This programme comprises of two funding competitions.

The competitions

1. The Technology Strategy Board, in partnership with Defra and BBSRC, will invest up to £15 million in major R&D projects that increase the efficiency, sustainability and competitiveness of the food processing and manufacturing sector, focussing on increasing efficiency and reducing supply chain waste. Applications open in June 2012.
2. Defra and the Technology Strategy Board are also launching the Innovate for Growth competition, providing up to twenty £25k grants for innovative SMEs across the farming, food and drink industries. This funding will support the rapid development of an innovative idea and demonstrate its practical feasibility. The competition will open in April, with results announced in the summer.

Regional Workshops – Get help with your application

To promote both these competitions further, the Biosciences Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) is organising a series of regional workshops in March and April 2012 around the UK.

20th March – Belfast:
http://regional-innovation-workshop-belfast.eventbrite.co.uk/
22nd March Edinburgh:
http://regional-innovation-workshop-edinburgh.eventbrite.co.uk/
27th March – Leeds:
http://regional-innovation-workshop-leeds.eventbrite.co.uk/
28th March – Peterborough:
http://regional-innovation-workshop-peterborough.eventbrite.co.uk/
29th March Reading:
http://regional-innovation-workshop-reading.eventbrite.co.uk/
3rd April – Exeter:
http://regional-innovation-workshop-exeter.eventbrite.co.uk/
4th April Cardiff:
http://regional-innovation-workshop-cardiff.eventbrite.co.uk/

These workshops will help delegates to get a better understanding of the scope of these competitions, as well as the competition process, rules and how to apply. Biosciences KTN representatives will be on hand to help with any queries related to the competition and to explain how the Biosciences KTN can help applicants with the process. Delegates will also be able to give a short presentation outlining their areas of expertise and interest to potential partners.

To access the competition documents, please make sure you are a member of the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Innovation Platform group on connect.

March 2012

In January 2012 HEFCE published REF 01.2012 ‘Panel criteria and working methods‘. The publication sets out the final panel criteria and working methods for the assessment, which were refined in light of the consultation responses summarised in this document.

Core Technology Areas
The TSB are seeking projects in the fields of

• Advanced materials and nanoscale technologies
• Biosciences
• Electronics, photonics and electrical systems
• Information and communications technology

Who can apply
The competition is open to small and micro companies only, working either singly or in collaboration with one partner.

Project Details
Projects can last up to four months and are eligible for grants of up to £25,000. Total project costs must not exceed £33,000. Successful projects must start on 1 August 2012.
 
Application process
This is a single-stage competition. It opened today – Monday 12 March 2012 and the deadline for receipt of applications is at noon on 11 April 2012. 
Click here for further information and to access the briefing documents:

Briefing Event
A briefing event for potential applicants will be held in London on 20 March 2012. Click here to find out more and register for the briefing event.

 FP7UK

 Cognitive Systems and Robotics: Forthcoming EU research funding

An Informative event to be held at Department for Business Innovation and Skills Conference Centre 1 Victoria Street, London

Friday 2nd December 2011 from 10:00 to 16:00

This Information day will address the Cognitive Systems and Robotics research challenge described in the FP7 ICT Workprogramme, Objective 2.1, which is scheduled to open with an 80M€ budget in ICT Call 9 on 18 January 2012.

The principal speaker will be Libor Kral, Head of Unit “E5″ of the European Commission’s DG INFSO based in Luxembourg which is responsible for the Cognitive Systems and Robotics research challenge in the current ICT Workprogramme.

The agenda for the day will address the three sub objectives featured in this call:-

Cognition and control in complex systems;

Gearing up and accelerating cross-fertilisation between academic and industrial robotics research;

Speeding up progress towards smarter robots through targeted competitions.

Delegates will obtain a good briefing on these research opportunities, guidance on finding partners and support in proposal creation. Speakers from Commission funded projects in this domain will share their experiences and future aims. In addition early views of future Commission plans will be voiced.

Delegates from the UK, all Member States and beyond are welcome. There will be ample opportunity for networking, information gathering and one to one dialogues.

This workshop takes place on the Friday of EU Robotics week during which a major wide appeal event will be taking take place at The Science Museum in Kensington, which is just 30 mins away on the underground.

Registration

To register for this free event please click the following link which will take you directly to the event registration page on Survey Monkey:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CLP6LM5

Please note that spaces are limited. Following receipt of your completed registration form, confirmation of your booking will be provided.

The event is presented and organised by: The UK ICT National Contact Point, BIS, and the

Technology Strategy Board

Further copies from http://tinyurl.com/ict-2dec11

• HEFCW Annual Public Meeting – Aberystwyth
• Date:  Thursday, 8 December 2011

Aberystwyth University

The Cinema, Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Penglais Campus

9:30 am – 11:00 pm
(Tea and coffee from 9:00) 

Please register by emailing info@hefcw.ac.uk or phoning 029 2068 2225.

This meeting, which is open to the public, will be an opportunity to reflect on recent developments in higher education in Wales and discuss future issues affecting universities in Wales. This follows a similar meeting in Cardiff in October at which we launched our latest Annual Report.

HEFCE Annual Conference 2012

This is an invitation-only event for heads of HEFCE-funded higher education institutions and representatives of HE stakeholder organisations. Next year’s event will be a one-day non-residential conference and dinner held in London. Invitations will be sent in mid-February 2012. Programme details will be published in early 2012.

http://www.hefce.ac.uk/research/ref/pubs/other/outputs/ 

REF 2014 submissions system: import requirements and output information

October 2011

This section provides:

• information that will enable institutions to collect and prepare data that they will be able to import to the REF submission system, when the system becomes available
• further details of the information that will be required about research outputs, over and above the requirements set out in ‘Assessment framework and guidance on submissions‘.

Data requirements for REF import files

The document below provides a complete list of mandatory and optional information requirements for REF submissions and will enable UK higher education institutions to start developing import files.

NOTE: These data requirements are provisional and may require some revisions following publication of the final panel criteria and working methods documents in January 2012. Where potential revisions are anticipated they are clearly marked as provisional.

Provisional data requirements for REF import files

[ Download Provisional data requirements for REF import files as Adobe PDF 200K | Download Provisional data requirements for REF import files as MS Word 168K ]

Import file templates

Below are template REF import files in XML, Microsoft Access and Microsoft Excel formats.

The XML and Microsoft Access files are templates for institutions to complete when importing records to all the relevant REF data forms along with user records and user permission records.

Also included is an example XML file which contains some data for most of the REF forms.

The Microsoft Excel files are templates for institutions to use in the importing of records to REF forms REF1a, REF1b, REF1c, REF2, REF4a, REF4b, REF4c, along with user records and user permission records.

Output information requirements

The Excel document below sets out the specific information that will be requested through the REF submission system for different forms of research outputs over and above the generic requirements set out in Part 3 Section 2 of ‘Assessment framework and guidance on submissions‘.

Output information requirements

[ Download Output information requirements as MS Excel 51K ]

http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2011/11_24/

Strategically Important and Vulnerable Subjects
The HEFCE advisory group’s 2010-11 report

This report sets out the advice and conclusions of the third HEFCE Chief Executive’s advisory group on Strategically Important and Vulnerable Subjects.

Executive summary (read online)

Executive summary

i.   This is the second report from the third¹ HEFCE Chief Executive’s advisory group on Strategically Important and Vulnerable Subjects (SIVS – broadly, these are science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), modern foreign languages and quantitative social science).

ii.   This report:

• sets out the group’s advice and conclusions;
• analyses the predicted future demand for all SIVS qualifications;
• notes key developments since the third advisory group’s first report, in 2009²
• sets out the evidence on the current and future supply of graduates and postgraduates in SIVS subjects.

iii.   The SIVS advisory group, via this report, seeks to: influence policy across HEFCE, government and other stakeholders; inform student choice by communicating its work on the supply of and demand for different subjects; and provide an authoritative voice on subjects of strategic importance to the nation.

iv.   Looking forward, the group will work with HEFCE and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to consider during 2011-12 the activities that may be within scope for HEFCE’s policy on SIVS, with a view to reviewing and aligning SIVS policy in light of the government’s higher education reforms.

Key conclusions and recommendations

v.   HEFCE has continued since 2009 to invest in measures to increase and diversify demand for, and sustain and re-shape the supply of, strategically important subjects: chemistry, engineering, mathematics and physics within STEM; quantitative social science; and modern foreign languages and related area studies. An evaluation of these interventions confirms it has provided value for money and made a positive contribution to the sustainability of these disciplines.

vi.   As a result of the reforms set out in the government’s 2011 White Paper Higher education: Students at the heart of the system³, HEFCE has two new challenges with regard to subject provision: firstly, to establish an approach to supporting high cost subjects that mitigates the impact of costs on the demand for and supply of the highest cost provision; secondly, to identify those subjects where there is evidence that the student-led system – operating alongside the dual support system for research, and activities such as business engagement and international student recruitment – may not sustain the flow of graduates, supply of programmes and expertise, and level of research activity necessary to secure the national interest.

vii.   Analysis of the latest data on the flow of undergraduates suggests that at a time of wider expansion in undergraduate numbers, those in SIVS have seen a continued expansion, and at a rate higher than other subjects during recent years. However, some concerns remain, for example among the engineering and modern language disciplines, and with regard to the accessibility of SIVS provision via part-time programmes and at post-1992 institutions.

viii.   There has been sustained growth in the flow of postgraduate taught and postgraduate research students during the last decade, and in the SIVS areas the flow of taught students has been higher than the average overall. A significant proportion of this growth is, however, attributable to international students. The growth in international numbers has been so marked that any decrease in overseas postgraduate students could lead to concerns about the future viability of courses and the overall sustainability of these disciplines, given the impact of the reduction in associated income streams. There may also be a risk in relation to the UK’s future workforce, given that many postgraduate students enter positions requiring advanced skills and expertise following their studies, including studies in universities and research organisations.

ix.   Evidence suggests that employers signal the greater value they place on postgraduate study in preference to undergraduate study through higher salary levels, higher employment rates and sponsorship of postgraduate students. There is, however, only limited information available on the courses employers particularly value. This should be a focus for the work, proposed in the recent Higher Education White Paper, on a Key Information Set (KIS) for postgraduate students.

x.   A new policy approach is now in development. It starts from the assumption that the new student-led system for financing teaching, operating alongside HEFCE teaching funding and the dual-support system for research, will for the most part achieve the government’s aspirations with regard to subject provision. HEFCE’s future policy must be concerned with identifying the minority of areas in which this may not be the case and determining any mitigating action that might be taken. HEFCE will consult on the details of this approach alongside the second stage of the consultation on teaching funding arrangements from 2013-14, which will take place in the coming winter⁴.

Notes

1. Previous advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Gareth Roberts and Professor Sir Brian Follett respectively, established and reviewed HEFCE policy towards strategically important and vulnerable subjects, and provided information on the flow of students in these subjects. Their reports are at www.hefce.ac.uk/aboutus/sis
2. ‘Strategically Important and Vulnerable Subjects: The HEFCE advisory group’s 2009 report‘ (HEFCE 2010/09)
3. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills White Paper is available on the BIS web-site
4. For more information on the teaching funding consultation see the HEFCE web-site

When: 9:00 – 19:30, 9 Nov 2011

Venue: St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, Euston Road, London NW1 2AR

Fees: £315 – £495

Organiser: Research Events

Registration Link: http://www.researchresearch.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=105&Itemid=67&dm_i=E9T,

Success for research institutions is increasingly measured primarily in global terms – for those in the UK, mainland Europe and in the United States that means looking to the emerging economies, especially in Asia, for students and ideas.

Hosted by Research Fortnight, Globalisation: The Future of Research Institutions is our second annual event for research leaders from across HEI’s, industry and the public sector.

Delegates will:

• NETWORK exclusively with regional and international players at a senior level DISCOVER the strategies and best practice behind recent successes from international speakers
• ANALYSE and DEBATE the ways forward for HEI’s from the UK, Europe and emerging economies
• LEARN and DISCUSS the role that industry will play in the future global success of the HE sector

Already confirmed to speak are:

• Professor Jeremy Watson, Director, Global Research, ARUP, Chief Scientific Adviser, Department for Communities and Local Government, UK   
• Professor Julia Lane, Program Director, Science of Science and Innovation Policy, National Science Foundation, USA
• Sir Alan Langlands, Chief Executive, HEFCE, UK
• Professor Hagit Messer-Yaron, President, The Open University, Israel, former Chief Scientist, Ministry of Science, Israel
• Sir Howard Newby, Vice-Chancellor, University of Liverpool, UK and Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, China
• Dr Pramath Sinha, Founder & Director, International Foundation for Research & Education (IFRE), India
• Professor Lawrence Cram, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, ANU (Australian National University)
• Dr Brian Bowsher, Managing Director, National Physical Laboratory, UK
• Dr Detlef Niese, Head, Global Development External Affairs, Novartis Pharma A.G., Switzerland
• Dr Tariq Ali, Executive Director Global Strategic Initiatives, Envision ALR, Malaysia
• Jacques Darcy, Head of Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property, European Investment Fund, France
• Professor Graham Galbraith, Deputy Vice Chancellor, University of Hertfordshire, UK
• Oliver Morton, Energy and Environment Editor, The Economist  

Early bird rates apply until 23rd September (£315 – £445), then rise to £349 – £495.