Category Archives: Computing, Engineering and Sciences

ICT KTN Horizon 2020 International Brokerage event

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ICT KTN are publicising a brokerage event that the Department for Business Innovation and Skills are staging in collaboration with counterparts in France, in the areas of Cloud Computing and Future Internet for those organisations intending to seek funding in Horizon 2020. The event will take place in Paris on the 10th of January 2014.

Organisations with a firm project concept in the Future Internet area are being invited to make a 5 minute presentation at the brokerage session, outlining the idea and the partner support they are seeking.
Organisations selected will receive £750 in support for travel and subsistence. Selection will be made on the basis of relevance to the subject area as defined in the WP extract.

For further information go to Extract For Paris Brokerage 10 Jan 2014.

You should submit a short description of your idea, partners required and its potential impact in no more than 500 words by the 24th of December 2013 to:
eddie.townsend@ictktn.org.uk (All submissions will be held in confidence).

It is essential that all wishing to attend the event register here.

(Please note that this event is not an ICT KTN event and the KTN will not accept responsibility for inconvenience caused due to changes outside of its control).

Erasmus + calls now launched

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eat-erasmus

The successor of the Life Long Learning Programme, Erasmus + has now published its first calls for proposals. Staffordshire University has successfully applied for the “Erasmus Charter” a pre requisite of applying for the programme and there are now open calls. A summary of these can be found with indicative budgets and call deadlines below.

You can link to the programme document for more detail ERASMUS + Programme Guide  

BUDGET

Education and training : EUR 1 305,3 million
Youth : EUR 174,2 million
Jean Monnet : EUR 11,2 million
Sport : EUR 16,6 million

Key Action 1

Mobility of individuals in the field of education, training and youth (all) 17 March 2014
Mobility of individuals in the field of youth only 30 April 2014
Mobility of individuals in the field of youth only 1 October 2014
Joint master degrees 27 March 2014
Large-scale European voluntary service events 3 April 2014

 

Key Action 2

Strategic partnerships in the field of education, training and youth (all) 30 April 2014
Strategic partnerships in the field of youth only 1 October 2014
Knowledge alliances, sector skills alliances 3 April 2014
Capacity building in the field of youth 3 April 2014

2 September 2014

The external projects team will be disseminating this information across the University, but if you would like any further information please get in touch with the team at externalprojects@staffs.ac.uk

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UKRO and H2020 is now Launched!!

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Hurrah!! At last all of the next Horizon 2020 proposals have been released. Following a great UKRO session yesterday with Eevi from the Brussels office (see pic below) the External Projects Team hosted a great day long programme of presentations on Erasmus + and the H2020 calls. We have been anticipating the launch which happened yesterday and we are now in the process of producing briefing sheets to help you to digest all of the information, but in the meantime you can access all of the latest info from the Commission HERE

2013-12-11 14.07.39

The Closed Loop Building Materials Facility

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View a YouTube video demonstrating the Closed Loop Building Facility Henrion Building Facade

The closed-loop system invented by Professor Michael Anderson and his team provides a method of producing high quality sustainable building products from previously unusable-quality waste glass. Using this innovative process he can produce paving slabs, external wall cladding-slips, floor tiles and construction blocks. Not only are the products themselves green, but the brick-slip product offer considerable building scope as when combined with a highly insulating backing-panel structure, the system can be used as ‘over-cladding’, thereby greatly improving the insulation of non-cavity wall Victorian/Edwardian dwellings. At the same time the visual appearance of the original structures can be preserved, as the slips can be manufactured to match the appearance of the original early brickwork. Thus allowing look-alike appearances to be maintained, this will help to contribute to the solution of preserving our heritage.

The process could also be very useful in urbanising and developing countries where rapidly growing populations are creating vast amounts of waste glass which is being dumped in landfill but which could actually be used in environmentally friendly construction projects. This would be particularly useful for tourist islands which import thousands if not millions of drink bottles every year and have to pay very high prices to then have them shipped off the island, but which could be used to regenerate existing holiday resorts.  
 
Finally, the process itself is self-sustaining. Unlike clay and concrete, the recycled glass products can be easily disassembled at the end of their life and recycled back into new building materials again and again and could change the entire way we think about building. This promises to make a significant contribution to sustainability in the future!   

The project was recently shortlisted for the IET Awards which celebrates the very best innovations in Science, Engineering and Technology and attracts over 400 entries from over 30 Countries with only 74 finalists being selected.

If you are interested in the project and would like to investigate further opportunities to how this could be scaled up and have potential to be commercialised please contact the team at the Office of Sustainability via sustainability@staffs.ac.uk or phone 01782  295837.

 

Nokia visiting professor awards

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The Nokia Foundation makes available grants and awards to support the scientific development of information and telecommunications technologies and to promote education of the sector in Finland. A multidisciplinary approach bridging other fields, for example social, behavioural, business and services sciences is encouraged.

Nokia Visiting Professor

Grants for Nokia Visiting Professors are given to distinguished foreign professors to work in Finland, or respectively to Finnish meritorious professors to work at a respected foreign university. The visit should last a minimum of two months. Visitors coming to Finland must typically participate in research work, give lectures and make corporate appearances.

To access the application form go to: Nokia Visiting Professor

No closing date for applications

For further information go to: http://www.nokiafoundation.com/scholarships_and_applying.html

 

Wellcome Trust Awards – Society & Ethics

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wellcome_logo

The Wellcome Trust invites applications for its university awards in society and ethics. These allow universities to attract or retain outstanding research staff at an early to mid-stage in their careers by providing support for up to five years, after which time the applicant takes up a guaranteed permanent post in the university. A monograph and other substantial publications are expected to result from an award, and so teaching and other non-research commitments are expected to be minimal during the period of support.

Candidates must be nominated by their prospective head of department and have an undertaking from the head of the institution, vice-chancellor, principal or dean that the personal support will be taken over by the institution at the end of the grant. Support is normally available only at lecturer level, although in exceptional cases awards to senior lecturer level may be possible. The host institution should normally be located in either the UK or Republic of Ireland.

Up to five years’ support is available, providing a full salary for three years, 50 per cent in the fourth year and 25 per cent in the fifth year. The trust provides travel costs to attend meetings for five years and other research expenses for the first three years of the award. Public engagement costs may also be included.

For more information click here: Wellcome Trust Awards

Royal Society/Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowships

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      Leverhulme Trust

This scheme is for scientists who would benefit from a period of full-time research without teaching and administrative duties.

The scheme reimburses the employing institution with the full salary cost of a teaching replacement.

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

The applicant must

  • have a PhD or equivalent
  • hold a permanent post at a UK university or not-for-profit institution
  • be at a stage in their career when they would particularly benefit from a period of full-time research

The award lasts between one term and one academic year.

The applicant’s employing institution will be reimbursed for the full salary cost of a teaching replacement (up to the equivalent of the minimum point on the lectureship scale as paid by the host university).

Research expenses up to a maximum of £2,500 are available to each fellow to cover the costs of consumables, equipment, travel and communicating science.

Eligibility requirement can be found in the scheme notes.

For further information on how to apply go to http://royalsociety.org/grants/schemes/leverhulme-trust-senior-research/

Sustainable Society Network

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This small fund targets Early Career Researchers. It can be applied to at anytime and is looking for cross disciplinary work around digital technologies and sustainability, which makes it a good fit to a number of research areas in the University.

Funding Body: Sustainable Society Network

Scheme: Small Grants open call

Overview: Small grants provide funding for projects, or other activities, that lead to, or support, cross-disciplinary collaboration in the use of digital technologies to promote and support a sustainable society. The applications should address the “three pillars” (UN, 2005) or “triple bottom line” (Elkington, 1994) of sustainability – social, economic, and environmental. These will be up to 3 months in duration and are designed to test new ideas or create novel linkages between research areas.

We encourage applications led by early career researchers (defined as within 5 years of their PhD submission).

  • resource consumption (e.g. water, waste, and energy)
  • environmental degredation and contamination (e.g. air, soil, noise, water)
  • local and national transport, water, waste, and energy, and ICT infrastructures
  • architecture, landscape architecture, town and country planning, building science
  • national and international supply chains
  • rural and urban enterprise infrastructures
  • support health and wellbeing (this call will NOT fund clinical trials)
  • social infrastructure support mechanisms
  • sustainable prosperity
  • safety and emergency services
  • environmental and engineering policy

Budget: Funding for 80% of a project costing up to £3,000 is available for applications led by staff from UK universities and research organisations

Deadlines: The fund closes on the first of every month (but will shut on the 15th for the January call)

Further Information: http://sustainablesocietynetwork.net/open-call-submissions/

Trainingfora

Wider Outlook: December’s edition now here

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xmas1

The External Project’s Team newsletter Wider Outlook for December is now here –

http://bit.ly/1hsDytB

the team has chosen the theme of  Horizon 2020 this month—our annual UK Research Office UKRO event on December 11th will major on the new EU research funding programme –and this month’s edition is full of tips, information and advice to get your project off the ground. As ever do contact us with any comments, ideas or suggestions at  externalprojects@staffs.ac.uk.

 

 

 

2014 Fast Forward Competition opens

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2014 Fast Forward Logo

Entries for a competition to turn innovative ideas into reality have opened for eligible universities and research establishments. As part of the 2014 Fast Forward competition they are now able to compete for a pot of the £750,000 funding available.

The closing date for entries in the competition (electronic and paper) is Friday 13 December 2013.

Since 2010, the competition has provided £2 million worth of funding and inspired 35 innovative UK projects.

Universities and public sector research establishments are encouraged to work collaboratively with businesses and local communities on projects that best use innovation and Intellectual Property (IP). Last year’s projects were in the areas of healthcare and social enterprises, clean technology construction and aerospace.

• Bloodhound@University project which is involved in the Bloodhound Super Sonic Car (SSC) world land speed record project. Based at the University of the West of England, Bloodhound@University secured £80,000 in funding.

• ITALIA project from Buckinghamshire New University. The project was awarded £70,000 to bring together a variety of medical experts, university academics and Buckinghamshire County Council to develop new telehealth solutions to connect patients and doctors

How to enter

Download an application pack MS Word Document(463Kb) and a copy of Terms and Conditions PDF document(233Kb) and submit the form either by email (IPO preference) to competition@ipo.gov.uk or by post:

Fast Forward Competition
C/O Matthew Larreta (GY05)
Freepost CF 4185
Newport
NP20 1ZZ