £80,000. It is not expected that the total value of an award will exceed £160,000 (BA contribution to FEC). Awards can be held over a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of 12 months, beginning in the autumn of 2016.

Please refer to Funder’s website for eligibility criteria

Closing date: 16/09/15 17:00

British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships

The aim of the British Academy in making these awards is to offer opportunities for outstanding early career researchers to strengthen their experience of research and teaching in a university environment which will develop their curriculum vitae and improve their prospects of obtaining permanent lecturing posts by the end of the Fellowship. The primary emphasis is on completion of a significant piece of publishable research, which will be assisted by full membership of an academic community of established scholars working in similar fields.

Applicants must be supported by the UK host institution in which they wish to hold the Fellowship

Please see Funder’s website for eligibility criteria

45 awards are expected to be offered and awards are for 3 years.

Awards are offered on a Full Economic Costing basis. There is no fixed amount awarded for the Fellowships and the value of award will vary depending on the host institution. Awards cover the salary of the Postdoctoral Fellow to work full-time on the Fellowship, small-scale research expenses (up to a maximum of £6,000), costs towards the time of a mentor (equivalent to one hour per month for the 36 months of the Fellowship) and the host institution’s estates and indirect costs.

Applicants must be supported by one self-nominated referee. The referee should normally be the external examiner or, if not available, someone else who is as external to the applicant as possible.

Closing Date: (for outline applications) 07/10/15 17:00

44th International Congress of Americanists Fund

Surplus funds resulting from the 44th International Congress of Americanists, held in Manchester in 1982, were entrusted to the British Academy. Grants are offered for travel expenses in connection with a research project relating to Latin American studies and may support British scholars or scholars from Latin America.

Applications may only be submitted by scholars resident in the UK.
Maximum Award: £1,000
Closing date: 14/10/15

Elie Kedourie Memorial Fund

The object of this fund, established by the family of Elie Kedourie, FBA, is to promote the study of Middle Eastern and Modern European History, and the History of Political Thought by recent postdoctoral scholars of any nationality. Awards are offered to support any aspect of research, including travel and publication. Funds are not available to support travel to or attendance at conferences, workshops, or seminars, either in the United Kingdom or elsewhere.

Maximum Award: £1,000

Closing date: 14/10/15

Elisabeth Barker Fund

The Fund was established in memory of Elisabeth Barker (1910-1986), diplomatic correspondent and historian of modern Europe. This fund is intended to support studies in recent European history, particularly the history of Central and Eastern Europe. Grants may be made for individual, or collaborative projects and may support British scholars, or scholars from other European countries.

Maximum Award: £1,000

Closing date: 14/10/15

Thank-Offering to Britain Fellowship

The British Academy invites applications for the Thank-Offering to Britain Fellowship. This Fellowship enables an established scholar to have time away from their normal teaching and administrative responsibilities for one year to concentrate on a major piece of research that is related to “human studies, widely interpreted”.

This call is repeated every 2 years.

Closing date 18/11/15 17:00

British Academy/Leverhulme Trust

Senior Research Fellowships

The Academy continues to offer the Senior Research Fellowship scheme, with funding generously provided by the Leverhulme Trust (on a non-FEC basis). This enables mid-career scholars to have one year’s research leave with funding being provided to cover the costs of replacement teaching. There is an annual closing date in the autumn.

Eligibility: The Academy takes no account of an applicant’s age or current status (e.g. Professor, Lecturer) in determining eligibility for these awards. Rather, in all cases, award-holders are expected to be able to disseminate the results of their research not only through publications, but also through feeding into their future academic career after the end of the awards. Any field of study in the humanities and social sciences is suitable for support.

Closing Date: 18/11/15 17:00

British Council

Researcher Links workshops in the Philippines on sustainable cities

We have grants for early-career researchers to participate in a workshop in the Philippines entitled ‘Process Systems Engineering Approaches for the Provision of Supplies and Utilities for Sustainable Cities’.

The workshop is part of Researcher Links, funded under the Newton Fund, and is being organised by the University of Nottingham (UK) and De La Salle University (Philippines).

The grants will cover all transport, accommodation and meals. Participants are encouraged to purchase adequate travel insurance (not covered by grant).

Please refer to the Funder’s website for full details and eligibility criteria.

Closing date: 08/11/15

CRACK IT Challenges 2015

The National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) is an independent scientific organisation that supports the UK science base through the application of the 3Rs.

CRACK IT Challenges is a challenge-led funding competition from the NC3Rs which is designed to fund collaborations between industry, academics and SMEs; minimise the use of animals in research; support the development of marketable products and/or improved business processes.

This year the Challenges are funded by the NC3Rs and Dstl with in-kind contributions from the Challenge Sponsors (for example, data, access to compounds and equipment).

This year the NC3Rs intends to launch two Challenges: the first one is called ‘METABODERM’ where successful completion of this Challenge will deliver new capability to understand/interpret human relevant skin metabolism, including rates of metabolism in the skin and approaches towards metabolite identification.

The second Challenfe is called ‘InMutaGene’ where successful completion of this Challenge will result in the development of a new platform to address the risks of insertional mutagenesis/oncogenesis and to improve the efficiency of translational research in gene therapy.

Please refer to the Funder’s website for further information on these Challenges

Closing date: (for Registration) 04/11/15 12:00

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

Biotechnology Young Entrepreneurs Scheme

Biotechnology YES, now in its 20th year, is an innovative competition developed to raise awareness of the commercialisation of ideas among early career researchers. The competition is funded by sponsorship and aims to encourage an entrepreneurial culture in the UK postgraduate and postdoctoral base for the benefit of the UK bioeconomy. The competition is organised jointly by The University of Nottingham – The Haydn Green Institute and Innovation and Skills Group, BBSRC.

Over the course of a three day residential workshop, teams will develop a business plan for a company based on a hypothetical but plausible idea based on real markets. The workshop comprises presentations and mentoring sessions from leading figures in industry and culminates in the presentation of the business plans to a panel of ‘equity investors’ drawn from industry and academia. Up to three teams from each workshop are selected to progress to the final stage in London.

In addition to the general Biotechnology YES workshops there are several themed workshops which are run in conjunction with industry: the Plants, Microbial and Environmental Workshop, hosted by Syngenta; the Biomedical Workshop, hosted by GSK and the Stevenage Biosciences Catalyst; and new for this year, the Food, Nutrition and Wellbeing workshop, hosted by Unilever. The Royal Society of Chemistry is also sponsoring a Chemistry YES workshop for the third year.

The benefits of taking part include a prize fund of £5,000, including a first prize of £2,500, a trip to the USA, and an invitation to the BIA Gala dinner. As well as enhancing their CVs, participants will develop and improve transferable skills such as communication, time-management, negotiation and team-building. There will be opportunities for networking with industry professionals, and increasing your commercial awareness and technology transfer knowledge.

Closing date: September 2015 – exact date to be confirmed

Economic and Social Research Council

Training Bursaries

The ESRC wishes to improve the standards of research methods and to stimulate the uptake of high quality training courses in research methods across the UK social science community.

Bursaries are available for up to £1,000 each to enable staff in the UK social science community engaged in research, teaching research methods or supervising research to update their research skills. Contract researchers working in HEIs are also eligible for the bursaries.

Please refer to funder’s website at link above for eligibility criteria

Maximum award: £1000

Closing date: 15/08/15 17:00

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Balance Network Funding

The Balance Network invites proposals for activities within the themes of ‘work-life balance in the digital age’ which support the network’s aims of collaboration and impact. These events will form part of the network’s programme of activities between November 2015 and April 2016. A maximum of £35k will be awarded in total, and we anticipate the majority of successful proposals will be under £4k. We aim to fund at least one activity led by an early career researcher.

All events funded through this invitation will feed into BEYOND BALANCE, a one-day large-scale Balance Network event taking place Monday 27 June 2016 at IET London, Savoy Place. Details will be circulated via the bulletin and made available on the funder’s website.

Maximum award: £4000

Closing date: 15/09/15 17:00

Healthcare technologies impact fellowships

Please note the above dates are indicative only and are subject to change

This is an advance notice that EPSRC will be issuing a call in early September 2015, inviting recently funded EPSRC fellows who have a permanent post to apply for funding to progress the outputs of their fellowship towards impact within a healthcare application. Proposal should align to one of the four Healthcare Technologies Grand Challenges. The fellowship can be a maximum of 24 months in duration. A budget of around £2.5 million will be available to support the call. EPSRC expects to fund 4 – 6 Healthcare Technology Impact Fellowships depending on demand and available budget.

This call is open to all EPSRC fellows holding a permanent post, whose fellowship end dates are in the period 01 July 2014 – 30 September 2016. Prospective applicants are encouraged to discuss their proposal with the call contacts (see below) at the earliest opportunity.

Please refer to the Funder’s website for full details.

Healthcare Technologies Programme Grants

Please note the above dates are indicative only and are subject to change.

This is an advance notice that EPSRC’s Healthcare Technologies theme will shortly be issuing a call for ‘Healthcare Technologies Programme Grants’. The full call document will be available by early September.

The Healthcare Technologies Theme has recently announced a new long term strategy, and in order to deliver on this, the EPSRC invites applications for Programme Grant proposals that seek to address significant major research challenges that align to the Healthcare Technologies Grand Challenges of: Developing Future Therapies – Supporting the development of novel therapies with technologies to enhance efficacy, minimise costs and reduce risk to patients (note: this specifically relates to drug, biological, cell and regenerative therapies); Frontiers of Physical Intervention – Restoring function, and optimising surgery and other physical interventions to achieve high precision with minimal invasiveness; Optimising Treatment – Optimising care through effective diagnosis, patient-specific prediction and evidence-based intervention; Transforming Community Health and Care – Using real-time information to support self-management of health and wellbeing, and to facilitate timely interventions.

Applications should also draw on one or more of the cross-cutting capabilities of:

Advanced materials

Disruptive technologies for sensing and analysis

Future manufacturing technologies

Medical device design and innovation

Novel computational and mathematical sciences

Novel imaging technologies

Programme Grants are a flexible mechanism to provide funding to world-leading research groups to address significant major research challenges and are intended to support a variety of activities focussing on one strategic research theme. It is expected that proposals will be interdisciplinary and collaborative.

Please refer to the Funder’s website for further information on the Programme Grants scheme, including details of the peer review process and assessment criteria.

Applicants must discuss their suitability for Programme Grant funding with one of the EPSRC contacts for this call before submitting an Outline application.

Up to £15 million will be available to fund 3-5 Programme Grants through this call for proposals.

Closing date: (for Outline) 27/10/15 16.00

Systems Integration of energy supply and demand

The RCUK Energy Programme is bringing together engineers and physical scientists from across the energy sector to tackle the research challenges involved in integrating the energy supply, storage, transmission and demand sectors.

The RCUK Energy Programme seeks to encourage cross energy-sector collaboration designed to enable future energy systems integration. This integration will help the UK meet its ambitious 2050 emission targets (the UK is legally committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the UK by at least 80% by 2050, relative to 1990 levels) and address the energy trilemma by providing resilient, affordable and sustainable future energy systems.

In this call we seek applications for research addressing the co-evolution of supply and demand across an integrated network over the next 35 years – in order help identify potential solutions and frame the challenges. Proposals should pull together existing and complimentary research from across the whole energy-sector to add meaningfully additionally and context.

All proposals must cover research covering the entire energy sector from supply to demand, and can include storage, across the energy networks of electricity, heat and gas.

Up to £5 million is available for this call with EPSRC looking to fund a research centre. The successful proposal must clearly identify how the research will complement and add to existing RCUK Energy Programme investments, in particular the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC). Applicants are strongly encouraged to open a dialog with existing RCUK Energy Programme investments before submitting an application.

Maximum award: £5 million

Closing date: 24 /09/15 16:00

Medical Research Council

Confidence in Concept Scheme

Ensuring that fundamental science is translated into new therapies, diagnostics and medical devices is central to our mission. The Confidence in Concept scheme aims to accelerate the transition from discovery science to the early stages of therapeutic/biomarker development by providing locally-administered, responsive and flexible funding to support preliminary translational work.

The award can be used flexibly by the institution to support a number of preliminary-stage translational projects. The projects supported should aim to provide sufficient preliminary data to establish the viability of an approach –– before seeking more substantive funding (e.g. from the Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme (DPFS).

Applicants are encouraged to explore how awards could be used to develop academic-industry interactions. People exchange (in either direction) is permitted, where focused on the delivery of specific project objectives. Other routes (e.g. co-funding projects, developing early-stage collaborations) are also encouraged. Standard terms and conditions apply (see in particular the “MICA” webpage).

Institutions may apply for an award between £250k and £1.2m.

We anticipate that individual projects funded from an institution’s award will be of the order of £50-100k and approximately 6-12 months in length, although this will be dictated by the needs of each project.

Institutional awards will be of 24 months duration. Successful institutions are expected to allocate funds to projects within the first 12 months of the award.

Closing date: 15/10/15 16:00

Proximity to discovery – industry engagement fund

This Fund is designed to provide flexible funding for innovative ways to enable the initial development of academic-industry collaborations.

MRC’s Confidence in Concept (CiC) scheme provides responsive and flexible funding to support preliminary work aimed at assembling the data to support an application for a translational project grant. CiC permits academic-industry collaboration where focused on the delivery of the specific project objectives. The Proximity to Discovery: Industry Engagement Fund aligns with CiC to further enable research organisations to establish academic industry relationships. Short term people exchanges between industry and academia are seen as a key way of exchanging skills and knowledge and developing a longer term working relationship. Proximity to Discovery: Industry Engagement Fund can be used for people and knowledge exchange at the very earliest stage of a collaboration and may not necessarily be aligned to a specific project objective.

Please refer to Funder’s website for further details and examples of potential uses.

Institutions may apply to this scheme and CiC in the same round. The two applications do not need to be led by the same individual but the applying institution will need to present a persuasive case that the proposed governance structures will be coherent.

Institutions applying to the scheme must be able to demonstrate that they have sufficient critical mass to be able to deliver engagement with industrial partners that will result in partnership opportunities.

Applications are not expected to be in excess of £250k and are to be spent within 18 months of the award starting.

Only one application per institution is permitted. It is expected that applications will be led by one or more senior members of the institution (e.g. Dean of Medical School or equivalent).

A total budget of £15M is available to support CinC and Proximity to Discovery: Industry Engagement Fund.

Natural Environment Research Council

Antimicrobial resistance in the real world

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in the Real World is a programme under the AMR Cross-Council Initiative. This call is co-funded by NERC, the Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Medical Research Council (MRC), and has potential co-funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

This programme aims to address the need for a greater understanding of the role of the outdoor environment and host microbiome in influencing the evolution, acquisition and spread of antibacterial resistance, and as a reservoir for resistance. The programme is restricted to antibacterials and resistant bacteria or resistance genes, of relevance to bacteria of clinical and/or veterinary importance. Research supported can be based in agricultural, aquaculture, wastewater and natural environments, the human and animal host microbiome, and also includes elements of the way people and human communities interact with the environment.

Research Grants should be up to £1.5m (100% FEC), with funding for up to four years’ duration, and projects starting no later than 1 May 2016 and complete by 31 March 2020.

Maximum award: £1.5million at 100%fEC

Closing date: (for outline) 06/10/15 16:00

Sustaining Water Resources for Food, Energy & Ecosystem Services in India

NERC and India’s Earth System Science Organisation (ESSO) – Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) jointly invite proposals for research on sustaining water resources for food, energy & ecosystem services in India. This collaboration is supported by the Newton-Bhabha Fund, established by the governments of the UK and India to provide a framework for increasing research and innovation collaborations that support sustainable economic growth, and builds on existing NERC-MoES activities.

Proposals are sought for interdisciplinary collaborative research projects involving UK and Indian researchers. The focus should be on the main hydrological processes and how they interact within one of the 3 case study regions: the Himalayas, the Indo-Gangetic Plain, or Peninsular India.

Up to £3m is available from NERC for this call with up to £1m (80% FEC) available for the UK contribution to each of the case studies, which will be matched by MoES in terms of research effort.

Closing date: (for Notification of Intent) 07/09/15 16:00

Research Councils UK

RCUK-CONICYT Research Partnerships Call: UK – Chile Call for Proposals

Research Councils UK (RCUK) and National Commission for Scientific Research and Technology (CONICYT) are pleased to invite applications to the RCUK-CONICYT Research Partnerships Call.

This initiative will provide funding for high-quality collaborative research projects between UK and Chilean researchers which contribute to the economic development and welfare of Chile and to developing countries more broadly. We invite proposals which address the following topics:

Disaster Management
Diet and health
Education, Inequality and Social Reform
Sustainable Aquaculture for Nutrition and Food Security

The objective is to deliver significant 2-3 year research funding for internationally competitive and innovative collaborative projects between researchers from Chile and the UK that will allow the pursuit of shared research interests.

Proposals within the themes listed above are welcomed from across the remits of the UK Research Councils. Recognising the multidisciplinary nature of the thematic areas, the development of interdisciplinary collaborations is particularly welcome.

Consortia should consider how their proposal makes the best use of available expertise in the UK and Chile, the added value of collaboration and how the proposal will meet the ODA requirements of this Newton Fund activity. Whilst still currently on the OECD DAC list, Chile may graduate from the list in the next few years and, as a result, and a condition of the Newton Fund, proposals must contribute towards the economic development and welfare of Chile and articulate a broader applicability to the issues of poor people globally.

Closing date: 08/10/15 16:00

Wellcome Trust

Wellcome Trust Centres

Funding for world-leading groups proposing novel and innovative ways of tackling important research and translational questions.

The Wellcome Trust awards Centre status to programmes that we expect to catalyse and enable world-leading research and innovation in fields that are central to our mission. We expect our support to allow Centres to achieve exceptional impact in any or all of basic research; translation into clinical practice; health product research and development; and public policy.

We currently fund eight Centres at UK universities and four Medical Engineering Centres.

We are now offering other groups the opportunity to become Wellcome Trust Centres. We invite eligible institutions in the UK and Republic of Ireland to submit Letters of Interest proposing new Centres, for a competition to be decided in late 2016. We will also consider renewal applications from existing Centres.

We encourage Centres to develop specific innovation and translation strategies and to support effective programmes of public engagement, and to identify the necessary resources.

Our existing Centres work in four broad areas of biomedical science – neuroscience; cell and developmental biology; genetics/genomics; and infectious disease – and in medical engineering.

For this new competition, we will consider proposals in any area relevant to the Trust’s mission, including the humanities and social sciences as well as basic biomedical research and translation.

Centres will normally be funded for five years, with the possibility of competitive renewal (we expect to make the next set of awards in 2021).

Please refer to the Funder’s website for further details of what costs the fund will support; what is expected of the host institution; key stages and dates of the application process.

This is a one-off call for applications.

Closing date: (for Letter of Interest) 21/09/15 12.00

BU Research Blog

Tagged / Public enagagement

Cafe Scientifique now taking place online – Tuesday 13 December 6:30pm – Understanding emotional wellbeing

About this event

Café Scientifique 3 Nov – Hydrotherapy for Learning Disabilities

About this Event

Book your free ticket

The Future of Manufacturing is Distributed – Copyright, 3D Printing and 3D Scanning

Cafe Scientifique Tuesday 3 Sept – Eye Tracking as a Window to the Mind

Eye tracking as a window to the mind

Reminder: Funding opportunity – Being Human festival

Meaningful Impact and its “Long Tail”

The article, Meaningful dissemination produces the “long tail” that engenders community impact can be downloaded here.

Cheltenham Science Festival Over-Ambitious Demo Challenge

Nominate an Award Lecture for British Science Festival 2018

Book Now Developing a Public Engagement Event

Public Lecture Day – a trip to the past

We were joined by;

Look out for our film!

Bournemouth Air Festival: what have we got in store for you?

Read on below to see the full range of activities on offer throughout the weekend…

Cheltenham Science Festival – Public Engagement Opportunity!

Dr. Dinusha Mendis invited to present her research at the House of Lords and at a leading London Law Firm

Emotion, Power and Politics in Richard III, 8 July, 6.30pm, BU at the Freud Museum – Tickets now available

THE BOX SET MINDSET AND THE FORENSICS OF POPULAR CULTURE: A Day Conference 28th November 2015

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Eye tracking as a window to the mind

The article, Meaningful dissemination produces the “long tail” that engenders community impact can be downloaded here.

Sunday 5th November:

Me and My Green Space

Tuesday 7th November:

Exploring the Impact of Brexit on the Social Care Workforce

Wednesday 8th November:

Seldom Heard Voices

Readiness to Radical Change for Organisational Sustainability Post-Brexit

Performance in Pairs: Human Minds Acting Together

Thursday 9th November:

Brexit: Next Steps for Businesses and Trade Policy

Putting Social Science into Project Management

The Impact of Financial Scams on Older People: Tackling Loneliness through Connections and Creativity

Friday 10th November:

Thank-you for Coming: Why Gratitude Matters

Saturday 11th November:

Supporting Care Leavers into Higher Education: What works?

Miracles in the Mundane: Hitchhiking and Micro Adventures

Check out the ESRC website for more information on the fantastic events running across the entire Country!

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Look out for our film!

Read on below to see the full range of activities on offer throughout the weekend…

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Sunday 5^th November:

Tuesday 7^th November:

Wednesday 8^th November:

Thursday 9^th November:

Friday 10^th November:

Saturday 11^th November: