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Would you like to get more involved in preparing our next REF submission?

REF Subjects, Research assessment

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 11th 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.

Funding Development Briefing 21/9/22 Spotlight on: NERC Pushing the Frontiers

Funding opportunities

Funding Development Briefings kicked off on 14th of September 2022 for this academic year.

What are Funding Development Briefings?

Each session will cover the latest major funding opportunities, followed by a brief Q&A session. Sessions will also include a spotlight on a particular funding opportunity of strategic importance to BU. Sessions will be on Wednesdays, from 12 pm for half-an-hour. The same link can be used each week to join here.
Next Weds 21 September, we will cover NERC Pushing the Frontiers (previously known as Standard Grants).
Date Spotlight Funding Opportunity Briefing Research Facilitator Lead
14/09/2022 Innovate UK SMART Grants Innovation & Infrastructure
21/09/2022 NERC Pushing the Frontiers Life Sciences
28/09/2022 23/24 Horizon Europe Work Programmes EU & International
05/10/2022 ESRC Humanities & Social Sciences
12/10/2022 EPSRC Innovation & Infrastructure
19/10/2022 Wellcome Trust Life Sciences
26/10/2022 HALF TERM
02/11/2022 MSCA Overview of Actions EU & International
09/11/2022 AHRC Humanities & Social Sciences
16/11/2022 Regional Funding Innovation & Infrastructure
23/11/2022 NIHR Overview Life Sciences
30/11/2022 Horizon Europe Societal Challenges EU & International
07/12/2022 Leverhulme Trust Humanities & Social Sciences
14/12/2022 KTPs (Business Engagement and Knowledge Exchange Managers) Innovation & Infrastructure

Sessions will be recorded and made available after the session for those who cannot attend.

Insights into patient voices on digital access to health care – Journal of Community Nursing

NHS

Mel Hughes, associate professor in social work and deputy director of the Research Centre for Seldom Heard Voice; Stevie Corbin-Clarke, research assistant based within the National Centre for Post Qualifying Social Work and Research Centre for Seldom Heard Voices; and Peter Greensmith, chair, NHS England South West Transformation Patient Reference Group and previous chair of Weymouth and Portland Patient Participation Groups (PPGs) have had their paper ‘Insights into patient voices on digital access to health care’ published in the Journal of Community Nursing.

The paper analyses research that was conducted around the impact of digital exclusion on people at risk of marginalisation. Read this paper and others in the August/September edition issue, here: https://www.jcn.co.uk/journals/latest-issue/jcn

The research, commissioned by National Voices (a coalition of 170 health and care charities in England), also informed a national report exploring the impact of digital exclusion on access to services. You can find the report, here: https://www.nationalvoices.org.uk/publications/our-publications/unlocking-digital-front-door-keys-inclusive-healthcare

Join the mental health research seminar – 6 October 2022

Are you interested in mental health research and engaging with researchers across Wessex?

Join us for a seminar (6 October 2022) given by Professor Sam Chamberlain, Professor of Psychiatry, University of Southampton and NIHR ARC Wessex Mental Health Research Hub Lead.

He will highlight projects currently supported through the Mental Research Hub, as part of the NIHR ARC Wessex. The Hub aims to bring together researchers from different disciplines and partners throughout the region to plan and conduct research and look at ways to implement findings at the point of care. It also encourages and support new research talent through mentorship, internships, a summer school, and new post-doctoral positions.

This seminar will provide a valuable opportunity to find out more about the Mental Health Research Hub, engage with researchers in Wessex to develop new research and potentially be involved with current projects.

Please sign up asap using this Eventbrite link (venue to be confirmed)

https://nihr-arc-mental-health.eventbrite.co.uk

HSS Simulations Research & Development

Greetings Students and Colleagues –
I am Dr Anthony ‘Skip’ Basiel, the new Post-doc Researcher for HSS on Healthcare Simulations. Currently, I am hot-desking between the 4th & 5th floor offices from Monday to Wednesday. You can reach me by email: abasiel@bournemouth.ac.uk or by Teams text chat.

Please do visit my blended learning research website to find out more of my R&D interests at:
https://abasiel.wordpress.com     A temporary home page on our project work is at:

Learning Simulations

UKCGE Route to Recognition for Supervisory Practice: Deadline for Submission 25 October 2022

PG research

 

 

 

 

 

Are you an established research degree supervisor?

Would you like your supervisory practice acknowledged at national level? Join a growing number of BU staff who have gained recognition.

The UK Council for Graduate Education (UKCGE) has developed the Good Supervisory Practice Framework and the Research Supervision Recognition Programme to allow established supervisors to gain recognition for this challenging, but rewarding, role.

  • Acknowledging the Complexity of Your Role: The Good Supervisory Practice Framework helps you navigate the wide-ranging, highly complex and demanding set of roles that modern research supervisors must undertake to perform the role effectively. Informed by academic research and approved by the sector, the 10 criteria of the GSPF acknowledges this complexity and sets a benchmark of good practice for all supervisors.
  • Identify your professional development needs: Reflecting on your own practice, compared to a benchmark of good practice, often reveals new perspectives on the challenges inherent in supervision. Identifying your strengths and weaknesses enables you to build upon the former and address the latter with targeted professional development.
  • Recognition of your expertise by a national body: Becoming a UKCGE Recognised Research Supervisor, you can demonstrate to your university, peers and candidates that your supervisory practice has been recognised by a national body.

Details of how to apply can be found here.

  • Individuals to complete application form, including 2 supporting statements from a co-supervisor and a PGR.
  • Individuals to submit application to the Doctoral College by 25 October 2022, including email support from your Deputy Dean for Research & Professional Practice
  • Doctoral College to submit applications to UKCGE by 28 October 2022
  • UKCGE to review application and feedback to individuals.

In line with the UKCGE guidance, individuals should send their completed application to the Doctoral College (fknight@bournemouth.ac.uk) before the BU Window Closing date below:

The key dates for the next application windows and review outcome dates are:

BU Window Closes UKCGE Window Closes Expected Outcome
25 October 2022 28 October 2022 February 2023
20 March 2023 24 March 2023 July 2023
19 June 2023 23 June 2023 September 2023

A session providing an introduction to the scheme will be run as part of the Supervisory Development Lunchbite Sessions and details will follow shortly.

Funding Development Briefing -Spotlight on 14/9/22: Innovate UK Smart Grants

Funding Development Briefings are back from the 14th of September 2022.

What are Funding Development Briefings?

Each session will cover the latest major funding opportunities, followed by a brief Q&A session. Sessions will also include a spotlight on a particular funding opportunity of strategic importance to BU.   Sessions will be on Wednesdays, from 12 pm for half-an-hour. The same link can be used each week to join here.
Date Spotlight Funding Opportunity Briefing Research Facilitator Lead
14/09/2022 Innovate UK SMART Grants Innovation & Infrastructure
21/09/2022 NERC Standard Grants Life Sciences
28/09/2022 23/24 Horizon Europe Work Programmes EU & International
05/10/2022 ESRC Humanities & Social Sciences
12/10/2022 EPSRC Innovation & Infrastructure
19/10/2022 Wellcome Trust Life Sciences
26/10/2022 HALF TERM
02/11/2022 MSCA Overview of Actions EU & International
09/11/2022 AHRC Humanities & Social Sciences
16/11/2022 Regional Funding Innovation & Infrastructure
23/11/2022 NIHR Overview Life Sciences
30/11/2022 Horizon Europe Societal Challenges EU & International
07/12/2022 Leverhulme Trust Humanities & Social Sciences
14/12/2022 KTPs (Business Engagement and Knowledge Exchange Managers) Innovation & Infrastructure
Sessions will be recorded and made available after the session for those who cannot attend.

Congratulations to Dr. Orlanda Harvey on her latest paper

international, Publishing, writing

This week the journal Performance Enhancement & Health published Orlanda’s latest paper.  This time a Response to a Commentary under the title ‘The case for ‘anabolics’ coaches: selflessness versus self-interest?’ [1].   It is good to see Orlanda making her name in this research field, and the invitation by the journal to write this Response is evidence of this. Dr. Harvey is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Social Sciences & Social Work.

The authors highlight that in the UK AAS (Anabolics Androgenic Steroid) are classified as Class C substances and supplying AAS, including via online from outside the UK, sharing or giving them away free, is unlawful and can lead to a jail sentence. However,Despite being banned in many sports, the use of AAS per se is not illegal and, therefore, health promoters should offer advice, information and support to users as a pragmatic, although not perfect, solution. Since an ‘informal’ structure already exists, health promotion agencies should consider using ‘anabolics coaches’ in their endeavours. If ‘anabolics coaches’ could bring together the prevention-focused medical profession, a harm-minimisation approach, and those from the users’ subculture to develop a platform whereby they can take an inter-disciplinary approach then an opportunity exists to do a lot of good.

References:

  1. Harvey, O., van Teijlingen, E. (2022) The case for ‘anabolics’ coaches: selflessness versus self-interest? Performance Enhancement & Health, 10(3) August, 100230

Breaking hearts at BU…

Every beat of the heart is finely tuned to eject a certain amount of blood. As we exercise, more blood flows into the heart, the cardiac muscle stretches and this leads to an increased force of contraction. Known as the Frank-Starling law, it is one of the most important aspects of human cardiac physiology but the molecular mechanisms are not entirely understood.

We do know that increases to the calcium levels in the heart cells (cardiomyocytes) support stronger contractions (anyone remember the ‘sliding ratchet model’ from GCSE biology!?) but how this calcium is regulated by stretch is not fully understood. What my colleagues and I have established (to be published in Frontiers of Physiology) is that a ‘mechanosensitive’ protein known as Piezo helps increase calcium when the cardiomyocytes are stretched. A lot of this work was done at BU’s Drosophila (fruit fly) genetics facility in Dorset House, using physiological tests of heart function in flies without the Piezo protein. When stretched, normal hearts respond by releasing more calcium and they continue to beat. In Piezo mutants, there’s no increase in calcium and the hearts often stop beating.

This is an important observation that contributes to our fundamental understanding of cardiac physiology and points to Piezo as a protein of considerable interest when considering the underlying causes of cardiac dysfunction in disease and ageing.

Paul Hartley.

(The image shows the contractile protein ‘scaffold’ within an insect heart)

UN SDGs now on BRIAN and Staff Profile Pages

BRIAN, BU Challenges, staff profile pages

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all.

BRIAN, Bournemouth Research Information and Networking system now allows you to record up to 4 of the most relevant UN Sustainable Development Goals which your work contributes towards. This information from BRIAN will also be displayed on your staff profile page and it will look like this –

To record this information on BRIAN, log into your BRIAN account and choose to add a new “Professional activity”,

Once you have clicked on “+add new”, you will be presented with a menu box. Choose “UN Sustainable Development Goals” as highlighted –

On the next page, you are then given the option to select from the drop down menu, up to 4 UN Sustainable Development Goals which your work contributes towards. Don’t forget to click “save” when you have finished.

To have this newly added information displayed on your staff profile page, you can either choose to wait for the overnight auto-refresh process for the information to be drawn from BRIAN to populate the staff profile page; or you can instantly refresh your staff profile page manually by scrolling to the bottom of your profile page and click on “Refresh now”

For more help and information, please email BRIAN@bournemouth.ac.uk