Call for Participants

The Newton Fund builds outstanding research and innovation partnerships with select countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America to support economic development and social welfare, tackle global challenges and develop talent and careers. The fund is managed by the UK’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), and delivered by UK and international partners. UK investment is matched by investment and resources from partner countries.

For additional information please visit https://www.newton-gcrf.org

Programme Outline

The Newton Fund Researcher Links programme provides opportunities for early career researchers from the UK and China to interact, learn from each other and explore opportunities for building long-lasting research collaborations. As part of this programme, we are now recruiting early career researchers to participate in the Workshop on “Advancing wearable technology: promoting physical activity and mobility among older adults in China".

We are currently facing a global challenge of ageing which is imposing a significant demand on health technology.. Wearables are widely used to promote physical activity and mobility in older people. However, there are significant challenges in wearable development. Most of technologies are in the prototype stage which does not address the diverse needs of the older people, including those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged. There is also a lack of scientific evidence in the development of commercial wearables. The workshop will address these challenges by covering the following topics

• current research evidence in promoting physical activity and mobility in healthy older people and those with chronic disorders

• challenges in knowledge transfer into the industry

• meeting the diverse needs of older people with different cultural and economic backgrounds

• future development: wearable robotics and artificial intelligence

The workshop is led by:

Professor Raymond Lee, Professor of Biomechanics and Associate Dean (Global Engagement), University of Portsmouth, UK

Professor Dongyun Gu, Deputy Director, Engineering Research Center of Digital Medicine and Clinical Translation, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

Supported by expert mentors from China and the UK:

Professor Shijie Guo, Head of the Hebei Key Laboratory of Robot Sensing and Human-robot Interaction , Hebei University of Technology, China

Professor Kerong Dai, Director of Research Center of Digital Medicine and Clinical Translation, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

Professor Nachiappan Chockalingam, Professor of Clinical Biomechanics, School of Heath, Science and Wellbeing, Staffordshire University, UK

Professor Honghai Liu, Professor of Human-Machine Systems, University of Portsmouth, UK

We would like to invite early career researchers to attend this workshop which will provide a multidisciplinary platform for UK and Chinese early career researchers to share their research expertise, and to work across disciplines to develop innovative approaches to wearables which can promote health and socioeconomic development in China and other countries. Early career researchers will have the opportunity to present their research in the form of poster presentation and work with expert mentors who are established researchers from the UK and China. There will be a focus on building up links with industry promoting acceleration of knowledge transfer of wearables. We shall also develop a web-based forum and a network/consortium to extend our discussion and continue to build our research link after the workshop.

15 early career researchers from the UK will have the opportunity to attend the workshop which will also be attended by 15 early career researchers from China. The travel and accommodation costs will be covered by this award.

We would like to invite applications from early career researchers from a wide range of academic disciplines, including engineering, computing sciences, medical and clinical sciences, psychology, and health economics/finances. Participants will benefit from the new interdisciplinary links established, working across disciplines to develop new, innovative solutions and becoming a new “breed” of researchers who will be future leaders in the field.

Participants must have a research or academic position (a permanent post, research contract, or fellowship etc) at a recognised research institution either in the UK or in China.

We actively promote equality, diversity and inclusion in this workshop. We would like to particularly encourage applications from women, disabled and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates, as these groups are underrepresented throughout the technology industry.

Selection Criteria

• A PhD with not more than 10 years of post-doc experience in a related discipline

• Interest in wearable research for older people, and how their research skills will contribute to the workshop and this field of research

• Ability to communicate and work in a multidisciplinary environment

• Relevance of the workshop to their career goals

• Ability to disseminate the workshop outcomes

Please complete the following application form if you are interested in attending the workshop. Applicants will be notified by email in the beginning of November if their applications are successful.

Applications are now closed for this workshop.