Final newsletter for 2015
Firstly on behalf of the Foundation team I’d like to wish all our readers of this newsletter a happy and safe New Year for 2016. For those taking a break and celebrating over Christmas, we also send you season’s greetings. Looking backwards, 2015 has been a full and packed year. Despite being a young charity we’ve taken some big strides towards implementing our strategy, including some major grants in areas such as nanotechnology and big data.
We’re now looking forward in 2016 to working with our grants community on turning the grant investments we’ve been able to make into impacts for the benefit of society in line with our charitable purpose.
Our thanks also go to all the people in our trading group whose hard work generates the income that funds the Foundation’s charitable activities. We’ve have some exciting and fresh ideas on how to maximise and extend the work of the Foundation which I look forward to sharing with you in 2016.
Wishing you all a safe and happy New Year,
Richard Clegg, Managing Director
New opportunities for PhDs in nanotechnology
The Foundation is supporting the International Consortium for Nanotechnology (ICON) led by Southampton University. This programme will provide part funding for 50 PhDs in safety aspects of nanotechnology, addressing the issues outlined in the Foundation’s Foresight review of nanotechnology www.lrfoundation.org.uk/publications/index.aspx. These PhDs can be held anywhere in the world and will form an international cohort of students who will also benefit from annual workshops and meetings. ICON has now opened its first call for proposals for these PhDs with a closing date of 3 February 2016. Please pass on this newsletter to others who may be interested in applying. More details can be found here www.lrf-icon.com/funding/how-to-apply/
Richard Clegg: application of emerging technologies to saving lives at sea
Prof Richard Clegg presented a lecture, First to be 2nd – The application of emerging technologies to saving lives at sea, at the annual lecture event held by the University of Southampton and the RNLI on 2 December 2015.
The University of Southampton and the RNLI hold an annual lecture at Southampton University as part of their Advanced Technology Partnership (ATP). The ATP involves active research projects in engineering and sponsored students in Ship Science. The annual lecture has become one of the most prestigious in the University’s calendar. Each year a speaker is invited to deliver the lecture, which is based upon their own work that has focused on safety and engineering around the marine or maritime sectors.
You can find Richard's presentation on Slideshare by following this link ow.ly/Vq37b
Improving knowledge of science among young people in Greece
The Foundation is supporting the Educational Community and Public Awareness Campaign for the Marine Environment, Shipping and Sciences implemented by the Hellenic Marine Environment Protection Association (HELMEPA) across 14 Greek cities between 2014 and 2017. The campaign aims at raising awareness of educational communities in Greece about the value of the marine environment and the need to protect it, as well as to inspire youth in the country and especially in disadvantaged areas, to get further involved in the fields of science, engineering and shipping. The main tools for achieving these objectives are a mobile exhibition, which remains for two weeks in each city and is visited by organized groups of 8-16 year old students, a 'Train-the-Trainer' seminar for teachers and a wide range of other educational activities.
The campaign started from Piraeus and to date it has visited the cities of Thessaloniki and Kavala in Northern Greece, the island of Aegina and the towns of Corinth and Loutraki. The exhibition operated in these areas for a total of 80 days, during which more than 6,000 students and 260 teachers from 75 elementary and high schools were transported to it on the campaign's expenses. Additionally, over 120 teachers who attended HELMEPA's seminars have joined the association's 'Marine Teachers' volunteer network. During the last stop of the campaign in Loutraki, in November 2015, students from the Perachora High School visited the Army's School of Engineering and were informed by experts on the Ancient Diolkos. The latter is a paved roadway constructed between the 7th and 6th century B.C. for the transportation of merchant ships from the Corinth Gulf to the Saronic Gulf and vice versa. The Ancient Diolkos, a segment of which exists in the School's grounds, constituted a forerunner of the Corinth Canal and is considered one of the most important engineering achievements of Ancient Greece.
Further information on the campaign's aims and activities can be found at www.helmepa.gr/HELMEPA_LRF_2015/en/index.html
New editor at The Conversation
The Foundation is funding an expansion of news website The Conversation, which publishes articles written by academics as a way of unlocking their knowledge for the wider public. The grant will support the work of an additional editor for the site for at least three years, as part of the Foundation’s commitment to promoting the public understanding of science and risk.
The Conversation is a news and analysis site written by academic researchers and edited by professional journalists, who commission articles that explain and comment on current affairs and new research. The Foundation’s support has enabled The Conversation to employ a second full-time science editor to expand its coverage of science, technology and engineering.
The new science editor, Stephen Harris, has joined The Conversation after five years as a reporter and editor for The Engineer, the world’s oldest technology magazine. His work will enable the site to increase its focus on explaining the complex scientific issues behind many of the latest news stories, as well as analysing the latest research in the field.
The Conversation is supported by over 50 member universities and institutions in the UK. Its articles are frequently republished by other news websites under a Creative Commons licence, which means its content is read over 10 million times a month.
UK NEST awards science and engineering scholarships
The UK Naval Engineering, Science & Technology (UK NEST) forum has awarded 12 scholarships to science and engineering undergraduates. Six of the scholarships are funded through the Foundation’s grant to UK NEST.
UK NEST seeks to sustain and develop the UK’s world-class intellectual base. It is a membership forum that addresses issues of common concern, fostering specific development needs and giving a focal point for interaction with, and influencing, the wider government and industrial maritime community. Lloyd’s Register Group Limited, which is owned by the Foundation, is one of the members of UK NEST.
In addition to their scholarships, the students will receive individual mentoring from UK NEST members. This will include site visits, potential for work-placements during vacations and support for project work. The scholarship scheme is now in its fourth year and the number of applicants trebled this year. Over 10% of the applications were from female students and there was an increase in the number of undergraduates reading science.
Find out more about this in our news section.
Upcoming events
15 January 2016 – The Lloyd's Register Foundation press lunch
15 February 2016 – Third LRF-NTUA Centre of Excellence Workshop on Ship Total Energy-Emissions-Economy. For more information please see http://www.naval.ntua.gr/
19 February 2016 - NSIRCS's first open call for research on Structural Integrity and Systems Performance is currently open with a closing date of 19 February 2016. More details can be found at www.nsirc.co.uk/news-releases/nsirc-launches-open-call-inviting-phd-proposals-from-leading-universities/