BU Research Blog

We are recruiting to a number of roles to help support preparation for our next REF submission. The roles are recruited through an open and transparent process, which gives all academic staff the opportunity to put themselves forward. Applications from underrepresented groups (e.g. minority ethnic, declared disability) are particularly welcome.

We are currently preparing submissions to thirteen units (otherwise known as UOAs). Each unit has a leadership team with at least one leader, an output and impact champion. The leadership team are supported by a panel of reviewers who assess the research from the unit. This includes research outputs (journal articles, book chapters, digital artefacts and conference proceedings) and impact case studies.

We currently have vacancies in the following roles:

UOA Leads –	Review Panel Members –
4 – Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience	3 – Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy
11 – Computer Science and Informatics	4 – Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience
27 – English Language and Literature	11 – Computer Science and Informatics
Output Champion –	12 – Engineering
11 – Computer Science and Informatics	14 – Geography and Environmental Studies
14 – Geography and Environmental Studies	15 – Archaeology
Impact Champion –	17 – Business and Management Studies
4 – Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience	18 – Law
11 – Computer Science and Informatics	20 – Social Work and Social Policy
12 – Engineering	24 – Sport and Exercise Sciences, Leisure and Tourism
14 – Geography and Environmental Studies	27 – English Language and Literature
18 – Law	32 – Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
24 – Sport and Exercise Sciences, Leisure and Tourism	34 – Communication, Culture and Media Studies, Library and Information Management

All roles require a level of commitment which is recognised accordingly with time to review, attend meetings, and take responsibility for tasks.

Undertaking a UOA role can be enjoyable and rewarding as two of our current champions testify:

“As UOA Outputs Champion you develop a detailed knowledge of all the great work that colleagues are doing related to the subject, and the different outlets used for disseminating their work. As an outputs committee member, you also get to know what research is going on across BU, and it’s interesting to see the differences between disciplines. It’s a good way develop your knowledge of the bigger picture of BU’s research, and also to understand the importance of REF and how it works in practice. You do spend quite a bit of time chasing colleagues to put their outputs on BRIAN for REF compliance but hopefully they forgive you!”

Professor Adele Ladkin – UOA 24 Output Champion

“As a UoA 17 impact champion, I work closely with the UoA 17 impact team to encourage the development of a culture of impact across BUBS. I try to pop into Department / research group meetings when I can to discuss impact, and I’ve enjoyed meeting people with a whole range of research interests. Sometimes it can be tough to engage people with impact – understandably; everyone is busy – so it’s important to be enthusiastic about the need for our BU research to reach the public. Overall, the role is about planting the seeds to get researchers thinking about the impact their work might have in the future (as well as the impact they have already had, sometimes without realising!)”

Dr Rafaelle Nicholson – UOA 17 Impact Champion

How to apply

All those interested should put forward a short case (suggested length of one paragraph) as to why they are interested in the role and what they think they could bring to it. These should be clearly marked with the relevant role and unit and emailed to ref@bournemouth.ac.uk by 11^th October 2022.

Further detail on the roles, the process of recruitment and selection criteria can be found here:

UOA Leader	Output Champion	Impact Champion	Panel Reviewer
Role Descriptor	Role Descriptor	Role Descriptor	Role Descriptor
Process and criteria for selection	Process and criteria for selection	Process and criteria for selection	Process and criteria for selection

For further information please contact ref@bournemouth.ac.uk, a member of current UOA Team or your Deputy Dean Research and Professional Practice with queries.