European Funding for Research: What Opportunities Does It Present and How Does It Work?

European Funding for Research: What Opportunities Does It Present and How Does It

Work?

Professor Peter W. McOwan Vice Principal Public Engagement and External

Partnerships Queen Mary University of London

Outline

Process: the mechanics of developing and successfully delivering a large EU project

People: an indication of the key people involved and the challenges

Professional development: a discussion of how I feel such projects advance the individuals involved

Perks: those unexpected extras that can arise

My story…

Prof. Peter McOwanProject CoordinatorQueen Mary, University of London

Process...2006Call for proposals (EC)

2007Lots of hard work, version control, wiki, finance, submission and success!

2008EU Negotiation and 1 March – Kick off

2012Timesheets, deliverables, milestones, reviews, recommendations, finance reporting, audits… travel & research, 31 August - End

10 partners, 2 companies, 7 countriesQueen Mary, University of LondonHeriot Watt UniversityUniversity of HertfordshireUKSwedish Institute of Computer ScienceSwedenINESC-IDCnotinforPortugal University of BambergGermanyWroclaw University of TechnologyPolandEotvos Lorand UniversityHungaryFOAMBelgium Total budget

€10,760,966

Objectives...

Developing technologies Getting inspiration from human-

human and human-dog companionship behaviours

Analyse ethical issues and impact

Test the LIREC developments in real social settings

Long-term relationships/friendshi

p

NEF!!!

Project timeline

Milestone 1: Formulation (M12) end of year 1

Phase 1 Milestone 2:

Prototype(M24) end of year 2

Milestone 3: Prototype evaluation (M36) end of year 3

Phase 2 Milestone 4: Final

version evaluation (M52)

Milestone 5: Migration evaluation (M52)

Milestone 6: Final reporting (M54)

Phase 3

0 16 40 52Foundations Building companions

Understanding companions

LIREC Review 3, Porto Salvo, May 2011

Outcomes... multidisciplinary

Technologies• Migration• Emotion tracker• System architecture

Embodiments• FLASH/EMYS• SUNFLOWER• CHARLY• SPUTNIK• My Pleo• iCat – my Friend

Guidelines• Human dog

companionship• Human-human

companionship• Human-robot

interactions• Design• Ethics

Prototype robots

A Polish Wedding

Studies and expertise

• All publications available (free)

• Report guidelines available (free)

• Videos on LIREC developments and researchers’ expertise!

DesignEthics

EthologyPsychology

Emotional robotsExpressive behaviourEducational software

Human robot interactions

Robot Road Run...

• Fun LIREC Robot Game app for dissemination• Game using some ideas from LIREC

developments• For iPhone• LIREC legacy app

www.qappsonline.com

Germination X...

• Social game developed by FoAM

• Uses Lirec technology to control its in-game characters.

• About agents (or "plant spirits") to help you learn about companion planting and connect you with other players.

Little Mozart game and app...

• new generation social companion for game-based learning

• virtual companion - facial expressions - memory of past interactions

• to support children in learning how to compose a melody

Why faces are special? Royal Society Summer Exhibition, Science Museum, Secret Cinema.

LIREC made the official selection of the International Film Festival at CERN, Cineglobe 2012. Among the 55 selected out of 1450! (Youtube)

Social impact 156 events120,000+ people exposed to LIREC6 trade fairs 22 industry-oriented eventsNumerous public events and media

Workshop paper Conference paper Journal0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

16

67

18

Types of Publications

Academic Impact & significant network development

Other EU Schemes

European funded project

TEMI kick-off meeting, London, 9-10 April 2013 26

FP7

Capacities

Science in Society

Coordination and Support Action

TEMI kick-off meeting, London, 9-10 April 2013

27

TEMI concept

MYSTERIES

To train and support teachers to transform

science and mathematics classroom practices

TEMI kick-off meeting, London, 9-10 April 2013

28

13 Partners, 11 countries, 3.1 Million Euro

Final Thoughts

- considerable admin overhead in preparation and delivery but big funds- politics in consortium makeup- EU project officer, local manager and finace support is key- interdisciplinary favoured - significant research impact & networking- develop early stage researchers- increased cultural understanding & travel- hard work, but fun…

Questions?