Register for free, refreshements provided.
Latest research and knowledge exchange news at Bournemouth University
In the last month we had several FHSS-Psychology success stories. The first one was a recently accepted joint publication between Mr. Paul Fairbairn and Dr. Fotini Tsofliou in the Department of Rehabilitation and Sport Sciences, Dr. Andrew Johnson in BU’s Department of Psychology. The joint paper is called ‘Effects of a high DHA multi-nutrient supplement and exercise on mobility and cognition in older women (MOBILE): A randomised semi-blinded placebo controlled study” in the British Journal of Nutrition [1].
Secondly, Dr. Sarah Collard in the Department of Psychology, Dr. Pramod Regmi in the Department of Nursing Science and FHSS Visiting Professor Katherine Barnard-Kelly are to be congratulated on their publication: ‘Exercising with an automated insulin delivery system: qualitative insight into the hopes and expectations of people with type 1 diabetes’ [2].
And last, but not least, Dr. Bibha Simkhada in the Department of Nursing Science together with FHSS colleagues Dr. Michele Board and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen and Dr. Shanti Shanker in the Department of Psychology were awarded £17,180 in the most recent internal GCRF call. Their proposed project ‘The key issues in Dementia in South Asia’ will run from 2020-2021. Both Dr. Simkhada and Dr. Shanker are Global Engagement Lead (GEL) in their respective departments.
Good to see so many great cross-BU collaborations!
Professor Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
References:
Fairbairn, P., Tsofliou, F., Johnson, A., Dyall, S.C. (2010) Effects of a high DHA multi-nutrient supplement and exercise on mobility and cognition in older women (MOBILE): A randomised semi-blinded placebo controlled study, British Journal of Nutrition (accepted).
Collard, S.S., Regmi, P.R., Hood, K.K., Laffel, L., Weissberg-Benchell, J., Naranjo, D., Barnard-Kelly, K. (2020) Exercising with an automated insulin delivery system: qualitative insight into the hopes and expectations of people with type 1 diabetes, Practical Diabetes 2020; 37(1): 19–23.
Congratulations to Dr. Sarah Collard in the Department of Psychology, Dr. Pramod Regmi in the Department of Nursing Science and FHSS Visiting Professor Katherine Barnard-Kelly on their publication: ‘Exercising with an automated insulin delivery system: qualitative insight into the hopes and expectations of people with type 1 diabetes’ [1]. This paper in Practical Diabetes is a joint publication with several North American scholars.
The authors of this qualitative paper distilled three themes related to the benefits of automated insulin delivery systems: (a) more freedom and spontaneity in the individual’s ability to exercise; (b) relief
from worry of hypoglycaemia as a result of exercise; (c) removing the ‘guesswork’ of adjusting insulin for exercise, as well as two further themes relating to potential concerns with regard to safely exercising while wearing an automated insulin delivery system.
Well done!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
Reference:
Members from the Ageing and Dementia Research Centre were invited to present at the Wessex Brain Ageing and Dementia Research meeting on 4th February, St Mary’s Stadium, Southampton. Hosted by IDeAC, NIHR CRN and ARC Wessex, the event showcased dementia research in Wessex, linking dementia researchers across Wessex and grow the network for clinical trials.
PGR Raysa ElZein presented a poster on research on dietary fat interventions in cognitive impairment and older people, Dr Michele Board on research using the ‘A Walk Through Dementia’ app, Dr Samuel Nyman presented his research on Tai Chi (The TACIT Trial) for people with dementia and Prof Jane Murphy gave an overview of the ADRC’s research and a workshop on PPI and dementia research with Dr Michelle Heward. It was a great opportunity to share research and grow opportunities to collaborate on projects across Wessex and cross disciplines with academics and stakeholders attending.
Thursday 13th February 09:30 – 16:00 Poole House
Systematic and scoping reviews are a great way of publishing quality publications. They are also highly valued as REF submissions, especially in the health field.
One of the most important aspects for a systematic review is to create an effective and professional search strategy.
This session will provide information on effective search strategies – with advice from the library to specific researchers, as well as advice on writing scoping and systematic reviews from academics with experience in this field.
Both staff and postgraduate students should consider writing up their literature reviews as journal articles. For more information about how scoping and systematic reviews can help improve your academic career please see the blog.
Click to book. Any queries, please contact RKEDF@bournemouth.ac.uk.
With a reshuffle on the horizon this week, last week was Apprenticeships Week and Children’s Mental Health Week.
Cabinet Reshuffle – we are expecting a ministerial reshuffle to take place before Parliament enters recess at the end of next week. Politico speculates about who may be in and out of favour.
Brexit – Dods have produced an interesting briefing on the Brexit transition phase exploring the negotiating give and take and explaining what the key terms like ‘level playing field’ may translate as within the Withdrawal Agreement.
Contract Cheating – Lord Storey continues his campaign to end contract cheating by introducing the HE Cheating Services Prohibition Bill as a private members bill (PMB). As you’ll recall from previous policy updates PMB’s rarely succeed, however, they can raise visibility of the issue even when they fail. The Committee Stage within the House of Lords is next.
Private Member’s Bills – There’s no news on the Lord Holmes’ Unpaid Work Experience Prohibition Bill yet, we’re still waiting for the second reading and vote. However, Alex Cunningham, a Labour MP has also introduced a similar Bill entitled Unpaid Work Experience (Prohibition No. 2) through his win on the Commons’ PMB ballot. Alex’s bill (to prohibit unpaid work experience exceeding four weeks) is due to be read a second time on 27 March and will need to win the vote to continue passage through Parliament. Two very similar PMB’s progressing at the same time is an interesting Parliamentary twist that we’ll be watching closely. Unfortunately Alex’s PMB is number 14 in the queue so it may not ever progress due to lack of parliamentary session time.
The MP’s winning the Common’s PMB vote have declared the topics their intended legislation will cover. There is little of direct interest for the HE sector beside Alex’s unpaid work experience Bill.
(Welfare of Children) PMB aims to impose duties on certain education and training providers in relation to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. Mike Amesbury’s PMB (first to be debated) aims to pick up the provision for guidance to schools about the cost aspects of school uniform policies. You’ll remember mention of this floated around Parliamentary debate several times during the last Parliament, gaining traction but not progressing into law or regulation.
Select Committees
Several of the new Education Select Committee members have been revealed by Tes. Whips from Labour and Conservatives held elections for Committee members last night, but the result have not officially been announced. Tes has been told, however, that new members from the Conservative side are all newly-elected MPs and include a former secondary teacher and a former chair of a social mobility charity. They are understood to be:
From the Labour side, the following members are understood to be elected to the Committee:
Education Committee Members’ Priorities
Jonathan Gullis who is a teacher (and had to return to work at his Birmingham secondary school on the day after the general election) has set out his priorities as reducing the sizes of large multi-academy trusts to ”give power back to schools” as well as investigating the effectiveness of alternative provision and the possibility of introducing new grammar schools into deprived areas. He said: “There are a number of things to look at to be quite frank. Obviously the government has pledged a £14 billion injection into the education system which is sorely needed – and my job, along with my fellow committee members, will be to make sure this ends up in the hands of headteachers and that the money is being spent on pupils”.
David Johnston is a former chair of the Social Mobility Foundation charity. He said: “I’ll be looking at whether we are improving life chances for the most disadvantaged pupils. We also need to get the best teachers into the schools that find it difficult to attract teachers.”
Tom Hunt intends to focus on special educational needs as he has personal experience of both dyslexia and dyspraxia. He said: “I really struggled at school but I was really fortunate I got the support I needed, so I turned it around and did pretty well academically, but I’m acutely aware that a lot of pupils don’t get the support they need so that’s what I’m most passionate about.”
Labour Leadership Contest – The hustings continued for the leadership candidates all through this week.
PMQs
Local MP Michael Tomlinson (Mid Dorset and North Poole) featured in Prime Minister’s Questions this week when he asked whether the PM would prioritise family hubs and ensure that they were linked to Early Years Strategy, the Troubled Families Programme, and children’s’ services reform. The PM said £165 million had been allocated to extend the Troubled Families Programme this year.
It is National Apprenticeship Week and there has been a plethora of employers and organisations celebrating apprenticeships amongst discussions of future changes and sharing information to ensure more potential students consider apprenticeships as an alternative to university.
Hitting the headlines was the DfE survey with Mumsnet which set out to understand parents’ preconceptions on apprenticeships. They found:
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson comments on the survey:
Here is the Mumsnet press release on the survey. Mumsnet Founder Justine Roberts said:
Other sources
HEPI have published Unheard: the voices of part-time adult learners aiming to prompt a re-think of how mature part time students are engaged and attracted to degree level study. There has been a 61% drop in part time students since 2010. Author, Dr John Butcher from the Open University, said:
Nick Hillman, Director of HEPI, said: …people who want, or need, to study part-time have less choice than they did. The removal of some public funding in 2008, the tripling of tuition fees in 2012 and the withdrawal of some courses have had a terrible combined impact.
Excerpts from the paper:
Page 13 onwards explores the voices of mature part timers within these three themes:
And intersperses recommendations on elements universities can change to make part time learning more accessible and successful.
OfS
The OfS have released a new blog from a mature healthcare student describing the positive experience he had whilst studying radiography. The blog talks about gender balance within the healthcare sector and taking the leap from established career and family to return to study full time. The student describes the additional opportunities he engaged with including the Council of Deans Student Leadership Programme, working with the OfS, and as a Student Observer to the UK Council (radiography). The upbeat blog is quite the counterpoint to the HEPI publication which describes isolated part time students who never fully develop their sense of institutional belonging.
The Government have announced a £24 million investment in FE to enable the sector to recruit, retain and develop high quality FE teachers, including those needed for the new T levels. This is part of the £400 million announced in August last year. It includes:
On the £400 million announced in August 2019 Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said:
Specifically on the £24 million Gavin Williamson said:
The Government will also begin to collect FE workforce data every year from 2020/21to ensure they have robust information and a greater understanding of who makes up the FE sector.
On the same day City AM published The graduate premium is little more than a myth – invest in further education instead. The piece is exactly as the title describes. It argues for less investment in HE (particularly disdainful of the increase in the number of young people attending HE) and suggests that better funded FE provision would result in a ‘FE premium’ salary boost. Excerpt:
Why pay extra for something which is in excess supply? This is exactly how it has turned out. Many graduates end up in mundane, low-paying jobs. The Office for National Statistics shows that 31 per cent of graduates have more education than is required for the work they are doing.
Erasmus & International Students
Chris Skidmore answered ANOTHER question relating to Erasmus – no new news – poor Chris is probably reciting these same answers in his sleep now.
Lord Duncan of Springbank, answering on behalf of the Government, sidesteps responding to a question asking how much budget has been set aside for the Horizon Research Programme beyond 2020.
The House of Commons Library has published a briefing paper on The Erasmus Programme.
Key facts:
There was also a parliamentary question on international students asking how many university places were allocated to non-British students.
Disadvantaged Attainment Gap
Q – Ben Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support working class boys to close the attainment gap. [6162]
A – Nick Gibb:
Collaboration – UUK issued a press release on Brexit day to reaffirm their commitment to working with HE and research institutions across Europe. The group called on their respective Governments to make this a priority as discussions about the future relationship take place. UUK describe the membership of the group: a total of 36 major domestic and international organisations, which includes the European University Association (EUA), 24 National University representative bodies, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and many other bodies across Europe. Excerpt from their joint statement:
Diversity and underrepresentation – Advance HE have published Increasing Diversity: Tackling underrepresentation of protected groups in HE. It recommends developing quantitative and qualitative skills in institutional research when examining issues of student equity. Wonkhe report that:
Sector Leading: A new Wonkhe blog written by Bristol Student Union’s Education Officer looks the value of a university being recognised as ‘sector leading’ with an eye on what this means for equality, diversity and inclusion, particularly taking risks and trying out new ways to tackle problems and improve the student experience.
Student Loans Company: Professor Andrew Wathey (VC Northumbria University) has been appointed as the interim Chair of the Student Loans Company (SLC).He has been a Non-Executive Board member at the SLC since 2018 and was Chair of the SLC Stakeholder Forum between 2010 and 2017.
Hedgehog rankings: Hedgehog fans will be pleased to know that the Preservation Society has launched a TEF style Gold, Silver Bronze accreditation scheme for universities that are looking after their campus hedgehog population.
Mental Health: Wonkhe report that the OfS has awarded £95,000 to student mental health charity Student Minds to develop a Charter Award Scheme, following the publication of Student Minds’ Mental Health Charter. At school level the National Association of Head Teachers has issued a press statement on the (almost) doubling of the numbers of counsellors needed to support school pupils. In 2016 36% of schools sought help for children’s mental health issues, in 2019 it rose to 66%. It was Children’s Mental Health Week this week.
Student Accommodation: The BBC report on three companies who failed to meet fire safety standards in a student residence in Leeds. Action was taken and the companies fined £670,000 in total after a concerned parent reported the safety breaches. Meanwhile Deloitte said the number of student beds under construction in Britain’s biggest regional cities has fallen 16.6% due to concerns over potential oversupply (reported in The Times).
IT: Regulations relating to the Digital Economy Act 2017 require that IT qualifications be provided free of charge for those aged 19+ who do not already hold an appropriate qualification standard in certain specified IT areas.
The Future: The Association of University Administrators are running a survey as part of research identifying future development needs and how professional service roles are developing during the current rapid changes for the HE sector. The survey is open until the end of February.
Student Vote: The impact of the supposed student vote did not deliver the majority Theresa May expected in the 2017 snap general election. The phenomenon has been analysed ad nauseam ever since (revealing it is far more complex than a student vote). However, the Conservatives are concerned to court the younger vote and wary of constituencies with large student populations. Boris Johnson even unsuccessfully tried for an early September 2019 general election reputedly in part to decrease the impact of the student vote by holding it before or in the transition of the beginning of term when students would not be registered to vote in the local university address. HEPI have an interesting blog by Dean Machin (Policy Advisor at Portsmouth University) who tackles some of the anti-student suggestions on limiting the vote and sets it in a wider context by applying the logic to other marginalised sectors within society (the elderly, carers, apprentices, and the terminally ill) – with some results which would be politically unpalatable. It is worth the quick 2 minute read.
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JANE FORSTER | SARAH CARTER
Policy Advisor Policy & Public Affairs Officer
Follow: @PolicyBU on Twitter | policy@bournemouth.ac.uk
Performative Social Science (PSS) is an arts-led method of research and dissemination developed by Jones at Bournemouth University over ten years and is recognised internationally. Recently lauded by Sage Publications, they described PSS as pioneering work that will ‘propel arts-led research forward’ and be a ‘valued resource for students and researchers for years to come’.
Performative Social Science (PSS) is positioned within the current era of cross-pollination from discipline to discipline. Practitioners from the Arts and Humanities look to the Social Sciences for fresh frameworks, whist Social Science practitioners explore the Arts for potential new tools for enquiry and dissemination.
‘Kip Jones brings the genre of what he calls performative social sciences forward with wide-ranging theoretical, academic, and artistic products in a various media that takes up how social scientists can use art for investigation and dissemination.’ —“Embodied Methodologies, Participation, and the Art of Research” by Madeline Fox
Dr Kip Jones, Reader in Qualitative Research and Performative Social Science retires from Bournemouth University at the end of February, but will continue with PhD supervision on a part-time basis. He has four potential publications in discussion with publishers, including a volume on PSS.
Faculty of Management Associate Professor Julie Robson has had a paper accepted for publication in Industrial Marketing Management (CABS 3*) entitled Triangulation in Industrial Qualitative Case Study Research: Widening the Scope. The authors are Jillian Farquhar (University of Pretoria and Solent University), Nicolette Michels (Oxford Brookes) and Julie Robson (Bournemouth University).
This paper provides an inventory of triangulation categories for case study research and a theoretical reframing of triangulation consisting of three modes – convergence, complementarity and divergence.
Although set in an industrial marketing management context, the paper is a useful read for anyone undertaking case study research.
Congratulations to an international team of midwifery researchers including Dr. Jane Fry in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) and former CMMPH member of staff Dr. Jenny Hall on the acceptance of their paper ‘Spirituality and Childbirth: an international virtual co-operative inquiry’ [1] by the journal Women & Birth (Elsevier).
Congratulations!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
Reference:
All email addresses at the HRA are changing in the coming weeks and this change will be complete by March 2020.
HRA staff email addresses will be standardised as firstname.lastname@hra.nhs.uk. A full list of contact email addresses for the Research Ethics Committees is now available here.
If you use the HRA staff member’s @nhs.net email address to contact them after they have moved to their new email address, you will receive a response containing their new details but your email won’t be automatically forwarded.
If you are unsure which contact information to use for the individual or service you require, please contact the HRA mainline on 020 797 22545 or use their contact form.
Make sure to check your junk mail if you are expecting emails from the HRA or an NHS REC as they often are sent there instead. Please add them to your safe senders list if this is the case to make sure you don’t miss any important study emails!
The Leverhulme have launched their Doctoral Scholarships scheme offering UK universities funding of 15 Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarships in a priority research area for that institution. As a university we may submit one application only and therefore the university will be coordinating expressions of interest from Academic Staff.
By 11th February 2020, those who are interested in making an application to the Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarships are invited to submit the following expression of interest – Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarships EOI to Alexandra Pekalski .
Further information about the scheme is available from the Leverhulme Trust. Applicants are advised to check the eligibility criteria very carefully.
Purpose of funding
The Leverhulme will fund 15 doctoral scholarships in a priority research area for that institution. Each award funds 15 Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarships at that institution, with 5 scholarships to be offered in each year of the first three years of the grant.
Each scholarship is for a fixed sum of £90,000 for each student for up to 48 months of full-time doctoral study. This covers:
Any remaining funds are to be used for the Leverhulme Scholar’s research and training expenses.
While the scholarships may be held by students of all nationalities, the Trust has a particular interest in supporting UK or EU students.
Process for selecting applications to be submitted
Should you be interested in applying, please note that your expression of interest application will be assessed by Doctoral Funding Panel. Further details of the assessment criteria can be found within the Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarships EOI . Candidates can expect feedback by 25th February 2019.
Timetable
21-01-2020 | RDS advertise Expression of Interest (EoI)competition for call |
11-02-2020 | EoI deadline (EoIs to be sent to RDS) |
13-02-2020 | Papers (applications) sent to Doctoral Funding panel (RDS to administer) |
20-02-2020 | Doctoral Funding panel meeting (virtual) |
25-02-2020 | Doctoral Funding panel decision and feedback disseminated to applicants |
25-02-2020 | RDS to contact Leverhulme to provide the Trust with the principal applicant’s name, departmental affiliation and email address. Access will then be granted to the Leverhulme Trust Grants Management System |
March/April/May-2020 | Applicants develop proposals with the support of RDS and Doctoral College |
22-05-2020 | Application finalised for APF financial sign-off by UET |
05-06-2020 | Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarships Deadline |
If you have further questions or queries please contact Alexandra Pekalski (apekalski@bournemouth.ac.uk) and/or Lisa Andrews (andrewsl@bournemouth.ac.uk ). For queries relating to Doctoral colleague support please contact Fiona Knight (fknight@bournemouth.ac.uk) and/or Julia Taylor (jtaylor@bournemouthac.uk).
SPACES STILL AVAILABLE
Wednesday February 5th
11:00 – 13:00
7th floor of the Executive Business Centre
The Royal Society is the independent scientific academy of the UK, dedicated to promoting excellence in science. The Society performs a number of roles including influencing policymaking, promoting public engagement with science and funding leading scientists. Over £40 million is spent annually by the Royal Society across the grant-making schemes.
This event, presented by the Royal Society’s Grants Operations Manager and the Grant Impact and Promotions Officer, will deliver an overview of the society’s funding schemes and provide advice on putting together a successful funding application. Academics with a successful track record will also discuss their personal experiences, and there will be a Q&A session followed by a networking lunch.
The intended learning outcomes of this session are:
For more information and to book, please see the staff intranet. If you have any queries, please contact RKEDF@bournemouth.ac.uk.
The NIHR have recently released another of their podcasts in their Health Research Futures series, this time from Professor Martin Rosser.
Professor Rosser founded Join Dementia Research, a national system for linking patients and public to research studies. He is also the Director of the NIHR Clinical Research Network for Dementia and Neurodegenerative diseases.
In this podcast he discusses dementia research and its importance in the clinical research landscape.
At Bournemouth University we collaborate with global institutions and organisations through our education, research and practice.
Our vision is that by 2025, BU will be recognised worldwide as a leading university for inspiring learning, advancing knowledge and enriching society through the fusion of education, research and practice.
In recognition of the important contribution that international academics play in driving research for the future, we are delighted to be launching the second round of the BU Global Visiting Fellowship (GVF) scheme. This aims to attract global research talent from our international priority partner institutions to collaborate with BU academics in our strategic investment areas:
Applications that incorporate social sciences and humanities are particularly welcome.
Each Fellowship is offered for a three year period to support the development of a collaborative partnership between the Fellow and their Bournemouth University host member of staff. Funding is available to support a range of activities that promote research collaboration between individuals and groups at both institutions. During their Fellowship tenure each Fellow will spend a minimum of one month (this can be spread across the three years) at Bournemouth University.
Fellows must be nominated by a member of academic staff at BU. The BU nominator will complete the Global Visiting Fellowships Application Form. This collaboration will be expected to propose ambitious and innovative programmes of research and related engagement activities.
Applications are welcome from those who have had a career break or time in other roles; there are no time limits in respect of time spent outside a research environment. Global Visiting Fellowships may be held on a part-time basis in order to combine research with personal responsibilities. Applications are particularly welcome from women (as a GVF and/or BU nominator) and the panel reserve the right to apply a quota to the funding available for a minimum of one female GVF to be funded per round.
The closing date for the 2020 round is 24th March 2020.
To find out more details about this scheme and applicant eligibility (including who our international priority partner institutions are), please read the scheme guidance (pdf 350kb).
If you are from one of our international priority partner institutes, your research aligns with one of our strategic investment areas, and you would like an introduction to a BU academic to collaborate with, please contact: researchfellowships@bournemouth.ac.uk
A bumper edition covering lot of news across all the HE interest areas. We have also done a special edition on this week’s big OfS’ report analysing the future of HE Access and Participation.
Select Committee elections were held on Wednesday with some big names being elected. Here are the Chairs of the Committees most relevant to BU’s interests.
The new fast tracked visa scheme aiming to attract scientists, researchers and mathematicians opens on 20th February. The bespoke Global Talent route will have no cap on the number of people able to come to the UK, replacing the Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) route. UKRI are to endorse applicants from the scientific and research community.
The route aims to:
Home Secretary, Priti Patel, said: The UK is a world leader in science, with research and innovation that changes lives being undertaken every day in this country. To keep the UK at the forefront of innovation, we are taking decisive action to maximise the number of individuals using the Global Talent route including world-class scientists and top researchers who can benefit from fast-tracked entry into the UK.
Business and Energy Secretary Andrea Leadsom commented: Leaving the EU gives us new freedom to strengthen research and build the foundations for the new industries of tomorrow. By attracting more leading international scientists and providing major investment in mathematics, we can make the UK a global science superpower and level up our country.
Professor Julia Buckingham, President of Universities UK stated: We share the Prime Minister’s vision to position the UK as a magnet for global science and research talent. The Global Talent visa is a positive step towards this for UK universities…Universities are globally connected and this announcement signals that the UK remains open to talent from around the world. Our universities carry out life-changing research and our knowledge base, economy, and wider society will benefit from the international staff we can attract through this visa route.
Immigration – salary threshold recommendations
In June 2019 the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) was tasked to review immigration related salary threshold levels, the threshold calculation mechanism, exemptions, and whether there should be regional salary thresholds. By September the requirement to consider how an Australian-style points-based immigration system could be introduced in the UK, with the aim of strengthening the UK labour market was added onto their task list. They were asked to consider how additional flexibility could be added to the operation of salary thresholds by awarding points for migrants’ attributes and whether these points should be tradeable (i.e. allowing points for some attributes to make up for a lack of points for others), which migrant characteristics should be prioritised and what lessons can be learnt from international comparators. The Chair of the MAC, Professor Alan Manning, has written to the Home Secretary to introduce the Committee’s findings. Manning will continue as Chair of the MAC until the end of February 2020 to ensure continuity during this key period. Here is the full report – A points-Based System and Salary Threshold for Immigration. Or if you don’t fancy wading through the 278 pages the summary at pages 5-11 gives the key points.
Alistair Jarvis, Chief Executive of UUK, responded to the report:
Maths
The new global talent route is accompanied by £60m funding available per year to double funding for new mathematical sciences PhDs, as well as boost the number of maths fellowships and research projects. This is part of the Government’s ambitions to considerably boost R&D spending.
Reduction of research bureaucracy
Research Integrity paper: See the paper here.
Chris Skidmore speech on research and innovation (24th Jan)
Regional Context
A Place Strategy for UK R&D will be published in the summer, aiming to ensure funding builds on strengths of the regions. And the government will examine how the UK’s catapult centres can strengthen R&D capacity in local areas, improving productivity and contributing to greater prosperity across the UK.
Read the full UKRI data – Regional distribution of funding for research and business.
Research – Future Frameworks
A parliamentary question on the future frameworks
Q – Lord Fox: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they intend to respond to the report by Professor Adrian Smith and Professor Graeme Reid Changes and choices: advice on future frameworks for international collaboration on research and innovation, published on 5 November 2019. [HL453]
A – Lord Duncan Of Springbank:
The Engineering and Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) have launched a new Graduate Development Grant programme costing £5 million. It will support the key leadership and management skills through an apprenticeship style training scheme for graduates embarking on engineering construction careers. It is planned to support at least 150 individuals each year with each graduate receiving £12,000 over three years. The new scheme is part of the ECITB’s new business plan, is in line with employers’ October 2019 decision to raise the industrial training levy, and will help tackle the major challenges facing the engineering construction industry. This includes the need to deliver £600 billion worth of major infrastructure projects over the next decade, replace an ageing industry workforce, and supporting the transition to a net zero carbon economy. The high-level postgraduate apprenticeship style programme is interesting because, while the Government is committed to technical education to deliver Britain’s industrial strategy priorities, there has been criticism that apprenticeship levy funds have been too often used for higher level training at the expense of the level 2 and 3 apprenticeships. However, in this case skills gaps and employer support for the training runs contrary to the sector criticism
Chris Claydon, Chief Executive of the ECITB, said: “Across the engineering construction industry there is both a need to recruit and train the highly skilled workforce of the future and also to round off individuals’ academic learning with the soft skills required by employers. We have listened to calls from industry employers to fund graduate training in a similar way to apprenticeships and we are proud to support the investment employers make in their new recruits.”
Languages have been of interest for a third week running. This week the British Council have published a report on gender differences in language learning and how some schools have trialled methods to close the gender gap. The report was compiled by EPI and finds that boys’ entry and performance in GCSE languages is persistently lower than girls, with a pupil’s gender a stronger predictor of outcomes than a pupil’s level of disadvantage. These trends are salient because overall entries for languages have significantly declined in recent years. Key findings:
One of the recommendations in the report is that Ofqual should continue to address the difficulty of the assessment of language GCSEs to enable more inclusive language learning for all abilities. It should monitor the impact of its recent intervention to adjust French and German grading, and consider whether similar adjustments are needed for other languages.
David Laws, Executive Chairman, Education Policy Institute, said: Progress on the uptake of languages in schools has lagged. Our Language Trends research shows that the more disadvantaged you are, the less likely you are to learn a language at school (Language Trends 2019)… Strikingly, once we control for a range of pupil characteristics, including disadvantage and prior attainment, girls are over twice as likely as boys to enter and achieve at least a grade 4 (equivalent to the old “C” grade) in a language GCSE.
Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, said: Gender stereotypes limit opportunities for both boys and girls. While schools do a great deal to provide all students with a broad and balanced curriculum, as this report shows, gender continues to shape the subjects chosen by pupils at GCSE . Girls are more likely to study languages, boys more likely to study physics – and this gender bias limits life chances for both. Schools can open up those horizons for both sexes, however Government policy is in many cases a barrier to this.
HEPI has published a series of blogs on the value of HE.
Rachel Hewitt from HEPI wrote about 2020 being the year of value:
Kim Ansell (from AdvanceHE) wrote about articulating value:
o It develops a collective vision of what value means for an institution, framed around its purpose and taking into account external factors.
o It re-defines reporting as a tool to tell a consistent story to stakeholders about the unique value proposition of an institution.
o It enables an understanding of the value of all resources and how they work together to create value by using strategic resources more holistically (such as people, knowledge and relationships and social capital).”
The latest (by Nick Hillman) is about taxpayer contribution:
Coverage of UCAS data released this week suggests that at this early stage the number of conditional unconditional offers is declining. Wonkhe report that 75% of providers who currently use the dreaded “conditional unconditional offers” predicted to no longer do so in 2020. The data isn’t publically released until 6 Feb and Wonkhe’s blog is useful because it contains a tableau chart through which we can gain more hints. The UCAS prediction that conditional unconditional offers are decreasing is based on the number of early offers (but it is really too soon to tell)
Conditional unconditional offers are where a provider turns a standard offer dependent on the student achieving certain grades into an unconditional offer where they can enter the institution without reaching those grades if they agree to make the provider their first choice of institution. The Government, and schools, are vehemently opposed to this practice. They state it causes pupils to perform more poorly in their exams and sways their choice away from other institutions (particularly higher tariff institutions) where the individual might be better placed or have better long term prospects.
Research Professional (RP) write that the Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, is considering whether conditional unconditionals are breaching students’ consumer rights: “students are being let down by the universities that are using these offers to get students through the door”. Moreover, Gavin is in favour of a full admissions overhaul describing it as an opportunity for the sector to get its house in order. Today he committed to: “Under no circumstances are ‘conditional unconditional’ offers justified and I will write to all universities continuing them asking them to end this practice.”
RP report that according to the UCAS end-of-cycle data there were:
There were seven providers where conditional unconditional offers made up more than 50% of the total offers made to students, compared with two providers in 2018: Falmouth University (68%); Canterbury Christ Church University (66%); the University of Lincoln (59%); Birmingham City University (56%); Bournemouth University (56%; and De Montfort University (55%). Four (including BU) have confirmed they will not make conditional unconditional offers for the 2020 recruitment cycle.
RP continue:
According to UCAS Medium-tariff providers (as determined by the average number of UCAS points required to get onto a course) are most likely to make a conditional unconditional offer..
Clare Marchant, Chief Executive of UCAS, stated: “Early indications point very strongly to a behaviour change in 2020. We forecast as many as 75% of universities and colleges which made conditional unconditional offers in the 2019 cycle will no longer make these in 2020.
Whilst we predict a fall in these types of offers, we will likely see universities and colleges deploy other offer-making strategies, including direct unconditionals, in this competitive market.”
Research Professional make a tongue in cheek response: As Playbook has said before, it could be considered harsh for the political powers that be to introduce a more marketised higher education and then get annoyed when universities start competing like they are in a market.
OfS welcomed the predicted decline in these types of offers and reminded the sector that their review of the HE Admissions system, including considering a post-qualification admissions system would begin soon. Nicola Dandridge stated: We will shortly be launching a review of England’s admissions system, working with partners from across education to ensure that we have a system of admissions which is fair, easy to understand, and allows students to demonstrate their achievement and potential. This review will build further evidence about unconditional offers and their impact in the context of the entire admissions system.
Equality Data
The UCAS end of cycle data also highlights that:
And Wonkhe’s David Kernohan has a more nuanced delve into the offer making data here (scroll down to the bottom half of the email).
The Minister for Universities gave a speech on students accommodation this week, raising a number of concerns and outlining some possible solutions.
A statutory instrument (SI) with implications for HE was laid in the House of Commons on the 24th January: The Education (Student Fees, Awards and Support etc.) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2020. The regulatory changes will become law on 13th February 2020 although there is an objection period window ending on 12th March 2020. You can read all the changes here, below are the most relevant changes:
We’ve done a special feature on this week’s big news – the OfS report which analyses the future of HE Access And Participation by amalgamating all the HE providers’ Access and Participation Plan targets to create a national change picture. Read it here.
Merchandise: Brexit will be a major historical event. The Conservatives are celebrating Brexit with some thoroughly British official merchandise. The tea towel is my favourite!
Student health: Derek Thomas MP used Prime Minster’s Questions to highlight that 40% of students haven’t seen a dentist in the last year. He asked whether the PM would meet with him to resolve this inequality, Boris agreed.
Antisemitism: The Government has announced new funding to help universities tackle antisemitism.
The new funding will enable 450 student leaders, journalists and academics to be taken to Auschwitz over the next three years. They will be expected to educate tens of thousands of students on their return. Specifically, students will participate in a seminar which will deal explicitly with campus-specific issues and how to identify and tackle antisemitism. The student programme will be delivered by the Holocaust Educational Trust in partnership with the Union of Jewish Students, following a successful scheme ran in 2018-19. To drive engagement amongst the student population, the programme is planned to work with influential student publications and media, as well as student leaders and networks to disseminate the messages they have heard first hand to tens of thousands of students across the country. Alongside the announcement Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick is urging all universities and Local Authorities to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.
Fire Safety: A Parliamentary question on university fire safety –
Q – Steve Reed (Croydon North): To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many university vice-chancellors have replied to his letter of November 2019 on the issue of fire safety procedures and safeguards across university residential, teaching and research accommodation. [5444]
A – Chris Skidmore (Kingswood): We are pleased to see that the engagement with the letter of 18 November… to all 138 higher education institutions has had a 100% response rate. The safety of pupils, students and staff remains ministers’ highest priority. Since the Grenfell fire, the department has worked closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, as part of the cross government programme to remediate buildings with potentially dangerous cladding, including student accommodation. That approach will continue, and we welcome the package of measures to improve building safety standards announced on 20 January by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government. We are already looking at ways to ensure the education estate complies fully with the updated advice to building owners, announced as part of that package, on actions they should take in relation to cladding.
MATHS Resit: Mathematics in Education and Industry have published a report investigating the feasibility of a new maths GCSE curriculum for post-16 resit students which tackles a recommendation from the Smith review – “In view of the low GCSE resit success rates and new GCSE requirements the DfE should review its 16-18 resit policy with the aim that a greater proportion of students…attain appropriate mathematical understanding by age 18. The report outlines a curriculum for a new qualification that focuses on the maths needed for everyday life and work, which also has sufficient rigour to meet the requirements of a GCSE qualification. It recommends that such a post-16 maths GCSE qualification should be developed and that it should have the same status as GCSE Mathematics at the same grade.
Maintenance Grants: This Parliamentary Question gives no hints on the Augar Review outcomes the sector is waiting for
Q – Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing non-repayable maintenance grant funding in (a) further and (b) higher education. [5382]
A – Chris Skidmore: The independent panel’s report on the Review of Post-18 Education and Funding was published in May 2019. The government is considering the recommendations made in the report, including those relating to maintenance support for higher education and further education students. The government will conclude the review alongside the next spending review.
Overseas Campus: If you ever wondered how universities with an overseas campus are monitored here is your answer:
Q – Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they inspect the overseas campuses of UK universities. [HL478]
A – Baroness Berridge: UK higher education providers with degree-awarding powers are responsible for the academic standards of their awards and for the quality of provision, irrespective of where or how courses are delivered or who delivers them. The external review of Transnational Education (TNE) has been carried out by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) on behalf of funders, regulators and UK providers since it was established in 1997. As higher education is a devolved matter, each nation of the UK will deliver quality assurance of TNE according to the process adopted for higher education institutions within its jurisdiction.
Historically, QAA has carried out TNE reviews, which have included a range of activities including overseas campus inspection, scrutiny of partnerships from the UK end including video conferences with providers, and the analysis of data on TNE provision.
The process for carrying out TNE review activity for UK higher education institutions has been the subject of a recent consultation which ended in January 2020, carried out by Universities UK International, Guild HE and QAA.
The consultation responses are currently being considered and the future model of TNE review, including overseas campus inspection, will be decided through this process and the consulting organisations will jointly analyse the responses and develop an action plan.
Micro aggressions:
Q – Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to take steps in response to proposals by Sheffield university to pay some students to monitor and report on statements made by other students which might be regarded as micro-aggressions; what progress he has made on bringing forward proposals to safeguard free speech in colleges and universities; and if he will draw the lessons of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four to the attention of college and university staff during this 70th anniversary year of the author’s death. [5319]
A – Chris Skidmore: This government will ensure that our universities are places where free speech can thrive and work to strengthen academic freedoms. The freedom to express views openly, challenge ideas and engage in robust debate is crucial to the student experience and to democracy. Lawful freedom of speech and the right to discuss all kinds of issues is an integral part of our higher education system.
Under the Education (No 2) Act (1986), higher education providers have a specific duty to take reasonably practicable steps to secure freedom of speech within the law for staff, students and visiting speakers. Higher education providers also have clear responsibilities under the Equality Act (2010).
Higher education providers should discharge their responsibilities fully and have robust policies and procedures in place to comply with the law and to investigate and address incidents reported to them. Universities, as autonomous bodies regulated by the Office for Students, should ensure that they are balancing their legal duties carefully and proportionately.
The government worked with the Equality and Human Rights Commission, who published clear guidance in February 2019 on freedom of speech in higher education to support higher education providers and students’ unions in delivering their duties.
The government will be looking closely at how well higher education providers are meeting their obligations and will consider whether further action is needed, working with a range of partners.
Schools: There was a written ministerial statement on the new application system for initial teacher training and the pilot scheme being trialled in the South West. Education Minister Gavin Williamson announced £24 million investment for North East schools to tackle challenges in the region through extra teacher training and greater access to employers and universities for young people.
Equality Charters:
Q – Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will take steps to ensure that universities use universally accessible (a) student surveys and (b) data collection processes to monitor university compliance with equality charters; and if he will make a statement. [6062]
A – Chris Skidmore: Higher education providers (HEPs) are independent and autonomous institutions. While we recognise the work of Advance HE and the value that both the Race Equality and Athena Swan charters bring to the sector the government does not compel HEPs to participate in equality charters.
However, progress on addressing both gender and racial equality in HE has been unacceptably slow, particularly for minority ethnic staff securing senior university leadership positions. It is essential that HEPs urgently address those institutional and cultural barriers standing in the way of women and minority ethnic staff and students so that everyone who has the potential to thrive at university, does so.
The government has brought forward sweeping reforms of higher education to tackle equality of opportunity through the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 (HERA). This includes a mandatory condition of registration which, for the first time, requires all higher education providers registered with the Office for Students (OfS) to publish data including the number of applications for admissions, offers made and acceptance rates broken down by gender, ethnicity and socio-economic background. The OfS has issued guidance to higher education providers on how to comply with the transparency condition.
The OfS has also made available online an interactive dashboard of data, which will help to evaluate access and participation at specific universities and colleges. The dashboard can be used to compare different student groups (for example, disabled students or students by their ethnic background) and their peers, and reveal gaps in access, continuation, success and progression. More information is available at the link.
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Congratulation to FHSS PhD student Sulochana Dhakal Rai who just published her latest article in the Journal of Asian Midwives. The paper ‘Caesarean Section rates in South Asian cities: Can midwifery help stem the rise?‘ [1] is highly topical in this Year of the Nurse and Midwife (see Bournemouth University’s earlier event on YouTube).
Caesarean section (CS) is a life-saving surgical intervention for delivering a baby when complications arise in childbirth. The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests a rate of CS from 10% to 15%. However, CS rates increased steadily in recent decades and have almost doubled from 12.1% in 2000 to 21.1% in 2015. Therefore, this has become a global public health problem. This scoping review gives an analysis of the rising CS use in four South Asian countries: Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan. The authors conclude that the increasing CS rates in South Asian cities, particularly in specific groups of women, present a challenge to hospital staff and managers and policy-makers. The challenge is to avoid ‘Too Much Too Soon’ in otherwise healthy urban women and avoid ‘Too Little Too Late’ in women living in remote and rural area and in poor urban women.This paper is co-authored by Dr. Juliet Wood and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH), Dr. Pramod Regmi Lecturer in International Health in the Department of Nursing Science, Dr. Amudha Poobalan at the University of Aberdeen, Dr. Malin Bogren at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, Prof. Rafat Jan at the Aga Khan University in Pakistan and Dr. Ganesh Dangal at Kathmandu Model Hospital in Nepal and Dr.Keshar Bahadur Dhakal based at Karnali Academy of Health Science also in Nepal. This is Sulochana’s second PhD paper, her first paper was published last year [2].
References
SoECAT stands for the ‘Schedule of Events Cost Attribution Tool’ – either a SoECAT or a Schedule of Events (SoE) is required whenever you are conducting clinical research in the NHS or Social Care. Further information and clarification is provided below.
*Where there is no external funding attached to a project, the Schedule of Events should be used instead of a SoECAT.
Remember – support and guidance is on offer at BU if you are thinking of conducting clinical research, whether in the NHS, private healthcare or social care – get in touch with Research Ethics. You can also take a look at the Clinical Governance blog for resources and updates.
Congratulations to Dr. Pramod Regmi, lecturer in International Health, whose article ‘Hazards of Beauty’ featured in Republica, a national daily newspaper published in English in Nepal. Many transgender people who are using hormones are mostly attracted by its short-term benefit of amplification in their feminine look and seem to be ignorant about its dark side. This newspaper article highlights the key issues of a recent paper in BMJ Open published by staff in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences on transgender in Nepal [1].
Reference: