Category Archives: Computing, Engineering and Sciences

Ten technologies which could change our lives

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3D printer

One of Staffordshire University’s 3D printers presented by Graham Preece, Technical Team Leader

A ‘technological society’; this is the term most of us would choose to describe ourselves in the 21st Century. We use a multitude of devices every day to coordinate our activities and communications at home and in the workplace. Ten technologies which could change our lives, Potential impacts and Policy implications was published last January by the Scientific Foresight (STOA) Unit of the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS).

This report investigates ten scientific and technological trends: Autonomous Vehicles, Graphene, 3D printing, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), Virtual currencies (Bitcoin), Wearable technologies, Drones, Aquaponic systems, Smart home technologies and Electricity storage (hydrogen). A summary of each trend is provided followed by an overview of both the ‘expected’ and ‘unexpected’ impacts associated with the trend.

To help Europe to grasp leadership early on in new and emerging technology areas, the European Commission has allocated a provisional budget of 2 696 million euro (239.26 million Euros in 2015) to Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) actions, under Horizon 2020. In order to succeed in this mission, FET focusses on research beyond what is known, accepted or widely adopted.

 

Scientists – spend a week with an MEP

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​The MEP-Scientist Pairing Scheme 2015 is calling for applications from researchers who would like to interact with Members of  the European Parliament (MEPs) and provide scientific expertise. The aim of the scheme is to enhance knowledge-based decisions and to facilitate better public awareness of EU policies and to foster greater mutual understanding.

Successful applicants will be paired with MEPs and will be invited to Brussels later in 2015 for a week where they will have the opportunity to follow MEPs in their daily political activities and learn about EU policy in the area of research. There would then be follow-up event organised by the MEPs which could include workshops, visits to local research facilities, press conferences and exhibitions.

The selection criteria specify specific fields of research, which are linked to the priority areas of the European Parliament’s Science and Technology Options Assessment bureau (STOA), an in-house service which also uses external expertise and provides its services to the European Parliament’s Committees. These are:

  • Eco-efficient transport and modern energy solutions;
  • Sustainable management of natural resources;
  • Potentials and challenges of the Information Society;
  • Health and life sciences; and
  • Science, technology and innovation policy.

These areas are to be understood in a broad sense and both natural scientists in state-of-the-art innovative areas (energy storage, renewable energy, photonics, innovative production etc.) and social scientists (jobs and growth, indicators, foresight etc.) are encouraged to apply.

There is no research funding available but researchers participating in the scheme will be reimbursed for travel and accommodation when the come to Brussels.

The deadline for applications is 31 July 2015 and all details on the application process can be obtained form the invitation document.

Find partners for your creative project

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Cretive Europe

Creative Europe supports cross-border exchange and cooperation. In order to apply for funding opportunities such as European Networks, Cooperation Projects and European Platforms as part of the Culture sub-programme, you will need to work with partners.

The best partnerships develop over time and can be a meeting of shared or contrasting intent and creative practice.

How can you can meet peers and partners to collaborate with?

Commission acts to simplify access to European Structural and Investment Funds

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The Europen Commission has announced its intention to create a High Level Group on simplification. It aims to reduce the administrative burden for beneficiaries to access the five European Structural and Investment Funds– the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund.

The group is to independently assess and monitor the uptake of simplification opportunities to access and use European Structural and Investment Funds by the Member States, thus contributing to the Commission’s efforts for Better Regulation.

Former Commission Vice President Siim Kallas will chair this group which is planned to run for three years. The members of the group should include the best available experts in the field. Special focus is to be put on five priorities:

1. Facilitating access to funding for SMEs

2. Tackling the “Goldplating” practice, where extra requirements or administrative hurdles are addedat national or regional level, including in the process of selecting projects.

3. Using simpler ways to reimburse costs.

4. Increasing the use of online procedures, such as “e-cohesion” in Cohesion Policy funded projects

5. Analysing how projects initiated and managed by local communities are implemented (community-led local development)

The new regulations offer a broad range of opportunities for simplification and reduced administrative burden. These include a set of common rules for all European Structural and investment Funds.

This High Level Group on simplification is part of a broader initiative to improve how Member States and regions invest and manage EU Cohesion Policy funds, set by Commissioner Corina Creţu and the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy.

 

EU PRIZE FOR CULTURAL HERITAGE / EUROPA NOSTRA AWARDS

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The EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards was launched in 2002 by the European Commission and has been organised by Europa Nostra since then. The Prize celebrates and promotes best practices related to heritage conservation, management, research, education and communication. In this way, it contributes to a stronger public recognition of cultural heritage as a strategic resource for Europe’s society and economy.

The Prize honours every year up to 30 outstanding heritage achievements from all parts of Europe. Up to seven are selected as Grand Prix laureates and one receives the Public Choice Award, chosen in an online poll. All the winners receive a certificate as well as a plaque or trophy. The Grand Prix laureates also receive €10,000 each.

The awards are given in four categories:

CONSERVATION
Outstanding achievements in the conservation, enhancement and adaptation to new uses of cultural heritage.

RESEARCH
Outstanding research projects which lead to tangible effects in the conservation and enhancement of cultural heritage in Europe.

DEDICATED SERVICE by INDIVIDUALS or ORGANISATIONS
Open to individuals or organisations whose contributions over a long period of time demonstrate excellence in the protection, conservation and enhancement of cultural heritage in Europe and far exceeding normal expectations in the given context.

EDUCATION, TRAINING and AWARENESS-RAISING
Outstanding initiatives related to education, training and awareness-raising in the field of tangible and/or intangible cultural heritage, to promote and/or to contribute to the sustainable development of the environment.

Specialist juries made up of independent experts assess the nominated projects and select the winners in the four categories.

The awards are presented to the winners at a major public event, which is held each year in a different European city. The 2015 European Heritage Awards Ceremony is held on 11 June at the emblematic City Hall of Oslo. Vienna hosted the European Heritage Awards Ceremony in 2014, Athens in 2013 and Lisbon in 2012.

The European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards has been supported by the EU Culture Programme (now replaced by the Creative Europe Programme). A total of 415 remarkable heritage accomplishments have been recognised in the past 13 years.

Since 2002, the Awards Scheme has contributed significantly towards further professionalism and structuring of the heritage sector, by highlighting the best practices, encouraging cross-border exchange of knowledge and bringing together different stakeholders in wider networks. The Prize has also brought major benefits to the laureates, such as greater national and international exposure, follow-on funding, technology sales and increased visitor numbers. Last, but not least, the Prize has increased the visibility of the heritage sector amongst the general public while giving it a distinctly European dimension. Read study on the impact of the Prize.

WINNERS 2010-2015

APPLY FOR AN AWARD IN 2016

For more information, please contact:
Elena Bianchi
Heritage Awards Coordinator
eb@europanostra.org
+31 70 302 40 58

Technology-inspired innovation – information and communications technology

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Innovate UK invites registrations for its call on technology-inspired innovation in information and communications technology. This supports technological innovation feasibility studies on information and communication technology, with a special focus on new software-based technologies or approaches that enable innovation in the areas of data exploration, simpler user experiences, increasing confidence in distributed computing systems, and advanced, modern software engineering. Projects should concentrate on early-stage technical opportunities that contain a significant level of technical risk and some level of uncertainty about how the proposed approach will work in practice.

Companies of any size may apply, however projects must be led by a small or micro business either singly or in collaboration with one other SME or research partner. In addition, companies may submit applications for multiple projects, however they are not allowed to participate in more than one project.

The total budget is worth up to £3 million. Each project should range in size between £50,000 and £150,000, although projects outside this range may be considered. Projects should last six to 15 months. SMEs may receive up to 70 per cent funding of their project costs, medium-sized businesses may receive 60 per cent and large businesses may receive 50 per cent.

  • Closing date 02 Sep 15
  • Deadline information Registrations are invited between 18 May and 12 noon, 2 September; full applications due by 12 noon, 9 September 2015.

Further information:

https://interact.innovateuk.org/competition-display-page/-/asset_publisher/RqEt2AKmEBhi/content/technology-inspired-innovation-may-2015-ict

 

The Thompson Family Charitable Trust

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Grants are available to UK registered charities for general charitable purposes.

Funding is provided at the discretion of the Trustees.

The Trust provides a range of grants from £250 up to an exceptional amount of £500,000. Most grants tend to be between £1,000 and £50,000 with a few grants of £100,000 and £200,000.

The Thompson Family Charitable Trust provides grants to registered charities for general charitable purposes.

Previous grants have been given in the following areas:

  • Health and social welfare.
  • Medical research.
  • Animal welfare.
  • The Arts.
  • Sports.
  • Education.

Applications may be submitted at any time, and UK registered charities are eligible to apply.

Examples of previously funded organisations include:

  • Animal Health Trust
  • Cancer Research UK
  • Cheer Trust
  • Injured Jockeys Fund
  • Katie Piper Foundation
  • Macmillan Cancer Support
  • North London Hospice
  • Parkinson’s UK
  • PCA Benevolent Fund
  • St Andrew’s Primary School
  • St Mary’s Church
  • Scene and Heard
  • Walk the Walk Worldwide
  • Walk with the Wounded

The Trust does not maintain a website or a formal application form.

Applications should be made in writing to the Trust.

 

Contact details:

Katie Woodward

The Thompson Family Charitable Trust
Hillsdown Court
15 Totteridge Common
London
N20 8LR

Telephone:
01608 676789
Email:
roy.copus@btinternet.com

Synergies Between Horizon 2020 and ESIF for Key Enabling Technologies now Available Online

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The presentations and video are now available online from a recent event on synergies between the Key Enabling Technologies in Horizon 2020 and European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF).

The event was organised by the European Commission and the Committee of the Regions and held in Brussels on 6 May 2015.

Speakers from the Directorate General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD) and the Committee of the Regions began the event. The speakers highlighted that two thirds of the EU regions have included Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) as part of their Research and Innovation Smart Specialisation Strategies (RIS3).
The presentations included the results from a recent study on “Analysis of Smart Specialisation Strategies in Nanotechnologies, Advanced Manufacturing and Process Technologies”, the report from which is given at the link below.

http://ec.europa.eu/research/industrial_technologies/index_en.cfm

Speakers from DG RTD noted that whilst there are no particular actions on Smart Specialisation Strategies in Horizon 2020, Horizon 2020 can be used to accelerate the changes set out in the strategies. For example, the Teaming and Twinning calls both link to Smart Specialisation Strategies. They also highlighted that there are 20 topics where synergies can be found with ESIF in the Leadership in Emerging and Industrial Technologies part of the Horizon 2020 Work Programme, which is where the Key Enabling Technologies feature most prominently.

Proposal Development Event on co-creation, growth and inclusion

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Proposal Development event on co-creation, growth and inclusion

15th of June (13:00 till 18:00), Brussels

Registration is now open

ERRIN, invites Universities, Regions and Businesses to the proposal development event on co-creation, growth and inclusion, which will focus of the coming funding opportunities in 2016-17. We would like to engage with the likeminded individuals on the following areas of expertise: Economics, ICT, Technology, Health, Social Sciences.

Co-creation puts end-user or customer in the centre of production process and co-creation of value. At this event we will be looking at co-creation in a context of

(i) purpose-driven innovation,

(ii) end-user involvement and

(iii) cross-boundary collaboration.

We are looking to focus on Co Creation

  • In Health Diet, Diabetes, Smoking and Obesity
  • In Culture Virtual Museums and Social Platform on European digital heritage, memory, identity and cultural interaction
  • In Responsible Research and Innovation: specifically gender related
  • In Design: User-driven innovation: value creation through design-enabled innovation
  • In ICT: Please note this is a major Cross cutting theme.
  • In Security: Anti-corruption, fraud and cybercrime
  • In Mobility: mobility of people and money and its consequences for the European social and economic system

What is the aim of Brokerage Event? It is an event that provides the opportunity to meet consortium partners and discuss project proposals ahead of the 2016/2017 calls with the potential to develop consortia.

How to get the best out of the Brokerage Event Prior to the Brokerage Event, we invite all participants to make their project ideas and/or expertise known via the ERRIN Site. Participants will have the opportunity to present their idea in a facilitated round table session in a short project pitch to promote their proposal.

Who should attend? Regions, companies and universities with the following areas of expertise:

Economics, ICT, Technology, Health, Social Sciences who are interested in developing project proposals and partners in for the 2016-17 topics as well as some 2015 ones. This is the right place to bring together well targeted ideas and clearly defined cooperation needs from the research and business sector.

For more information and participation please contact:

Tatiana Panteli, European Business and Research Development Manager, t.panteli@wlv.ac.uk

 

Celebrate volunteers’ week with the Staffordshire University Fringe Festival

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Volunteers’ Week is an annual celebration of the fantastic contribution millions of volunteers make across the UK – and it’s taking place from the 1-7 June 2015.

Staffs Fringe Festival is the University’s annual public engagement festival.

Senior lecturer, Penny Vincent coordinates it and works with our community partners to facilitate a feast of free events and activities, ending with the Fantastic Fringe Finale on the last day (Saturday).

volunteers week logoImagine what the world would be like without volunteers. From the Staffs Live journalism team, to documentary photographers and workshop leaders at the Fantastic Finale – there are many students and local residents volunteering to make Fringe Festival go with a swing.

We will celebrate community arts with a Big Lunch picnic in Hanley Park with Park Live! performance on the bandstand by local people and a Photo walk led by the Photographers Collective North Staffs who are all volunteers.

The wonderful London Rd Festival on the 13th and 14th June is coordinated by a group of committed and skilful volunteers from Stoke West and Oakhill area.

Check out all the Volunteers Week events on their website here.