Eloisa Bentivegna recently secured Flexible Creative Funding to design a co-creation experience designed to help participating Future Leaders Fellows (Patrick Parkinson, Panos Papadopoulos, Maria Secrier) with the dissemination of research around anomalies, using communication modalities outside of their specific domain language.

The day followed a structured process. Working with a visualisation expert the team considered;

• The importance of the motivations and expectations of the general public, policy makers, funding agencies and clients and; the distinction between fast-think and slow-think audiences.
• Three different frameworks for storytelling, based on different ways to articulate a research effort as a conflict-resolution process.
• Building visual experimentation with concepts from the different projects.

A common theme of the day was the desire to communicate research as an ongoing, open-ended process, where anomalies (unusual, unexplained occurrences) are just as relevant to new discoveries as the accumulated background knowledge in each field.

The team are now considering dissemination channels, from outreach activities and wider public-engagement campaigns organised by professional societies, such as the Institute of Physics.

This work is part of an ongoing theme that will be explored further at an upcoming event at IBM Hursley. Newcomers welcome!

“Not everything is about climate change, but climate change is about everything.” Jonathan Rowson

Observations and projections of the earth system suggest that substantial changes in global and regional climate are imminent. Societies – at the local to international scale – are called to address this challenge in one way or another, with diverse potential strategies ranging from mitigation or intervention to adaptation or acceptance. Understanding and appropriately assessing the risk and reward of any approach touches on topics as widely varying as philosophy, politics, sociology, physics, ecology, economics, geochemistry, human health, ethics, energy systems, technology, and more.

We are seeking individuals from across the FLF network – scholars and researchers in all disciplines – to engage in widely cross-disciplinary discussion about the fundamental questions raised by global climate change. To energise this network, we will first host two short, informal, online discussions, in which people can share their thoughts and ideas about the shape of these discussions, and what types of activities (and DevNet-supported funding opportunities) would help facilitate them.

The initial scoping events have now completed and the terms of reference are currently being shaped by the participants. If you want to find out more or join this emerging network please contact Graeme MacGilchrist

Following an application to the Flexible Creative Fund, Future Leaders Fellows Peter Taylor and Yujiang Wang and 17 team members participated in a Research Exchange Day with the third sector organisation Epilepsy Society at the Chalfort Centre. The aim of the exchange was to explore collaborative opportunities to enhance the translational impact that computation and artificial intelligence research can achieve.

During the exchange, Early Career Researchers in Peter and Yuijiang’s team were supported to network with colleagues from the Epilepsy Society and patients who visit the Chalfort Centre. An artist recorded the emergent themes from the discussion and potential areas for collaboration including ideas for Early Career Fellowships.

This collaboration has supported Peter and Yuijiang’s leadership development by enhancing their understanding of how to strategically engage a third-sector partner using co-production methods.

In 2022 Future Leaders Fellow Oliver Mytton attended a Development Network Crucible Programme in London. It was during the Crucible that Oliver met fellow Future Leader Laura Carter and the idea for the Next Generation Podcast Series emerged.

Oliver says, “I was initially sceptical about the Crucible Programme. I thought that it would be a challenge to make connections in two days. Maybe it was all down to chance and luck, but I found points of connection (with other FLFs) around the podcast idea. Long-term support for the idea followed and so engaging in a Crucible early was very worthwhile.”

The Next Generation podcast series showcases the work of Future Leaders Fellows and explores some of the shared issues that Fellow’s experience. The podcast is available to listen to by clicking on the following link: Next Generation Research – Future Leaders Fellows Development Network (flfdevnet.com)