Welcome to Benjamin Shepherd
Benjamin Shepherd joined Physics on Monday (28th March) as Student Programmes Officer. You will find Benjamin in what was Michelle Smart’s office (A6). Please make him feel welcome!
Grainne Wilkinson
Admin updates for Department
• Welcome to Benjamin Shepherd, who joined the Physics Department as Student Programmes Officer on the 28/03/22. The SPO role is here to line manage and support the UG and PGR coordinators in the department and will review administrative processes and procedures relating to student related activity. Benjamin is located in office A06, please pop by and introduce yourselves.
• The Deans group visit for this year has been confirmed for Monday the 9th May from 10 -12. Further updates about the plans for the day will be circulated once received.
• Philip Simpson has taken over the role as one of the department’s harassment officers while Lynne Haley is currently on secondment. He is located in B12 and his door is always open for anyone to come and talk to him about any issues.
• Line managers – if you have any outstanding PDR’s from the year 20-21 please can you sign these off with your staff members at your earliest convenience. If you have not done so please can you book in any meetings for this years PDRs so they can be signed off before the end of the academic year. At the moment PDR are being dealt with and signed off online on the HR self service portal.
Philip Simpson
Workshop: how to write an Expression of Interest (EOI) in response to research funding calls
Thursday, 5th May 2022 – 2:00-4:00 pm
Due to popular demand it has been decided to run the above workshop again.
This Workshop will run on Thursday, 5th May 2022 from 2:00-4:00 pm. The workshop will be held in MAN – Mngt School Dormer LT14 WPA002.
Purpose: EOIs are an increasingly important stage in the process of acquiring funding for research. Calls involving EOIs are often highly competitive and can be reviewed by panellists who are not domain experts, therefore it is important that researchers approach the writing of EOIs with this in mind. This workshop is designed to help you write a competitive EOI.
The session will be organised jointly between LUMS and FST and will be led by Professor Nick Race (Dept of Computing & Communications) who has a strong track record of funding success from UK Research Councils, the European Commission and Industry. In preparation, you will be provided with a set of example EOIs and asked to review these prior to the workshop.
We only have limited availability, so please confirm your place ASAP.
Participants will be asked to work in groups, therefore attendance in person will be required.
Should you like to attend, please contact me, Teresa Aldren (t.aldren@lancaster.ac.uk) to register for the workshop.
Teresa Aldren
Dolphin Pod (6th of April ) open for health related research ideas- sign up now
Reminder that the next Dolphin Pod (6th of April 1pm) for health related research is now open to sign up for across the University to all academic staff and post-grad students. https://livelancsac-my.sharepoint.com/:x:/g/personal/lobban_lancaster_ac_uk/EXC5eOx-zQVHsri2MAsb31QBA9OcWB2wb-j8xyOm2cBmkg?e=C4Y8r0
Last month we had fish from across FST, FASS and FHM. The 20 minutes went very quickly so feel free to sign up for a double slot it’s a new project or a broad question.
There is no pod happening in March due to the strike
The Dolphin Pod is safe space to get support with any health related research ideas or grant applications. We have been running this for a while in DHR but we are opening it up across the Uni due to popular demand and to encourage more inter-disciplinary working. The Dolphin Pod is a monthly event (first Wednesday of the month 1-2pm).
Each month, we would like to see 3 “Dolphins” sign up to offer feedback and suggestions on the research ideas presented by 3 “fish” swimming towards research success. All research active staff are welcome to sign up as a fish to get support – but are also encouraged to have a go at signing up as a Dolphin to offer their support to others. I am signed up as a Dolphin for all sessions so would be delighted for you to join me.
Each fish is allocated 20 mins to swim with the Dolphins and can use the time as they wish. Fish may have a very early broad idea you want to help shape, or find potential collaborators, or identify appropriate funding, or address feedback on a rejected application. You can visit the pod as many times as you like, and even book a double slot (40 mins) if you need it. The only rule is that the Dolphins will not be asked to do any reading in advance or have any homework tasks. The Dolphins commit for the whole hour, and talk to 3 fish, but nothing more.
For more info and to sign up please go to
(It has been pointed out that Dolphin eat fish, but this was meant to be a friendly version of a Dragon’s Den and I promise it is very supportive!)
Philip Simpson / Fiona Lobban
EPSRC CASE Awards: Call for applications
EPSRC CASE Awards: Call for applications
Submission date: Friday April 22nd, 2022
Please send applications to: Simon Vaukins – s.vaukins@lancaster.ac.uk
EPSRC continue to encourage industrial collaboration through CASE awards in science and engineering. These awards are a type of doctoral studentship designed to incorporate an element of collaboration and industrially related training to broaden experience. As part of delivering economic impact and increasing company involvement in provision of doctoral training, the EPSRC are committed to increasing impact by increasing the proportion of collaborative studentships within the DTP. To support this, institutions in receipt of DTP have a target of converting 10% of the funds into CASE awards (DTP CASE-conversion).
Further details can be found here: EPSRC CASE Award guidance 2022
If you have any further questions, please contact Simon Vaukins – s.vaukins@lancaster.ac.uk
Philip Simpson / Simon Vaukins