Research Networks
We are happy to support active networks of strategic impact across faculties. There are also a range of external funding schemes available to support networks, such as those run by AHRC, ESRC, EU and Leverhulme.
For details on current CAS networking activity, please see the page here.
Previous networking initiatives supported by CAS (as the HSSRC) include:
Viking Studies
Centre for the Study of the Viking Age
Incorporating a variety of research areas, including Old English and Old Norse language and literature, runology, place names, history and archaeology, the Centre provides a rich focal point for one of the most fascinating periods in history. With an unparalleled world-class reputation, the Centre hosts international conferences such as the Viking Congress , International Runologists' Workshop and the International Conference on Runes and Runic Inscriptions .
Landscape, Space, Place Research Group
Landscape, Place, Space
This University of Nottingham research group, which involves members from a range of areas and disciplines, as well as schools in the Arts and Social Sciences, grew out of the HSSRC-funded project on ‘Water, Culture and Society’. That project, co-managed by Professor Stephen Daniels (Geography) and Professor Julie Sanders (English Studies), produced a number of key events including international conferences and symposia, an 18-month post-doctoral research fellowship (held by Dr Richard Hamblyn, author of The Invention of Clouds), and a Leverhulme Visiting Professorship held by Professor W J T Mitchell (Chicago), as well as sponsoring significant cataloguing exercises in Information Services.
Nottingham Image Studies Network
The Nottingham Image Studies Network (aka the 'Images Project') is an interdisciplinary research grouping established at the University of Nottingham to explore contemporary cultures of imaging and image-making technologies.
Funded by the University's Humanities and Social Sciences Research Centre (HSSRC) the network initially ran from 2005 to 2007, bringing together researchers from across the arts and sciences, including representatives from Critical Theory and Cultural Studies, Architecture, Biomedical Sciences, Art History, Neuroscience, Computer Sciences and Film Studies. A programme of lectures, seminars and workshops included participants from the School of Art and Design at Nottingham Trent University and also involved a number of distinguished international visiting speakers, including Professor Don Ihde from SUNY Stonybrook and Professor James Elkins from the University of Chicago.
The group's activities culminated in a one-day international conference in June 2007 on the subject of experimental photography entitled Discovering the Invisible: Photography in Art and Science .
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Third Sector
The government recognises the increasingly important role the third sector plays in both society and the economy, and created the Office of the Third Sector (OTS), a part of the Cabinet Office, in May 2006.
The third sector encompasses voluntary and community organisations, charities, social enterprises, cooperatives and mutuals both large and small. Third sector organisations are non-governmental, value-driven and principally reinvest any financial surpluses to further social, environmental or cultural objectives.
The University has always had a strong commitment to the City of Nottingham and to its local communities; links with the local community are sustained at many levels, through initiatives such as
In addition, many scholars from a range of disciplinary areas undertake research which is, or could be, related to the third sector. Research may be undertaken in collaboration with third sector organisations to address issues of joint concern, or it may relate to issues which may directly affect the third sector such as service delivery, volunteering, charitable donation, social entrepreneurship, etc.
The Third Sector network was established to bring together academics across the University with interests in the third sector, to build on existing strengths in this area and to develop synergies between these strengths.
The network builds capacity and capability, and more specifically:
Contact: Anyone interested in being a part of this network is encouraged to contact Sue Hopcroft .
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Gender Histories
Scholars from many different disciplinary settings undertake research on gender from a historical perspective. Gender may be a major focus of their research, or one aspect among others. The research network for Gender Histories, established in September 2006, brings together staff and postgraduate research students across the University with common interests in gender history, to build on existing strengths in this area and develop them further. The main aims of the network are to:
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identify established and ongoing research activities in the field of gender history and to raise their profile both within and beyond the University
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identify themes around which new research collaborations could be launched – from workshops and conferences to small and large-scale research projects
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develop collaborative research bids to external funding bodies
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provide a network for postgraduate research students in different departments with common interests in gender history
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exchange information on postgraduate teaching currently under way in the field of gender history and explore the possibility of preparing bids for new initiatives (e.g. EU-funded) in postgraduate research training.
Gender Histories Network co-ordinator: Professor Elizabeth Harvey , School of History, ext 15940.
List of Current Members of Gender Histories network 
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Pervasive Media
The integration of the Internet with social computing and now with mobile and ubiquitous computing is transforming our creative industries, from games to journalism, driving the emergence of new forms of converged pervasive media in which the public contributes as well as consumes content, are available ‘anytime and anywhere’, and are ever more deeply interwoven into our daily lives. However, reaping the potential benefits of pervasive media for our economy and society requires a fundamental shift in our understanding of how such media are designed, produced and experienced; something that is not currently available within the disciplines of Computer Science and Engineering whose focus is primarily on the underlying technologies.
This understanding can however, be found in the Arts and Humanities which for many years have been developing theories and methods relevant to the study of the established media of text, drama, film and television alongside deep understandings of the human experience of place, history and identity that can inform future pervasive media experiences. In short, there is a rich vein of research right across the Arts and Humanities that might fundamentally transform our approach to designing and studying pervasive media in Science and Engineering if only we could bridge the gap between these disciplines. Herein lies the challenge as this gap sometimes appears to be a ‘gulf of misunderstanding’ between disciplines that are grounded in very different cultures and traditions. We therefore seek feasibility account funding to help bridge this gap and establish a new community of researchers who are interested in pervasive media from very different, but we believe complementary, perspectives. This is an adventurous goal to be sure, but one in which the risks and balanced by potentially significant rewards for all concerned.
The topic of pervasive media first emerged as a focus for new cross-disciplinary research at Nottingham from a series of informal discussions between leading academics across the University. Recognising the exciting potential of this topic, the University’s Research Committee formally established the Pervasive Media Group in 2006, awarding a pump-priming grant which, with the support of the HSSRC’s Research and Business Development team, enabled the group to organise a series of more formal networking events at which colleagues from across the university led discussions, introduced research papers and ran workshops. The result was a new research network that has since grown to include academics from Computer Science, the Centre for Geospatial Science, English Studies, Geography, History, Classics, the Business School, Modern Languages and Cultures, and Film and Television Studies.
List of members of Pervasive Media network .
This network is led by Lisa McCabe, who can supply further details, and is linked to the current Towards Pervasive Media (TPM) network. For the latest news from this network, please visit the dedicated website at:
http://towardspervasivemedia.ning.com/
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