SMMI BULLETIN - JULY 2020
|
|
EU H2020 Green Deal: Building a low-carbon, climate resilient future
Although Brexit has happened the UK has FULL access to the H2020 European Green Deal research programme. This has a €1 Bn budget and the UK is fully eligible (as the UK has already paid its dues into H2020). A draft Work Programme for a new call that will come out this autumn is available. There are numerous potential opportunities for the SMMI community some of which are summarized here. Although the UK is a full member of H2020, some have suggested that is better for UK organisations to be a partner rather than a leader of bids.
SMMI and the UoS EU Office have some preliminary information on these calls so if you want the full (99 page) document then please write to the SMMI Co-ordinator Sue Smith.
EU-wide Webinar/Brokerage events are planned for 23rd October. Read more here.
|
|
|
Safer decommissioning of offshore infrastructure and ships: establishing a global baseline and raising awareness to help deliver safety improvements
|
|
|
© Studio Fasching
A consortium of researchers from the University of Southampton, Advisian (UK), University tec de Monterrey (Mexico), University of Teramo (Italy) and the NGO Shipbreaking Platform (Belgium) have been awarded funding through the Royal Academy of Engineering and Lloyd’s Register Foundation Engineering X programme to collate, investigate and disseminate data relating to decommissioning of offshore infrastructure and ships. Project lead for Southampton, Prof Fraser Sturt said "an open access web-dashboard will be created hosting evidential material, resources and targeted reports to address these questions. The platform will be dynamic and graphical to help monitor activities and the efficacy of attempts made to address them. Through offering this space, where data can be examined, approaches discussed and outcomes witnessed, more rapid and effective changes become possible. Critically, it will also help to highlight if improvements aren’t being adopted why this might be the case, and which levers might most effectively be used to address them." Read more here.
|
|
250,000 tonnes of shipping CO2 emissions saved thanks to machine learning insight
|
|
|
Maritime engineers have trained an energy shipping app to save over a quarter of a million tonnes of CO2 emissions by applying machine learning to its predictive system. Researchers from the University of Southampton and Shell Shipping and Maritime have developed a digital dashboard that helps captains respond to changing sea conditions. The new machine learning model was introduced through the partners’ Centre for Maritime Futures, which is spearheading digital and technological advances for safer, cleaner and more efficient shipping.
The new modelling technique was developed by postgraduate research student Amy Parkes during her PhD in the Maritime Engineering research group, where her time has been divided between Southampton and Shell. Read more here.
|
|
COVID-19 and Brexit can help recovery of UK fish stocks
|
|
|
The United Kingdom has a unique opportunity to start rebuilding its fish stocks by taking advantage of the slowdown in commercial fishing caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing Brexit negotiations, new research has shown. SMMI member and lead author of the study Professor Paul Kemp said “Several stocks targeted by UK fishers are in a degraded and precarious state, with around 40 per cent that will continue to be overfished when normal activity resumes. One of the reasons for this is that fishing quotas - or how much of each species can be caught in a certain area by each country - are set by the EU at levels higher than those that would enable the recovery of the populations.” Read more here.
|
|
|
SMMI Director Susan Gourvenec, on how ocean engineers #ShapeTheWorld to celebrate International Women in Engineering Day #INWED20
|
|
|
International Women in Engineering Day celebrates the outstanding achievements of women engineers throughout the world and highlights the diverse career opportunities available to girls in this exciting industry. This year’s Women in Engineering Day, INWED20, celebrated on 23 June, highlighted how women engineers #ShapeTheWorld. To celebrate International Women in Engineering Day 2020, SMMI Deputy Director and Chair in Emerging Technologies, Susan Gourvenec, shares her views on how ocean engineers #ShapeTheWorld and what she enjoys about being an engineer. Read more here.
|
|
|
Collaboration between SMMI and MCA to deliver a comprehensive review of High Density Batteries and and Hybrid Drive Systems
|
|
|
|
Benjamin Craig
As a result of the ongoing collaboration between the Southampton’s Marine & Maritime Institute (SMMI) and the Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA), Benjamin Craig, PhD Researcher in Energy Storage and Applications within Engineering, and Chartered Engineer with the IMechE, will be seconded to the MCA to respond to evidence needs relating to the use of high density batteries and hybrid drive systems in the maritime sector. Benjamin will be working closely with SMMI members Dr Richard Wills and Prof Andrew Cruden to deliver a comprehensive review of the potential use of such batteries and systems. He will carry out a 'horizon scan' of the existing and likely technologies pertaining to high density batteries applicable to the maritime industry and identify standards and regulations applicable from other sectors. Read more here.
|
|
|
SMMI experts submit written evidence on Technological Innovations and Climate Change: Hydrogen
|
|
|
|
As it continues its inquiry into Technological Innovation and Climate Change, the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) invited written submissions to inform its session on exploring hydrogen production, distribution and potential application. SMMI members Dominic Hudson, Stephen Turnock and PhD student Charlie McKinlay, have submitted written evidence in the application of hydrogen as a shipping fuel. Read their response here.
|
|
|
Nearly a fifth of world's ocean floor now mapped
|
|
|
|
As the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO (General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans) Seabed 2030 project recently announced that almost one fifth of the world seabed has been mapped to their target standards, SMMI experts Tim Henstock and Blair Thornton provide further insight on Seabed 2030, indicating that the outcomes of the project are sure to help the marine research community identify such high priority areas and help coordinate the efforts of a global community. Read more here.
|
|
|
Titanic salvage: recovering the ship’s radio could signal a disaster for underwater cultural heritage
|
|
|
The RMS Titanic’s Marconi radio was last used to make distress calls from the north Atlantic after the ship struck an iceberg on April 14 1912. Now the radio could become the target of a salvage operation after a private company was granted permission to recover the artefact from the wreck’s interior. This recovery for profit is directly at odds with the ethics of modern archaeological practice. It also raises questions about legal protection for shipwrecks such as the Titanic and how we choose to value our shared cultural heritage.
In an article written for The Conversation, SMMI Archaeologists Fraser Sturt and Helen Farr discuss the ethics and impact this would have on our shared global heritage. As maritime archaeologists, they strive to protect underwater cultural heritage in the face of ongoing destruction of underwater sites that would not be tolerated on dry land, where cultural heritage is more visible to the authorities and public. So, while this salvage operation may be legal, they strongly query whether it is ethical. Read more here.
|
|
|
Floating wind farms: how to make them the future of green electricity
|
|
|
Credit: Terje Aase/Shutterstock
Since 2010, wind energy has seen sustained growth worldwide, with the amount of energy generated by offshore wind increasing by nearly 30% each year. Countries around the world need to ramp up renewable energy supply quickly to meet growing demand and rapidly reduce emissions. Despite this urgency, offshore wind currently provides less than 1% of the world’s electricity supply. Many of the prime shallow-water locations for building wind farms are being developed. But the potential of offshore wind still remains largely untapped. The reason for this untapped potential is that 80% of the wind blows uninterrupted further offshore – in water deeper than 60 metres, where turbines embedded in the sea floor are tricky to construct.
In an article written for The Conversation, SMMI Deputy Director Susan Gourvenec discusses whether floating offshore wind farms could be the solution. Read more here.
|
|
CO2 levels in Earth’s atmosphere will be higher than at any time in the last 3.3 million years by 2025
|
|
By 2025, atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels will very likely be higher than they were during the warmest period of the last 3.3 million years, according to new research by a team from the University of Southampton published today in 'Nature Scientific Reports'. The team studied the chemical composition of tiny fossils, about the size of a pin head collected from deep ocean sediments of the Caribbean Sea. They used this data to reconstruct the concentration of CO2 in Earth’s atmosphere during the Pliocene epoch, around 3 million years ago when our planet was more than 3°C warmer than today with smaller polar ice caps and higher global sea-levels. Read more here.
|
|
|
Image: The composition of fossilised zooplankton shells has enabled the reconstruction of past pH and CO2
|
|
Human activity on rivers outpaces and compounds effects of climate change
|
|
|
Working on the Mekong River, Asia. Credit: Professor Jim Best
The livelihoods of millions of people living along the world’s biggest river systems are under threat from a range of stressors caused by the daily economic, societal and political activity of humans – in addition to the long-term effects of climate change, according to new research. A study by the University of Southampton and the University of Illinois, USA, takes a big-picture approach to review the health and resilience of the world’s large river systems, their deltas and their vulnerability to extreme events. SMMI member Professor Steve Darby, of Geography and Environmental Science at Southampton is the joint study-author along with Professor Jim Best, of the Departments of Geology and Geography & GIS at Illinois. Read more here.
|
|
UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships: application support
Are you considering submitting an application to the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship scheme on a marine or maritime topic? If so we’d like to help support proposals for round 6 (deadline Jan 2021); from having initial discussion of ideas, through to making links across the University to strengthen your application. The SMMI represents a wide ranging network of researchers and associated facilities which could be leveraged in support of your ideas. Get in touch if you would like to arrange a meeting.
|
|
|
NOTE: CALLS COMING SOON AND WITH NO DEADLINE, TOWARDS THE END OF THIS SECTION.
EPSRC Decarbonising Transport Through Electrification Network Plus (DTE Network+) first funding call - DEADLINE 17 AUGUST 2020
Up to four projects will be awarded on this round. Proposals must be aligned with the scope of the decarbonisation of transport through electrification network work streams and focus on short and medium-term challenges. Further details here.
Royal Academy of Engineering -Research Chairs and Senior Research Fellowships - DEADLINE 3 SEPTEMBER 2020
This scheme aims to strengthen the links between industry and academia by supporting exceptional academics in UK universities to undertake use-inspired research that meets the needs of the industrial partners. Further details here.
JPI Cultural Heritage: ‘Cultural Heritage, Identities and Perspectives'Responding to Changing Societies Joint Call - DEADLINE 22 SEPTEMBER 2020
Applicants are encouraged to collaborate in a cross-disciplinary manner in order to combine knowledge and expertise from the humanities and social sciences, arts, and the technical and/or physical sciences. Interdisciplinary exchange is necessary to develop innovative research into cultural heritage. Further details here.
Royal Society - Entrepreneurs in Residence scheme now open - DEADLINE 25 SEPTEMBER 2020
The scheme aims to increase the knowledge and awareness in UK Universities of cutting-edge industrial science, research and innovation. Overall, the scheme will impact both university research and teaching to enable the successful translation of university research into industry; grow an entrepreneurial culture within universities; and address the skills needs of industry by developing curricula that produce industry-ready graduates. Further details here.
Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology - Stanley Gray Fellowship - DEADLINE 30 SEPTEMBER 2020
This enables a doctoral or postdoctoral researcher to undertake work in the field of maritime engineering, science or technology. Further details here.
UKRI: Announcement of Opportunity: Sustainable Management of UK Marine Resources - DEADLINE 6 OCTOBER 2020
UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) are inviting applications to address the objectives of the new Sustainable Management of UK Marine Resources (SMMR) research programme. The £12.4m SMMR programme will be jointly delivered by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) on behalf of UKRI, and in partnership with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and Marine Scotland. Further details here.
UKRI Strategic Priorities Fund: Preparing for Future Clean Air Challenges – Interdisciplinary research and innovation consortia - DEADLINE 15 OCTOBER 2020
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) invites proposals for interdisciplinary research and innovation consortia under the second wave of the Strategic Priorities Fund (SPF) Clean Air Programme. The aim of the second wave of SPF Clean Air Programme funding is to equip the UK to proactively tackle new and emerging air quality challenges related to changing emissions and exposure patterns and health impacts on groups of people most at risk. Further details here.
COMING SOON:
Marine Stewardship Council - Science and Research Fund - CALL EXPECTED TO OPEN AUTUMN 2020
This supports research projects that help fisheries meet and maintain sustainability best practice. Projects that focus on ghost gear or endangered, threatened and protected species are particularly welcomed. Proposals that have the potential to benefit multiple fisheries and the wider ocean community are also welcomed. Further details here.
NO DEADLINE CALLS:
NERC - International ocean discovery programme – workshop funding support scheme - NO DEADLINE
This supports UK scientists in the organisation of, or participation in, IODP-related workshops, sandpits, training, outreach or other events. Eligible workshops must make use of IODP samples, data or results, or involve planning for the collection of such materials. Further details here.
Overseas Development Assistance Global Challenges Research Fund (ODA-GCRF) - Strategic Development fund - APPLY NOW - NO DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS
This fund is a key element of our University’s ODA-GCRF strategy and is made up from a ring-fenced part of our GCRF-Quality Research (QR) allocation, augmented by funds secured from UKRI and other sources. The SDF supports activities that further our University’s ODA-GCRF ambitions and priorities, and that are ODA-compliant. Applications are invited from academic colleagues who are engaged in, or are interested in, getting involved in ODA activities. The application form and guidance can be found here. Enquiries here.
NERC-NSF joint funding - NO DEADLINE
This enables UK and US environmental scientists to collaborate on discovery science projects and tackle global environmental challenges. Proposals must be an integrated UK-US effort to address a research topic of interest to both NERC and a relevant NSF division that would benefit from a collaborative approach. Further details here.
|
|
20-21 August 2020 - Deep-Sea Biology Society’s online conference (eDSBS)
eDSBS is open to everyone in the deep-sea biology community, and talks and posters are welcomed on any subject that fits within our sessions. As the global pandemic has prevented the normal conference cycle this year, the trustees of the Society have decided that priority will be given to early-career researchers who need to present their work as part of their career milestones. However, we are very keen to receive abstracts from everyone to ensure we have a good balance of presenters. Read more here.
2-4 September 2020 - Virtual MariMatch 2020 - International Maritime Event
Virtual MariMatch 2020 combines pre-arranged 1-1 virtual meetings with interactive content sessions about hot topics of maritime innovation, open innovation panels and open networking opportunities.
Read more here.
9-11 September 2020 - Society and Sea 2020: The Values of the Oceans and Coast - London - CANCELLED
The Greenwich Maritime Centre in partnership with National Maritime and Royal Museums Greenwich is pleased to announce its third biennial conference. The ocean is in crisis and solutios to the many challenges require collaboration and contribution from science, industry, governments and communities. This conference will bring together a diverse international audience to explore the importance of the ocean and how to achieve ocean sustainability. Read more here.
11-14 September 2020 - 18th International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists (ICWES18) - Warwick
The conference will be structured around the theme ‘Global Humanitarian Challenges’ covering topics such as pollution, renewable energy, sustainable cities, water and sanitation, natural/man-made disasters, education and training in tackling societal challenges. Read more here.
5 November 2020 - Annual Joint Seminar - Sustainability: The Subsea Industry and the Evolution of Energy - Aberdeen and online - Call for papers deadline extended to 14 August 2020
The Society for Underwater Technology, The Hydrographic Society in Scotland and The International Marine Contractors Association are holding a popular annual joint seminar. This seminar aims to consider technology developments which may be applied to improve the sustainability of energy? How can the knowledge base of the oil & gas industry support an energy transition, and how can the renewables industry feed knowledge back to improve the efficiency of oil & gas operations? Read more here.
10-12 November 2020 - Marine Autonomy and Technology Showcase 2020 - Virtual Event
In the light of the ongoing challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) has taken the decision to deliver the event as an online conference for the first time. The approach has been strongly supported by the industry and academic advisors who sit on the event delivery committee. MATS 2020 will still feature high quality presentations from key figures in the marine technology sector, as well as industry exhibitors, and those crucial networking opportunities that delegates value. Our expert session chairs have already been confirmed and we will be announcing the keynotes and registration details in the coming weeks. Read more here.
23-24 November 2020 - 1st International Conference on Maritime Education and Development (ICMED) - Durban, South Africa
The purpose of this conference is exchange of knowledge, experiences and ideas in the domain of its thematic areas, with the ultimate goal of generating new knowledge and implementing smart strategies and actions. Read more here.
17 December 2020 - KTN event - Addressing the Challenges of Microfibres - from source of production to environmental contamination - NOCS
This workshop will bring together the key players working to address the microfibre issue across industry, academia and policy to discuss the current research, challenges and solutions. The workshop will combine presentations and discussion sessions to discuss solutions and collaborative approaches to progress this field. Read more here.
2-5 February 2021 - SMM Hamburg
The Leading International Trade Show for Shipbuilding, Marine and Maritime Industries is where the key players of the various sectors discuss and introduce solutions that define benchmarks for the age of Green and Smart Shipping. The bi-annual trade fair and its accompanying conferences offer an unparalleled platform for inspiration, networking and business for exhibitors and visitors. Read more here.
|
|
|
|
