AGENDA for the 3Rd Meeting Of

ACADEMIC COUNCIL

RESEARCH AND ENTERPRISE COMMITTEE

Minutes for the second meeting of the Research & Enterprise Committee in the 2011/12 Academic Session, held on Wednesday 14th December 2011, 2.15pm, QA075, Greenwich campus

PRESENT:

Prof T Barnes Chair Ms T Banton Research Support Manager (GRE) Prof A Benati Director of Research & Enterprise (HSS) Prof C Birch Director of Enterprise (BUS) Prof C Bellamy Director of Research & Enterprise (GMI) Dr M Davies Director of Research & Enterprise (GRE) Prof D Isaac Director of Research & Enterprise (A&C) Dr J Jameson Director of Enterprise (EDU) Prof Andrew Lambirth Director of Research (EDU) Prof P Maras ECR Director Ms C Nyandoro-Kunzvi Secretary Prof E West Director of Research & Enterprise (HSC) Prof S Wicks Director of Research (SCI) Dr S Woodhead Director of Research & Enterprise (ENG)

1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Prof A Reed Vice-Chair and Director (PGR) Prof C Bailey Director of Enterprise (CMS) Mrs W Curran Finance Manager (Finance) Prof E Galea Director of Research (CMS) Prof S Golding (Research Ethics Chair) Prof J Morton Director of Enterprise (NRI) Prof J Orchard Director of Research (NRI) Prof S Thomas Director of Research (BUS) Mr J Wallace Administrative Secretary (Vice Chancellors Office) Dr D Wray Director of Enterprise (SCI)

2. ITEMS FROM THE CHAIR

2.1 The Chair welcomed members to the second Research and Enterprise Committee meeting of the 2011/12 academic session.

1 3. MINUTES OF THE FIRST MEETING OF THE RESEARCH AND ENTERPRISE COMMITTEE HELD IN 2010/12 ON THE 5th OCTOBER 2011.

The minutes of the Research and Enterprise Committee held on 5th October 2011 were agreed by the Committee as a true and accurate record of the last meeting.

4. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

5.2 The Research Support Manager (GRE) informed the Committee that the report to show the success rates by funder was in progress and would be circulated to members once completed.

5.3 The Chair sought a verbal response from the Committee as no comments or responses had been received with regards to checking the GALA items for accuracy. Members informed the Chair that Schools were regularly checking GALA and the priority was to get the items under review to be validated and made live. The Research Support Manager (GRE) informed the Committee that an additional resource had been appointed to assist in reducing the number of items under review.

The Chair also bought to the Committee’s attention a software program called ‘Publish or Perish’ that retrieves and analyses academic citations. The software was designed to allow individual academics to present their case for research impact to its best advantage and it uses Google Scholar to obtain the raw citations, to produce the following statistics: total number of papers, citations, age-weighted citation rate and an analysis of the number of authors per paper. The software was free to download (both windows and mac versions) at http://www.harzing.com/pop.htm. The Chair was pleased to note upon testing, that the software was returning a third of the results of data stored in GALA and encouraged all Directors of Research & Enterprise to download this tool in order to analyse the research impact across their schools as the institution was going forward with the REF. He noted that data collected by GRE for the GREAT exercise was being analysed with the ‘publish or perish’ software to produce a set of aggregate statistics across the university. The University would also subscribe to SCOPUS to provide bibliometrical information for the REF.

5. GREENWICH RESEARCH AND ENTERPRISE

5.1 Research and Enterprise Financial Activity Reports The Chair presented the annual Research and Enterprise financial activity report to the month ending 31st October 2011.

Revenues to the end October 2011 were £2.6m (including NRI). This figure was down by £142k compared to October 2010. The dip was also mainly due to late submission of invoices, however the Chair was pleased to note that he was expecting a rise in revenues across the schools this year due to an increase in contracting in 2010/11.

Contracting to the end October 2011 was £2.2m (including NRI) down by £582k compared to October 2010. NRI was down by £890k and the schools were up by £307K. A 12 month comparison of contracting in October 2010 showed NRI at £1.7m and £1.1m in 2011. Schools contracting figure was £1.1m in October 2010, and £1.4m in October 2011.

2 The GUEL revenue figures for the end of October 2011 showed that £324K had been generated mainly due to research & consultancy, analytical testing and software sales.

Action: Committee members to encourage colleagues in schools to submit invoices on time so as to accurately reflect contracting and revenues figures at a given period.

5.2 Research and Enterprise Bidding Activity Report The Research Support Manager (GRE) presented the annual Research & Enterprise bidding activity report for the period ending 31st October 2011.

Bidding totals to the end of October 2011 (incl NRI) were £4.1m. The quarterly monthly breakdown for the bidding totals and values was as follows:

Aug 2011 23 bids with a value of £1.7m Sep 2011 25 bids with a value of £1.4m Oct 2011 16 bids with a value of 939K

Bidding by funding source showed that 51% of the total number of bids had been submitted to the EU, 17% to overseas funders, 14% to UK Centre Government & TSB, 11% to Research Councils, and 7% of the bids had been submitted to Charities.

Awarded totals to the end October 2011 were recorded at 615K (incl NRI) with 7 awards valued at 153K in Aug 2011; 9 awards valued at 324K in September 2011 and 4 awards valued at 91K were recorded in October 2011.

The awarded values by funding source showed that 37% of the awards received were from the EU, 23% from the UK Industry sector, 19% were from overseas funders, 19% from UK Centre government & TSB and 2% from Research Councils.

The Research Support Manager (GRE) reminded the Committee that the bidding activity report was based on the form 1 and 2 that were submitted and that timely submissions allowed for data to be accurate in the analysis of peaks and troughs of bidding activity during the academic year. She asked the Committee members to encourage colleagues within the schools to submit their form 1 at the point of bid submission and the form 2 once they had received notification that an award had been made.

Action: Committee members to encourage in schools to submit forms 1 and 2 as soon as possible.

5.3 Research & Enterprise Work Programme 2011/12 The Chair presented to the Committee a proposed work programme for the 2011/12 academic calendar year. The key areas of focus would be

Research Excellence Framework 2014 (REF) With regards to the REF, the Committee would focus on;  Completing a second GREAT assessment exercise with the aim of assessing UoA groupings and identifying ways to fill gaps with funding constraints.  Developing an internal FAQ/guide for the REF impact statements and a REF code of practice.

3  Developing an equality impact assessment methodology over the coming year.

The ECR Director bought to the Committee’s attention a training resource called every Researcher Counts, funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). The training resource was designed for staff developers, principal investigators and others managing research staff to help them with equality and diversity issues. Further details would be circulated to the Committee members and it was noted that upon receipt it would be very helpful if the information was disseminated by Directors of Research to PIs and those responsible for managing research staff.

The PGR programme With regards to the PGR programme, the Committee would;  discuss and ratify the PGR training schemes from PGRO  Comment on, and endorse the PGR bursary scheme from RDC  Support New London Graduate School work to obtain more RC studentships  Assist RDC in promoting improvements in completion rates

The GALA programme With regards to the GALA programme, the Committee would focus on;  Promoting the completion of GALA entries (prior) and continuous updating  Supporting increased resourcing of GALA to speed up review process  Developing a process of linking GALA with SCOPUS.

Funding The main focus on funding would be on;  Continuation of an increase in contracting and revenues in Schools at against the achieved targets set in 2011.  Raising the profile of UoG with key funding bodies with particular focus on the EU.  Supporting the implementation of a balanced workload model (research components)  Working with GRE to develop business/industry links for project funding  Evaluating the effectiveness of investments over the past three years

A copy of the 2011/12 work programme presentation would be circulated to members after the meeting.

Action: ECR Director to circulate further information on the Every Researcher Counts training resource to all members.

Action: All Directors of Research to circulate the Every Researcher Counts information to PIs and those responsible for managing research staff.

Action: Secretary to circulate a copy of the 2011/12 work programme presentation

5.4 GRE Update (EEN)

4 The Director of Research & Enterprise (GRE) introduced the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), an initiative set up by the EU to get SMEs involved in pan-European business partnering, technology acquisition and collaborative R&D particularly through the FP7 programme. There are EENs in 26 EU nations, and 21 in non-EU nations with a membership of 600 organisations with access to tens of thousands of EU SMEs.

The university is a member of the South-east England EEN (2011 – 2014) working in collaboration with BSK, LTN and EISC with the aim of ‘increasing capacity of businesses in the region to innovate and internationalise, resulting in growth and new jobs’ The role of the University was  To develop a SE England technology and knowledge transfer network:  Establish a series of sector-focussed networks, to provide technology and other specialist support (e.g., IP advice) to SMEs  Work with SMEs on FP7 projects and other relevant routes to gain funding for technology R&D projects  Broker technology support requests from SMEs to the appropriate knowledge networks

Advantages of this collaboration would be extending the university’s contact base in other European countries and having the opportunity of participating in more FP7 consortia via unadvertised opportunities, as well as creating links with BIS and UKTI funding. The partnership would also allow the university to develop a track record in project management. A project management team had been setup and led by GRE with Jeff Pedley as the EEN Project Manager. The Director of Research & Enterprise (ENG) affirmed the importance of the collaboration as the School of Engineering has recently submitted 2 bids worth £1.3M as a result of contacts made through the EEN.

A copy of the presentation would be circulated to members after the meeting.

6. ITEMS FROM SCHOOLS

6.1 Directors of Research and Enterprise Presentations on Successes, Opportunities and Challenges in Research and Enterprise activities in each School

6.1.1. School of Architecture & Construction Report SUCCESSES Design Research

 The research group AVATAR (Advanced Virtual & Technological Architectural Research), have won the 2011 ACADIA Award for Emerging Digital Practice for their architectural project Hylozoic Ground. AVATAR was also a finalist for the Katerva Award in the Urban Design category. Neil Spiller won a Glenfiddich Pioneer award in Architecture and Design (the top 100 pioneers worldwide in all disciplines). He has exhibited at the Danish Architecture Centre (‘Seminal architectural drawings’), organised a Salon at the Barbican in conjunction with the OMA/Progress Exhibition and given a keynote address at the RIBA Melvin debates on Architectural Education.

5  In the Architectural History and Theory Group, Alan Powers has had a number of recent articles published including several in Country Life; he is currently on sabbatical funded by a British Academy grant for £125,000.

 Caroline Rabourdin is giving a paper Language, migration and diaspora at an international language conference in Dublin Institute of Technology and organizing a research conference at Chelsea College of Art and Design on Contested sites/sights. Mark Ingham has won prizes in New York (‘Artists Wanted’) and also in the Ward and Scope Art Show; his work will be appearing in an exhibition in Beijing.

Sustainable Built Environments Research

In the Sustainable Built Environments Group, the following recent activities have been reported: 1. Keith Jones has commenced a Technology Strategy Board project with Octavia Housing for Adaptive Climate Change (£99,000). 2. Noha Nasser had commenced 2 bids to the Qatar Research Fund, the larger being for $US900k, she is continuing her RAE funded research project in Muslim-British Architectural Exchange. 4. Boniface Umeadi is developing his research in remote sensors attached to pipelines and is being funded by Shell Oil in developing the project. 5. A TSB bid jointly with an architectural practice in Building Performance Evaluation (£40,000) is being put together. 6. The group is collaborating with the Institute of Sustainability and initial income of £35,000 has been secured from FLASH projects. 7. Keith Jones has commenced his work on the REF Unit of Assessment Panel for Architecture, Built Environment and Planning. 8. Two research students in the group are now close to examination thus sustaining the high completion rates in the group. 9. Gesche Huebner presented a paper: Sustainable Consumption – Towards Action and Impact, at an international conference, in Hamburg, Germany. She is in receipt of a £300 grant from the Postdoctoral Conference Bursary Scheme of the British Psychological Society

 In the Sustainable Landscapes Group, Benz Kotzen’s role as a Management Committee Member for the European Science Foundation COST project European Soundscapes continues, his COST project related to arid lands restoration is in the final stages of the application process and will result in EU funding of £420,000 if successful. A further article on aquaponics has been accepted by the Journal of Applied Aquaculture.

OPPORTUNITIES  More staff are becoming research active and putting in bids for funding.

CHALLENGES  As for the previous report, although there is a School-wide initiative to encourage additional research activity, this still has to create the funding and outputs necessary for further progress and so, in recent recruitment activity, emphasis is being put on employing new staff with research output/potential.

6 6.1.2. School of Education Report SUCCESSES  2011-12 has so far been strong for Education bidding activity. Five form 1s are complete; a 6th is due: the School is on track to exceed 10 form 1s submitted 2009- 10. The 5 bids submitted were to AHRC, British Academy, Esmée Fairbairn, Groundwork UK and UKIERI.  Strongly increased interest in bids is supported by the new School R&E structure, jointly headed by the Director of Research and Director of the Centre for Leadership & Enterprise.  Chris Philpott and co-author successfully presented a graduate colloquium paper on the recent history of music education in England at the Leading Music Education (LME) International Conference at the University of Western Ontario in November.  Professor Patrick Ainley was elected as a Fellow of the Society for Research into HE.  Professor Patrick Ainley and Dr Martin Allen presented the paper Running up a downwards escalator to the British Sociology Association Youth Study Group Seminar, November 4th.  Professor Andrew Lambirth, Susannah Steele and Sarah Smith: had a paper accepted for the international Journal Literacy :‘“Poetry is happening but I don’t know exactly how”; Literacy Subject Leaders’ Perceptions of Poetry in their Primary Schools’, linked to 10/11 HEIF funds.  Alison Hales and Lynne Dixon (Primary Education.) secured a Routledge book contract on: Bringing History Alive through the Local Community: A guide for primary school teachers?  Professor Andrew Lambirth and colleagues at University of Leicester and Exeter are following up the successful ESRC seminar series Poetry Matters with two new books for Continuum.  Professor Andrew Lambirth published a special edition of the international journal Literacy on ‘Politics and Literacy’, co-edited with Dr Janet Soler from the Open University.  Dr Jill Jameson was elected Vice Chair of the Society for Research into Higher Education.  Dr Jill Jameson won the 2011 National Chartered Management Institute (CMI) Management & Leadership Award for Achievement and a finalist for CMI’s Outstanding Leadership Award.  Dr Jill Jameson launched a global Call for Papers on e-Leadership as Lead Guest Editor for British Journal of Educational Technology. Impact: 2.139; ISI Ranking: 11/177 (Education).  Dr Jill Jameson and Professor Sara de Freitas of Coventry University finalised the e-Learning Reader, a 372 pp scholarly hardback/paperback/e-reader to be published by Continuum (2012).  On 27/10, the School hosted All Young People Are Needed, a seminar for 11 delegates from the Danish Ministry of Refugee, Immigration & Integration Affairs & Copenhagen University.  A new seminar series: ‘Demystifying Theory’ has begun, highlighting the academic and intellectual relationship members of the School have with the work of particular thinkers. Talks by Professor Patrick Ainley and Dr John Smith began the series, to good audiences.  Once again, LSIS sponsored funding for c.20 new National Research Development Fellows to become members of the BERA Post-Compulsory and Lifelong Learning

7 Research Network Co-Convened by Dr Jill Jameson and Kevin Orr of the University of Huddersfield.  Significant expansion in School R&E continued, with the setting up of the new strategic cross-School Centre for Leadership and Enterprise led by the Director of CLE and the new cross-School research structure led by the Director of Research.

OPPORTUNITIES

 The Enterprise Associates Steering Group is planning the new Education Partners in Practice scheme: the first event (April, 2012) will target particular partners and market CPD.  Following Chris Philpott’s visit to Canada, staff and local teachers from London Ontario are visiting the University of Greenwich for further discussions late in January, 2012.  EU lifelong learning, British Council, JISC and charity funding opportunities for numerous areas of research are being investigated by James Lambert, Business Development Manager.  Two new research fellows have been appointed by the School for an initial ten month period. Both have profiles which suit the growing R&E portfolio of the School of Education.  Dr Keith Good and Professor Andrew Lambirth are working on a bid for funding an R&E project with local schools, combining design & technology teaching with essential literacy skills. The project aims to use this combination of curriculum subjects to engage reluctant readers and writers in primary school with exciting and relevant literacy learning.  A whole School day dedicated to Research and Enterprise will be held in early April 2012. The day will highlight the strengths of the school’s R&E profile and provide opportunities for members of the school to discuss research and enterprise in productive ways.  In 2012 research and enterprise groups in the school will be reorganised and new leaders recruited to take these forward as dynamic and exciting centres of R&E or CPD activity. Members of the School will be asked to join the research and/or enterprise group of their choice. Leaders will organise support tailored to the needs of group members and take the lead in organising R&E outputs based upon the group’ expertise. Funding opportunities will be targeted based around this expertise boosting bidding activity within the school.

CHALLENGES  Key issues continue to be to accelerate the quantity, quality and range of bids.  Staff overloads and lack of admin staff remain the most significant barrier to time for R&E.

6.1.3. School of Engineering Report

8 SUCCESSES  Wolfson Centre consultancy work invoiced so far this year - £111k, with work valued at £68k in progress – Mike Bradley / Richard Farnish;  Civil Engineering consultancy work invoiced to date - £19k - Amir Alami;  ISRL consultancy work invoiced to date - £21k - Steve Woodhead / Jodie Wetherall;  PhD student funding secured from Ford Motor Company - £60k – Alan Arokiam;  PhD student funding secured from Cummings Ltd – 30k – James Gao;  PhD student funding secured from Kaduna University, Nigeria, £90k – Steve Woodhead.

OPPORTUNITIES  KTP Bid re-submitted to TSB in collaboration with NIC Instruments Ltd, Value £132k – Steve Woodhead;  Consulancy proposals submitted to Drax (value £100k) and Master Foods (value £70k) - Mike Bradley / Richard Farnish;  Two FP7 bids submitted with a total value of £420k - Mike Bradley / Rob Berry;  Bid submitted to the Space Structure Institute in collaboration with Zhejiang University, China, Value £24k – Hua-Peng Chen;  Bid Submitted to the Leverhulme Trust, value £120k – Hua-Peng Chen;  Further consultancy work under negotiation with NIC Instruments Ltd – likely value £10k – Steve Woodhead;  PhD student funding applications made to Mirpur University (Pakistan) and Nigerian Petroleum Training Institute, total value circa £100k each – Steve Woodhead.

CHALLENGES

 A number of significant issues with progressing work through the Marketing Department; Lack of clarity with regard to PGR student tuition fee exemptions.

6.1.4. School of Health & Social Care Report SUCCESSES

 Six new PhD students have enrolled this year with one more expected in January.  A new Professor of Nursing who specialises in pain in patients with dementia will be joining the School in January bringing FEC from a large MRC grant as well as a number of smaller grants.  First podcast made of a research seminar. David Evans spoke on sexual health to an audience of 30 people and will now reach an even wider audience through the web.  A small bid (£10K) has been won to support the public consultation being conducted in East Kent on the reorganisation of maternity services. This work will make a significant contribution to our impact statements for the REF and could lead to further work with the PCT.  A bid of £50K from NHS London to study student nurses transition to work has been brought to the School by the new Dean, Linda Burke.

9  Pam Maras has won 4X60 credit courses plus additional moderation per person funded by Attendance and Behaviour Partnership.

OPPORTUNITIES  Gail Gilchrist PRF is through to the second round of a DH competition for funding for a project on Intimate Partner Violence among Female Drug Users (£280K).  Allan McNaught Head of Social Work and Health Development is discussing a potential KTP with Wireless for the Blind to help them develop more modern financial systems.  Lesley Hoggart PRF is in discussion with Comic Relief about funding a DVD on sexual grooming for use in schools—total cost £350K. This is a large consortium bid that includes several Universities and high profile academics and reflects our growing reputation in sexual health.  We are exploring joint working with the School of Science and Medway PCT and Medway NHS Foundation Trust and Maidstone NHS Trust.  Developing relationships with two potential research funders in industry: Lundbeck Pharmaceuticals and Bayer, and in the NHS, with Medway PCT and Medway Foundation Trust.

CHALLENGES  Problems obtaining CRB checks and research passports  Trying to keep links with extremely busy clinical and policy contacts in a situation that appears to be in a continual state of flux

6.1.5. School of Humanities & Social Sciences Report SUCCESSES Research contracts

 AHRC Digital Photography Networking Grant- Sue Golding in partnership with Southbank University- circa £31,665 -  Legal Education Research Network – Lucy Yeatman – project looking at students’ reading habits- £ 2,000 -

Enterprise

 Autumn enterprise programme generated circa - £ 60,000 -

Publications

Linguistics Research Group  Cecile Laval & Maria Arche secured a book contract for an edited book on second language grammar learning: Grammar Dimensions in Instructed Second Language Learning by Continuum Publishing.  Maria Arche is organising an international colloquia in Linguistics (Aspect and Argument Structure of Adjectives and Participles) – 22/23 June 2012.  Alessandro Benati is organising an international seminar in second language acquisition – 23 April 2012.  Alessandro Benati is the editor of a new international academic journal in SLA called Issues in instructed second language acquisition research.

Media Research Group

10  Ros Davies published a book chapter: Digital Intimacies: Aesthetic and Affective strategies in the Production and Use of Online Video, in Ephemeral Media (ed. Paul Grainge) by Palgrave Macmillan.

English Research Group  Emily Critchley published a book of poetry: Imaginary love poems, Paris: Corrupt Press.  Emily Critchley published an academic journal: Rosmarie Waldrop, the violence of narrative, and other knowledge systems, The Issues: in contemporary Culture and Aesthetics.

Law Research Group  Mark Pawlowski published a book chapter: Beneficial Ownership and the Family Home, in the Private Client Yearbook – Trusts.

OPPORTUNITIES

Update on external bidding/for October-December 2011

Linguistics Research Group

 Alessandro Benati: British Academy Small Grant – Develop a teacher training module for Arabic Language- collaborative project with the British University of Dubai and Edinburgh University (£8,190)  Alessandro Benati: Transforming English Language Skills (TELS)- British Council (£ 27,500)  Alessandro Benati: Research proposal to Emirates Foundation- collaborative project with the British University of Dubai (£26,000)

Media Research Group

 Gauti Sigthorsson: British Academy Small Grant- Leaving TV- Freelancers and alternative career options- collaborative bid with Northumbria University (£8,086)  Ros Davies, Nuno Salihbegovic and Steve Kennedy: AHRC Small Grant- Digital Transformations in the Arts and Humanities (£30,000)  Steve Kennedy/Sue Golding in partnerships with a University Consortium led by the University of Newcastle: AHRC/ESRC Connected Communities (2.4 million – circa £500,000 for Humanities)

Law Research Group

 Opi Outhwaite : Leverhulme Trust Research Fellow Scheme- Law, regulatory studies, wildlife management, environmental policy, infectious disease management, animal health (£33,224)

English Research Group

 Adele Lee: Leverhulme Trust - The English Renaissance and the Far East: Cross- cultural Encounters- (£42,000)

History Research Group

11  June Balshaw: Research for Community Heritage strand of the AHRC Connected Communities Programme- Greenwich Archives in the Community- (£25,000)

CHALLENGES

 Securing research contracts  Enterprise/income generation activities at the University of Greenwich

6.1.6. Natural Resources Institute Report  Improving the livelihoods of smallholder cassava farmers (EC Food Security Thematic Programme. Contract value £2.88 million. Retained £685K).  Managing risk in African agriculture (EC Food Security Thematic Programme. Retained £500K)  Crop Plants which Remove Their Own Major Biotic Constraints (India & Australia Govts. Contract value £350K. Retained £320K).  Extension to C:AVA (Gates Foundation. Contract value: £281K. Retained: £88K).  Optibrew Proposal (SABmiller. Retained£80K)  African Postharvest Losses Information System Phase 3 (EC. Contract value £228K. Retained £64K)  Development of probabilistic models for quantitative pathway analysis of plant pests introduction for the EU territory. (EFSA Contract value: £70K. Retained: £52K).

OPPORTUNITIES

 Biodiversity Management in Agriculture for Ecological Services (FP7. Contract value £2.7 million. Retained £577K).  10 bids submitted to Gates Foundation - Grand Challenge Fund (Contract value US$1 million. Retained US$ 560K)  Climate Compatible Development for Smallholder Export Agriculture: Learning from and with Fairtrade (CDKN. Contract value £496K. Retained £96K).  Agroforests: a Critical Resource for Sustaining Megadiversity in Guatemala (Darwin Imitative. Contract value £250K. Retained £56K)

CHALLENGES  None specific

6.1.7. School of Science Report SUCCESSES

 Tim Acott has successfully bid for a 2 Seas Interreg Iva 50:50 matched funding project – The Geography of Inshore Fishing and Sustainability. The University is the Lead Partner, Tim is the Principal Investigator with 6 institutions partnering. As lead partner, Tim bid for ERDF funding of 916,262 shared between Greenwich participating schools (Science and GMI)  Pat Harvey is partnering with European Algal Biomass and representing the university at the launch of the EnAlgae project in Brussels.  Mike Leach is an invited key speaker for a symposium on the "CNS (central nervous system) and Aging" hosted at Cambridge University in January next year.

12  A article about attitudes towards cancer by Lauren Pecorino, published in The Biologist (Sept) drew the attention of the Press Association. A follow-up interview led to extensive media coverage in the UK of Lauren's new book, Why Millions Survive Cancer.  Nichola Coleman has won consultancy contracts from the University of Leeds and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.  Denis Douroumis has established collaboration between the School of Science, the Wolfson Centre and Thermo–Fisher Scientific to establish the first European Hot Melt Extrusion (HME) Centre of Excellence.  Elinor Thompson, by invitation, is writing a book chapter on “Signalling and Communication in Polar Auxin Transport” in the new Springer book 'Signalling and Communication in Plants'.  Steve Wicks has been commissioned to develop commercial formulations for the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative. The two initial targets being studied are human African trypanosomiasis and visceral leishmaniasis.

OPPORTUNITIES

 The new high resolution scanning electron microscope, funded directly by GRE will help numerous workers within the School.  A new high performance mass spectrometer instrument is now in use in the school. Installation is complete and samples are now being analysed successfully.  Ma’an Al-Gailani is organising a joint one day conference between the School and the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR), Kent and Medway Research Network on the 18th of April in the Pilkington Building.

CHALLENGES

 None specific

7. POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH MATTERS

7.1 Update on the abolition of ‘write up’ fees for existing research students

The Chair updated the Committee on the proposed abolition of write up fees discussed at a recent Academic Council meeting with particular focus on the issue regarding university staff undertaking postgraduate studies. Academic Council proposed that the matter be referred to the Fees and Finance Committee for consideration but after discussions with the VC, the paper would be tabled for discussion at VCG for deliberation. The Chair would update the Committee on the progress at the next meeting.

Action: Chair to update members on the VCG discussion on the abolition of ‘write up’ fees for existing research students

7.2 Update on waiving of tuition fees The Chair reported that the paper to revoke the resolution made by Academic Council on 23 June 2010 with regards to write up fees for PhD students who had been

13 registered prior top September 2010 was discussed at length at a recent Academic Council meeting. As no conclusion had been reached, the proposal was referred to VCG for consideration. The matter was discussed at VCG and it was recommended to Academic Council that fees be re-instated so as to avoid implementing retrospective legislation. The Chair would update the Committee as to the Council’s decision at the next meeting.

In the meantime, the Director (PGR) had been populating the system with the relevant student details and discussions were in place with Finance to ensure that that the financial records would reflect the ‘write up’ fee arrangement in the anticipation of the VCG recommendation being agreed at Academic Council.

The Director of Research & Enterprise (ENG) suggested that a one page summary be created to reflect the status of the current fee arrangements to ensure clarity and transparency to both the academics and students. The Chair informed the Committee that he would approach the Director (PGR) to produce a summary sheet. It was also agreed that all queries regarding PhD write up fees be referred to the Director (PGR) in the first instance.

Action: The Director (PGR) to produce a summary sheet on the status of the current fee arrangements to ensure clarity and transparency for both academics and students.

Action: Members to contact the Director (PGR) with queries regarding PhD write up fees.

8. ITEMS FOR INFORMATION

8.1 Early Career Researcher Matters

8.1.1. Peer Review Process The ECR Director informed the Committee that she had met with the Research Support Manager (GRE) and the Strategy, Research & Information Officer (GRE) to discuss the arrangement of an automated peer review assessment of internal bids. It was proposed that a pilot scheme be run till Easter with the anticipation of going live in September.

GRE would send out a notification email to the Deans and DREs informing them of the peer review process and seeking nominations of experienced researchers to sit on the review panels. It was anticipated that the peer review panels would consist of different levels of researchers covering a range of experience.

The Strategy, Research & Information Officer (GRE) would assist the process by developing an online peer review document (similar to the Form1/2) that would allow the PI to upload the proposal to be considered by a peer review panel (if over 20K) or an internal school panel (if under 20K). A revised timetable would be circulated to the members. The Director ECR also sought for volunteer schools to participate in the pilot scheme. The Schools of Engineering and Health and Social Care volunteered to participate in the pilot scheme

14 Action: ECR Director to circulate a revised timetable of the electronic peer review process

8.1.2. Update on Early Career Researchers The Director ECR updated the Committee on the Early Career researcher initiative. She informed members that issues had been raised as to whether there were differences between a research contract and an academics contract. The Director ECR would set up a meeting with the Research Support Manager (GRE) to discus and inform the Committee of the outcome at the next meeting. The Director ECR also announced that the annual ECR Excellence Awards would be advertised in the New Year. Three awards would be given.

8.2 Research and Enterprise Funding Opportunities The Committee noted the following funding calls for information:

8.2.1 The Leverhulme Trust - 2012 Leverhulme Early Career Fellowships 8.2.2 FP7 SSH Collaborative Projects -Large Scale Integrated Research Project) 8.2.3 Royal Society/Leverhulme Trust - Senior Research Fellowship

9. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

9.1 Notes from the Chair The Chair thanked the Committee for the work and support undertaken during the first quarter of the academic year. He closed the meeting by wishing all members a festive break and a successful 2012.

9.2 Dates of 2011/12 Research & Enterprise Committee Meetings

Meeting Papers Received by

Wednesday 15th February, 2.15pm, B028, Medway 27th January 2012 Wednesday 18th April, 2.15pm, S311, Avery Hill 30th March 2012 Wednesday 30th May, 2.15pm, B028, Medway 11th May 2012 Wednesday 11th July, 2.15pm, QA075, Greenwich 22nd June 2012

15 16 RESEARCH AND ENTERPRISE COMMITTEE

Action Sheet Arising from Meeting on Wednesday 14th December 2011

ITEM NO/ACTION RESPONSIBILITY OUTCOME