Tag Archives: arts

TSB and AHRC: Developing novel approaches to multi-disciplinary software development

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The Technology Strategy Board and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) are to invest up to £1m in feasibility studies to stimulate the development of new multi-disciplinary approaches to software development.

We are looking to fund projects that seek to create novel approaches to critical parts of the software development process, such as capturing user requirements and understanding user culture, and the translation of these into proposals for effective business methodologies suitable for small projects and budgets.

Our aim is to reduce the amount of software that is produced that is unfit-for-purpose, because it is developed without a real understanding of the contexts that users are working in, or their cultures and behaviours, and so does not meet user requirements. The AHRC is particularly keen to encourage innovative engagement with research expertise from across the full spectrum of the arts and humanities.

The competition aims to enable software development teams to work with partners with complementary expertise from non-software disciplines (eg the arts, humanities and social sciences), to explore new and better ways of working, meaning that the value of significant annual investment in software development in the UK can be maximised.

Feasibility studies are open to companies of all sizes, and must be business-led and collaborative. Projects can attract up to 75% public funding for SME business partners (65% for larger organisations). Total project costs should not exceed £66,666. We expect projects to last up to six months.

This competition opens on 28 May 2013. A briefing event for applicants will be held on the same day. The deadline for registration for the competition is noon on 3 July 2013, and the deadline for submission of applications is noon on 10 July 2013.

We are also launching a call for Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs), lasting up to one year, and focusing on bringing academic learning into software development business practice. The call will open in May 2013. Any organisations applying to both competitions must make sure that their proposals can stand alone and are not dependent on both applications being successful.

  • Status: Forthcoming
  • Key features: Investment of up to £1m in feasibility studies to stimulate the development of new multi-disciplinary approaches to software development.
  • Programme: Feasibility studies
  • Award: Up to £1m
  • Opens: 28 May 2013
  • Registration closes: 03 Jul 2013
  • Closes: 10 Jul 2013
  • Status: Forthcoming
  • Key features: Investment of up to £1m in feasibility studies to stimulate the development of new multi-disciplinary approaches to software development.
  • Programme: Feasibility studies
  • Award: Up to £1m

  • Opens: 28 May 2013
  • Registration closes: 03 Jul 2013
  • Closes: 10 Jul 2013

To apply, please visit the TSB’s website, or contact Research and Income Generation Support at Research and Enterprise.

Architecture student’s essay claims international Berkeley prize

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Sophia BannertA Lincoln student is celebrating international acclaim after winning the 2013 Berkeley Prize Essay Competition, awarded by the University of Berkeley in California.

Sophia Bannert, who is a third year Architecture student at the University of Lincoln, was named as a winner in the Berkeley Undergraduate Prize for Design Excellence after submitting her essay. It was selected by judges out of 152 student entries from 26 different countries.

The international competition was established in 1998 by the Department of Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley College of Environmental Design, to promote the investigation of architecture as a social art.

Each year the Essay Competition focuses on a topic important to the understanding of the interaction between people and the built world. This year, undergraduate students around the world wrote on ‘The Architect and the Accessible City’, with Sophia’s winning essay entitled ‘A Day in the Life of a Wheelchair User:  Navigating Lincoln’.

Her innovative study explores the challenges faced by wheelchair users navigating around historical cities such as Lincoln.

Sophia said: “I am honoured to have won first prize in this prestigious competition, and I intend to pursue this topic further in my future career. There is a real need for architects and designers to address the problems of rapid and unplanned urbanisation and increased longevity.

“Architecture is an inherently social art and the changing social structures of our communities need to be reflected in our built environment. We need to cherish differences; not discriminate against them. “

Sophia is currently writing another paper on the topic with her tutor Dr Amira Elnokaly, Senior Lecturer at the University of Lincoln’s School of Architecture, which will be published by the Royal College of Art and presented at the international Include Asia 2013 conference in Hong Kong later this year.

Dr Elnokaly said: “At the Lincoln School of Architecture we are absolutely delighted with Sophia’s achievement. It is a fantastic accolade, and international competitions such as this enable our students to display their wide range of talents. They provide great opportunities for the students to explore new themes, and our presentation on inclusive design at the Include Asia 2013 conference will be another valuable experience for Sophia.”

For more information and to read Sophia’s essay on accessible architecture in Lincoln, visit: http://berkeleyprize.org/competition/essay/2013/winning-essays/bannert-essay.

Elizabeth Mitchell - PR OfficerElizabeth Mitchell - PR Officer
E-mail: emitchell@lincoln.ac.uk
Telephone: 01522 837650

 

Long Term Care Revolution

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The Technology Strategy Board (TSB) is inviting applications for participation in a revolutionary sandpit workshop in the autumn (PDF, 550Kb) looking for innovative approaches to shake up conventional thinking about institutional long-term care.

The aim of this sandpit is to bring together a varied group of up to 25 individuals from across the UK with the expectation that they work together to develop radical, risky and novel ideas that can then be developed into full proposals for industry led Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) projects. Academics can be fully involved as sub-contractors in the proposals. Following the sandpit the TSB will be awarding up to £2.4 million in such projects.

The TSB is keen to attract innovative thinkers from across the full range of academic disciplines, for example, management and business studies, sociology, economics, geography, legal studies, anthropology, social policy, engineering, design, ICT, maths or creative arts.

The five-day sandpit will be held 16-20 September 2013. You can apply from 8 April 2013. The deadline for applications is noon 12 June 2013. Briefings events for potential applicants will be held in Edinburgh, Leeds and London.

Further information can be found on the TSB website

Is the UK at risk of losing its edge in creative industries?

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NESTA Manifesto for the Creative EconomyA recent report from Nesta A Manifesto for the Creative Economy, published on 23 April, warns that the UK’s early success in the creative industries could be wasted without strong action from government.

According to Nesta the UK creative economy is one of our great national strengths – providing employment for 2.5 million people and accounting for around a tenth of the economy – however policymakers ‘have failed to keep pace with developments in North America and parts of Asia,’ allowing young companies from outside the UK to dominate new markets.

In their manifesto Nesta argue that it is not too late to refresh tired policies and sets out a ten point plan to bolster the field in the face of “mounting and innovative global competition”.

The top priorities are:

  • To ensure that the next generation of the Internet is truly open. This calls for contestable creative economy markets, well supervised by competition authorities which have the information and authority to act speedily and effectively when there are concerns about market abuse.
  • All teenagers should have the opportunity to learn creative digital skills, such as designing apps and games, as part of a fusion in the curriculum covering technology and art, as well as maths, science and the humanities.
  • Policy tools designed to incentivise innovation, from tax relief to procurement rules, should be adapted to the needs of the creative economy.
  • The UK’s publicly funded creative powerhouses, from the BBC to universities, arts organisations and museums should make the most of the next generation of digital technologies.

The full report can be read here: A Manifesto for the Creative Economy