Summer 2019 | Issue 12 Research and Enterprise Newsletter
In a spin
The University has a rich history of spin-out successes and a bright future too FEATURE: A look at the unique relationship between the university and Winchester Science Centre
FEATURE: Innovative project that aims to create self-sustaining research capacity in African institutions
FEATURE: Teaching accessibility in the digital skill set
FEATURE: Making the biggest impact we can for REF 2021
Introduction
WELCOME TO RE:ACTION The theme of this issue of Re:action is the “breadth of impact” of our research and enterprise activities. Topics featured on the following pages include partnerships with major companies, the increase in spin-outs and our partnership with the Winchester Science Centre, along with several others. These are clearly a very diverse set of activities, all of which are very important, but in very different ways. There can be no doubt that the best research is conducted with a strong desire to make a difference, whether in terms of achieving a deep understanding of a particularly interesting topic or aiming to address challenges to society or the natural world, or to create new products and services. The University’s mission “to change the world for the better” endorses this approach. Research, regardless of topic, conceived and conducted with such high ambition, is best placed to deliver impact, because it is embedded throughout the project rather than being added as an afterthought. Many of our funders have sought to encourage this way of thinking by requiring a “pathways to impact” statement as part
of the initial proposal. As a University we have put a number of mechanisms in place to help researchers achieve impact from their research, and articulating this at the proposal stage, including through our Public Engagement with Research and Public Policy at Southampton Units, as well as via our enterprise strategy. The articles in this edition give clear evidence of our track record in delivering high quality and very diverse impact. The Times Higher Education Impact rankings, which place us 12th in the world, is a very welcome endorsement of at least some aspects of our efforts. As always, I hope that you enjoy this issue of Re:action, thank you to everyone who has contributed or is featured, and I very much encourage feedback and discussion. Best wishes,
Professor Mark Spearing President and Vice-Chancellor (Interim) and Vice-President (Research and Enterprise)
PLEASE SEND US YOUR FEEDBACK We are keen to receive your feedback about Re:action. If you have any ideas, comments or suggestions, please send them to reaction@southampton.ac.uk
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For further information, visit: www.southampton.ac.uk/ris
IN THIS ISSUE FEATURE
In a spin The University has a rich history of spin-out successes and a bright future too
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12
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Lifting the lid on Winchester Science Centre
Teaching accessibility in the digital skill set
Bursting bubbles to make an impact
FEATURE
A look at the unique relationship between the university and Winchester Science Centre
FEATURE
UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship awarded to Southampton academic in the field of teaching digital accessibility
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Creating capacity
REF prepares to blow the final whistle
FEATURE
Innovative project that aims to create self-sustaining research capacity in African institutions
FEATURE
Making the biggest impact we can for REF 2021
FEATURE
Research to help us understand how money is made and the effects of financial decisions on everyday life
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News in brief
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Media highlights
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Research award highlights 3
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LIFTING THE LID ON WINCHESTER SCIENCE CENTRE Winchester Science Centre (WSC) and the University of Southampton have a working relationship going back many years, but since a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was established in 2017 the affiliation between the two has taken on a new lease of life.
Unbeknown to many academics here at the University, there is a wealth of opportunity waiting to be unlocked at the Centre with regards to research, public engagement and impact. Dr Ben Littlefield, Head of Curiosity at WSC, explains, ‘Our work with the University stems from a mutual aim of increasing collegiality in public engagement. ‘What we provide for researchers is essentially a ‘translation service’, in that we work with both teams and individuals to explain and demonstrate their research and its outcomes to all audiences; it’s about making it relevant and honestly involving the public.’ 4
‘When it comes to the public we engage with at the Science Centre, our key objectives are to spark curiosity and raise science capital. And we are very lucky that we are able to work with University researchers to empower them and the public through involvement in research and research outcomes.’ Dominic Grantley-Smith, Impact Officer for WSC’s Innovation Team, regularly works at the University to meet academics and researchers to kick start discussions and potential projects together. He says, ‘It’s great to have contact as early as possible, even when funding applications are being drafted, so we can see what we can do together.’
WSC’s first major collaboration with the University was in 2015, which was with Dr Jon Dawson and Dr Steve Dorney creating the Stem Cell Mountain, a mobile hands-on exhibit that brings to life the complex idea of stem cell potential. This now award-winning exhibit has engaged festival goers at Glastonbury and Bestival, as well as science aficionados at the UK’s top Science Festivals. It resides at WSC when not on the road and its huge success was a real catalyst for more partnerships between the two organisations. The scope for possible collaborations between the WSC and University researchers encompasses a huge range, from one-off visits where an academic can talk to the public
For further information, visit: www.winchestersciencecentre.org
about their research and gain some anecdotal feedback, all the way to the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research partnering with the Centre on a major new exhibition about acoustics, part of Winchester Science Centre’s goal to be a beacon of accessibility.
people a year, 42,000 of them are school students who would benefit hugely from engaging with the stories and role models present at the University. This audience is ready to become active citizens, contributing and even shaping future research directions.
And everything in between too, such as Public Engagement Training for academics, hosting placements of both undergraduates and postgraduates, collaborating on events such as a pop-up in West Quay where academics publicise and demonstrate their research outcomes.
Ben Ward, Chief Executive of WSC, wants researchers to reach out and engage with the Centre, ‘Our charity is passionate about engaging children and their families in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM). Being able to provide the public with access to current and cutting-edge research is such an important factor and a great opportunity to showcase what’s happening right on our doorstep.’
The possibilities don’t stop there. Winchester Science Centre engages with over 200,000
Winchester Science Centre would be pleased to hear from any researchers considering public engagement. To arrange a meeting or call, please email Dominic Grantley-Smith: dom@winchestersciencecentre.org
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CREATING CAPACITY ‘Building research capacity for sustainable water and food security in sub-Saharan Africa’ (BRECcIA) is a research project with a difference, that difference being that its key aim is to develop research capacity within African institutions, which is self-sustaining. This will improve the delivery of impactful research during and beyond the project lifetime, leading to positive policy and practice change for sustainable water and food security, which will have benefits for the 270 million people living in the sub-Saharan Africa drylands.
The four-year project, funded by the UKRI Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) program, has a portfolio of activity that starts with stakeholder engagement to help identify specific research questions that are important to decision makers, communities and those who are impacted by climate change. Once research questions are identified, small research projects are co-designed between interdisciplinary teams, hand-in-hand with stakeholders so that the user perspective is kept central. In some cases, stakeholders even join these project teams to form partnerships with academic institutes that strengthen existing links and create new ones. At the heart of the BRECcIA programme, which is being led by the School of Geography and Environmental Sciences at the University of Southampton in partnership with a number of African and UK institutions, is the desire to develop the capacity of all staff engaged in the project, from senior academics to early career researchers to research managers, in the development, implementation and management of research. One key mechanism
Reduced water table levels result in congestion at water points in Kachulu along Lake Chilwa, Malawi
Project one: Comprehensive assessment of small-scale irrigation cropland using Remotely Piloted Aircrafts (RPAs) technology This research aims at utilising Remotely Piloted Aircrafts (RPAs) (“drones”) as an affordable source of remote sensing data for precision agriculture. Assessment of the level of water utilisation with a special focus on small-scale irrigation using RPAs will help to quantify the total size of land under irrigation and the size of food output to feed the growing population.
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Project two: Evaluation of land use change on water and food security in Lagha Bor Catchment, Wajir County, Kenya Kenya has a varied ecological environment, which is characterised by differences in agricultural potential and in patterns of food production. This project seeks to understand the effects of land use change and climate variability on vegetation dynamics and the impacts of long-term land use, including water development and settlement on sustainable livestock-based livelihoods.
Project three: Evidence to support policy amendment of water and food security in drylands of Malawi The management of water and food security in the drylands of Malawi remains a challenge due to limited capacity to manage disasters, risks and uncertainties associated with climate change. This project will support the security of food and water in the drylands through the provision of evidence-based information that can feed into policy amendments.
For further information, visit: www.gcrf-breccia.com
Drone image depicting complete dry up of Lake Chilwa with Chisi Island on dry land in the background – Southern Malawi (Photo credit: Mathews Tsirizeni, November, 2018)
used for this is the idea of ‘flexible funding’. This allows partners in Africa, including the University of Ghana, Kenyatta University and others, to work closely with each other to propose projects and programmes that would best assist and suit their institutions, researchers and local stakeholders. The process includes formal proposals and reviews, therefore building capacity in the area of grant writing and managing budgets, for example. A programme of capacity building activities is implemented alongside the research to strengthen existing research and management capabilities as suggested by the partners themselves. The key aims in capacity building and networking are achieved through a series of small but focused interdisciplinary research projects (see boxes). One of the key criteria for the success of the project is continuous engagement with project partners and stakeholders. As part of that engagement, a two-week Exchange, Training & Research Workshop was held in March 2019 at the University of Southampton, with the purpose of starting
Project four: Predicting water and food security in dryland regions of Kenya from spatiotemporal trends of raininduced land surface processes In the dryland regions of Kenya, agriculture and livestock breeding remain the main sources of livelihoods. Limited surface and sub-surface water sources coupled with erratic rainfall patterns required to sustain the livelihoods is often a source of competition and conflict among the rural communities. This study seeks to combine methods using remote sensing data sources, hydrological modelling approaches and socio-economic assessment techniques to assess the security of water and food.
Youth participation in tree planting in Lilongwe, Malawi
the design and collaboration on these small research projects, while also reflecting on the professional development needs of our Early Career Researchers. Feedback following the workshop indicated that the most useful sessions included many that covered generic research methods, such as ‘impact and pathways to impact’, ‘ethical considerations
for research’ and ‘career planning’. Given that the BRECcIA team is spread out across multiple countries (Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Botswana and Niger), participants appreciated having the opportunity to meet face-to-face, learn more about each other, and develop the collaborative networks that will ensure the research is sustained.
Project five: Monitoring agricultural land use change and its linkage to food security in sub-Saharan Africa To ensure food security, we must first understand where the food grows, how the agricultural land area changes and why these changes happen. This information and understanding is scarce in sub-Saharan Africa. This project aims to monitor spatial and temporal changes in agricultural land area in relation to land use and land cover change to generate agricultural extent maps, which are the first step in evaluating food production and to improving agricultural productivity.
Project six: Analysis of the contributing factors to food insecurity and the coping strategies amongst rural communities in the arid regions of Marsabit, Kenya In sub-Saharan Africa, climate change is one of the drivers of vulnerability of the livelihoods of local communities. To alleviate the impacts of climate change, communities have developed adaptive strategies and practices. This research seeks to understand how climate variability in arid regions has influenced food security and how in turn the variability in food security affects existing social structures.
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IN A SPIN
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For further information, visit: www.southampton.ac.uk/business/commercialisation
are two due to complete shortly and the healthy pipeline includes two more due to be completed by the end of year.
The University has a 20-year history of spin-out successes. Even though we’re only at the half-way point, 2019 is looking to be a record year. So, what is a favourable environment to induce and nurture a spin-out – a business that has developed from another organisation – and why the recent upsurge? We talked to some of the people instrumental in supporting spin-outs from within the University and asked them to tell us the secret. ‘Building on our successful record of spin-outs, recent changes and developments in the research and enterprise environment here have resulted in a groundswell of spin-out activity and interest. The growth has been fantastic to see.’ David Woolley, Technology Transfer Manager, Research and Innovation Services. The University’s investment in support for spin-outs really started in the early 2000s and grew further with the forming of an innovative relationship with IP Group in 2002, creating a dedicated fund to support our spin-outs. One of the earlier spin-outs was Ilika Technologies Ltd which Professor Brian Hayden founded in 2004 from the School of Chemistry. The company quickly established an international reputation for the rapid development of new materials for energy and electronics applications. It went on to secure commercial partnerships with a portfolio of blue-chip companies including Shell, Toyota and Murata Manufacturing. In 2010 it floated on the London Stock Exchange (AIM) and now has operations in USA, China and Japan with its head office here in the UK (Romsey, Hampshire) after many years on the University of Southampton Science Park. Brian’s initiative has been a wonderful example of how innovative research can lead to successful enterprise, with secondments, studentships, research collaborations, consultancy and facilities access contributing to the School of Chemistry’s economy and a powerful Research Excellence Framework (REF) impact case study.
Professor Ian Williams, Associate Dean Enterprise within the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, explains, ‘There are a number of contributing factors which are crucial to the spin-out environment, not least the hard work and dedication of teams across the whole University. ‘At the heart is the University’s approach to enterprise activity. Our overarching drive has historically been to ensure that our research is of the highest quality. We have underpinned our range of education programmes with our contemporary research activities. We work hard to generate levels of funding to maximise the volume of research we can sustainably undertake. This has led to an increasingly stable and supportive research environment, giving us more confidence to put forward research with spin-out potential.’ ‘This confidence is reflected by our researchers, who have a greater understanding of enterprise at the University and how our professional services and mentors can support them. In addition, the faculties are demonstrating an increased appetite and enthusiasm to consider spinning out research as an option. And initiatives such as Future Worlds – a unique and vibrant startup accelerator that helps nurture aspiring entrepreneurs and cutting-edge technologies – are enabling us to fast-track ideas to the market place.’ Professor Williams credits the REF and its drive for impact as a contributing factor, ‘The need for academics and researchers to really consider the impact of their research thanks to REFs 2013 and 2021 has led, I believe, to a real joining of the dots for many academics. There has been realisation that the ‘product’ of their research could be sold, and jobs could be created.’
“ Our overarching drive has historically been to ensure that our research is of the highest quality.” Professor Ian Williams Associate Dean Enterprise
After a period of a relatively small number of spin-outs, 2016 saw an upturn and started a movement that has gathered pace and has led to the current bumper year. This year two spin-outs have completed already, there
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spin-outs created
£3.2m+ from equity sales
The professional services across the University play an integral role when it comes to spin-outs. Teams such as Research and Innovation Services (RIS), Finance, Faculty Operating Services, Southampton Enterprise Board and others have streamlined their processes when working together in recent years resulting in quicker and more effective progression of potential spin-outs. The incredible dedication and effort from these teams to “get things over the line” has been instrumental in the recent upsurge. Professor Williams also commends the University patent panels, co-ordinated expertly by Laura Keene from RIS, for the recent rise in enterprise activities. ‘Our patent panels consist of practitioner academics from across the University, who are tasked with making good, high quality and commercially driven patent decisions – these patents often lead to spin-out companies being formed.’ Diana Galpin, Head of Technology Transfer and Impact Programmes in RIS believes a successful spin-out is not just about the technology. ‘Yes, it might be exciting and new but ‘so what?’. There is a real need to clearly articulate a compelling business plan demonstrating what the product is, what is the real benefit of the technology over others, who would buy it, what is the market potential and what is the development pathway to get it to market. Most will need some investment and getting the right team in place with the essential business skills is vital. That’s why the ecosystem available to our researchers is so important.’ SETsquared, the global number one university business incubator and enterprise partnership comprising five research-intensive universities including Southampton, and its ICURe programme, play a vital role. The main aim of ICURe is to support teams of academic researchers wishing to explore the commercial potential of their research. It improves commercial awareness and develops and enhances the entrepreneurial skills of early career researchers to strengthen links between academic and industrial communities. SETsquared also runs a comprehensive range of programmes to boost businesses to the next level which can support spin-
£65.5m investment since 2011
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£44.9m
value of EPSRC projects with spin-out as a partner
£12.7m income from spin-outs
£7.2m Innovate Grants (£2m to UoS)
outs once they have been formed. The University of Southampton Science Park also provides a stimulating environment for early stage businesses with its Catalyst Programme designed to get great fledgling ideas to market quickly. Investment in our spin-outs often comes from the IP Group with whom we have a strategic framework agreement. IP Group provides invaluable support and funding, as well as lots of practical help and contacts in areas such as licensing and finding the right team for a company. The long-term relationship means there is a real depth of understanding in terms of what the University is trying to achieve with its research in the wider world and as such the IP Group is a key enabler of those goals and endeavors. Critically for companies, they are a strategic long-term investor with the ability to provide additional funding at later stage investment rounds. They don’t invest in all our opportunities however and increasingly we are seeing interest from other investment funds, private investors and corporates with three recent spin-outs securing more than £5m investment this way. Pre-spin, the University has UKRI Impact Acceleration Accounts and the Z21 Innovation Fund which support proof of concept and development. Diana and the team continue to work with the companies after they have spun out. She sees first-hand the continuing benefits for both the University and the companies themselves. ‘Most of our spin-outs will continue to work with the University in a variety of ways including consultancy, facilities access and office space, research agreements and collaboration on other funding such as Innovate UK. They are also frequently a natural licensee for future technology that we develop. A prime example of this is the close working relationship we have with Lumenisity which span out in February 2017. Lumenisity has sponsored more than £1.2m of research, pays for access to our specialist facilities at the Optoelectronics Research Centre and has taken a license to three additional patents.’ Professor Williams summarises, ‘When spin-out ideas and plans are pitched into our very supportive environment and when all the tools and teams are utilised, it leads to more and more successes. I am sure this increase will continue and gather more pace. It is inspiring to be involved in such an active and lively research and enterprise environment.’ If you would like any more information or to have a chat with someone regarding a new technology transfer or IP please email intellectualproperty@soton.ac.uk
For further information, visit: www.southampton.ac.uk/business/commercialisation
AudioScenic (March 2019) Researchers raised £500,000 to deliver an immersive 3D audio technology which aims to become the ‘gold standard’ for future sound systems. AudioScenic, now with three members of staff, combines academic expertise with commercial leadership and will use the investment from the IP Group to bring the innovation to market with support from Future Worlds. AudioScenic’s technology uses destructive and constructive sound cancellation techniques to produce realistic 3D audio from a single, compact soundbar. The system uses complex image
Accelercom (December 2016) The next generation of mobile Internet – 5G – will make smartphone downloads ten times quicker and enable the Internet of things to give us more control over our environment. Professor Rob Maunder in Electronics and Computer Science is applying his pioneering research into making mobile Internet faster and more stable through the spin-out company he founded with seed investment from IP Group – Accelercom Ltd which recently closed their Series B round and now employs 20 staff. Its Fully-parallel Turbo Decoder speeds up the flow
processing from an integrated camera to track the listener’s head as it moves and project an updated sound field in real time. Co-founder Dr Marcos Simón, a Research Fellow within the Institute for Sound and Vibration Research, said: ‘Our technology can perfectly reproduce 3D audio, offering listeners a personalised experience akin to someone whispering in your ear. Similar techniques have been very cumbersome in the past, requiring a complex setup or bulky headphones, and have now been achieved in a simple and elegant manner.’
of information from the Cloud to devices by making the ‘pipeline’ (decoders) work in parallel to achieve a flow rate of 10 gigabits per second with a delay or lag (latency) of only one millisecond. Rob started his career as an undergraduate at Southampton, stayed on as a postgraduate PhD researcher and has remained as an academic. ‘I talk to colleagues at other universities about enterprise and entrepreneurship and believe we are wellpositioned to offer our talented students practical support through our in-house organisations such as Future Worlds.’
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TEACHING ACCESSIBILITY IN THE DIGITAL SKILL SET Digital technologies have revolutionised daily life. Yet capacity for accessible tools and services has not kept pace with demand, resulting in the digital exclusion of disabled people and ageing populations. For example, with the recent roll out of Universal Credit, claimants with learning disabilities found online sessions repeatedly time-out before they could complete their applications. With this kind of design failure, are there persistent gaps in digital developer education?
Disability affects more than one in five people in the UK, 13.9m people (Family Resources Survey, 2016/17). Rates of internet use among disabled and older people remain lower than those of the general population. 22% of disabled adults have never used the internet (ONS, 2017). Globally, this digital divide is even more pronounced. In industry, the need for skills development is acute. In a survey of industry leaders including Apple, Adobe, Facebook, Google and Microsoft, by the US industry-led Teach Access Initiative reported that 63% of companies say their current staff don’t have sufficient 12
accessible technology skills, whilst 93% say demand for accessibility skills will increase in the future (PEAT, 2018). In the UK, digital exclusion has legal, societal and economic implications. In the public sector, the urgent need for accessibility capacity has a renewed legal impetus. EU Directive 2016.2102 on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies sets new standards and requirements for ICT. This will impact upon some 44,000 UK public sector websites from September 2019. Grassroots demand for courses and learning materials is also strong among developer communities. The University of Southampton’s introductory FutureLearn Digital
For further information, visit: https://teachingaccessibility.soton.ac.uk
22%
93%
22% of disabled adults in the UK have never used the internet (ONS, 2017)
93% of companies say demand for accessibility skills will increase in the future (PEAT, 2018)
Accessibility MOOC has received 10,000+ registrations from over 150 countries across three iterations. However, despite the social cost and a trajectory of growing demand, we currently lack a detailed understanding of the teaching and learning characteristics (the pedagogies) of accessibility education and how digital accessibility can be effectively taught and scaled. ‘Teaching Accessibility in the Digital Skill Set’ sets out to address this urgent issue. Dr Sarah Lewthwaite’s project proposes an ambitious programme of research to establish a new body of knowledge that will enhance the teaching competencies of digital accessibility educators and professionals. It will broaden engagement with evidence-based pedagogy among accessibility professionals to create new learning and teaching networks, as well as establish accessibility education as a research field. Previous work by Dr Lewthwaite, Research Fellow within the University’s Centre for Research in Inclusion, suggests that teaching accessibility requires a unique mix of interdisciplinary theoretical understanding, procedural knowledge and technical competence. The pedagogic challenges reflect a rapidly changing technological context, lack of formal curriculum and struggles for visibility beyond a sub-group of Human Computer Interaction. Many learners self-teach, reliant on Web Standards guidance that prescribe limited pedagogic practices. Contrary to inclusive practices, they can encounter one-size-fits-all teaching. To address this urgent issue, Teaching Accessibility shifts the focus from a limiting ‘what-works’ discourse to that of a learning ecology. It connects accessibility with advances in pedagogic research in inclusion, disability studies and related disciplines. Engagement and collaboration are fundamental to the research design, which builds upon existing links with accessibility teachers, researchers, professionals and strategists through organisations such as AbilityNet, The Paciello Group, Teach Access and others. Alongside more traditional impact activities, the design also prioritises inclusive methods, accessible knowledge exchange and transformative dialogue. These ‘methods that teach’ (Nind and Lewthwaite, 2018) foster pedagogic culture and establish self-sustaining learning networks as the project surfaces and develops the pedagogies necessary to effective training and capacity building for education in digital accessibility.
Dr Sarah Lewthwaite has been awarded one of the first UK Research and Innovation Future Leaders Fellowships for her innovative work in the field of teaching digital accessibility. Dr Lewthwaite is one of the first 50 academics in the UK to be awarded a Future Leaders Fellowship (FLF). The UKRI scheme aims to grow the strong supply of talented researchers needed to ensure that UK research and innovation continues to be world class. The four-year project, which received over £650,000 from UKRI, will establish digital accessibility education as a field of academic research and forge new collaborations and dialogue between academia and industry. Dr Lewthwaite is developing a world-leading research team with a mission to develop graduate and workforce capacity for accessibility, and reduce digital exclusion in the UK and elsewhere to ensure that technology can be harnessed more effectively for all, now and in the future. “I am delighted to bring this funding and fellowship to Southampton, to build on the excellent work already happening here in inclusion and digital accessibility education,” said Dr Lewthwaite. “This is a huge opportunity to make a real difference to how accessibility teachers, trainers and peer-educators develop their practice, at a critical moment for UK digital tools and services.”
References Department for Work and Pensions (2017) Family Resources Survey 2016/17. London. DWP. Office for National Statistics (2018) Statistical Bulletin: Internet Users, UK: 2018. London: ONS. Accessible Technology Skills Gap Report, PEAT, 2018. Available: https://www.peatworks.org/skillsgap/report [Accessed, 9 Jan., 2019] Lewthwaite, S. & Sloan, D. (2016) Exploring pedagogical culture for accessibility education in Computing Science. Proceedings of the 13th Web4All Conference. NY: ACM. Nind, M. & Lewthwaite, S. (2018) ‘Methods that teach: Developing pedagogic research methods, developing pedagogy’. International Journal of Research and Method in Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/1743727X.2018.1427057 13
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REF PREPARES TO BLOW THE FINAL WHISTLE We’re on the home straight for REF 2021, but we still have time to make an even bigger impact. As we enter the final year of generating our body of impact for the second Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021), Impact Framework Manager David Steynor explains the significance of the exercise, describes the University’s final steps in maximising the quality of our submission and outlines our approach to future impact assessment. David Steynor
‘Impact’ in REF is assessed through five-page ‘impact case studies’ that describe the real-life benefits of our research.
“ The key driver is the world-leading research undertaken by the academics themselves.” David Steynor Impact Framework Manager
As David explains, the importance of these being high quality cannot be understated. He said: “As with the other components of REF – namely Outputs and Environment – the four-star quality rating system for Impact is heavily weighted towards the top, with a 4* ‘outstanding’ impact case study being worth four times as much as a 3* ‘very considerable’ one. We expect the REF panels to take the same approach as last time in allowing half scores to be given (3.5, 2.5, etc.) but even these incremental differences have significant financial and reputational implications.” So what does this mean in absolute monetary terms? “Each 4* impact case study will be worth anything from £750,000 to £2.5 million to the University over the expected period informed by REF 2021, depending on the research discipline. A drop to a 3.5 rating would wipe
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more than a third off this value – almost £1 million in some cases – and a 3*-rated impact case study would only be worth a quarter of the top-rated ones. A 2.5-rated case study would be worth half again, and anything rated below this would be worth no money at all. Fortunately, we don’t expect to have any case studies towards this lower end. “There is also a significant reputational value to the scores, most notably those published in the Times Higher Education Table of Excellence, which will be used for league tables as a key performance metric until a new assessment is undertaken in a few years’ time. This recycling of metrics year-on-year from a single exercise means it’s imperative we get it right with the one shot that we have.” Where is the University of Southampton at in its preparations? “We completed a review of our draft impact case studies earlier this year. The scores and feedback proved very promising for our REF 2021 submission, but what was especially
For further information, visit: www.ref.ac.uk
heartening is that we had one-and-a-half times as many drafts as we will ultimately need to submit. These in turn were selected from a larger pool of potential cases. While it is a shame that we cannot submit them all, undertaking review exercises such as this provides us with proven good news stories that we will use to promote the benefits of our research through other public-facing channels.” What happens between now and the REF submission date? “The seven-year period over which our impact must be demonstrated ends on 31 July 2020, with the final submission date on 27 November 2020. We must make the most of this final year to push the reach and significance over those all-important starred boundaries, and solicit all the evidence necessary to corroborate the claims we are making. In most cases this evidence has already been obtained, but in others it has been best to wait until all the impact has been generated before approaching key research users for their testimony. “There will be a final review to determine those impact case studies we believe have the best chance of achieving the top score in the REF, before we work with the authors to ensure these are presented in the most compelling way.” David attributes Southampton’s success in impact to the dedication of the research and professional community. “We are fortunate to have established mechanisms for impact generation – from the Public Engagement with Research Unit and Public Policy at Southampton, to RIS’s Technology Transfer and Corporate Partnerships functions, and the investment opportunities offered through Future Worlds. Our REF preparations are bolstered by the hard work of our academic Impact Champions, and the recruitment of permanent Faculty-based REF Officers has been a boon to the process of engaging directly with impact case study authors. “But of course, the key driver is the worldleading research undertaken by the academics themselves.” And what about the future? “As soon as the current REF period for impact generation ends, the next one will begin on 1 August 2020. Evidence gathering is already taking place for this, as we need to corroborate the pathway from the research to the impact as it happens. This translational pathway for our next body of impact has been well underway for years, and we’re well geared-up for the next round, whatever shape it will take!” 15
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BURSTING BUBBLES TO MAKE AN IMPACT Money makes the world go round infiltrating nearly every aspect of our lives. Yet our understanding of how money is actually made by the financial sector, and the effects of financial decisions on our everyday lives, is often surprisingly sparse. In her two collaborative research projects, Show Me the Money: the Image of Finance and The History of Financial Advice, Professor Nicky Marsh has explored the answers that a wide range of literary and visual cultures have provided to these questions about what money is and how it functions. These projects, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, have had a far-reaching impact, with tens of thousands of people engaging with them over the past five years. In 2014, Nicky, Professor of English and newlyappointed Associate Dean (Research) for the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, co-curated the Show Me the Money exhibition, charting how the financial world has been imagined through art, illustrations, photography and other visual media in Britain and the United States from 1700 to the present day. It included more than 1,000 artefacts. The exhibition traced a number of themes, including the association of debt with death and the association of credit with escape, made most evident in the recurring image of the bubble and balloon. Since 2016, Nicky has led on The History of Financial Advice, producing a comprehensive history of the emergence of the genre of personal financial advice and explaining for the first time how lay people are trained to understand and enter the financial marketplace. Credit Cultures, Nicky’s book discussing the history of money in 20th century America, will be published by Cambridge University Press in early 2020. Nicky’s research is now moving on to look at alternative currencies. Examples include local trading organisations, cooperative movements and artistic movements that have used everything from vouchers to grain to mobile phone data as forms of currency. 16
organisations in London and Edinburgh, talking to industry professionals about both their own histories and how lay people understand money and the market. She has created an annotated archive of financial advice with the Library of Mistakes in Edinburgh, a reference library for financial professionals. The archive is already being used by finance professionals and was written about in glowing terms in The Financial Times.
Professor Nicky Marsh
Far-reaching impact The impact of Nicky’s research is clear. The exhibition toured the UK and had over 50,000 visitors. Another 10,000 visited the exhibition’s website or downloaded the associated app, which was aimed at children. When it opened, Show Me the Money was named the ‘Best Exhibition’ in the UK by The Times. Since it ended in 2016, Nicky has produced a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) that is running through Future Learn. The course attracted participants from 112 countries when it ran in March and at least two more runs are planned. Nicky’s research has not only influenced the general public. She has also worked with artists, art galleries, theatre-makers and film festivals, with financial educational charities, financial libraries, financial regulators, and with professional financial advisors. She has produced lesson plans with Young Money that provide, for the first time, a political and cultural context for understanding money. She has given workshops to financial
“The response to our work has really taken me by surprise,” said Nicky. “We thought there would be some resistance to using culture to talk about money, but actually people are very open to the idea that narratives and images allow us to access complex ideas and can give real meaning to the abstractions of finance.” Show Me the Money will be submitted to next year’s Research Excellence Framework as an Impact Case Study. “Our impact lies in making people understand how money is really made and what the languages and images of the market tell us about that,” explained Nicky. “It’s important to match your evaluation to the activity quite carefully. We understand and measure our impact according to the very different constituencies that we are trying to work with. Things like the MOOC and the lesson plans provide us with quantitative data whereas our impact on industry professionals relies on evidence that they have changed their practice in some way.” Nicky added that working with charities taught her how to produce a Theory of Change and assessing how her research was working was invaluable. “By evaluating the impact of the research early on, I could understand what was working and what was not,” she said. “It allows you to change course if you need to, and enables you to be more targeted in your activities.”
For further information, visit: http://imageoffinance.com
The Great American Bubble Machine, by Molly Crabapple
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News in brief
NEWS IN BRIEF
WRITING COMPETITION
TIMES HIGHER THE DIESEL EDUCATION AND DEMENTIA IMPACT RANKINGS LINK We are proud to have rated highly in a new ranking system that captures universities’ impact on society and success in delivering the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
A Southampton researcher has been awarded £186,295 to further investigate the link between diesel pollution and the development of dementia.
We ranked
We ranked in the
overall in the University Impact Rankings
for ‘Decent Work and Economic Growth’
She said: “My group has been the first to demonstrate that tiny channels within the walls of cerebral blood vessels serve as conduits for the elimination of waste from the brain, effectively lymphatic drainage pathways, with the scientific name of “intramural periarterial drainage” (IPAD) pathways.
12th
TOP 10
We ranked 12th overall in the University Impact Rankings compiled and published by Times Higher Education (THE). THE used data submitted by 462 universities to assess their performance against 11 of the 17 SDGs to demonstrate the impact universities have on society and communities, beyond core teaching and research activities. We ranked in the top 10 for ‘Decent Work and Economic Growth’, measuring universities’ employment practices and for ‘Climate Action’ focused on energy usage and preparations for dealing with the consequences of climate change. Our work in sustainable approaches to resources, from ethical sourcing of food, to waste disposals was also recognised with a high ranking for ‘Responsible Consumption and Production’. 18
Roxana Carare, Professor of Neuroanatomy, is working with a group of researchers to analyse the effect that diesel pollution has on the capacity of the brain to eliminate waste and, therefore, accelerate the development of dementia.
“In this consortium our role will be to analyse the effects of pollution on these pathways and whether the elimination of waste from the brain is impacted upon by diesel exhaust fumes.” The project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. You can read more about the project at www.cararegroup.org.
The University of Southampton has been running a series of writing competitions aimed at students as well as other writers to create a cultural body of work that showcases what a sustainable society might look like. Research by Dr Denise Baden, from Southampton Business School, shows that that solution-based stories, or stories that smuggle in green ideas and/or characters in an otherwise mainstream story, are more likely to inspire greener behaviours than catastrophic tales of climate change. Thus creating a cultural body of work that presents positive visions of sustainable societies, which will help to enable a shift towards a more sustainable society. The writing competition asks writers to check out transformative solutions on the website www.greenstories.org.uk and integrate them into their story. A rom-com, for example, could be set in a sharing economy that replaces ownership with borrowing; the hero in a crime drama could use a carboncredit card; a family drama could be set in a society where people have gardens on their roofs, use green technologies, eat insect burgers and generate energy from their own waste and so on. The next round of competitions asks for plays, radio plays, novels, screenplays, TV series, short films, and interactive fiction. All competitions are free to enter with prizes and publication/production opportunities via BBC Writer’s Room, agents and production companies. Deadlines run from June to December 2019. For more information please contact greenstories@soton.ac.uk
For further information, visit: www.southampton.ac.uk/ris
TOWN HALL SESSIONS AND THE FUTURE INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON Constructive feedback and advice on priority areas received included, to name a few: improving our global standing; stronger engagement with our alumni; research into online education courses; making courses more international; enabling ambassadors to promote the University overseas; summer school programmes; study abroad programmes; programme fee reviews and generally, the difference you can make towards internationalisation in your day-to-day role.
EU HORIZON 2020 FUNDING AND BREXIT On 10th April the EU and UK agreed to a flexible extension of Article 50 until 31st October 2019. The UK can continue to apply to all Horizon 2020 calls, including first stage deadlines until the date we leave the EU (31st October 2019). The extension means UK institutions are now eligible to apply for and host the following calls: – ERC Advanced Grant Call now open, deadline 29th August 2019 – Marie Curie Individual Fellowship Call now open, deadline 11th September 2019 – ERC Starting Grant The deadline is usually October, however if this were delayed to November the following would apply: If UK leaves EU with a deal: The UK will be able to participate in all H2020 calls, under the transition period (until the end of 2020). The intention is for the UK to become an Associated Country during this period, which would ensure the UK could participate in the next Framework Programme starting in 2021 (Horizon Europe). If the UK leaves EU without a deal on 31st October or before: The UK will be able to continue to participate in collaborative calls as a Third Country, including as coordinator, as long as the minimum eligibility criteria are met (e.g. at least three legal entities from three different EU Member States or Associated Countries). For fellowship schemes, this means that until an agreement is reached, the UK would not be able to host ERC fellows or Marie Curie Individual Fellows. The UK Research Office provides a briefing note that is kept up to date with the latest developments. If you are interested in applying or have any questions, please contact soton-eu-office@soton.ac.uk
‘Recently, more than 250 students and colleagues joined me for one of seven local town hall sessions. I was genuinely encouraged and professionally enthused by the shared commitment expressed by those that attended and strongly felt the passion to work towards a truly global university here at Southampton. The sessions were organised to avidly listen to views and thoughts on internationalisation which has helped contribute towards the next iteration of the international strategy (2019–2026) for the University of Southampton.
I’ve incorporated many of the ideas above in the refreshed international strategy, and I aim to run a few more town hall sessions to share this strategy and gain further feedback. So please look out for the SUSSED posts in the new academic year. One of the key themes of our international strategy is embedding internationalisation through institutional leadership, governance, faculties, students, and all professional and academic services. It’s about the difference we can all make which contribute towards a truly global university. Internationalisation begins at home.’ Winnie Eley Vice President (International)
DID YOU KNOW…? Pseudonymised data is still personal data under GDPR General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came in to force just over a year ago. This regulates all transfers of Personal Data by any organisation in the EU. GDPR has become part of the Data Protection Act 2018, so it will still apply to the UK after Brexit. An important aspect to remember is that identifying data that is pseudonymised (e.g. the identifying characteristic like a name is replaced with a code) is still personal data and the data protection
legislation still applies to how it is treated. Even though this is a very important step to handling personal data more securely you must still handle pseudonymised data with care and diligence and in accordance with the legislation. If you think this might apply to your research, please visit: https://intranet.soton.ac.uk/sites/gdpr/ Pages/Home.aspx for more info and remember to state this in your ERGO applications and research contract requests!
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Media highlights
MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
EVIDENCE THAT ROGUE WAVES ARE BECOMING MORE EXTREME Widespread media coverage followed the publication of joint research between the University of Southampton and the National Oceanography Centre, led by Southampton PhD researcher Alex
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Cattrell. The story featured widely across the BBC, including the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, BBC World Service Newsday, BBC Online, bulletins on BBC R2 and R3.
For further information, visit: www.southampton.ac.uk/news
CANCER RISK COMPARING WINE AND CIGARETTES Research by Dr Theresa Hydes and Dr Nick Sheron, Faculty of Medicine, estimated the risk of cancer associated with drinking moderate levels of alcohol, and compared this to the risk of cancer associated with smoking. The story featured in media around the world resulting in over 520 separate media articles.
CBT TO AID PATIENTS WITH IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME Following a successful media briefing hosted by the Science Media Centre involving lead Southampton academic Dr Hazel Everitt (Medicine), research reporting the successful use of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to treat IBS was published in all major national newspapers including the front page of the Daily Telegraph, mentioned in hourly news bulletins across the BBC.
STUDY PREDICTS SHIFT TO SMALLER ANIMALS OVER NEXT CENTURY Research by academics in Geography and Biological Sciences predicting the decline of larger, less adaptable species due to climate change, secured coverage around the
world with major features in The Guardian, Newsweek, The Independent and CNN amongst others, as well as interviews by researchers with regional radio in the UK.
HOSPITALS RUNNING WITH NURSE STAFFING LEVELS THAT PUT PATIENT LIVES AT RISK Major media coverage followed the publication of a study launched by Professor Jane Ball (Health Sciences) and colleagues at Southampton and Bangor reflecting the reasons why recommendations made by the Francis Inquiry have not been followed through. The report featured on the front page of The Mirror and covered across the BBC, nationally and regionally, with significant articles in the Daily Mail, The Independent, The Times, Nursing Standard, Nursing Times and others.
ESTABLISHING AFRICA’S FIRST BLAST INJURY RESEARCH NETWORK The University is establishing a new SubSaharan Africa Blast Injury Research Network to maximise the impact of research through engagement with in-country stakeholders across multiple sectors. The Network hosted its first Blast Injury Workshop in South
Africa in March, in collaboration with the Blast Impact and Survivability Research Unit (BISRU) at the University of Cape Town. The Workshop featured on Channel Africa radio, the international broadcasting service of the South African Broadcasting Company. 21
Research award highlights
RESEARCH AWARD HIGHLIGHTS FACULTY OF ARTS AND HUMANITIES
FACULTY OF MEDICINE
Prof Tim Bergfelder – Co-I/Beneficiary; School of Humanities Film Studios: Infrastructure, Culture, Innovation in Britain, France, Germany and Italy, 1930-60 (STUDIOTEC) European Commission; £334,332 over 60 months
Prof Caroline Fall; Human Development and Health Pregnancy Interventions In Mothers Relating to Diabetes in Asian India and Low-income countries (The PRIMORDIAL Study) MRC; £9,254 over 36 months
Professor Daniel Whiting, Department of Philosophy, School of Humanities Higher-Order Evidence in Epistemology, Ethics, and Aesthetics AHRC Research Networking Scheme; £35,771 over 24 months
Prof Graham Burdge; Human Development and Health How does polyunsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis regulate T lymphocyte function? BBSRC; £516,138 over 36 months
Dr Jill Doubleday; School of Humanities Oral skills development in pre-sessional EAP classes and student transition to academic disciplines: an investigation in Anglophone and non-Anglophone EMI settings British Council; £1,845 over 7 months
Prof Paul Little and Dr Adam Geraghty; Primary Care and Population Sciences NIHR PGfAR – REducing Common infections in Usual practice for Recurrent respiratory tract infections (RECUR) (November 2017) National Institute of Health Research; £1,983,982 over 60 months
Dr Rachel Bynoe; School of Humanities Strategic Support for Marine Development ManagementPalaeoarchaeology & Landscape English Heritage; £17,608 over 12 months
Prof Paul Roderick; Primary Care and Population Sciences NHS (via University of Portsmouth) – Understanding the role of the Hampshire Care and Health Information Exchange in changing clinical practice: a realist evaluation (November 2017) NHS England; £1,953 over 6 months
Dr Rachel Bynoe; School of Humanities Investigating submerged landscapes at Happisburgh Society Of Antiquaries Of London; £4,834 over 9 months Dr Sarah Hayden; School of Humanities Voices in the Gallery: Reading Unseen Texts AHRC; £184,723 over 24 months Dr Eleanor Quince; School of Humanities ‘SOLD! The Year of the Dealer’ AHRC; £8,218 over 12 months
Prof Philip Calder; Human Development and Health Establishing a collaboration to enable effective nutritional targeting of age-related immune decline and intestinal microbial dysbiosis MRC; £290,039 over 36 months Prof Hazel Inskip; MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, Human Development and Health Cohort and Longitudinal Studies Enhancement Resources (CLOSER) ESRC; £18,454 over 12 months Prof Alexander Mirnezami; Cancer Sciences Immune Phenotyping and Repertoire in Colorectal Cancer with Microsatellite Instability Bowel Disease Research Foundation; £29,900 over 24 months Prof Peter Johnson; Cancer Sciences Senior Research Nurse Cancer Research UK; £404,733 over 60 months Prof Peter Johnson; Cancer Sciences Bioinformatics in the CRUK Centre Cancer Research UK; £221,382 over 24 months Prof Peter Johnson; Cancer Sciences CRUK Clinical Academic Training Programme Award Cancer Research UK; £1,280,000 over 84 months
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For further information, visit: www.southampton.ac.uk/research
Dr Judith Eckert; Human Development and Health H2020-MSCA ITN-DohART-J Eckert-17.01.18 European Commission; £242,537 over 48 months Prof Roxana-Octavia Carare; Clinical and Experimental Sciences H2020-TUBE-LC-MG-2018-R Carare-30.01.18 European Commission; £186,296 over 48 months Prof Sarah Ennis; Human Development and Health Genomics of Peritoneal Malignancy including rare forms of Mesothelioma Mesothelioma UK; £19,926 over 18 months Prof Richard Oreffo; Human Development and Health Correlative In Vivo Fluorescence and Micro-Computed Tomographic Imaging of Tissue Structure and Function BBSRC; £602,994 over 12 months Prof Benjamin Macarthur; Human Development and Health Alan Turing Fellowship Alan Turing Institute; £9,798 over 24 months
Dr Brigitte Vollmer; Associate Professor of Neonatal and Paediatric Neurology, Clinical and Experimental Sciences Action Medical Research: Neurodevelopmental trajectories and neural correlates in children with Neonatal Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy Action Research; £180,785 over 36 months Dr Sara Morgan; Primary Care and Population Sciences The policies and practices of Operation Encompass: a national qualitative study of a police-education child safeguarding initiative Operation Encompass; £20,000 over 12 months Dr Zoe Walters and Dr Juliet Gray; Human Development and Health Combination therapy in NB Neuroblastoma Society; £5,000 over 12 months Dr Jorn Lakowski; Clinical and Experimental Sciences Modelling retinitis pigmentosa associated cone photoreceptor death using stem cell derived organoids The Academy of Medical Sciences; £98,497 over 24 months
Dr Jane Cleal; Human Development and Health Functional gene mapping of the endometrial phenotype involved in successful pregnancy: combining 3D imaging and single cell transcriptomics Wellbeing of Women; £192,724 over 36 months Prof Salim Khakoo; Clinical and Experimental Sciences Targeting natural killer cell receptors for immunotherapeutic benefit MRC; £489,988 over 36 months Prof Graham Roberts; Human Development and Health H2020-3TR-JTI-IMI2-2018-14-G European Commission; £162,498 over 84 months Dr Jonathan Dawson; Human Development and Health Harnessing clay nanoparticles for stem-cell driven tissue regeneration EPSRC; £642,153 over 36 months Dr Salah Mansour; Clinical and Experimental Sciences Investigating CD1c lipid-antigen presentation and its role in tuberculosis MRC New Investigator Research Grant; £863,858 over 48 months Prof Gareth Thomas; Cancer Sciences Combination immunotherapy for breast cancer: targeting cancerassociated fibroblasts to improving therapeutic vaccination Cancer Research UK; £263,272 over 36 months
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Research award highlights FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND LIFE SCIENCES Mr Christopher Hill; GeoData, School of Geography & Environmental Science Natural England/Environment Agency – Functional Wetland Mosaic Research Natural England and Environment Agency; £9,850 over 3 months. Prof Matthew Terry; School of Biological Sciences SOS for plant stress: singlet oxygen signalling pathways mediating stress acclimation in plants Royal Society; £9,530 over 24 months Dr Bronagh Walsh; School of Health Sciences HS&DR Project:16/116/43 – The dynamics of frailty in older people: modelling impact on health care demand and outcomes to inform service planning and commissioning. National Institute of Health Research; £765,328.47 over 36 months Dr Amritpal Mudher; School of Biological Sciences Dissecting the mechanisms underpinning propagation of tau pathology in vivo Alzheimers Research UK; £49,785 over 12 months Prof Jadunandan Dash; School of Geography & Environmental Science Ground-Based Observations for Validation Component 1 and 2 European Research Council; £84,487 over 12 months Prof Claire Foster; School of Health Sciences Cancer Nursing Across Boundaries: Evaluation of promoting integrated working using boundary spanning nursing roles Health Education England Wessex; £128,000 over 24 months Prof Alberto Naveira Garabato; School of Ocean and Earth Science Building resilience in Galapagos ecosystems management to severe climate change (R-GEMS) Royal Society; £260,020 over 30 months Dr Ivan Haigh; School of Ocean and Earth Science NSFGEO-NERC: CHANCE – Understanding compound flooding in the past, present and future for North Atlantic coastlines Natural Environment Research Council; £481,259 over 36 months Prof Jeremy S Webb; School of Biological Sciences National Biofilms Innovation Centre NBIC Flexible Talent Mobility Account BBSRC; £200,000 over 29 months Dr Jo Slater-Jefferies; School of Biological Sciences International Workshop Award: Building a globally leading partnership between NBIC and CBE international biofilm centres BBSRC; £10,000 over 12 months Prof Jeremy S Webb; School of Biological Sciences A high-content screen from novel small molecules that inhibit antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection Wessex Medical Trust; £20,000 over 24 months Dr Ben Ward; School of Ocean and Earth Science The roles of environment, ecology and evolution in the assembly of plankton communities Royal Society; £101,015 over 48 months 24
Prof Graham Moon; School of Geography & Environmental Science Local Authority Health Literacy Estimates Health Education England – CENTRAL; £15,779 over 6 months Dr Jana Kreppner; School of Psychology On-Line Parent Training for the Initial Management of ADHD referral (OPTIMA) National Institute of Health Research; £375,371 over 63 months Dr Thomas Gernon; School of Ocean and Earth Science Machine Learning of Seismicity Induced by Hydraulic Fracturing Alan Turing Institute; £74,790 over 24 months Prof Mari Carmen Portillo Vega; School of Health Sciences Optim-Park. Optimisation of community resources and systems of support to enhance the process of living with Parkinson’s Disease. Alzheimers Society; £163,523 over 36 months Prof Mari Carmen Portillo Vega; School of Health Sciences Using the Wessex Activation and Self-Management (WASP) Tool to design and implement system wide improvements in self-management support for people with long-term conditions. NHS Southampton City CCG; £6,000 over 15 months Prof Mari Carmen Portillo Vega; School of Health Sciences Using the Wessex Activation and Self-Management (WASP) Tool to design and implement system wide improvements in self-management support for people with long-term conditions. Solent NHS Trust; £10,000 over 15 months Prof Mari Carmen Portillo Vega; School of Health Sciences Using the Wessex Activation and Self-Management (WASP) Tool to design and implement system wide improvements in self-management support for people with long-term conditions. NHS Fareham & Gosport CCG; £25,000 over 15 months Prof Andrew Cundy; School of Ocean and Earth Science Transformative Science and Engineering for Nuclear Decommissioning EPSRC; £249,129 over 48 months Dr Yihua Wang; School of Biological Sciences Controlling oxygen levels to improve models of lung disease – Hypoxia Chamber AAIR Charity; £10,000 over 7 months Dr Yihua Wang; School of Biological Sciences Defining the role of Factor Inhibiting HIF (FIH) in pulmonary fibrosis AAIR Charity; £8,000 over 24 months Dr Yihua Wang; School of Biological Sciences Defining the role of ZEB1-dependent epithelial-mesenchymal crosstalk in lung fibrosis MRC; £449,223 over 36 months Dr Charlotte Brooks; School of Health Sciences Exploring the impact of cancer related fatigue on occupational performance and engagement Royal College of Occupational Therapists; £5,000 over 9 months
For further information, visit: www.southampton.ac.uk/research
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES Prof AbuBakr Bahaj; School of Engineering Belgium Government FPS Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation; £100,000 over 24 months Prof Leslie Carr; School of Electronics and Computer Science Software Sustainability Institute Phase 3 EPSRC; £1,887,413 over 60 months Prof Stephen Gabriel; School of Electronics and Computer Science Development of a heaterless hollow cathode for space propulsion applications UK Space Agency; £86,850 over 12 months Prof. John Langley; School of Chemistry Gas chromatography and 2D gas chromatography with high resolution mass spectrometry instrumentation EPSRC; £856,023 over 36 months Dr Mark Weal; School of Electronics and Computer Science (CoPI Professor Susan Halford of Bristol University) Social Sciences, Social Data and the Semantic Web (S3W) ESRC; £81,114 over 18 months
Prof Mike Wald; School of Electronics and Computer Science AI and Inclusion Alan Turing Institute; £90,755 over 12 months Associate Professor Yeping Xiong; School of Engineering Topology optimization of energy harvesting systems using locally resonant piezoelectric metamaterials Royal Society; £11,700 over 24 months Dr Stuart Middleton; School of Electronics and Computer Science Global Surface Air Temperature (GloSAT) Natural Environment Research Council; £260,035 over 48 months Prof Jayanta Sahu; Zepler Institute for Photonics and Nanoelectronics H2020 ACTPHAST 4R European Commission; £158,625 over 48 months Prof Sarvapali Ramchurn; School of Electronics and Computer Science Towards Flexible Autonomy for Swarms in Dynamic and Uncertain Environments Alan Turing Institute; £98,396 over 12 months
Prof Malgosia Kaczmarek; School of Physics and Astronomy DiG for the Future: taming disorder in self-assembled materials with topology Leverhulme Trust; £399,866 over 42 months
Dr Senthil Ganapathy; Zepler Institute for Photonics and Nanoelectronics Combining the Strengths of Mid-IR and Raman Spectroscopies on a Single Chip for Rapid Bedside Biomarker Diagnostics EPSRC; £805,209 over 42 months
Dr Yue Zhang; School of Engineering Troubleshooting instabilities and drift in low cost systems for continuous biogas monitoring BBSRC; £10,000 over 2 months
Prof Jonathan Preston; School of Engineering Updates and enhancements to the Solent Sub-Regional Transport Model: Assessments of Modelling Platforms and New Data Sources Southampton City Council; £24,309 over 3 months
Prof Thomas Cherrett; School of Engineering ‘I want it, and I want it now’ – demonstrating the transport and environmental impacts of last-mile parcel delivery. EPSRC; £10,000 over 18 months
Prof Vladimiro Sassone; School of Electronics and Computer Science Cyber Predictive Intelligence for Asset-based Analytics Ministry of Defence; £96,300 over 6 months
Dr Nicola Symonds; FEPS: Enterprise Development of a smart system to enable calibration of bearing condition monitoring Innovate UK; £103,981 over 24 months
Prof Robert Raja; School of Chemistry Predictive fabrication of visible-light sensitive plasmonic nanocatalysts for efficient conversion of CO2 to light synthetic fuels Royal Society; £100,500 over 24 months
Prof Andrew Hector; School of Chemistry Feasibility research on metal dichalcogenide-carbon composites for sodium batteries Innovate UK; £128,953 over 12 months
Prof Neville Stanton and Co-I Dr Aaron Roberts; School of Engineering ComTET 2B – Command Teamwork Experimental Test-bed (ComTET) Phase 2B Ministry of Defence; £1,488,182 over 36 months
Prof Andrew Hector; School of Chemistry Low cost, scaleable and agile synthesis routes for sodium-ion battery materials. Innovate UK; £156,475 over 18 months Prof Periklis Petropoulos; Zepler Institute for Photonics and Nanoelectronics Practical wavelength conversion EPSRC IAA; £140,681 over 18 months
Prof Otto Muskens; School of Physics and Astronomy Multispectral metasurfaces using metal oxide plasmonics (MULTIMETA) Defence & Security Accelerator; £68,211 over 9 months Dr Angelo Grubisic; School of Engineering Super-High Temperature Resistojets for GEO All-Electric Telecommunication Satellites (STAR) UK Space Agency; £1,044,982 over 24 months
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Research award highlights Dr Angelo Grubisic; School of Engineering Integrated Microwave Propulsion Architecture for Telecommunication Satellites (IMPULSE) 2 UK Space Agency; £225,480 over 12 months
Dr Caitriona Jackman; School of Physics and Astronomy Machine learning algorithms for automated event detection in Space Physics Alan Turing Institute; £54,373 over 12 months
Prof Bharathram Ganapathisubramani; School of Engineering Aerodynamics and Aeroacoustics of turbulent flows over and past permeable rough surfaces EPSRC; £910,573 over 48 months
Prof Steve Goldup; School of Chemistry New applications for interlocked molecules Royal Society; £150,000 over 60 months
Prof Bharathram Ganapathisubramani; School of Engineering Laboratory Study on the Drag Characteristics of Wind Waves Royal Society; £6,000 over 24 months Prof Bharathram Ganapathisubramani; School of Engineering Experimental Investigation of Impinging Jet using Simultaneous 3D Measurements of Velocity and Temperature Field Royal Society; £12,000 over 12 months Dr Markus Brede; School of Electronics and Computer Science Strategic Influence in dynamic opinion formation; Theory and data Alan Turing Institute; £78,172 over 12 months Dr Xize Niu; School of Engineering International-Commercialisation of droplet microfluidic based chemical sensors for rapid measurement of nutrients in water Natural Environment Research Council; £124,848 over 18 months Dr Giacomo Squicciarini and Dr Neil Ferguson; School of Engineering Vibration Condition Monitoring Project at the ISIS Synchrotron II Science And Technology Facilities Council; £10,000 over 14 months Dr Xu Fang; School of Electronics and Computer Science Plasmonic Whispering Gallery Mode Sensors Royal Society; £12,000 over 24 months Dr Xu Fang; School of Electronics and Computer Science Nano-Pixel Image Sensor Based on Plasmon-Assisted Phase Transition Royal Society; £12,000 over 24 months Prof Shinichi Saito; School of Electronics and Computer Science Photonics @ Interface: Heterogeneous Integrations for Generation, Detection, Conversion and Modulation EPSRC; £1,143,280 over 48 months Prof Elena Simperl; School of Electronics and Computer Science Making crowdsourcing for disaster relief sustainable Nesta; £19,000 over 10 months Dr Ioannis Kaparias; School of Engineering Measuring riding comfort in Southampton using an instrumented bicycle Southampton City Council; £7,863 over 6 months Dr Luca Sapienza; School of Physics and Astronomy Investigating quantum properties of biomolecules on a chip Leverhulme Trust; £45,000 over 12 months
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Dr Matthias Baud; School of Chemistry New Reagents for Protein Modification EPSRC; £195,281 over 18 months Dr Sam Thompson; School of Chemistry Supramolecular Designs on Dynamic Covalent Protein Recognition EPSRC; £244,859 over 24 months Dr Shahram Heydari; School of Engineering Road safety in low-income countries: state of knowledge and future directions Department for International Development; £35,000 over 8 months
For further information, visit: www.southampton.ac.uk/research
FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Prof Sally Brailsford; Southampton Business School NIHR Emergency Care National Institute of Health Research; £138,683 over 36 months Prof Marcus Grace; Southampton Education School EEF – Evidence report on Secondary Science The Education Endowment Foundation; £20,043 over 3 months Prof Zoe Matthews; School of Economic, Social and Political Sciences Dr Marije Schaafsma; School of Geography and Environmental Science GCRF TRADE Hub RCUK; £404,855 over 60 months Prof David Woods; School of Mathematical Sciences EPSRC (Glasgow) – Digital-chemical-robotics for translation of code to molecules and complex chemical systems EPSRC; £232,584 over 60 months Prof David Woods; School of Mathematical Sciences ATI Fellowship for David Woods Alan Turing Institute; £9,798 over 24 months Prof Jacek Brodzki; School of Mathematical Sciences Topological complexity of neural networks Alan Turing Institute; £63,094 over 12 months Prof Hou-Duo Qi; School of Mathematical Sciences EDM Optimisation: a New Paradigm for Dimension Reduction Alan Turing Institute; £9,798 over 24 months Dr Cristian Bravo; Southampton Business School Alan Turing Fellowship Alan Turing Institute; £7,965 over 24 months
Prof William Jennings; School of Economic, Social and Political Sciences Trust and Trustworthiness in National and Global Governance ESRC; £1,317,896 over 36 months Prof Marika Taylor; School of Mathematical Sciences Quantum entanglement, geometry and machine learning Alan Turing Institute; £9,798 over 24 months Dr Helen Ogden; School of Mathematical Sciences Alan Turing Fellowship Alan Turing Institute; 5% of time over 24 months Dr Sarah Lewthwaite; Southampton Education School Future Leaders Fellowship UKRI; £668,563 over 48 months Prof Jack Corbett; School of Economic, Social and Political Sciences BA Micronationalism in Microstates British Academy; £9,920 over 11 months Prof Jack Corbett; School of Economic, Social and Political Sciences BA Writing Workshop British Academy; £19,836 over 9 months Dr Pamela Ugwudike; School of Economic, Social and Political Sciences A Multidisciplinary Study of Predictive Artificial Intelligence Technologies in the Criminal Justice System Alan Turing Institute; over 12 months Dr David Turton; School of Mathematical Sciences Research Grants for URFs – Supergravity Solutions in the Black Hole Regime Royal Society; £95,944 over 48 months
Prof Rosalind Edwards; School of Economic, Social and Political Sciences ESRC Strategic Investments – International Networking Activity: Indigenous and non-Indigenous research partnerships ESRC; £9,536 over 4 months Prof Sophie Stalla-Bourdillon; Southampton Law School Digital Economy, Engineering, Healthcare Technologies, ICT, Manufacturing the Future EPSRC; £256,545 over 24 months Prof Sarah Parsons; Southampton Education School Evidence synthesis on accessible ethics practices in disability projects Disability Research on Independent Living and Learning (DRILL); £3,000 over 1 month Prof William Jennings; School of Economic, Social and Political Sciences Social and Political Change in Britain: Gallup Polls 1945-1991 ESRC; £542,814 over 36 months
This list encompasses a selection of awards logged with University of Southampton Finance from from January to May 2019 that are not considered commercially sensitive.
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Find out more: www.southampton.ac.uk/ris reaction@southampton.ac.uk +44 (0)23 8059 4694 Research and Innovation Services (RIS) facilitates academic collaborations, research funding bids, industrial interactions and knowledge exchange activities, including commercialisation and business acceleration. RIS also supports research ethics and integrity, research contracting and the REF.
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