Welcome to the first HEICCAM newsletter of 2021!

This newsletter presents an update on the HEICCAM network activities and announcements, upcoming events, funding opportunities, and new developments in the area of clean air research.

If you have any new scientific developments, announcements, or recently published paper that you would like to share with the HEICCAM community, please send them to info@heiccam.org

Network Updates and Announcements

HEICCAM Website is up!

Our shiny new website has now landed. You will also find HEICCAM’s introductory video on the home page. We thank our enthusiastic team for sending us the recordings and hope that you enjoy watching the video. HEICCAM is now on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin: follow our page for the latest news and updates. 

Resources Page

Our resources page on the website provides links to existing research projects, networks, webinars, conferences, education and outreach material associated with clean air research. This is a rolling list and will be updated on a regular basis. If you are aware of any resources relevant to this list or would like to promote your clean air research projects through this list, please send us your inputs at info@heiccam.org.

Working Groups

There are six science working groups under HEICCAM. Each working group comprises of a group of researchers, stakeholders and industry partners to produce science briefings that identify knowledge gaps and pose recommendations on six trans-disciplinary clean air research themes. More information on the Working Groups is provided on the HEICCAM project page.

We will host three working groups in the current year (2021-2022); and the remaining three will be run next year.

| WG1: Chemical environment and policy at the indoor-outdoor interface chaired by Prof Ruth Doherty and Dr David Oram.

| WG2: Industry readiness for policy challenges chaired by Prof Michael Davis and Prof Rajat Gupta.

| WG3: Population health and inequalities chaired by Prof Paul Wilkinson and Prof Iain Lake

We are currently in the process of assembling these working groups and you will or may have already received an email from the WG leads. If you are interested in joining any of the science working groups, please contact the respective working group chairs. Details can be found on the HEICCAM team page.

Events

Recent Events

Clean Air Day event on “Communicating Clean Air Research”, 17 June 2021

As part of Clean Air Day 2021, we asked how the research community can 'translate' air quality science into messaging, media stories and social media campaigns that cut through to the public, and enable them to join the conversation and take action. The event was jointly organized by the six SPF-Clean Air funded air quality networks. The seminar can be watched online here.

HEICCAM at Strategic Priorities Fund (SPF) Clean Air Conference, 23-24 June 2021

The SPF Clean Air Annual Conference brought researchers from Wave 1 and 2 Clean Air programme investments to showcase the wide range of high-quality research and discuss the future reserach plans. The conference was a huge success and we thank our network members for participating in this meeting and discussions. Take a look at this webpage for more details on SPF clean air networks: https://www.ukcleanair.org/2021/06/23/spf-clean-air-annual-conference-working-in-partnership-for-cleaner-air/

HEICCAM at United Kingdom Indoor Environments Group (UKIEG), 23 June 2021

The UKIEG organized its 18th annual conference recently and this year the conference theme was Indoor Environmental Quality for Healthy Buildings: the Indoor / Outdoor Interface. Prof Iain Lake represented HEICCAM under the SPF network session and participated in the Q&A discussions. The aim of the SPF network session was to raise awareness among the indoor sciences community and also provide an opportunity to explore synergies and possible future outcomes of the work. More details on the conference can be found on their website: http://www.ukieg.org/

HPRU-HEICCAM Joint Webinar and Panel Discussion, 30 June 2021

The webinar explored the relationship between home energy retrofit, indoor air quality and health under the path to Net Zero. It started with a conversation between Paul Wilkinson, Professor of Environmental Epidemiology at LSHTM and Director of the HPRU on Environmental Change and Anna Mavrogianni, Associate Professor in Sustainable Building and Urban Design at UCL IEDE, on the challenges facing the UK housing stock, the key role of housing energy retrofit in achieving climate change mitigation targets, and its potential impact on indoor environmental exposures and health. This was followed by stakeholder insights by Anastasia Mylona, Head of Research at CIBSE and Margaret Ogden, PLANET (Public Led and Knowledge Engagement Team) member, and a lively Q&A session on pathways towards low carbon and healthy energy retrofit. The webinar was attended by ~60 participants, representing a diverse number of stakeholders.

Upcoming Events

‘How can we build the healthy home of the future?’, 22 July, 3-4 PM BST, Online

Join the seminar series on ‘Creative Perspectives on the Health of the Public’ to explore ways in which we can work together on designing ‘healthy buildings’ of the future. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-can-we-build-the-healthy-home-of-the-future-tickets-161913143571

16th IGAC Science Conference, 12-18 September 2021, Online

For the 2021 virtual conference, IGAC's scientific program will center its scientific program around its current working groups and activities.  This will highlight the exciting work being done as part of IGAC, grow the networks of these working groups and activities, and expose new scientists to the year-round work IGAC does. IGAC will also have an open science session for atmospheric chemistry research that does not fit into any current working groups or activities. For registration to attend, click here. Last Date 1 September 2021.

HEICCAM Annual Assembly, early October 2021

Our annual assembly 2021 will bring together multi-disciplinary senior and early-career researchers, stakeholders, and industry partners to discuss challenges associated with indoor and outdoor air quality under climate change mitigation. The annual assembly is scheduled for early October 2021. More details on the assembly will be available soon.

International Aerosol Modeling Algorithms Conference 2021, December 8-10, 2021

This conference will bring together research scientists to share their research findings and discuss new approaches and methods to improve our understanding of how the chemical constituents of our atmosphere impact the earth's climate and the air. The last date to submit abstracts is July 28 2021. Visit the conference website to submit an abstract.

Take a look at our event calendar for more up-to-date information on upcoming events from the six SPF Clean Air networks.

For PhD students

NCAS Climate Modelling Summer School 2021,13 - 24 September 2021, Online

The NCAS Climate Modelling Summer School covers the fundamental principles of climate modelling through a mixture of lectures and practical assignments over 10 days. You will receive expert tuition from leading researchers from the National Centre for Atmospheric Science and from Meteorology at the University of Reading. If you want to become a climate modeller or work in the natural sciences, this is the course for you! Registration is now open. Apply here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScrlHp1epVSvDhe_yAPMudXUZ6pHlOook0hfWvADiS8dJgMVQ/viewfor

Opportunities and Funding

Breathing City Future Urban Ventilation Network Pilot Studies

Breathing City (one of the six SPF clean air networks) have launched a small funding opportunity to support pilot studies that align with the Breathing City network objectives. The network will provide up to £20,000 to support up to 4 projects that align with the network’s three themes: 

• provide evidence or establish conceptual models to support the development of new health centred ventilation approaches.

• test out approaches to measure, model or assess urban ventilation strategies or effectiveness from a contaminant exposure perspective.

• develop strategies to enable impact or scale up of ventilation solutions.

More details are available here: Funding – Breathing City. The last date to apply is 16 July 2021.

CLASP Funding Call 2021 

STFC will be launching the next Challenge Led Applied Systems Programme (CLASP) call this autumn. CLASP is designed to help commercialise STFC research and technology to help solve a specific challenge, and projects are typically awarded around £200k. SAQN is considering offering a matchmaking service for this particular call, beginning in plenty of time to allow strong collaborations between STFC, academia and industry to be formed. You can complete this short survey to express your interest in the CLASP funding call and how SAQN might best support air quality applications.

TAPAS Collaboration Building Workshop, 9 - 24 September 2021, online (five-set sessions plus various 'own-time' activities)

Expand your network, collaborate with researchers and professionals from different disciplines and take the opportunity to obtain funding for your scoping study/small research project. The workshop will address “How can we deliver timely and effective interventions to improve air quality at school?” Scoping study/small research project funds will be awarded to successful teams at the end of the workshop. There are up to five pots of a maximum of £8,000 to be awarded to innovative proposals for research. Application deadline: 30 July 2021. More information available on the TAPAS network website.

Defra—Recruitment of members of the Air Quality Expert Group (AQEG)

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is seeking up to seven individuals to serve as members of the Air Quality Expert Group (AQEG) from 9 November 2021. The posts require scientific expertise in an area relevant to air quality and related pollutants. More details regarding the position and application process are provided on the Defra website.