Author Archives: Esther KNIGHT

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions: MSCA Individual Fellowships Call

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The call for the 2014 Individual Fellowships, under the Marie Skłowdowska-Curie Actions, has been published on the Participant Portal.

The  Individual Fellowships Guide to Applicants can be found on the Portal through the Call Documents tab for the IF call.
The link to the submission service is not yet active and will become available over the coming weeks – currently expected to be during April.

The deadline for the 2014 Individual Fellowships call is 11 September 2014.

UKRO is planning three information and proposal writing sessions on the Individual Fellowships across the UK in May/June 2014. Dates, venues and registration information will be published over the coming weeks on this blog.
The European Commission will be organising a joint webinar information seminar on the Individual Fellowships and COFUND calls on 10 June 2014. We will circulate further details of the seminar as soon as they become available.

 

2014 European Innovation Scoreboard Published

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http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/innovation/policy/regional-innovation/index_en.htm

The 2014 edition of the EU’s Innovation Union Scoreboard has been published. The report suggests that Europe is closing the ‘innovation gap’ with the United States and Japan, but that differences in performance between EU Member States are still high and diminishing only slowly.

At a regional level, the innovation gap is also widening, with the innovation performance having worsened in almost one fifth of EU regions.

The overall ranking by EU country is similar to previous scoreboards with Denmark, Finland, Germany and Sweden characterised as ‘innovation leaders’ investing the most in research and innovation. The UK is in the next group of countries and rated as an ‘innovation follower’.

The report finds that progress in the last year has been driven by the openness and attractiveness of the EU research system, plus business-academia innovation collaboration and the commercialisation of knowledge by licensing and patent revenues. However, growth in public R&D spending was offset by less venture capital investment and innovation investment in companies.

The Innovation Union Scoreboard uses a set of 25 indicators within three broad areas (enablers; firm activities; outputs).

March’s Wider Outlook is here!

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Welcome to March’s Wider Outlook—

http://bit.ly/MIgFoW

the team have chosen the themes of alternatives to EU research funding and alternatives to research council funding –page one considers alternative sources of funding for developing ideas that could have commercial opportunities. Page two highlights External Project Team events coming up in March and April.

As ever do contact us with any comments, ideas or suggestions at  externalprojects@staffordshire.gov.uk

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Pioneers into Practice – funding available

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The Climate KIC programme is going from strength to strength. It is now Europe’s biggest trans-national project focused on climate change with a budget in 2014 of €76 million.

One big part of the activities is Pioneers into Practice, the unique professional development programme open to practitioners of all ages and backgrounds which provides two one month placement opportunities, three workshops with Dutch specialists in transitions thinking and a place at the annual Innovation Festival, this year in Valencia. With all the costs up to €8,000 covered.

The call for people to both participate in this year’s programme and to be a host is now open. Forms can be obtained from the link below.

This is a great opportunity 

  http://www.innovationbham.com/projects/pioneers-into-practice/2014-programme/

 

Horizon 2020: Update on UK National Contact Point events

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Several UK Horizon 2020 National Contact Points from the Science and Technology Facilities Council, the Medical Research Council, and the Economic and Social Research Council have organised a series of regional Horizon 2020 information days taking place over the next two months.

The events will provide an overview of Horizon 2020 and legal and financial issues, and include sessions on:

  • Research Infrastructures;
  • Societal Challenge 1 – Health, Demographic Change and Wellbeing;
  • Social Sciences and Humanities embedded across Horizon 2020;
  • Societal Challenge 6 – Europe in a Changing World: Inclusive, Innovative and Reflective Societies; and
  • Science with and for Society.

    The events planned are as follows:

  • Edinburgh – Monday 17 March event web page.
  • London – week beginning 24 March (exact date tbc)

 

 

 

NIHR event at Staffordshire University – March 19th 2014

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We are delighted to be hosting a full day of information and discussion devoted to the opportunities offered by the National Institute for Health Research, http://www.nihr.ac.uk/Pages/default.aspx, and are looking forward to welcoming specialists in the research fields of Public Health, Health Technology Assessment and Patient Benefit as well as the Research Design Service.This will be a great opportunity to network with colleagues within and external to the University.

 Please book your place via externalfundingofficer@staffs.ac.uk

 NIHR funding opportunities in Public Health and Patient Benefit

 Weds 19th March 2014 – Ashley Centre Leek Road, Stoke-on-Trent

 09-30 -10-00 Coffee/ Networking -All

 10-00 – 10-10 Introduction to NIHR and Overview of the day- Prof. Tony Stewart, Staffordshire University

 10-10 – 11-40 Public Health Research and Health Technology Assessment funding opportunities –Phil Taverner, Assistant Director, NIHR Evaluation, Trials and Studies  

 11-40 -12-20 Round Table discussion – All

 12-20 – 13-30 Lunch/ Networking

 13-30- 14-30 Research for Patient Benefit –Bob Scott, NIHR Programme Manager West Midlands; Eleanor Garratt, NIHR Programme Manager East Midlands

 14-30- 15-00 NIHR Research Design Service- Roger Beech, Keele University

 15-00 -15-40 Round Table discussion – All

 15-40 – 16-00 Concluding remarks- Prof Tony Stewart, Staffordshire University

 16-00 CLOSE

 

Joint Action on Health Inequalities – final conference reports

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http://www.equityaction-project.eu/final-conference/about/EA_logo_header[1]

The Equity Action final conference took place on the 23rd of January 2014 in Brussels. It brought together international experts on health inequalities, officials and policy makers from Member States and the EU and a range of key stakeholders.

Who was this for?

This conference was for leaders and champions at European and Member State and Regional level who are responsible for producing or shaping policies and strategies that address the social determinants of health such as housing, environment, education and employment, and those from NGOs and academia who are seeking to influence the uptake of policies to reduce health inequalities.

Key points

Equity Action has worked to strengthen the effectiveness of policy making and strategic actions to reduce health inequalities at member state, regional and EU levels. Work has included:

  • developing expertise in Health Impact Assessment and Health Equity Audit
  • improving the impact that Structural and Investment Funds have on tackling health inequalities
  • strengthening regional strategies to tackle health inequalities
  • broadening the evidence base on key issues such debt and financial insecurity
  • sharing good practice on stakeholder engagement to tackle health inequality together

Learn more about Equity Action

Building a Postgraduate Research Community – UK Council for Graduate Education event at Staffordshire University

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UKCGE have announced the first event in a new series of seminar sessions. These sessions will be in the format of half day events and will provide delegates with the opportunity to engage in in-depth discussions about specific post-graduate related issues.

This event will feature a discussion session on the topic of Building a Postgraduate Research Community. The event will be of relevance to a range of academic staff including heads of graduate schools and research leaders. The session will begin with a brief overview of post-graduate research education and student numbers in the UK to set the scene for the discussion. The discussion itself will be delegate led and therefore those attending on the day will have the opportunity to shape the direction of the discussion. But it is anticipated that it will cover a range of aspects relevant to building a postgraduate research community including examining the different sorts of postgraduate students and communities, considering examples of schemes currently used by institutions to build communities and the impact these have on PGR students. By sharing in the discussion challenges faced and examples of good practice, delegates will leave with an increased understanding of how a postgraduate research community can be built.

Further details can be found here:

 
The workshop will take place in the Ashley Centre,in Stoke-on-Trent. A map of the campus can be downloaded by clicking here. 
 
Image courtesy of smarnad via Freedigitalphotos.net
 

The Daphne Jackson Trust invites applications for its STEM fellowships

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The Daphne Jackson Trust invites applications for its fellowships. These aim to return scientists, engineers and technologists to their careers after a break. Fellowships are normally undertaken on a part-time basis in a university or research establishment in the UK. They are flexible and include a tailored training programme to update the skills and knowledge of the fellow, allowing them to return at the appropriate level to their career.

Applicants must be permanent UK residents, with a good first degree in a STEM discipline and at least three years in research or a PhD qualification prior to the career break.

Fellowships last for two years part time and cover a salary with a small additional allowance for expenses such as conference attendance.

http://www.daphnejackson.org/

 

NHS England plans to boost research awareness

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Plans to increase the research capacity and awareness of NHS staff have been outlined in NHS England’s draft R&D strategy, which is open for consultation.

The draft strategy, published in December, contains plans to analyse research activity and awareness across NHS England and to identify any gaps in research.

The strategy also plans to support a boost in NHS research activity across England through staff training and development, and to develop a clearer and consistent policy on excess treatment costs. Other objectives in the strategy include prioritising research topics, ensuring commissioning is based on the best available evidence, involving patients in the design of NHS research, improving the availability of research outcomes, and increasing research impact. Respondents have until 30 January to comment on the draft document. – See more at:

http://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/gov/research-dev-strategy/