EU Prize for Women Innovators 2016 Launched

logo_en[1]
The European Commission, has recently launched the third edition of its contest for women innovators. Suitable female applicants can submit their proposals through the Participant Portal by 20 October 2015.

After the success of the forerunners of the competition in 2011 and 2014, the Commission intends to continue its drive to spotlight women researchers who have brought outstanding innovations to the market.

The prizes will boost the public awareness of the contributions that female researchers bring to the field of entrepreneurship and will encourage entrepreneurial women to become innovators.

Although women are more and more active in research, there are still too few women creating innovative enterprises.The Commission plans to award up to three “EU Prizes for Women Innovators” following a European-wide contest.

Three prizes will be awarded in Spring 2016:

  • 1st prize: €100 000
  • 2nd prize: €50 000
  • 3rd prize: €30 000

The prizes are addressed to women who have founded or co-founded a company and who themselves or through their company have benefitted from EU funding related to Research and Innovation.

The prizes will not reward research or innovation proposed for the future, but only successes that have been already achieved by the candidate

Please, find more information in the link below.

http://www.ukro.ac.uk/subscriber/Pages/150311_wiprize.aspx

 

0.00 avg. rating (0% score) - 0 votes

ESRC: Research seminars and Strategic networks competition 2015/16

esrc

The Economic and Social Research Council is supporting Research seminars and Strategic networks through its 2015/2016 annual competition.

Seminars and networks will address groups of academic researchers, postgraduate students and non-academics users from different organisations and sectors (public & private sectors, civil society and research bodies).

It is expected to advance research, to generate and to develop innovative and interdisciplinary collaborations, especially with overseas researchers and stakeholders from Newton countries.

A number of steer are focused on Civil society / Education and Neuroscience / Biosocial research / big data.

Seminar series grants are limited to a maximum justified costing of £30,000 and network grants are limited to a maximum justified costing of £100,000. The closing date for proposals is 16.00 on 8 April 2015.

To apply, please click here.

0.00 avg. rating (0% score) - 0 votes

Major Research Fellowships in the Humanities and Social Sciences

These awards enable well-established and distinguished researchers in the humanities and social sciences to devote themselves to a single research project of outstanding originality and significance, which can be completed within two or three years. Candidates should state explicitly what the proposed outcomes of the award will be. Fellowships are particularly aimed at those who are or have been prevented by routine duties from completing a programme of original research.

The Fellowships fund the salary costs of an individual to undertake the normal duties of the applicant for the duration of the Fellowship.

A Major Research Fellow may also request research expenses up to an annual maximum of £5,000. If such funds are required they must be requested as part of the application procedure.

The duration of a Fellowship is for two or three years, to start at the beginning of the 2016/17 academic year.

Closing date: 7 May 2015

For more information go to:

http://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/funding/MRF/MRF.cfm

 

0.00 avg. rating (0% score) - 0 votes

Event: Open Innovation 2.0 Conference 2015

Open Innovation 2.0 Conference 2015 

07/06/2015 to 09/06/2015

The European Commission, is organising the 2015 Open Innovation Conference.
Like the previous editions, the conference will be organised by the European Commission, DG Connect Open Innovation Group (OISPG) together with Intel Labs Europe, Kindly supported by Aalto University, City of Espoo and other partners.

The OI2 Conference will be hold from the 07th until the 09th of June 2015 in Espoo (Aalto University Campus), Finland.
The conference will discuss the implementation of the Dublin Declaration and topics such as student entrepreneurship, open innovation digital platforms, regional information modelling and digitalized services.

The recently published High Level Group report on European Innovation Ecosystems will also be a basis for discussions at the event.

For more information on the event, please follow the link below.

http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/news/save-date-open-innovation-20-conference-2015

 

 

 

0.00 avg. rating (0% score) - 0 votes

AHRC Highlight notice for cross-disciplinary research networks

AHRC logo

The Arts and Humanities Research Council invites applications for its highlight notice for cross-disciplinary research networks exploring emerging areas of cross-council enquiry. This supports cross-disciplinary proposals addressing boundary-crossing engagement in relation to emerging issues in science and technology. The following topics are particularly encouraged:

  • risk
  • conflict, transnational organised crime and cybersecurity
  • cities, urbanisation, urban living and smart cities
  • valuing nature
  • antimicrobial resistance
  • wellbeing
  • emerging areas of science and technology, such as the internet of things, robotics and autonomous systems, synthetic biology, regenerative medicine and wearable technologies

Applications should be lead by arts or humanities researchers and include a plan for significant participation by science researchers, a commitment to cross-disciplinary working and an interest in emerging areas where there has been little collaboration between the arts and sciences.

Closing date: 31 Jul 15

For further information go to: http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/Funding-Opportunities/Pages/Cross-Disciplinary-Research-Networks-Exploring-Emerging-Areas-of-Cross-Council-Enquiry-Highlight-Notice.aspx

0.00 avg. rating (0% score) - 0 votes

Enhancing User Experience Using Personal Data

Innovate UK is to invest up to £2 million to support feasibility studies looking at innovative ways to improve the user experience in the digital economy.

We are looking for projects that use the increasing amount of personal data generated by individuals to gain insights into user needs and behaviours.

The competition is open to small and medium-sized enterprises singly or in collaboration. Proposals must be led by a business.

Small businesses could receive up to 70% of their eligible project costs, medium-sized businesses 60%.

We expect projects to last 6 to 12 months and to range in size from total costs of £90,000 to £120,000.

This competition opens on 16 March 2015. The deadline for registration is noon on 29 April 2015, and the deadline for applications is noon on 6 May 2015.

Proposals should explore new ways of using personal data to enhance users’ experience of a product or service.

We are interested in projects that:

  • harness personal data to develop or improve products
  • employ innovative methodology to explore opportunities arising from analysing personal data

Successful applications will demonstrate understanding of the commercial benefits of user-centred-design and use personal data to design innovative products that provide a great user experience.

Projects should focus on one or more of the three components of user experience outlined below.

Utility: Gain detailed insight into user needs and requirements in a specific sector area and design a new product or service that fulfils this need.

Usability: Gain detailed insights into user behaviour when using a specific product or service. Use them to design a new product or design improvements to an existing product, which can anticipate this behaviour, making it more inclusive and easier to use.

Desirability: Understand what data to capture, how to analyse it, and how to use these insights. Ensuring that a specific product or service can adjust to changes in user needs, behaviour and desires.

Successful projects can be focused on large user groups or on personalised solutions for individuals.

Please click here for further details https://interact.innovateuk.org/competition-display-page/-/asset_publisher/RqEt2AKmEBhi/content/enhancing-user-experience-using-personal-data

If you are interested and require support please contact Naomi Arblaster in ECD: N.Arblaster@staffs.ac.uk, Tel: 01785 353519

0.00 avg. rating (0% score) - 0 votes

New Call: Protecting Data in Industry

Innovate UK is to invest up to £4 million in collaborative research and development (R&D) projects that tackle the growing risks of disruption to internet-enabled businesses and their digital supply chains.

With the Internet of Things providing new sources of data and end-users’ ever-increasing digital footprint, it is difficult to adequately protect the interests of a business, industry or sector. There is also a lack of understanding of the effects disruption may have.

We are seeking proposals that address the challenge of protecting a business, industry or sector from digital disruption that could compromise data across the digital supply chain.

We want to identify and fund industrial research that will strengthen the protection and resilience of such data, so businesses and the public can place higher levels of confidence in the delivery of digitally enabled business products and services.

In Scope

This competition seeks better ways for UK organisations to mitigate these risks when operating in a digitally enabled environment, either within the UK or globally.

These may include (but are not limited to) innovative software, hardware, infrastructure or processes that target legacy, existing or new internet-based systems that are part of an organisation’s digital supply chain.

While we seek to fund industrial research and development projects to address this challenge, our primary goal is to achieve economic growth through new business success. As a result, we want to see a business model, sector or industry as the main focus of the proposed innovation.

We will therefore fund projects conducting industrial research whose outputs increase data protection, awareness and resilience:

  • In an industry: suppliers, manufacturers, distributors and service partners form a supply chain that relies on accurate, reliable and trustworthy data within (and between) each organisation in order to directly, or indirectly, produce goods (physical or digital). Data of this type includes schematics, logistical information, creative artwork, payroll and employee details and passwords
  • Between different sectors with their own data-reliant supply chains (e.g. transport and healthcare): the Internet of Things demonstrates the almost endless possibilities for greater collaboration between sectors. However, data not typically exposed to public networks is now being used in ‘big data’ analytics across multiple organisations, which may or may not have a relationship with the original data owner. Data has become a key asset that is being traded between organisations and may come from a variety of sources, including end-users themselves
  • For data that is to be used to make critical decisions for a business model, industry or sector: for example, what impact would compromised traffic-light data have on an autonomous vehicle? Or what would be the effects of a malicious attack on the stock market where the decimal point is shifted forwards one place?

Proposals must be collaborative and led by a business. We expect to fund mainly industrial research projects in which a business partner will generally attract up to 50% public funding for their project costs (60% for SMEs).

We expect projects to range in size from total costs of £150,000 to £750,000, although we may consider projects outside this range.

This is a two-stage competition that opens for applicants on 23 March 2015. The deadline for registration is at noon on 29 April 2015.

The deadline for expressions of interest is at noon on 6 May 2015.

For more information click here https://interact.innovateuk.org/competition-display-page/-/asset_publisher/RqEt2AKmEBhi/content/protecting-data-in-industry

If you are interested and require support please contact Naomi Arblaster in ECD: N.Arblaster@staffs.ac.uk, Tel: 01785 353519

0.00 avg. rating (0% score) - 0 votes

Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Fellowships

Royal Academy of Engineering logo large

The Royal Academy of Engineering invites applications for its Enterprise Fellowships. These enable aspiring entrepreneurs to commercialise technology-based business ideas from academic institutions into spinout companies.

Applicants must be working in engineering departments or engineering-focused research areas at UK higher education institutions, at postdoctoral level or above. PhD students may apply, but must have received their PhD before they start the fellowship. The proposed technology must be an innovation or invention in engineering or technology.

Each Fellow is provided with up to £85,000 to enable them to spend 12 months establishing their own business. In addition to the financial support, training will be provided to develop business skills. Mentors will be allocated to each fellow to provide additional support, advice and access to their entrepreneurial and venture capital networks during the enterprise fellowship.

Closing date 01 Sep 15 (Forecast)

(The information on the website relates to last year’s scheme but remains available for reference until the 2015 call is announced: http://www.raeng.org.uk/grants-and-prizes/support-for-entrepreneurs/enterprise-fellowships).

0.00 avg. rating (0% score) - 0 votes

Funding competition for pre start-ups and SMEs

Innovate UK invites proposals for SMART 2015-2016 – Round 6, to support Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) to engage in R&D projects in strategically important areas: sciences, engineering and technology.

The scheme helps tackling the funding gap experienced by many small and early-stage companies with innovative ideas and high growth ambition and potential.

Three types of grants are available: proof of market, proof of concept and development of prototype. Pre start-ups, start-ups and SMEs from all sectors can apply.

Deadline is Thursday 26 March 2015 at noon.

To know more about it: Smart Round 6

0.00 avg. rating (0% score) - 0 votes