Learn more, at the IPR webinar September 3rd 11-30 to 13-00.
http://www.iprhelpdesk.eu/node/2301
Global Innovation Initiative
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.
Newton Fund: building science and innovation capacity in developing countries
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.
IP Protection for all businesses – great and small
From little acorns, great oafs do grow; IP protection is important for businesses and other entities both big and small.
An interesting short article is attached concerning IP protection, for small businesses but translatable to other entitities commercial and non-commercial.
http://www.dehns.com/site/information/industry_news_and_articles/is_ip_protection_worthwhile.html
An additional reference to the suggestions contained in the above article (registering trademarks and distinctive logos, patent protection for Software Apps, and protection by asserting copyright and design rights in Software), would be to highlight the continuing success of the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court. For multitrack cases (complex legal issues cases) the IPEC has a limit on damages of up to £500,000 – which Court can hear trademark, patent and copyright infringement cases. Costs orders will be made which are proportionate to the nature of the dispute and subject to a cap of no more than £50,000. This arguably puts resolution of intellectual property disputes within reach of small and medium sized enterprises, especially in meritorious cases with a considerable sum in dispute.
The small claims track is for suitable claims in the IPEC with a value of up to £10,000. Costs orders on the small claims track are highly restricted.
The Intellectual Property Enterprise Court and Guides can be found at:
https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/rcj-rolls-building/intellectual-property-enterprise-court
Factsheet on Royal Society Funding
A factsheet on how to apply for Royal Society funding
The document outlines:
- Overview of the Royal Society
- Priorities
- Overview of the schemes
- Funded Projects
- What is covered by the funding
- Submission details
- University procedures for bidding
Valuing Natural Capital in Low Carbon Energy Pathways – Consortia Awards
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/
How do the Courts interpret contracts? A recent essay from the UK Supreme Court entitled ‘The impact of pre- and post-contractual conduct on contractual interpretation’
I was recently asked what might be the best way to negotiate or ‘agree’ a contract, and the attached essay goes a great distance in answering that question. Or at least goes to laying down the current ground rules. The essay is worth reading in the original short form, as a neat summary of the case of Rainy Sky [2011] 1 WLR 2900, and the statements by Lord Hoffmann about prior negotiations in Chartrbrook [2009] UKHL 38 and some points of note being:
1. Look for what the parties meant by the language used, and the test being ‘what a reasonable person would have understood the parties to have meant’ – Lord Clarke in Rainy Sky. (paragraph 2 attached)
2. The contexts the parties can take into account when interpreting an agreement: (i) documentary context, including the other provisions and clauses in the agreement (ii) factual context, and facts known to both parties (iii) the commercial context, including the perhaps unstable concept of ‘commercial common sense’) – Lord Neuberger explores the difficulties of the unstable element of ‘commercial common sense’ throughout the short essay. (paragraph 4)
3. What not to take account of when interpreting a contract: (i) what either party said they meant (ii) what either party believes that they intended (iii) facts known to one party and not the other (iv) what was stated in negotiations including earlier drafts of the contract (v) what the parties said or did after the contract was entered into. Lord Neuberger said that points (i) to (iii) are pointed to the objective question of what it would mean to the hypothetical reasonable person in the position of the parties. (paragraph 5 of the attached)
4. At paragraph 6 there is a short legal history as to how and why the interpretation of written contracts are essentially a question of law residing in the judge – and is likely to change in the future.
5. Contracts arising from discussions and oral statements: Inevitably, what the parties understood or intended their contract to mean would be admissible as an aid to interpretation. This is an important distinction (written and unwritten; and shows where ancillary or collateral documents can come into the Court in evidence for unwritten agreements – but it is important to note that the general rule is exclusionary regarding collateral documents (paragraph 7 in the attached) – for written agreements at least, for unwritten the admission of ancillary documents becomes more blurry.
6. The Court has a power to ‘rectify’ an agreement to ensure that it complies with the parties’ common intention – however this is a remedy available only in relation to documents (a short summary of the effect of the remedy is at paragraph 10)
7. The reasons for excluding pre and post – contractual negotiations: there is a problem of the sheer volume of documents and the fact that very often the evidence is essentially equivocal – and in a written agreement, the Court has to adhere to what words the party chose to set out the terms of their bargain (paragraphs 11 to 23).
The article: The impact of pre and post-contractual conduct on contractual interpretation
Click to access speech-140811.pdf
Rainy Sky:
Click to access UKSC_2010_0127_Judgment.pdf
Press Summary for Rainy Sky:
Thematic partnerships with Indian Universities
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
Successful Bid to Arts Council
One of Staffordshire Universities Senior Lecturers in Fine Art, Stephen Boyed, has successfully bid for £9,000 of Arts Council England Funding.
After The Gold Rush will develop new artworks to be exhibited at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery along with selected artifacts from the Museum Collections Centre.
The exhibition will consist of five lithographic images juxtaposed with images of conservation practice, and images gathered from Anglo Saxon artifacts from the Staffordshire Hoard.
Stephen is now working hard on preparing the exhibition which is expected to be launched late in 2014.
More details on Stephen Boyed: http://www.stephenboyd.eu/homepage.html
Bright ideas research fund
Nesta invites applications for grants from its bright ideas research fund. These grants aim to fund good new ideas related to innovation and innovation policy and develop research projects and policy proposals in fields that relate to innovation but where Nesta does not have big programmes already in place. Projects can involve primary research, novel argumentation, or the development of a new idea, or ideally more than one of these things.
It is hoped that the fund will lead to interesting insights in its own right, and perhaps in due course to some larger research projects.
Fields of particular interest include:
- understanding the innovative businesses that matter
- what do emerging technologies mean for the economy and society
- how can we get a financial system better suited to innovation
- developing an innovation policy for the arts
- datavores
- better government policy for innovation
- better government policy based on evidence and experiments
- new trends in innovation around the world
- collective intelligence
- how to encourage new ideas and experimentation in social innovation
- scaling up social innovation
- big and open data for social innovation
- collaborative economy
- smarter smart cities
- accelerators.
Applications are welcome from a wide range of people and organisations worldwide, including think tanks, academics, journalists, charities and businesses.
Nesta will fund up to £10,000 per project. Projects are expected to be concluded within a year of their start.
This is an open call. You can apply for the fund any time during the year and applications are reviewed in batches. The next review date will be on the 24th of October 2014.
For more information go to: http://www.nesta.org.uk/funding/bright-ideas-research-fund-open-call