Yearly Archives / 2018

Having A Ball on the Isle of Wight

NHS

The Ball Assisted Latent Labour (BALL) trial has just recruited their 200th participant. The pragmatic randomised controlled trial is the highest recruiting trial in the Wessex Clinical Research Network for reproductive health. Clinical Doctorate midwife Dominique Mylod is researching whether using a birth ball at home in latent labour reduces pain perception. Dominique recently welcomed BU final year student midwife Alice Lovell to the island for a week’s research elective. The photo shows them sampling island life!

Congratulations to both on achieving such fantastic recruitment!

Procedures for late submission of external research and KE applications

Guidance

The procedures for late submissions of external research and knowledge exchange applications has been updated to provide greater clarification. The updated procedure can be found on the staff intranet here.  This now contains useful links to the standard process when applying, as well as the financial regulations and explanations of full economic costing.  The Faculty Executive Deans have also provided their support to the procedure.

RKEO will endeavour to support and submit all applications where possible.  We recognise that some funders will give short-notice of a call and that there may be other circumstances where sufficient notice cannot be given.  However, all applications, regardless of time to submit, have to go through the same costing and approval process and there is an expectation that only good quality and competitive applications should be submitted.  Applicants should also note that time has to be factored in for Faculty Executives and/or UET to read and sign-off final submissions (these are busy people who spend a lot of time in meetings).  RKEO will be flexible where we can for those exceptional cases.

If you have any queries then please contact Jo Garrad, RKEO Funding Development Manager.

 

RKEO Academic and Researcher Induction – next week

Training

The Research and Knowledge Exchange Office (RKEO) invite all ‘new to BU’ academics and researchers to an induction.

Signpost with the words Help, Support, Advice, Guidance and Assistance on the direction arrows, against a bright blue cloudy sky.This event provides an overview of all the practical information staff need to begin developing their research plans at BU, using both internal and external networks; to develop and disseminate research outcomes; and maximising the available funding opportunities.Objectives

  • The primary aim of this event is to raise participants’ awareness of how to get started in research at BU or, for more established staff, how to take their research to the next level
  • To provide participants with essential, practical information and orientation in key stages and processes of research and knowledge exchange at BU

Indicative content

  • An overview of research at BU and how R&KEO can help/support academic staff
  • The importance of horizon-scanning, signposting relevant internal and external funding opportunities and clarifying the applications process
  • How to grow a R&KE portfolio, including academic development schemes
  • How to develop internal and external research networks
  • Key points on research ethics and developing research outputs
  • Getting started with Knowledge Exchange and business engagement

For more information about the event, please see the following link: https://staffintranet.bournemouth.ac.uk/workingatbu/staffdevelopmentandengagement/rolecareerdevelopment/academiccareerdevelopment/rkeoinduction/The ninth induction will be held on Wednesday, 3rd October 2018 on the 5th floor of Melbury House (please note that it is normally on 4th floor but we’ve moved it as we now have PRIME located with us.  There will be an option at the end to come and meet the whole team on the 4th floor).

Title Date Time Location
Research & Knowledge Exchange Office (R&KEO) Research Induction Wednesday 3rd October 2018 9.00 – 12.00 Lansdowne Campus

9.00-9.15 – Coffee/tea and cake/fruit will be available on arrival

9.15 – RKEO academic induction (with a break at 10.45)

11.25 – Organisational Development upcoming development opportunities

11.30 – Opportunity for one to one interaction with RKEO staff

12.00 – Close

There will also be literature and information packs available.

If you would like to attend the induction then please book your place through Organisational Development and you can also visit their pages here.

We hope you can make it and look forward to seeing you.

Regards,

The RKEO team

Good Clinical Practice refresher on 2nd October 2018 – booking closes soon!

NHS, Research Ethics, Training

Are you currently undertaking research within the NHS and your Good Clinical Practice (GCP) training is due to expire? Or has it expired recently?

GCP certification lasts for two years, so if your training is due to expire, has expired, or you want to validate your learning, then take advantage of the upcoming refresher half day session, taking place at Royal Bournemouth Hospital on Tuesday 2nd October, 1pm – 4:30pm.

Spaces are still remaining, so if you’d like to enrol, get in touch as soon as possible with Research Ethics or the Wessex Clinical Research Network.

Opportunity to Develop Bidding Skills

Funding opportunities, PG research

Mentoring relationships can take time to forge. We offer an opportunity to cultivate your expertise in developing research bids by joining a specific bidding team from the outset of its project.

Are you interested in learning more about how to go about applying for research funding, particularly larger Research Council bids? Would you like to gain experience by joining us in the process of developing, writing and submitting a large bid to the AHRC?

Are you intrigued by concepts such as student co-creation, generational issues and concerns, the use of media in learning and dissemination, social work, social psychology and narrative methods—all with teens?

We are looking for one or two academics with an interest in not only developing their expertise in grant writing, but also participating in a research and dissemination project involving Generation Z youth.  Working with experts with success in writing large grant proposals, you will engage in the process, from the very beginning through submission. You also will have the opportunity to develop a role that you might play in the project itself, when successful. Win-win, in other words.

Please see the outline article in the AHRC blog for more information on the proposed project. https://ahrc-blog.com/2018/04/09/how-ahrc-funded-film-rufus-stone-inspired-a-project-on-the-next-generation/

The team (so far) includes:

Kip Jones Qualitative Research and Performative Social Sci FHSS & FMC

Trevor Hearing Studio media production FMC

Lee-Ann Fenge Social Work and creative participation in research HSS

Michelle Cannon Senior Teaching Fellow in Media Arts Education UCL

Helen Walsh Dorset Space Youth Project CEO

Alexandra Pekalski and Eva Papadopoulou RKEO, BU

If this offer of mentorship in grant proposal writing seems interesting to you, please contact Kip Jones for an informal discussion. mailto:kipworld@gmail.com

Skam”, the Norwegian TV series about Oslo teenagers, has influenced our concept and will be used to engage local youth in telling their own stories.

Congratulations on timely editorial in Nepal

international, open access, Publishing, writing

Congratulations to FHSS academics Dr. Pramod Regmi and Dr. Nirmal Ayral who published an editorial yesterday in a scientific journal in Nepal.  The paper ‘Experts warn Nepal Government not to reduce local Public Health spending’ [1] was co-authored by Dr. Bibha Simkhada who has just been offered a post as Lecturer in Nursing in the Department of Nursing & Clinical Sciences, she shall be starting with us on November 1st.  Further co-authors include FHSS Visiting Professor Padam Simkhada and Dr . Sujan Marahatta, the journal’s editor.  He is based at Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS) in Kathmandu, Nepal.  Bournemouth University has a long-standing research collaboration with MMIHS.

The editorial warns about the risks of losing the focus on public health and its wider national and global perspective in the recently changed political arena of Nepal.  Since 2015 Nepal has moved from a central state to a federal republic, whereby the seven new Provinces have gained much more power and control in the decentralisation process.  Moreover the first local elections for two decades in 2017 meant a lot of new and inexperienced local politicians were voted in.  Many of these local people had little prior experience of political processes, governing health systems, the notion of priority setting, running sub-committees of elected representatives, political decision-making at local level, etc.  The paper argues that Public Health can easily disappear of the radar.  The untrained newly elected representatives with no political experience are most likely to be drawn into proposing and supporting popular measures including developing new buildings, black-top roads, hospitals, etc., rather than measures that increase the local or regional budget for teachers, Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for community health workers, and preventative public health measures in general.  Buildings and roads are immediate demonstration to voters that politicians have done something useful, reducing maternal mortality by 2.6% or employing two additional health workers doesn’t give politicians neither the same publicity, nor do such policies have immediate signs of success, and hence are unlikely to be vote winners.

The Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences is part of the Open Access publishing of Nepal Journals OnLine (NepJOL) supported by INASP.  The editorial also illustrates the kind of work conducted in Bournemouth University’s Integrative Wellbeing Research Centre (iWell).

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH)

 

Reference:

Simkhada, P., Teijlingen van, E., Simkhada, B., Regmi, P., Aryal, N., Marahatta, S.B. (2018) Experts warn Nepal Government not to reduce local Public Health spending, Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences, 4(1): 1-3.

Applying for grants is great!

Awarded & submitted bids, Funding opportunities, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Women's Academic Network

I recently had the opportunity to apply for a grant as principal investigator. The reason for writing this post today is to say thanks to everyone involved, including the RKEO staff, the Co-investigators (Paula Callus in particular), the partner institutions but also all colleagues who gave us suggestions, supporting and helping also if not involved (Isabella Rega and Richard Berger were some of these).

On reflection, I would have done all of it differently. More time was needed (possibly not when on Annual Leave and not night time), partners need to be in place well before the call is out, reference letters cannot be asked for last minute, etc. I made all (or almost all) the mistakes above, but I had a very clear idea about the project and I felt surrounded by enthusiastic colleagues who were happy to share their expertise with me. I now know I have still a lot to learn and I can’t wait for the next opportunity.

A good point was to take notes which will be used for next grant applications. Somehow it does not matter if we will get the funding at this first attempt, we are looking forward to improving the application and the project itself, which will require more research. Yes, applying for grants is not a boring task, there is a lot of research involved which brings new ideas and opens up opportunities, whether you get the funding or not.

I hope this post will be read as a positive gentle push to apply for grants and not only because it’s the Institution in need of more grants applications but because the process itself is incredibly enriching. I hope my colleagues enjoy their future grant applications as much as I did.

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5 BU students present at International Insurance Marketing Conference

BU research students were well represented at the recent 4th International Conference for Marketing Insurance (ICMI) held at Bournemouth University which provided an excellent opportunity to showcase their work in insurance and marketing.

4th ICMI delegates

Doctoral student Emmanuella Ejime (FoM) presented her work on psychological distance and motor insurance; and Freyja Van Den Boom (FMC) delivered her paper on the legal aspects of personal data and consumer insurance.

Three papers were also presented by practitioners who have taken the part-time Masters in Professional Development (Loss Adjusting) at BU. The first paper from John Hall examined the changing role of the loss adjuster in household claims; the second paper from George Macharia investigated insurance claims fraud in Kenya and Uganda; and the final paper was presented by Alice Edwards which looked at success in complex claims.

The ICMI serves as the primary platform to promote research in the field of insurance marketing. Further details on the conference and the Association for Insurance Marketing can be found here, or alternatively contact the 2018 conference chair, Julie Robson (jrobson@bournemouth.ac.uk).

The 5th International Conference for Marketing Insurance (ICMI) will be held in October 2019 at IPAG Paris, France.

Horizon 2020 news and upcoming events – September 2018

Funding opportunities, international

MSCA Individual Fellowships 2018 Call Submission Rates

According to UKRO, the European Commission has released the submission rates for the 2018 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Individual Fellowships (IF) call, which closed on 12 September; a total of 9,830 proposals were submitted.

This represents a slight increase in comparison to the previous MSCA IF call under Horizon 2020 in 2017, which received 9,089 proposals. The results can be expected by mid-February 2019.

Open registration for MSCA Innovative Training Networks UK Information Events

UKRO in it’s capacity as National Contact Point for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) will hold two free information days focussing on the 2019 MSCA Innovative Training Networks (ITN) call for proposals (deadline for the submission of applications on 15 January 2019). Registration can be accessed through the following links: Wednesday 10 October, London; Friday 12 October, York.

Participation in the events is free, but registration is mandatory for attendance; places will be offered on a first come first served basis.

Open registration for Societal Challenge 6 Information Day

An information and brokerage event for the Horizon 2020 Societal Challenge 6: ‘Europe in a changing world – Inclusive, innovative and reflective societies’ will take place in Warsaw, Poland on 8 November. It is organised by the European Commission (DG RTD) and Net4Society, a network of SC6 National Contacts Points.

The event is free of charge but limited to 2 persons representing the same department/organization. Online registration is obligatory.

EU Partnering event on the use of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence for monitoring health status and quality of life after cancer treatment

Academics are invited to submit an expression of interest to participate in this partnering event.

The aim of the event is to foster and facilitate the development of R&D project consortia for Horizon 2020 EU funded projects in the Healthtech themes. The event is aimed to provide a platform for new commercial and technological collaborations, especially between business and research organisations.

Open registration for UKRO Annual Visit to BU

RKEO will host annual UK Research Office visit to BU on 10th October 2018. The event will take place in FG06 seminar room with the sessions for BU academics commencing at 11:30.

 

To find more about Horizon 2020 programme and available funding in your area, visit Horizon 2020 website. More details on projects funded under FP6, FP7 and Horizon 2020 may be found on CORDIS website.

For further details on EU and international funding opportunities please contact international research facilitator or any member of RKEO Funding Development Team to individually discuss your ideas and the ways we could support you.

BU Researcher presents at UK National Earth Observation Conference 2018

Research Associate Katie Thompson, Department of Life and Environmental Sciences (Sci Tech) presented her research at the National conference for Earth Observation at the University of Birmingham earlier this month. Katie will continue to develop links with the National Centre for Earth Observation (NCEO) where she will showcase this on the NCEO webpage, working closely with the outreach team. She will also take part in further collaborations such as careers and education days with NERC as well as science outreach events with the Think Tank Science museum. For any questions then contact Katie directly on thompsonk@bournemouth.ac.uk.
Photo credit: Nicola Gotts Photography 

BU NCCA Undergraduate Student Success at SIGGRAPH’18

conferences, Publishing, REF Subjects, staff profile pages, Student Engagement, student research

The 45th International Conference & Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques  (SIGGRAPH’18), the international annual conference of the Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM, the world’s foremost computing society) was held in Vancouver in August.

Among the work showcased at the conference was the poster “Withering fruits: vegetable matter decay and fungus growth” by Bianca Cirdei  (Computer Visualisation and Animation – CVA, Level 6) from this year’s graduating cohort from the National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA, Faculty of Media and Communication) and co-authored by Dr Eike Falk Anderson.

Poster presented at SIGGRAPH

The work, which was based on Bianca’s Innovations Project unit results extends and improves existing methods for procedurally simulating decaying fruit for use in computer graphics and visual effects, focusing on artist directability and visual fidelity. As the resulting visuals are quite impressive, this project was also one of the ten submissions featured in the SIGGRAPH’18 posters preview video.

Of the 74 posters presented at this year’s SIGGRAPH conference, 16 submitted posters, including Bianca’s contribution (poster 74), were invited to the first round of the prestigious ACM Student Research Competition (SRC) sponsored by Microsoft. Bianca’s submission was one of only four European semi-finalists and of those the only one from a UK institution. After presenting the work to a panel of experts, the submission made it into the second round and after the ACM Student Research Competition Final Presentation it won first place in the undergraduate category.

1st placed Undergraduate Poster at the SIGGRAPH'18 Student research Competition

After Ben Knowles (with Dr Oleg Fryazinov) who was awarded second place at SIGGRAPH’15 for “Increasing realism of animated grass in real-time game environments“, Teemu Lindborg and Philip Gifford (with Dr Oleg Fryazinov) who were semi-finalists at SIGGRAPH’17 for “Interactive parameterised heterogeneous 3D modelling with signed distance fields” and Quentin Corker-Marin (with Dr Valery Adzhiev and Professor Alexander Pasko) who achieved second place at SIGGRAPH’17 for “Space-time cubification of artistic shapes“, this is the first time that an NCCA student has won first place in this prestigious competition.

The work will now progress to the next stage of the competition, the Grand Finals in 2019, in which the first placed entries from almost 30 major ACM conferences will compete with one another.

Funding opportunity : Quantitative Imaging Tools and Methods for Cancer Response Assessment (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)

BU Challenges, Funding opportunities, innovation

The Department of Health and Human Services at the National Institutes of Health has announced a funding opportunity to provide a mechanism of support to research organizations interested in clinically translating already optimized quantitative imaging software tools capable of measuring or predicting the response of cancer to clinical therapies, or in translating imaging software tools for planning and validating radiation therapy treatment strategies in clinical trials. The proposed research effort should be an extension of the research that successfully completed the tasks of developing and optimizing the chosen software tools or data collection methods intended to facilitate clinical decision making during clinical trials.

Summary : 

Call opens : 5 January 2019

Call deadline : 5 February 2019

Award available : All direct costs not exceeding $500,000 each proposed year

Project duration : 5 years

Please see this link for more information.

 

Funding opportunity – Wellcome – Innovator Awards: Digital Technologies

BU Challenges, Funding opportunities, innovation

The Innovator Awards support researchers who are transforming great ideas into digital healthcare innovations that could have a significant impact on human health. Individuals and teams from not-for-profit and commercial organisations can apply. Organisations can be of any size, based anywhere in the world.

Researchers working in any discipline and on any type of digital technology can apply. Examples of digital technologies include:

  • intelligent: artificial intelligence and machine learning
  • data driven: data analytics and informatics
  • immersive: virtual and augmented reality
  • connected: internet of things (IoT), networks and sensors.

Projects must be innovative, disruptive and address an unmet healthcare need or challenge.

Summary :

Call opens : 1 October 2018

Call closes : 3 December 2018

Available funding : between £500,000 and £1million

Project duration : up to 2 years

Please see this link for more information about this call.

 

 

Funding opportunity – Global Innovation Linkages program – Round 2 (Australia)

BU Challenges, Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, Industry collaboration

The Global Innovation Linkages program from the Australian Government provides Australian businesses and researchers with matched funding of up to $1 million per project to collaborate with global partners on strategically focused, leading-edge research and development.

Lead organisation eligibility

To be an eligible lead organisation you must:

  • have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
  • be registered for GST

    Project partners

    Project partners must include at least:

    • one Australian industry entity and
    • one Australian research organisation and
    • one global partner.

Summary : 

Application deadline : 14 November 2018

Available funding : up to $1million per project

Grant period : Maximum four years

Please see this link for more information about this call.