Tagged / FIF

BU’s Acorn Fund for ECRs – just over a week to the closing date

BU Challenges, BU research, Funding opportunities, Fusion Investment Fund, RKE development framework

Will you be applying to the Acorn Fund (Acceleration Of Research & Networking) for Early Career Researchers?

This new scheme will provide c. five awards, of up to £5,000 each, to support BU’s ECRs, with the most promising talent, to gain experience of managing and leading their own pilot research projects. These award support BU’s commitment to the Concordat to Support to Career Development of Researchers and is made possible by the BU Fusion Investment Fund

There will be a strong link to the new ECR Network and the ECR Showcase event, also being launched in 2018. In this way, those who do not benefit directly from the Acorn funds scheme by receiving funding, will benefit indirectly though interaction with those ECRs who receive support via the scheme.

For eligibility, an ECR in this case is defined as someone who started their research career on or after 1 August 2013. This is the point at which they held a contract of employment of 0.2 FTE or greater, which included a primary employment function of undertaking ‘research’ or ‘teaching and research’, with any HE or other organisation, whether in the UK or overseas. 

To assist with the budget section, please refer to the RKE Sample Costs, within the Research > Pre-award area on the staff intranet.

Find out more and apply.

The closing date for applications is 18th April 2018. As these require faculty support, start your application and obtain faculty approval as soon as possible. Applicants are responsible for obtaining an electronic faculty signature and for submitting the application to the email below.

Please address any queries to RKEDevFramework@bournemouth.ac.uk.

Acorn Fund Launch – Internal funds for ECRs

BU Challenges, BU research, Funding opportunities, Fusion Investment Fund, RKE development framework

The Research and Knowledge Exchange Office is pleased to announce the launch of the Acorn Fund (Acceleration Of Research & Networking) for Early Career Researchers.

This new scheme will provide c. five awards, of up to £5,000 each, to support BU’s ECRs, with the most promising talent, to gain experience of managing and leading their own pilot research projects. These award support BU’s commitment to the Concordat to Support to Career Development of Researchers and is made possible by the BU Fusion Investment Fund

There will be a strong link to the new ECR Network and the ECR Showcase event, also being launched in 2018. In this way, those who do not benefit directly from the Acorn funds scheme by receiving funding, will benefit indirectly though interaction with those ECRs who receive support via the scheme.

An ECR, for the purpose of this scheme is the REF definition modified to: an ECR in this case is defined as someone who started their research career on or after 1 August 2013. This is the point at which they held a contract of employment of 0.2 FTE or greater, which included a primary employment function of undertaking ‘research’ or ‘teaching and research’, with any HE or other organisation, whether in the UK or overseas

Find out more and apply. The closing date for applications is 18th April 2018. As these require faculty support, start your application and obtain faculty approval as soon as possible.

To assist with the budget section, please refer to the RKE Sample Costs, within the Research > Pre-award area on the staff intranet.

Please address any queries to RKEDevFramework@bournemouth.ac.uk.

Reminder – Student Research Assistantship – academic applications still open

BU research, Funding opportunities, Fusion Investment Fund, student research

The Student Research Assistantship (SRA) scheme is still open for academic applications.

Academics are invited to submit applications for the semester-based round of the SRA programme.

The programme is funded by the Fusion Investment Fund and will still have two programme rounds, semester-based and summer programme.  The scheme has been re-focused to support departments in their co-creation targets whilst supporting students to undertake paid work under the guidance of an experienced academic in a research position that is directly related to their career path and/or academic discipline.

Semester-based programme

This placement is for successful students to work for 15 hours a week for a total of eight weeks between 16th January 2017 and 7th April 2017. This programme will have the capacity for approximately 45 placements.

The SRA programme is coordinated via RKEO and the Faculties.

Academics will apply for the funding via an application form. A Faculty based panel will review all staff applications and decide which applications to continue to the student recruitment stage of the scheme.  The application deadline for this round is 24th October 2016.

Each academic application will be marked against the following criteria:

  • Student-centred
  • Co-creation and co-production
  • Fusion
  • External engagement
  • Impact
  • Cross-Faculty

Approved academic applications will be advertised as SRA positions to students with student applications being received, processed and managed centrally within RKEO and distributed to the relevant academics after the closing date. The academics will be responsible for shortlisting, interviewing and providing interview feedback to their own candidates. Successful students will need to complete monthly timesheets, signed by their supervisor for payment.

These SRA vacancies will be available to taught BU students only, where SRA applicants must be able to work in the UK, be enrolled during the time of their assistantship and also have an average grade of over 70%.  Staff can have multiple SRAs.

If you have any queries, please contact Rachel Clarke, KE Adviser (KTP and Student Projects) –  sra@bournemouth.ac.uk

Fusion Investment Funding helps to expand our conservation research in northern Sumatra

Fusion Investment Fund

A series of Fusion Investment Funds since 2013 has enabled Amanda Korstjens and Ross Hill (Department of Life & Environmental Sciences) to develop a multi-stakeholder network in Sumatra and the UK, and establish a multi-cultural learning platform which provides BU staff and students with unique access to research, professional practice and education opportunities in tropical ecology and conservation. This began with an emphasis on primates, however further Fusion Investment Funding over 2015-16 has enabled us to expand this to include the critically endangered Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus), focusing on human-wildlife conflicts and mitigation, and thus broadening the scope, sphere of influence and practical applications of the network and its learning platform.

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Human-elephant conflict is a major issue in northern Sumatra resulting from habitat loss and fragmentation. A key factor that decides the potential for conservation and for mitigating Human-elephant conflict is the availability of suitable habitat, and therefore it is critical to determine how elephants are responding to the degradation and rapid loss of their habitat. In order to do this, we need to have a better understanding of their home ranging, habitat use patterns and foraging strategies to understand their response to habitat change. We also need to understand the perception and values of local communities, and to identify positive means of providing support to help balance human-elephant relationships. An opportunity related to this is the potential for ecotourism development in the region. Ecotourism is a sustainable, non-invasive form of nature-based tourism that focuses primarily on educative experiences for visitors and direct economic benefit for local people. This FIF funded Staff Mobility Network project involved funding for Ross Hill, Amanda Korstjens and Susanna Curtin to visit Sumatra to establish a new collaborative network for Human-elephant conflict mitigation work, and to publicise our work via workshops and international conferences.

We made a highly successful two-week visit to Indonesia during January 2016. We held meetings with the Head of International Affairs at both Syiah Kuala University in Banda Aceh, and University Sumatra Utara in Medan, to cement institutional relations and start the process of establishing a Memorandum of Agreement between our universities. Such was the level of support and interest from Syiah Kuala University that we also met both the Vice Rector for Academic Affairs (Dr Sofyan) and Rector (Prof Rizal), and after our visit they posted a very positive report on social media (click here).

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We also visited the regional offices of HAkA (Hutan, Alam dan Lingkungan Aceh) in Langsa, in order to establish a working relationship and research plan for elephant habitat modelling and mitigation of human-elephant conflict. We met with Rudi Putra (Chief Conservationist) and Tezar Pahlevie (Regional Manager) to identify a field site and protocol for elephant tracking by GPS collar, and were invited to attend the opening ceremony of the Conservation Response Unit field site at Serbajadi, Aceh Timor. This was attended by dignitaries including the District (Aceh Timor) and/or Provincial (Aceh) Heads of Forestry, Conservation, Police, Military, Public Prosecution, and the Mayor. This event received considerable local coverage in the media (and through social media), helping to establish BU at the centre of activities and generating considerable good will. We have established this field area as the focal study site for our developing human-elephant conflict project, and our post-doctoral researcher (Gaius Wilson) is there now beginning the process of data collection.

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In addition to putting in place the network and working relationships for our elephant project, we also met with our collaborators at the Sumatran Orang-utan Conservation Programme (SOCP), including Ian Singleton (Director of Conservation) and Matthew Nowak (Director of Biodiversity Monitoring) to discuss research plans for our PhD and MRes students. We also made a successful field reconnaissance visit at our Sikundur field site, travelling up the Besilang River into primary rainforest to establish the potential of extending primate research into undisturbed forest. In Medan we visited the SOCP orang-utan quarantine and rehabilitation centre (The Sanctuary), meeting with Jess McKelson, the Quarantine Director and Project Manager of the Orang-utan Haven and Wildlife Conservation Education Centre, establishing possibilities for both research and professional practice student placements.

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Finally, we also visited the tourist area of Bukit Lawang to experience the role that tourism currently plays in orang-utan conservation to identify possibilities for an eco-tourism approach. We visited key sites and interviewed Zefri Chandra, Operations Manager of the only eco-lodge in the area, to gain an understanding of the difficulties and wider context of fulfilling an eco-tourism ethos in an environment where surrounding lodges and even the visiting foreign tourists do not particularly uphold or value this approach.

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A second successful visit to Sumatra took place during June 2016, with a mostly educational focus, but tying in with the research and conservation practice aims of the learning platform. A previous research blog describes this international field trip (click here). Also during this visit to Sumatra, as a separate activity to the under-graduate field course, I was able to receive training from Graham Usher (SOCP) in the flying and configuration of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for remote surveying of field sites at a landscape scale. This was part of the two-way knowledge exchange at the heart of the learning platform that this and previous FIF SMN awards have helped to establish.

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In order to publicise our conservation research work at Sikundur, Amanda Korstjens attended the joint meeting of the International Primatological Society and the American Society of Primatologists, in Chicago, during August 21-27, 2016. She presented a poster on the LEAP project which was well received. For a brief report on the IPS-ASP conference, click here).

Please contact us if you would like to know any more information about our work in northern Sumatra, relating to primates, elephants, human-wildlife conflict or eco-tourism. Further information can be found on our LEAP project website (http://go-leap.wix.com/home).

Fusion Investment Fund – is it for you?

Funding opportunities, Fusion, Fusion Investment Fund

Lots of people know about the Fusion Investment Fund (or FIF as it’s affectionately known!). Since 2012 we’ve awarded £2m spread across more than 200 projects. Here are a couple of facts that you might not know though…

Professional Services staff can apply for FIF too

FIF is open to professional services staff as well as academic staff. If you have a great idea which could change the way we work here at BU and move us towards our Fusion goals, then we want to hear from you!

What sort of ideas?

Well, in the past, FIF has supported these projects from Professional Services staff…

Under the Staff mobility and networking strand we have supplied funding for:

  • Visiting US partners to conduct research about / promotion of Summer Schools
  • My Community: Our Heritage workshops at the British Science Festival 2013

Under the Co-creation and co-production strand we have supported:

  • BU Lego Challenge
  • Sharing PAL: Students sharing their experiences of Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) to create collaboration, engagement and learning
  • Global Skills: articulating international experiences in academic and professional contexts

Interested? Then do get in touch. See the links at the bottom of this post.

Erasmus for training

Did you know that our Erasmus funding is available for those who want to take training abroad as well as those who want to teach? Every year our academic staff visit European institutions to teach, exchange ideas and build their networks. What’s less well known is that staff (both academic and professional services staff) can apply for funding to go to a European Higher Education institution, or enterprise, to train, learn new techniques, share best practice and widen your horizons.

Erasmus provides up to €1,000 towards your travel and subsistence costs when travelling to another EU member country.

Priority will be given to staff who have not previously received funding from this strand so, if you’ve never considered it before, now might be your chance!

Want to find out more?

Well, hurry! Applications close this Friday at 12 noon. Visit the FIF website for further details and for information about how to apply. Sue Townrow, the FIF Co-ordinator, is available on both campuses this week so, if you’d like to meet, please get in touch. You can also contact us by email with any queries.

FIF – maybe it’s for you after all?!

Fusion Investment Fund: support in faculties

Fusion

What is the Fusion Investment Fund?

Bournemouth University’s vision is to ‘Create the most stimulating, challenging and rewarding university experience in a world-class learning community by sharing our unique fusion of excellent education, research and professional practice and inspiring our students, graduates and staff to enrich the world.’ The achievement of this vision is supported through the Fusion Investment Fund (FIF) which provides staff with the opportunity to develop and pursue their fusion goals by bidding for and drawing on these ‘pump-priming’ resources. FIF is part of BU’s investment in intellectual capital.

How can I find out more?

I’m Sue Townrow, the FIF Co-ordinator, and I’ll be working in each faculty on a regular basis, to deal with any queries you may have about a future application or an existing award.

My schedule for the next few weeks is shown here. However it may need to be adjusted at short notice so, if you want to be sure of a specific date/time, please confirm it by sending me an invitation.

I look forward to meeting you!

Sue Townrow

Fusion Fund Co-ordinator, RKEO, M402, Melbury House (Lansdowne campus)

Tel: 01202 961204

 

 

Apply for the Undergraduate Research Assistantship programme now!

BU research

On 1st March we announced the launch of the next round of the Undergraduate Research Assistantship (URA) programme and opened the call for applications for positions to run in summer 2015 (see Launch of the summer round of the BU URA programme). The deadline is fast approaching (20th March) so you will need to get your applications in soon (apply here).

Having a URA working with you has many benefits to both you and the student. These include:

  • Increased opportunity for co-creation between you and the student
  • Increased satisfaction for you and the student
  • Promotion of careers in academia and research to the student
  • Promotion of opportunities for postgraduate study to the student
  • The student will support you with your research

Picking up on this last point, this could include supporting you with undertaking a pilot study which could then be used to strengthen your application for external research funding. Typical duties of a URA include (but are not restricted to):

  • performing experiments and analysing the results
  • disseminating new knowledge orally or in written outputs
  • literature searches
  • presenting results at conferences
  • providing general research support to academics

You can apply for a URA position to run in summer 2015 by competing this short application form and submitting it by 20th March.

Launch of the summer round of the BU Undergraduate Research Assistantship programme

BU research

I am delighted to announce today the launch of summer round of BU’s Undergraduate Research Assistantship (URA) programme. Funded by the Fusion Investment Fund, this programme offers paid employment opportunities for approximately 40 BU undergraduate students per year to work in clusters, centres and institutes, under the guidance of experienced academics, in a research position that is directly related to their career path and/or academic discipline. This enables the students to assist academic staff with their research whilst also gaining valuable research experience themselves.

Research shows there is a direct link between student satisfaction and research-based learning, particularly when the opportunity is in their field of study[1], and that the undergraduate student experience is improved by engaging them with research early and often.[2] URA programmes are common in North America and are offered in a significant number of universities, for example Harvard University, Northern Illinois University, Kent State University and Cornell University.

In 2015 BU is offering two modes of the URA programme:

  1. semester-based programme (c. 20 part-time positions running for eight weeks in semester 2)
  2. summer programme (c. 20 full-time positions running for six weeks in June/July 2015)

There are two stages to the application process: 1) Faculty application stage whereby BU academic staff can apply for URA positions, and 2) student selection stage whereby Faculty staff recruit to the positions.

We are now accepting applications from academic staff for URA positions for the summer-based programme. The deadline for applications is Friday 20th March 2015. All applications received will be reviewed by a panel comprising two Deputy Deans (Research and Professional Practice) and the Head of Research and Knowledge Exchange. Decisions on which positions to fund will be announced at the start of April.
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Further details, including the application form, are available here: Undergraduate Research Assistantship (URA) programme

[1] For example: Healey and Jenkins (2011) Linking discipline-based research with teaching to benefit student learning, available from: http://www.mickhealey.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Linking-RT-Handout-Website1.doc

[2] For example: Madan, C R & Braden, D T (2013) The Benefits of Undergraduate Research: The Student’s Perspective, available from: http://dus.psu.edu/mentor/2013/05/undergraduate-research-students-perspective/

Apply for the Undergraduate Research Assistantship programme now!

BU research

Last week we announced the launch of the Undergraduate Research Assistantship (URA) programme and opened the call for applications for positions to run in semester 2 (see Launch of the BU URA programme). The deadline is fast approaching (14th November) so you will need to get your applications in soon (apply here).

Having a URA working with you has many benefits to both you and the student. These include:

  • Increased opportunity for co-creation between you and the student
  • Increased satisfaction for you and the student
  • Promotion of careers in academia and research to the student
  • Promotion of opportunities for postgraduate study to the student
  • The student will support you with your research

Picking up on this last point, this could include supporting you with undertaking a pilot study which could then be used to strengthen your application for external research funding. Typical duties of a URA include (but are not restricted to):

  • performing experiments and analysing the results
  • disseminating new knowledge orally or in written outputs
  • literature searches
  • presenting results at conferences
  • providing general research support to academics

You can apply for a URA position to run in semester 2 by competing this short application form and submitting it by 14th November.

Launch of the BU Undergraduate Research Assistantship programme

BU research

I am delighted to announce today the launch of BU’s Undergraduate Research Assistantship (URA) programme. Funded by the Fusion Investment Fund, this programme will offer paid employment opportunities for approximately 40 BU undergraduate students to work in clusters, centres and institutes, under the guidance of experienced academics, in a research position that is directly related to their career path and/or academic discipline. This will enable the students to assist academic staff with their research whilst also gaining valuable research experience.

Research shows there is a direct link between student satisfaction and research-based learning, particularly when the opportunity is in their field of study[1], and that the undergraduate student experience is improved by engaging them with research early and often.[2] URAs are common in North America and are offered in a significant number of universities, for example Harvard University, Northern Illinois University, Kent State University and Cornell University.

In 2014-15 BU is offering two modes of the URA programme:

  1. semester-based programme (c. 20 part-time positions running for eight weeks in semester 2)
  2. summer programme (c. 20 full-time positions running for six weeks in June/July 2015)

There are two stages to the application process: 1) School/Faculty application stage whereby BU academic staff can apply for URA positions, and 2) student selection stage whereby School/Faculty staff recruit to the positions.

We are now accepting applications from academic staff for URA positions for the semester-based programme. The deadline for applications is 14th November 2014. All applications received will be reviewed by representatives from the University Research and Knowledge Exchange Committee, with decisions on which positions to fund announced at the start of December. There will be a second round next year for the summer programme.
Further details, including the application form, are available here: Undergraduate Research Assistantship (URA) programme

[1] For example: Healey and Jenkins (2011) Linking discipline-based research with teaching to benefit student learning, available from: http://www.mickhealey.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Linking-RT-Handout-Website1.doc

[2] For example: Madan, C R & Braden, D T (2013) The Benefits of Undergraduate Research: The Student’s Perspective, available from: http://dus.psu.edu/mentor/2013/05/undergraduate-research-students-perspective/

Working with the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Themis Foundation in Andorra. School of Tourism’s Adele Ladkin on her FIF Staff Mobility Funding

Awarded & submitted bids, BU research, Fusion

In September of last year, Professor Adele Ladkin received funding from the FIF staff mobility strand to undertake two visits to the UNWTO.Themis Foundation Headquarters in Andorra. 

As part of its Capacity Building Programme, UNWTO.Themis provides educational courses for tourism industry experts.  Due to the demand for different topics, subject experts from the tourism industry and public sector are recruited as facilitators to deliver the courses.

Adele has just returned from her first visit to Andorra where she and Ms Sònia Figueras, the UNWTO.Capacity Programme manager at the UNWTO.Themis Foundation have been writing a teaching guide, and developing an intensive training course for the facilitators.

As a provider of educational courses, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is committed to sharing best practice in tourism teaching and learning. The purpose of the course is to assist and train facilitators to provide UNWTO Themis courses.  Along with practical guidance, the course aims to ensure that facilitators understand and articulate the philosophy and strategic issues of the UNWTO, UNWTO.Themis and their programmes.

The visit provided an excellent opportunity for knowledge exchange, with Adele gaining an insight into the latest educational activities being undertaken by UNWTO.Themis, and for her to share her expertise in developing tourism educational materials.  As Adele states:  “This has been a very intensive visit with us working collectively on the educational materials.  It also gave me the opportunity to discuss the potential for further research collaboration, which is great news for the School of Tourism and BU.”  Adele will return to Andorra for the second visit later in the year.

FIF SMN strand accepting applications

BU research

The Fusion Investment Fund Staff Mobility & Networking (SMN) Strand has £45k to award from now until April 30th 2013.

The objectives , eligibility criteria and award limits are exactly as that found in the SMNPolicy document found on our  Fusion Investment Fund webpages.

Applications must be on this FIF Application Form and emailed to me when completed; as many people experienced problems with the online form, this format is no longer valid.

Applications will be assessed on a rolling basis by the Committee and the fund will close either when the fund expires or on April 30th 2013, whichever occurs first. You are encouraged to discuss your potential application with a member of the Committee to ensure it meets the remit of the scheme.

All vital information including policy documents, FAQs  etc can be found on the SMN webpage.

Fusion Investment Fund Staff Mobility & Networking Strand Funding Available!

BU research

The Fusion Investment Fund Staff Mobility & Networking (SMN) Strand has £45k to award from now until April 30th 2013.

The objectives , eligibility criteria and award limits are exactly as that found in the SMN Policy document found on our  Fusion Investment Fund webpages.

Applications must be on this FIF Application Form and emailed to me when completed; as many people experienced problems with the online form, this format is no longer valid.

Applications will be assessed on a rolling basis by the Committee and the fund will close either when the fund expires or on April 30th 2013, whichever occurs first. You are encouraged to discuss your potential application with a member of the Committee to ensure it meets the remit of the scheme.

All vital information including policy documents, FAQs  etc can be found on the SMN webpage.

Erasmus Staff Mobility Funding Competition for BU launches today!

EU

You may or may not have heard of the Erasmus Staff Mobility scheme which BU has run for the last few years. If you have, then you will know it is a great scheme. If you haven’t then now is a great chance to learn more. Grants are available for BU staff to visit an enterprise or university in Europe and undertake teaching or training. This is not only a fantastic experience in itself but also a really great way to start to develop your networks. Your visit can be between 5 days and 6 weeks and non-academic staff can apply to the teaching strand too.

This year, I have taken over the gauntlet from Deborah Velay and incorporated the Erasmus Staff Mobility fund into the Fusion Investment Staff Mobility and Networking Fund. There is a really short application form to complete and the deadline is December 1st. The processes have been combined to improve our efficiency in delivering this scheme to you.

The Fusion Investment Fund was launched today and you can find out more on this absolutely brilliant scheme by following the link posted on the blog.

 

Fusion Investment Fund allocates £362k in first round!

BU research, Funding opportunities

We were delighted to receive so many applications for each of the strands under the Fusion Investment Fund and want to give a quick update on how many applications were successful in the first round.

All BU staff will know that Fusion is the key concept that underlies Vision & Values 2018; it is our key academic strategy and central to the culture of BU.  The Fusion Investment Fund is comprised of three funding strands which staff can apply to in order to support activities which will drive Fusion within BU. The three strands are:

The first competition under the Fusion Investment Fund was launched in April, with a closing date in July. Each application was reviewed by a panel dedicated to each of the strands (the hyperlinks above detail the panel membership). The three panels approved 13 applications under the Staff Networking & Mobility strand, 4 under Study Leave and 9 under Co-Creation and Co-Production were supported, totalling more than £362, 000.

Staff representing all Schools were successful in this first round of the Fusion Investment Fund and we will shortly be publicising the supported activities around both campuses.

The next round of funding will be available in December, and applications will be taken from October. We are currently revising some of the policy documents, but if you are thinking about applying why not take a look at the existing documentation using the hyperlinks above to get a flavour of what funding you can apply for under Fusion Investment.

 Sam Furr in the Research Development Unit is the administrator for the fund and available for any questions you may have in the meantime.