Research Active Vol 05 Issue 1 Oct 2010

RESEARCH ACTIVE The Newsletter of University of Kent Research Services, Vol 5, Issue 1, Sept 2010

IS YOUR RESEARCH HEALTHY? br3akthru/freedigitalphotos.net

HEALTH AT KENT: a wide range of research

The Acting Dean of Health, Prof Peter Jeffries, has been out and about talking to academics and other stakeholders about how best to support health-related research.

‘There is a need for the University to have a much closer relationship with the Kent NHS,’ said Prof Jeffries, ‘providing leadership in teaching and research across the region and helping revitalise its health economy.’

As a step towards achieving this he has launched a Health Strategy. This is currently out for consultation, and initial feedback has been positive.

The Strategy recognises the limitations that the University has—such as no medical, dental or nursing school—but highlights how varied and widespread health research is here. It is this diversity that the Strategy aims to harness.

A coordinating body, ‘KentHealth’, will be set up to pull together the strands of health research within the University, to champion it internally and promote it externally, in liaison with other partners. KentHealth will be launched officially in late January, and will provide a small amount of pump-priming funding for collaborative ventures.

Coincidentally, the University is recruiting ten academics, across a range of disciplines which have health-related activities, together with a new Funding Officer based in the NHS, who will ensure that clinicians and academics are aware of the opportunities open to them.

Contact Karen Allart (k.a.allart@kent.ac.uk) if you would like more information on the Strategy.

1

Some of you might not be aware quite how diverse and wide spread health research at Kent is. It includes, amongst others: • Social Policy and Research Design The Centre for Health Service Studies, the Personal Social Services Research Unit, and the Tizard Centre research a wide range of issues including social and health care, community care, mental health, learning disabilities, policies and practices relating to health management and substance misuse.

• Biomedical Sciences Primarily in Biosciences, research is being done on cancer, infectious diseases, genetics, pre-natal diagnostics, neuroscience, and developmental biology.

• Pharmacy At Medway, research includes chemistry and drug delivery, medicines management and infection control.

• Medical Electronic Engineering In Engineering and Digital Arts, work includes imaging, speech therapy tools, monitoring devices, biometrics and security in healthcare delivery.

This is just a snapshot and by no means exhaustive. Elsewhere there is health related work in Sports Studies, in the Centre of Professional Practice, in Psychology, Law, Economics, and Anthropology.

RECENT AWARDS Recent awards have included: Dr Helen Brooks (Arts): £3,211 from the British Academy for ‘Eighteenth Century Actresses and Negotiations of Gender’; Dr George Darby (SECL): £38,568 from Leverhulme for ‘Science and Metaphysics’; Dr Tobias von der Haar (Biosciences): £66,449 from EPSRC and BBSRC for ‘Systems Optimisations of Host Cells tRNA Usage and Codon Decoding for the Improvement of Bioprocessing Parameters’; Dr Peter Rodgers (Computing): £117,272 from the Royal Society for ‘Real Time Schematics—Industrial Fellowship’; Dr Simon Jobson (Sports): £28,381 from the European Commission for ‘Preparatory Action in the Field of Sport: Promoting Health-Enhancing Physical Activity’; Dr Marian Garcia Martinez (KBS): £207,430 from the European Commission for ‘SUSTAINMED: Sustainable Agri-Food Systems and Rural Development in the Mediterranean Countries’; Dr Julian Forder (PSSRU): £1, 022,492 from the Department of Health for ‘Economics of Health and Social Care Systems’; Dr Theresa Gannon (Psychology): £513,271 from the ESRC for ‘the Development, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Specialist Firesetter Treatment Programme’.

Congratulations to all award winners—both listed and unlisted—and all the best with your research.

Mock Panelling The mock peer review panels last term provided participants with some useful feedback on their proposals. Some general points that came out of the sessions included: Help the introducer: the person introducing your application is time poor and might not be able to read your application in detail. They don’t want to appear foolish in front of the other panel members, so give them the information they need on a plate. Give them an overview up front: what the research question is, why it’s important, how you will answer it, and how you will disseminate the outcomes. Better still, give them some key phrases that they can use when introducing your proposal, and make it readable, both in the English and in the format.

The ‘Zing’ factor: the panel see scores of proposals: give them a reason to care about yours. Make it clear why your project is important, and funding it is crucial.

Methodology is key: don’t take too long on the background, and concentrate on what you are actually going to do during the project.

Write defensively: the panel are looking to pull your application apart, and find reasons to reject it. So defend any choices you make, and be up front about any potential problems (such as access to data).

If you’d like to take part in a panel sign up for one of the ones listed in the ‘Grants Factory’ story, next column.

LSE Says Wel-Coombe

Coombe: on down to the LSE

Many of you will have heard that David will be taking over the reins of the LSE’s Research Division at the beginning of November. We wish him well, and he will be sorely missed. When he’s gone the role of acting Director of Research Services will be taken on by Dr Kathy Bennett as a secondment until 31st July 2011. Kathy is currently the University’s Financial Planning Manager. At some point before July 2011, probably in the spring, the permanent post of Director will be advertised both internally and externally with an intended start date of 1st August 2011.

Roll Up! Roll Up! New Grants Factory Programme Announced The Grants Factory Programme for the Winter Term has been announced. As with last year, each session will be led by a leading Kent academic who has worked as a funding agency panel member or with an outstanding track record in winning funding.

Master Classes • Prizes & Pitfalls of Collaboration (Wed 15 Sept) Dr Peter Bennett and Prof Jon Williamson • Brace for Impact: How to write your ‘Pathways to Impact’ (TBC) Prof Liz Mansfield Peer Review Panels • BBSRC Applications (Mon 6 Sept) • Social Science Applications (Wed 3 Nov) • Medway – Humanities & Social Sciences (Wed 3 Nov) • EPSRC Applications (Wed 10 Nov) • FP7 & Other EC Applications (Thurs 11 Nov) • Humanities Applications (Wed 17 Nov) Grants Factory Workshops • Wed 27 Oct (Canterbury) Led by Prof David Shemmings Events later in the year will be announced in due course. Contact Lynne Bennett (l.bennett-282@kent.ac.uk) for more info.

‘PATHWAYS TO IMPACT’ Over the summer Prof Dominic Abrams led a workshop on the 'Pathways to Impact' section of the JeS form, and advised: • Don’t leave it until the last minute – it should be integral to the project.

• It’s the pathway rather than the desti- Abrams: ‘oh yeah?’ nation that’s important: what the funders are looking for is evidence that you know and are using the right channels for engaging with external users of your research.

• Every project talks about workshops, press releases, websites. Stick to project-specific, appropriate and achievable detail.

Vague or grandiose claims of possible impact are liable to be ignored. Try to pre-empt the ‘oh yeah?’ response.

• Include the necessary costs of making the pathways a reality.

2

WELCOME! 28 academics have started since the last edition of Research Active, and this is a good opportunity to catch up with them, find out where they’re based and what their research interests are.

Cameron Adams (SAC) does research on psychedelic culture, and the interfaces between medical anthropology and medical ethnobiology.

Julie Anderson (History) works in the social history of 20th century medicine, particularly with regards to war and medicine, surgery and disability.

Sylvian Barde (Economics) has research interests in economic geography and information-theoretical modelling.

Karen Bartlett (Journalism) has worked as a reporter and producer for The Times, and the BBC, as well as the Open University, and specialises in politics and human rights.

Mike Bourlakis (KBS) has worked at Brunel, Newcastle and Oxford, and his research centres on marketing and food and drink supply chain management.

Ruth Cain (KLS) is interested in the regulation and representation of reproduction, but also in tracking relationships between law, popular culture and the media, and how these shape perceptions of gender, sexuality and embodiment.

Vinh Chau (KBS) is interested in research around strategy/ strategic management, performance management, and organizational effectiveness, particularly in the services sector.

Emilie Coatre (KLS) has come from Nottingham, and has interests in natural resources management, and trade law & the environment.

Zoe Davies (SAC) does research in Range edge (meta) population dynamics, species responses to climate change, conservation finance and investment, urban, landscape and spatial ecology, and ecosystem service provision.

Larry Duffy (SECL) works in 19th century French literature, thought and culture, as well as realism, naturalism and documentary literature, and the representation of science and technology.

Fragkiskos Filippaios (KBS) has research interests in Management of Multinational Enterprises, Political Economy of Foreign Direct Investment, and Food & Beverage Multinationals.

Claire Graham (Sports) is with us for a year, covering maternity leave within the Sports Therapy team. She’s a qualified physio, and has worked predominantly in Rugby union.

David Grummit (History) is interested in the military and fiscal history of late medieval England.

David Haney (Architecture) went to Yale and Pennsylvania, and his research centres on the relationship between landscape and architecture, and the history of ecological design.

Matt Hodges (SAC) works on the anthropology of Western Europe, with interests in time, historical consciousness, the heritage industry, tourism and rural restructuring, and the impact of technology on agriculture.

Impact : après le deluge, moi The Research Councils are going to follow up award holders to check on how their research is having an impact. There will no longer just be an end of award report, but also an expectation that award holders continue to update RCUK records as impacts are felt. Whilst full implementation of this system is some way off—they’re currently consulting, and are planning a pilot next summer—they have already made changes to the End of 3

Tim Howle (Music) combines the roles of composer and academic, specialising in sonic art and audio-visual works.

Andy Kesson (English) is currently exploring questions about performance, literature and the early modern period, including a collaboration with the Globe Theatre.

Carla Meijen (Sports) is interested in how cognitive, affective and physiological components of challenge and threat states in athletes combine and influence athletes’ approaches to competition.

Alex Mohr (KBS) is focused on international business, including International Joint Ventures, International Strategic Alliances, Multinational Enterprises.

Patricia Novillo-Corvalán (SECL) has wide ranging research interests, including comparative literature, medical humanities, translation studies, and modern Hispanic literature.

Erika Nurmsoo (Psychology) is interested in children's cognitive and social development, and how one supports the other, and vice versa.

Jaideep Oberoi (SMSAS) is working on corporate risk management; other interests include corporate finance and asset pricing, especially with respect to the production of information.

Lucy O’Meara (SECL) works in literary theory (especially post-war French theory), the work of Roland Barthes, aesthetics, and 19th and 20th century French literary responses to Japan.

Dimitrious Theodossopoulos (SAC) has worked on people-wildlife conflicts and indigenous perceptions of the environment. He is currently working on ethnic stereotypes, indigeneity, authenticity and the politics of cultural representation in Panama and South East Europe.

Katie Truss (KBS) is on the ESRC Peer Review College, and has interests in employee engagement, strategic human resource and change management, and management of knowledge workers and knowledge-intensive firms.

Radu Tunaru (KBS) specializes in Structured Finance (credit Risk), Derivatives Pricing and Risk Management, and in developing and applying Statistical Techniques for Finance.

Frank Wang (Computing) has interests in Future and Green Computing, Grid/Cloud Computing, Biologicallyinspired Computing, Quantum Computing/ Communication, and Data Storage, Communication, Mining and Warehousing.

Award Report forms.

One academic at Kent who has been affected is Dr Ellie Lee in SSPSSR. ‘Completing the form for a set of seminars is difficult [Dr Lee had an ESRC Seminar Series grant], even for a project like ours that involved a lot of non-academics and media work. Colleagues need to be aware of how all this comes back to bite you at the end, when you've done all the work, and you need to pay attention to it all the way through.’

FROM THE BLOG

CAROL MORAN It is with great sadness that we announce the untimely death of Carol Moran.

Carol will be known to many staff and students across the campus as teacher and as a professional administrator, for the competence with which she tackled her administrative responsibilities and the enthusiasm she brought to her teaching.

Carol’s first spell at the University came in 1988-89, when she acted as the Secretary to the School of Continuing Education. Following time in the private sector, Carol returned to the University in 1997 to begin a degree in Classical and Archaeological Studies, which she took with First Class Honours. Following an MA degree at University College London, she returned to Kent to commence her PhD in Archaeology in 2005. Throughout this time she held various posts at Canterbury Christ Church University and, since 2003, at Kent. She has acted as the Personal Assistant to the Head of the Unit for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching, Departmental Officer in the Tizard Centre, Centre Co-ordinator for the AHRC Centre for Law, Gender and Sexuality, Research Support Administrator in the Computing Laboratory and has had two stints in Research Services, the latest, since 2009, as Research Funding Officer for the Faculty of Sciences. She was the first to take on this role, and developed very good relationships with all the academics she helped in the Faculty.

She also taught for the Classical and Archaeological Studies section throughout the last decade.

Carol will be sorely missed by all who knew and loved her. She is survived by her husband and her son.

Virginia Tech Partnering Program Two grants have been made in the inaugural round of VT/Kent Partnering Award Program. The Program is aimed at facilitating collaboration between academics in Kent and Virginia Tech in the USA. Dr Roger Giner-Sorolla in Psychology got funding to meet with Prof Danny Axsom at Virginia. The will explore common research interests, including perceptions of shame and guilt in sexual crime. Roger will travel to Virginia in Jan/Feb 2011, and intends to work with Danny in applying to ESRC. Meanwhile Prof Julia Twigg (SSPSSR) will be working with Prof Toni Calasanti in Virginia. Both have been working in parallel areas, and will be looking at issues of embodiment, gender, and ageing when they meet. Toni will come to Canterbury in Mar/Apr 2011, and, as with Roger and Danny, they hope that an ESRC application will result.

The Program will run again next year, and it is anticipated that the new call will come out in December with a deadline in April.

Research Services Gets Clean Bill of Health in RCUK Audit As mentioned in the last edition of ‘Research Active’, the Research Councils undertook an audit of Kent’s management of awards in May. This was a routine audit, but Kent was the first to be audited under a new RCUK system.

Not much room for a full round up from the blog this term, so logon to fundermental.blogspot.com for all the news and rumour from the world of research funding.

You can also follow us on Twitter, at twitter.com/uokresearch FP7 Success Rates 8 June 2010 Some interesting stats on FP7. First, overall for all areas and all 'pillars': • Overall success rate: 16%, with UK slightly higher, at 23%.

• Co-operation: 18% • Ideas: 4% (skewed by first starting grant call; it’s now 10-15%) • People: 29% • Capacities: 18% Secondly, the success rates for each area within Cooperation: • Health: 18.2% • Food, Agri., Fisheries and Biotech: 16.9% • ICT: 15.45% • Nanotechnology: 36.1% • Energy: 15.7% • Environment: 13.9% • Transport: 22.8% • SSH: 10.9% • Space: 27.7% • Security: 13.3% The message to take away is that you have to be sure that your research matches the topic of the call, is timely, makes sense, and has an appropriate mix of partners to have any chance of funding.

REF Panel Chairs Announced 15 July 2010

Fortunately the University came through with flying colours, receiving the second highest grading for its administration and management of grant funding, and the highest rating for its compliance with the ‘Transparent Costing’ (TRAC) methodology. Better still the auditor suggested that, with some simple and straightforward changes to our processes he expected us to achieve the highest rating across the board when the next audit’s due in 3 years time.

4

The Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) has appointed Stephen Townley Holgate (Southampton), Ann Dowling (Cambridge), Janet Finch (Keele) and Bruce Brown (Brighton) as the main panel chairs for the forthcoming Research Excellence Framework exercise (REF).

The panels cover medicine and the life sciences, natural sciences, social sciences and arts and humanities. Within these panels, 36 sub-panels will do the serious work of assessing submissions.