Category / BU research

Migration research at BU: New migrant workers’ paper published

Two days ago saw the publication of the latest paper on migration research here at Bournemouth University. The journal Health Prospect published ‘Risky work: Accidents among Nepalese migrant workers in Malaysia, Qatar and Saudi’ [1]. This new paper is based on the PhD research project conducted by Dr. Pratik Adhikary. Health Prospect is a peer-reviewed Open Access journal, part of Nepal Journals Online (NepJOL) which offers free access to research on and/or from Nepal. The paper is co-authored by former FHSS staff Dr. Zoe Sheppard and Dr. Steve Keen as well as Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen of the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH).

Previous academic papers by BU scholars included, amongst others, work on migrant workers from Nepal [2-6], relatives of migrant workers [7], migrant health workers [8-9], migration and tourism [10-11], migrant workers from Eastern Europe [11-13], migration and the media [14] as well as migration in the past [15]. The various strands of work link very well to BU’s application for Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarships.

 

References:

  1. Adhikary, P., Sheppard, Z., Keen, S., van Teijlingen, E. (2017) Risky work: Accidents among Nepalese migrant workers in Malaysia, Qatar and Saudi, Health Prospect 16(2): 3-10.
  2. Adhikary, P., Simkhada, P.P., van Teijlingen E., Raja, AE. (2008) Health & Lifestyle of Nepalese Migrants in the UK BMC International Health & Human Rights 8(6). Web address: www.biomedcentral.com/1472-698X/8/6.
  3. van Teijlingen E, Simkhada, P., Adhikary, P. (2009) Alcohol use among the Nepalese in the UK BMJ Rapid Response: www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/339/oct20_1/b4028#223451
  4. Adhikary P., Keen S., van Teijlingen, E. (2011) Health Issues among Nepalese migrant workers in Middle East. Health Science Journal 5: 169-175. www.hsj.gr/volume5/issue3/532.pdf
  5. Aryal, N., Regmi, PR., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Adhikary, P., Bhatta, YKD., Mann, S. (2016) Injury and Mortality in Young Nepalese Migrant Workers: A Call for Public Health Action. Asian-Pacific Journal of Public Health 28(8): 703-705.
  6. Simkhada, PP., Regmi, PR., van Teijlingen, E., Aryal, N. (2017) Identifying the gaps in Nepalese migrant workers’ health & well-being: A review of the literature, Journal of Travel Medicine 24 (4): 1-9.
  7. Aryal, N., Regmi, PR., van Teijlingen, E., Dhungel, D., Ghale, G., Bhatta, GK. (2016) Knowing is not enough: Migrant workers’ spouses vulnerability to HIV SAARC Journal of Tuberculosis, Lung Diseases & HIV/AIDS 8(1):9-15.
  8. Scammell, J., 2016. Nurse migration and the EU: how are UK nurses prepared? British Journal of Nursing, 25 (13), p. 764.
  9. Sapkota, T., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2014) Nepalese health workers’ migration to United Kingdom: A qualitative study. Health Science Journal 8(1):57-74.
  10. Dwyer, L., Seetaram, N., Forsyth, P., Brian, K. (2014) Is the Migration-Tourism Relationship only about VFR? Annals of Tourism Research, 46: 130-143.
  11. Filimonau, V., Mika, M. (2017) Return labour migration: an exploratory study of Polish migrant workers from the UK hospitality industry. Current Issues in Tourism, 1-22.
  12. Janta, H., Ladkin, A., Brown, L., Lugosi, P., 2011. Employment experiences of Polish migrant workers in the UK hospitality sector. Tourism Management, 32 (5): 1006-1019.
  13. Mai, N., Schwandner-Sievers, S. (2003) Albanian migration and new transnationalisms, Journal of Ethnic & Migration Studies 29(6): 939-948.
  14. Marino, S., Dawes, S., 2016. Fortress Europe: Media, Migration and Borders. Networking Knowledge, 9 (4).
  15. Parker Pearson, M., Richards, C., Allen, M., Payne, A. & Welham, K. (2004) The Stonehenge Riverside project Research design and initial results Journal of Nordic Archaeological Science 14: 45–60

Fake conferences are not fake news: beware predatory conferences

Introduction

Academic have been warned for a decade about predatory Open Access publishers (van Teijlingen 2014). These are commercial organisations charging academics a publication fee on submission of their manuscripts with a promise to publish their work quickly online. The problem is twofold: first, these commercial organisations don’t offer proper peer-review and editorial quality assurance; and secondly, academic are being tricked into believing the journal is a legitimate scientific publication.  The second author receives on average six to eight invitations a week to publish in this kind of predatory journals – see below for examples. The first author, who despite having not worked in an academic institution for over three years, still receives such invitations to publish in ‘Journal X’.

Predatory conferences

A similar phenomenon to predatory journals is the predatory conference (Moital 2014; Nobes 2017; Grove 2017). These are pretend academic conferences of questionable value, established first and foremost to make money, not for the greater good of the academic discipline.

Both authors have received bogus and legitimate invitations to attend conferences. A predicament with such an invitation, which 99% of time arrives by email, is that it is not easy to distinguish between fake and real offers. For example, the first author recently received an offer (at short notice), to attend a conference in Miami in November 2017 (see below). This was on the back of an editorial he had published couple of months earlier. For a career researcher going from contract to contract, the appeal of being invited to present a keynote at a conference can be flattering, far less an honour and a boost for one’s career. Therefore, while the idea that if it seems too good to be true, is a prudent one to hold; there is also a temptation to follow through.

The author replied to the request quizzing the reason for the invite out of the blue. The answer was less than convincing, and a swift email by the author saying “Don’t tell me… You are offering me a keynote with travel and accommodation… Lol!!” called their bluff and ended correspondence.

But digging a little deeper he found there was a webpage dedicated to taking payments to attend the conference. In the digital world, a fool can be easily and quickly separated from his or her money.

Of course, it may have been a real conference at a real venue, and they really wanted him to speak. But discerning this is not easy at first…

Some of the warning signs/What to look out for

  • The conference email invitation looks very convincing (if not don’t even read it!).
  • The venue is good location as Nobes (2017) highlighted, “the organizers are more interested in marketing the tourist destination rather than the academic value of the conference”.
  • The conference covers too many different aspects or topics, as if the advert is designed to catch the eye of many people as possible who are vaguely connected to the discipline.
  • Mentions on associated predatory journals and ‘important’ organisations in the discipline.
  • Email and bank accounts that don’t look professional/ official.
  • Little mention of attendance fees, but after acceptance emails demanding a high conference fee and other charges.
  • Conference organisers are not academics, or unknown names.
  • Conference does not peer-review submission/ not provide proper editorial control over presentations
  • Signs of copying of names of existing academic conferences or scientific organisation and even copying of their webpages
  • Even more advertising than normal at a scientific conference.

Furthermore, Andy Nobes (2017) offered some helpful advice on quality of the conference websites in the list below. Andy is based at AuthorAID, a global network providing support, mentoring, resources and training for researchers in developing countries.

Who is at risk of falling for predatory conferences?

Academics need to be aware of money-making conferences and meetings without a true commitment to science. But some academics might be more at risk than others. Young researchers, PhD students and fledgling academics, living from contract to contract may feel any conference attendance is a potential career boost. Thus, such an invitation might seem flattering and an opportunity to good to miss. A way to show that he or she is a capable and independent academic.

Final thoughts

Most academics go to conferences for a combination of presenting their work to get critical feedback, making new contacts, sharing ideas and to be inspired. With such broad combination of motivating factors, the exact purpose of conferences is difficult to ascertain because there is no a priori agreed role and value of conferences (Nicolson, 2017a). However, there is evidence that academic conferences function to facilitate commodity transactions, be that knowledge, tools, skills, reputations, or connections, which reflects the neoliberal ethos in the modern academy (Nicolson 2017b). The predatory conference can be viewed in this light, where academia is more and more focused on generating revenue. It is at best scurrilous, and worst, criminal, for organisations to make money using such a confidence trick.  Always check which conferences are organised and advertised by recognised scholarly organisations in your own discipline. If uncertain ask a more experienced academic, a senior colleague or mentor.

 

 

Donald J. Nicolson

(Health Services Researcher, NHS Fife, and Independent Scholar; twitter @_mopster )

Edwin R. van Teijlingen

(Centre Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health)

 

References:

Moital, M. (2014) Ten Signs of a Bogus/Fake Conference.

Grove, J. (2017) Predatory conferences ‘now outnumber official scholarly events’  (26th Oct.)

Nicolson, D.J. (2017a) Do conference presentations impact beyond the conference venue? Journal of Research in Nursing. 22(5), pp.422-425.

Nicolson, D.J. (2017b) Academic Conferences as Neoliberal Commodities, Palgrave Macmillan

Nobes, A. (2017) What are ‘predatory’ conferences and how can I avoid them?

van Teijlingen, E. (2014) Beware of rogue journals.

 

Computing and information technology projects available!

Are you or your students looking for computing and information technology projects? The following projects are available in the Student Project Bank:

SPB047: Social media platform prototype development for Help-in

Help connect millions of people to the help they need when they need it and allow millions to offer their help to those less fortunate or in need. Help-in is a charity that aims to create a new social media platform designed to increase volunteering both hands on and virtually. Work with Help-in to develop the above social media platform. All aspects must be scalable to cope with additions to details, projects, tick boxes and ultimately users. The Platform will be global, so there is a need to search for companies or project types in any part of the world.

SPB073: Mapping of signing up user journey for financial products

Harmoney is a not-for-profit organisation with a mission to help people to manage their money better, particularly so that it doesn’t cause worry, stress, or mental distress. Their initial service is providing advice on welfare benefits and debt problems. This project involved mapping the signing up user journeys of existing online current account and budgeting products, particularly those built for smartphones (like Monzo) and new innovative services (like Squirrel). You will be looking for similarities between the maps and assessing what works well and what doesn’t. These findings will be used to make recommendations for our product.

SPB074: Mapping of user journey of financial products

Harmoney is a not-for-profit organisation with a mission to help people to manage their money better, particularly so that it doesn’t cause worry, stress, or mental distress. Their initial service is providing advice on welfare benefits and debt problems. This purpose of this project is to map the user journeys of existing online current account and budgeting products, to undertake tasks such as setting up regular payments, making transfers, checking balance. You will be looking for similarities between the maps and assessing what works well and what doesn’t. These findings will be used to make recommendations for our product.

SPB075: Harmoney cyber security

Harmoney is a not-for-profit organisation with a mission to help people to manage their money better, particularly so that it doesn’t cause worry, stress, or mental distress. Their initial service is providing advice on welfare benefits and debt problems. Map out security methods used by existing services of online current account products. What are the options? What direction might these tools be going in in relation to security? Are costs considered? What is the user preference? These findings will be used to make recommendations for our product.

SPB081: Cherry Tree Nursery Website Revamp

Cherry Tree Nursery is part of the Sheltered Work Opportunities project, a registered charity based in Bournemouth serving the local Community. We were set up to address the great need for meaningful occupation, in a supportive and pressure free environment, for adults with severe and enduring mental illness. Cherry Tree Nursery’s website is out dated and needs a revamp to bring it in line with modern website design and to attract new visitors to the charity.

Apply now:

Projects are available to all undergraduate and postgraduate students at BU and can be used for dissertations, assignments, unit, or group work. Send us an email to request a project brief and application form.

New online resources available under the Charities Pathway of the RKE Development Framework

RKEO dev logo - banner

Online materials are now available under the ‘Funding from the Charities’ pathway of the RKE Development Framework.

Online sessions that have recently been added include:

  • ‘Introduction to Funding from the National Lottery’
  • ‘Where to find Charitable Funding’
  • ‘Funding from Smaller Charities – General Principles’

The materials are available through myBU. To access the materials please login to myBU, and access the RKEO RKE Funding from major charitiescommunity ‘BU: Research and Knowledge Exchange Development Framework’. From here, you can navigate through the pathways (see left hand side of screen) to the Funding from Charities pathway to find the session materials.

Keep an eye out for upcoming sessions under this pathway including a visit from Wellcome Trust, Leverhulme Trust and a Bid Writing Retreat for Charities. Further information on these sessions will be posted on the Research Blog in due course.

BU Briefing – Media literacy: The UK’s undead cultural policy

Our BU briefing papers are designed to make our research outputs accessible and easily digestible so that our research findings can quickly be applied – whether to society, culture, public policy, services, the environment or to improve quality of life. They have been created to highlight research findings and their potential impact within their field. 


The Communications Act 2003 requires the UK’s media regulator Ofcom to promote ‘media literacy’, although it left the term undefined. In response to the new legislation, the regulator espoused a deliberately generalised definition, but one that never became a meaningful measure of its own policy work.

This paper investigates how Ofcom managed this regulatory duty from 2003 onwards. It explores how the promotion of media literacy was progressively reduced in scope over time as its funding was incrementally withdrawn. Media literacy in 2016 may be characterised as one of the zombies of cultural policy: an instrument devoid of its original life but continuing in a limited state of animation governed by other policy priorities.

Click here to read the briefing paper.


For more information about the research, contact Dr Richard Wallis at rwallis@bournemouth.ac.uk.
To find out how your research output could be turned into a BU Briefing, contact research@bournemouth.ac.uk.

REF 2021 workshops – what makes a 2*, 3* or 4* output?

We have a series of externally-facilitated REF outputs workshops scheduled to take place in early 2018 as part of the RKE Development Framework. Each session is led by REF 2014 sub-panel member who will explain how the panel interpreted and applied the REF 2014 guidance when assessing the quality of outputs. The workshops are open to all academic staff to attend.

The expected learning outcomes from the workshops are for attendees to:

  • Gain insight into how the REF panels applied the REF criteria when considering the significance, rigour and originality of outputs;
  • Understand the differences between outputs scored 4*, 3*, 2*, 1* and Unclassified;
  • Gain insight into what is meant by ‘world leading’ and ‘internationally excellent’;
  • Understand how scores borderline cases were agreed and what the tipping points were to either break the ceiling into the higher star level or to hold an output back a star level;
  • Understand how panels used other information such as metrics, markers of journal quality or prior knowledge in output assessment;
  • Gain insight into how future outputs could be strengthened for REF2021.

 

Workshops scheduled so far are:

  • UOA 2/3 – Prof Dame Jill Macleod Clark – 15 March 2018
  • UOA 4 – Prof Marion Hetherington – 10 January 2018
  • UOA 11 – Prof Iain Stewart – 29 January 2018
  • UOA 12 – Prof Chris Chatwin – 8 January 2018
  • UOA 14 – Prof Jon Sadler – 11 January 2018
  • UOA 15 – Prof Graeme Barker – 7 February 2018
  • UOA 17 – Prof Terry Williams – 17 January 2018
  • UOA 18 – tbc
  • UOA 20/21 – Prof Imogen Taylor – 15 January 2018
  • UOA 23 – Prof Jane Seale – 26 January 2018
  • UOA 24 – tbc
  • UOA 27 – Prof Pat Waugh – 16 January 2018
  • UOA 11/32 (computer animation) – Prof Anthony Steed – 31 January 2018
  • UOA 32/34 (practice-based) – Prof Stephen Partridge – date tbc
  • UOA 36 – Prof Peter Lunt – date tbc

Bookings for these can be made via the Staff Intranet: https://staffintranet.bournemouth.ac.uk/workingatbu/staffdevelopmentandengagement/fusiondevelopment/fusionprogrammesandevents/rkedevelopmentframework/researchexcellenceframework/

Business, management and marketing projects available!

Are you or your students looking for business, management and marketing projects? The following projects are available in the Student Project Bank:

SPB007: Investigate fund raising for small business development through the utilisation of crowdfunding

Investigate fund raising to support the development of a small business through crowdfunding. Examine current crowdfunding platforms and the feasibility of a low-cost DIY approach which does not involve a host platform.

SPB008: Product licensing for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

Research product licensing and discuss practical approaches, from initial contact to developing joint ventures. Make a list of recommendations.

SPB009: Using social media platforms as a promotional tool for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

Evaluate how a small business could use social media platforms to achieve growth.

SPB036: Employee Engagement Globally: A research project based on Merlin Entertainments

Employee Engagement Globally: What engages different people globally, from different geographic regions to different personas and job types. How do they want to be recognised, and what does recognition mean to them? Research trends in engagement DRIVERs per geographic region, job role and persona, as well as recognition recommendations for different groups.

SPB039: Social media marketing plan for QuietSphere Student Mentoring

Create a social media strategy aimed at university students and parents of university aged children/ university students in order to raise the profile of QuietSphere Student Mentoring.

SPB044: Crowdfunding feasibility study and campaign design for charities

Help connect millions of people to the help they need when they need it and allow millions to offer their help to those less fortunate or in need. Help-in is a charity that aims to create a new social media platform designed to increase volunteering both hands on and virtually. Carry out a feasibility study into crowdfunding models for charitable organisations and use your findings to design a three week campaign with a soft launch. There will be the opportunity to implement the campaign if desired.

SPB045: Social media marketing and management plan for a local charity

Help connect millions of people to the help they need when they need it and allow millions to offer their help to those less fortunate or in need. Help-in is a charity that aims to create a new social media platform designed to increase volunteering both hands on and virtually. Design a social media marketing plan for a crowdfunding campaign and create a management plan for the marketing plan.

SPB046: Brand development for Help-in

Help connect millions of people to the help they need when they need it and allow millions to offer their help to those less fortunate or in need. Help-in is a charity that aims to create a new social media platform designed to increase volunteering both hands on and virtually. Work with Help-in to develop their brand. This will be used to influence the look and feel of their platform and across social media, the website and any printed materials.

SPB044: Crowdfunding feasibility study and campaign design for charities

Help connect millions of people to the help they need when they need it and allow millions to offer their help to those less fortunate or in need. Help-in is a charity that aims to create a new social media platform designed to increase volunteering both hands on and virtually. Carry out a feasibility study into crowdfunding models for charitable organisations and use your findings to design a three week campaign with a soft launch. There will be the opportunity to implement the campaign if desired.

SPB045: Social media marketing and management plan for a local charity

Help connect millions of people to the help they need when they need it and allow millions to offer their help to those less fortunate or in need. Help-in is a charity that aims to create a new social media platform designed to increase volunteering both hands on and virtually. Design a social media marketing plan for a crowdfunding campaign and create a management plan for the marketing plan.

SPB046: Brand development for Help-in

Help connect millions of people to the help they need when they need it and allow millions to offer their help to those less fortunate or in need. Help-in is a charity that aims to create a new social media platform designed to increase volunteering both hands on and virtually. Work with Help-in to develop their brand. This will be used to influence the look and feel of their platform and across social media, the website and any printed materials.

SPB060: Rebrand of workplace health and wellbeing company

Midlands Workplace Wellbeing Ltd works with employers to create happy and healthy employees through consultancy, training and health activities. Help Midlands Workplace Wellbeing Ltd rebrand the business as Mindful Workplace Wellbeing. They are looking to find a new identity that has impact whilst still remaining professional in order to increase their client base.

SPB068: Raising the Profile of Bradford Abbas Village

The aim of this project is to provide better information about the village for visitors and members of the community. The information is to be both historical and current; i.e. an ‘interpretation board’ that explains the history, people and places associated with the village; and the ‘village plan statement’ located on the Parish Council website. This project will involve working with Bradford Abbas Parish Council and Bradford Abbas History Society.

Apply now:

Projects are available to all undergraduate and postgraduate students at BU and can be used for dissertations, assignments, unit, or group work. Send us an email to request a project brief and application form.

 

Ratko Mladić’s conviction and why the evidence of mass graves still matters

Ratko Mladić has been convicted of genocide and persecution, extermination, murder and the inhumane act of forcible transfer in the area of Srebrenica in 1995. He was also found guilty of persecution, extermination, murder, deportation and inhumane act of forcible transfer in municipalities throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina and of murder, terror and unlawful attacks on civilians in Sarajevo.

In addition, the former Bosnian Serb army general was convicted for the hostage-taking of UN personnel. But he was acquitted of the charge of genocide in several municipalities in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992.

The events that occurred in and around the Srebrenica enclave between July 10-19 1995, where an estimated 8,000 Bosnian Muslims, mostly men and boys, lost their lives, are well documented. These atrocities, culminating in the “biggest single mass murder in Europe” since World War II, not only resulted in a tremendous loss of life and emotionally scarred survivors, it also left behind a landscape filled with human remains and mass graves.

Forensic investigations into the Srebrenica massacre assisted in convicting Mladić, who stood accused for his involvement in implementing and orchestrating the forcible transfer and eventual elimination of the Bosnian Muslim population from Srebrenica. For the Srebrenica investigations, between 1996 and 2001, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) conducted exhumations at 23 sites, while a further 20 mass graves were probed to confirm that they contained human remains.

Srebrenica.
Martijn.Munneke/ Flickr, CC BY-SA

The investigative objectives for these investigations were to:
* Corroborate victim and witness accounts of the massacres;
* Determine an accurate count of victims;
* Determine cause and time of death;
* Determine the sex of victims;
* Determine the identity of victims (a process that is ongoing with the help of DNA analysis); and
* Identify links to the perpetrators.

The task of locating and exhuming mass graves in Bosnia continues, as does the general quest of locating the missing in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. And this evidence still matters for the ICTY. Evidence on hundreds of bodies exhumed from the Tomašica mass grave near Prijedor in the north-west of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was presented in the Mladić trial.

The summary judgment read out in the court room in The Hague made this very clear:

During several weeks in September and early October 1995, senior members of the VRS [Army of the Bosnian-Serb Republic] and the MUP [Ministry of the Interior] attempted to conceal their crimes by exhuming their victims’ remains from several mass graves, and then reburying those remains in more remote areas in Zvornik and Bratunac municipalities. Their attempt to cover up the Srebrenica massacres ultimately failed.

Such attempts at hiding crimes by digging up mass graves only to dispose of the bodies in so called “secondary mass graves” results in commingled and mutilated body parts rendering identification and repatriation of human remains all the more difficult. This causes further and prolonged distress to the survivor population and can be seen as intent to cause suffering.

Properly investigated forensic evidence from mass graves, the presentation of such physical evidence, the testing of expertise, independence and impartiality of the accounts in court, is likely to result in more reliable findings. In the case of Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić forensic evidence helped confirm the crimes committed – it can be assumed that the same is the case for Mladić; at the time of writing the judgment in its entirety is not available yet.

The ConversationIt is well worth remembering that the information from forensic mass grave investigations has another purpose and does not only speak to a court of law. The work on the ground through organisations such as the International Commission on Missing Persons will continue as there are “too many people who are still searching for their children’s bones to bury”. Those forensic findings will have a value and meaning for family members and survivors that judgments such as the Mladić one cannot have. It offers them information on their lost loved ones and, hopefully, the return of their human remains.

Melanie Klinkner, Senior Lecturer In Law, Bournemouth University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

2018 BU PhD Studentship Competition

We are delighted to announce the launch of the 2018 BU PhD Studentship Competition for PhD projects starting in September 2018.

There are up to 40 matched funded projects available across BU and, as far as possible, attempts will be made to allocate them equally between the four Faculties, with the quality and strategic priority of projects assessed by each Faculty and overall allocation overseen by a central panel. There are no fully funded studentships on offer this round of the competition. This excludes Studentships agreed separately, or linked to prestigious bids.

The PhD Studentship projects will only be offered in conjunction with guaranteed external matched funding. The external matched funder should provide a minimum of 50% of the PhD Studentship stipend plus the research costs, which is equivalent to minimum of £25.5k over 36 months.

The PhD Studentships will be awarded to supervisory teams on the basis of a competitive process led by Professor John Fletcher (Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research & Innovation) and Faculty DDRPPs. The process will be managed by the Doctoral College.

All relevant information about the process, including application forms, PhD Studentship Terms & Conditions, information for matched funders is available on the Doctoral College intranet . It is essential that those interested in applying read all the relevant information before submitting an application.

  • Applications, and any enquiries, should be submitted to the Doctoral College via email: phdstudentshipcompetition@bournemouth.ac.uk
  • The deadline for submission of applications will be 5pm on Monday 08 January 2018
  • Please ensure applications contain all relevant information (project proposal; letter of support from matched funder; due diligence form) as incomplete applications will not be considered.

Student Project Bank call for projects

The Student Project Bank is open for new project ideas!

Do you work with an organisation in the community that wants to expand the work they do with our students to a different subject area?  If you do, please send them a link to this blog post, or this call for projects.

We are open to projects in all subject areas relevant to BU courses, but are specifically interested in receiving project ideas in the following areas:

  • Accounting, finance and economics
  • Business management, leadership and strategy
  • Computing
  • Computer animation
  • Health
  • History
  • Psychology
  • Social sciences

The call is included below:

Do you have an idea that could benefit society, and could use help to make it a reality?

We are inviting community organisations, charities, not-for-profit organisations and corporate partners to submit projects to the Student Project Bank.

The more ideas we have, the greater our impact on society.

Why get involved with Student Project Bank?

The Student Project Bank is a mutually beneficial collaboration between you and our students. As part of their studies, they get to work on a live project with the potential for real-world impact and you get the opportunity to benefit from their knowledge, skills and creativity whilst gaining valuable insights into your specific project area.

How it works:

  1. You tell us about your idea and how we can help. We’ll work with you to develop your idea into an exciting project brief.
  2. We’ll then match your project requirements to our students’ skill sets.
  3. We’ll monitor your project progress and keep you up to date.
  4. The project results will be shared with you and we will ask for feedback on how it has had an impact on your organisation.

Contact us:

To find out more visit our website or email spb@bournemouth.ac.uk

Workshop: Sharing your research with the media

Despite the increasing popularity of online media sources, traditional media outlets still tend to be the main way most people consume news.  Working with the media can be a very powerful way of sharing your research findings with the general public or with specialist audiences.  It’s a good way of disseminating your research, which can lead to impact further down the line.

As part of our new Research & Knowledge Exchange Development Framework, we will be running a session about working with the media as one way of sharing your research.  This session is part of the ‘planning for impact and communicating research’ pathway.

This workshop will be led by BU’s PR manager, Nathaniel Hobby, who will take you through the basics of working with the press.

Date & time: Thursday 30 November  10am – 1pm

Location: Lansdowne Campus

For further information and to book, see BU’s staff intranet.

Horizon 2020 : Exploring the Industrial Leadership Pillar – Your chance to learn more!

Does your research benefit from industrial collaborations?

What will collaboration with an industry partner achieve?

How much do you understand about the Horizon 2020 funding opportunities and requirements?

To find out more, sign up to the Horizon 2020: Exploring the Industrial Leadership Pillar session.

This session will explore the Industrial Leadership pillar of Horizon 2020, the European Commission’s flagship funding mechanism and assist you in aligning your research to the European Commission’s requirements.

Particiular consideration, due to the nature of this pillar, will be given to working with industrial partners.

The intended learning outcomes of this session are:

  • To have an awareness and understanding of the funding opportunities within the Leadership pillar of Horizon 2020
  • To be able to assess potential eligibility for this scheme
  • To be confident is assessing, independently, the best route to funding within this scheme.
  • To be able to explain funding opportunities to business contacts
Title Date Time Location
Horizon 2020- Exploring the Industrial Leadership Pillar Tuesday 5th December 2017 9.30 – 12.00 Lansdowne Campus

To book a place on this event please click here.

 

Postnatal depression: men get it too

Over the past few years, there has been an increase in media reports about postnatal depression and other maternal mental illnesses, and campaigns have led to greater understanding about the need for more specialist services. Although this is encouraging, very little is said about fathers. But men can get postnatal depression, too.

Currently, only mothers can be diagnosed with postnatal depression. The psychiatrists’ “bible”, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), includes a diagnosis of “peripartum depression”. Peripartum depression is a form of clinical depression that is present at any time during pregnancy, or within the four weeks after giving birth, although experts working in perinatal mental health tend to be more flexible, extending that period to the first year after giving birth.

In many ways, postnatal depression varies little from traditional depression. It, too, includes a period of at least two weeks where the person experiences low mood or a lack of motivation, or both. Other symptoms include poor sleep, agitation, weight changes, guilt, feelings of worthlessness, and thoughts of death and dying. But the biggest difference is that a depression at this time involves a significant additional person: the child.

Evidence suggests that the long-term consequences of postnatal depression on the child can be damaging, including developmental problems, poor social interaction, partner-relationship problems and greater use of health services (including mental health services).

Around 7-20% of new mothers experience postnatal depression. A common view is that it is caused by hormonal changes. Although this is partly true, it is far more likely that life factors are responsible, such as poverty, being younger, lack of support and birth trauma. Another potential cause is the sudden overwhelming responsibility of having a baby to care for, and the life changes that it entails.

Depressed mothers also feel intensely guilty about the way they feel about their baby, and fear shame and stigma from society. As a result, at least 50% of mothers will not report a mental health problem. Other mothers will not tell their health provider out of fear of having their child taken away by social services.

Prevalence of postnatal depression in men could be as high as 10%.
Pushish Images/Shutterstock.com

Mounting evidence

All of the above factors can equally apply to fathers. But there is no formal diagnosis of postnatal depression for fathers. Yet evidence from several countries, including Brazil, the US and the UK, suggests that around 4-5% of fathers experience significant depressive symptoms after their child is born. Some other studies claim that prevalence may be as high as 10%.

The cause of these feelings in fathers is similar to what we see with mothers, but there are extra complications. Men are much less likely to seek help for mental health problems, generally.

Societal norms in many nations suggest men should suppress emotion. This is probably even more a factor for fathers, who may perceive their role as being practical and providing for the family. Fathers – especially first-time fathers – might experience many sudden changes, including significant reduction in family income and altered relationships with their wife or partner. These are major risk factors for depression in fathers.

The importance for supporting fathers at this time is as vital as it is for mother. Evidence suggests that a father’s depression can have a damaging effect on their child’s development. Despite this, it has been shown that fathers are also less likely than mothers to seek help, and that health professionals are less likely to consider that fathers need support, compared with mothers. More evidence is needed to build a case that fathers need support as much as mothers.

Poorly equipped

The ConversationIt has been argued that, until recently, health professionals have been poorly equipped to recognise and treat mental illnesses associated with the birth of a child. Recent campaigns in the UK have led to changes in policy, funding and health guidelines. However, the recent revision of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline on perinatal mental health does not address fathers’ needs. Despite a campaign to address this having support from several professionals and academics, a NICE spokesperson told the BBC that guidelines are unlikely to be changed as there is no evidence that men experience postnatal depression. However, if we discount hormonal factors in new mothers, the remaining risk factors for postnatal depression also apply to fathers. And we need support that recognises that.

Andrew Mayers, Principal Academic in Psychology, Bournemouth University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

To find out more about writing for The Conversation, contact Rachel Bowen in RKEO (rbowen@bournemouth.ac.uk) or newsdesk@bournemouth.ac.uk.

Introduction to Funding from the National Lottery – online materials launched

RKEO dev logo - banner

Online materials are now available under the ‘Funding from the Charities’ pathway of the RKE Development Framework.

An online session for ‘Introduction to Funding from the National Lottery’ is now available. The materials are available through myBU. To access the materials please login to myBU, and access the RKEO RKE Funding from major charitiescommunity ‘BU: Research and Knowledge Exchange Development Framework’. From here, you can navigate through the pathways (see left hand side of screen) to the Funding from Charities pathway to find the session materials.

Keep an eye out for upcoming sessions under this pathway including ‘Funding from Smaller Charities’ as well as a Bid Writing Retreat for Charities. Further information on these sessions will be posted on the Research Blog in due course.

Photo of the Week: Of trees, climate, palm oil, primates and elephants

Of trees, climate, palm oil, primates and elephants

Of trees, climate, palm oil, primates and elephants

Our next instalment of the ‘Photo of the Week’ series features Dr Amanda Korstjens’ image of Sikundur, in the Leuser Ecosystem, North Sumatra.  The series is a weekly instalment which features an image taken by our fantastic BU staff and students. The photos give a glimpse into some of the fascinating work our researchers have been doing across BU and the wider community.

The Leuser ecosystem is the last stronghold of the Sumatran rhino, tiger, elephant and orang-utan. Levels of human-wildlife conflict and hunting are growing and the ecosystem is being destroyed at an alarming rate.  The Life and Environmental Sciences’ Landscape Ecology and Primatology (LEAP) team have partnered up with local conservation leaders to investigate the effect these environmental changes have.

Pictured above is Sikundur, in North Sumatra where the LEAP team are carrying out research into vegetation structure, micro-climates, and primate & elephant habitats. LEAP bring scientific understanding of how landscape scale changes to the environment affect forest structure and local micro-climate and look at how climate change may alter the survival chances of primates and elephants. LEAP’s impact aim is to provide scientifically sound underpinnings to develop mitigation strategies.

In April 2017 Dr Korstjens featured in American radio/internet show ‘The Global Journalist’ which can be viewed here.

If you’d like find out more about the research or the photo itself then please contact Dr Korstjens.

This photo was originally an entry in the 2017 Research Photography Competition. If you have any other questions about the Photo of the Week series or the competition please email research@bournemouth.ac.uk

The Research Photography Competition returns for 2018 and is now open for entries

Christopher Dwen, Forensic Research Assistant, Faculty of Science & TechnologyWe are delighted to announce that the Research Photography Competition has returned for its fourth year and is now open for entries!

The last few years have seen our staff and students submitting a wide range of images summing up their research (last year’s entries can be seen here).  Our winners from last year included the compound eye of a bluebottle fly, an older man dressed as Santa Claus, and several hands repairing a broken plate with the word ‘Trust’ marked across it.

Photography is a great way to capture and share a different side of your research with other staff, students and members of the public.  Nearly 100 images have been entered over the last few years, and we’re looking forward to seeing what this year’s competition brings.

Want to take part?

Whether you’re in the early stages of your research or it has come to the end, we are inviting all academics and student researchers from across the university to showcase your research through an image relating to this year’s competition theme ‘People‘.  This could include:

  • An image relating to people in your team,
  • People who might be impacted by or benefit from your research,
  • People you’ve met in the course of your research,
  • Or even from your own point of view.

Whatever your idea is, we want you to get involved and get creative!

Taking part in the competition is a great way to showcase and raise awareness of your research, as well as growing your academic profile both in and outside the university.  You will also be in with a chance of winning some Amazon vouchers!

How do I enter?

Step 1: Take your photo.

It’s easy! Grab a camera and take a picture connecting with the theme ‘People‘. Interpret it in any way you see fit to capture any area of your research. 

Each image will need to be 300pi (pixels per inch) with physical dimensions equivalent to an A3 size piece of paper (297 x 420 mm or 11.7 x 16.5 in).  Images smaller than this tend not to have a high print quality.

Step 2: Submit the photo!

You may enter only one photo per person. Once you have the perfect image, all you have to do is submit it by emailing the Research account (research@bournemouth.ac.uk) before the deadline, along with a 100 – 200 word description of your research behind the image.

Submission details

The submission deadline is 12 Januray 2018 at 5pm. Late entries will not be accepted. 

Staff, students and the general public will then be able to vote for their favourite image.

The competition winners will be presented with a prize by Professor John Fletcher in the Atrium Art Gallery, in March 2018. All photographs will be presented in the Atrium Art Gallery for two weeks in March so you’ll get a chance to see all the entries.

Please read through the Terms & Conditions before entering.

Chantel Cox, PhD Student, Faculty of Health and Social SciencesNeed inspiration?

Take a look at our Photo of the Week, where you can read about the research behind the images from previous entries


Should you have any queries about the competition then please contact Sacha Gardener, Student Engagement & Communications Coordinator, in the Research and Knowledge Exchange Office.