Research Active The Newsletter of University of Kent Research Services, Vol 10, Issue 3, May 2016
RESEARCH PRIZES 2016 Image: Matt Wilson
Image: Matt Wilson
2016 Winners (L to R): Prof Gordon Lynch, Dr Henrik Schoenefeldt, Dr Ben Goult, Dr Heather Ferguson, Dr Neo Loizides, Eske van Gils, Dr John Pearson, Eleanor Perry, Joe Baker (on behalf of the Warren Lab) The second annual University Research Prizes were awarded at a gala dinner on 1 April 2016. The prizes were presented by the PVC Research and Innovation Prof Philippe De Wilde. Guests at the ceremony, compered by Prof Darren Griffin, included Deans, Heads of School, nominators and the winners themselves. Introducing the prizes, De Wilde paid tribute to both the winners and to all of those who had been nominated from across 15 Schools. ‘These Prizes act as a showcase for the extraordinary range of ground breaking research that is being undertaken across the University,’ he said. ‘The applications this year highlighted the diversity of research, and the impressive achievements, for which Kent academics and students are responsible.’ ‘The high calibre of applications made the task of the award panel in
selecting just twelve winWant to know more? ners particularly difficult, and as well Citations and brief summaries of as congratulating the winners I all this year’s winners are available would like to thank all those who p8-11. put their work forward for consideration. It has shown me how much For more information about the excellent work is being undertaken, scheme or next year’s competihow many publications and grants tion, contact Phil Ward are being secured, and how many (p.ward@kent.ac.uk, xtn 7748) accolades are being won. The Research Prizes scheme is i n t e n d e d to represent all this effort, and I hope that it will continue to reflect the breadth, inclusivity, and excellence of the University's research.’ Next year’s competition will open in October 2016 with a deadDr John Pearson receives his prize line of 6 January 2017, from Prof De Wilde and an award ceremony on 24 March 2017.
ResearchActive is edited by Phil Ward. Contact him for more 1information or clarification on any of the items in this edition. For the latest from the world of research funding, go to fundermental.blogspot.com, or Twitter @unikentresearch.
PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT WITH RESEARCH AWARDS 37 applications were submitted to the Spring round of the Public Engagement with Research Fund, and 13 awards were made. The increase in the number of applications indicates a promising appetite for high quality public engagement, and the panel was impressed by the very creative ways Kent academics engaged the public with research. Congratulations to the winners, and a huge thank you to the panel for their dedication in reviewing the submissions.
Principal Investigator Paul Allain (Arts) Jennie Batchelor (English) Amanda Bates (CHSS) Emily Haslam (KLS) Rebekah Higgitt (History) Janet Krska (Pharmacy) Margherita Laera (Arts)
Want to know more? Details of the winners and an update on plans for the next round can be found at http:// bit.ly/KentPER Maddy Bell, the Impact and Engagement Officer, is keen to hear from anyone with stories or plans for public engagement activities. Contact her (peresearch@kent.ac.uk) to talk about your work.
Researchfish is the system by which the Research Councils collect information on the outputs arising from their funded projects. Recently Sue Prout in Research Services has coordinated the University’s submission to the system. Here she gives some detail of the result and what the next steps will be. Thanks to the cooperation of all the University’s Research Council award holders during the recent RCUK research outcomes submission period, I am delighted to report that the University of Kent achieved a compliance rate for Researcher
Benjamin Leruth (SSPSSR) Shaun May (Arts) Natalia Sobrevilla Perea (SECL) Lisa Richardson (Tizard) Giovanni Travaglino (Psychology) Joe Watkins (SMSAS)
Project Title Questions of Space – a Festival of Ideas The Great Lady’s Magazine Stitch Off Closing the loop; embedding Public Engagement in CHSS research Centre for Critical International Law in Town Visualising an Expedition: Digitisation of Documents from the 1874 Transit of Venus Expedition to Hawai‘i Outreach events - a collaborative approach An evening of performances and debate about the EU referendum results Perspectives on the European Union membership referendum: a public forum Autism Arts Festival Public engagement with the Centre for Documentation & Investigation (CDI) resources at Lugar de la Memoria (LUM) Involving ‘experts by experience’ in an advisory group about staff culture in supported accommodation services for people with learning disabilities Gender ideologies, Violence, and Discrimination: An International Workshop Maths Olympiad
Researchfish awards of 100%, and for Studentships of 81.8%. This compares with an average across the across all research organisations which have participants in this submission period for Researcher awards of 98% and Studentships of 80%. A full set of the data submitted by researchers and students for awards held at Kent will be provided early in the summer and will be circulated to PIs when received. Feedback on both the Researchfish
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Engagement with research on the streets of Canterbury
system and other aspects of the outcome collection process is currently being collated and will be return to RCUK in the hope that improvements can be made before the 2017 submission period comes round. Want to know more? For more information on Researchfish, contact Sue Prout (s.c.prout@kent.ac.uk, xtn 7054) Sue wrote a blog post on the pain and frustration of the submitting to the system, here: http://bit.ly/piranhafish
An Overview of Research Funding, Jan-Mar 2016 Largest Individual Awards (titles of projects listed overleaf) Humanities: Dr Margherita Laera (Arts) £197,977 from the AHRC
After last term’s strong showing from the European Commission, this term sees the return of the Research Councils. Between them they made up almost a third of the value of the awards, and all of them are represented, except MRC. Elsewhere there was some success with a series of smaller projects funded by GCHQ, including the Kent Digital Media Archive, featured below.
Sciences: Prof Adrian Podoleanu (SPS) £429,776 from the EPSRC
Total Award Value by Faculty
Percentage of overall award value by funder
Social Sciences: Prof Sally Sheldon (KLS) £287,737 from AHRC
What’s It All About?
An insight into one of the projects funded this term, taken from the application summary. This term: Dr Julio Hernandez-Castro (Computing) received £26,060 from GCHQ for ‘Building the Kent Digital Media Archive (KDMA)’
In addition Dr Benjamin Vis, Eastern ARC Fellow in the Digital Humanities, received AHRC funding to help develop a network, and there was a strong showing for health-related funding from both the NIHR, the Dept of Health and local NHS trusts. Congratulations to all of the winners, and thanks to all who have made the effort to apply for funding.
The aim of this project is to generate a very large dataset of images and videos, and make them freely available and easily accessible for researchers worldwide. This will contribute to the development of steganography (i.e. the practice of concealing messages or information within other non-secret text or data) and steganalytic methods, and to benchmark existing ones, but also will be 3
of great use for researchers in other disciplines, notably computer forensic experts working on source camera identification. We expect the KDMA to have a major impact in these and other related areas, and to be very beneficial to both current and future researchers and practitioners, boosting progress in the respective fields. The funding will be used to buy cameras and to reward students for collecting images and videos and add them to the archive.
FULL LIST OF AWARDS: 1 Jan – 31 March 2015* Faculty of Humanities Kent School of Architecture Nikolopoulou
Sensory Navigation in the Canterbury Journey (Canterbury Cathedral)
Schoenefeldt
Restoring the Palace of Westminster's nineteenth century venAHRC tilation system
AHRC
£25,000 £144,464
School of Arts Finburgh
Reviewing spectacle: the pasts, presents and futures of the situAHRC ationist international in contemporary performance
£57,697
Laera
Translation, adaptation, otherness: 'Foreignisation' in theatre practice
£197,977
Thomas
Transforming our understanding of Raphael with eloquence in Leverhulme Trust drawing as a research theme
AHRC
£12,281
School of English Batchelor
The Lady's magazine in romantic print culture
Leverhulme Trust
£9,260
Rooney
Egypt's living heritage
AHRC
£29,252
School of European Culture and Languages HausteinCorcoran
Representing Breastfeeding: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Nutrition, Politics and Ident
Wellcome Trust
£4,190
Radoilska
Knowledge in Action: Revisiting Responsible Agency
Mind Association
£21,492
Rathcke
Speaking or singing?
British Academy
£9,998
Vis
Pre-Columbian Tropical Urban Life: Placing the past in designs AHRC for sustainable urban futures
£36,210
School of History Guerry
Illuminating the Past: Gothic Colour and Light Projection at Canterbury
AHRC
£25,000
Faculty of Sciences Centre for Molecular Processing Robinson
PowerPlant funding
Innovation Fund Den£11,197 mark
Toseland
High-throughput Mechano-biology in a 96 well plate format.
Royal Society
Michaelis
Increasing production time of mammalian cell cultures for bioBBSRC technological applications
£14,000 £79,987
Medway School of Pharmacy Gibbs
Highly specific targeting of human allergic effector cells using gold nanoparticle-based biologicall 4
Daphne Jackson Memo£49,202 rial Fellowships Trust
Krska
Mapping pharmacy public health services
Public Health England
£7,500
£171,349
School of Biosciences Ellis
Customisable surface markers for the separation of X and Y bearing mammalian sperm
BBSRC
Garrett
A role for AT13148 in the treatment of ovarian cancer
Astex Pharmaceuticals £29,609
Goult
Structural basis of mechanosensory adhesion-microtubule suBBSRC percomplex and its role in cancer metastas
£368,037
Goult
Magnetic tweezers: nanomanipulation of single molecules
Royal Society
£14,500
Howard
Developing Cholinesterase (AChE) Inhibitor Methods Using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
DSTL
£26,980
Warren
Investigations into the unprecedented reactions associated with the biosyntheses of hemes
BBSRC
£345,722
Wass
Analysis of host cell protein impurities using in silico approachBBSRC es
£72,471
School of Computing Arief
Strengthening Kent University's Research Capabilities in InterGCHQ net of Things (IoT)
£12,000
Batty
Heterogeneous memory-model study
GCHQ
£23,150
Hernandez Castro Building the Kent Digital Media Archive (KDMA)
GCHQ
£26,060
King
Vulnerability discovery using abduction and interpolation
EPSRC
£199,130
Wang
Testing techniques for functional programming languages
Royal Society
£10,400
GCHQ
£12,496
School of Engineering and Digital Arts Guest
Support for the collection of a hand interaction database
Spurgeon
Adaptive control strategies for the development of a regeneraJaguar Land Rover tive co-operative braking system
Wang
Distributed Massive MIMO for Next Generation Wireless Communications
European Commission £153,579
Wang
Photonic-Enabled Big Data Compression in Ultrafast Imaging
Royal Society
£154,461
£14,868
School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Science Launois
Total positivity
City University London £13,000 5
Continued over
Shank
Herstmonceux - Heilbronn
University of Bristol
£7,500
Tapadar
Impact of changing population demographics on pension plans
Institute and Faculty of £98,017 Actuaries
Villa
Bayesian methods in support of risk management and asset pricing of large stock portfolios
Royal Society
£7,600
Wood
Cardiff spectral theory workshop
London Mathematical Society
£6,560
Xenitidis
Conservation laws and symmetries of difference and differenRoyal Society tial-difference equations
£1,032
School of Physical Sciences Lowry
Physical Characterization of the Bilobate Near-Earth Asteroid STF C (85990) 1999 JV6
Serpell
Foundations of Sequenced Polyphosphoesters
Royal Society of Chem£4,000 istry
Shepherd
Making Switchable Molecular Materials More Useful
Royal Society
£14,199
Shepherd
Supramolecular Bilayer Sensors
EPSRC
£7,833
Podoleanu
REBOT: Robotic Endobronchial Optical Tomography
EPSRC
£429,776
£1,421
School of Sports Sciences Hopker
The Individual Optimisation of endurance training
Cadence Performance £57,000
Faculty of Social Sciences Kent Business School Lewis
Exploring Gendered Inclusion in Contemporary Organizations ESRC
£1,543
Kent Law School Cooper
Imagining the State for Progressive Politics
Social & Legal Studies
£1,000
Sheldon
Informed Consent in Assisted Reproduction
Wellcome Trust
£4,424
Sheldon
The Abortion Act (1967): a Biography
AHRC
£287,737
£14,546
School of Anthroplogy and Conservation Bride
Valuing Nature Placement: Dr Eirini Saratsi
NERC
Groombridge
European network on invasive parakeets (ParrotNet): understanding invasion dynamics and predicting risks
COST (European Cooperation in Science £29,786 and Technology)
Humle
Surveying and Assessing Oil Palm Use in Chimpanzees in Degraded Landscapes
Arcus Foundation
Peluso
Equity trade 'communities of practice' in a multinational finanBritish Academy cial services corporation
£4,921
Struebig
Improving the environmental resilience of Malaysia's forestry 6 and oil palm sectors
£36,750
British Council
£52,180
Haastrup KorostelevaPolglase
School of Politics and International Relations University Association for Contemporary Eu£5,000 EU as International Mediator Collaborative Research Network ropean Studies (UACES) Building Research Excellence in Russian and East European Studies at the Universities of Tartu, Uppsala, and Kent European Commission £243,461 (UPTAKE) School of Psychology HPLC: C-DEMQOL - Measurement of QOL in carers of peoAlzheimer's Society ple with dementia
Brown
£108,223
School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research Akoensi
Traditional justice in informal urban settlements in Ghana
British Academy
Billings
Thanet and South Kent ICO evaluation
Kent and Medway NHS £9,000 Social Care Partnership
Hashem
Hotham McGill
Development of a perioperative isometric-resistance exercise National Institute of intervention programme (basic exercise training to enhance Health Research recovery - BETTER)for patients undergoing elective abdominal (NIHR) and thoracic surgery for cancer Kent Community Mindfulness and weight management Health NHS Foundation Trust National Institute of Transition to adult social care from residential schools Health Research (NIHR)
£9,925
£76,130
£4,702 £129,805
Peckham
PRUComm responsive funding
Department of Health £54,306
Shepherd
Appointing for Diversity: Can ‘Old’ Universities Learn from the Society for Research £10,000 Experience of the ‘New’? into Higher Education
Towers
Evaluating the use of ASCOT in Australian aged care services
Whiddon Group
£4,574
Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust
£2,989
Non-Faculty Kent Health Hedayioglu
The role of nutrition in pressure ulcers Research Services
National Council of University Research £5,861 Administrators *The list given above are for all awards of £1,000 or more. They do not include extensions or supplements
Kerridge
Research administration as a profession
ERRATA
In RA Vol 10 Issue 2 it was reported: Prof Mark Burchell: that the largest individual award in the Sciences was given to Prof Mark Burchell by STFC. The grant was actually shared with Dr Stephen Lowry (SPS) and Dr Mark Price (SPS).
The grant was a ‘Consolidated Grant’, which provided funding for a portfolio of projects. Each individual project was distinct and led by a separate PI. Whilst Prof Burchell is the academic contact point for it, his was not the sole project. Dr Fabrizio Leisen: that his Royal Society grant was entitled 7
‘Empirical and bootstrap likelihood procedures for approximate Bayesian and operational research.’ It should have read ‘Empirical and bootstrap likelihood procedures for approximate Bayesian inference.’ I apologise for any confusion this caused.
Image:s Matt Wilson
UNIVERSITY PRIZES
University Prize for Research Dr Heather Ferguson Psychology Awarded in recognition of Dr Heather Ferguson’s exceptional achievements that go far beyond the expectation of those still establishing their careers, and to mark the beginning of her most ambitious project yet, funded by the European Research Council. Ferguson has built an extremely strong record of publications and external research funding since coming to Kent in 2010, winning over £1.6 million, including a prestigious ERC Starting Grant, and two Leverhulme Trust grants. Her ERC-funded project, one of only three that the University has ever received, examines everyday social interaction, its relationship with more general cognitive skills and how this changes during our lives. In nominating Ferguson for the prize, Dr Georgina Randsley De Moura, highlighted her ‘outstanding research’ which has had ‘clear significance to the field. Our understanding of counterfactual thinking and Theory of Mind is much richer due to her research work.’
University Prize for Early Career Research Dr Ben Goult Biosciences Awarded in recognition of Dr Ben Goult’s exceptional achievements in 2015, including a prestigious BBSRC New Investigator Award, publication of seven papers (both 3* and 4*), and a patent for a new tool for the study of pharmo -mechanobiology. Goult’s research focusses upon the fundamental question of how cells sense and respond to their external environment. He discovered how one protein, talin, could sense the mechanical forces exerted on the cell and therefore serve as a “mechano-sensor”. To explore these qualities, Goult has had to develop several novel techniques, to allow biochemical experiments in the presence of force. Prior to this project it was not possible to correlate forcedependent effects in a test tube to those in a cell or an organism. In nominating him for the award, Dr Dan Mulvihill stated that ‘Ben’s research has led to significant breakthroughs, and has had an impact on research of a number of human diseases.’ 8
University Prize for Postgraduate Research Eske van Gils Politics & International Relations Awarded in recognition of Eske van Gils’ strong and effective external policy engagement, and her pro-active involvement internally . Van Gils’ work scrutinises the EU’s relations with Azerbaijan to explain the limitations of the EU’s transformative effect, generalizable to power relations globally. Not only does this shed new light on the understudied case of Azerbaijan (a closed authoritarian regime) but it also offers a new perspective on managing EU relations with the conflict-torn eastern region. In nominating van Gils, the School stated that she ‘ is clearly a gifted researcher and her work is characterized by conceptual innovation and empirical detail. Eske stands out as an exemplary research student, whose research is already having a clear policy-impact through invitations to share her research with organisations such as the House of Lords, and the EU’s External Action Service.’
FACULTY PRIZES Faculty Research Prizes Humanities Prof Gordon Lynch SECL Awarded in recognition of Prof Gordon Lynch’s research and impact work undertaken in 2015 on child migration schemes run by leading British charities and churches. Lynch has an international research profile in the cultural sociology of religion and represented his subfield as a member of the UoA subpanel for Theology and Religious Studies in REF2014. His recent work on child migration schemes was published as a monograph, Remembering Child Migration: Faith, Nation-Building and the Wounds of Charity, and his involvement as advisor to high profile exhibition at the V&A. In nominating Lynch for the prize, the Head of School Prof Shane Weller stated that Lynch’s work ‘demonstrates in the clearest manner how academic research can bear directly upon matters of very considerable social and political importance, and be both socially and politically transformative.’ . Sciences Prof Martin Warren’s Laboratory (pictured below) Biosciences In recognition of Prof Martin Warren’s outstanding record of research, publication and grant acquisition, which has been sustained at a time when he has had to balance the considerable demands as Head of School, during
which he transformed the culture of the School and resulted in an outstanding REF result. During the past ten years Warren has published over 150 peerreviewed articles, many in 4* journals, and has had grants with a value of over £10 million, including a BBSRC Professorial Fellowship and a BBSRC Longer & Larger (LoLa) grant, worth £3.5m, the first of its type for the University. Prof Warren wished to recognise the work of his laboratory in allowing these achievements to happen. ‘Without the support of my excellent team, the breakthroughs in my research would not have been possible. I owe them a great deal, and this prize is a tribute to them.’ Social Sciences Dr Neo phytos Loizides Politics & International Relations Awarded in recognition of Dr Neophytos Loizides’ outstanding achievements in the last twelve months, including the publication of two single-authored monographs and a co-edited volume, and holding grants from the British Academy (Mid-Career Fellowship), the Leverhume Trust (Research Fellowship), SSHRC Canada (insight grant), and the ESRC. Loizides’ research is novel and leading edge, presenting challenging new understandings of ethnonational conflicts and political institutionbuilding within violently divided societies. It is conceptually innovative,
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empirically rich and highly salient for policy makers and practitioners. In nominating him his School stated that ‘Dr Loizides has an outstanding record of research achievement, and has delivered a simply astounding number and quality of research outputs over the last 12 months. ‘The quality and volume of these research outputs is quite astonishing and would be a stellar achievement over a full REF period.’
Faculty Early Career Research Prizes Humanities Dr Henrik Schoenefeldt Architecture Awarded in recognition of Dr Henrik Schoenefeldt‘s ground-breaking project to systematically reconstruct the design, retrace the development and analyse the performance of the heating system of the Palace of Westminster, leading to the award of a rare AHRC grant for architectural research in December 2015. Schoenefeldt undertook a study that re-examined the original stack ventilation system within the Palace of Westminster. It showed that, rather than being antiquated and ineffective, it was highly advanced, following principles similar to those used in modern naturally ventilated buildings to reduce energy use. In nominating Dr Schoenefeldt for the Prize, Prof Marialena Nikolopoulou, noted that ‘it is rare that one is able to witness such re-
Members of the Warren Laboratory
markable development within such a short time span. With minimum financial investment, his work resulted in an impressive number of very high calibre outputs.’
Sciences Dr John Pearson SMSAS Awarded in recognition of Dr John Pearson’s development of a new methodology for accurately solving optimization problems with wide application across a range of fields. Pearson’s research focuses on a mathematical method that provides a vital link within many technological processes, for example displaying and determining the health of complex human organs such as the brain, and enabling Google cars to function without a human driver by automatically assessing traffic situations. Using novel ideas for exploiting the precise structure of these systems, he has been able to devise fast, efficient and robust methods for accurately solving a range of problems, and his work was recently recognised in the award of an EPSRC Fellowship. In nominating him for the Prize, the Head of School, Prof Peter Hydon, stated that ‘John is a research star. His research is extraordinary in combining mathematical rigor with major practical impacts. He is already a huge asset to Kent and I commend him most strongly.’ Social Sciences Dr Matthew Struebig Anthropology & Conservation Awarded in recognition of Dr Matthew Struebig’s exceptional publication and grant record, and the importance of his research in understanding the impact of humans on the natural environment. Struebig is a tropical ecologist interested in the impacts of environmental change on biodiversity and the implications this has for landscape management and conservation planning. His work has resulted in 15 new
papers in peer-reviewed journals since October 2013, and four 3-4* in high-ranking journals within the last year. His publications have attracted 1365 citations in the last 5 years, including articles cited 355 and 537 times. In addition he has secured £767,000 of research funding in the same period. The School of Anthropology and Conservation’s Research Committee nominated Struebig, stating that he was ‘an outstanding researcher who as an early-career academic punches well above his weight; the University can do no better than to nurture his talents.’
Faculty Postgraduate Research Prizes Humanities Eleanor Perry English Awarded in recognition of Eleanor Perry’s substantial creative work and engagement as part of her practice -based research, and in the potential significance of her work to change our understanding of an important subgenre of literature. Perry’s PhD was a Practice-asResearch degree consisting of a critical component and a creative component. The critical component looked at why women's elegy has historically received less critical attention than men's, and demonstrating the existence of a clear tradition in female elegy which is both rich and diverse. In addition, her thesis also includes a 90-page poetry collection. Through her work she has engaged in a number of cultural events taking part in the Sounds New Poetry Festival at the Turner Contemporary and at the Sussex Poetry Festival. In nominating her for the award her supervisor Dr Simon Smith stated that ‘her PhD has transformed not only her own creative work, but also will change a whole field of study: literary elegy. It is work of 10
the highest quality, and highest originality.’ Sciences
Christian Ottolini (pictured receiving his award from Prof De Wilde, below) Biosciences Awarded in recognition of the development of important novel techniques by Christian Ottolini, which help us understand genetic abnormalities in embryos, and his resultant significant publication record. It is known that gross genetic abnormalities arise far more commonly in the egg than in the sperm or subsequent embryo. Ottolini’s research set out to analyse the egg directly to ask whether the fundamental assumptions we were making about human eggs (that they segregate their genetics in the same way as model organisms) were true. In order to achieve this it was necessary to develop several novel techniques, none which were available at project inception. The project’s findings have provided new insight into the origin of gross genetic errors in humans, which are the leading cause of pregnancy loss, learning disabilities, IVF failure and infertility in humans. In nominating him for the Prize, his supervisor Prof Darren Griffin stated that ‘even by the standards of the highest-flying professor this has been an outstanding year for Christian. The centrepiece of this submission is his paper in Nature Genetics, one of the highest ranked journals in the world. ‘There could not be a more worthy winner of this prize. With it he will become an ambassador in the outside world for the University of Kent, particularly in the light of the blossoming relationship between his employer the London Women’s clinic and the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies of Reproduction (CISoR) here at the University.’ Christian O Prof Philipp
Social Sciences Katinka van de Ven SSPSSR Awarded in recognition of the exceptional impact of Katinka van de Ven’s findings throughout her PhD programme within and beyond academia, and of her publication record. Van de Ven’s research explores the understudied phenomenon of performance and image enhancing drug (PIED) markets in the Netherlands and Belgium. Her work has contributed significantly to the debate, at a time when many academics and policy makers are struggling to find appropriate ways to deal with the plethora of new substances which are emerging on the scene. Recognition of the importance of her work, and her ability as a researcher, has been demonstrated by her invitation to take up a young visiting researcher scholarship at the Centre for Idraet at Aarhus University, Denmark, known internationally as a leading institution of doping research. In nominating her for the Prize, her supervisor Dr Caroline Chatwin stated that ‘this range and influence [of her research] would be impressive for an academic working at any level; as a final year Ph.D. student it deserves to be recognised as outstanding.’
Ottolini and pe De Wilde
The Figures behind the Figures A regular look at the work of those who have won grants at Kent Jim’s research focuses on analysing the genetics of small populations of wildife. He got his doctorate from Queen Mary, University of London, but most of his time was spent in the field, studying the Mauritius Kestrel. By 1974 this species was down to a single breeding pair, but a programme of conservation had brought the popDr Jim Groombridge ulation back to sustainable School of Anthropology and Conservation levels. However, a substantial amount of its hisSometimes perseverance pays off. toric genetic diversity had been lost. Jim Groombridge, Reader in Biodi- Surprisingly though, the Kestrel apversity Conservation in the School peared not to have suffered any geof Anthropology and Conservation netic problems as a result, and it is (SAC), submitted nine grant applica- this kind of anomaly that is the focus tions before the awards started of Jim’s work. coming in, and doubled that again Whilst his background is in avian before he hit his current purple genetics, the genetics lab at the Durpatch. ‘Someone had told me not to rell Institute of Conservation Ecologive up on an idea,’ he said, ‘but gy within SAC has diversified and sometimes the idea is just not right. now analyses the DNA of species That’s not to say it’s wrong, but the such as Arabian Leopards and Benfunders just aren’t interested in it as gal Tigers. ‘Although the focus may be broad, it is.’ Instead, he looked at what the fun- my research always has to have a ders’ priorities were, and adapted practical application,’ said Jim. SAC his ideas to fit. ‘The passion is still is a perfect home for such applied there,’ he said, ‘but I learnt to be research, where scientific rigor and the study of society work together flexible.’ This flexibility paid off, first with the and inform each other. The effect Royal Society and Defra’s Darwin this has had on the course of his Initiative, then the Leverhulme Trust own work is demonstrated in one of and subsequently, since 2011, twelve his recent projects, which is working awards from a wide range of fun- to alleviate poverty whilst conservders, including Earthwatch, the EU, ing biodiversity in Kenya. John Spedan Lewis Foundation and In the past decade Jim has secured more than £1.5m in funding from a even the Sultanate of Oman. Along the way he’s learnt that un- wide range of sources, but he is derstanding the funders’ priorities phlegmatic about his success. sometimes means digging deeper ‘There’s a strong element of luck, of than the websites. ‘For instance, I course,’ he said, ‘but it’s also about put in applications to the BBSRC developing a track record, of being a and MRC which, in theory, cover ‘known quantity’. I know that my research, but in practice do not doesn’t necessarily help those just prioritise my work, and would starting out, but think about starting therefore be extremely unlikely to small to demonstrate your ability to fund it. If I’d spoken to a panel mem- manage an award. Talk to those ber before I’d started it would have who might know the funder and, saved me a good deal of time and above all, be flexible.’ heartache.’ 11
Funding for Studentships: the Changing Environment
Dr Carolyn Barker, Sciences Faculty Funding Officer, explores the change in the way PhDs are funded by the research councils, the impact this has had on the Sciences at Kent, and points to a possible alternative. In 2010 funding for doctoral students via standard research grants was abolished by EPSRC. Since then the other research councils have followed suit. In its place is a dual model of funding: Doctoral Training Partnerships (DTPs) and Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs). Doctoral Training Partnerships are blocks of studentships awarded to individual institutions or consortia for ‘responsive mode’ research. AHRC, BBSRC, ESRC, MRC and NERC run calls for these, whereas EPSRC and STFC do not. Kent has been very successful in winning consortia–led DTP’s from AHRC, ESRC and NERC. Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs) are specialist training in focused thematic interdisciplinary research areas. Funding is delivered in a large block and there are competitive calls every few years. This mechanism is a particular favourite of EPSRC and unlike the other research councils, is the only studentship competition they offer. EPSRC currently supports 115 CDT’s, training 7000 students. EPSRC’s focus on CDTs is a significant challenge for smaller research intensive universities. In the last EPSRC round (2013), it was stipulated that each centre must have the provision to train at least 60 students – in a single research topic. Although the call was, in theory, open to cross institutional bids, the reality was that the larger UK universities, which had the critical mass to train 60+ students, had little reason to partner with their smaller UK neighbours, as this would mean a loss in their potential income stream. Furthermore,
EPSRC CDTs have to be 50% match funded – a significant investment for any institution. The net effect is that although there are 115 EPSRC CDTs across the country, 60% of those are led by nine institutions alone. Russell Group Universities such as Cardiff, Queen’s University Belfast, Queen Mary, Glasgow and Durham all only lead one EPSRC CDT each. The growing silos of RCUK funding is a concern for many and the need for ‘diversity in locations’ was highlighted in the recent Nurse Review: “Diversity should be protected in researchers, approaches and locations – recognising that novel approaches and solutions to problems sometimes emerge more readily outside the mainstream. The best research should be funded wherever it is found.” (2015) In 2015, the EPSRC also updated its PhD ‘block grant’ formula, by which certain universities receive a studentship quota directly related to their EPSRC research income. This change has resulted in Kent losing its PhD ‘block grant’ for 2016 -2017. This is particularly concerning for Sciences, which traditionally relies on the supportive work of students to provide the bedrock research for many publications submitted to the REF (see article, p14). Thus, the need for us to target EPSRC funding is clear, and we are working with the Associate Dean to ensure that there are no barriers to academics doing so. A further frustration for the Faculty is the decision by BBSRC to end its annual competition for Industrial CASE studentships, a scheme in which Biosciences has been incredibly successful. These studentships will now be allocated to only nine UK universities that hold a BBSRC DTP. 12
Subsequently Sciences currently has limited access to RCUK PhD studentship funding, though all avenues are being explored, and the Graduate School is working with Biosciences on a possible industry-led Collaborative Training Partnership. However, there is good news in terms of postgraduate provision. The European Commission’s research funding programme, Horizon 2020, operates a similar model for PhD funding, whereby groups of students are trained jointly with European partners and, typically, a non-academic organisation. This scheme is called the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network (ITN). Crucially, these networks can be of a much smaller size than the RCUK model, allowing many more research groups to be competitive. As with all European funding, ITN’s are extremely prestigious with only the very best proposals receiving funding. Given this, it’s a testament to the quality of the University’s research and its international outlook that it now holds six ITNs and has been awarded a seventh. Six of the seven are within the Faculty of Sciences. In addition, the University has been successful in securing two doctoral programmes under the EC’s highly competitive Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctoral scheme (EMJD). Erasmus Mundus aims to enhance quality in higher education through scholarships and academic cooperation between Europe and the rest of the world. Not only are these helping to make up the shortfall that has resulted from the RCUK changes, but the prestigious nature of both ITNs and EMJD means that the University is attracting exceptional students: a very positive result.
Current Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Networks at Kent Title eCHO: Enhancing CHO by Mammalian Systems Biotechnology (eCHO systems) HHFDWC: The History of Human Freedom and Dignity in Western Civilization NeCS: European Network for Cyber-security Protein Factory: Engineering of newgeneration protein secretion systems UBAPHODESA: Ultrawide bandwidth photonics devices, sources and applications PHOTO.COMM: Design & Engineering of Photosynthetic Communities for Industrial Cultivation (transferred)
Duration
2015 2018
2016 – 2020 2015 2019 2015 – 2018
2014 – 2018
2012 – 2016
Topic
Kent PI
Industrial Biotechnology
Prof Mark Smales, Industrial Biotechnology Centre (IBC), Biosciences Prof Karla Pollmann, SECL
Global Theology based on Western Values Cyber Security Industrial Biotechnology Biomedical Optics Industrial Biotechnology
Dr Eerke Boiten, Computing Prof Colin Robinson, Industrial Biotechnology Centre (IBC), Biosciences Prof Adrian Podoleanu, SPS
Prof Colin Robinson Industrial Biotechnology Centre (IBC), Biosciences
Participating Countries *denotes coordinator Denmark*, United Kingdom, Ireland, Austria, Germany, Belgium Denmark*, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic
Number of students trained in Kent 3
Kent awar d value €819K
2
€547K
Italy* (2), Spain (2), Germany, United Kingdom Netherlands* (2), France, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, United Kingdom United Kingdom*, Denmark
2
€547K
3
€547K
5
€774K
2
€579K
Denmark*, United Kingdom (3), Finland, Germany (2), Israel, Portugal, Spain
Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctoral Programmes at Kent Title
Duration
Programme Coordinator
Text and Event in Early Modern Europe
Awarded in 2011 for 5 cohorts
Prof Bernhard Klein (English)
Doctorate in Cultural and Global Criminology
Awarded in 2012 for 5 cohorts
Prof Chris Hale (SSPSSR)
Want to know more? Responsibility for studentships is shared between Research Services, the Graduate School and International Partnerships.
Participating Countries United Kingdom*, Czech Republic, Germany, Portugal United Kingdom*, Germany, Hungary
For information on Marie Curie ITNs contact Carolyn Barker (xtn 7957, c.m.barker-47@kent.ac.uk); for RCUK DTPs contact Suzie Morris in the Graduate School (xtn 13
Number of Doctoral Candidates 36
Kent award value 4.5 M Euros
28 (to date)
4.5 M Euros
3182, s.m.morris@kent.ac.uk); and for Erasmus-Mundus, contact Primrose Paskins xtn 4922, p.m.a.paskins@kent.ac.uk)
PhD Students Supporting Open The engines of Access and Beyond research
Prof Dick Jones, Associate Dean (Research & Innovation) for the Sciences, explains the key role of PhD students in supporting research in the Faculty.
PhD students make a vital contribution to research and REFable outputs, particularly in the Faculty of Sciences. Over 50% of the REF outputs, submitted by the Faculty of Sciences in the REF 2014, were co-authored by PhD students (excluding Maths, which is predominantly a singleauthor discipline). A staggering 83% of outputs in Pharmacy and 75% of outputs in Chemistry, submitted by Kent to the last REF, were co-authored by PhD students. Of course, anyone who works in these disciplines would be unsurprised by this data. PhD students and post-doctoral researchers are the “engines of research” in most science disciplines, where collaboration, teams and multiple research avenues are the normal way of working. Science research would simply grind to a halt without these critical researchers. Indeed, only 3% of the Sciences REF outputs, in 2014 were from a single author, in stark contrast to 86% in the Humanities and 36% in the Social Sciences, demonstrating the difference in the way research is undertaken across the University and between disciplines. Want to know more? For more on the challenges faced in the Sciences, look at the article on p12. For more on this issue, contact Carolyn Barker (c.m.barker47@kent.ac.uk, xtn 7957)
With the new eligibility requirements for the REF, and the OA demands of external funders, the Information Services Research Support team has updated and simplified its support to the academic community. Below are links to the new pages, and how to contact them for individual help and support. Open Access at Kent: www.kent.ac.uk/library/research/open-access The REF and OA, including downloadable guides and glossary:
www.kent.ac.uk/library/research/open-access/ref.html The difference between Gold/Green OA explained: www.kent.ac.uk/library/research/open-access/how.html APC funding details and application form (see main article, p18-19): www.kent.ac.uk/library/research/open-access/apc.html Copyright, Licensing and permissions support: www.kent.ac.uk/library/research/open-access/copyright.html OA policies for common funders: www.kent.ac.uk/library/research/open-access/funders.html
In addition, IS provides: Kent Academic Repository (KAR) training and support, including general Open Access advice Research Data Management support, Want to know more? advice and help with Data Management Planning For more information or to Open Researcher and Contributor talk individually with IS ReID (ORCID) help and support. search Support, contact Research Impact, including systems researchsupport@kent.ac.uk such as SciVal and, shortly, Altmetric and Kudos.
Changes in Research Services Since the last edition of Research Active there have been a number of changes in Research Services. Ruth Woodger (Research Contracts Manager) has retired, and Brian Lingley (Social Sciences Funding Officer) is due to retire at the end of June. In their places Dr Andrew Massoura has been promoted to Ruth’s post, and Aureljia Poviliake recruited to Brian’s. Aurelija is currently the Enterprise Funding Officer at KIE (in a maternity cover position), and prior to that was a Project Funding Coordinator at the University for Creative Arts, coordinating and supporting an Interreg project. 14
She will be starting on 4 July, and Brian will be working with her throughout June to introduce her to Directors of Research and others at the University, and getting her up to speed with the Faculty. In addition, the Research Information Manager Clair Thrower is moving on to work at SOAS, and we are currently recruiting for her replacement. Finally, Dr Chris Barton has joined us as a Contracts Officer, to fill the vacancy left by Andrew. Once all these changes have settled, details of who to contact in Research Services will be set out in the next edition of Research Active.
DATA Results of IS Staff Survey
Didier Fassin On the 13th June Prof Didier Fassin will be presenting his latest book L’Ombre du monde: une anthropologie de la condition carcerale (due to be translated in the autumn by Polity as Prison Worlds: an ethnography of the carceral condition). Fassin is a French anthropologist, sociologist and physician. He is the James D. Wolfensohn Professor of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, He is Director of Studies at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris. Fassin developed the field of political and moral anthropology, with empirical studies on Aids and memory in South Africa, disaster and aid in Venezuela, and immigration and asylum in France. The visit is being hosted by Socril (the Social Critiques Research group at KLS) with support from the VC’s Section. Venue and the title of Fassin’s talk will be confirmed in due course, but do get in touch if you want to come along. Want to know more? For more information on the visit, contact Dr Emilie Cloatre (e.cloatre@kent.ac.uk, xtn 7112). For detail of the support the VC’s section can provide for esteemed visitors, contact David Powell (d.powell@kent.ac.uk, xtn 6596).
Last autumn Information Services surveyed Kent academics to understand how they manage their research data. 229 academics completed the survey. The results showed that: Research data is held in many different a formats (most commonly Microsoft Office) Data is stored in a large variety of places (including PCs, the cloud, USB sticks, paper and the central server) Amount of data respondents estimate they will generate over the next year: 55% less than 100GB, 16% between 100GB and 1TB 7% more than 1TB 41% describe their data to help others understand it 44% deposit their data in the Kent Academic Repository 54% were not aware that the University of Kent has an RDM policy 62% were aware of funder’s policy requirements concerning research data 60% had not developed a data management plan for their project 75% would welcome training and further guidance about RDM. Want to know more? The full results are available at http://bit.ly/kentRDMsurvey (pdf). Guidance on managing your data is available at http://bit.ly/KentManageData
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News from
EPSRC Physical Sciences panel structure changes From 1st Sep 2016 there will no longer be separate Chemistry, Physics and Materials panels but a combined physical science panel. This will affect proposals submitted from April onwards. EPSRC Peer Review College Sign up to join the EPSRC’s Peer Review College– expression of interest deadline 10th May. Evaluating other researcher’s proposals provides you with best experience of how to improve your own, whilst also boosting your profile. 2016 RCUK Strategic priorities and spending review The 2016 RCUK Strategic priorities and spending review states that EPSRC (page 11) will commit 40% of its budget to “top-down” strategic priorities and 60% to “bottom-up” researcher led science. Furthermore, the Pathways to Impact is an absolute priority. Opportunity to input into balancing capability call for evidence Input into the EPSRC’s categorisation of research areas, currently labelled as “Reduce, grow, maintain”. If you would like to contribute, please get in touch as we need to make an institutional response. Want to know more? Sign up for EPSRC’s monthly newsletter by emailing researchcommunityupdate@eps rc.ac.uk, or talk to Drs Helen Leech or Carolyn Barker (h.leech@kent.ac.uk, c.m.barker-47@kent.ac.uk)
ESRC PRIORITIES FOR THE COMING YEAR Despite the radio silence from the ESRC over it’s 2016-20 Strategy, Brian Lingley digs a little deeper to get a sense of the road ahead. The ESRC is due to publish its 2016 -2020 strategy imminently – it was due to come out at the end of March, but has been delayed “until the Spring”. It has, however, dropped a few hints along the way: it is likely that the Future Resea r ch Le ade r s wi ll be scrapped, to be replaced by an early career version of the Standard Grant scheme, there will be an emphasis on reuse of data sources (evidenced by the recently launched Secondary Data Analysis Initiative – google SDAI), and there will be calls for both the Research Seminar Series and Centres and Large Grants over the summer. More concretely, hidden away in the RCUK Strategic Priorities and Spending Plan 2016-20 (sneaked out in mid-March): “Our initial priority areas for investment across all areas of our portfolio are: Productivity – the UK has experienced a long-term slowdown in productivity growth and, since 2008, the “productivity puzzle” of exceptionally weak growth compared to international competitors. There is a pressing need for further research evidence to explain productivity levels and to provide the basis for development of new policy measures to support and foster productivity. Understanding the macroeconomy - long-standing criticisms of the economics profession, and particularly mainstream academic macroeconomics, were given impetus by the perceived failure of macroeconomists to anticipate the 2008 financial crisis and the subsequent recession. The apparently limited relevance of mainstream macroeconomic theory to associated policy debates underlines the need for innovative work in this area to ad-
dress this. Mental Health and Wellbeing it is estimated that 23% of the UK population is directly affected by mental health problems at some point each year, and the economic and social cost of mental illness in England is estimated at £105 billion . Mental illness is the largest single cause of disability and the leading cause of sickness absence in the UK, accounting for 70 million sick days in 2007 . Estimates suggest that 75% of people with mental health problems live in low and middle income countries, while 25% of the global burden of disability comes from mental disorders. However, compared with investment in physical health, investment in mental health is relatively low. Much current research is medical or clinical in nature and the majority of it is UKfocussed. New investment in research on mental health that takes a more global and social scientific perspective is therefore a priority. Housing – the supply, accessibility and affordability of housing influences the wider economy, the financial system and the wellbeing of citizens. The quality, tenure, price and location of homes all have implications for other outcomes, including shelter, wealth, health and education. We have identified a clear gap in the translation of research to provide robust evidence to inform housing policy and practice across the UK. ESRC can add real value by working with a range of partners to bring this research together, to generate a better and more comprehensive understanding of the complex housing market and policy environment. Ways of Being in a Digital Age digital technology is present in all aspects of our lives, whether we actively engage with it or not. It impacts on the way we communicate and the ways we receive, consume and process information. It influ16
ences routine behaviours – the way we travel, shop and work. The presence of digital technology mediates our perceptions, behaviours and practices across these different domains and thereby influences our ways of living. This raises a number of fundamental questions about our ways of being in a digital age, the risks and opportunities associated with digital living, and our understanding of the individual, community and society.” From the experience of the last couple of years, these priorities will undoubtedly form the focus of the managed periodic calls such as Centres and Large Grants, and Transformative Research. I have also heard that, with regard to no-deadline schemes such as Standard Grants and the SDAI, “… given a very competitive market for limited funding, a relevant application may be more likely to be funded if equally as good as an application in some other area…”. So, if your research interests align with these areas, now would be the ideal time to consider an application to the ESRC. Contact Brian and Aurelija if you would like to find out more. Such Sweet Sorrow Many of you will already be aware that I’m leaving the University at the end of June, to take up an even more retired lifestyle. I just wanted to say how much I’ve enjoyed working with researchers across the Social Sciences. It’s an old cliché that every day is different, but it is absolutely true in this case – the variety of research being undertaken in the Faculty is truly staggering. I will miss each and every one of you. My successor, Aurelija Povilaike, has already been mentioned on p14 (‘Changes in Research Services’), but do drop her an email when she starts as she’d love to come and meet you to chat about your research and the funding options available to you.
Je-S No More RCUK are intending to replace the Je-S Application Submission System over the next couple of years. There will be an entirely new external portal. In future the whole grant application form will be digitised which means in the majority of cases no more uploading of attachments. It is hoped that the new system will include in-built formatting for font size and word count, improved dashboards to help you manage your grant activities as well as guidance relevant to a particular funding opportunity close at hand on one screen while you are applying. The ambition is to start to test run small number of funding opportunities through the new system by March 2017. After that, there will be parallel running of the new awards service and Je-S which will be gradually phased out throughout 2017. It is expected that the full transition from Je-S to the new awards service to have completed by May 2018 at the latest.
Website to Support the Development of Researchers In October last year RA noted the launch of an online resource to support the development of researchers (RA Vol10, Issue 1), with information on training, funding opportunities, careers advice and networks. The site is now live, and HR would welcome your feedback. Want to know more? T h e s i t e i s a t www.kent.ac.uk/researcherdevel opment/. You can also follow them on Twitter: @UoKResDev Contact Laura Pheils for more info (xtn 6598, l.pheils@kent.ac.uk)
High Performance Computing Service Available The University has launched its first central High Performance Computing (HPC) cluster. HPC provides users with the computer processing capacity to run complex simulations, theory testing and experimentation. The service, named ‘PHOENIX’, is available for free to academics, researchers and PGRs. HPC is becoming increasingly important in certain disciplines, and funders (such as EPSRC) are investing heavily in the national infrastructure of large clusters. PHOENIX provides an essential “stepping stone” for academics to explore and test the intricacies of using HPC, before perhaps taking advantage of larger clusters elsewhere. In the run up to the launch, over 100 potential users of HPC in 10 Schools were identified. Many of these were also supportive of forming a community to share experiences, advice and knowledge, allowing Kent researchers to discuss requirements and HPC related issues in an informal and local network. To this end, Information Services has set up a SharePoint site, which also contains a more detailed overview of the cluster service and technical details. Want to know more? If you are interested, please visit sharepoint.kent.ac.uk/HPC and feel free to click "Join this community", which will enable you to get the latest service information and join in discussion. If you have any questions about PHOENIX or HPC more broadly, contact Kevin White (k.a.white@kent.ac.uk, xtn 4453) or Mark Wallis (m.r.wallis@kent.ac.uk, xtn 7670). 17
RANSOMWARE Several members of staff and students have recently been affected by malicious ransomware. What does ransomware do? It encrypts files so you can’t open them, and demands that you pay money to be able to access them again. How do I know if I’ve been infected? You won’t be able to open certain files or programs. Their names may be altered. You’ll usually see a message telling you how to pay the ransom. How can I protect my computer? Back up your work regularly, preferably on the University network (see box below). If your computer gets infected with ransomware and you have recent backups, you can recover your files easily. If you don’t, you could lose weeks or months of work. What should I do if I think I’ve been infected? Do contact IT Helpdesk. Our staff can help you remove the ransomware and advise you how to recover files. The more often you back up your files, the easier this will be. Don’t use the University network. You could pass the ransomware on to others. Don’t pay the ransom. There’s no guarantee you’ll get your files back if you do and it could make you a target for more malware. Don’t believe the message. No real organisation would attack your computer and demand a ransom. Want to know more? More details on saving files at https://www.kent.ac.uk/ itservices/save/. Contact Matthew Trump (xtn 6522, m.trump@kent.ac.uk)
Article Processing Charges (APCs) are paid to journal publishers to make an article Open Access. Below Roz Bass, Faculty Librarian (Research Support & Sciences), explains what they are, the pros and cons, and how you can get them funded.
What is an APC? An Article Processing Charge (APC) is a payment that allows an article to be freely and permanently accessible online immediately upon publication, without subscription charges, embargoes or registration barriers. It is known as the Gold Open Access route.
Which Journals Charge It? Nearly all journals provide this option alongside the traditional, subscription model. These journals are often referred to as “hybrid” because they offer the subscription and the Open Access model. Others, such as BioMed Central, PLOS, eLIFE, and Peer J, are purely Open Access (OA) and only offer the Gold route. These journals are financed solely by APC’s and not by subscriptions. Finally, some journals provide Gold OA free of charge, by providing volunteer editorial and administration work and using free Open Source publishing platforms. We have examples of these here at the University of Kent such as feminists@law, Transmotion and Kent Student Law Review.
Why Should I Pay? The advantages of using an APC and publishing via the Gold route are: the article is immediately OA without any embargoes; the authors of the article are the copyright holders and agree the Creative Commons (CC) licence under which the work can be used; authors are usually permitted to
upload the publisher pdf to websites and repositories such as the Kent Academic Repository (KAR). Check to make sure using the link in the box below. the article is eligible for inclusion in the next Research Excellence Framework (REF) However, it could be argued that publishers of the “hybrid” journals are being paid twice (or ‘double dipping’), once by subscriptions and potentially again by APCs. Moreover, OA can be achieved by depositing the Author’s Accepted Manuscript, or post-print, in an institutional repository such as KAR. There is no charge for this and it is also REF compliant. This is known as the Green Open Access route.
Can I Get Funding to Cover the Cost? The University provides funding for APCs if your research: Was funded by the Research Councils, or Is highly rated by your School (3* or 4* in REF terms). To apply go to the link in the box below. However, be aware of the following caveats: If it's a joint paper, only apply if you're the lead author; if that's someone else, they need to apply at their home institution. You can apply at any stage but it must be within 3 months of publication. There is currently no limit on the number of APCs you can apply for in a year. If you are applying using the 3* or 4* criteria, you will need confirmation by email from your Head of School/Director of Research that your work is classed as 3* or 4*. After you submit the form you will be emailed a reference number and taken through the rest of the pro18
cess. As well as University funds, the following mechanisms offer to offset or pay for APCs Springe r : APCs in journals p u b lished by Springer are pre-paid by the University as part of our subscription. At the publisher agreement stage you will be asked if you wish to use an APC. You still need to apply for an APC as your article needs to meet the criteria to be eligible. Horizon 2020: the EU H2020 programme funds APCs for articles and monographs provided they are listed in the proposal. More info in the H2020 OA guide: link in the box below. FP7: another EU initiative is the ‘Open-Aire’ scheme under the previous funding programme, FP7. APCs will be paid for articles from projects which ended less than 2 years ago. This includes book chapters and monographs. APCs will not be paid for articles that are already published or published in hybrid journals which require subscription access to other articles.
What about the REF? If you choose to pay an APC, it will be eligible for inclusion in the REF. However, you are still required to enter information about your article in KAR. Ideally, you should also upload the full text. While it is not a requirement of HEFCE’s REF policy that
the full text of Gold Open Access articles is deposited, HEFCE state that they “strongly encourage these outputs to be deposited as soon as possible after publication”. (link below). Most publishers permit authors who have paid an APC to use the publisher’s pdf, or ‘Version of Record’, in an institutional repository. However, you do not have to pay an APC to be eligible for inclusion in the next REF. You can ensure your work can be included in the REF by uploading the ‘Authors Accepted Manuscript’ version to KAR within three months of acceptance for publication. You may need to use an embargo and restrict access to the article for a set period. Check via Sherpa Romeo (see box below).
What about Copyright? When you are finalising your agreement with the publisher, you should clarify which licence will be applied. This should be a Creative Commons licence which lets others distribute, share and build upon your work. Some funders stipulate the
licence you should use. For instance, RCUK stipulate that a CC BY licence should be applied to articles funded by them. More information in the box below.
And Finally… When your article is published it is a good idea to access it online and check that the publisher has actually made your work OA. Remember that you will have access to lots of journals while working on campus because of all the library’s subscriptions. Try checking access off campus straight from a search engine. The publishers should have clearly marked the article as Open Access. You should also: enter the details in the Kent Academic Repository, tick the "Article Processing Charge" box in the record in KAR, selecting the option which describes where funding came from eg. the University fund, project/school funds or from another institution. upload the full text of your work and apply a Creative Commons license.
Want to know more? If you have any questions, please email the Information Services Research Support team researchsupport@kent.ac.uk, or go straight to the IS Research pages (http://bit.ly/kentoasite) Alternatively, links mentioned in the article include: Kent Journals (for examples of OA journals at the University): http://journals.kent.ac.uk/ Check different publishers’ permissions to deposit in OA repositories: http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/ Apply for an APC: http://bit.ly/kentapc HEFCE statement on full text submission to REF: http://bit.ly/hefcefulltext How to comply with the REF: http://bit.ly/KentREFcomply H2020 OA: http://bit.ly/euh2020oa OA Licensing: http://bit.ly/kentlicensing
Impact at Kent: Capturing evidence While there are uncertainties around the next REF and how impact will be assessed, there are positive steps that we can take now to ensure that we are in a strong position when the rules are published. Many Schools have already identified potential impact case studies and are bringing staff together to plan how to maximise impact: turn-
ing what could be into what will be and how to evidence this. To support this, we need to ensure that we have a system in place to record evidence of impact. Research Services is looking at options for this and plan to pilot online tools before the end of the year. Prior to this, evidence needs to be captured locally.
Want to know more? Whatever happens in the REF, demonstrating the impact of our research at Kent will remain important. To discuss the impact of your research and/or the capture of your evidence, contact Maddy Bell (m.r.bell@kent.ac.uk, xtn 6595)
WELCOME!
es, Neurofeedback, Intelligent User Interfaces, Health Informatics Prof George Chryssochoidis (KBS): consumer choices/ decision -making (primarily in the food and energy sectors) and development of innovative quantitative methodologies. Prof Thanos Papadopoulos (KBS): Information Systems’ adoption and stakeholder interactions
during problem structuring and strategic thinking within group settings and process improvements; Adoption and management of Information Systems to achieve sustainability within supply chains; Differences between expert and novices in structuring problems through the use of Information Systems for process improvements within organizations and supply chains.
Three academics have joined Kent since January. Join with us in welcoming them to Kent, and take a moment to find out about their research interests. Prof Marc Cavazza (EDA): Interactive Storytelling, BrainComputer Interfac-
19
CHOICE CUTS FROM THE BLOG
For the latest news and rumours from the world of research funding, log on to http://fundermental.blogspot.com Meanwhile, in M&S... 15 April 2016 It was announced yesterday that NERC and Marks and Spencer would share data. Now read on.
The check out of Marks and Spencer’s. A lady d'un certain age is at the check out. Check out Assistant: That will be £53.99, please. Can I interest you in our store card? Customer: Um, no, that’s alright, thanks. Check out Assistant: A Research Strategy, perhaps? Customer: Pardon? Check out Assistant: We’ve teamed up with the NERC to bring our customers the very best Research Strategies. This is not just any Research Strategy. This is an M&S/NERC Research Strategy. Would you be interested, madam? It really is an exceptional strategy. Customer: No. I really just want these, please. Check out Assistant: I fully understand, madam. A copy of Planet Earth to go with them, perhaps? It’s an excellent magazine with the latest NERC-funded research. It’s not just any research, it’s… Customer: No! I just want to pay Check out Assistant: No problem, madam (he takes the card, processes it, and gives her a receipt. When she’s gone he turns to a colleague). It’s the strangest thing. I thought this link with NERC was a no-brainer. I mean, both organisations have a shared interest in cutting edge research into the natural environment, and of course fashion for ladies of a certain age is central to the business models of both...He suddenly stops and stares into the middle distance as if something has just occured to him. Check out Assistant: hang on a minute...
The Story of O 28 January 2016 There's exciting news about a reshuffle in the European Commission's DG Research and Innovation (RTD), which looks after the Horizon 2020 programme. From 1 February, DG RTD will be more fully aligned to Commissioner Carlos Moedas' '3 O' agenda: 'Open Innovation, Open Science, Open to the World.' Whilst we’re entirely behind any policy directives based on random letters of the alphabet, we feel that Moedas has missed a trick by limiting his agenda to these three Os. They're all very well, but they're a little - well - humdrum. Thus, we've drafted an urgent online petition calling on him to consider a different set of Os. We're suggesting, initially, that he consider: 'Ob La Di Ob La Da', 'Organogram', and 'Open All Hours'. This agenda will prioritise any project that looks at incomprehensible Beatles lyrics, overlycomplicated organisational charts, and classic British sitcoms. And ideally all three at once. One hears so much these days about graphene, carbon capture and driverless cars. The time has come to prioritise the issues that really matter. Show that you care about the future of European research and the possible links between 'I Am the Walrus; and Granville's tank top, including dotted reporting lines between the two. Sign the petition.
Scottish Universities Move to Outer London Shock 7 March 2016 After the revelation that 97.6% of the senior civil servants involved in the Northern Powerhouse project were based in London, it has been revealed that all of the so called 'Scottish' universities are actually located in a retail park in Bromley. The universities were moved wholesale followed the Scottish Referendum, an attempt by the Tory government to show Nicola Sturgeon 'who's boss.' The oldest of the ancient Scottish universities, St Andrews, was given first choice of location, and selected a self-contained lock up adjacent to Kwik Fit. 'Whilst I miss the dramatic shore line, it really is very convenient for an MOT,' said one professor. The Rector of Edinburgh was less sanguine. 'After more than four hundred years we're made to share a warehouse with B&Q! Every day I have to listen to our academics from the Department of Politics debating with the store manager about who really has ahem - 'got the power'.' Whilst no plans have so far been made to move the universities of Wales and Northern Ireland to London, many commentators think it is inevitable. 'We know of one branch of T K Maxx in Hackney that has applied for degreeawarding powers,' one anonymous source said. 'It can only be a matter of time before Aberystwyth is moved in.'
Lookalike Corner In a controversial move the role of Director-General for Business and Science has been given to a 20cm tall Plasticine figure, it has been revealed. ‘He’s smart’ said a BIS spokesman, ‘particularly when it comes to psychotic penguins’. Any resemblance to Gareth Davies, interim DG, is purely coincidental. 20
Davies
Wallace