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PhD Studentships and Research Fellowship associated with AHRC Cultural and Scientific Perceptions of Human- Chicken Interactions
PhD studentships are currently being advertised as part of the AHRC Science in Culture Theme Large Grant on the Cultural and Scientific Perceptions of Human- Chicken Interactions.
Two of the studentships listed below are based at the School of Applied Sciences at the University of Bournemouth while one is based School of Archaeology and Ancient History at the University of Leicester.
Applications are currently invited for studentships on:
The Ecology of Chickens, Past and Present
Chickens and Archeological Material Culture
The Identification of Chicken ‘Breeds’ in the Archaeological Record
The deadline for applications is 8th November 2013.
A vacancy for a post doctoral Research Fellow on the AHRC funded Large Grant on the Cultural and Scientific Perceptions of Human- Chicken Interactions, based at the University of Nottingham is also currently being advertised here.
Public Event: Food, the Brain and Us, Royal Institution, 23 October 2013
Public Event 7pm, 23 October, 2013 Royal Institution, London
Tasting food and drinks is a familiar, everyday experience. But how much do we really know about taste? Recent results from neuroscience reveal taste to be one of our most multi-sensory experiences, drawing inputs from touch, taste and smell into a single, unified perception of flavour.
Join us for #FoodBrainUs at the Royal Institution
Join Professor Barry C Smith, Institute of Philosophy and Professor Charles Spence, Cross Modal Laboratory, University of Oxford and others for an evening of multi-sensory experiences.
Short Talks and a Four Course Tasting Menu
The evening starts with short talks followed by a chance to sample a four course experimental tasting menu for the senses. Explore the atmospheric Ri building in the heart of London and participate in unique multi-sensory experiences which will change your understanding of taste.
This event is held in partnership with the Royal Institution and the AHRC Science in Culture Theme which encourages mutual exchange between researchers working across the sciences, arts and humanities.
How to attend
The event is open to the public. Booking in advance is essential. Please click here to purchase tickets from the Royal Institution Website.
Article: ‘Cross the Road: Research on Chickens is legitimate- but scientists and funders must learn to justify it’
‘Taxpayers underwrite many public services, including the funding of science. So it is entirely right for them to question funding decisions. If they do, granting agencies should have mechanisms for responding in ways that are informed but not patronizing.
On 18 September, the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) announced nine grants, most of which aimed to bridge the gap between science and the humanities. The majority were uncontroversial. Nobody blinked, for example, at the £1.95 million (US$3.1 million) given to Colin Blakemore of the Institute of Philosophy in London for a project entitled ‘Rethinking the Senses: Uniting the Philosophy and Neuroscience of Perception’. No eyebrow was raised when Randolph Donahue at the University of Bradford got £1.98 million to study ‘Fragmented Heritage: From the kilometre to the nanometre: Automated 3D Technology to Revolutionise Landscape, Site and Artefact Analyses’.
But when Mark Maltby at Bournemouth University was awarded £1.94 million for ‘Cultural and Scientific Perceptions of Human–Chicken Interactions’, the reaction from some tabloid newspapers was predictable…..’
Extract from an editorial article discussing the AHRC large grant award given to ‘Cultural and Scientific Perceptions of Human- Chicken Interactions’ project, published in Nature, Vol. 502, 01/10/2013. Read the full article here.
Funding Call: Ethics and Security in a Security Context
As part of the RCUK Global Uncertainties Programme, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) wish to commission new, multi-disciplinary and innovative research projects to develop greater understanding of how questions of ethics and rights play out in a security environment, with a focus on governance. The ESRC is therefore launching a call on Ethics and Rights in a Security Context, going live on 19 August 2013.
The call is organised around a number of key issues relating to the topic, leaving scope for researchers to define innovative and multi-disciplinary approaches. The particular focus is on governance viewed through seven broad research themes, which are:
- Legitimacy
- Jurisdiction
- Autonomy
- Temporality
- Surveillance
- Protection
- Agency
The distinctive nature of this call is that it does not seek to be prescriptive about themes, other than the emphasis on governance. We invite applicants to look at ethics and rights from any perspective.
The commitment to run this initiative is outlined in Global Uncertainties Strategic Plan, 2011-16. It is intended to bring a greater focus to ethics as a framework which can enable and empower policy rather than hinder it.
Applications are invited from collaborative research groups which address a minimum of two of the three Councils’ remits to ensure adequate consideration of the full scope of multi-, inter-, cross-, and trans-disciplinary approaches and research perspectives. This initiative provides an opportunity for social scientists, physical scientists, and arts or humanities researchers to develop proposals to develop a greater understanding of how ethics and rights are related to challenges and risks at different levels of analysis.
The total investment for this call is £2 million – £2.5 million. Closing date for full applications is 16.00 on 21 November 2013. It is anticipated that eight to ten research grants will be awarded; research grants of up to £250,000 (100 per cent fEC) will be available for up to 24 months in duration. These limits are set in terms of the fEC of the grant as estimated using the fEC procedures. The funders will only fund 80 per cent of this cost, or £200,000, and the balance must be guaranteed by the research organisation. We expect all research grants to commence on 1 September 2014.
More information about the call is available here including the full specification
Three Large Grants announced under the AHRC Science in Culture Theme
The AHRC announces funding for three flagship projects under the Science in Culture Theme. The Large Grants, of up to £2 million have been awarded to interdisciplinary teams led by Professor Colin Blakemore, School of Advanced Study, University of London, Dr Mark Maltby, University of Bournemouth and Professor Sally Shuttleworth, University of Oxford.
The successful projects are examples of innovative and ambitious collaboration across the Humanities and Sciences. Applicants had to demonstrate how their project could be trans-formative and establish reciprocal working between researchers in the Humanities and in the Sciences.
Theme Leadership Fellow for Science in Culture Professor Barry C Smith said: “The large grants in the Science in Culture Theme clearly demonstrate just how much scope exists for significant, and reciprocal, interaction between research in the humanities and in the sciences. The wide range of disciplines and techniques on show in these projects give a clear indication of just how much interdisciplinary collaboration is already taking place.”
The AHRC Science in Culture Theme Large Grants awards are:
Rethinking the Senses: Uniting the Philosophy and Neuroscience of Perception lead by Professor Colin Blakemore at the Institute of Philosophy, University of London awarded £1,950,000
Cultural and Scientific Perceptions of Human-Chicken Interactions lead by Dr Mark Maltby at Bournemouth University awarded £1,940,000
Constructing Scientific Communities: Citizen Science in the 19th and 21st Centuries lead by Professor Sally Shuttleworth at University of Oxford awarded £1,950,000
The AHRC has also announced six other Large Grant awards across two of their other themes Digital Transformations and Translating Cultures.
Join our community of interdisciplinary researchers online! Follow us on Twitter via our account @AHRCSciCulture for the latest announcements and opportunities related to the AHRC Science in Culture Theme. We release daily updates about funded projects, events and networking opportunities through this account.
Call for Papers: Cognitive Futures in the Humanities Research Network
Proposals for 20 minute papers and preformed panels are welcomed for the 2nd International Conference of the AHRC funded Cognitive Futures in the Humanities Research Network, which will take place at Durham University 24-26th April 2014. The purpose is to explore, and critically evaluate, new ways of working in the arts and humanities that respond to concepts developed in the sciences of mind and brain. It will be an interdisciplinary conference for researchers from the cognitive sciences, philosophy, literary studies, linguistics, narratology, cultural studies, critical theory, film, performance studies, and beyond. The aim is to identify how the ‘cognitive humanities’ can emerge as a dynamic and critical field of enquiry.
Confirmed Plenary Speakers include
- ALAN RICHARDSON (Boston College)
- PATRICIA WAUGH (Durham University)
- MARK ROWLANDS (University of Miami)
- DAVID HERMAN (Durham University)
- ALAN PALMER (Independent scholar)
- VYVYAN EVANS (Bangor University)
There will also be a rountable discussion on interdisciplinarity including Ellen Spolsky (Bar Ilan University) and Michael Wheeler (Sirling University).
Please send 250-word proposals to cog.futures@durham.ac.uk by 1st December 2013. Further information about this call for papers can be found here
Opportunity: Women in Science Research Network Historian/ Scientist Shadowing Scheme
Are you a UK-based early career researcher or doctoral student in the history of science, technology and medicine with an interest in the role of gender in science? Would you be interested in shadowing a working woman scientist to gain a better understanding of what scientists do and the challenges women scientists face today?
The shadowing scheme is designed for early-career historians and female scientists. Under the scheme early-career historians of science will have the opportunity to spend a day with a working female scientist. Note that this is a pilot scheme and as such we are only able to accept applications from people based in Britain at this stage. We are defining science in its very broadest sense, from traditional pure sciences such as physics, chemistry, biological sciences and mathematics, to the applied sciences of engineering, technology etc. We are also working with scientists undertaking a variety of types of role.
We aim to:
- Promote a good understanding of contemporary scientific work and career patterns among historians (aiding a more subtle understanding of historical scientific careers)
- Record brief life-history of the female scientists in the programme.
- Make scientists more aware that historians can help to promote them and their work to the public.
We invite applications from British-based students (of either gender) currently enrolled in history of science/technology/medicine PhD programmes and British-based post-doctoral researchers in these fields not currently in permanent academic posts. Successful applicants will be paired with a female scientist in their locality, so it is important to tell us where you will usually be based during the period that the scheme will be running (November 2013 to February 2014) covering the scheme. If you have a preference for a particular field of science do let us know, but be aware that while we will try to match you with a scientist working in your preferred field, we cannot guarantee do this.
Funds will be available to assist historians in travelling to their partners’ places of work.
More information about the scheme and how to apply is available on the Women in Science Research Network website. The application deadline is Monday 30 September 2013.
Call for papers: Revealing Lives: Women in Science 1830- 2000
How are we to recover, interpret and understand women’s experiences in science? Popular history delivers stories of a few ‘heroines’ of science, but perhaps these narratives do more to conceal than reveal? Where were the workaday women scientists – now largely invisible – whose contributions have helped shape science today?
This international conference aims to locate and examine women’s participation in science, to identify areas for further research and to reflect on how historical interpretations can inform the role of women in science today. The programme will include contemporary science-led panels to provide context and help build connections between the past and the present.
‘Science’ and ‘participation’ will be defined to encourage maximum inclusivity and we welcome contributions from a broad, multidisciplinary perspective. Themes may include (but are not limited to):
- Women and learned societies
- Women and spaces of scientific production
- Women and scientific education and learning
- Representations of women scientists: media, fiction, film, art
- Scientific collaboration
- Women within familial and social networks of science
- Gendered roles in science
- Science today: issues and challenges
- The ‘leaky pipeline’: women leaving science
Selected papers from the conference will appear in a special issue of the Royal Society’s history journal Notes and Records (final papers to be submitted by end of September 2014).
Proposals for panels and for individual papers are encouraged. Please send abstracts for papers (max 20 minutes) of no more than 200 words, and for panels of no more than 400 words, along with brief biographical details, to Dr Claire Jones and Dr Sue Hawkins by the deadline of Friday 1 November 2013.
More information about this conference is available on the Women in Science Research Network website http://womeninscience.net/
Call for papers: Oliver Lodge, Physics and the Modern University
The physicist Oliver Lodge spent most of his scientific career at the newly founded University College Liverpool before joining the University of Birmingham as its first Principal in 1900, retiring in 1919.
This workshop, the first in a series of four organized by James Mussell and Graeme Gooday’s AHRC Research Network ‘Making Waves, Oliver Lodge and the Cultures of Science, 1875-1940’, will investigate both the place of science within the university and the place of the university in the city. Hosted by the Centre for the Study of Cultural Modernity at the University of Birmingham, we invite papers that consider Lodge’s legacy for the University and Birmingham, as well as those that consider the place of science in the civic university at the end of the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth.
Proposals should be for papers of 40 minutes that explore any aspect of the workshop theme, including:
• Oliver Lodge’s career at the University of Birmingham • The creation of the civic university • The place of science in the civic university • The relationship between pure and applied science within the university • Oliver Lodge’s influence on the city of Birmingham • University science education in the late 19th / early 20th century • The creation of the University of Birmingham at Edgbaston • Oliver Lodge’s complementary careers within and beyond the university • Science communication and popular science in the late 19th / early 20th century • Oliver Lodge’s wife and family and their respective lives, careers, and legacies
Please send proposals (500 words) to oliverlodgenetwork@gmail.com by 13 September 2013. The Civic Science: Oliver Lodge, Physics and the Modern University Workshop will take place at the University of Birmingham on 9 November 2013.
You can download the Call for Papers here.
The Memory Network events at Cheltenham Festival 2013
The Memory Network, led by the University of Roehampton’s Sebastian Groes and Alison Waller, will be staging four interdisciplinary events and experiments at Cheltenham Literary Festival this October. Participating writers include Maggie Gee, Lisa, Appignanesi, Kevin Fong, and Adam Roberts, who will discuss their work and its relationship with memory in conversation with critics, psychologists, climate change scientists, philosophers and creative experts.
Re-wired? Memory in the Digital Age interrogates the impact of the Internet, digital technology and social media on human memory.
Memory, Prediction and the Invisible Future looks at ways that we can memory to anticipate the future in realms as diverse as politics, economics, and consumer behaviour.
Climate Change and the Art of Memory considers the role art plays in creating ecological awareness.
The Festival will also host The Proust Phenomenon, a chance for the audience to be part of a sensory experiment on autobiographical memory that helps illuminate Marcel Proust’s famous ‘madeleine moment’.
Booking for the events opens on Monday 2nd September. More details on the events can be found through the links above, and on the Cheltenham Festival website.
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