Latest research and knowledge exchange news at Bournemouth University
Reminder: The RDS Funding Development Briefing will be Wednesday (15/12/21) at 12 noon. The spotlight will be on Regional Funding Schemes.
We will cover:
For those unable to attend, the session will be recorded and shared on Brightspace here.
Invites for these sessions have been disseminated via your Heads of Department.
Evidence provided by BU’s Dr Rafaelle Nicholson has featured in a new House of Lords Select Committee report on a National Plan for Sport and Recreation, published on 10 December 2021.
The report calls on the Government to establish a national plan for sport, health and wellbeing to tackle inactivity. Failings in sport and recreation policy and fragmented delivery have resulted in little progress being made in tackling levels of inactivity, particularly in certain groups including women and girls, disabled people, ethnic minorities, the elderly and people from less affluent backgrounds. A national plan for sport, health and wellbeing will set clear goals and better coordinate departments to deliver real change.
Dr Nicholson, who is Senior Lecturer in Sport and Sustainability in the BU Business School, is one of the UK’s leading experts on sport and inclusion. Her current research examines the changing role of women in sports governance in the last two decades, problematising the “mergers” which took place between men’s and women’s sporting organisations in the 1990s which have created a situation whereby sports leadership in the UK is now heavily male-dominated. In her evidence to the Committee, cited in the final report, she noted that: “Women’s sport in the UK is now run predominantly by men whose background is in men’s sport and who therefore, consciously or unconsciously, prioritise the men’s game”, and critiqued “the normative priority granted to men’s sport by those sitting on boards”.
The Committee report recommends that “Sport England and UK Sport should be more ambitious and set targets to improve board diversity for… underrepresented groups including ethnic minorities and disabled people. Failure to make progress with the targets should be met with financial sanctions.”
The Chair of the Committee, Lord Willis of Knaresborough said:
“Sport and physical activity can change lives. The pandemic has made abundantly clear the pressing need to get the country fitter and more active. However, participation in sport and recreation is flat lining. The Olympic legacy did not deliver the more active population we were promised, and the latest figures show activity levels have declined since the pandemic. Something needs to change and now is the time to do it.
“To make the changes we need it is time for a new national plan for sport, health and wellbeing. That plan needs to be ambitious and coordinated, and carry the weight of the Government and Prime Minster behind it. That cannot be delivered if it is led by DCMS, a small department with an increasing focus on its digital portfolio. That is why we are calling for responsibility for sport policy to move to the Department of Health and be driven by a new Minster for Sport, Health and Wellbeing.
“The new plan would coordinate efforts of bodies such as Sport England, local authorities and schools to work together to make it easier for everyone to be more active. Our report sets out a number of key priorities and themes that could form the basis of the new national plan and make a real difference to activity levels across the country.
“There is currently a Health and Care Bill making its way through the House of Lords. Members of our Committee will now explore where we can propose suitable amendments to that Bill to deliver the changes we think are needed on this vital issue.”
The full text of the report can be viewed below:
PDF version – https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld5802/ldselect/ldsportrec/113/113.pdf
HTML version – https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld5802/ldselect/ldsportrec/113/11302.htm
The Doctoral College team have been delighted with the nominations that have come in over the last month for the ‘Doctoral College Outstanding Contribution Awards’. We wish to extend our congratulations to all recipients who have recently received their award certificate.
Here are some of the heartfelt nominations we have received:
“However busy he is, he always makes the time to support and encourage. Watching him supervise is inspirational, and I know that as I start my own PGR supervision journey – I am learning from the best!”
“She is an outstanding member of the PGR community. She is friendly, welcoming and inclusive. She generously offers a wealth of support to her peers about aspects of the research process and PGR journey.”
“He goes above and beyond to assist with any technical queries, quickly provides expert advice and support, and responds positively to the many challenges thrown his way.”
“He is is a passionate and gentle tutor who cares about the students’ life and working state.”
“She has gone above and beyond to support me on my PhD journey especially during the pandemic.”
Why not make someone’s day and take five minutes and nominate a PGR, academic or professional staff member for a Doctoral College Outstanding Contribution Award to say thanks and give recognition for their hard work?
These awards recognise the outstanding contributions to postgraduate research degrees at BU by any PGR, academic or professional staff member. They can be nominated throughout the year by any member of the postgraduate research community to anyone that they feel is exceptional, has exceeded expectations, and has had a positive impact on postgraduate research at BU.
Eligibility
You can nominate anyone involved in postgraduate research at Bournemouth University to receive an award certificate. There are no award criteria, as long as the submission falls within the guidelines, whoever you’ve selected will receive a Doctoral College Outstanding Contribution Award!
How to nominate
We’ve made it really easy for you to nominate someone for a Doctoral College Outstanding Contribution Award – it’s just a short online nomination form!
You are warmly invited to the final FMC research process seminar of the Semester. And it’s a treat!
Researching vernacular memory: Arts-based ethnography – by Prof Emily Keightley (Loughborough University)
This talk will explore research methods for (media) memory studies. Using the research project Migrant Memory and the Postcolonial Imagination (a five year arts-based ethnographic research project) as a case study, the talk will cover issues of research design, ethical practice, engaging with postcolonial memory, and dealing with data collection and data analysis in multi-sited arts based ethnography.
Tuesday 14 December, 2-3pm
https://bournemouth-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/9292103478?pwd=UzJnNTNQWDdTNldXdjNWUnlTR1cxUT09
Meeting ID: 929 210 3478
Passcode: rps!4fmc
You are all very welcome to join
Hope to see you there
Dan and Sae
Received a lovely tweet this Sunday morning from Expertscape, an organisation in the USA, announcing that: ” As part of International Universal Health Coverage Day (Dec 12, 2021), we congratulate Dr. Edwin R van Teijlingen of Bournemouth University — Recognized as an Expertscape Expert in Health Services Accessibility”. Expertscape ranks the world’s top experts in Clinical and Research Medicine.
Mel Hughes, Angela Warren and Vanessa Heaslip are collaborating with Yeovil Hospital on an NIHR funded project to showcase the involvement of people with lived experience in health and social care research. This may have been as a participant, public contributor or co-researcher. If you know anyone who might be interested in taking part, please see below.
Invitation to participate in our forthcoming exhibition.
My name is Janine Valentine and I am a nurse consultant at Yeovil Hospital in Somerset.
Working in collaboration with the Department of Nursing Science and the PIER partnership at Bournemouth University, I am currently developing an exhibition which has been funded by the National Institute of Health Research and which aims to promote the importance of participating in research
This is planned to take place in March 2022 across a number of venues within the Southwest
What will people see at the exhibition?
We are aiming to create a beautiful, inspiring and thought provoking exhibition, showcasing the stories of a number of individuals who have been involved in research. The wider purpose of the exhibition is to raise the profile of research and those who participate within it, with a view to encouraging others to sign up and get involved.
Who will be involved?
We would love to hear from people who have participated in ay health or social care related study who would be interested in taking part in the exhibition. We are keen for the exhibition to provide a rich and interesting story, reflecting both the variety of research study and the diversity of individuals who participate. We are particularly interested in hearing from people whose voices may be less frequently heard. Research affects all of us in some way and it is important that everyone has an opportunity to be part of it whatever their situation or background.
The exhibition will provide an opportunity for a wider audience to learn more about the various ways in which they can become involved in research and how valuable their contribution would be.
If I think I can contribute, what do I need to do?
As a participant, we would like to meet with you to hear your story about your involvement in research. In order to do this, we would make initial contact by phone to discuss the project and answer any questions you may have. We would then arrange to meet with you in person. This would consist of myself and a professional photographer travelling to meet you at a suitable location where we would record your story and take your photograph. We would expect this to take around an hour.
Your story would then be written up to be exhibited alongside your photograph. In some cases, we might create an audio recording of your story. Before any inclusion in the exhibition these would be shared with you to ensure that you were happy with them and amendments would be made in accordance with your wishes.
We are offering participants a payment of a £20 voucher for their time.
We plan to tour the exhibition to a variety of public spaces end events such as local libraries, hospitals as well as Bournemouth University. As participants your shared voices will be an amazing way through which to inspire others to get involved and celebrate the importance of research.
If you would like to participate or learn more about this project please contact me via Janine.valentine@ydh.nhs.uk or 07523 949730
The R&D People and Culture Strategy was published by the UK government in July 2021. The strategy sets out the government’s ambition to build the research and innovation workforce the UK needs, working in a positive and inclusive culture.
People are at the heart of research and innovation. This strategy sets out a vision for attracting, retaining, developing and valuing the full diversity of people needed for an inclusive, vibrant research and innovation system that can fuel the UK’s recovery from the pandemic.
In her foreword, the then Science Minister Amanda Solloway described the strategy as a ‘call to action’. Building on work by people and institutions across the sector, the strategy sets out a step-by-step approach to foster the research and innovation culture needed.
The strategy has three priority areas: People, Culture, and Talent. The outcomes required are:
People: Redefining what it means to work in R&D in the 21st Century
Outcomes
• Attracting enough people with the right skills, across all roles
• Dynamic, varied and sustainable career paths
• Great leadership skills at all levels
Culture: Co-creating a vision of the culture we want to see in the sector
Outcomes
• A positive, inclusive and respectful culture
• Recognition and reward of all the people and activities that lead to excellent research and innovation
• Bullying and harassment is no longer an issue in the sector
• People feel confident to engage with and contribute to research and innovation
• Frameworks, assessment and incentives at an institutional level that encourage positive behaviours and support an inclusive culture
Talent: Renewing the UK’s position as a global leader in R&D by attracting, retaining and developing talented people
Outcomes
• People from all backgrounds are inspired into careers in research and innovation by the UK’s talent offer
• The UK will be the most exciting place in the world for top research and innovation talent
Short- and long-term goals are set out in the strategy.
UKRI is developing an ambitious programme of work to support the delivery of the strategy, working collaboratively with partners to drive forward lasting change.
Among the near-term actions set out in the strategy, UKRI will work to:
The 13th Annual Postgraduate Research Conference, hosted by the Doctoral College.
Hina Tariq (PhD, FHSS) with this presentation entitled: Development and content validation of contracture assessment screening tool.
Click the image below to watch.
You can view the full poster exhibition and pre-recorded presentations on the conference webpage.
If this research has inspired you and you’d like to explore applying for a research degree please visit the postgraduate research web pages or contact the Doctoral College dedicated admissions team.
The 13th Annual Postgraduate Research Conference, hosted by the Doctoral College.
Dennis Seaman (PhD, BUBS) with this presentation entitled: The corporate governance effects of the audit committee informal process: Investigating practice in an emerging economy.
Click the image below to watch.
You can view the full poster exhibition and pre-recorded presentations on the conference webpage.
If this research has inspired you and you’d like to explore applying for a research degree please visit the postgraduate research web pages or contact the Doctoral College dedicated admissions team.
The 13th Annual Postgraduate Research Conference, hosted by the Doctoral College.
Anna Marsh (MRes, FHSS) with this presentation entitled: Midwives and social media: friend request declined?
Click the image below to watch.
You can view the full poster exhibition and pre-recorded presentations on the conference webpage.
If this research has inspired you and you’d like to explore applying for a research degree please visit the postgraduate research web pages or contact the Doctoral College dedicated admissions team.
The 13th Annual Postgraduate Research Conference, hosted by the Doctoral College.
Rushan Arshad (PhD, FST) with this presentation entitled: Towards the development of a simulation framework for collaborative process in context of industry 4.0.
Click the image below to watch.
You can view the full poster exhibition and pre-recorded presentations on the conference webpage.
If this research has inspired you and you’d like to explore applying for a research degree please visit the postgraduate research web pages or contact the Doctoral College dedicated admissions team.
Have your say on the Research Excellence Framework 2021 as part of the Future Research Assessment Programme, conducted by Research England, Scottish Funding Council, Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, and Department for the Economy, Northern Ireland.
The Programme is keen to understand the impact of the REF 2021 on the research community, and are asking for responses to a survey from any individuals with an interest or involvement in REF 2021. The survey will be open until 26th January 2022 and can be accessed here.
Then we want to hear from you! Deadline: 25 January 2022
BU is currently compiling the data for the annual Higher Education – Business & Community (HE-BCI) survey. Data returned is used to calculate our Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) grant and feeds into our Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) submission, so it’s really important that we can provide an accurate picture.
We are asked to submit details of all social, cultural and community events designed for the external community – including both free and chargeable events – which took place between 1 August 2020 and 31 July 2021. Event types that should be returned include, but are not limited to:
Please note that we cannot return events such as open days, Student Union activity, widening participation activity, commercial conferences, talks for academic audiences etc.
All events that were part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2020 and the Cafe Scientifique series have been collated on your behalf centrally, so there is no need to add these.
If you have been involved with any other event which could be returned, please go to the HE-BCI Table 5 SharePoint site and input further details about the event. The deadline for entries is 25 January 2022.
Click here to add your events
The site contains further guidance about eligible activities and a set of FAQs. If you have any further questions, please contact Amanda Edwards
Bournemouth University will support international researchers to embark on three projects to develop machine learning and artificial intelligence driven solutions to tackle challenges in computer graphics community and digital creative industry. Research experience related to CNN, GAN, image processing, and computer vision are valued. The action is supported by EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) COFUND scheme. The projects are hosted at the National Centre for Computer Animation and partnered with world leading VFX companies, including Framestore and Humain.
The recruitment for three postdoctoral roles is open till 27th Mar, 2022. Please feel free to distribute the news around.
Key words: Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, CNN, GAN, Rendering, Hair Modelling, Facial Modelling
Eligible applicants must:
Potential applicants can now register their interest via: https://forms.office.com/r/nyGC5pJTpq
More details are available at the CfACTs webpage www.bournemouth.ac.uk/CfACTs-Research
To apply the jobs, please visit:
For any enquiries, please feel free to email: cFACTs-enquiries@bournemouth.ac.uk
Dear ECRs,
this is a reminder that ACORN Round 4 is closing on 10 December 2021 at 5pm.
As advertised earlier, this round slightly differs from previous rounds. Two options for ECRs are available – Standard Grants up to £5,000 that can be delivered before the end of July 2022 and Large Grants up to £10,00 for projects to be completed within 12 months.
Each applicant is allowed to only submit one proposal for Round 4 and should use one of the supplied templates accordingly. The closing date is Friday, 10th December 2021 (5pm); to be considered eligible, all applications must be submitted to the email account acorn@bournemouth.ac.uk before the deadline.
For more details, refer to full text of advertisement.
Innovation is central to the largest challenges the world faces, from climate change and an ageing society to global pandemics.
Universities work closely with businesses, charities and others to support research and facilitate commercialisation. The interaction between universities and business is therefore vitally important for innovation.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has published its Innovation Strategy, setting out its long-term plan for delivering innovation-led growth.
Innovate UK and UKRI are supporting the strategy while universities and other research organisations are expected to play a key role in embedding and implementing its objectives.
The four Pillars
The strategy has four key objectives – referred to as ‘Pillars’ – to support the development of the UK as a global hub for innovation by 2035:
Some key takeaways from the strategy include:
Commercialisation of research
There is a real focus on commercialisation and using the UK’s research base to take new ideas and technologies to market.
The strategy outlines how the government plans to support commercialisation activities – both in the early stages and in the acceleration of deployment and scaling up. As part of this, UKRI will establish a UKRI-wide Commercialisation Funding Framework, which will include offering long-term, stage-gated funding to commercialise new and improved technologies, products, processes or services.
Navigating university-business relationships:
Business-research partnerships play an important role in driving innovation activity at a local and national level. The strategy outlines ways in which the interactions between universities and business can be more easily navigated, opening up opportunities for collaboration.
As well as the creation of ARIA (see yesterday’s blog post!) there are plans for UKRI (via Innovate UK) to develop a simpler way for businesses to access and understand opportunities and support.
Levelling-up
The government’s ‘levelling up’ agenda also plays a key role, targeting R&D interventions to the needs and strengths of specific regions.
The strategy discusses enabling places with emerging research and innovation strengths to deliver greater local economic benefits, linking this to local sector strengths as appropriate.
This includes helping places to develop effective investment strategies and an R&D prospectus, aligned to local and regional opportunities and national priorities.
Tackling major challenges
The government plans to direct innovation through a suite of ‘Innovation Missions’ focused on some of its most pressing national priorities and global challenges – such as the climate and biodiversity crises, demographic change, and pandemics.
Innovation Missions will translate these challenges into tangible problems, and bring together the insights and resources of government, industry, civil society, and academia to tackle them.
Find out more about the Innovation Strategy on the Government website
The 13th Annual Postgraduate Research Conference, hosted by the Doctoral College.
Joseph McMullen (PhD, FMC) with this poster entitled: Particulate matter: Regulating an invisible killer.
Click the poster below to enlarge.
Research indicates that exposure to atmospheric pollutants diminishes immune responses and increases viral penetration and replication. Specifically, particulate matter – microscopic solids and liquids suspended in air – represents an unseen and unregulated threat to global human life and welfare. There is no evidence of a safe level of exposure, and particulate matter is linked to respiratory, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, neurological, and paediatric developmental issues. In spite of this, domestic ambient particulate concentrations are unregulated. This work utilises particulate sampling in order to suggest the creation of a proactive regulatory framework informed by science and integrating post-hoc monitoring. Punitive action is suggested for non-compliance with the proposed legal obligations in addition to punitive measures beyond financial penalties.
You can view the full poster exhibition and pre-recorded presentations on the conference webpage.
If this research has inspired you and you’d like to explore applying for a research degree please visit the postgraduate research web pages or contact the Doctoral College dedicated admissions team.
Do you want to super charge your skills development?
Do you want access to a range of training and mentoring?
Do you want to engage in networking opportunities?
Take a look at this……
THE BRITISH ACADEMY’S ECR NETWORK EXPANDS INTO SOUTH WEST WITH NEW HUB.
The British Academy has expanded its Early-Career Researcher (ECR) Network via a pilot programme aimed at UK-based postdoctoral researchers in the humanities and social sciences – into the Southwest region with a new hub comprising the Universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter, Bath Spa, Bournemouth, Gloucestershire, Plymouth and UWE.
This two-year pilot programme aims to establish an inclusive, UK-wide Network for ECRs in the humanities and social sciences, providing opportunities for skills development and networking across the whole country.
As you can imagine we are all very BU Proud to be part of this consortium so please make the most of this opportunity and sign up to super charge your trajectory….
BU staff can login below:
BU to contribute to international midwifery workshop in 2026
Six BU contributions 2025 Festival of Social Sciences
MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2025 Call
ERC Advanced Grant 2025 Webinar MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2025
Update on UKRO services
European research project exploring use of ‘virtual twins’ to better manage metabolic associated fatty liver disease
Research Information Network
Horizon Europe Work Programme 2025 Published
Horizon Europe 2025 Work Programme pre-Published