Staffordshire County Council and Tenshi have announced the Dare to Solve: Health and Social Care Innovation Contest to find innovative solutions to help better deliver public services across health and social care sectors.

With the digital revolution in full swing, Staffordshire County Council has recognised the opportunity of using digital solutions to enable residents to live healthier, happier lives and to deliver public services more efficiently. Two challenges are being put forward through the Dare to Solve contest, around the themes of empowering health and wellbeing in adults and increasing support for families and children.

Building Capacity: Providing Opportunities for Students and Early Career Researchers to Involve Patients and the Public in their Research

The Institute of Advanced Study is pleased to announce that the 2016 call for applications to the WIRL-COFUND fellowships scheme is now open.

The fellowships are aimed at outstanding postdoctoral researchers at an early stage in their research career and will give successful applicants the opportunity to spend two years at Warwick in order develop their own independent research whilst undertaking a specific programme of advanced training delivered by the IAS.
Fellowships are open to applicants of any discipline who demonstrate the ability to apply or extend their knowledge beyond disciplinary specialisms and propose an innovative research project that aligns with at least one of Warwick’s cross-faculty Global Research Priorities. The fellowships are open to anyone who has a PhD (or equivalent experience) and has not spent more than 12 months in the past three years in the UK (as per Marie Skłodowska Curie Fellowships).

The fellows will be employed by IAS, but will be hosted by a Warwick department and by at least one GRP in order to support their research. For further details of the Fellowships and how to apply please visit their website.

Prof Siobhan Quenby's work at the Tommy's Centre for Miscarriage Research was highlighted in Jennifer's story on the Tommy's website. When discussing her experience at the centre, Jennifer said "...most of all she offered me hope".

The Medical Research Council (MRC) is pleased to announce a £5M call for Networks in Vaccines Research.

This call forms part of MRC’s activities under the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) and therefore requires Networks to address vaccine R&D challenges primarily relevant to the health or prosperity of Low and Middle Income Countries on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) DAC List. The Networks supported through this call will contribute to the UK’s commitment to Official Development Assistance (ODA).

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, and the Treasury, have released a statement confirming that EU funding will be guaranteed beyond the date the UK leaves the EU. The statement provides assurance to UK organisations bidding directly to the European Commission on a competitive basis while we are still a member of the EU.

A new generation of drugs that prevent cancer and Alzheimer’s could be developed, thanks to research from the University of Warwick.

Following a pilot call in 2013 and a follow up call in 2014/15, EPSRC invites proposals for Healthcare Impact Partnerships. A budget of £5 million is available to support projects that must progress previous EPSRC funded research towards impact within a healthcare application. This call is only open to proposals which are within remit of the following themes: Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), Novel Computational and Mathematical Sciences or Imaged Guided Therapies and Interventions. Proposals should build upon existing strengths and expertise and demonstrate potential to address an unmet healthcare need and/or offer significant added value over current or alternative healthcare solutions.

The fourth DigiHealth UK summit will be held at the Manchester Conference Centre on Thursday 20 October. The event will focus on how health services can bridge the gap between the current pressures on the system and the plans for the NHS to become a world leader in the development and use of technology in health and social care.