Overview

This conference is a free, interactive, facilitated event promoting dialogue between academics and voluntary sector practitioners, policy makers and other stakeholders from a broad range of third sector organisations.

Key note speaker: Professor Sarah Skerratt, RSE

The conference will let you:

• Hear from some of the latest third sector research projects
• Discuss findings and share learning around impact
• Meet and network with other third sector researchers and academics involved in voluntary sector-related research

Following the wide-ranging events that take place during Volunteer Week in Scotland in the first week of June, this full-day event will cast a critical eye over the many facets of impact that relate to the third sector in Scotland.

This research symposium is jointly hosted by The Voluntary Sector Studies Network (VSSN) and the Third Sector Research Forum (hosted by Evaluation Support Scotland), the University of Glasgow, Youth Link Scotland, Volunteer Scotland and Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO).

Themes for the day include:

• The impact of volunteering and the third sector in different settings, including health, wellbeing and the wellbeing economy
• The impact of small community organisations and place-based volunteering
• How does the sector navigate working with the local grassroots communities?
• How to measure the value of the sector and to understand the place of evaluations and measuring impact in the third sector
• The impact of doing research in collaboration with volunteering organisations and the impact of community led research on research values and ethics

This in-person event is aimed at anyone who does, uses or commissions research about volunteering or community and third sector organisations, in particular:

• Members of the Third Sector Research Forum
• VSSN members
• Third sector researchers
• Academics involved in third sector-related/community-led research
  
  

Join the University of Glasgow’s Living Laboratory programme for its Healthcare Innovation Symposium, where delegates from across academia, industry, and healthcare will come together to explore cutting-edge developments, emerging opportunities, and key challenges in the healthcare innovation landscape.

The symposium will highlight the Living Laboratory’s unique collaborative ecosystem, showcasing the importance of cross-sector partnerships in driving innovation and the adoption of new technologies.

What can you expect?

Attendees can expect engaging sessions around MedTech opportunities and advancements, strategies for generating evidence and its role in accelerating adoption, and insights into Living Laboratory assets and initiatives designed to drive innovation in Glasgow and across Scotland.

The event will introduce the Health Innovation Hub, which is set to further enhance the collaborative ecosystem and strengthen Glasgow’s position as a global leader in healthcare innovation.

Additionally, the symposium will offer valuable networking opportunities and interactive workshops, igniting innovation and nurturing ground-breaking ideas to accelerate innovation into healthcare and improve patient outcomes.

What is the Living Laboratory programme?

The Living Laboratory is a University of Glasgow-led programme that is dedicated to strengthening Glasgow’s position as a leader in healthcare innovation. By working in partnership with researchers, industry, clinicians and the public, they support the creation, refinement, and clinical evaluation of ground-breaking healthcare solutions that will transform patient outcomes.

By fostering a vibrant, collaborative ecosystem, the Living Laboratory is attracting businesses to Glasgow and fuelling the development and growth of local companies. This expanding industry cluster is creating new job opportunities, enhancing skills and driving local economic growth in Govan and Glasgow.

The University of Glasgow is hosting the Scottish Roadshow for DAFNI: Data & Analytics Facility for National Infrastructure on 22nd/23rd October. DAFNI is a computing platform which supports advanced research into national infrastructure, including transport, water, and energy and city scale modelling. All working in these areas with an interest in data are welcome to participate.

Day 1: involves presentations and lightning talks from DAFNI and academics from across Scotland to understand the research being undertaken that has benefitted from, and could benefit from using DAFNI.

Day 2: focuses on the ‘Challenges and Barriers of Data Sharing’. The DAFNI team are looking to collect evidence to inform a future funding case for further investment by government. Researchers, Government, Industry, Policy Makers, Data Sharing Experts, those working with Infrastructure, and the Engineering Community across Scotland are invited to contribute.

For details, and to register visit: DAFNI Roadshow Scotland

Sustainability Insights Live: Is it possible to balance growth with sustainable tourism?

Hosted by the School of Social & Environmental Sustainability, University of Glasgow, this live in-conversation event will delve into the complex issue of overtourism in Scotland, the UK, and Europe, and the shift towards sustainable tourism models. A panel of experts will provide different perspectives on how to balance tourism growth with environmental and social sustainability, discussing both theoretical questions and practical solutions. Discover the role tourists can play in promoting sustainability, and the challenges this presents for growth.

The expert panel includes:

Dr Anna de Jong : Senior Lecturer in Tourism at the University of Glasgow, and Director of Research within the School of Social & Environmental Sustainability.

Professor Sandro Carnicelli : Professor of Tourism and Leisure Studies and the Deputy Director of the Centre for Culture, Sport, and Events (CCSE) at the University of the West of Scotland.

Lesley Judge: Strategic Programmes Executive at Interface with over two decades experience in working within the tourism sector, works with organisations to build strategic partnerships between industry and academia, and help organisations to innovate.

Amy McCreadie Outreach and External Engagement Co-ordinator for the School of Social & Environmental Sustainability will moderate the event which will take place at the University of Glasgow’s Dumfries Campus.

A one-day event for academics from the Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Heriot-Watt, St Andrews, and Strathclyde. Hear impact success stories, find a collaboration partner from another Scottish university, and access funds for impact collaborations.

The festival will be held on 4 September 2024 at COSLA, Edinburgh Haymarket and will support you to:

• find out more about the opportunities, funding and training available to you to create impact from your research
• become a future impact leader
• network with like-minded researchers from five Scottish universities with EPSRC Impact Acceleration Accounts (IAAs)

Interface will be exhibiting at the festival please come along and say hello!

The University of Glasgow, in collaboration with Scottish Enterprise, Innovate UK, the Scottish Government, and the Department for Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT) are putting on an exciting in-person networking and information event to promote the collaborative research and innovation opportunities that Horizon Europe has to offer. Discover how Horizon Europe has transformed ideas into successful projects across various sectors, and how yours could be next.

Horizon Europe is the world’s largest Research and Innovation (R&I) programme, with a budget of over £82bn. The programme runs from 2021 to 2027, and it is open to all types of R&I organisations, including large businesses, SMEs, academia, public institutions and third sector organisations.

The UK has historically been one of the best performers in European Research and Innovation Framework Programmes, and on average successful UK applicants to Pillar 2 and Pillar 3 receive around £450,000 although this figure could be much higher. A key part of Horizon Europe is building consortia with partners around the world, particularly now that UK entities can lead projects.

Howell Davies, Interface’s Head of Strategic Programmes and Funding, will be speaking at this event on “How do you define Innovation for the Food & Drink Sector?”

A showcasing and knowledge sharing event focussed on international development research in Scotland.

The Scottish Funding Council and the University of Glasgow invite you to a workshop and networking event focussed on international development research in Scotland. This event brings together researchers and research professionals from Scottish HEIs and research institutes to showcase their international development research successes, facilitate knowledge sharing across institutions and funders, and identify opportunities for collaborative international development work.

Venue and Programme

Taking place at the University of Glasgow’s Advanced Research Centre, the event will include:

• Scene setting on international development research in Scotland with funders and key sector stakeholders. Confirmed attendees include the Scottish Government, the Scottish Funding Council, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Wellcome, FCDO and UKRI.
• Institutional Research Briefings – A chance for each attending institution to highlight their international development research portfolios. If appropriate, we welcome information sharing on use of ISPF ODA funding to bolster activity.
• Lunchtime Poster Session – Taking place in a publicly-accessible venue, a showcase of the depth and breadth of Scotland’s international development research activity and an opportunity to create new connections between individuals and teams. Early Career Researchers are particularly encouraged to submit a poster.
• Break-out discussions – Interactive discussion and feedback session focussed on how Scottish institutions can be collaborating more effectively on international development research.

A final agenda and additional details will be circulated to registered attendees.

This event will take place fully in-person, however the plenary sessions will be recorded and made available at a later date for those unable to attend in person.

Join ETP for a dynamic exploration of Scotland’s ground-breaking innovations to enable and accelerate the energy transition. This event brings together leaders and game-changers, developing innovative solutions and initiatives from private, public, and academic sectors. The Showcase will explore the continuing challenges at the forefront of decarbonisation, green hydrogen production, and renewable energy generation, and showcase the emerging solutions and enabling technologies which have risen to tackle some of these challenges.

The format of the day will include Keynote Speeches by Energy Transition Leaders, a Panel Session on Steps to accelerate energy transition innovation in Scotland, Challenge Clinics – Energy Transition, Circular Green Economy, Enabling Technologies and Supply chain, etc. Discussions with industry and public sector representatives highlighting challenges and initiatives and an Exhibition Showcase by Scottish companies of the Energy Innovation Projects, currently going on.

Learn more and register

Background

Therme Group is an industry leader in the wellbeing sector with multiple major water-based wellbeing facilities throughout Europe with new facilities in the UK and Canada under construction.

Therme’s guiding philosophy is “Wellbeing for all” which delivers a holistic approach to wellbeing and includes a social outreach dimension to make the facilities available to all of the community in the city regions where they have sites. This holistic approach encompasses the aesthetics and design of the built environment, the impact of the water based, and other wellbeing treatments offered and extends to nutrition and the sources of food offered on site.

Therme UK has plans to open a major new £125M facility on the Clyde serving as the regional centre in Scotland to deliver Therme UK’s 90:90 UK access strategy. This seeks to position Therme facilities such that 90% of the UK population are within 90 minutes’ drive of a Therme facility.

The Challenge

Therme Group have five main guiding principles and areas of focus around which they build their business model and facilities. These are Health, Equity, Security, Learning and Environment. In each case they are interested in strategic research partners that can help Therme as a group deliver improved operational delivery, minimise environmental impact and ultimately improve customer experience.

They have developed subject specific strategic research & development (R&D) relationships with the University of Florence for the built environment and in Scotland they have supported research activity in the University of Glasgow and James Hutton Institute (Dundee) developing frameworks of wellbeing and food technology respectively.

The collaboration facilitated by Interface came about from the combination of a planned major facility in Glasgow and the recognition of the strength in the University of Glasgow in four key areas of research, Wellbeing Research, Informing Policy, Wellbeing Technology and Environmental Technology directly relevant to Therme’s long term needs. This led to a feasibility study, supported by Interface, which provided an evidence base for exploring the creation of a global Centre of Wellbeing Research Excellence (WellEX) in Glasgow.

The Solution

Interface made initial introduction and discussions between Therme Group and the University of Glasgow who successfully applied to the Inward investment Catalyst Fund to support a WellEX feasibility.

The basis of the feasibility study was to raise awareness of the opportunity and develop connections between senior management at the Therme Group responsible for Innovation and the relevant Business, Social Science, Health and Technology academics and departments within the University. In particular, the feasibility exercise and subsequent discussions identified four areas of future collaboration where Therme’s interests and the University of Glasgow’s expertise aligned.

These included:

Wellbeing innovations: Therme Group is primarily interested in understanding how wellbeing improvement can be brought about for individuals and populations, and the broader benefits of wellbeing on society, the economy, and the environment through evidence-based research.

Informing policy: Through close collaboration with the local government and communities, the research conducted by WellEX is expected to support the work of the University of Glasgow to explore, validate, and inform wellbeing strategies and policies at the local and national levels, working to understand the complexity of policy intervention.

Wellbeing technology: To explore, develop and test “wellbeing technology” focused on improving the effects of wellbeing innovations and users’ experience within and outside Therme Group sites.

Sustainability practices: To explore and validate sustainability practices for Therme wellbeing activities and facilities to leverage renewable energy sources and reduce carbon emissions.

The feasibility study validated the concept of a Global Centre of Excellence, providing an evidence base for a Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) funding application in 2022 and ongoing funding applications.

The findings showed that the University of Glasgow was well placed to both anchor and act as an international R&D hub for Therme’s aspirations to develop a world-class centre of excellence in wellbeing. The planned development of a major new facility in Glasgow, serving the Scottish population catchment area, offers a unique opportunity to create such a WellEX and capture the significant research, societal and economic benefits this would bring to Scotland.

The University of Glasgow are commited to developing this proposition further and presenting a full business case for consideration by Therme Group, the University, and strategic partners such as Glasgow City Council and Scottish Government agencies, including Scottish Funding Council (SFC), Scottish Development International (SDI), and Scottish Enterprise (SE).

The Benefits

• Validated the concept of a Global Centre of Excellence to be based in Glasgow, providing an evidence base for a BEIS funding application in 2022 and ongoing funding applications.
• Development of a much deeper relationship with Therme Group as partners on wellbeing which can be developed further as the new Glasgow facility is built.
• Development of a cross disciplinary working group in Glasgow in response to Therme’s interest and catalyzed by the Interface report. This cross disciplinary group is currently developing funding applications around the theme of healthy ageing.
• Potential to generate a strategic new initiative at the institutional level by encouraging the University of Glasgow for the first time to carry out a strategic review of all its wellbeing research strengths across all disciplines for Therme Group as a serious industrial partner.
• The WellEX initiative has the potential to generate significant new jobs and economic activity in Glasgow, provisionally estimated between 10-20 net additional FTEs.
• This collaborative research also aligns well with the developing Wellbeing Economy policy of the Scottish Government.

This project benefitted from the Scottish Inward Investment Catalyst Fund. The Scottish Inward Investment Catalyst Fund launched by Interface and the Scottish Government promotes Scotland as a leading destination for inward investment and supports businesses not yet located in Scotland but seeking to establish stronger ties with academia here. As well as funding research and development it provides an opportunity for the company to establish relationships and give insight into other aspects of the Scottish landscape, such as further investment opportunities, supply chains and the skills base to strengthen the case for investing in Scotland.