Yearly Archives / 2013

Euro PR history network backed by Fusion

Awarded & submitted bids, BU research, EU, Featured academics, Fusion, Uncategorized

IHPRC at EBC - Scene for first EPRHN meeting

A proposal to develop an innovative Europe-wide network of researchers in the history of public relations field has been supported by the Fusion Investment Fund (FIF).

The European Public Relations History Network (EPRHN) was formed in mid-2012 by Prof Tom Watson and backed by EUPRERA (European Public Relations Education & Research Association) as a priority project for the next three years. It was set up to identify archives and resources, undertake collaborative research, and prepare bids to European research bodies and PR industry organisations.

The field of public relations history has been developed at BU over the past four years, mainly through the establishment of the International History of Public Relations Conference (IHPRC).

Prof Watson said: “there has been increasing interest in the conference and PR historical research in Europe over the past 3-4 years but it has largely focused on national histories, personalities or phenomena. Collaborative research, across national boundaries, has yet to emerge. There is little shared knowledge of archival resources, where they exist or can be created.”

So far, 35 academics and practitioners from 12 countries have shown their interest in EPRHN. Its first publication, a catalogue of archives and resources in seven countries has just been published.  A EPRHN planning meeting will be held at BU after IHPRC in June.

Within The Media School, the network will also help develop European aspects of the Centre for Media History (CMH). CMH is already developing relationships with universities in Sweden and northern Germany. CMH and EPRHN will, it is hoped, foster the recruitment of PGR students interested in media and communication historical research.

The Fusion funding will allow EPRHN to hold a planning event at BU after IHPRC in late June and for Prof Watson and Dr Tasos Theofilou, who is working with him on both PR history projects, to attend EUPRERA’s annual conference in Barcelona in October. At EUPRERA, they will hold the network’s first formal meeting and workshop. [Photos by Minna-Liisa Nurmilaasko, PROCOM Finland].

IHPRC 2012

How to write a business case – training workshop

Guidance

On 6th March, Dr Martin Pickard of GrantCraft will be delivering a half-day,  interactive session that will show academics how to put forward a business case to justify projects; tools, techniques and expertise needed.  The session will be using examples to enhance understanding of what exactly goes into writing a compelling business case.

 Key elements to be covered include:

  • Understanding the essential elements which need to be in a good business case
  • Acquiring a practical framework for a comprehensive, persuasive business case
  • Working through the components of a great business case
  • Identifying how you can prove that you are good at what you do and what you need to improve still further
  • Learning how to present your case persuasively
  • Learning how to write for government tenders etc.

The event will take place at the Octagon, Talbot Campus, starting at 9am and ending at 13.00pm.

Please note that lunch will be provided between approximately 12.00 & 13.00 for this event.

To book your place: please follow this link Booking Form

For more info:  please contact Caroline O’Kane or Dianne Goodman.

 

The enormous benefits of becoming an EC Horizon 2020 Advisory Panel member

EU

Most of you will have heard me say before that the best way to influence what the European Commission will fund is by being involved in their advisory groups.

Joining an advisory group will not allow you to influence what funding is released under Horizon 2020 but you will have the chance to network with others from across Europe, leading to a host of potential collaborators. This is an especially attractive prospect when you consider that advisory group members are permitted to apply to any funding scheme they wish (so you have a ready consortium for the calls!).

There is a call for Horizon 2020 Advisory Group members out right now and it couldn’t be easier to join. The form is mainly your personal details and a couple of boxes for your qualifications and experience; it is less than 4 pages. You also get to select the Advisory Panel of interest to you (from health and wellbeing to clean energy) so there really is no reason not to sign up.

Places go quickly so take a look at the full details on the European Commission webpage and get involved.

5th Annual PGR Conference @ BU – REMINDER

PG research

A Celebration of BU PGR Research

Our annual conference is designed to showcase the best of BU’s postgraduate research and to provide a unique opportunity for you as PGRs to present your work within a safe learning environment. Our multi-disciplinary conference will allow for cross-school interaction as well as opportunities for collaboration, where appropriate.

The 2013 conference will build on the great success of the previous PGR Conferences held in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012.

Call for Abstracts

We are inviting abstracts for oral, poster presentations AND new for 2013, a photography presentation – no matter at what stage you are in your Research Project. Presentations may focus on:

  • Research area
  • Specific methodological approach
  • Initial findings
  • Experience of your research journey e.g. transfer

There will be prizes for the best poster, oral and photography presentations. Please be aware that there are limited number of oral presentation slots.

We are also looking for volunteers to help chair sessions, so if you are interested please email the Graduate School.

Guidelines

Please see

How to Register

You will all need to register, whether you are contributing or just attending.  Please complete the booking form (conference booking form) and send via email to: graduateschool@bournemouth.ac.uk

Deadlines

For submitting abstracts: Monday 25 March 2013
For attending the conference: Friday 12th April 2013

PGR Development Programme – February workshops

PG research

I just wanted to remind you about what’s on offer in February!  I’m still taking bookings for the following workshops, so please email gsbookings@bournemouth.ac.uk if you would like to attend:

  • Action Research
    The aim of the workshop is to provide an overview of Action Research and its origins.  You will look at the introduction to the concept of “communicative spaces” and discuss the use of Action Research for a dissertation
  • Preparing for your Viva
    The aim of the workshop is to familiarise students with the purpose and the format of the oral examination of their thesis. The workshop will familiarise participants with the role of the internal and external examiner and the judgements they will be making in the course of the viva. The session will also include input from the subject Librarians on copyright procedures
  • Introduction to Focus Groups
    The session will briefly outline the origin of Focus Group Research, its underlying philosophy, and its place among qualitative methods.  The session will also address some more practical issues and the strengths and weaknesses of this particular qualitative method.
  • Practice- Led Research
    This workshop will provide an overview of what makes practice-led research different from other academic research, looking at some case studies.  This will be followed by a discussion around the issues and rewarding events that participants have encountered as practice-led researchers.

A full programme including dates and times can be found here: PGR Development Framework Prog _Feb workshops

Santander PGR Grants – Round Two is now open

PG research

APPLY NOW!

This is an excellent opportunity for you to apply for funds to travel to at least one university from either the UK Santander Universities Network or to one of the Overseas Santander Partner Universities, to undertake a specific piece of work and build or develop links with international Researchers.  For this round, Santander are offering 10 x £2,000 grants for BU Postgraduate Researchers (PGRs).

Successful applicants will be expected to participate in general PR activities about their research. This may involve attending events and promoting the benefits of the funding.  

For further information, please read the GS Santander Travel Grants – Policy.

To apply, please complete the GS Santander Travel Grants – Application Form and submit it by email to the Graduate School (email: graduateschool@bournemouth.ac.uk) by 5 pm, Friday 8th March 2013.

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.

BRIAN – Improve your search settings

BU research, Guidance

I’ve attended a number of BRIAN workshops recently and a common theme has emerged – BRIAN doesn’t find all of your publications available on the on-line data sources that it searches.  In investigating this further with individuals it became obvious that not all of you have optimised your search settings.  This is quick and easy to do.

From your home page, you can scroll down to view you current search settings.  If they just include your name, e.g. Garrad J, then you should input an address, e.g. Bournemouth, at the very least.  If you publish under other names or have published at other institutions then you should add these too.  Click on ‘My Search Settings’ and firstly add all combinations of your name and initials under which you publish by entering a name, e.g. Garrad Jo, and then clicking on the blue plus sign.  You can add as many names as required.  You can add previous institutions or those with which you collaborate under the address field, e.g. Swindon University, and as before, click on the blue plus sign each time you add an address.

After you have clicked the ‘save’ button at the bottom of the page, BRIAN will search within four hours.  This is all you need to do.  You don’t need to add keywords or journals as this will limit the search too much.  If you want further information then please read the BRIAN – Quick Start Guide v1.

If you are receiving hundreds of publications that are not yours, please do contact BRIAN@bournemouth.ac.uk and let us know.  We can sort this out for you.

Please note that I will be moving to RKE Operations on 1st February until mid-July and so please send all future BRIAN queries to BRIAN@bournemouth.ac.uk and not directly to me.

Thanks

REF??

Research assessment

A while back, we posted a really useful blog on the frequently asked questions about the Research Excellence Framework (REF2014) national assessment, in particular within the context of Bournemouth University (please click on ‘BU REF FAQs’ for the post).

Not much has changed since then except that preparations are now in full swing for the Spring 2013 Full Mock Exercise and all Nominated Research Outputs are to be selected via the REF2014 module on BRIAN before the 15th February deadline (an official guidance has been produced to help you with this).

If you are relatively new in the scene of REF or if you are looking for more information in a specific area of REF2014, another useful source of information would be the FAQs section on the official REF website. The areas relevant to most of you would be topics like

-Individual staff circumstances

-Research outputs

-Codes of practice on the selection of staff

etc…

For more information on BU REF2014, please click on ‘ref’ on the right-hand tab, which will take you to all previous blog posts on all things REF.

Please feel free to get in touch with me or Rita Dugan (rdugan@bournemouth.ac.uk) if you wish to speak to someone about your REF eligibility. 

House of Lords & Open Access

News from the PVC, Publishing

Derek Ager wrote an absolutely lovely book called the Nature of the Stratigraphic Record which has become a seminal work within the field of earth history.  He alike n’s the stratigraphic record to the life of a solider in the trenches; long periods when not much happens punctuated by periods of blind terror!  At times I sometimes think this resembles the life of a Pro Vice Chancellor and yesterday was one of the those days of terror.  I gave evidence in front of the House of Lords Science & Technology Committee with respect to Open Access publishing.

They are currently investigating the implementation of the Open Access policy which was endorsed by Government and RCUK funding bodies following publication of the Finch report.  Of particular interest are the issues around article processing charges referred to by the acronym APC’s.  You may recall if you are an avid reader of the blog that the UK has endorsed following the Finch Report so-called Gold Open Access in which the author pays an upfront fee so that the reader can have unrestricted open access on publication.  The exact opposite from the current subscription based model.  The so-called Green Open Access model based on the use of institutional and subject based repositories is favoured by many within the academic community but not directly by government policy.  The cost estimate of the shift to Gold Open Access is variously placed at between £30 and £50 million and imposes an increased burden on already stretched research funds.  In theory in the long term subscript charges should fall but given that the UK contributes just 6% of global published output it is unlikely to happen quickly.  In September 2012 the Government arbitrarily gave £10 million to support 30 research intensive institutions and in November announced interim measures to come into force from April 2013.  Rather than simply support all RCUK grant holders the government adopted a complex algorithm which favours research intensives.  The algorithm calculates ‘direct labour costs’ in RCUK funded projects as a proxy for ‘staff effort’ and uses this to calculate an APC value.  The more ‘effort’ within a grant the more APC’s one apparently requires to publish that work.  So if you have lots of RCUK grants, with lots of staff costs within them you get more cash, irrespective of the quality or nature of that research.  Despite the fact that approximately 20% of BU’s research is RCUK funded and is outstanding we don’t exceed the £10k threshold and therefore will not receive any APC funding.

The obvious result of such a policy is off course to favour research intensive institutions and is yet another unintended driver towards research concentration in the UK.  One of the most useful things that the University Alliance, the mission group to which BU belongs, has ever done is the report it published in June 2011 on the perils concentrating research funding.  This is a beautiful and influential piece of work that demonstrates comprehensively that there is no link between research quality and the size of a research group; quality shines out wherever it is within the sector.  Quality can drive growth, but size does not necessarily drive quality.

So sandwiched between the PVC’s for Oxford and Imperial I felt somewhat out of place but was able to hold my own, and make the points that I wished to make drawing attention to the challenge that institutions like our own, that don’t currently receive APC support, face and to draw attention to issues of research concentration.  So where does that leave our own staff?  It is worth noting that we launched our own APC or Open Access fund two years ago and that demand has grown by 32% over that time and we are committed as an institution to ensuring that our researchers can publish in the most appropriate place for them to be read and cited irrespective of whether it is open access or not.  It is likely that we will double our Open Access Fund again this year and are committed to finding the funds to do so.

PGR Development Framework Programme – new workshops announced

PG research

An additional workshop – An Introduction to Case Studies – has been added to the March Programme:

An Introduction to Case Studies
This introductory session will provide a general overview of case methodology. Key questions to be discussed are: When should case studies be used? What characterises a convincing case study research? What criticisms are commonly put forward against case study research and how can they be addressed?”
Date: Wednesday 20 March 2013
Time: 14:00 – 17:00
Room: EB303, Executive Business Centre – Lansdowne
Facilitator: Dr Fabian Homberg
Booking: gsbookings@bournemouth.ac.uk

A full list of March workshops can be found here:  PGR Development Framework Prog _ March workshops

April Events

PGR induction (Repeat workshop)
Outline: Introduction to BU’s academic and professional support for your research degree.  The session will also include an introduction to the Research Development Framework and how to map your personal development.
Date: Wednesday 24 April 2013
Time: 10:00 – 13:00
Room: PG22 – Poole House – Talbot Campus
Facilitator: Graduate School
Booking: gsbookings@bournemouth.ac.uk

Research Philosophy
Outline: The aim of this workshop is to examine the meanings of some key terms in the philosophy of science, with the objective of enhancing understanding of, and stimulating reflection on, some basic issues in research philosophy.
Date: Wednesday 24 April 2013
Time: 14:00 – 16:00
Room: PG22 – Poole House – Talbot Campus
Facilitators: Professor Barry Richards
Booking: gsbookings@bournemouth.ac.uk


 

 

Women in academia and FIF SMN Funding

Awarded & submitted bids, BU research, Fusion

 There are currently 18, 465 professors across British Academia; only 3,790 (20.5%) are female.  The number of female professors has increased by 1.5% since 2010[i]. At this rate of increase (0.75% per year) it will take 119 years for women to achieve equal numbers in the professoriate (and that is assuming the total number of professors stays the same!). At the same time the ratio of women to men is roughly equal at undergraduate level.  At Phd the number of women starts to decline, through to postdoctoral, to lecture, to SL to professor. We might imagine this as an inverted pyramid.

With these concerns in mind, I have recently been asked to edit a symposium in the journal European Political Science (which I will now co-edit with Stephen Bates [University of Birmingham]) about the status of women in political science.  While there are clearly issues which impact upon women’s careers across the academy (and I have written about this elsewhere),  the aim of our symposium is to map the way in which women are positioned in my own discipline, political science, across Europe.  Space and resources have meant that we are beginning with a ‘snapshot’ with contributions from Finland, Germany, Spain and the UK and authors will be asked to map the ‘state of play’ in political science in their own country.  From here the intention is to then move to a discussion about what possibilities and opportunities lie ahead for women.  While the symposium is about political science, there are clearly wider themes applicable beyond our discipline; about women in academia more generally their opportunities for entrance, engagement and progression.

 The FIF SMN networking grant gives me the opportunity to attend the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) Gender and Politics Conference in Barcelona.  Here I am hoping to meet with the ECPR Gender and Politics Group steering committee and discuss the ways in which European Political Science currently seeks to tackle this issue. We are also hoping to apply for funding for a full scale data collection project, looking at best practice elsewhere and developing tools and recommendations to support and promote women within the profession.

 

 

[i] 2012 data from Higher Education Statistics Agency; 2010 data from the Equality Challenge Unit

Funding for meetings and networking activity available through COST

EU

A Call has been launched under the European Co-operation in Science and Technology (COST) programme. You will know from my previous posts, that COST covers the costs of networking  activities such as meetings (e.g. travel, subsistence, support for the  organiser), conferences, workshops, short-term scientific exchanges,  training schools, publications and dissemination activities. To apply, you  must register online by 15/2/13 and  then apply by 29/3/12.

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.

PhD Studentship Competition 2013 – 2nd Call for Matched Funded Studentships

BU research

Following the successful allocation of 39 PhD Studentships (fully and matched funded) under the 1st call, we are delighted to announce a 2nd call of the competition in which there are 5 matched funded studentships available for candidates starting in September 2013 as outlined below:

Matched-funding (50% equivalent to £24k over three years) may come from:

  • Industry/business partners,
  • Government and non-government organizations,
  • Academic Schools,
  • NHS,
  • Research Councils, or
  • Other external bodies.

Priority may be given to applications that involve supervisors from two or more Schools and/or those from early career researchers.

All proposals should match clearly to one of the eight BU Research Challenges:

  • Creative & Digital Economies
  • Culture & Society
  • Entrepreneurship & Economic Growth
  • Environmental Change & Biodiversity
  • Green Economy & Sustainability
  • Health, Wellbeing & Aging
  • Leisure & Recreation
  • Technology & Design.

Applicants are encouraged to discuss potential applications to this funding strand with their Deputy Dean Research or equivalent within their School.

As with the 1st call, the PhD Studentships will be awarded to Supervisory Teams on the basis of a competitive process across the whole of BU led by Professor Matthew Bennett (PVC Research, Enterprise & Internationalization) and managed by the Graduate School.

Applications will be assessed and awards made by a cross University Panel. In selecting proposals for funding, emphasis will be placed on the excellence of the research and quality of proposal in the first instance.  Strategic fit with the REF and Societal Impact will also be assessed. The panel will individually score each proposal and meet formally to select the successful projects.

Only the best projects will be funded and proceed to advert. Full details and criteria are set out in the BU-Studentship-Competition-2013-Final-Policy (Rd2).  Staff are asked to check the eligibility criteria carefully before applying.

Proposals should be submitted on the Studentship-Project-Proposal-2013 (Matched Funding) to the Graduate School (phdstudentshipcompetition@bournemouth.ac.uk) no later than 5pm on Monday 18th March 2013.

All proposals must be completed fully, include all appropriate signatures and be accompanied by a supporting document from the matched funder (letter, email, etc).

Good luck!

 

Fusion Investment Funding – An educational game for nursing student engagement in caring for people with dementia

Awarded & submitted bids, BU research, Fusion

Dr Christos Gatzidis (DEC) and myself, along with BUDI colleagues Michele Board and Patricia McParland are delighted to have been awarded funding to develop an educational game for nursing students. Thanks to the funding we will be able to recruit a Research Assistant who will develop technical aspects of an interactive 3D virtual game which will respond to a European Union Directive for including dementia education in pre-registration nursing programmes.
Colleagues from HSC and BUDI will help in the preparation of detailed information to be incorporated in the game. Its veracity (and user-friendliness) will be assessed by people who have dementia and those who care for them. We will be presenting our developed game to a number of audiences, both in person and in print, once the project has reached completion in 2014 and will be offering updates along the way.

Rick Fisher, HSC