Latest research and knowledge exchange news at Bournemouth University
After this next KTP submission deadline on 7th September 2016, there is one further deadline in 2016 – 2nd November 2016.
Various aspects of the KTP submission and approval process have changed over the past few months and for a breakdown of what these changes are, please take a look here.
Future KTP submission deadlines for your planning are:
If you have any KTP ideas that you’d like support with, please contact Rachel Clarke, KE Adviser on 61347.
Professor Jian Jun Zhang, Dr Jian Chang and Hui Liang are pleased to announce the EU AniM Workshop.
Please click here to register.
The “AniM” www.euanim.org is an EU FP7 Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship funded project, which aims to improve the status quo by developing the “next generation computer animation techniques” and to answer challenges in handling computer animation data in an intelligent way to facilitate creativity and to encourage interaction among users through knowledge transfer and development.
The workshop is an intensive research meeting, aiming to provide new insights, approaches and methods of the next generation computer animation techniques and the intelligent animation data management to facilitate the growth of the computer animation industry.
Over 70 researchers based at UK universities and industry companies, will be invited for this workshop , which will be structured around the themes of “Enhanced Computer Animation technology” and “Intelligent Data Management for Computer Animation”.
You are invited to join us at the Executive Business Centre, Bournemouth University, on 2nd September 2016. Registration will be open from 09.45 and the workshop will commence at 10.30.
Professor Jian Jun Zhang of the NCCA, Bournemouth University will chair the event, which will include an introduction to the research within the project EU AniM and a panel discussion. Professor Nigel W John from the University of Chester, is confirmed to deliver a keynote on “Real Time Computer Graphics for Surgery Simulation”. A buffet lunch and refreshments will be provided.
We look forward to seeing you in September, in the meantime if you have any questions regarding this event, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Everyone has a different definition for “innovation”. Is the view of Kevin Baughan Director of Technology and Innovation at Innovate UK. For him innovation defined simply as “delivering better outcomes”.
It is broad enough in scope to reflect the importance of innovation in enhancing every aspect of our lives, whilst at the same time emphasising the criticality of delivery and the need for leadership and collaborations in order to achieve those better outcomes.
Better connections was a key theme of the new Secretary of State’s early speeches on introducing his new ministerial team The Rt Hon Greg Clark MP, observed that: “[An industrial] strategy makes connections between what might otherwise be disparate forces; aligning them, rather than leaving them isolated or even opposed.”
So how do you use industrial strategy to make effective connections between what might otherwise be disparate forces and how do you then use those connections to deliver better outcomes? As part of a series of blog posts these ideas are introduced:
Game changer 1 = UK innovators + cross disciplinary science
Each sector of the economy is of course very different and the journey from concept to commercialisation is rarely a linear one but a clear industrial strategy fosters connections and alignment.
We have all experienced the powerful difference when you are in a team with a common purpose.
Following Sir Paul’s Nurse’s review, the government has set in motion legislation, which will bring together the Research Councils, Innovate UK and Research England into a single organisation – UKRI. Creating new opportunities to build even stronger connections both between research disciplines and between cross-disciplinary research and innovation.
This not only fits well with the benefits demonstrated by the earlier automotive example, but it moves the entire game on, by ensuring that it’s cross disciplinary research teams, which are integrated into cross technology innovation initiatives which are in pursuit of our future industrial strategies.
EPSRC have issued the following call:
| Issue date: | 23 August 2016 | |
|---|---|---|
| Opening date: | 23 August 2016 | |
| Closing date: | 15 November 2016 at 16:00 | |
| Status: | Open | |
| Tag: | Invitation for proposals | |
| Related themes: | Digital economy Energy ICT |
This call is supported through EPSRC‘s Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) allocation. The aim of this activity is to support an internationally leading programme of research, centred around engineering and digital technologies, to tackle the challenges faced by the developing world. Exemplar areas are given under each heading below, but these should not be seen as exclusive. Proposals may also span both headings.
The proposed research must be predominantly in EPSRC remit, although interdisciplinary and/or multidisciplinary proposals are welcomed. Proposals must also be compliant with Official Development Assistance (ODA) guidelines.
Please note that applicants may only be named as Investigator (either Principal or Co-Investigator) on one proposal to this call.
Overseas Co-Investigators from research organisations in low-/middle-income countries – countries on the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) list of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) – may be included on proposals through this call.
The call closes at 16:00 on Tuesday 15 November 2016. Up to £25 million is available from EPSRC for this call. We aim to support in the region of twenty research projects through this activity.
Resources – Full call document
If you are interested in applying to this call then please contact your RKEO Funding Development Officer in the first instance.
Congratulations to FHSS’s Dr. Pramod Regmi on the publication of his latest paper in the SAARC Journal of Tuberculosis, Lung Diseases and HIV/AIDS under the title ‘Knowing is not enough: Migrant workers’ spouses vulnerability to HIV’ [1]. The paper was specifically highlighted in the editorial of the journal’s latest edition.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
Reference
As part of our ongoing commitment to celebrating awarded competitive research projects we are pleased to announce a new monthly post that will provide information about recently awarded grants.
Project Title: Development of a tranining program for the improvement of quality of life of persons with alzheimer through “serious games”.
Principle Investigator: Ben Hicks
Project Description: Ben Hicks, Jan Wiener (Bournemouth University Dementia Institute and Psychology Department) and Wen Tang (Department of Creative Technology) will be working in collaboration with 5 European partners across Spain, Slovenia, Romania and Greece to develop and evaluate a training program that supports the use of ‘Serious Games’ for people living with Alzheimer’s Disease. The project has been funded by the European Commission Erasmus+ and will run for two years starting in September 2016. The research aims to work in collaboration with people living with Alzheimer’s Disease to develop ‘serious games’ and technological training that will promote their Quality of Life. The specific objectives of the study are:
Project Title: Activities for schools and the general public, and continuation of research of the rare aquatic habitats inthe East Stoke area (Dorset).
Principle Investigator: Genoveva Esteban
Project Description: This project will enable the continuation of world-class research into the microbial communities of the rare aquatic habitats in the East Stoke area near Wareham (Dorset). The scientific community in general will benefit from this research through discoveries that will be published in specialised peer-reviewed journals. The project also aims at embedding outdoor activities into first and second schools’ Curriculum in order to;
Other benefits are to inspire school children to have an interest in the life sciences; reveal the wondrous life of organisms hidden from the naked eye; and last but not least, to engage with the general public to highlight the importance of protecting natural aquatic habitats.
Project Title: 2016 Referendum Analysis: media, voters and the campaign
Principle Investigator: Dan Jackson
Project Description: We are very pleased to announce the publication of “EU Referendum Analysis 2016: Media, Voters and the Campaign”, edited by Daniel Jackson, Einar Thorsen (both BU) and Dominic Wring (Loughborough University).
Featuring 80 contributions from 100 leading UK academics, this publication captures the immediate thoughts, reflections and early research insights on the 2016 Referendum on UK Membership of the European Union from the cutting edge of media and politics research.
Published 10 days after the election, these contributions are short and accessible. Authors provide authoritative analysis of the campaign, including research findings or new theoretical insights; to bring readers original ways of understanding the referendum and its consequences. Contributions also bring a rich range of disciplinary influences, from political science to fan studies, journalism studies to advertising.
For more information on this project please visit the following BU Research Blog posts.
BU academics launch EU Referendum Analysis report within ten days of the vote
Project Title: Understanding the barriers and facilitators to implement and embed a new procedure for nurses on good nutritional care in older people living in community settings.
Principle Investigator: Jane Murphy
Project Description: Dr Jane Murphy has been awarded a grant from the Burdett Trust to examine the issue of malnutrition in older people. Malnutrition continues to be a real problem for the UK’s ageing population, with more than 3 million people thought to be at risk. Around 93% of these are people living in the community, where it may be harder for health professionals to spot and diagnose malnutrition.
The aim of this new 18 month study is to develop a new procedure to help community nurses to deliver good nutritional care in the community. The team intend to deliver training to embed this new procedure and evaluate its success and any barriers or enablers for its implementation.
The project is a collaboration between Bournemouth University, the Wessex Academic Health Science Network (WAHSN) and Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust. The team aim to work with the local community – both older people and nursing staff – to carry out their research.
We have written in many previous BU blogs about progress of our THET-funded project in southern Nepal (e.g. here AND here ). Today’s blog reflects on the use on BU’s unique FUSION approach in our project ‘Mental Health Training for Maternity Care Providers in Nepal‘.
Our BU-led project brings highly experienced health professionals, such as midwives, health visitors or mental health nurses, to Nepal to work as volunteer trainers. The training is aimed at community-based maternity care practitioners and addresses key mental health issues relevant to pregnancy and for new mothers and offers the required communication skills. These health professionals will bring their experience as health care providers as well as trainers in the field of mental health and maternity care/midwifery, mental ill-health prevention and health promotion. They volunteer for two to three weeks at a time to design and deliver training in southern Nepal.
The Centre for Midwifery & Maternal Health (CMMPH) collaborates in this project with Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), the Department of Health, and Physical & Population Education at Nepal’s oldest university Tribhuvan University’s (TU). The project is supported in the field by a local charity called Green Tara Nepal. Our project is part of the Health Partnership such as Nepal. HPS itself is funded by the UK Department for International Development and managed by THET (Tropical and Health Education Trust).
Our maternal mental health project is a good example of BU’s FUSION approach as it combines EDUCATION (through the training of Auxiliary Nurse-Midwives in Nepal) by UK volunteers (representing PRACTICE) through an intervention which is properly evaluated (representing RESEARCH) is a perfect example of BU’s FUSION in action. Moreover, the project will be partly evaluated by FHSS’s Preeti Mahato as part of her PhD thesis research. This PhD project is supervised by Dr. Catherine Angell (CEL & CMMPH), BU Visiting Professor Padam Simkhada (based at LJMU) and CMMPH’s Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen.BU’s focus on the FUSION of research, education and professional practice is a unique variant of the way UK universities (and many abroad) blend academic teaching, research and scholarship. FUSION is a key concept derived from BU’s strategic Vision & Values).
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) is seeking nominations for new members to be appointed to its Peer Review College (PRC).
Please refer to the PRC Recruitment 2016 Call Document on the PRC News Webpage for further information and application guidance.The most important part of the guidance is that AHRC insist that all nominations are submitted by a single contact within BU, which will be RKEO. Whilst the deadline for nominations to AHRC is officially 4pm on 22nd September 2016, to ensure that the single contact can submit all applications on behalf of BU, please send your nominations to Jo Garrad no later than 4pm on 20th September 2016 (this is the BU internal deadline).
As at March 2015, BU has been capped at one application per standard grant round. The measures only apply to NERC standard grants (including new investigators). An application counts towards an organisation, where the organisation is applying as the grant holding organisation (of the lead or component grant). This will be the organisation of the Principal Investigator of the lead or component grant.
BU process
As a result, BU has introduced a process for determining which application will be submitted to each NERC Standard Grant round. This will take the form of an internal competition, which will include peer review. The next available standard grant round is January 2017. The process for selecting an application for this round can be found in the process document here – the deadline for internal Expressions of Interest (EoI) which will be used to determine which application will be submitted is 22nd September 2016. The EoI form can be found here: I:\R&KEO\Public\NERC demand management 2016.
NERC have advised that where a research organisation submits more applications to any round than allowed under the cap, NERC will office-reject any excess applications, based purely on the time of submission through the Je-S system (last submitted = first rejected). However, as RKEO submit applications through Je-S on behalf of applicants, RKEO will not submit any applications that do not have prior agreement from the internal competition.
Appeals process
If an EoI is not selected to be submitted as an application, the Principal Investigator can appeal to Professor Tim McIntyre-Bhatty, Deputy Vice-Chancellor. Any appeals must be submitted within ten working days of the original decision. All appeals will be considered within ten working days of receipt.
RKEO Contacts
Please contact Jennifer Roddis, RKEO Research Facilitator – jroddis@bournemouth.ac.uk or Jo Garrad, RKEO Funding Development Manager – jgarrad@bournemouth.ac.uk if you wish to submit an expression of interest.
The following funding opportunities have been announced. Please follow the links for more information.
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
BBSRC and the MRC, under the Global Challenges Research Fund, invite expressions of interest for their call for Networks in Vector Borne Disease (VBD) Research. This call forms part of BBSRC’s and MRC’s activities under the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) (see related links) and therefore requires Networks to address VBD challenges primarily relevant to the health or prosperity of Low and Middle Income Countries on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) DAC List. The funders aim to support multidisciplinary Networks which foster collaboration, facilitate wider cross-disciplinary integrative participation (including environmental and social science research) and build capability which together will contribute to and underpin the development of novel strategies to control VBD of plants, animals and humans. Five key research priorities have been identified: Development of new control strategies for VBD in particular non-chemical vector control methods such as genetic control; Increased understanding of fundamental vector biology and vector ecology; Understanding what is driving the emergence and expansion of VBDs; Increased understanding of vector pathogen interactions; Improved diagnostics, surveillance and forecasting.
Maximum award: Not specified. Closing date: Expressions of interest 4pm, 03/11/16.
British Academy
British Academy, in collaboration with the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), the National Council for the State Funding Agencies (CONFAP) and the State Funding Agencies (FAPs) in Brazil, and the Academy of Medical Sciences, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society in UK, under the Newton fund programme, invites applications for its Fellowship and Young Investigator awards. In the State of São Paulo, the call is open for UK visiting researchers to visit research groups in São Paulo. FAPESP will also offer an opportunity for young investigators from the UK to start a research career in a university or research institution in the State of São Paulo through its Young Investigator Awards. The UK Academies will also offer Newton International Fellowships and Newton Advanced Fellowships to the Brazilian research community, covering the fields of natural sciences, social sciences and humanities, and medical (including clinical and patient-orientated research) sciences. Mobility grants will also be offered to the Brazilian research community, covering the fields of natural sciences, social sciences and humanities, and engineering.
Maximum award: Not specified. Closing date: 12pm (Brazil time), 24/10/16.
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
EPSRC, on behalf of the RCUK Energy Programme (RCUKEP), invites applications for the DoE NEUP programme. In particular the RCUKEP will support the UK component of proposals including US/UK collaboration in the following specific areas: Radioisotope Retention in Graphite and Graphitic Materials; Materials Ageing and Degradation; Reactor Safety Technologies; Materials Recovery; Advanced Waste forms; Advanced Fuels ; Used Nuclear fuel disposition: Disposal; Nuclear Energy Advanced modelling and simulation.UK applicants wishing to engage in this programme should liaise directly with their US partners. Appicants must submit an expression of interest (pre-applications), which shoulbe be submitted by the US partners to the DoE.
Maximum award: Not specified. Closing date: Pre-aplications 14/09/16.
Medical Research Council
MRC and the ESRC invite applications for their Skills Development Fellowships, which enable early-career researchers to develop new skills in a priority area as well as researchers at all career stages willing to transform their career. The scheme currently invites proposals that focus on any of the following priority areas within a UK and/or global health context: Quantitative Skills – covering mathematics, statistics, computation and informatics applicable to any biomedical or health related data sources, from molecular to population level. These skills can be applied across the full range of the MRC’s remit, for example, cell biology, physiology, epidemiology, population and public health, and health psychology; Skills at the social science interface – with a focus on areas of health economics and/or mixed methods research.
Maximum award: Not specified. Closing date: 14/06/17.
Natural Environment Research Council
NERC invites application for its Follow-on Fund Pathfinder awards, which enable researchers to develop projects that will realise the commercial potential of NERC-funded research via a combination of complementary technical and commercial engagement work programmes. Pathfinder awards are designed to fill knowledge gaps via activities such as market assessment and competitor analysis, intellectual property searches, engaging with potential commercial collaborators and end-users, and ‘milestone 1’ technical work where the technical feasibility of the whole project depends on it. The fund is open to researchers with current or past NERC funding. Proposals for Follow-on support must build on the outputs of recent or previous NERC-funded research activity.
Maximum award: £20,000 (80% fEC). Closing date: 4pm, 27/09/16.
The Royal Society
Royal Society, in collaboration with the EPSRC and Rolls-Royce, invites applications for its Industry Fellowships. The Fellowships are for academic scientists who want to work on a collaborative project with industry and for scientists in industry who want to work on a collaborative project with an academic organisation. The scheme aims to enhance knowledge transfer in science and technology between those in industry and those in academia in the UK.
Maximum award: Not specified. Closing date: 29/09/16.
Royal Society and the National Natural Science Foundation of China invite applications for the cost-share programme of their International Exchanges scheme. This scheme is for scientists in the UK who want to stimulate new collaborations with leading scientists overseas through either a one-off visit or bilateral travel. The scheme covers all areas of the life and physical sciences, including engineering, but excluding clinical medicine.
Maximum award: £12,000. Closing date: 10/10/16.
Royal Society and the Taiwan Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) invite applications for the cost-share programme of their International Exchanges scheme. This scheme is for scientists in the UK who want to stimulate new collaborations with leading scientists overseas through either a one-off visit or bilateral travel. The scheme covers all areas of the life and physical sciences, including engineering, but excluding clinical medicine.
Maximum award: £12,000. Closing date: 10/10/16.
If you are interested in submitting to any of the above calls you must contact RKEO with adequate notice before the deadline. Please note that some funding bodies specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKEO Funding Development Officer.
You can set up your own personalised alerts on Research Professional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s/Faculty’s Funding Development Officer in RKEO or view the recent blog post here. If you are thinking of applying, why not add an expression of interest on Research Professional so that BU colleagues can see your intention to bid and contact you to collaborate.
BU have been involved recently in developing volunteer programmes, based around the 2012 Games Makers, to give students experience of being involved in large scale events. This past weekend Bournemouth Tourism has hosted the annual Air Festival for the 9th time and Dr Debbie Sadd from the Faculty of Management, has again led the team of Festival Makers sponsored by BU. The Festival was this year hit by bad weather but the volunteers were busy all 4 days helping the organisers, including a ‘pilots signing’ which took place Saturday when the flying was cancelled. Members of the public are also volunteering within the scheme, they just have to undergo training here at BU and be prepard to walk long distances!
Festival Makers & Tigers Freefall team
In July Debbie also led on behalf of BU, a team of volunteers called the Farnborough Flyers at the Farnborough Air Show, the first time they have used a volunteer programme. The feedback in the press and from the organisers was fantastic and Debbie was approached by the organisers of another UK Air Festival for BU to help them design and run their own version of the volunteer programme. Watch this space!
Farnbrough Flyers celebrating at the end of the Farnborough Air Show
Debbie with the Red Arrows Engineering Team
Finally, the reputation of the training has now reached overseas as next month a group of visitors are coming to BU from Japan to discuss training for Tokyo 2020.
If you are interested to find out more, or would even like to become a volunteer, please contact Debbie on dsadd@bournemouth.ac.uk or Ian Jones, RegionalCommunity Engagement Manager on ijones@bournemouth.ac.uk
We recently headed down to a very sunny Boscombe for a day spent talking about science as part of their bustling Saturday market. Pitching up in between two amazingly fragrant food stands we spent the day talking to the community about two research projects with the potential to change lives as part of a British Science Association and Royal Society of Chemistry series of events known as Science in the City.
The idea of Science in the City has been to take science into highly deprived communities and talk to people about research who wouldn’t usually engage with us through events such as Festival of Learning. Working with University of Southampton (UoS) we submitted the bid in December 2015 and were successful in being picked to host an activity as part of the 2016 round of funding and approached Boscombe Market for a venue to let us talk to the community.
Keen to take the opportunity to share some of our high profile research we were especially pleased to be joined by Oleg Fryazinov and Mark Moseley who have been highly involved with the award winning SHIVA project which enables disabled children to design and 3D print objects using a simple interactive system that can be controlled using either touch or eye tracking software. This project has recently received funding through HEIF5+1+1 to expand the project further and work with new schools. Currently they are working closely with the Victoria School in Poole and may of the objects seen in the image below where designed by their students (unfortunately not the dinosaur as the software isn’t quite up to this yet!).
As well as BU’s research we also took an activity from UoS’s public engagement Roadshow. David and Alex, two PHD researchers from the university joined us for the day to talk to people about the technology behind hydrogen fuel cells and how they have the power to revolutionise our lives and minimise the amount of unclean energy needed to run our cars, buses and lorries. As well as a demonstration of the fuel cell in action they also were helping the public understand how catalysts could be used to reduce the amount of energy you need to put into a reaction and how coating a cheap substance (in our case copper pennies) with a catalytic material (a brass coating made by coating the penny in zinc and heating to produce an alloy) can reduce the costs involved with using them.
Over the past four weeks during our research project at Bournemouth University, we have carried out and participated in numerous tests and activities in the Orthopaedic Research Institute under the supervision of PGR Francesco Ferraro; some of which being more exciting, and others being more interesting.
One the simplest tests that we have carried out for the purpose of the research is the Mini-BESTest, this is a Balance Evaluation Systems Test and requires numerous subsidi
ary tests to be carried out for different aspects associated with balance, these include: anticipatory tests (when preparing for something to happen), reactive postural control (how you react to a change in motion), sensory orientation, and dynamic gait speeds (walking speeds and how they change in different circumstances). This was necessary in order to see how the effects of inspiratory muscle training effects balance over the course of 8 weeks.
In terms of analysis and methods, one of the most interesting tests for us involved the breathing system and using a spirometer. This device was used to measure the Forced Vital Capacity (total air volume of the lungs), Forced Expiratory Volume (how much air a person can exhale in a forced breath), MIP (maximum pressure generated by inhalation against occluded airway), and the MEP (this is the same but is the pressure generated by exhaling). For us, this was particularly interesting because it allowed us to see how a spirometer works in a hands on experience and how the data is presented and analysed.
Another series of tests involved the PrimusRS, a very impressive machine. It served to be a challenge and required lots of problem solving to carry out the tests successfully. During our use of the PrimusRS we experienced the different processes that were needed to be carried out involving; calibration, setting up, creating templates, correcting motion to improve the results, and the analysis of the final results. This was an extraordinary piece of equipment as it allowed us to carry out endurance and isometric tests (strength tests) for both flexion, extension and rotation regarding the trunk muscles, and gave us different data including power of the muscles/ movement.
Finally, the most exciting and enjoyable session to carry out involved using Virtual Reality Simulators for knee arthroscopy (operations) that surgeons all over the world travel to see. The reason for this being the most enjoyable test/session was due to complexity behind machines that looked so simple, and it allowed us to carry out practise operations teaching you the motions and procedures that would be used in real life. Other fascinating features of the virtual simulator was the way in which it introduced us to the different textures of the bone structures and tissues by giving feedback involving vibrations and stiffness of the simulator drill/ saw as well as the screen display.
As well as all of these above tests, we also are aware of the protocols and ethics of the tests that we have carried out in the duration of the project, this allowed us to experience and build up our own picture of the research that needs to be carried out before conducting the actual investigation.
RCUK are undertaking a project to upgrade their electronic grants submission service. Do you want to go and hear more about the grants service in person? They are running regional workshops around the UK and will be holding a workshop in London on 26th September 2016. Alice Brown from the RKEO will be attending but it would also be useful for academics to attend.
The aim of this event is to come and talk to the research community about the Research Councils programme to replace their existing grants service and to, where possible, simplify and standardise grants policy and process. This event will be an opportunity to hear about what progress they have made and to ask them questions. In the afternoon they would also like to carry out user testing with a smaller group. They would like to invite a mixed audience to attend including academics, university research administrators and managers, system and data staff etc.
When – Monday, 26 September 2016 from 09:00 to 17:00 (BST)
Where – Imperial College London – Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2AZ
To register, click here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/research-councils-new-grants-service-regional-workshop-tickets-27166553894
RKEO’s new Research and Knowledge Exchange Development Framework launching this autumn will feature a pathway focusing on how to communicate your research to different audiences, with the aim of increasing your research impact.
Research communication is a great way to engage with non-academic audiences, make connections with new stakeholders and develop your research impact.
Sessions available through this pathway will include:
Further information will be available on Organisational Development’s staff intranet pages shortly. This will include a timetable of events, more details descriptions and a booking link.
In the meantime, keep an eye on the research blog and our internal Faculty blogs for more information about the different pathways.
EU funded projects- Brexit
The Government has announced that the Treasury will underwrite funding for approved Horizon 2020 projects applied for before the UK leaves the European Union. This includes cases where specific projects continue beyond the UK’s departure from the EU. You can view the full announcement here.
Maintenance grants
Labour has announced it would restore grants to help young people in England stay in further and higher education. This would mean a return for education maintenance allowances (EMA) which was scrapped by the coalition government in 2010. It would also mean reversing the decision to turn maintenance grants into repayable loans. Labour promises return of student maintenance grants (BBC News).
A-Level results
A record number of students were placed in UK universities and colleges as A-level results were released, with acceptances up 2.9 per cent year-on-year. Ucas said that 423,880 applicants had secured a place as of midnight on 18 August, an increase of 11,800 on the same point in 2015. Record number of students win university places (THE).
Graduate wages
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has published a briefing note on graduate wages. The report reveals that despite the recent fall in the average graduate real wage, their wage relative to school-leavers’ has remained relatively unchanged. The report also reveals that UK firms have become less hierarchical over time: instead of having a few skilled managers to dictate how a larger number of unskilled workers should work, now more managerial decisions are decentralised and made by skilled workers.
Language departments
It has been warned that more university language departments could face closure if student recruitment continues to decline. Ucas data shows that the number of applicants placed on to European language and literature courses at UK higher education institutions on A-level results day was down 7.8 per cent year-on-year, with an intake of 3,080 being a record low for recent years. University language departments ‘at risk’ as recruitment slumps (THE).
Teaching quality
Jo Johnson, the universities and science minister, has written about teaching quality in The Daily Telegraph. He writes “there is unacceptable patchiness that requires our attention and, if we are to make sure that our university system retains its world-leading status, we simply cannot stand still”. Universities must wipe out mediocre teaching and drive up student engagement (The Telegraph).
A new open access paper by Jennifer Roddis (RKEO, HSS), Immy Holloway (HSS) and Carol Bond (HSS), in collaboration with Kate Galvin from the University of Brighton, has been published in the International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being. The paper – Living with a long-term condition: Understanding well-being for individuals with thrombophilia or asthma – discusses the findings of Jenny’s PhD study.
Much of the research undertaken indicates that those affected by long-term conditions experience this as being problematic. However, qualitative research may offer alternative insights, suggesting that these individuals are able to achieve well-being. This research identified a theory about how those with a long-term condition can adapt to it and learn to get on with their life. The paper makes recommendations as to how both individuals affected by such conditions, and healthcare professionals working with them, may use the findings.
Reference:
Roddis, J.K., Holloway, I., Bond, C. and Galvin, K.T., 2016. Living with a long-term condition: Understanding well-being for individuals with thrombophilia or asthma. Int J Qualitative Stud Health Well-being, 11: 31530 – http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/qhw.v11.31530
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