Yearly Archives / 2013

Celebrate International Open Access Week – the GOLD route!

Research news

open access logo, Public Library of ScienceThis week is International Open Access Week.  Now in its 6th year, this global awareness week aims to promote open access as a new norm for scholarship and research.  Research shows that making your research freely available dramatically increases the number of citations and leads to more people downloading the research papers, this increasing the academic and societal impact of your research.

The gold route to open access is considered at the moment to be the most sustainable method in the long term, and was recommended by the Finch report.  It involves publishing in a fully open access journal or website, or in a hybrid journal (i.e. the paper appears in the traditional print journal and is freely available online).  Authors usually need to pay for their work to be published via this route.

BU has operated a central dedicated budget for open access payments via the gold route since April 2011.  The fund is open to all BU academics and PGRs, and you can find out how to apply here: BU Open Access Fund

Find out about the GREEN route to open access publishing tomorrow!

Last Minute 1-2-1 Appointments Available Today with Martin Pickard – 24th October!

BU research, Grants Academy, R & KE Operations, Research news

If you feel you would benefit from a ‘face to face’ meeting with Martin  in relation to any bid/proposal you are currently working on please contact me Dianne Goodman Today!

Martin currently has the following appointments available on the 24th of October at the following times at Lansdowne Campus:

Morning

  • 10:45am – 11:30am

Afternoon

  • 14:45pm – 15:30pm

Appointments are approx 45 minutes long

.

Martin Pickard

With a career background in both Academia and Industry Dr. Martin Pickard of Grantcraft is a specialist in writing and supporting research grant applications and tenders as well as providing administrative and management support services for ongoing projects. During the last 20 years Martin has worked extensively across Europe with a large number of universities, and research institutes as well as industrial firms, ranging from small SME’s to major international companies.

Martin is providing individual 1-2-1 surgeries with any BU academic staff member and works individually and confidentiality with each Principal Investigator as the project is structured and prepared in order to optimize the application documentation from every aspect of the Funders perspective; guiding, steering and showing how to optimize the application throughout the bid process.

Academics at BU who have undertaken his guidance have stated:

 ‘his support and direction was invaluable – Martin gave me some pragmatic suggestions which really helped to shape the bid. His eye for detail made the document much easier to read and the message much clearer. I was very grateful for his input’  Assoc. Prof Heather Hartwell School of Tourism.

The process, although labour intensive, works; with a proven historical average success rates of close to 1 in 2 against norms of (1 in 8 to 1 in 10)

Book Now through me Dianne Goodman – Martin’s appointments are always popular.

 

Sustainable Design Research Centre: Research and Professional Practice Activities and Engagement

BU research

About SDRC

Studies of surface wear mechanisms and integration of sustainable development issues within advanced engineering components and systems is the underlying principle of this research centre. Issues of tribology (friction, wear and lubrication) are studied to help understand their influence on product durability and energy consumption. SDRC has significant industrial funding and partnership in research into structural integrity in terms of corrosion, corrosion condition monitoring and prediction, nano coatings, oil condition monitoring, renewable technology & rolling contact failure.

The activities of SDRC include four areas

  1. Tribology
  2. Renewable Technology & Sustainable Design
  3. Structural Integrity and
  4. Design Education.

The Centre has extensive experimental and analytical resources to assess wear mechanisms of rolling and sliding contacts, corrosion simulation, renewable technology and surface analyses. These include rotary tribometer, micro-friction machine, corrosion simulation chamber, solar-thermal heat transfer & thermal expansion bench testing, 2D and 3D surface analysis techniques.

We have formed strong partnerships with multinational companies such as SK&F (Netherlands), Oakland Ridge National Laboratories (USA), Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), Future Energy Source Ltd, Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (DSTL) Ministry of Defence, Schaeffler, Energetix, Smith & Nephew plc, The Tank Museum, Poole Tidal Energy Partnership, Balmain Trust and have secured funding from The Royal Academy of Engineering and EPSRC.

Collaborative work is also being carried out with other universities such as Oviedo University in Spain, County Carlow Institute of Technology in Ireland, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee USA, PES Institute of Technology Bangalore India and National Institute of Technology Srinagar India.

Research Themes within SDRC

Tribology

Design for Whole Life Cycle managed Programme titled “Sustainable Development of Mechanical Systems using replacement environmental acceptable refrigerants” (£110K EPSRC plus £8K in kind from BP Castrol Technology Centre) was completed in this area of research. This research theme was further developed by another EPSRC funded studentship (£45K) with BP Castrol and Plint and Partners as industrial collaborators.

EPSRC previously funded two industrial CASE projects, “Sustainable design of lifeboat launching systems”, (£65K) and “Tribology Tests Using Oil Condition Monitoring Techniques” (£130+704K + 4K) with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. This research is looking to identify a non-invasive condition monitoring approach that is suitable for the RNLI mode of operations and maintenance environment.

A BU funded research looking into Sustainable Design of Domestic Micro Combined Heat and Power (CHP) systems was recently completed. Micro CHP systems are very efficient and effective in generating electricity and in producing heat and hot water simultaneously.

SK&F Engineering and Research Centre (The Netherlands) have fully funded 3 PhD studentships (£38K, £54K and £57K), one fellowship (£70K) and a number of short-term projects (£16K).

Schaeffler is match funding a PhD studentship (£24K plus £41K in kind) looking into Electroplated composite coatings with incorporated nano particles for tribological systems with a focus on water lubrication. Schaeffler develops and manufactures precision products for machines, equipment, vehicles and aerospace applications. Schaeffler is a leading manufacturer of bearings worldwide and a renowned supplier to the automotive industry.

Renewable Technology & Sustainable Design

It is envisaged that further expansion of this research area, in conjunction with a large commercial partner could potentially produce a substantive portfolio of academic activity.

Renewable Technology has been identified as a BU cross-school and cross-disciplinary area within the BU’s Technology & Design Theme. The research engagement and funded projects have significantly increased in a short period of time. SDRC has been actively engaged with Poole Tidal Energy Partnership. Students led projects in mechanical current turbine and heat pumps have been completed in partnerships with the local community interest groups and stakeholders in renewable technology.

This theme has led to strong collaborative links with industry interested in renewable technology. Future Energy Source is fully funding (£49K plus in kind support £50K/year lab staff over four years, £10K/year estates costs over four years & £20K lab equipments in solar-thermal simulation and thermodynamics expansion lab) PhD research in “Research and development in novel alternative renewable energy technology” and a second project (£48K) in “Experimental investigation and mathematical modelling of dynamic equilibrium of novel thermo fluids for renewable technology applications”. In addition another short term research project looking into quantitative assessment of existing bench testing in Renewable Technologies (£3600) is funded by Future Energy Source Ltd.

Significant partnerships have been established with cross-channel academic and industrial partners within renewable technology in mechanical current turbines (tidal and fluvial) to work towards the EU strategy of renewable technology. AmpereWave has shown interest in research collaborations with SDRC. Balmain Charitable Trust is match funding (£30K) PhD in “An optimised tidal energy design for Poole harbour”.

SDRC is actively working with industry and continues to support renewable technology and sustainable design projects in the form of enterprise, short courses and consultancy.

The Centre has completed a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) projects with Electronic Technician Limited. The partnerships were to improve the competitiveness and productivity of the companies through the better use of knowledge, technology and skills.

Structural Integrity

The Tank Museum at Bovington is one of the world’s largest museums which has over 300 historic military vehicles. These vehicles are subject to structural deterioration through corrosion, corrosion fatigue, stress corrosion cracking and mechanical failures. The Tank Museum at Bovington match funded (£25K + £3600) a PhD research programme in “Sustainable Methodology of Conserving Historic Vehicles”. This project provided an understanding of military vehicle preservation from a predominantly technical viewpoint with aspects of project management and ethics of museum artefacts. The interesting aspects of this project with the Tank Museum are the requirements to run and operate large and heavy vehicles after periods of non-use in various humidity and temperature environments.

The current research in collaboration with the Tank Museum has made significant contributions to knowledge creation and exchange through coupling research in UG and PGT live projects with The Tank Museum. The outcomes to date have been disseminated through prestigious international journals (Insight: Non-Destructive Testing and Condition Monitoring, Journal of Materials Performance and Characterisation, Engineering (ASTM) & Tribology Transactions), commercial articles and international conferences as invited keynote speaking at Cranfield University, Oxford University, Cardiff University, The Institute of Physics and Time Higher Education.

The findings have also attracted international industrial players in corrosion, structural deterioration and materials’ characterisation, who have been involved through in-kind support such as NASA Materials Testing and Corrosion Control Branch (joint research publication). BAE Systems, Technology Design Limited, PANalytical Ltd, Analatom, PMI Analytical, Carl-Zeiss Cambridge and West-Dean Chichester (in kind £21K in total) in experimental resources.

Defence Science and Testing Laboratories (DSTL), Ministry of Defence is match funding (£22.5K) PhD studentship in “In-situ corrosion health monitoring and prediction in military vehicles.

Design Education

Teaching development based on research was the basis of the successful grant from the Royal Academy of Engineering grant in Sustainable development to second a visiting professor (£98K over five years). This activity has resulted in learning and teaching resource used for teaching all levels of design group programmes and by other UK and European universities.

The historical research area of the SDRC, as evidenced by the themes above, has revolved around the highly technical aspects of sustainable design, namely the techno-centric dimension. However, more recently, the research of the SDRC has expanded to encompass the socio-cultural aspects of sustainable design. Initially, this developed from the area of sustainable design education with the awarding of an HEA grant to build a web-based learning resource for the socio-centric dimension, however, this has now expanded through consultancy work currently being undertaken, and through current bidding for funding, for example, to investigate how product life spans may be extended by re-designing products with a focus on product attachment.

SDRC has established long standing collaborations with University of Wisconsin Milwaukee USA, PES Institute of Technology Bangalore India, National Institute of Technology Srinagar India and Oviedo University Spain.

SDRC has visiting professors from PES Institute of Technology Bangalore India, National Institute of Technology Srinagar India and visiting research fellows from Oviedo University Spain

Current PGRs & Research Projects

Surname First Name Project Title
ALKHATEEB Maryam Element, Use and Meaning: Between the Vernacular and Current Interiors in Saudi Arabia, Eastern Region.
ANAND Mayank A Condition Based Approach to the Tribology of RNLI Marine Systems
AWAN Abdul Waheed Defect Tolerance Assessment of Silicon Nitride in Rolling Contact
MAHER Carmel Practice Based Design Research: Development of research models, methodologies and evaluation criteria appropriate to its intellectual culture.
MORGAN Alan Optimisation of Braking Systems and Sustainable Design in Traction Drive Passenger and Goods Lifts
NASSEF Iman A Market Driven Standard for a High Quality Graduate
SAEED Adil Sustainable Methodology of Conserving Historic Vehicles
WEN Zheming (Bruce) Research and development in novel alternative renewable energy technology
NAZIR Mian Hammad In-situ corrosion health monitoring and prediction in military vehicles
BAJWA Rizwan Electroplated composite coatings with incorporated nano particles for tribological systems with the focus on water lubrication
HÜSEYN UTKU Helvaci Experimental investigation and mathematical modelling of dynamic equilibrium of novel thermo fluids for renewable technology applications

Public Engagement

http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/2013/05/23/renewable-energy-and-renewable-technology-public-engagement-event/

SDRC Membership

  1. Ben Thomas
  2. Christine Keenan
  3. Clive Hunt
  4. Franziska Conrad
  5. Gary Underwood
  6. Kamran Tabeshfar
  7. Mark Hadfield
  8. Nigel Garland
  9. Sarah Palmer
  10. Tania Humphries
  11. Tilak Ginige
  12. Zulfiqar Khan

 

Contact Us

For research, enterprise or professional practice inquiries within SDRC themes please contact

Dr Zulfiqar Khan (Associate Professor)

Director SDRC

zkhan@bournemouth.ac.uk

The number one FAQ for BRIAN is ‘I can’t see _____’. Find out the answer below

BU research, Guidance

 

A couple of months ago we upgraded BRIAN to a new version, which should be more easy to navigate through.  However, in making it super whizzy and giving you different ways to view your data, it’s not always easy to see the obvious.  So, the number one question we get asked is ‘I can’t see where to enter x’.  The main thing being grants and professional activities.

The reason for this is because there are new tabs at the top, which show different data.

It would seem logical that all your data is under ‘my profile’ but it isn’t.   ‘My Profile’ is just a summary page of what you have previously entered under publications and grants.  In order to enter data against your BRIAN account, you need to ensure that you are on the home page, which is symbolised by a picture of a house.  The home page will enable you to enter publications, grants and professional activities.

 

I hope this helps.  If you have any queries, please contact us at BRIAN@bournemouth.ac.uk.  We’re here to help.

Congratulations and Good Luck

BU research, News from the PVC

September saw a slight reduction of activity for bids being submitted and a number of awards were won with congratulations due to Schools for winning research grants, consultancy contracts and organising Short Courses.

For ApSci, congratulations are due to Adrian Newton, Ralph Clarke and Judith DeGroot (DEC) for their NERC grant, which is part of the Biodiversity & Ecosystem Service Sustainability (BESS) project, to Fiona Coward and Bronwen Russell for their short course on an introduction to world prehistory, to Richard Stillman for his award from Scottish Natural Heritage, to Rick Stafford, Genoveva Esteban, Duncan Golicher and Roger Herbert for their NERC award, to Jonathan Monteith for his two consultancies with Anesco, as well as consultancies with Sherborne Castle Estates and Distributed Generation Ltd, and to Adrian Pinder for his consultancy with the Environment Agency.  Good luck to Paola Palma for her application to English Heritage, to John Gale for his short course on Guided walk – aspects of prehistoric West Dorset, to Adrian Pinder for his consultancies to Natural England and to the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, to Rick Stafford and Chris Shiel for their application to Higher Education Academy, to Sulaf Assi for her consultancy to Royal Society of Chemistry, and to Jonathan Monteith for his consultancy to Roofing Cladding & Building Ltd.

For the Business School, good luck to Melanie Klinkner, Sascha Dominik Bachmann and Howard Davis for their application to United States Institute of Peace, to Thanh Cong Huynh for his European Commission Marie Curie Fellowship, to Gbola Gbadamosi and Lois Farquharson for their application to the Higher Education Academy to investigate the contribution of aspirations in shaping personal trajectories and outcomes, and to Hiroko Oe for her application to the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation.

For DEC, congratulations to Simon Thompson and Biao Zeng for their pilot study on Auditory Selective Attention and Lexical Tone Perception under a Whisper Condition for Chongqing University.  Good luck to Andrew Johnson for his application to Wellcome Trust, to Martin Teal and Glyn Hadley for their application to Royal Academy of Engineering to research Virtual Reality Simulation of WW1 Tank Battles, to Jacqui Taylor, Raian Ali and Keith Phalp for their match funded studentships to Higher Education Academy, to Marcin Budka for his EPSRC application, and to Sarah Bate for her application to the British Psychological Society.

For HSC, a number of short courses were awarded and so congratulations are due to Anthea Innes working with Bournemouth Borough Council, to Clive Andrewes with Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS, and to grants academy member Jane Murphy, Joanne Holmes and Sophie Smith with Abbeyfield Solent Society Ltd.  Good luck to Fotini Tsofliou for his pilot study to Rank Prize Funds, to Maggie Hutchings, Caroline Ellis-Hill and Janet Scammell for their application to the Higher Education Academy to explore the education strategies to empower students in humanising care, to Jen Leamon, Marilyn Cash and Vanora Hundley for their Higher Education Academy application to promote employability of dyslexic student midwives whilst protecting the public, to Tim Etheridge for his bid to Rank Prize Funds, to Peter Thomas for his application to Cancer Research UK, and to Anthea Innes and Sarah Hambidge for their application to Alzheimer’s Society.

Congratulations to the MS for An Nguyen for his contract with World Federation of Science Journalists, to grants academy members Dan Jackson and Shelly Thompson for their consultancy with Work Research Ltd, and to Zhidong Xiao for his short course with Wuhan Vocational College of Software and Engineering.  Good luck to Trevor Hearing who has submitted a HEFCE bid for postgraduate support in creative and digital economies, to Stephanie Farmer for her consultancy to 4com, to Alexander Pasko and Peter Comninos for their application to Interreg, to Melanie Gray and Pawel  Surowiec for their separate consultancies to Captec Ltd, and to Liam Toms for his consultancy to WISH.

For ST, congratulations to Ehren Milner for his consultancy with West Dorset District Council.  Good luck to Heather Hartwell, Adele Ladkin, Stephen Page and Ann Hemingway (HSC) for their ESRC application for ‘Promotion of wellbeing as a destination resource’, to Lisa Stuchberry and Jon Hibbert for their consultancy to Bournemouth Borough Council, to Richard Gordon and Mike Evans (ApSci) for their consultancy for British High Commission Nigeria, and to Ehren Milner for his contract to Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group (NHS).

Best wishes

Matthew

School of Health & Social Care PhD researcher attends the European Healthcare Management Association conference

Post-award

Elizabeth Roberts, a PhD student researcher with the School of Health & Social Care, was awarded support from the

All smiles as the conference progressed!

PGR Development Scheme to attend the 2013 European Healthcare Management Association conference in Milan 26-28th June to present the preliminary findings of her research into barriers, enablers and opportunities for new and different easy of working in dysphagia care.

Elizabeth said: “It was quite daunting to think about presenting my findings at first, because so many delegates at the conference were leading the way in thinking about health care policy in Europe, however, I really enjoyed networking with other research students, and talking about my research to people familiar with the challenges we face, but unfamiliar with the novel way I am approaching the issue. It really made me think hard about my key points and message!”

My research explores, using grounded theory methods, the barriers, enablers and opportunities for new and different ways of working in dysphagia care in stroke, with an emphasis on organisational and health policy factors. The core concept to emerge is the maintenance and/ or creation of explicit knowledge (that which can be codified and/ or taught to other staff groups) as tacit knowledge (expert skill/ expertise), in order to maintain control over the clinical area. The emerging model explores the factors causing this process, as well as the strategies employed and their consequences.

This award really helped me to fully appreciate the context within which my research can make an impact, as well as supercharged my motivation. The also ran a workshop on getting published in health policy research specifically for us PhD students, which was particularly timely.

The Abstract Book for the 2013 European Healthcare Management Association conference, along with Elizabeth’s abstract (page 149…!) is now available at: http://www.ehma.org/?q=node/1063

The KTP Advantage

BU research, Festival of Learning

 

 

 

 

 

 

In my KTP I…

Provided consultation into the design of an innovative model of dementia care: ‘Shared Care’ The aim of Shared Care is to offer an alternative lifestyle choice to people living with dementia. At present, options for people needing support living with dementia are limited to in home care packages, outsourced respite and long term care home placement.

Brendoncare sought the expertise at Bournemouth University Dementia Institute (BUDI) to ensure the built and psycho-social environments, methods of care delivery and technologies implemented within Shared Care were ‘dementia friendly’ and to ensure the voice of people living with dementia has an input to the design of services. This was achieved through consultation with people with dementia, family carers and formal care staff.

Highlights of the project were…

Being given the opportunity to take responsibility for all aspects of my project from ensuring the consultation work was ethically proficient to recruitment to dissemination and succeeding in meeting the expectations of the client. Moreover, being funded to go and discuss my work with peers at Alzheimer’s Europe 2013 in Malta was a great experience.

Representing Brendoncare at BUDI's internal conference in May

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Best Thing about being a KTP Associate is…

Applying the theoretical knowledge and skills learnt during education into practice, with the support of an expert knowledge base and a practice base receptive to service innovation. The opportunities to present findings at board room level and hear action points being raised as a direct result of your work is also extremely satisfying.

From KTP I have learnt…

Before KTP I was just another graduate. Now I have professional academic experience, I have completed a challenging and intensive project within dementia studies; met peers and discussed my work at an international conference and have become a valued member of BUDI; a team committed to improving the lives of people with dementia. KTP has confirmed, reinforced and enabled me to start an academic career in dementia research.

Life after KTP is…

I am about to start my PhD study: An investigation into the strategic implementation of a model of dementia care into a care home environment. I am also planning to get findings of this project published in a peer reviewed academic journal.

I recommend KTP because…

It provides one of the best opportunities I’ve seen in the graduate market. It gives associate experience in both academic and practice-based working environments, space to develop skills, control and ownership over project work and much support along the way. I would recommend any graduate to grasp this opportunity and get the KTP advantage!

 

CIM Dorset Event – Brand Purpose – Richard Calvert from Bright Blue Day

Training

Join us on Tuesday 12 November 2013 for the latest in our series of events held by the CIM Dorset branch.

Richard Calvert from Bright Blue Day is joining us to tell us about Brand Purpose.  As marketers we’re finding new ways to integrate Social, Local and Mobile communications into our customers day-to-day lives – invariably introducing complexity and unnecessary hassle into our lives.

There has been an explosion in the tools, techniques, strategies and tactics available to the SO LO MO marketer – each promising to deliver just the right message at the right time in the right place to the right person.  How do we apply SO LO MO thinking to deliver real value to customers, prospects and to our businesses?

How do we deliver real brand purpose and cut through everything that we can do in order to deliver just what we should?

Arrival from 6pm for a 6:30pm start.  Networking from 6pm until the event start. To book please visit http://bit.ly/1idcvi5

Creative Technology Research Seminar Wed 23rd Oct 2-3pm P302

Uncategorized

We would like to invite you to the first research seminar of the Creative Technology Research Centre that will be delivered by Dr Qingde Li from Hull University.

 Title: Modern Programmable GPUs for Complex Geometry Rendering

Time: 2:00PM-3:00PM

Date: Wednesday 23rd October 2013

Room: P302 (Poole House, Talbot Campus)

Abstract: Why does the idea of GPU computing looms so large in recent years? Surely it is due to the significant advances in GPU technology. Though the evolution of GPUs is driven primarily by the ever increasing demand from games industry for high realistic graphics effects, GPUs are no longer limited to the use of generating high quality graphical effects. They are now having a much wider application and are playing an essential role in modern technology in information presentation.  This shift in the roles played by GPUs is mainly due to the technology trend. This is because graphical objects are now not only a key element in games and other entertainment media, but also a mainstream form of presenting a piece of information on internet and on a variety of mobile devices.  Future human-computer UI will be more and more mixed reality based and the corresponding 3D graphics objects will not only be rendered with high realism, but also highly intelligent, and can be interacted in a much natural way. As the main the supporting hardware device, GPUs will play an even more important role in the future, especially in media industry. In this talk, we will give a brief introduction to the modern programmable GPUs and demonstrate their use for visualizing highly complex geometric forms.

Biography:  Dr Qingde Li received the BSc in mathematics from Beijing Normal University in 1982 and PhD in computer science from the University of Hull in 2002. Dr Qingde Li has been a Lecturer in Computer science at the University of Hull since 2001. Previously he was a professor and the deputy head of Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Anhui Normal University, China. He was a visiting scholar in the Department of applied Statistics at the University of Leeds from Oct 1990 to May 1992, and in the Department of Computing at the University of Bradford from Sept 1996 to Aug 1997. Before he joined the department, his research interests were mainly with fuzzy sets and random sets. His most current research interests are in the area of 3D graphics, such as shape modelling, medical image processing and visualization, GPU-based scientific simulation and special graphics effects.

CoPMRE Tenth Annual Symposium

BU research

The Centre of Postgraduate Medical Research and Education (CoPMRE) held its Tenth Annual Symposium on Wednesday 16th October in the Executive Business Centre. The Symposium, ‘Innovation in Medical Education and Research, Promoting Change…’ was attended by over 70 delegates from BU, local NHS Trusts and other areas of healthcare. Despite the wind and the pouring rain, it proved to be an interesting and informative day!

The morning session focused on medical devices and kicked off with a presentation from Professor Paul Thompson (Director of CoPMRE and Consultant Rheumatologist, Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust) who discussed the Department of Health’s ‘Innovation, Health and Wealth’ report and its implication for practice. Professor Siamak Noroozi (Chair in Advanced Technology, DEC) followed with a fascinating presentation on the key performance enhancement potentials of running with blades and the cutting edge research currently underway in DEC. Professor Ian Swain (Director of Clinical Science & Engineering, Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust and Visiting Professor, BU) treated us to a live demonstration of functional electrical stimulation (FES) and an overview of the fantastic results he and his team have had using FES and other Assistive Technologies in neurological rehabilitation.

Mr Robert Middleton (Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Visiting Fellow, BU) talked about medical device trials in Bournemouth, particularly the quality, quantity and expertise available with regards to hip and knee replacements. Chris Pomfrett, Technical Adviser from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) described the process for the evaluation of new medical devices and the production of NICE guidance for devices. Dr Mike McMillan (CEO, NHS Innovations South West) finished the morning session with a presentation on how to be an innovator and keep the day job.

After a fantastic lunch and a chance to network, the afternoon session focused on medical education. The first speaker was John Reidy, Careers Lead from Talbot Heath School who talked us through the University application process and support available to students applying to medical school. Dr Tristan Richardson (Consultant Endocrinologist, Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS foundation Trust and Visiting Fellow, BU) told us about the work experience course at Royal Bournemouth Hospital for local school children wishing to pursue a career in medicine. Dr Chris Stephens, Associate Dean from University of Southampton discussed its Medical School, what they look for in applicants, and what the future holds for the School. Dr Mike Masding (Head of Wessex Foundation School, Consultant Physician, Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Visiting Fellow, BU) presented on the ‘golden age’ of medical training and the evolving Foundation Programme for Junior Doctors. Paula Robblee from the General Medical Council (GMC) talked us through how the GMC regulate medical research and training, and Dr Peter Hockey concluded the Symposium with a presentation on the education and training available from Health Education Wessex.

All round an interesting day with many exciting speakers! A full report on the day will be available and distributed in due course. For more information contact us.

Energy Management for existing buildings. Competition now open

BU research, Funding opportunities

The Technology Strategy Board (TSB) and the Research Councils’ UK Energy Programme are to invest up to £4m in collaborative R&D to stimulate innovation in the field of energy management for existing buildings.

The aim of this competition is to advance significantly the capabilities of UK businesses so that they can capture a greater share of growing UK and global markets.

Consortia must be collaborative and led by a business. They should include at least one business that provides solutions for energy management, such as technology providers, building/facility/energy managers or engineers. The TSB are also encouraging consortia to include a potential customer for their energy management innovation and, where appropriate, researchers from relevant academic or research organisations.

This is a two-stage competition that opened for applicants on 14 October 2013. Applicants must register by noon on 20 November 2013. The deadline for expressions of interest is at noon on 27 November 2013.

A briefing event for potential applicants will be held in London on 23 October 2013. For more information and to register please click here.

Staff Profile Pages to be updated

BU research, Guidance

The staff profile pages are being updated to tweak a few things such as changes to research themes, viewing and scrolling on mobile devices, ensuring photos don’t overlap with index, adding a few icons, to name but a few. 

This will take place from 4pm on Tuesday (22nd) until 8.15am on Wednesday.  It will mean that any content put into BRIAN will not update overnight.  The ‘refresh now’ button on the profile pages will also be disabled at this time.  The profile pages will be refreshed after 8am on Wednesday with any content that you’ve added to BRIAN.

There is still an outstanding issue with some links to BURO not working but this will be resolved in due course.

Thanks for your patience.

AXA post-doc funding call

Funding opportunities

AXA Research Fund have funding available for two year post-doctoral posts for basic research, specifically in the fields of: *Biology & biochemistry *Biology and genetics *Economics and business *Environment/ecology *Geosciences *Immunology *Mathematics *Microbiology *Neuroscience and behaviour *Plant and animal science *Psychiatry/psychology *Social sciences, general

Applications are submitted according to a three-stage process.
Stage 1 involves BU naming the fields in which we plan to submit an application. AXA recommend that we make a strategic choice of those fields we feel we are particularly strong in.
They then inform us how many applications we can submit at stage 2. This stage involves an outline application being submitted by the candidates. Following review by AXA Research Fund, some of these will be invited to submit a full proposal at stage 3.

If you are interested in submitting an application for a 2-year post-doc in one of the above fields, or know someone who may be, please contact the Deputy Dean for Research and Enterprise in your School before the deadline of 30 October to ensure your field is included in the Stage 1 submission.

As we will only be allowed to submit a limited number of applications at Stage 2, we will be holding an internal RPRS competition. Please contact Jennifer Roddis for further information about this. The deadline for this will be 11 November 2013.

The 5 things you didn’t know about Innovation Vouchers….

Funding opportunities

1.      Small to Medium size businesses can apply for funded support to buy in consultancy expertise from university academics

2.     There are currently 2 different Innovation Voucher schemes which are run separately by the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) and Universities South West (USW)

3.      With the USW Innovation Voucher you can receive up to 40% funded support for projects ranging from £3,000 – £10,000. (**Only organisations located in the South West can apply, excluding Cornwall)

4.      TSB Innovation Voucher offers £5000 to businesses who are looking for support in the following sector areas:

Built Environment, Energy, Water & Waste and Agrifood

Also available to all industry sectors who specifically require expertise on ‘Open Data’ or ‘Cyber Security’

5.      Applying for a voucher is easy! Both schemes require on-line applications where you will need to answer a few short questions about your idea, the impact it could have on your business and why you specifically need help from university academics.

For further information on Innovation Vouchers  please visit the TSB and University South West websites:

Technology Strategy  Board

University South West 

 

If you have any questions or would like to apply for a voucher, please contact the University’s Knowledge Exchange Officer –  Lucy Rossiter on 01202 961215.

What can a University community contribute to a Dementia Friendly Society? Being a friend is a start!

BU research

In what proved to be a very busy few months of engaging with the public to try and raise awareness of dementia, BUDI held its first Dementia Friends Training session in September. People with dementia sometimes need a helping hand to go about their daily lives and feel included in their local community. The Prime Ministers Challenge and the Alzheimer Society national initiative – Dementia Friends – is giving the general public an understanding of dementia and the small things they can do that can make a difference to people living with dementia – from raising dementia awareness in customer-facing staff to spreading the word about dementia. http://www.dementiafriends.org.uk/

20 BU staff and students responded to the invitation to take part and the training was delivered by one of BUDIs research collaborators Ian Sherriff at Plymouth University, who is also a Trustee of the Alzheimer Society, and a member of one of the Prime Minister’s national Dementia Working Groups. Friends’ information sessions are run by Dementia Friends Champions, who are volunteers who have taken the Dementia Friends Champions’ training. The Friends’ information session lasted around one hour and we learnt more about dementia and how we can help to create dementia friendly communities in our working environment and in our local community. The session was good fun and made everyone realise how they can contribute to making the lives of those living with dementia easier.

Professor Anthea Innes and BUDI PhD student Ben Hicks were so inspired by the friends training they have agreed to become Dementia Champions to help train more BU staff and students to become dementia friends. The one-hour training session is free and will be offered at different points in the year to any BU staff or students who want to become a Dementia Friend. If you are interested in becoming a dementia friend and want to make a positive difference to people living with dementia in your community please contact Michelle O’Brien to book your place (Email: mobrien@bournemouth.ac.uk Telephone: 01202 962771)

Twenty years after the publication of Changing Childbirth, where are we now?

BU research, Featured academics, Research news

Twenty years after the publication of Changing Childbirth, an eminent panel of clinicians, politicians and consumer representatives assembled to review the legacy of this key Changing CHildbirthmaternity report. The session, funded by the Wellcome Trust, was held at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in London – an appropriate place given the balance of power at the time of the report.  BU Professors Vanora Hundley and Edwin van Teijlingen were invited to attend as part of the selected audience at the session.

The session started with the panel reminding the audience that maternity services prior to the publication of Changing Childbirth in the early 1990s were anything but women focused. Several speakers noted that this report was the first to put women at the centre of maternity care, and many of the recommendations regarding patient-centred care across the NHS followed on from it. As the president of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) Lesley Page commented: “It was common sense, but hugely radical.”

Changing Childbirth was the government’s response to Sir Nicholas Winterton’s ground-breaking review of the maternity services (Health Select Committee report 1992). The review was unique in seeking views from women – as Nicholas Winterton noted, his Parliamentary committee also made history by letting women who came to give evidence breastfeed during the hearing.

Baroness Julia Cumberlege reflected on how she had been determined that the Health Select Committee report would not simply be another filed document but would have an impact. Twenty years on has the report had an impact? 

The discussions covered a wide-ranging number of maternity care issues at the time of Changing Childbirth’s conception, many of which are still issues today in the UK.  We’d like to highlight two of these issues where BU has made an academic contribution.  First, the observation that we need to be cautious in making assumptions about choices that women perceive they have in childbirth. Profs van Teijlingen and Hundley’s research has demonstrated that women often cannot envisage or value potential choices if these options don’t exist in their current environment.1,2   

The second BU contribution to the debate is around the closure of small maternity units. One of the panel members compared the centralisation of maternity services to that of banks and supermarkets.  A comparative study was published in 2010 by Prof. van Teijlingen and BU Visiting Fellow Dr. Emma Pitchforth under the title ‘Rural maternity care: Can we learn from Wal-Mart?’.

Overall the panel was positive about the legacy of Changing Childbirth – that is, a more humanised maternity services. However, all present expressed disappointment at the failure of the NHS to introduce continuity of carer, something that women who gave evidence stated they valued highly. As Nicholas Winterton said: “We have made progress but we should be making further progress – It is unfinished business.”

Vanora Hundley is Professor of Midwifery

Edwin van Teijlingen is Professor of Reproductive Health Research

 References:

  1. Hundley V, Ryan M and Graham W (2001) Assessing women’s preferences for intrapartum care. Birth 28 (4): 254-263.
  2. van Teijlingen E, Hundley V, Rennie AM, Graham W, Fitzmaurice A. (2003) Maternity satisfaction studies and their limitations: “What is, must still be best”, Birth 30: 75-82.  
  3. van Teijlingen ER and Pitchforth E. (2010) Rural maternity care: Can we learn from Wal-Mart? Health & Place 16: 359-364.

 

 

 

Book Now! A Few Spaces left on the 24th of OCT for your 1-2-1 appointment with Martin Pickard – a great opportunity to improve your bid proposals

BU research, Grants Academy, Research news, Training

If you feel you would benefit from a ‘face to face’ meeting with Martin  in relation to any bid/proposal you are currently working on please contact me Dianne Goodman ASAP with your time preferences.

Martin currently has some availablity on these dates between the following times:

  • 24th September 2013, 9:15am- 5pm (Lansdowne Campus )

Appointments are approx 45 minutes long. You will also have unlimited telephone and email support to progress your application after meeting with Martin.

Martin Pickard

With a career background in both Academia and Industry Dr. Martin Pickard of Grantcraft is a specialist in writing and supporting research grant applications and tenders as well as providing administrative and management support services for ongoing projects. During the last 20 years Martin has worked extensively across Europe with a large number of universities, and research institutes as well as industrial firms, ranging from small SME’s to major international companies.

Martin is providing individual 1-2-1 surgeries with any BU academic staff member and works individually and confidentiality with each Principal Investigator as the project is structured and prepared in order to optimize the application documentation from every aspect of the Funders perspective; guiding, steering and showing how to optimize the application throughout the bid process.

Academics at BU who have undertaken his guidance have stated:

 ‘his support and direction was invaluable – Martin gave me some pragmatic suggestions which really helped to shape the bid. His eye for detail made the document much easier to read and the message much clearer. I was very grateful for his input’  Assoc. Prof Heather Hartwell School of Tourism.

The process, although labour intensive, works; with a proven historical average success rates of close to 1 in 2 against norms of (1 in 8 to 1 in 10)

Book Now through me Dianne Goodman – Martin’s appointments are always popular.