Category Archives: Computing, Engineering and Sciences

eFuturesXD awards

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eFutures is an EPSRC funded network which aims to consolidate the academic community engaged in all aspects of electronics research in a bid to address the major challenges of the future.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council’s eFuturesXD programme invites applications for its Staff Awards, Travel Awards, Facilities Awards, Meeting Awards.

Staff Awards

Staff awards are primarily aimed at small teams of researchers from two or more disciplines who wish to carry out key experiments or measurements to confirm an initial hypothesis. This is for carrying out larger scoping or proof-of-concept studies that require dedicated staff to carry out specific experiments or an extended visit to a laboratory in order to be immersed in another discipline. No funding will be available for academic staff time or other directly allocated costs.

Applicants must be academic employees, at lecturer level or equivalent, of an eligible organisation and must be resident in the UK. EPSRC fellows, except postdoctoral fellows and Royal Society fellows are also eligible to apply. Awards are not available to industry or international collaborators. Applications must consist of at least two partners from UK universities and be cross-disciplinary within ICT. It is anticipated that inter-university applications will form the majority, but applications where partners are from the same institution are also welcome.

Maximum award (100% FEC): £60,000

Travel Awards

The aim of this award is to allow researchers from one ICT discipline a chance to spend a short time in a different institute or for two researchers to spend time in each other’s institutions. Visits are expected to be no longer than a month and exchanges no more than two weeks per visit (1 month in total).Visits or exchanges should have a clear purpose and should include promotion of the visit(s) (and the eFuturesXD scheme) where possible (e.g. departmental seminars, report of visit published in departmental newsletter).

Travel outside the UK is not permitted.

Maximum award (100% FEC): £5,000

Facility Awards

This is for the use of expensive characterisation facilities such as microscopy, fabrication of novel structures using clean rooms or the manufacture of test chips using Europractice. Facilities can be outside the UK if appropriate. The award is intended for researchers who have a current or recent cross-disciplinary project and require additional resources to take their idea towards commercialisation or require further investment to bridge the gap with follow-on funding. Applications from early-stage work are also permitted but evidence of success factors should be included in the application. Applicants must be academic employees, at lecturer level or equivalent, of an eligible organisation and must be resident in the UK. EPSRC fellows, except postdoctoral fellows, and Royal Society fellows are also eligible to apply. Awards are not available to industry or international collaborators. Applications must consist of at least two partners from UK universities and be cross-disciplinary within ICT. It is anticipated that inter-university applications will form the majority, but applications where partners are from the same institution are also welcome.

Applications for buying new equipment or refurbishing current equipment will not be permitted.

(A list of EPSRC supported facilities can be found here: http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/facilities/epsrc/Pages/default.aspx but this is not definitive).

Awards of more than £15k will require recipients to give two presentations at community events, one soon after the award and one at the end of the award. The final profile payment will be withheld if this is not adhered to.

Maximum award (100% FEC): £20,000

Meeting Awards

This supports events specifically aimed at building a research consortium (including sandpits, speed dating etc.) comprising researchers from a number of departments and institutions across the information and communication technology portfolio. There is no upper limit on the number of people who can be involved in events funded by the award. Resources can be requested to allow non-UK researchers to attend and give talks.

Applicants must be academic employees, at lecturer level or equivalent, of an eligible organisation and must be resident in the UK. EPSRC fellows, except postdoctoral fellows, and Royal Society fellows are also eligible to apply. Awards are not available to industry or international collaborators. Applications must consist of at least two partners from UK universities and be cross-disciplinary within ICT. It is anticipated that inter-university applications will form the majority, but applications where partners are from the same institution are also welcome.

Maximum award (100% FEC): £10,000

View website for details: http://efutures.ac.uk/

For further information contact: externalprojects@staffs.ac.uk

BBSRC invests £35m in industrial biotech

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£35M to support research for vital industrial sector

The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council says it will invest £35 million in industrial biotechnology and bioenergy research.

The announcement was made by science minister David Willetts on 23 January at an industrial biotechnology event in London.

The funding will create two new schemes to develop the UK’s industrial biotechnology and bioenergy research community (including biopharmaceuticals and biorenewables) and to support the translation of new ideas into commercial applications. The new schemes form the central part of BBSRC’s strategy to support the development of industrial biotechnology and bioenergy (IBBE) as a key component of the UK bioeconomy.

Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts said: “Industrial biotechnology is a very promising area of science that could provide greener solutions for many important sectors, like manufacturing and life sciences. Through investing in research and working with industry we can harness the UK’s expertise in this area to drive growth and create jobs.”

Industrial biotechnology is the harnessing of bio-based inputs for the production of industrially useful products on a large scale. It offers novel solutions through the use of plants, bacteria, algae and fungi as non-fossil sources that will benefit many UK industry sectors including chemicals, renewable energy, materials, and health.

BBSRC’s new strategy in IBBE will support both networking activities and investment in major application-focused integrated research projects.

The first phase is a competition for Networks, aimed at both emerging and established areas of importance to IBBE. BBSRC has committed up to £15M to foster collaboration between academic researchers and business at all levels, in order to find new approaches to tackle research challenges. The Networks will work across the boundaries of biology, chemistry and engineering. They also encourage the participation of other disciplines including mathematics, computational modelling, environmental science, economics and social science.

The second phase of the strategy will be launched in 2014 with £20M to support major integrated research projects in IBBE derived from the networking activities and involving the academic and business communities.

Dr Celia Caulcott, BBSRC Director, Innovation and Skills, said: “Investing in industrial biotechnology and bioenergy research has the potential to generate significant returns. World-class research exists within the UK and these schemes will do more to achieve its full potential for industry, economic growth and society as a whole. The bioeconomy is worth trillions globally and could bring major benefits to the UK and create thousands of jobs in the coming years. These benefits offer a sustainable and ‘green’ future with more efficient manufacturing, of biopharmaceuticals for example, and a shift away from fossil fuels towards renewable foundations.’

“Through these schemes we are seeking to energise the UK industrial biotechnology and bioenergy community and to support the building of strong research networks, industry-academic collaborations and new ideas that can be funded through to the brink of commercial application. This will ensure that emerging areas of bioscience are fully integrated into the industrial biotechnology arena.”

The schemes will be live from 24 January 2013 at: www.bbsrc.ac.uk/IBnetworks

 

Intelligent Energy Europe Funding Announced

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The Intelligent Energy Europe programme has launched a call for proposals.  This funding stream supports projects designed to:

  • Promote energy efficiency and encourage the rational use of energy sources
  • Increase the use of new and renewable energy sources as well as encouraging energy diversification
  • Stimulate energy efficiency and renewables in the field of transport

The next call has €65 million available with a deadline of May 8th.  For further details on the call priorities and help in exploring opportunities please contact externalprojects@staffs.ac.uk.  There is a Brussels based information day on the 23rd January followed by a networking partner brokerage event on the 24th January.  We have Staffordshire University representation at this event so if you would like to express an interest please contact externalprojects@staffs.ac.uk. 

The official call information is available at http://ec.europa.eu/energy/intelligent/getting-funds/call-for-proposals/how-to-apply/index_en.htm.

Technology Strategy Board (TSB) – Technology Inpsired Innovation

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 The Technology Strategy Board is to invest up to £10m in fast-track and collaborative research and development projects that stimulate innovation across the key enabling technology areas of advanced materials, biosciences, electronics, sensors and photonics and information and communications technology.

Additional funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) may be available for projects in line with the scope of this competition that contain a significant, high-quality academic research component and demonstrate added value by building on or being complementary to their existing research programmes and portfolios.

We are seeking innovative proposals that focus on projects that advance the development of a recent technological discovery or breakthrough in the context of significant and identifiable technological risk, which can be broadly applied across a wide range of market opportunities and needs.

Projects must be collaborative and business-led.

 For clarity please note that ESP stands for Electronics, Sensors and Photonics; ICT stands for Information & Communication Technologies.

 The competition has two strands:

Strand 1 is a single-stage fast-track process. Projects must be led by a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) and must last between six and 12 months.

Strand 2 is a two-stage competition. Consortia should include at least one SME partner and projects must last between 12 and 24 months.

The competition opens on 3 December 2012.

Open date: 03 December 2012

Registration close date: 23 January 2013

 Close date: 10 April 2013

For more Information please contact Naomi Arblaster on N.Arblaster@staffs.ac.uk or call 01785 353519