Special Interest Groups (SIGs)

SUM4Products are accepting proposals for Special Interest Groups (SIGs) to support networks of academics and industry partners focused on a specific mathematical theme or application.

Multi-disciplinary collaborations are key to the Network’s goals, and SIGs are part of its strategy to broaden opportunities for industry and academia to work together.

This scheme will provide funding to enable meetings and collaboration to progress lines of work that tie in with the aims of the SUM4Products Network.

Guidance

Timeframes

Deadline for applications is 5pm on Monday 30th November. Successful SIGs will be contacted in December and launched in January 2027. Depending on interest, there may be a further round of proposals opened later in 2027.

Topics and group forming

SIGs should be formed to bring academic and industry partners together around a shared interest. SIG topics should have relevance to real-life challenges and applications. Successful SIG meetings will allow participants to exchange ideas, identify and collaborate on opportunities and implement solutions to problems.

We would expect topics either to be around a mathematical theme or application, or relate to an EDI topic or career stage.

SIGs should aim to meet 3 or 4 times a year, with one meeting being in person. SIG meetings should be open to all SUM4Products Network members. SIGs should prepare a report of their activities at the end of each year of operation for dissemination to the network.

Funding

  • Funding will usually be up to £5,000 per year, with the funding available for two years (subject to planned activity being delivered in the first year).

  • Funding can cover UK travel expenses for participants and meeting costs (e.g. room bookings, catering).

  • All funds are held by SUM4Products. Payment routes will normally be through expense disbursement, invoicing or (where possible) direct purchases made by the SUM4Products team. All spending must comply with UKRI funding guidelines and the University of Birmingham expenses policy.

Structure and organisation

  • Organising members of a SIG should include one academic member and one industry member. Including details of wider members of the SIG would add weight to proposals.

  • All proposals will have an EDI plan attached to ensure inclusivity and accessibility of the group.

  • International academics or industry partners are eligible for wider membership, but are not able to claim for international travel (unless they are an invited speaker). SIGs should ensure that discussion reflects challenges experienced by UK members, as this is what the funding covers.

  • Successful SIGs will be expected to adhere to the SUM4Products Code of Conduct and their own institutional codes of practice. Any necessary data handling, IP permissions and Responsible Research practices should be managed by the organising members.

Autumn Workshop: SIG Expressions of interest

  • Discussions took place around Special Interest Groups at our Autumn Workshop, with opportunity to form proposal groups.

  • Four preliminary groups have been formed. Details and main calls to action are listed below.

    • Respond to the calls for action on the SIG discussion board (Padlet). 

    • If you’d like to join the group as an organiser or a member, contact the group liaison.

    • Other groups can be created outside of these proposed groupings (please email us). Any additions or changes will be published on this page and added to the Padlet.

Contribute your ideas to the discussion board

Proposed groups and contacts

    • Calls for action: Suggestions for generic, pre-competitive problems to develop new models and insights. E.g. formation of bubbles in foam, predicting solubility, studying effect of particle size distributions, mixed particle populations, and packing effects on macroscopic function of a product.

    • To join: Matthew Hennessy, matthew.hennessy@bristol.ac.uk 

    • Calls for action: Industry partners- What are the scale-up challenges you are facing that are specific to formulated products? E.g. changes in microstructure after scale-up, unknown interaction between microstructure and process conditions. Contribute ideas in advance of a wider discussion session in mid-October, date TBC

    • Calls for action: Invitation for input and interest from all network members

    • To join: Estefania Lopez-Quiroga, E.Lopez-Quiroga@bham.ac.uk and Daniel Read, D.J.Read@leeds.ac.uk

    • Calls for action: Invitation for input from all members- How do shelf life and stability challenges interact with your work? What do you want to know? How can we use maths to predict stability?

    • Calls for action: Invitation for input and interest from all network members

    • To join: Beth Stokes, bethm.stokes@bristol.ac.ukDescription text goes here

    • Calls for action: Invitation for input from all members- What opportunities do we have to solve shared challenges? From industry partners: What do you need to know? How can our SIG support these aims?

    • To join: Tom Eaves, teaves001@dundee.ac.uk 

How to apply

  • Download the application form: SUM4Products SIG proposal (word document)

  • Proposals should be submitted to sum4products@contacts.bham.ac.uk by 5pm on Monday 30th November.

  • Proposals will be assessed in December with outcomes communicated shortly afterwards.

  • Successful SIGs will be expected to launch in January 2027.

Assessment criteria

  • Proposals will be evaluated on the underlying mathematical aims, the fit with the aims of SUM4Products, and the value that the group could bring and the potential impact.

  • We will prioritise applications that have:

    • Strong and/or diverse community support

    • A dynamic and diverse organisational team

    • The potential to demonstrate downstream external funding and broad impact

  • We aim to complement similar groups run by other organisations.

Questions

Contact sum4products@contacts.bham.ac.uk with any queries about the SIG scheme.