Monthly Archives / September 2013

Don’t delay – today is the deadline to complete the Research Ethics e-module!

Research Ethics

The research ethics e-module is available on myBU for all academic staff and for those who supervise students. To access the e-module login to myBU and click on ‘Research Ethics’ in the ‘My Communities’ tab. Please note that the preferred browser to view the course/quiz is either Internet Explorer or Google Chrome.

Why are research ethics important?

It is important to conduct research in line with ethical standards for a number of reasons:

• In order to respect and cause no harm to the participants
• As a sign of respect for other researchers and those who will use the research
• It is a professional requirement particularly in some disciplines and failure to do so may result in disciplinary procedures.
• It is a requirement to obtain funding.
• Failing to conduct research ethically could be embarrassing or result in research (or the researcher) being dismissed or rejected by the research community.
• Research involving human beings, including using questionnaires and focus groups, must be passed by an Ethics Committee whose job it is to confirm that the research conforms to a set of ethical guidelines.

If ethics are considered, this should make sure that the work is acceptable to the research community and other users of the research results.

10 features of the new Staff Profile Pages you need to know

Guidance

BRIANHere are the top 10 features of the new Staff Profile Pages (SPP) application that is to be released this week.

1.  Improved header information.  The header contains information on your title, job title and contact details.  This is always present at the top of every page.  Icons are also displayed to indicate the research themes to which you are linked and the keywords selected.  Social media and website links are also displayed.

2.  Improved searching.  Previously the search facility was quite poor.  Now, it is possible to search for partial matches for people’s name and publications.  In addition, SPP will prompt with ‘Did you mean?’ suggestions.  This is very useful where users are searching for staff but don’t quite enter the name correctly.

3.  Displaying favourites.  Within BRIAN you can highlight a publication (or grant) as a favourite.  This is achieved by clicking on the heart icon next to the item.  We suggest staff select a maximum of five favourites.  These items then appear on the home page of the SPP in chronological order.

4.  Displaying your current research activity.  We have just introduced to BRIAN the ability to record your current research activity.  If completed in BRIAN, this is displayed on the home page of SPP.  Having this information makes you profile feel contemporary and up to date so we encourage your to complete this area within the Professional Activities area of BRIAN.

5.  Immediate profile refresh.  The frustration that changes in BRIAN cannot be viewed in the profile page until the next day has been removed by the ability to refresh a page immediately in SPP.  There is a small area at the base of the SPP pages which tells you when the page was last refreshed and, by clicking on the icon, allows you to refresh the page.  This means that any changes you make in BRIAN are immediately visible so that you can see how the change looks.

6.  Browse by research theme or keyword.  You can click on a research theme or keyword and see all the people who have that association.  To make this feature useful, please ensure your RTs and keywords are up to date.

7.  Existing links to your page continue to work.  While the application has changed, people who have bookmarked the URL for your profle can lick on this old link to access your new profile.

8.  Two-way link with PhD students.  The method of linking to PhD students is much improved with the ability to hyperlink from a supervisor to the student and from the student back to the supervisor(s).  To achieve this, it is necessary to enter the student’s username when adding a PhD student to BRIAN.

9.  Improved scrolling.  Where there are many publications to display, the header is always visible on the screen so that the user knows which section is being viewed.  It also allows the user to easily switch section without scrolling.  Also, at the bottom of the screen, there is a button that returns the user to the top of the screen.

10.  Publication format.  The format for publications conforms to the BU standard.

While these 10 features of SPP are great, some of them (items 1, 3, 4, 6 & 8 ) require you to enter the information into BRIAN.  To a large extent, the SPP pages will only be a good as the underlying information in BRIAN so please spare a few minutes to update your BRIAN profile, add a recent picture etc.

Women’s Academic Network Launched at BU

Thursday 26th September saw the launch at BU of the Women’s Academic Network (WAN). It seems rather timely that as I am sitting writing this, there is a discussion on the Today programme about the re-rise of feminism and feminist activism.    WAN’s aims and raison d’être have been spelled out previously on this blog, and on Thursday after some wine/light refreshments we Retreated (sorry) to the inauspicious surroundings of the newly revamped Mary Shelley lecture theatre for our inaugural address.

Head of ApSci and HSC, Gail Thomas eloquently introduced the aims of the network, the committee and gave details of our Fusion funded speaker programme (first event November 22nd Laura Bates from everyday sexism, lunchtime seminar, room tbc) and read out a message of support from a sister network at UEA (see below). The Vice Chancellor, John Vinney then welcomed the packed room to the Women’s Academic Network, and to the event. He also highlighted how WAN is just one of a number of initiatives here at BU, including the excellent work being led by Tiantian Zhang around Athena Swan. Gail then introduced our speaker, Dr Fiona Beddoes-Jones from the Cognitive Fitness Consultancy. There was a collective intake of breath when the keynote mentioned things that can cause tension in organisations…such as car parks, but that is real life I guess. Her talk was derived in part from work in neuroscience and in a good natured manner she humorously took us through the differing characteristics of authentic leadership. She was careful to not revert to the biological determinism which can characterise this work, and she generated some very thought provoking questions after. She asked the audience to write down their 3’top tips’ for women academics. These have been collected, will be collated and posted here at a later date.

Sue Sutherland (OBE, Chair of the Board) then gave a vote of thanks where she talked about her own experiences and background.  She talked of the relative absence of women at senior level, and stressed there was recognition and a will to tackle this. She also emphasised the importance of having and of being role models, to each other and to our students, closing the address on an important note.

Networking opportunities followed and which provided a great opportunity to meet women across the University who we may not normally have had recourse to come across.

Thanks are finally due to the massive audience, it was great to see the place full. Thanks too for those messages of support and interest from those who could not be there.

So what happens next?

Well there are Fusion funded speaker events planned which will be advertised in the usual way. If you wish to be added to the mailing list please contact Jo Downey and we will keep you posted as we move forward.

This is just the start and we hope you are able to stay in touch and join in.

 

Letter of support from Resnet (women’s research network at UEA)

 

 

 

The Network for Women In Research

and Supporting Research

www.uea.ac.uk/resnet

25th September 2013

 

Via hsavigny@bournemouth.ac.uk

Dear Heather  

On behalf of your friends on the ResNet Committee I am writing to send you and your colleagues all our best wishes for the launch of the Bournemouth University Women’s Academic Network – WAN.

As you know, ResNet has been running continuously here since 2000. There have been many improvements for women in research and academia since then, but there is still some distance to go. Consequently there is a very strong need for networks with a fairness and gender equality focus. Importantly, women remain under-represented in the more senior, decision making, senior academic posts. The issues retarding women’s advancement are complex and more open discussion is needed to improve awareness and lobby for change. WAN will give Bournemouth University a forum for these issues and the all-important networking space that academic women need and enjoy.

We wish WAN and yourselves every success and look forward to exchanging ideas between our two networks in the future.

Best wishes

Gill Malin

Chair of ResNet

 

 

Kick starting the academic year with Erasmus Mundus TECHNO and TECHNO II partneships

The start of the academic year has seen the Schools of Applied Sciences and Design, Engineering and Computing welcoming 4 new Erasmus Mundus students through the TECHNO 2 (Erasmus Mundus Partnership). Specifically, these include 3 fully funded MSc students and 1 BSc exchange students (6 month).

Last year, the School of Applied Sciences has welcomed one post-doc exchange, 2 teaching staff exchanges and 1 MPhil student TECHNO.  By December 31st, 2013 both schools will welcome an additional 2 teaching staff; 1 post-doc exchange and 1 PhD exchange.

Both TECHNO and TECHNO II projects are partnerships of the Erasmus Mundus programme of the European Union, and they are collectively funded with approximately 4 million euro. All participants receive a monthly allowance and full cover of their travel expenses and medical insurance. The person in charge of TECHNO and TECHNO II at BU is Dr Demetra Andreou; a Lecture in Environmental Science at the School of Applied Sciences and is currently supported by Dr Emilie Hardouin (maternity cover for Dr Andreou) and Mrs Heather Cashin (Senior Programme Administrator at Applied Sciences).

The second call of the TECHNO II project will take place before the end of this year. All the information about the TECHNO projects can be found at http://www.techno-em.org/ and http://www.techno2-em.org/

 

 

 

 

The TECHNO team with our current participants (Left to right: Dr Demetra Andreou, Dr Emilie Hardouin, Yating Ru, Phuong Nguyen,  Quyen Tran, Yankun Zhao, Qianqian Wei and Heather Cashin.

 

Nigel Farage’s UKIP Conference speech

Does Nigel Farage need a crash-course in EU law?

One of the things that struck me about the recent coverage of the UKIP conference (which, as I will explain, is not entirely unrelated to the pamphlet that struck Michael Crick) was that many UKIP members complained that the controversy surrounding Godfrey Bloom’s comments overshadowed their emergence as a real political force.  It seems certain that at the next European and local elections, and possibly even at the general election, UKIP will be a major player.  My research background in EU law means I am interested in how the political world frames and explains EU issues, and particularly the extent to which political positions reflect the laws underpinning them.  UKIP’s manifesto is a rich source here, and this is the perhaps tenuous connection to the document that played such a starring role in the Bloom-Crick kerfuffle.

Reading through Nigel Farage’s keynote speech – with the intention of writing a post about the EU laws underpinning his comments on immigration – I stumbled across this statement: ‘our laws have come from Brussels – and what laws. What directives. What a list of instructions. How this shall be done. How that shall be regulated’.

This struck me for several reasons.  Much of my research is concerned with the relationship between EU law and EU democracy (I’m sure many readers would argue that it is now my phrase that is striking, even an oxymoron – without wishing to go into too much detail, the EU does have democratic processes, even if their effectiveness and suitability is questionable).  Because of this background, whenever a politician talks about ‘Brussels’ or ‘EU laws’, I am put slightly on edge.  They are broad terms that risk oversimplifying a complicated area.  Debates about EU democracy need to be based on clear understandings of the underpinning laws; otherwise one risks, in Mr Farage’s words, ‘playing the man and not the ball’.

With that in mind, I’d like to look at two aspects of the quotation I highlighted above – the references to ‘Brussels’ and ‘laws’ – and explain that the situation is not quite as simple as the speech makes out.  My analysis is going to be a brief one focused on the relevant legal procedures – Channel 4’s FactCheck blog has some interesting posts on the statistical side of the speech.

Brussels

It is very common to hear politicians talking about Brussels as an umbrella term for the EU, either positively or negatively.  But what does it mean? When ‘Brussels’ makes law, who is actually making them?

The answer is lawyerly: it depends.  The EU acts on the principle of conferred powers.  This means it can only legislate in areas mandated by the Treaties – if it enjoys a so-called ‘legal basis’.  For example, the EU has some environmental law competences because of Articles 191-192 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.  Each legal base found in the Treaties requires a particular legislative procedure, and each process calls for different involvement from the Council (made up of elected national ministers), the European Parliament (directly elected MEPs) and the Commission (an appointed body but one which typically proposes laws rather than passes them).

Broadly speaking, since the Lisbon Treaty most EU laws have been made using the ‘ordinary legislative procedure’.  This was previously known as ‘co-decision’.  Under this procedure, the Commission proposes legislation (sometimes prompted by the Parliament or national ministers), but it is not a legislative body.  A majority of votes in the Council and the European Parliament must agree on the final draft of a particular proposal before it becomes law.  Less frequently there will be a ‘special legislative procedure’, which normally means the Parliament is just consulted by the Council; on rarer occasions it sees no role for the Parliament or gives the Parliament a veto.

So, does a monolithic ‘Brussels’ pass these laws? Not exactly.  EU laws are passed through a process of negotiation and bargaining amongst elected national ministers and elected MEPs.  Even if the MEPs are sidelined, promulgation remains the responsibility of elected national ministers.  This may be imperfect, but it perhaps differs to the common perception.

Laws

It is interesting that the speech uses the words ‘directive’ and ‘regulated’.  This is because Directives and Regulations are two different kinds of EU law, and each works in a different way.  This doesn’t mean that the EU is not passing laws which affect the UK, but it does mean that EU laws are not diktats.

A Regulation is binding on Member States from the moment it is passed: it has ‘direct effect’.  Those laws do indeed tell Member States ‘how this shall be done’ – for example, a common customs code – although one might point out that laws tend to tell people what to do.  As noted above however, it is the Member States themselves, and usually elected MEPs, that have agreed to whatever course of action is proposed.

A Directive on the other hand gives far more discretion to Member States.  Directives set out a certain goal – for example, make sure EU citizens can move and reside freely across the EU (with certain caveats) – but it is only the goal that is binding.  Member States can pursue that aim however they wish, and it is not unheard of for a given state’s domestic law to already comply with the Directive.  In that regard Directives certainly do not tell states ‘how this shall be done’.

Once again then, the situation seems more complex that it has been made out.  The image of ‘Brussels’ telling states ‘what to do’ is not necessarily accurate.

Final thoughts

There is an understandable and important debate occurring about whether the UK should remain in the EU, but it should be based on a clear picture of how the EU operates.  Phrases such as ‘Brussels’ and ‘EU laws’ are commonplace, but they risk oversimplifying the issues.  Decisions and policy ought to follow from a more solid basis.  A clearer understanding of the law leads to a more informed debate.

About David Yuratich

David Yuratich is a lecturer in law at Bournemouth University. His research interests include the constitutional law in the UK and the EU law, and the relationships between courts and democracy.

Online training got you down? Prefer an alternative face-to-face route to completing the Research Ethics e-module? Two session being held tomorrow!

Research Ethics

Don’t fancy the pure online mode of delivery for the Research Ethics training in myBU? Prefer an alternative? We are holding two University-wide sessions where you will get the opportunity to go through the e-module and discuss any aspects of the training with colleagues and then finish by taking a paper quiz, which will confirm your completion of the e-module. These sessions are primarily targeted at those members of staff who have yet to complete the e-module; however, anyone is welcome!

Details of the sessions are below:

Lansdowne – 1 October 1000-1100 EB302

Talbot – 1 October 1500-1600 PG22

If you would like to attend, please email Julia Hastings Taylor. For more information on the Research Ethics e-module, please click here or check out the Training section of the Research Ethics page.

What’s coming up in Horizon 2020?

Now is the time activity around Horizon 2020 is really picking up. To help you start to prepare and get a flavour as to what is coming up I have placed some resources on the I drive for you.

There is a folder detailing what we anticipate to be calls for proposals, details on the Erasmus and Life programmes and also a list of websites where the new Programme info can be found (these resources are not for circulation beyond BU).  I:\R&KEO\Public\RDU\European Related\Horizon 2020 .   While nothing is set in stone as yet, these really are a good indicator as to what will be coming up.

There is also an info day on the new Erasmus programme we will be attending next month and we will keep you posted as to the latest developments.

Biodiversity, Environmental Change & Green Economy Research Theme

Research themes

Please note for your diaries – a research theme get together on  Wednesday   20-11-2013  –   12:00-14:00 in  TA133.

It is a while since we had a theme meeting for Green Economy and now that we have also had a theme merger, it seems appropriate to get together as the new and broader group, share ideas, and meet those who are new, or who have not previously attended a theme event.

More details will follow but we thought as a starter what we might usefully do, is discuss ideas for the next Fesitival of Learning, consider/share how our research contributes/might contribute to the region, and agree ways of cooperating/organising the theme in the future.

Please email me if you are able to attend so that I can try to organise catering,

 

Chris Shiel

Co-producing and co-creating with eBU

Fusion, PG research, Publishing

As I’m sure you are all aware of, co-production and co-creation are key facets of Fusion. What better way of engaging in co-production and co-creation than through pursuing publications with students?

eBU is well placed to help academics co-produce and co-create outputs with students for peer review publications. eBU is encouraging academics to act as gatekeepers who, upon marking or seeing high quality student work, will approach students with the view to asking them if they wish to take this further and publish.

Putting your work ‘out there’ is daunting enough for anyone, let alone an early career scholar or student. Primarily as a publishing forum for internal peer review, eBU is a place where these types of outputs can be constructively critiqued in a safe internal environment. This provides students and/or early career scholars with some valuable experience of opening his/her work up to review internally, before doing so in the wider world.

eBU works on the basis of immediate publication (subject to an initial quality check) and open peer review. Once published on the internal site, we aim to upload reviews within 3 weeks. Authors are then encouraged to use the comments to aid publication in an external journal. Alternatively, authors also have the option of publishing on the external eBU site. Please note that only using eBU as a forum for internal peer review (with the intention to publish externally – which we encourage!) WILL NOT ENDANGER FURTHER PUBLICATION.

With the academic year only just underway it may not be the right time to identify high quality student output and enquire if they wish to make changes and reformat any output for publication. However, can I ask staff to make all students aware of eBU. It’s a win-win situation – engaging with eBU will boost your publication rate and give students something positive to put on their CV for their chosen career path.

To access eBU, when on campus simply type ‘ebu’ into your web browser address bar.

BRIAN training sessions in October

Guidance

BRIANWith new academics, a new version BRIAN and the new Staff Profile Pages (SPP), it is a good time to invite you to a 1 hour training session on BRIAN and SPP on Wed 9 October 13.  The session is suitable for new and more experienced users.

We are hosting 4 sessions, 2 at each campus:

Lansdowne: 10:30 and 11:30 in EBG02

Talbot: 14:00 and 15:00 in CG21

If you would like to attend and have not already indicated this, please send an email to BRIAN@bournemouth.ac.uk with your preference.

If you cannot attend these sessions, don’t worry, we will arrange more sessions in the future as required.

In the interim don’t forget there is online documentation for the new BRIAN version.

Already know BRIAN well?

If you have a good knowledge of BRIAN, please consider becoming a local expert so that you can offer help and assistance to colleagues with queries about BRIAN.  We are looking for a representative in each school to act as a local point of contact.  If this is something that appeals to you, please contact us at BRIAN@bournenouth.ac.uk.

 

 

BRAD can help you to develop your research career

What is the aim of BRAD?  The BU Researcher/Academic Development (BRAD) programme is a tailor made framework of development sessions for you, our BU researchers, based on the Vitae Researcher Development Framework (RDF). This holistic framework provides professional and personal development in the key areas of:

A. Knowledge & Intellectual Abilities

B. Personal Effectiveness

C. Research Governance & Organization

D. Engagement, Influence & Impact

How did we consult you in creating BRAD ? A poll was posted on our blog to explore which training areas you would like us to host and this was followed by an online survey to explore the training needs of early career researchers (ECRs) in particular. The results concluded you would like training in a wide range of development areas from specific methodology to an academic career path. Feedback also clearly said sessions should be about two hours and that Wednesdays were the preferred date for sessions and the framework follows this structure. There are a few sessions which run for longer than two hours and this is because of the subject matter.

What kind of sessions are we running? The programme comprises of a wide range of facilitated development sessions held on campus (by internal and external presenters), online research modules from Epigeum (so you can learn in your own time) and the Vitae’s RDF. The facilitated sessions cover everything from research skills to personal effectiveness, from using SPSS to creating impact through your research. The online training covers a range of topics from getting published to managing your research career which you can undertake at your own time. You can identify which sessions to attend by undertaking the simple ‘My Academic Development Needs: Self-Assessment’ (MADNSA) or use Vitae’s jazzy Excel version which is more detailed.  You can read case studies of real academics to see how using the planner based on this assessment has helped transform their careers if you still need a little convincing to complete this and also the top 10 tipsfrom researchers on using the framework.All academic staff at BU have access to this programme and you can attend whichever sessions you are interested in; you don’t have to attend the whole programme. For facilitated sessions, just book through the Staff Development webpages and for online modules, simply log into myBU  and search the BRAD community to view all courses and to get started!

Who can be part of BRAD? Any BU academic member of staff can sign up to the BRAD programme; there is no commitment required as to the number of sessions you undertake. We simply want to keep a record of those who are taking part in some of the BRAD facilitated and online sessions, so we can get your feedback on how useful they were.  You will be automatically added to the list when you sign up for a session with Staff Development.

Bournemouth University represented at the Launch of International Sport Coaching Framework in Durban, South Africa

REF Subjects, Research themes

Lecturer in Sport Psychology and Coaching Sciences, Emma Kavanagh was recently present at the launch of the International Sport Coaching Framework at the International Council for Coaching Excellence (ICCE) 9th global coaching conference in Durban, South Africa.  This marked a worldwide initiative to launch the ICCE global coaching strategy and standardise the practice of sports coaching across the world.

 

Whilst attending the conference as a delegate, Emma also presented a research paper in collaboration with Dr Abbe Brady from the University of Gloucestershire entitled “Humanization in High Performance Sport: Introducing a Value-based Framework for Coaches and Practitioners”.  This paper provided a vocabulary for articulating one of the foundations of the international coaching framework; creating an athlete centred coaching environment.

 

The paper was well received by both national and international delegates including some of the world’s leading experts in the field of sport and coaching sciences.  The paper was described as an area of fruitful and exciting opportunity for future research in coaching and performance. This has further enhanced Bournemouth Universities reputation as an emerging centre of innovative research in sport and coaching sciences.  In addition the conference has provided opportunity for further external collaborations with a number of national and international partners.

Fusion Funding for Entrepreneurial Education: Co-creation of market reports for industry

Awarded & submitted bids, Fusion

This project involves students and staff co-creating research reports that will be sold to industry.  Students will undertake research as part of their Academic and Professional Research unit assessment and upon completion the most insightful and commercially viable student work will be repurposed with a member of academic staff to ensure it is market-ready.  In repurposing their work students will conduct paid work, via the Creative Enterprise Bureau’s existing model.  Workshops will be hosted by the academic staff involved in each of the reports in order to facilitate the application of market insights more specifically to the clients’ own businesses.

This project fuses education, research and enterprise.  It implements a new model of entrepreneurial education, fully integrates the Creative Enterprise Bureau into teaching and, will develop the enterprise activity of the Corporate and Marketing Communications department.

The project will be self-sustaining, as revenue generated from report sales will fund the following year’s projects.

We also plan to conduct research to evaluate the implementation and success of the project from student, industry and academic staff perspectives, leading to the publication of articles in HE journals regarding the topical issue of entrepreneurial education.

eBU PGT & PGR drop in sessions

PG research, Publishing

Publishing should be high on the agenda of any early career scholar, and PGTs and PGRs should feel no different. For those who are concerned or intimidated by the harsh academic publishing world, eBU is here to help.

eBU: Online Journal is the new online working paper journal for the BU community. Putting your work ‘out there’ can be daunting. eBU is particularly useful for early career scholars, PGTs and PGRs who may wish and have something to publish, but have not yet dipped their toes into the world of academic peer reviewed publishing.

eBU works on the basis of immediate publication (subject to an initial quality check) and open peer review. Once published on the internal site, we aim to upload reviews within 3 weeks. Authors are then encouraged to use the comments to aid publication in an external journal. Alternatively, authors also have the option of publishing on the external eBU site. Please note that only using eBU as a forum for internal peer review (with the intention to publish externally – which we encourage!) WILL NOT ENDANGER FURTHER PUBLICATION.

I am holding drop in sessions (aimed at PGTs and PGRs – but anyone is welcome!) for anyone who wishes to discuss eBU further. These will be held on Talbot Campus:

Monday 7th October 11am – 2pm PG30d

Tuesday 8th October 11am – 2pm PG30d

And on the Lansdowne:

Wednesday 9th 11am – 2pm EBC ground floor cafe

To access eBU, when on campus simply type ‘ebu’ into your web browser address bar.

 

Coming soon – new staff profile pages

Guidance

BRIANWe are pleased to be able to announce that the new staff profile application should be released next week.

There are staff profile pages for all academic staff and some other staff including a number of PGRs.  The staff profile pages are the method we use to expose information from your BRIAN profile to the wider world.  As such it is an important platform to explain who you are, what you have done and what you are currently working on.

The current staff profile page application has been problematic.  The chief complaint has been that some publications do not appear in the profile and those that do are sometimes not correctly categorised.

We have worked with the development team in IT to create a new application that remedies these faults and also provides pages that look crisp and professional.

There are many benefits from the new pages.  For example, the pages allow for much improved searching including partial matches and ‘did you mean?’ functionality.  Users can also search for anyone linked to a research theme or keyword.  Searches can be undertaken for publications.

We plan to migrate to the new pages next week.  We just have some final tweaks to finish before the application is fully ready and the launch can be scheduled.

Other than ensuring your BRIAN profile is up to date and complies with the minumim content suggestions, there is nothing that BRIAN users need to do.

We will explain some of the other benenfits of the new pages in following posts.