Richard Hall

Staff User

What does a Lecturer/Professor actually do?

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It is pretty much a standard joke about what academics do with their time including the perception we have lengthy holidays when the UG students are on vacation.  This view is held in not only amongst the public at large but by our own students, their parents and, rather alarmingly, by policy makers and even former Ministers of Education (I thought there would have been solidarity amongst professions that have a long summer ‘recess’).

Dr Susan Wardell from Social Anthropology at the University of Otaga, NZ, has produced an infographic of the life of an academic and the various tasks we have perform to fulfil our obligations to our stakeholders (see below). There is further info on Dr Wardell’s twitter feed. What is left off the infographic is the number of hours a typical academic works – which in the UK is in excess of that defined by the working time directive – 48 hours (when the UK was a member of the EU it was the only country to have an exemption from this legislation). Prof. Katherine Sang et al (2015) provides a critique of this phenomena. This is not an isolated discussion (just type ‘How many hours a week do academics work’ into a search engine) especially around the reducing focus on research.

An academic’s role within the University environment. Creative Commons License – Copyright, Susan Wardall – Source Twitter: Unlazy Susan.

Surface Modifications of Breast Implants affect Immune Response.

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Further evidence of the important effect of engineered surfaces on immune response, this time in breast implants. Such research demonstrates the importance of modifying the surface texture in a manner that reduces the foreign body response. These and other examples pave the way for the development of new technologies for enhancing a favourable response to the implant and reduce complications including, potential, arising from infection and surface contraction.

The authors of the original paper have already provided a classification system for functional biocompatibility with regard to surface roughness (see figure below).


Figure reproduced from: Barr et al, Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, Volume 75, November 2017, Pages 75-81.  Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

10 ingredients for a successful supervisor/PhD student relationship – A thoughtful commentary from Elsevier Connect

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The PhD candidate-Supervisor Relationship is probably the cornerstone of academic research, at least in Western Europe. The relationship, which can last anything from 3 to 5 or more years depending on the type and location of the PhD degree, provides a key transition for the student from being a learned individual to one who enhances these attributes and becomes more or less independent in their pursuit of excellence.

Some of the more successful relationships last a lifetime particularly for those candidates that continue a career in academia or a similar domain. Prof Torralba declares 10 key constituents for developing this relationship successfully. How do these attributes/features resonate with your experiences as a supervisor or student?


Data in the EU – Interesting information on demographics and Migration within the World’s Largest Trading Bloc

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We are often told that data and the knowledge derived from it drives our economy and our is important for social justice – an evidence based approach but so often we are not provided with the data we need let alone the tools for the average person to access it. A step in the right direction is the data service of the EU – interesting reading was the demography and migration bit of the service… have a read! But not sure if you can get hold of the source data.

EU offers Global opportunities to Postdoctoral researchers

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The EU’s Horizon Europe has begun and Sweden, Switzerland and UK, as an associate partner that has the same rights as full partners, will be actively engaged in research. As such we will be submitting grants in areas of medical engineering and biomechanics using both bottom-up instruments and top-down specified calls.

One of these instruments that allows collaboration development are through the Postdoctoral fellowships – which allow an overseas post PhD researcher to undertake research and research training in Europe (max 8 years research experience since their PhD).  The proposed call opens on 18 May 2021 with a proposed call deadline 15 September 2021 (tbc). These fellowships provide a substantial salary as well as a research support allocation managed by the host institution.

The consortium members, University of Leeds, Uppsala University, Lulea Technical University, ETH Zurich and Imperial College London,  have considerable experience of hosting and developing the types of fellowships providing an open and innovative environment for the Fellows to develop. The consortium have considerable EU experience through both large scale programmes (lifeLongJoints.eu), mentoring EU fellows and a number of MSCA ITNs (now called doctoral networks) and would welcome discussions developing EU postdoctoral fellowship proposals. If you have any students who may be considering a postdoctoral research position and might be interested in med-tech/biomechanics then perhaps we can chat about this.  These fellowships are useful for answering research questions that both the beneficiary and the researcher are interested in.

When will the infringements of people’s rights to dignity end?

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Prof Chloe Orkin key UK HIV researcher, activist and consultant says on her twitter feed ‘How totally SHAMEFUL and hideous that this government chose to hold a public consultation before legislating to ban the INDEFENSIBLE practice of conversion therapy’.

Following the Queens Speech laying out the year ahead, many groups are elated and relieved to hear an end to conversion therapy attempts to change someones sexual orientation or gender identity in England and Wales. However many campaigners are frustrated that this is not an immediate blanket interdiction on this abusive and damaging practice, instead the ban on conversion therapy will be preceded by a public consultation.

10,000 and counting – Congratulations to the ERC for reaching this impressive milestone!

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The European Research Council has just awarded its 10,000th grant!  The award was an Consolidator Grant provided to Professor Inga Berre of the University of Bergen – congratulations! Not sure it is a milestone under the definition provided by the online manual for Horizon Europe, but BioTrib is not going to allow this to stop celebrating another EU Horizon success – champers out folks! To celebrate this fantastic achievement the ERC had a celebration attended by Senior EU dignitaries as well previous award winners outlining the support and subsequent impact such an award had on their careers and the wider community.

 

 

European Diversity Month

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May is the month to be in within Europe, as it celebrates and raises awareness of the importance of diversity and inclusion in our workplaces and in the society throughout the whole European Union through European Diversity Month. 

Let’s all take a bolder stand for diversity and act about it. Let’s show our commitment to equality and this May 2021 celebrate the European Diversity Month together. With more diverse workplaces, we will create a fairer and more equal Europe for all.

Helena Dalli, EU Commissioner for Equality

There is a launch event on Tuesday, 4 May 10:00-12:00 CEST, which can be accessed following registration on the above website. You will be able to view a recording of the high-level launch here.

BioTrib/University of Leeds MSCA ESR/IF careers meeting – 26th April 2021.

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BioTrib and the RIS EU office joined forces at the University of Leeds to deliver a careers orientated event for all MSCA Early Stage Researchers and Individual Fellows who are employed at the University.

The event comprised a panel session where 4 ESR and IF alumni provided an overview of their careers and provided advice to current MSCA sponsored researchers at the University of Leeds. The panel comprised:

  • Jayakrishnan Chandrappan, Head of Packaging, CSA Catapult, UK (MSCA IF Alumni),
  • Brandon Charleston, Head of Volunteering, Raleigh International (Leeds PhD Alumni),
  • Cecilia Persson, Professor at Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Applied Materials Science, Uppsala University, Sweden (MSCA ITN Alumni),
  • Anna Plotnikova, Assistant Professor of Strategic Change at VU University Amsterdam, School of Business and Economics, The Netherlands (MSCA ITN Alumni).

The panellists discussed the role of internationalisation in their career progression and the importance that provides through the demonstration of the attributes of an independent researcher, networking across national boundaries and being exposed to different cultures and research ideas.

The meeting also comprised speakers from the University involved in delivering opportunities for ESRs and IFs.  This included the RIS EU Office, The International Office, the Careers Service and the Organisational and Personal Development Unit.

Please note – the video recordings and slides will also be made available on our MSCA Microsoft TEAMS group so you can consult them as resources for future use!

I. Career opportunities & exploration sessions

 

Part 1: Welcome, Agenda and Introduction (video recording)
Prof Richard M Hall

 

Part 2: The Careers Centre. – what support is available at Leeds for PGRs (PhD Students)

Steve Carter, Career service

 

Part 3: Horizon Europe Opportunities​for MSCA Early-Stage Researchers (ESRs) and Individual Fellows (IFs)

Ben Williams, EU Team, RIS

 

Part 4: International Funding Opportunities for ESRs/IFs​
Hongsen Peng​, Global Research Development Team​, RIS

 

Part 5: How to use LinkedIn as a Careers Research Tool (no slides – live demonstration during the event)
Ruth Winden, Careers consultant, Organisational Development and Professional Learning (ODPL)  

 
II.  Panel Session – Perspectives of successful PhD/ITN and IF Alumni + Q&A (Chaired by Prof Richard M Hall)

 

Part 6: Introduction to the Alumni Panel session, Prof Richard M Hall & Presentation from Dr Anna Plotnikova 

Dr Anna Plotnikova, Assistant Professor of Strategic Change at VU University Amsterdam, School of Business and Economics, The Netherlands. (Marie Curie Alumnae (2016-2020) from the ITN project COINS, Leeds University Business School.)

 

Part 7: Presentation from Dr Jayakrishnan Chandrappan 

Dr Jayakrishnan Chandrappan, Head of Packaging, CSA Catapult, UK
Marie Curie Alumnus (2016-2017), MIRIPSHE project, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, School of Chemical and Process Engineering.

 

Part 8: Presentation from Dr Brandon Charleston

Dr Brandon Charleston, Head of Volunteering, Raleigh International, UK. (Leeds PhD Alumnus, Leeds University Business School).

 

Part 9: Presentation from Dr Cecilia Persson

Dr Cecilia Persson, Professor at Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Applied Materials Science, Uppsala University, Sweden.
(Marie Curie Alumnae (2006-2009), from the ITN project Spine FX, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, School of Mechanical Engineering.)

 

Part 10: Alumni Panel – Q&A (All panellists)

 

Is it a bird? Yes it is a peregrine!

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Leeds doesn’t have a cathedral but nearby Wakefield Cathedral has a funky visitor, which gets attention from over 100,000 fans in 57 countries! A pair of peregrine falcons are currently nesting on top of the cathedral tower and they have their own personal webcam. Therapeutic viewing after a long day contemplating life, the Universe and BioTrib.

Stop Press – 24 hours later:  Judith tells me there are also Peregrines located on the Parkinson Tower at the University of Leeds.

Research – Inspiring paper from the Leeds-Imperial Group on the Fabrication of Cartilage-Inspired Hydrogel Entangled Polymer–Elastomer Structures.

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Significant paper developing and modelling hydrogels with a goal of more closely representing those of cartilage. The material shows a similar equilibrium compressive modulus to that observed in cartilage and allows for both rehydration and poroelastic lubrication mechanisms. BioTrib looks forward to seeing further work from this partnership of leading tribological and modelling groups.

Abstract Image

Figure – Reprinted with permission from: Fabrication of Cartilage-Inspired Hydrogel/Entangled Polymer–Elastomer Structures Possessing Poro-Elastic Properties, Siavash Soltanahmadi, Nicholas Raske, Gregory N. de Boer, et al.  ACS Applied Polymer Materials, Copyright 2021 American Chemical Society

 

Training – What skills does a PhD student need for a successful career outside academia?

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Melina Papalampropoulou-Tsiridou has recently written an interesting blog on the PLOS ECR community pages which poses the following question:

PhD training in the 21st century: is there something missing?

This is a difficult question with the myriad of skills required in differing jobs across the STEM sector, from a science policy adviser to a postdoctoral researcher in a laboratory at a prestigious global University.  Indeed some of the skills required of a PhD student in industry may be become less important than they were in actually doing the PhD, whilst others will come to the fore once in paid employment post PhD.  An example, may be the focus on the idea of being an independent researcher, a student pursuing their own research goals, sometimes linked to other projects as in ETNs, sometimes not.  However, in industry, or even in EU funded large scale projects such as LifeLongJoints, the research is often completed in teams with groups of people explicitly working towards a common goal.  In it is not to say that PhDs are not highly prized, they are! Employers seek researchers with skills in critical analysis, a greater degree of objectivity and adept at generating new ideas. It is to be remembered that most PhDs will end up outside the academic sector.  In a recent BioTrib meeting with industry on supervisory training it was suggested that PhD candidates lack Project Management and other organisational skills when entering industry, but that the core creativity was highly valued. Melina provides similar examples around Networking and Management skills which appears to reflect a wider observation.  In BioTrib the Early Stage Researchers will undertake some Research Management training including Project Management, Ethics and aspects of Regulation. However, more can be done to make this more effective and embed this within European Research (Training) Programmes without impacting on the valuable core research that these ESRs do whilst undertaking a PhD.

If you want to outline what skills you think are missing in a PhD programme, please contact us here at BioTrib.

Armageddon… not quite but why don’t they stick scales on their photos!

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Exciting news reported in the local papers in Gloucestershire as well as news nationally in the UK this week, as small meteorite hit the UK. First signs were a bright, extended meteor track shot on various door bell and security cameras, with a subsequent find by a bemused family on their driveway.  The family then alerted the experts (don’t tell Gove) who now reliably tell us it contains material from the beginning of the solar system.  Indeed one could argue that the material was probably from the Big Bang in one form or another, but that discussion is for another day.  But BBC and other media providers, please put a scale bar on your pics when there is no natural reference.  The meteorite itself could be any size and the picture of the drive could easily be of a coating on a metals surface of the order of a few microns or less or a stony desert!  Admittedly, if the latter were true the resulting impact would bring out more than a few avid meteorite hunters.

May this be a lesson for budding coating engineers – you don’t want your rather novel coating that is about to revolutionise joint replacement to be mistaken for a meteorite impact!

Diversity – A Bullingdon in reverse: how working-class student club is taking on elitism

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Elitism alive and well in British Universities reports the Guardian. You wouldn’t really believe this is 2021 – more like Victorian England. We, as a community, need all our citizens to play an active and crucial role in determining goals, aspirations and sharing of the spoils.  This sort of activity leads to the exclusion of potential and fails to bring the most capable person to the fore.