Category Archives: Computing, Engineering and Sciences

Global Innovation Initiative

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This year’s Global Innovation Initiative call has been launched. These are for projects of global significance in partnership with US and Brazil, China, India or Indonesia. Projects must fit one of the themes detailed below.

Funding Body: British Council (UK) and Institute of International Education (US)

Scheme: Global Innovation Initiative

Overview: The Global Innovation Initiative will award grants to university consortia focusing on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-related issues of global significance that foster cutting-edge multinational research and strengthen institutional international partnerships.

Projects must include at least one partner in the US and one selected other country higher education institution partner. Other partners must be from one of the following countries: Brazil, China, India or Indonesia.

Themes

  • Energy, environment and climate change
  • Urban development
  • Agriculture, food security and water
  • Global health

Goals of the Global Innovation Initiative

  • To increase the global mobility of students, researchers, faculty, and higher education administrators from the U.S., the UK, and other countries;
  • To develop a cadre of people in the U.S., UK, and other countries who have the international experience, outlook and knowledge to confront global challenges and operate in a global context;
  • To encourage international collaborations that develop capacity across a range of universities in the U.S., the UK, and other countries;

To forge university and business linkages that support a globally mobile talent pool and a multinational base for the exchange of discovery and innovation.

Budget: Approximately 16 grants will be awarded ranging from $100,000 to $200,000 (U.S. competition) or from £100,000 to £150,000 (UK competition).

Deadlines: 31 October 2014 21:00

Further Information: http://global-innovation-initiative.org/

To get an idea on the types of projects that have been funded see the awardees page of the website.

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Newton Fund: building science and innovation capacity in developing countries

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The Newton Fund is part of the UK’s official development assistance. Its aim is to develop science and innovation partnerships that promote the economic development and welfare of developing countries.

The fund is £75 million each year from 2014 for 5 years. It will be administered by The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Activities under the fund will be managed by a core group of Delivery Partners, including: the Royal Society, Royal Society of Engineering, The Royal Society of Chemistry, British Academy and The Academy of Medical Sciences, The British Council (in collaboration with the UK Higher Education International Unit), Research Councils UK (RCUK), Technology Strategy Board (TSB) and the Met Office.

The funding will be allocated in varying proportions across 15 partner countries, all of which are emerging economies. All programmes must be match funded so that partnerships are on an equal basis and must also assist with the economic development of the partner country.

Partner countries are:  Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam.

The fund will cover 3 broad categories of activity:

  • people: improving science and innovation expertise (ie: ‘capacity building’), student and researcher fellowships, mobility schemes and joint centres
  • programmes: research collaborations on development topics
  • translation: innovation partnerships and challenge funds to develop innovative solutions on development topics

The Newton Fund should promote the long term economic development and welfare of people in partner countries and unlock new opportunities for HEIs to contribute and build partnerships. Challenges such as the alleviation of poverty, improvement of energy and water quality, as well as innumerable other social, environmental and cultural benefits which could ultimately lead to increasing the economic growth of partner countries as well as the UK should be addressed.

Calls are likely to be opened at different times according to the country and the programme area. For all current research calls go to:

Multi-country calls  No calls are open at the moment.

Calls for Brazil The joint Research Councils UK-CONFAP research partnerships call opened on 4 August. The application form and guidance for applicants will be available from 18 August 2014. The deadline for applications is 17 October at 16:00 UK time.

Calls for Chile Newton-Picarte fund No calls are open at the moment.

Calls for UK-China Research and Innovation Partnership Fund Ten calls now open with the Met Office as the delivery partner. Deadlines: 1 September 2014 & 27 February 2015.

Calls for Colombia Newton-Caldas Fund No calls are open at the moment.

Calls for Egypt No calls are open at the moment.

Calls for India Two calls for India’s Newton-Bhabha fund are now open, with more expected shortly.

  • DBT-MRC Joint Centre Partnerships (Deadline: 29 September at 16:00)
  • Joint Global Research Programme: Women’s and children’s health (Deadline: 21 October at 16:00)

Calls for Indonesia No calls are open at the moment.

Calls for Kazakhstan Newton-Al Farabi Partnership Programme No calls are open at the moment.

Calls for Malaysia No calls are open at the moment.

Calls for Mexico No calls are open at the moment.

Calls for Philippines No calls are open at the moment.

Calls for South Africa No calls are open at the moment.

Calls for Thailand No calls are open at the moment.

Calls for Turkey No calls are open at the moment.

Calls for Vietnam No calls are open at the moment.

Newton Fund programme descriptions

For regular updates on the fund visit the HE International Unit website

Full details can be found on the UK government website

For further information, contact the External Projects Team.

Valuing Natural Capital in Low Carbon Energy Pathways – Consortia Awards

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NERC logo

NERC invites proposals to the new research programme Valuing Natural Capital in Low Carbon Energy Pathways (VNC).

Proposals should form a challenge for phase 3 of the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) and should also include links to the new NERC Valuing Nature programme.

This call is for consortium projects (minimum of three research organisations) of up to £1·9m (80% FEC). Projects should be five years in duration and should start no later than March 2015. It is expected that one multidisciplinary consortium project will be funded, with four or five associated PhD studentships that should start in October 2015.

The main aim of this research programme is to understand the implications for natural capital and the provision of ecosystem services of a range of future energy scenarios, including scenarios that are compatible with the UK’s energy policy goals of maintaining energy security, keeping energy affordable and cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050.

Closing date for proposals: 2 October 2014

For further information go to: http://www.nerc.ac.uk/research/funded/programmes/valuingnaturalcapital/news/ao/

Thematic partnerships with Indian Universities

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The British Council’s UK-India education and research initiative and the Department of Science and Technology of India invite applications for their thematic partnerships. These facilitate collaborations between faculties and researchers and enable registered PhD students and postdoctoral researchers in India and the UK to undertake short-term visits to work on research projects. The key subject areas match well with Staffordshire University’s:

•climate change;

•computer science;

•public health and well-being;

•food water energy;

•sustainable cities;

•big data;

•high value manufacturing.

Multidisciplinary research is encouraged. These partnerships are intended for institution-based research teams, in the UK and India, of proven research ability. The project leaders should be faculty members or researchers in an institution or research laboratory in a UK university or institution. EU citizens may apply provided that they hold a permanent position in the UK, and non-EU citizens should have held a permanent position at a UK institution for at least three consecutive years. Indian project leaders should be based in an Indian university or institution and be resident in India.

Funds are available for partnerships of up to 15 months in duration and provide a maximum of £40,000 equivalent in Indian rupees.

Closing date 15th September

http://www.ukieri.org/call-for-bids-2014-15.html

 

RCUK consults on open access

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Research Councils UK has launched a call for evidence to inform a review of how its open-access policy has been implemented.

The review panel, chaired by former University of Leicester vice-chancellor Bob Burgess, wants to hear from anyone who is interested in the open-access policy. The deadline for evidence is 12 September and the panel hopes to report interim findings by the end of 2014.

The review is aimed at helping RCUK to understand how effective the policy has been and what impact it has had on universities, research organisations, publishers and researchers.

See http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/media/news/140717/

The review panel, chaired by former University of Leicester vice-chancellor Bob Burgess, wants to hear from anyone who is interested in the open-access policy. The deadline for evidence is 12 September and the panel hopes to report interim findings by the end of 2014.

 

Individual fellowships

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FRIAS

http://www.frias.uni-freiburg.de/en/news/call-for-applications/call-for-applications-frias-cofund-fellowship-programme-fcfp-2015-16

The Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies invites applications for its individual fellowships. These support innovative research across existing boundaries, between disciplines, different cultures and countries, established and younger researchers and engages in activities that opens the research community to society and politics. There are two types of fellowships, junior and senior.

Applicants for junior fellowships must have a PhD and one to six years of postdoctoral experience. For a senior fellowship a minimum of six years of postdoctoral experience is required. There are no restrictions on research disciplines or researcher nationality. Applicants may not have had their main residence in Germany for more than one year out of the last three prior to the application deadline, which is 15th October 2014.

Each fellow receives a monthly allowance of up to €450 in theoretical disciplines and €1,050 in experimental disciplines. Fellows without a work contract with their home institute will receive an attractive salary. A mentoring programme for junior fellows, office space and assistance with accommodation is also available. A senior fellowship last for three to 12 months and a junior fellowships lasts 12 months for humanities and social sciences and up to 24 months for natural sciences, engineering and medicine. There is a total of 20 fellowships available.

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.

Engineering Grand Challenges: expression of interest to attend a workshop

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EPSRC - Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council 

Following the successful 2013 Global Grand Challenges London Summit, organised by the Royal Academy of Engineering, EPSRC set out to identify Engineering Grand Challenges.

Seven areas have been identified as potential Engineering Grand Challenges:

  • Risk and Resilience in a Connected World
  • Controlling Cell Behaviour
  • Engineering from Atoms to Applications
  • Bespoke Engineering
  • Big Data for Engineering Futures
  • Suprastructures – integrating resource infrastructures under constraint
  • Engineers at the Heart of Public Decision Making.

Three workshops will be run in the Autumn to:

  1. Engage the research and user community to identify clear targets or milestones for each of the selected Grand Challenges areas
  2. Start the process of building collaborations and/or consortia as appropriate
  3. Build advocacy for the Engineering Grand Challenges, particularly as EPSRC, working with its partners in academia, industry and government, is looking to build the case for Engineering and Physical Sciences ahead of the next spending review

EPSRC would like to invite a diverse cross-section of the research community to attend workshops planned for November 2014. If you’d like to be considered to attend one of the workshops please fill in the survey and return it to EPSRC by 15th September 2014.

http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/calls/engineeringgrandchallenge/

For further information go to:

http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/newsevents/pubs/engineering-grand-challenges/

If you have any queries email:

engineeringgrandchallenges@epsrc.ac.uk

 

UK expertise to access £200bn large scale urban projects market

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catapult

 

The UK’s experience in managing large-scale urban projects and its design, data and low-carbon standards make it well positioned to take advantage of the £200-billion global cities market, a report from the Future Cities Catapult has said.

Future Cities Catapult

However, How can the UK Innovate for the World’s Cities? adds that there is more work to be done to link businesses, research and public services in order for the country to take full advantage.

The report says it is intended to provoke conversation and connect people. An announcement from the catapult says that the UK’s activities related to future cities are “already worth more than £16bn”. The report aims to identify areas of strength that the country should build on.

These include the ability to deliver large-scale projects such as the Olympics, urban regeneration and the use of brownfield sites, digital creativity and standards that are respected around the world. It also says the country has expertise in spatial data analysis and multidisciplinary projects.

NET4SOCIETY 4th Newsletter “Issues – The Voice of SSH in Europe”

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NET4SOCIETY, the network of National Contact Points for research in Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH), has published its fourth newsletter “Issues – The voice of SSH in Europe”.

NET4SOCIETY, the network of National Contact Points for research in Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH), has published its fourth newsletter ‘Issues’ – the voice of SSH in Europe. This edition’s content is as follows:

  • Integrating Social Sciences and Humanities in Horizon 2020 – First Experiences;
  • Notes from the Conference “Achieving Impact – Socio-economic Sciences & Humanities (SSH) in Horizon 2020”;
  • Interview with Prof. Irene Hardill on the Impact of Social Sciences and Humanities;
  • Spotlight on FP7s’ Final Call for Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities;
  • How to Increase the Participation of New EU Member States in Horizon 2020?;
  • Recent SSH Publications of Policy Relevance.

The “Issues – the voice of SSH in Europe” newsletter can be accessed via this link http://e-newsletter.net4society.eu/issues-july-2014

 

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