You now have until June 20 to apply for the Policy Exchange Summer School. See details.

Balloon ICS Entrepreneur  is a 12 week, UK Government funded (DFID) programme where you will travel to East Africa and work with budding entrepreneurs to create new businesses that challenge the status quo and open up new markets.  You can join teams of 20 young people driving sustainable development and launching exciting businesses that improve lives. £35,000 is ready to fund in the best ideas.

Programmes will take place in September 2014, January 2015 and April 2015.

Visit www.balloonics.org for more details.

There are only 70 funded places available.

You must apply by the end of June to be considered for the September programme

The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology has recently published the following POSTnotes:

Social Media and Big Data

Analysing large quantities of readily available data from social media has created new opportunities to understand and influence how people think and act. This POSTnote examines the application of ‘big data’ approaches to social media in three key areas: elections and polling, commercial applications and security. It also covers the regulation of social media data and public concerns around privacy.

Transparency of Clinical Trials Data

Results from many clinical trials are not published or made available. Recently there have been calls for clinical trials data to be made more accessible. This briefing examines ways of achieving greater transparency and the issues that they raise.

Surveillance of Infectious Disease

Microbes such as bacteria and viruses cause a wide range of infectious diseases. They can be highly adaptable and evolve rapidly to changing environments. This can change their ability to spread and their susceptibility to antimicrobial drugs. Surveillance is key for detecting and responding to novel and re-emerging microbes. This briefing describes current surveillance efforts and examines new technological developments and their likely impacts on UK and international public health.

HIV Prevention in the UK

Preventing HIV is a priority for research and public health. Research developments and the trends in the nature of the epidemic mean that policy is continually revised in order to educate the public, reduce transmission of the virus and treat those affected. This note describes patterns of infection and policies to increase HIV testing. It also summarises evidence for using antiretrovirals as a preventive measure.

Intermittent Electricity Generation

Sources of electricity that exhibit uncontrolled increases or decreases in output are often referred to as intermittent. This POSTnote examines the effect of wind, solar, wave and tidal intermittency on electricity prices, carbon dioxide emissions and the provision of electricity to meet demand. The note also describes measures to manage intermittency.

See the POST website here.

If you would like any further information on these briefings, please contact [email protected] or call 020 7219 8377.

Read the BBC’s summary of the bills discussed in Queen’s speech at the opening of Parliament here.

The article gives an overview of the eleven bills that are to be presented to Parliament over the next year, and the three draft bills that have been issued for consultation:

• Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland)
• National Insurance Contributions Bill (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland)
• Infrastructure Bill (Mostly England)
• Pension Tax Bill (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland)
• Private Pensions Bill (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland)
• Childcare Payments Bill (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland)
• Modern Slavery Bill (England and Wales)
• Social Action, Responsibility and Heroism Bill (England and Wales)
• Service Complaints Bill (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland)
• Serious Crime Bill (England and Wales – with certain provisions elsewhere)
• Recall of MPs Bill (UK-wide)
• Draft Governance of National Parks (England) and the Broads Bill (England only)
• Draft Riot (Damages) Act Bill (England and Wales only)
• Draft Protection of Charities Bill (England and Wales)

More information on the Queen’s Speech here; read the speech here.

For more information about the passage of laws through Parliament, see here.

Over the 11th to the 15th of August, think tank Policy Exchange are offering 30 places to undergraduate students to spend a few days getting to know Westminster, experiencing life working at a think tank, visiting the political establishments and potentially conducting a mini research project.

Applicants must commit to the whole week, and need to be able to accommodate and maintain themselves for the duration. To apply, a covering letter describing your interest in politics and  a CV must be sent to [email protected] before the closing date of the 20th of June (extended from the original date of 10 June)

Successful applicants will be notified quickly

For more information about the program see here; for more information about Policy Exchange, see here.

Prior to the Office 365 migration, Parliamentary ICT would like to invite Members and their staff to attend an Office 365 briefing on Thursday 5 June, 12 noon to 2pm, in the Jubilee Room off Westminster Hall.

PICT will demonstrate the different tools available through Office 365 and their associated benefits, for example through gaining easier access to documents when on the move. PICT specialists will also be on hand to give one-to-one advice and support to Members and their staff about using Office 365 on tablets, smartphones, laptops, PCs and Macs.

Following this briefing, Office 365 briefing sessions will be offered by the PICT team. The PICT team will be providing further details regarding these sessions over the next few weeks.

The State Opening of Parliament formally marks the beginning of the parliamentary year, and will this year take place on Wednesday the 4th of June. The event includes the Queen’s procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster, and her speech delivered from the throne in the House of Lords. This speech, though read by the Queen, is written by the Government, and outlines plans for proposed legislation to be discussed during the new parliamentary session.

More information about the State Opening of Parliament here.

ParliaMentors

The Three Faiths Forum are looking for “highly motivated emerging leaders” from one of six selected UK universities who aspire to lead social and political change in the world to participate in their Parliamentors programme.

Five students each from:

• SOAS
• University of Manchester
• University of Birmingham
• University of Nottingham
• Salford University
• Queen Mary University

will be recruited this year.

This social change and  parliamentary leadership programme is designed to equip those who take part with the skills, experience, and networks to further their leadership potential and gain access to the political sphere. The programme offers students the opportunity to be mentored by MPs, create social action projects with support from leading NGOs, and to develop skills and VIP networks through expert-led events.

Participants must be enrolled full-time at one of the selected universities. The scheme runs from September-June so students can take part alongside their university degree.

There are no costs involved, and any travel expenses incurred will be reimbursed.

More details at www.3ff.org.uk/mentoring

The closing date is 30 June 2014, with programmes running from 2 September 2014

Want to find out how people can have a say on proposed laws going through Parliament?

Come to a free Public Bill Seminar in Westminster on Thursday 5 June 2014, 2pm – 4pm focusing on the passage of legislation at the beginning of the Parliamentary session and providing you with information on how people can get involved in the legislative process.

The seminar will cover

• What happens at the beginning of a session
• How MPs and Peers scrutinise and challenge legislation
• How people can submit evidence to Public Bill Committees and engage with MPs and Peers
• How the Government develops legislative proposals to bring before Parliament

Speakers will include senior experts from the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

Location

This event will take place in the Emmanuel Centre,  9-23 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 3DW

How to book

To register for this event please click on the link below and complete the registration form:

• Registration form: Public Bill Seminar: Queen’s Speech, 5 June 2014

The organisers tell us that ‘absences will be monitored and may affect future allocation of places’.

• Want to know more about what resources and support services are available to you in those (sometimes far-flung) constituency offices?
• Feeling a bit isolated and/or neglected?
• Just want to get up-to-date with it all?

Yes to any/all of those?  Read on….

Regional constituency training days will be held in Manchester (10 June) and Exeter (8 July).

These events will cover:

• information about the Election arrangements.
• information about the services we offer for you.
• information from IPSA.
• access to PICT and Library training.
• specialist sessions on constituency casework issues in your region.
• and more.

Places are limited so please email [email protected] to register your interest, with Manchester or Exeter as the subject. Please note if the event is oversubscribed it may be necessary to limit the number of places per constituency, so please provide names of attendees in order of preference.