Category Archives: Computing

Next Stage Digital Economy

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EPRSC

Next Stage Digital Economy Call

  • Opening date:10 July 2014
  • Closing date:09 October 2014at 16:00
  • Status:Open
  • Type:Invitation for proposals
  • Related themes:Digital economy

Working in close partnership with the Technology Strategy Board, the Connected Digital Economy Catapult and with support from Microsoft Research, the Research Councils UK Digital Economy (DE) Theme is seeking to promote the realisation of impact and enhanced exploitation of the outcomes arising from its investments in the research base. This call is designed to consolidate, harness and build upon existing DE knowledge and skills arising from DE Theme-funded and related funded awards to help accelerate the research outcomes and outputs to the next stage and create more real impact (be it economic, societal or cultural).

Prior to being invited to submit a full proposal, potential applicants will be required to demonstrate that they possess a valid ‘entry ticket’ to be eligible to apply against this call. The ‘entry ticket’ will be validated by the DE Theme on presentation of this information which will include details of the relevant DE Theme and related funding that assembled forms a substantial critical mass of coherent research and skills to build upon. The DE grant portfolio list (detailing funding body, grant reference/title, and value of DE relevant funding) should be accompanied by a coherence statement which sets out and justifies how this consolidated portfolio will enable the applicant(s) to deliver the overarching objective of this call as well as a summary statement of aims and future plans.

Please email your ‘entry ticket’ submission to DigitalEconomy@epsrc.ac.uk as soon as possible for consideration.

UnLTD Social Enterprise Awards – Small Funds Avaliable to Students & Staff

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Funding-for-SMEs

 

Staffordshire University have recieved a small allocation of money from the HEFCE supported UnLTD Social Enterprise awards scheme which has been matched with HEIF (Higher Education Innovation Funding) which is managed by Enterprise and Commercial Development. This small awards scheme aims to facilitate students or staff in trying new ideas that have or create social value, this can be an idea about starting a social enterprise venture, to supporting social enterprises that are already in existence.The awards start at up to £500 and dependent on your idea there may be additonal money you can access. Applcations will be accepted up until the 31st July 2014. In terms of the application process, there is a short application form to fill in, you will be required to keep reciepts and meet with us to ensure you are on track.

If you have an idea, or know of someone that does, if they are a student or a member of staff and they have an idea or a venture that they would like to discuss please contact Peter Twilley on 01782 294968 to find out more or email Peter at P.L.Twilley@staffs.ac.uk

 

 

Have your say on Future and Emerging Technologies!

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Consultation closes: 15/06/2014
The Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) programme launches a public consultation to identify promising and potentially game-changing directions for future research in any technological domain.

€2,7 billion will be invested in Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) under the new research programme Horizon 2020#H2020 (2014-2020). This represents a nearly threefold increase in budget compared to the previous research programme, FP7. FET actions are part of the Excellent science pillar of Horizon 2020.

The objective of FET is to foster radical new technologies by exploring novel and high-risk ideas building on scientific foundations. By providing flexible support to goal-oriented and interdisciplinary collaborative research, and by adopting innovative research practices, FET research seizes the opportunities that will deliver long-term benefit for our society and economy.

The aim of the public consultation is to identify promising and potentially game-changing directions for future research in any technological domain.

Vice-President of the European Commission @NeelieKroesEU, responsible for the Digital Agenda, said: “From protecting the environment to curing disease – the choices and investments we make today will make a difference to the jobs and lives we enjoy tomorrow. Researchers and entrepreneurs, innovators, creators or interested bystanders – whoever you are, I hope you will take this opportunity to take part in determining Europe’s future“.

The consultation is organised as a series of discussions, in which contributors can suggest ideas for a new FET Proactive initiative or discuss the 9 research topics identified in the previous consultation to determine whether they are still relevant today.

The ideas collected via the public consultation will contribute to future FET work programmes, notably the next one (2016-17). This participative process has already been used to draft the current work programme (2014-15).

Participate now in the consultation

EPSRC Energy Programme

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EPSRC, as part of its contribution to the RCUK Energy Programme, invites proposals for collaborative research projects to undertake fundamental research to tackle challenges in Conventional Power Generation. An indicative budget of up to £3M is available from EPSRC for this call. Cross-institutional bids are welcome, but there must be a single submission for each application, led by a single principal investigator, with only one proposal form.

The remit of this call is derived from the outputs of a scoping workshop which was held on 15 April 2014. We invite proposals in the areas of:

  • Step change technologies and materials for future plant design
  • Integration of conventional plants with future technologies

Anyone intending to submit a proposal to this call must register their interest by email to Laura Sewell by 16 June 2014.

 

 

 

Erasmus + Event

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The External Projects Team led a workshop this week in the Ashley Centre, over 25 staff from across the institution attended to hear about the new EU funding programme for education and youth, ERASMUS+. This new programme replaces the old Life Long Learning Programme as well as Erasmus Mundus, Tempus, Asia Link, Youth in Action and Edulink. The team were joined by our Erasmus Co-ordinator Deb Graddon who shared the latest news on our Key Action 1 bid (mobility of staff and student from SU) and Abdel Hamid Soliman who gave a great overview of a current Erasmus Mundus project PEACE.

If you are interested in this programme, there are a number of ways to find out more, you can access all of the current calls for proposals in the Programme Guide or if you would like access to the slides from the day, please email us at externalprojects@staffs.ac.uk

 

 

 

 

Marie Sklodowska-Curie COFUND Seminar

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In its capacity as UK National Contact Point for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, UKRO is pleased to announce a seminar on the Horizon 2020 COFUND scheme. COFUND offers co-funding for new or existing regional, national and international programmes to open up to:

  • International, intersectoral and interdisciplinary research training; and
  • Transnational and cross-sectoral mobility of researchers at all stages of their career.

COFUND in Horizon 2020 has a new element to it, as there are now two funding streams: one supporting experienced researchers through a ‘Fellowship programme’ and the second supporting early stage researchers through a ‘Doctoral programme’.
The first COFUND call under Horizon 2020 is due to open on 10 April 2014, with a deadline for proposals on 2 October 2014.

Date and venue

Wednesday, 30 April Queen Mary University of London Mile End Road London, E1 4NS

Seminar format

This seminar aims to provide participants with a better understanding of the COFUND scheme and its requirements, including the new doctoral training option. The seminar will combine discussion on the objectives of COFUND and its fit within the wider postgaduate researcher training landscape in the UK, along with practical information on proposal preparation, submission and finances. The seminar will also feature a case study from previous successful COFUND applicants.
The event will run from 10.30 to 16.00, with a lunch break. Please note that lunch will not be provided.

Registration

Attendance is free of charge but capacity at the venue is limited and places will therefore be allocated on a first come first served basis. Contact the external projects team at externalprojects@staffs.ac.uk if you are interested in attending.

 

Cultural Heritage and European Identities

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The European Commission has officially launched the Horizon 2020 Reflexive Societies call for 2015.

The calls include projects that will look at Cultural Heritage and European Identities.

They are looking for projects that will show how digital cultural resources can promote creativity and generate innovation in research, lead to richer interpretations of the past, bring new perspectives to questions of identity and culture, and generate societal and economic benefits.

Projects should enable new models to be developed of Europe’s cultural and intellectual history and to bring cultural content to new audiences in novel ways.

The deadline is 21 April 2015.

Projects will need to work with a consortium of European Partners. Groups who are successful in this call will start developing their consortium now.

The commission is looking to award funds of €2-4 million for projects.

Further Information: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/opportunities/h2020/topics/2104-reflective-6-2015.html

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EPSRC Manufacturing Advanced Functional Materials

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EPSRC are inviting research proposals from consortia across the Engineering and Physical Sciences communities to address the manufacturing research challenges in developing applications, production technologies and future processes that incorporate advanced functional materials.

 

EPSRC are expecting to commit up to £10 Million on large, long term (up to five years), multidisciplinary programmes that capitalise on the UK’s growing research capability in functional materials and identify the most promising pathways for scale-up to applications and devices of these innovative materials. A two-stage process will be used to allocate the funding. This first stage of the call seeks expressions of interest to submit a full proposal. The submitted expressions of interests will be assessed at a short-listing panel in May 2014 and those that align appropriately with the scope for this call will be invited for the full proposal stage. The deadline for full proposals will be in July 2014 and these will be peer reviewed during the summer. Funding decisions are expected to be made in Autumn 2014

 

Closing date:15 April 2014

Type: Expression of interest

 

If you are interested in this call please email externalprojects@staffs.ac.uk

 

Royal Society Industry Fellowship

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The Royal Society

This scheme is for academic scientists who want to work on a collaborative project with industry and for scientists in industry who want to work on a collaborative project with an academic organisation.

The scheme covers all areas of the life and physical sciences, including engineering, but excluding clinical medicine.

It aims to enhance knowledge transfer in science and technology between industry and academia in the UK and provides a basic salary for the researcher and a contribution towards research costs.

The scheme is funded by the Royal Society, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Natural Environment Research Council, Rolls-Royce plc and BP plc.

 The applicant must:

  • have a PhD or be of equivalent standing in their profession
  • hold a permanent post in a university, not-for-profit research organisation or industry in the UK
  • be at a stage in their career when they would benefit from establishing or strengthening personal or corporate links between academia and industry as a foundation for long-term collaboration and development

Applications involving spin-offs or small companies are encouraged.

Applicants should ensure that they meet all the eligibility requirements, which are explained in the scheme notes (PDF).

The scheme provides the applicant’s basic salary while on secondment. The employing organisation continue to pay national insurance and pension contributions.

Research expenses may be claimed up to the value of £2,000 per year. Awards can be for any period up to two years full-time or a maximum of four years pro rata, i.e. an award could be held at 50% part-time for four years enabling fellows to maintain links with their employing institution more easily.

For further information go to:

http://royalsociety.org/grants/schemes/industry-fellowship/

Policy & Research Small Grants Open Call

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Nesta have launched a New small grants fund they want to find new ideas and foster collaboration with a wide array of organisations so a open call has been launched where up to ten projects in total will be funded across the year. The maximum budget is 10k and examples of expected projects are:

  • primarily research-based
  • developing a paper
  • a proof of concept
  • policy idea.

 NESTA research themes

  • Development and application of innovative methods for understanding innovation
  • Using big data or open data to understand innovation
  • Mapping and analysing new trends in social, business or technological innovation
  • Public policies to promote innovation
  • Adoption of innovation in public services
  • Innovation in emerging economies

 To find out more click on this link – http://www.nesta.org.uk/Small-Grants-Open-Call