Keith Jones, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation) wrote to all staff on Thursday 12 December. Read his message in full:
Dear Colleagues,
Research & Innovation Update is a new monthly newsletter for you. It will cover topics such as University research successes, knowledge exchange, funding opportunities, staff profiles, and journal roundups. It will also contain updates from the likes of Sussex Innovation, and Research and Innovation Services.
If you have any research news to share for next month’s update, we want to hear from you. Please email your content to Internal Communications - with ‘RIU submission’ as the subject - by Friday 10 January. Keeping the text to 100 words or less will help us keep the newsletter a manageable read for busy colleagues.
In addition to this new internal research-focused newsletter, the University is also about to launch a new email roundup for external audiences, Research at Sussex. You will receive this fortnightly summary of the latest research news, insights, and discoveries later in December. The first edition will explore what’s behind Trump’s corruption clean-up campaign and discusses which Sussex academics are among the most influential in the world.
I hope you will find both research roundups useful – please feel free to let me know your thoughts.
With good wishes,
Professor Keith Jones
Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research & Innovation)
Contents
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Research successes
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Funding
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Innovation and Business Partnerships
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Research and Innovation Services
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Knowledge Exchange
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Research Information, Quality and Impact
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Research Development and Initiatives
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Sussex Innovation
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IT Services
Research successes
Award-winning interdisciplinary research project helps real-life Paddington bears
A Sussex research team made BBC news recently with their research project, The Andean Bear Research Action Group. Joanna Smallwood and the team won our Research Culture Award for Interdisciplinary Collaboration back in the summer. The project has gained fresh attention recently due to the recent release of the latest popular film, allegedly inspired by the Andean Spectacled Bear, Paddington in Peru.
Contributing to COP29
Sussex researchers, academics and former students recently made a contribution to the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change - COP29 - in Baku, Azerbaijan. Among these was Professor Matthew Agarwala, who moderated a session on measuring climate risks for smarter adaptation and mitigation solutions. Read about the University’s involvement with COP29 and see Professor Peter Newell's take on Instagram.
Sussex Researchers win Molecular & Cellular Medicine Board (MCMB) Award for DNA Repair Discovery
Colleagues at the Genome Damage and Stability Centre (GDSC) have made an exciting discovery, identifying a new way in which human cells repair DNA damage caused by sunlight. This research, published in Molecular Cell, shows that bulky DNA damage from UV light activates base excision repair, a pathway not previously associated with this type of damage. The breakthrough has been awarded £520,000 by the Medical Research Council for a three-year project led by Professor Keith Caldecott, Dr Amit Gautam and the team to explore this discovery further.
Sussex Secures Grant with Cross-Faculty Knowledge Transfer Partnership to Develop Groundbreaking Quantum Clock
The Innovation and Business Partnerships (IBP) team here at Sussex have helped to secure a prestigious three-year Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) grant worth £460,000.
The aim of the project is to develop the world’s first commercial optical atomic clock, based on trapped ion quantum technology pioneered at Sussex. This collaboration with CPI TMD Technologies Ltd addresses critical needs in the defence and telecom sectors, particularly in ensuring precise timekeeping in environments vulnerable to Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) outages. The project brings together Sussex’s quantum experts, led by Professor Matthias Keller (MPS), with telecommunications insights from Professor Maziar Nekovee (EngInf).
Funding
UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships call
UKRI has issued a pre-announcement for round 10 of its Future Leaders Fellowships (FLF) call. The FLF scheme aims to develop the next wave of world-class research and innovation leaders in academia and business. Sussex will only be able to submit four applications to this call, so an institutional selection process is needed. There will be a two-stage selection process. The first stage will be undertaken at Faculty level and each Faculty selection panel will nominate up to four applications for consideration at a central cross-Faculty panel. If you are interested in this call, please discuss a potential bid with your Director of Research and Knowledge Exchange or your Research Development Manager in Research and Innovation Services. The internal application form is available on the University’s demand management webpages and should be submitted to research.initiatives@sussex.ac.uk by 12 noon on 17 February 2025.
January 2025 external funding deadlines
Colleagues are asked to notify the Research Development team now if they intend to submit (or are considering submitting) an application to an external funding deadline in January 2025. This will help the RIS teams ensure there is support available for your application after the holiday period.
Innovation and Business Partnerships
Innovation and Business Partnerships update
The Knowledge Exchange (KE) team has fostered academic-industry partnerships, participating in and hosting numerous events over the past few months. Most recently, on 6 November, Sue Baxter and her team welcomed the Greater Brighton delegation, led by Brighton Council leader Bella Sankey, along with representatives from the Department for Business & Trade Tech Investment. This event showcased the University’s substantial impact in key areas such as Quantum, AI, and Data Centers, underscoring the region’s potential to attract international investment. We invite any academics interested in hosting company visits or exploring collaborative contracts to contact our team for support.
Finally, we recently signed a contract to rent laboratory space to a company which is on target to earn approximately £50k in income for limited additional costs. If your School has underutilised space that external partners might rent, we’d be glad to discuss how we can help you make the most of these opportunities.
Research Information, Quality and Impact
Bid and Award Activity
The University has seen an extremely strong start to the 24/25 financial year in terms of our bids for funding and the awards we’ve received. By the end of November, we’d seen a 14% increase in the number of bids for funding (343 in 24/25 compared to 302 in 23/24) alongside a 63% increase in the value of those bids (£166,369k in 24/25 compared to £101,763k in 23/24). The awards are showing an even greater increase with the number of awards up 75% compared to the previous year (107 in 24/25 compared to 61 in 23/24) and the value up 153% (£20,624k in 24/25 compared to £8,157k in 23/24). The £20,624k is the highest value of awards Sussex has seen at this point in a financial year.
Upcoming RQI/Faculty REF Review meetings
The RQI team, along with Seb Oliver, Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Research, will be holding REF Review meetings with each Faculty in the new year. The sessions which will include discussions on Engagement & Impact and Contributions to Knowledge & Understanding, as well as a workshop on People, Culture & Environment (PCE). As these are Faculty-level meetings including all Units of Assessment(UoAs) in each Faculty, they will be extended sessions and the Executive Dean will participate.
The PCE workshops will be an opportunity for Faculties to find out more about the design of the new assessment, to understand more about initiatives to build positive research cultures at Sussex, and to learn about work from across the sector. The aim of discussions will be to enable Faculties/UoAs to consider research culture challenges and plan activity to bring about change.
Research and Innovation Services
JRA poster exhibition
The annual Junior Research Associate (JRA) Poster Exhibition took place on 17 October. The event was hugely successful, with over 200 people casting votes for the People’s Choice Award on the day, indicating a great turnout. Current donors to the scheme were also invited to a private view and to a chat with shortlisted JRAs.
The JRA scheme is run by the Sussex Researcher School, and is made possible through a combination of philanthropic, widening participation, and central institutional funding.
Knowledge Exchange
Knowledge Exchange and Impact Fellowships launched
Using institutional allocations from Research England, a new internal call has been launched inviting academics to apply to the following four categories of Fellowships: Policy, Public and Community Engagement, Participatory Research, and Innovation. The call closes at 5pm on 10 January 2025. Additional information and application forms are available on the KE and Impact Support Programme webpages, including spotlights on five of the Fellowships funded last year. Please contact Nana Yankah in RIS if you would like to discuss a potential application.
Sussex Participatory Network
The Sussex Participatory Research Network (Sussex PRN) was established in July 2023 to recognise the extensive experience in participatory approaches across our campus and to offer a platform for colleagues to share experiences and best practice, and build skills in participatory research methods. The network has hosted a series of events and workshops and now has over 90 members from all Faculties. Developed in collaboration with Institute of Development Studies, a new online resource has been created to share materials and best practice on participatory research methods. Please contact Nana Yankah or Nora Davies if you are interested in joining the Sussex PRN.
Working in Partnership with Sussex Bay
The University is working with Sussex Bay, an innovative partnership that is enabling a healthy blue ecosystem in which nature, people and local economy can thrive. On 21 January 2025, from 10.30am-1pm, we will be hosting a workshop in G30 of the Jubilee Building to introduce Sussex researchers to the partnership. Dr Lewis White, Research Lead for Sussex Bay, will highlight the evidence-based approach being adopted to ensure that knowledge is used to enable sustainable change across the 100 miles of Sussex waters from Chichester to Camber Sands, out to 12 nautical miles and into the intertidal zones of the Sussex river catchments, wetlands and saltmarshes. The workshop presents an opportunity to identify potential collaborations and to map Sussex research and expertise with Sussex Bay. Sign up to the workshop and watch a video about the project below.
Research Development and Initiatives
Eastern ARC Strategy 2025-30
In January 2024, the University of Sussex joined the universities of East Anglia, Essex and Kent to become the fourth member of the Eastern Academic Research Consortium, a collaboration established in 2013. The Eastern ARC strategy 2025-30 has recently been published and aims to facilitate collaboration to deliver real, tangible and positive change in four areas that both define our region and impact the world: coast, food, heritage, and sanctuary. Cutting across these four strategic areas are three priorities which will provide a focus and encourage interdisciplinary working: health and wellbeing, sustainable futures, and innovative technology. If you would like more information about how to engage with Eastern ARC please contact Debbie Foy in Research Development and Initiatives, or the Eastern ARC Director, Phil Ward.
Horizon Europe
The EU’s key Research and Innovation funding programme runs until 2027. On 31 October, the Research Development & Initiatives Team delivered a webinar on upcoming research funding opportunities available in 2025 for Cluster 5: Climate, Energy and Mobility. If this is an area you are interested in, please contact your Research Development Manager who can share the recording.
Eastern ARC is developing a training programme which is free to colleagues across the four universities. The first two events held in November focused on European funding: ‘Everything you ever wanted to know about Horizon Europe’, and ‘Participating in Collaborative Projects in Horizon Europe’. The Research Development Team will disseminate information on subsequent events which will focus on developing networks and hearing about the new Work Programmes from the National Contact Points. For those new to EU funding, please read the Eastern ARC Introduction to Horizon Europe.
Worktribe research management system
In May 2024 Sussex launched Worktribe, a cloud-based research management platform to manage research and innovation funding proposals and awards and contracts. The platform supports the development and costing of research projects, internal approvals and risk assessment, and contract negotiation, and replaces pFACT and other outdated manual systems. Worktribe’s collaborative features facilitate academic, technical and Professional Services staff involved in research working together on bids, awards and contracts. The Worktribe landing page has more information about how to get access.
Due Diligence
The Research Development & Initiatives team recently finished a pilot project to streamline the Due Diligence process which needs to be completed when we’re undertaking research with partners. Our aim is to better support PI-led research by giving assurance on new partners and funders at bid stage and highlight potential issues at an early stage. The new, more efficient process will provide a clear view on potential risks and help determine mitigations before projects are awarded.
Research Integrity training
The Research Ethics, Integrity, and Governance Team in consultation with Organisational Development and an academic working group have collaborated with colleagues across the University to develop Research Integrity training that is mandatory for all research staff. The training is hosted on LearnUpon and will take approximately 35 minutes to complete.
Sussex Beacons: Climate Action event on 21 November
On a snowy November lunchtime, 80 guests gathered at ACCA and online to hear speakers from three Sussex Centres of Excellence explore the pressing topic of Climate Action. Dominic Kniveton (Sussex Centre for Migration), Jo Middleton (Sussex Sustainability Research Programme), and Emily Lydgate (UK Trade Policy Observatory) each delivered insightful, bite-sized talks to an audience of staff and students from across the University. The event, hosted by DPVC Seb Oliver, concluded with a lively Q&A. Rescheduled from the Summer of Research 2024, our audience felt it was well worth the wait! Watch the recording.
Advancing Open Research: New UKRN ‘train the trainer’ courses announced
The UK Reproducibility Network (UKRN) has announced a new run of ‘Train the Trainer’ courses for spring 2025. New offerings will include Open Access for Underrepresented Outputs and Open Source Hardware, taught by our very own Dr Andre Maia Chagas (don’t miss his webinar on 12 November). Popular courses including Data Management for Reproducibility and Data Sharing will also return for re-runs.
All courses follow the ‘train the trainer model’, where participants are expected to pass on their knowledge through training sessions for the Sussex community. Open to everyone, the application deadline is 15 January. If you are interested in becoming an UKRN accredited trainer, please contact Alice on a.sambrook@sussex.ac.uk for more details and how to apply.
Open Scholarship Community Sussex launch event
The Open Scholarship Community Sussex (OSCS) is an exciting new initiative designed to unite everyone who is passionate or curious about Open Research at Sussex. The official launch event in late January will feature inspiring talks from senior academics who are champions of Open Research across the University, as well as insightful contributions from fellow Open Scholarship Communities from around the globe.
Following the launch, monthly OSCS meetings will be held in the Library. These sessions will provide a collaborative space for researchers to connect, share resources and drive innovation in Open Research. Visit the Open Scholarship Community Sussex website for more information and to sign up to be notified about the official launch date.
Sussex Innovation
Case Study: Sussex 4 Day Week
Outlining the support provided to Dr Charlotte Rae, a Senior Lecturer from the School of Psychology, for her intention to explore commercial models around her funded research project. Coming off the back of the CRoSS programme, this project was a great example of working with an academic over an extended period of time to build their confidence in a commercial setting.
Double Innovate UK Funding Success for Sussex Innovation Members
A chance to revisit two successful collaborations fostered by the IBP team earlier this year, between tenants at Sussex Innovation and partners at the University. Emteq Labs, who have developed emotion measurement hardware and analytics, worked with Professor Martin Yeomans from the School of Psychology. Virtual sports gaming platform Fantasy Football Hub worked with Dr Ivor Simpson and his team in the School of Engineering and Informatics.
Modernising our Research Computing Services
Over the last six months, ITS has delivered the first phase of a complete refresh of the University's research computing infrastructure. The new Artemis platform is based on OpenStack technology offering enhanced security, flexibility and scalability to meet future needs. It replaces the Apollo2 system, which will be decommissioned by the end of the calendar year. During 2025 Artemis will be developed to support other research use cases from across the Faculties, including web application hosting. Improvements to research data storage services are also under active discussion. Both programmes of work are guided by the Research IT Committee who oversee the strategic development of the University's research IT services.
What you'd like to see?
Research & Innovation Update has been created to help you flourish in your role at the University of Sussex. Let us know what you would like to see more of by emailing: internalcomms@sussex.ac.uk.