More Projects and Exposures

Going through November was another blast.

The to-do list was longer and more challenging. With the existing projects running and the new ones coming up, different sorts of tasks, ranging from facilitation to generating strategies, need to be completed. This month, I am exposed to new projects (i.e., LAURDS), new areas of existing projects (i.e., SEASIN) as well as the new discoveries from other sides of The Europe Office and GCU as a whole.

LAURDS PROJECT: Research Culture

The rationale of this project is that it aims to contribute to the knowledge economy of Latin American Universities through economies of expertise by the development of research capability and capacity. Besides developing research culture and strategies, the objective of LAURDS is also developing doctoral provisions.

On top of website review and recommendations, as a new project, LAURDS needs to be introduced to the public apart from partners around Latin America. This is accomplished by social media marketing strategy. Spending a few days in the week this month, I have prepared a document for LAURDS project social media marketing, i.e., Facebook.

eMarketer (2016) claims that there are more than 90% of Facebook users among all social media users in Latin America.

The social media marketing strategy and implementation should serve the purpose of raising awareness among the public about the project, its values, and its offers. Moreover, social media outreach should inform and engage university partners on what is happening around the project as well as to keep track of project updates and create open calls for participants in case of particular events. By executing social media plans such as video animation and vlogging, it creates tactics that boost views and engagement from the audience in general.

SEASIN And Other New Exposures

Over the past month, SISUs in Southeast Asia were mostly having soft launches. In Cambodia, National University of Management and Royal University of Phnom Penh have their own support units in the aim of promoting social innovation. Besides the mentioned digitally creative side of NUM SISU, I now acquire another role of coordinating SEASIN Cambodian partners. To make this happen, a Facebook group was created and touched up to bring together the representatives from each partner in Cambodia, both universities and enterprises, in order to share ideas and project accomplishments. It is also for facilitating purpose if there are any concerns, questions, or comments. To promote social innovation concept in the long run, there needs to be cooperation from different parties in the same country and that is what the group is about. 

Regarding other exposures, studying Glasgow Caledonian University is one of them. Cambodian students’ perspective towards the school is an observable case. It is true that Glasgow Caledonian University is actually interesting to research on. For starter…

GCU is already one of the top 10 modern universities in the UK according to REF (2014), also rated as the most dynamic and innovative school.

.And there are much more about GCU than you expected. This can appear attractive for the public, especially international students.

 

~ Rosanich Sou

 

First Mensiversary

Yet Another Home

A little checking out of the city here and there gave me a good sense of belonging, and that’s what I would call a “positive starter”. Moving here has made the home-leaving feeling resurface for a while, and it was just like the first time I arrived in England. The difference is, I knew a bit better what to expect.

_______

GCU, The Europe Office, And New Assignments

“Glasgow Caledonian University is ranked 1st in Scotland for work experience opportunities” (ISB, 2017).

True enough, landing my short term project work here is one of the best happenings in 2017 for me. With the modern architecture, the university overall looked fantastic and The Europe Office team was absolutely welcoming. Coming in new, I set an objective for the first few days to study the projects — what they are about, what they want to achieve, and what I can do to support them. Document collection and extensive reading proved worthwhile as this knowledge allowed me to generate an analysis and a proposal for the team.

The following days of the work became challenging and extremely productive with tremendous support, guidance, and, I have to mention, “empowerment” from Mark and the whole team. While we were exploring new potential methods to convert training and physical learning environment into virtual and interactive studies, either self-paced or with instructor, I discovered another expertise area of mine working on both digital tools and module designs to enable the possibility of our project partners having access to the online materials, learning, and tasks. This will ultimately benefit them and the project as the objective of Enhance Project is to build up capabilities and improve the resources of HEIs in Vietnam in terms of Research and Innovation while one efficient way to do this is to put together a swift and effective method of transferring knowledge and practices.

_______

What’s up Glasgow!

Except for relentless rainfall and drizzles almost every time of the day and every day of the month, Glasgow does feel like home. The city is the middle ground of buzzy and calm — like… Leeds and London combined. Commuting to and from work is, I’d say, my best way of observing the atmosphere and having every thought possible jumbling around. Since Glasgow is more of a commercial hub, there is a modernity look to it and every here and there there are things to do and to enjoy, casually or as a tourist. What amazed me about Glasgow and perhaps Scotland as a whole is the bodies of water running across the city, which feels pretty much like when you need to move north or west, you would always run into a river somewhere on your way. And of course, River Clyde is a small piece of beauty somehow. I thought the whole spot around the Clyde Arc was iconic. I hate to compare but sort of love to say “The Clyde of Glasgow feels like The Westminster of London”.

More exploration to come!

~ Rosanich Sou

“Welcome to Scotland”

Prior to the “welcome” context, I am sure to make a quick introduction to myself.

ជំរាបសួរ – Chum Reap Sour – Hello, greetings from a Cambodian National. I am Rosanich (or Rose, Rosie, anything you’d like to call), a passionate, persevere, and creative individual. Before coming to Glasgow, I have lived in England for a year and done my masters (MSc International Marketing Management).

In the wake of the phenomenal period of studies, travel, and other life challenges thrown at me, it was time I explored professional opportunities. My goal was to spend the last few months in the U.K. to really understand how things work here in such distinctive environment from Cambodia. By and large, I intended to understand the perspective of the western side of the world towards not only marketing, business, projects, and management but also professionalism as a whole. I had then heard of European funded projects being conducted in Southeast Asia, including Cambodia, on social innovation. That was the initial interest captured. Steve, my mentor, introduced me to this and has marked a change in my path since. On a “British” sunny day, I woke up to see the text “Welcome to Scotland”, where I knew I was accepted and went on to have the first good talk with Mark, Director of The Europe Office at Glasgow Caledonian University.

Scotland has always been in my bucket list, and I thought of nothing but a visit. To have been able to come here and expand my professional skills was what I did not see coming. So I packed up (it was a huge challenge searching for work, moving house, and getting my dissertation done all at once) and got ready to leave the land of England and managed to conclude many sections of my to-experience list, along with so many guesses, expectations, and exciting ideas.

And that’s where my journey began!

~ Rosanich Sou

2017 Travels and Office News

Hello everyone!

It has been a busy 6 months in the office since the new year!  We will have to keep our stories short and sweet, as we would be writing a novel otherwise…

We began the year in January with lots of writing; some new projects – so more on that in August when we know how we did.  We introduced a new member to the team: Siobhan Doyle.  Siobhan will be helping with the administration of our many projects and comes from a background in International Relations and speaks fluent French.  We also were at the Coordinator’s meeting in Brussels for a few new projects: SEASIN (South East Asia Social Innovation Network – www.seasin-eu.org) and representing another colleague’s project: Common Good First (www.commongoodfirst.com).

 

We carried on into February with the Kick Off Meeting for SEASIN (www.seasin-eu.org).  We met partners from Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia; as well as European partners in the UK, Spain and Portugal.  The project aims to develop a Social Innovation Awards Programme, Network and Social Innovation Support Units in each University.

SEASIN KO Meeting at GCU ^^^

 

In March we kept up the momentum with meetings in Alicante, Zanzibar, Eindhoven, Shiraz and hosted a TEACHEX (www.teachex.eu) meeting at GCU.  In Alicante we had the Kick Off Meeting for the FREE NETWORK project led by Universidad de Alicante and USMA in Panama.  This project focusses on Spin Off support in Latin American Universities.

 

We also had the final meeting of the ENRICH (www.enrich-project.eu) project under the Tempus Programme in Zanzibar.  It came together with the SUCCEED (www.ogpi.ua.es/project/116) Project for an interesting final conference about Energy Efficiency Measures in East Africa.

 

There was another TEACHEX (www.teachex.eu) meeting held at GCU as well.  The TEACHEX Project focusses on improving teaching standards and promoting teaching excellence in Israel and aims to set up Centres for Teaching Excellence in each university on the project.

 

At the end of March we had an interesting week in Eindhoven for our Strategy for Change Strategic Partnership (strategy4change.eu/institutional/).  There was training for students from each partner university in Social Innovation and project sustainability.  Groups of students were mixed from Eindhoven, Dublin, Glasgow, Aveiro and Umea and each group had to tackle a problem and produce a short film without words to show their understanding and empathy towards an issue and include constructive solutions to the problem.  They then presented this to the consortium.    There was also a multiplier event with talks from a variety of speakers from academia, business and non-profit; with a specific focus on design for Social Innovation and inclusion.  The meeting also coincided with the 2017 STRP Biennale (https://strp.nl/en/) and the consortium were lucky enough to attend the Keynote speech by Kevin Kelly.  There was also a hands on exhibition of ideas, technology, art and design – a few of us even tried out the Virtual Reality exhibits!

FREE NETWORK KO Meeting in Alicante ^^^

Waiting for our flight, and at the final meeting for ENRICH ^^^

Eindhoven: Interactive Projects and Technology; Interactive Workshops and Student Presentations

The STRP Biennale Keynote Speech ^^^

 

In April we got back to the office for a short while and then we were off again to visit the LASIN (Latin American Social Innovation Network) Social Innovation Support Units (lasin-eu.org) and the Studios delivered by Social Innovation Exchange.  We also delivered training in Mashhad in Iran for IHEI (www.ihei.eu) and had lovely tour of the city – very colourful!

 

We stopped off in Rio first to visit both universities there: Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and UNIRIO.  Then we travelled straight onto Chile; first Valparaiso to see Federico Santa Maria Technical University and then on to Santiago to see Universidad de Desarrollo.

Brazil and Chile Evaluations ^^^

We then had a short reprieve where we celebrated Europe Day in the University and we had another meeting in Alicante for the Kick Off of the INDOEDU4ALL Project which aims to look at improving the Disability Support services at the Indonesian Universities on the project.

With Greek colleagues for INDOEDU4ALL ^^

 

We headed back to Latin America to finish off the evaluations for LASIN in Panama at USMA and Universidad del Istmo; and then in Bogota, Colombia with Fundacion Universitaria del Are Andina; and finishing in Medellin with Universidad de Antioquia.  All the visits were a great success – each university has undergone a big change to implement the centres in each one; with real unique strengths and differences in each SISU, as well as culturally relevant approaches to supporting social innovation in their locale.  The SISUs will continue to develop on the feedback from the evaluations over the rest of the project.

Visit to one of the social innovation case studies in Panama; and visits to the SISUs in Panama and Medellin ^^

 

In June we carried on our busy schedules with the final meeting of the Puedes Project (www.puedes.eu) Rio de Janeiro (second time this year!) and a meeting of the ENG@GE (www.engage-ce.eu) Project in Malta.  The Puedes Project was a mutual exchange project with universities across Latin America with the exchange of staff, undergraduate, masters and phD students both from Latin American universities and European universities on the project.  The ENG@GE Project looks at helping form a circular economy and provide tools to help foster innovative green entrepreneurship.

Puedes final meeting in Rio de Janeiro ^^^

ENG@GE in Malta ^^^

 

It has certainly been a busy and dynamic first half to 2017 in our office; and with more to follow in the coming months.  Over the second half of the year we will have a meeting for IHEI in Teheran; a LASIN conference in September in Panama; the launching of the SEASIN SISUs in November; a workshop for ENHANCE in Vietnam; and training in both Glasgow and Indonesia for the INDOEDU4ALL Project.  For the summer months we will be having a bit of rest, waiting to see the outcome of European bids in August and doing some strategy and forward planning.  We will update again soon on our travels and projects – watch this space!

Please get in touch with the office if you want to discuss project ideas, or look at where to access funding.  You can find us on:

 

Facebookwww.facebook.com/TheEuropeOffice

Twitter@GCU_TEO

Or send us an emailrose.cawood@gcu.ac.uk

 

For more information on our projects and projects we are involved in, please see details below:

SEASIN www.seasin-eu.org 

Common Good First www.commongoodfirst.com

TEACHEX www.teachex.eu 

ENRICH www.enrich-project.eu

Strategy for Change strategy4change.eu/institutional/

LASIN lasin-eu.org

IHEI www.ihei.eu 

 

Puedes Project www.puedes.eu 

ENG@GE www.engage-ce.eu 

 

 

 

Newsletter January 2017

 

The Europe Office Newsletter – January 2017news3

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EVENTS

21/02/17, GCU Conference Centre, 09.30am,

Scotland Europa Member’s Planning Meeting 2017-2018,

 It is our pleasure to host the Scotland Europa Member’s Planning Meeting this year on our campus.  The annual forward planning meeting is a chance for Scotland Europa’s membership to come together and plan their activities for the year ahead in the context of the changing landscape, and Scotland’s place in Europe.  The discussion during the Members’ Planning Meeting for 2017-18 will centre around developing members’ approach after the EU referendum and how this directly relates to their membership activities and services. The main part of the meeting will be devoted to parallel round table discussions based on this.

BREXIT

Theresa May recently delivered a speech in which she detailed Britain’s broad objectives in forthcoming Brexit negotiations with the EU. Among her twelve objectives was a section discussing science and innovation.  This is what she had to say on the matter:

“One of our great strengths as a nation is the breadth and depth of our academic and scientific communities, backed up by some of the world’s best universities. And we have a proud history of leading and supporting cutting-edge research and innovation. So we will also welcome agreement to continue to collaborate with our European partners on major science, research, and technology initiatives. From space exploration to clean energy to medical technologies, Britain will remain at the forefront of collective endeavours to better understand, and make better, the world in which we live.”

The Prime Minister also touched on the fact that although we will not be seeking membership of the single market, “there may be some specific European programmes in which we might want to participate”.  She stated that if this was the case, that it was “reasonable that we should make an appropriate contribution.”

Universities UK provide more information and analysis on the impact of Brexit at the following link:-http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/Pages/brexit-and-universities.aspx

HORIZON 2020

MSCA (Marie Skldowska Curie Actions) Deadlines for 2016/17

  • MSCA IF (Individual Fellowships) 2016: Call Open 11/4/17; Deadline: 14/9/2017
  • MSCA COFUND-2016: Call Open 5/4/17; Deadline: 28/9/2017
  • MSCA RISE (Research and Innovation Staff Exchange) -2016: Call open 1/12/16; Deadline: 5/4/2017

Call for Proposals: Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 JU

The European Commission, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, has just launched 2017’s Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 JU call for Proposals. This call is presented together with all the related activities under the 2017 work plan of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking, FCH 2 JU.

This single-stage call has an estimated budget of  EUR 116,000,000.

The deadline for submission of applications is 20 April 2017.

Further information on the call and the different topics is available at:

– Participant Portal H2020-JTI-FCH-2017-1
– Official Journal of the EU OJ CO15

Looking Beyond Horizon 2020

While Horizon 2020 is the main EU programme for funding research and innovation, there are also a number of other EU programmes which could be of interest to researchers looking for funding. These programmes are often characterised by lower funding levels and rates but often finance smaller scale projects which are harder to fit under the Horizon 2020 umbrella. The better known programmes include Erasmus+, COST and the Health Programme​, but there might also be opportunities under Creative Europe, LIFE, in the area of Rights, Equality, Citizenship and Justice or the Research Fund for Coal​ and Steel. Finally, UKRO has also produced a short overview on the European Structural and Investment Fund.

Different policy Directorate Generals of the European Commission run these programmes, and while some efforts have been made to align funding rules more, there are still significant differences, for example in the application procedures or the rules for project management and reporting. Our UKRO Factsheets will provide you with the most important information on each scheme in a condensed format.​

OTHER EU FUNDING

Erasmus + 2017 Key Action 2 Deadlines for 2016/17

  • Strategic partnerships in the field of education and training; Deadline: 29/3/2017
  • Strategic partnerships in the field of youth; Deadline:2/2/2017
  • Strategic partnerships in the field of youth; Deadline: 26/4/2017
  • Strategic partnerships in the field of youth; Deadline: 4/10/2017
  • Knowledge Alliances; Deadline: 28/2/2017
  • Capacity building in the field of higher education; Deadline: 9/2/2017
  • Capacity building in the field of youth; Deadline: 8/3/2017

All the deadlines and information on the types of activities you can apply for are contained in the 2017 Call for Proposals document and the 2017 Programme Guide both of which you can download from the Eramus+ Key Resources page. The Call for Proposals is an overview document containing all the deadlines for 2017, while the Programme Guide contains all the detailed information on how to apply for Erasmus+ funding. You will need to read both documents when planning an application.

OTHER NEWS

 The European Commission has published scoping papers for the Horizon 2020 work programmes 2018-2020. These papers outline the main priorities over the next three years for each part of Horizon 2020 and will form the basis for the development of the work programmes.

17 thematic scoping papers and one overarching document have been published. The scoping papers are working documents not formally endorsed by the Commission. The adoption and publication of the 2018-2020 work programme is expected in October 2017.

Contacts at GCU

 Mark Anderson, Mark.Anderson@gcu.ac.uk or x8842

Pablo Lopez Alonso, Pablo.LopezAlonso@gcu.ac.uk  or x8337

Rhona Blincow, r.blincow@gcu.ac.uk or x3928

Rose Cawood, rose.cawood@gcu.ac.uk or x3749

Siobhan Doyle, Siobhan.Doyle2@gcu.ac.uk or x8274

More Information:

HORIZON 2020 http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/home.html

ERASMUS PLUS http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TheEuropeOffice

 

Newsletter November 2016

The Europe Office Newsletter –November 2016

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news1news2

EVENTS

EUROPE WEEK: A series of events organised by the Europe Office,  will take place from,

Monday 28 November to Wednesday 30 November 2016. To register please go to,

http://www.eventbrite.com/preview?eid=29225706876 .  Lunch will be provided.

 

28/11/16, H116, 10.30am,

Scotland Europa Workshop:  International Collaboration for a Better Society,

This workshop will promote the opportunities for funding in the areas of  Social Inclusion, Inclusive, innovative and reflective societies, as well as Social Sciences and Humanities.  A range of opportunities will be examined in the following general areas:-

  • Growth and Inclusion and Reversing Inequalities
  • Global Economic Development and Social Welfare.
  • Cultural Engagement
  • Global Engagement

Please register separately for this event at, https://events.scottish-enterprise.com/events/ClientApps/Silverbear.Web.EDMS/public/default.aspx?tabid=37&id=301318&orgId=1

 

29/11/16, 10.30am, The Hanging Lantern Room,

Opportunities and Uncertainties: The landscape for continued European Engagement,

The debate will attempt to respond to the contradictory messages revolving around BREXIT and bring clarity to the current situation, suggesting strategies and initiatives to counter the prevailing sense of an ambiguous future.

 

30/11/16, H116, 11.00am,

Promoting and Showcasing European Funding Programmes and current projects,

Erasmus+, including Capacity Building and Strategic Parnterships; Interreg, Horizon2020 – hear from successful EU project participants and take the opportunity to network over lunch.

 

BREXIT

Universities UK provide information and analysis on the impact of Brexit at the following link:-

http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/Pages/brexit-and-universities.aspx

 

HORIZON 2020

MSCA (Marie Skldowska Curie Actions) Deadlines for 2016/17

  • MSCA IF (Individual Fellowships) 2016: Deadline: 14/9/2017
  • MSCA COFUND-2016: Deadline : 28/9/2017
  • MSCA RISE (Research and Innovation Staff Exchange) -2016: Call open 1/12/16; Deadline 5/4/2017
  • MSCA ITN-(Innovative Training Networks) -2017:  Call open 15/9/16;  Deadline 10/1/17

Looking Beyond Horizon 2020

While Horizon 2020 is the main EU programme for funding research and innovation, there are also a number of other EU programmes which could be of interest to researchers looking for funding. These programmes are often characterised by lower funding levels and rates but often finance smaller scale projects which are harder to fit under the Horizon 2020 umbrella. The better known programmes include Erasmus+, COST and the Health Programme​, but there might also be opportunities under Creative Europe, LIFE, in the area of Rights, Equality, Citizenship and Justice or the Research Fund for Coal​ and Steel. Finally, UKRO has also produced a short overview on the European Structural and Investment Fund.

Different policy Directorate Generals of the European Commission run these programmes, and while some efforts have been made to align funding rules more, there are still significant differences, for example in the application procedures or the rules for project management and reporting. Our UKRO Factsheets will provide you with the most important information on each scheme in a condensed format.​

 

OTHER EU FUNDING

Erasmus Plus 2017 application deadlines announced

The European Commission has released the 2017 application deadlines for Erasmus+.

All the deadlines and information on the types of activities you can apply for are contained in the 2017 Call for Proposals document and the 2017 Programme Guide both of which you can download from the Eramus+ Key Resources page. The Call for Proposals is an overview document containing all the deadlines for 2017, while the Programme Guide contains all the detailed information on how to apply for Erasmus+ funding. You will need to read both documents when planning an application.

 

Contacts at GCU

Mark Anderson, Mark.Anderson@gcu.ac.uk or x8842

Pablo Lopez Alonso, Pablo.LopezAlonso@gcu.ac.uk  or x8337

Rhona Blincow, r.blincow@gcu.ac.uk or x3928

Rose Cawood, rose.cawood@gcu.ac.uk or x3749

 

More Information:

HORIZON 2020 http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/home.html

ERASMUS PLUS http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TheEuropeOffice

Oh hey there Panama, Ireland, Uganda…

Hola amigos!  Sorry for the hiatus on here – we have been rather busy.  Read on…

We have been off on our travels this August and September, and we have another two trips in Vietnam and Chile at the end of September and beginning of October. Our project LASIN based in Latin America will take place in October in Santiago, and a visit to Vietnam to network and then attend the ENHANCE Project meeting are happening in September to October.

Firstly, we met in Panama City for our LAURDS project meeting with partners to discuss project management and the progress of the project. It rained a lot but it was nice to see friends and colleagues again. See the pictures below:

p5 p4  panana panama

Our meeting in Dublin was around Strategy For Change project with partners in Aveiro, Umea, Eindhoven, Dublin and Glasgow.  We heard from interesting academics and practitioners in the area of social innovation and attended a workshop with Fighting Words a creative writing enterprise in Dublin, before sampling some live Irish music in the pub!  Pictures below:

dub1 dub2 dub8dub4 dub7 dub6  dub5

Fighting words – www.fightingwords.ie/          Pictures below:

fighting fighting5 fight3 fighting2

Next was our meeting in Kampala, Uganda for the Enrich Project International Conference and coordination meeting.  Weather was warm and we had interesting talks from practitioners in the field of renewable and low carbon energy, as well as a Whistle Stop tour of Kampala before returning home:

 uganda7 uganda2 uganda3 uganda5uganda6whistle7 whistle6 whistle5 whistle4 whistle2 whistle uganda

We also hosted the eSTEM meeting where Egyptian partners visited our engineering labs during the week long capacity building meeting.   See pictures below:

estem3 estem2 estem

However we also still had colleagues around in the Office and we always welcome anyone who wants to pop by with questions and ideas or for a chat.

officepablorhona

For more information on the projects discuss see the links below, or go to our Facebook and Twitter pages for updates.

LASIN: lasin-eu.org/

ENHANCE: www.project-enhance.eu/

LAURDS: www.gcu.ac.uk/gsbs/staff/professordavidedgar/

Strategy for Change: strategy4change.eu/

Enrich: www.enrich-project.eu/

eSTEM: www.eelu.edu.eg/index.php/projects/Erasmus    /    www.estem.edu.eg

 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheEuropeOffice/

Twitter: @GCU_TEO

 

Or write to us: Rose.Cawood@gcu.ac.uk