Department of Physics and Technology, UoB IFT-posten 8. April 2011

A Word from Department Administration

Easter is coming up soon, and since it falls so late on the calender this year, this also means that it is not very long until the Research Council’s application deadline in June. Many researchers from our department will need to use a lot of energy in order to meet the SFF deadline on June 8. The good news is that the ISP deadline (Department-based Strategic Programme) following the evaluation, has now been extended and moved to August 31. More information on that issue will soon be published under “planned announcement” on Research Council’s webpages. We intend to spend more time on the ISP-application from IFT during the strategic seminar scheduled for May 9- 10 in Voss.

Apart from that, this issue of IFT-posten offers quite a bit of information on funding possibilities, mostly found in the last issue of FunderFinder. We would like to remind you in particular of the system of equipment depreciation which should be used in all project applications to the Norwegian Research Council, for more information check here.

News and General Information

EU FP7 Proposal writing Course with Sean McCarthy

Sean McCarthy from Hyperion Ltd. will be in Bergen 6th May from 09:00-15:00 at VilVite to hold the course "How to Write a Competitive Proposal for Framework 7".

First and foremost the course is a good and powerful tool to widen the EU Research Funding Schemes knowledge of new and established PIs and younger researchers. Sean McCarthy is a very enthusiastic speaker who motivates and educates effectively.

This course is recommended for Principle investigators and junior researchers, particularly those who have less experience in proposal writing. For younger researchers it is important to understand the need for and value of participation in collaborative research projects and the importance of internationalisation. Participation is free of charge and includes lunch and coffee. In short, the course will include:

· A Quick Overview of EU Framework 7

· Who's running Framework 7

· The Research Priorities in Framework 7

· The Funding Schemes

· Legal and Financial Rules in Framework 7

· How to Find the Best Partners

· How Proposal are Evaluated

· How to Write the ‘Potential Impact’ of the Proposal

· How to Write the ‘Project Implementation'

• How to Streamline Proposal Writing

Here is the registration link.

2012 Call for the Marie Curie Individual Fellowships
(for Post docs and experienced researchers) published and Info meeting in Bergen

The European Commission has published a new call for the Marie Curie Individual Fellowships. The fellowships provide funding for a research stay for one to two years at a host institution in another European country or a country outside of Europe (Third Country).

Researchers with a PhD or at least four years of research experience are eligible. Funding comprises the salary of the fellow as well as a mobility allowance and a contribution to the research costs. There are calls for three different types of fellowships:

1. Intra-European Fellowships (IEF): Funding of a research stay in Europe (EU-Member State or Associated Country); Link to call
2. International Incoming Fellowships (IIF): Researchers of any discipline from non-European Third countries can finance their research stay in an EU Member State or Associated Country; Link to call
3. International Outgoing Fellowships (IOF): Funding of a research stay in a non-European Third Country (for example USA, Japan, Australia, etc) with a one-year reintegration phase in Europe; Link to call

The deadline for all three will be on August 11, 2011, 17:00 Brussels time. Researchers at UiB are invited to participate in our UiB information meeting on Marie Curie actions taking place June 16th from 10:00-13:00 at Vilvite. Please register here.

Judith Lietjens from the UK Research Office (UKs national contact point for Marie Curie actions) will guide us through the different schemes (Individual fellowships and networking actions like Initial training networks, IRSES and IAPP) and show how to write a competitive application. You can also meet the staff from UiBs division of research management who help UiB researchers with EU proposals. Judith has also offered to have a look at draft proposals for the call. If you would like to use this option, please send an email with the title "MC proposal clinic" to Anja Hegen.

The April issue of FunderFinder is now available for downloading – mandatory reading for all researchers!

Sabbaticals in 2012 (2013)

The application deadline for sabbatical leaves in 2012 or the period between fall 2012 – spring 2013, along with the financial support in cases of traveling abroad for research purposes, is Tuesday, 24. May 2011. Read the letter from our faculty for more information on terms and procedures.

Report from the 4th International Conference on Women in Physics

Per Osland (President of the Norwegian Physics Association) and Bodil Holst will participate this week together with Anne Borg at the 4th International Conference on Women in Physics in Stellenbosch, South Africa, where an impressive assembly of ca 300 women (and several men) from the entire world have gathered. The conference, ending this Friday, offered many great experiences, and the absolute high point was Prof. Jocelyn Bell-Burnell’s plenary lecture on pulsars, which she was the first to discover during her PhD (her supervisor was later awarded Nobel Prize for the discovery).

A survey from 2009-2010 with answers from over 15,000 physicists (men and women) was also presented at the conference. The good news this survey has pointed out were the answers to the following question: Would you have chosen physics if you were to start studying now, on shich both men and women agreed: 89% answered this question with a yes.

Bachelor and Master news

Master thesis presentation at our department on Friday, 15. April 2011, at: 09:00 (room 546 ):

Candidate	Subject area – thesis title	Supervisor(s)
Jenny Luneng	Physics – Measurement Science and instrumentation: Low-energy surface vibration measurements on the α-quartz (0001) surface	Bodil Holst

Petroleum Day 2011 – Would you like to take part in creating the energy of the future?

Thursday, April 14, is scheduled to be the Petroleum Day 2011, from 12:15 in Auditorium 2 of the Realfagbygget. The day’s topic will be our energy future and how you may participate in its creation. You will have the opportunity of hearing interesting lectures and meeting the people from various sides of the petroleum industry. It might be useful to build contacts and get a chance to talk to these people during the mingling part at the end of the day. The programme will take place as follows:

12:15   Welcome
Thomas E Mellin-Olsen, Manpower / NPFU Bergen
12:20   Overview / related subject areas at the UoB
Geir Anton Johansen, professor, UoB
12:40   Trends in the job market within the oil and gas
Halfdan Hallseth, General Manager, PSW CONSULTANTS AS
13:05   Still numerous possibilities within the petroleum industry                   
Judith Andersen, technical manager, Aibel
The road from UoB to petroleum industry
Erik Fatnes, MSc in process technology from UoB, has worked at Aibel for
4,5 years
13:50   The bright new future for the newly employed at Statoil
Øystein Birkedal, MSc in petroleum technology from UoB and employed by
Statoil
14:10   Petroleum industry – an international arena
Sjur Asheim, Aasheim Learning & Competence Development
14:40   Research aimed at meeting the energy needs of the future 
  Arne Graue, professor, UoB
15:10   Mingling and good food 

Registration latest by Tuesday, April 12 (to make sure there is enough food for everyone).

PhD-news

Registration to the Researcher Grand Prix

All research assistants should consider applying for the Researcher Grand Prix 2011 within May 2! Follow the link for more information on the criteria and the actual registration process. Researcher Grand Prix in Bergen will be held on Friday, September 23. In short, ten young researchers will take to the stage, with four minutes each to talk enthusiastically about their research. The audience and the elected judges from various scientific fields will decide on the best performance.

Researcher Grand Prix took place in Norway for the first time last year. Bergen was the first one to do the finale, and UoB research assistant Ann-Kristin Molde was the winner. Read more and watch the footage from the last year’s finale in the article published in På Høyden.

Recently it turned out that this year they are also planning the national finale of the Researcher Grand Prix. The national finale will take place at Den Nationale Scene here in Bergen, the week after the local finale.

Researcher Grand Prix is a part of the Research Days which take place between September 23 – October 2. If you would like to participate in Reseaerch Days with other types of contribution, do read more on the university’s intranet. If you have any questions regarding the Researcher Grand Prix or the UoB’s Research Days, please contact Gro Malnes Øvrebø, the Communications Department : phone: 83813.

Publishing issues and information use for PhD-candidates

In May 2011 the University Library offers Ph.D. candidates at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences a series of courses addressing publishing issues, advanced literature searching techniques and information management. More information here.

You can sign up for individual plenary sessions and workshops. Please sign up on e-mail to Diem Tran before Thursday 28th of April, and note which sessions and workshops you would like to attend.

IFT in the Media

· Anna Lipniacka: Cosmic Radiation Ekko (NRK P2), March 23.

Publications (ISI)

· Sanchez PD, Lees JP, Poireau V, Eigen G, Stugu B, Sun L et al.: Measurement of the B-0 -> pi(-)l(+)nu and B+ -> eta(l)l(+)nu branching fractions, the B-0 -> pi(-)l(+)nu and B+ -> eta l(+)nu form- factor shapes, and determination of vertical bar V-ub vertical bar PHYSICAL REVIEW D Volume: 83 Issue: 5 Article Number: 052011

· Sorngard SA, Askeland S, Nepstad R, Førre M Multiphoton ionization and stabilization of helium in superintense xuv fields PHYSICAL REVIEW A Volume: 83 Issue: 3 Article Number: 033414

· Khattri SK, Fladmark GE, Hellevang H, Kvamme B Simulation of long-term fate of co2 in the sand of Utsira JOURNAL OF POROUS MEDIA Volume: 14 Issue: 2 Pages: 149-166

· Kosinski P Symposium: 5th Symposium on Numerical Analysis of Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer NUMERICAL ANALYSIS AND APPLIED MATHEMATICS, VOLS I-III Book Series: AIP Conference Proceedings Volume: 1281 Pages: 38-38

· Balakin BV, Hoffmann AC, Kosinski P, et al. Combined CFD/Population Balance Model for Gas Hydrate Particle Size Prediction in Turbulent Pipeline Flow NUMERICAL ANALYSIS AND APPLIED MATHEMATICS, VOLS I-III Book Series: AIP Conference Proceedings Volume: 1281 Pages: 151-+

· Mursula K, Tanskanen E, Love JJ Spring-fall asymmetry of substorm strength, geomagnetic activity and solar wind: Implications for semiannual variation and solar hemispheric asymmetry GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS Volume: 38 Article Number: L06104