Please see below and note that from now any amendment made should be using version 1.6 of the document.
‘What: An updated amendment tool has been released for use when submitting amendments for health research studies
Who: All researchers and sponsors
When: Released 6 December
We’ve also made some other changes to the amendment tool to make it easier to use including:
improved guidance in the submission tab
changes to the radio selection buttons to make it clearer to complete and view once converted to a pdf
changes to help users avoid common mistakes
You can get all details on the changes we’ve made in the Change Record in General Guidance tab on the tool. Please start to use the new version (1.6) for all new amendments from 6 December 2021. We will continue to accept amendments using version 1.5 for two weeks. We will not accept amendments submitted on V1.5 after 20 December 2021.’
Postgraduate researchers and supervisors, hopefully you have seen your monthly update for researcher development e-newsletter sent earlier last week. If you have missed it, please check your junk email or you can view it within the Researcher Development Programme on Brightspace.
The start of the month is a great time to reflect on your upcoming postgraduate researcher development needs and explore what is being delivered this month as part of the Doctoral College Researcher Development Programme and what is available via your Faculty or Department. Remember some sessions only run once per year, so don’t miss out.
Taalia Nadeem (PhD, BUBS) with this poster entitled: Understanding the social representation of uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs): how public and stakeholder views empower or constrain pathways to adoption.
Click the poster below to enlarge.
UAVs now support various purposes including within healthcare logistics. There are benefits of using UAVs, but their capabilities are challenged by the public. A solid understanding of public acceptance of UAVs is important to develop appropriate regulatory strategies therefore, the following research questions arise: What is the influence of mass media on UAV perception? What attributes and perceived risks of UAVs influence adoption? How do personal attributes affect views of UAVs? A mixed method approach is proposed including a phase of qualitative research to understand concerns and identify segments according to attitudes, behaviours, or values. This will be followed by a large-scale questionnaire. Studies demonstrate that mainstream media is the main source of information about UAVs, but due to lack of knowledge, the public is unable to make a more informed opinion, and this calls for a deeper understanding of people’s knowledge of UAVs.
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.
Zhiqi Li (PhD, FMC) with this poster entitled: Deep learning for scene flow estimation: methods and applications.
Click the poster below to enlarge.
Scene flow estimation aims at obtaining structure information and 3D motion of dynamic scenes. It has long been an interest of research in computer vision and 3D computer graphics. It is a fundamental task for various applications like autonomous driving. Compared to previous methods utilizing image representations, many recent researches build upon the power of deep analysis on point clouds and focus on point clouds representation to conduct 3D flow estimation. In this survey, we comprehensively review the pioneering literature in scene flow estimation based on point clouds, delve in detail into their learning paradigms and present insightful comparison between the state-of-the-art methods using deep learning for scene flow estimation. Furthermore, we introduce various higher-level scene understanding tasks (object tracking, motion segmentation, etc.) which could benefit from the latest progress on scene flow estimation. The paper concludes with an overview of foreseeable research trends for scene flow estimation.
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.
Shell Smith (PhD, FHSS) with this poster entitled: Does motorcyclists’ identification, perception, and knowledge towards risk change regarding their motorcycling qualifications and experience?
Click the poster below to enlarge.
Motorcyclists are one of the most vulnerable road user groups in the U.K. with an average of 6 deaths and 94 serious injuries per week. A common collision scenario is a road user driving across the path of a motorcyclist. Consequently, the research questions ask where motorcyclists and car drivers are directing their visual attention and hazard perception and whether there are differences between advanced motorcyclists and advanced car drivers vs standard trained motorcyclists and car drivers. Prior research specifically targeted at motorcycle collision prevention is limited, with only 15 studies using eye-tracking methodology. To target gaps in the literature; this is a mixed methods study using qualitative interviews, questionnaires, and eye-tracking. Initial findings indicate that motorcyclists and car drivers demonstrate different visual attention patterns. Thus, it is possible to change driving and motorcycle test training to teach how to direct visual attention and cognition to hazards.
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.
Dr. Samreen Ashraf was invited as a Keynote Speaker at the 13th Annual Postgraduate Conference organised by the Doctoral College- Bournemouth University on 01/12/21.
The keynote covered Samreen’s research topic of multiple identities where she talked about juggling multiples identities successfully. Though everyone holds multiple identities, but this session was focused on PGR’s multiple identities. Discussing questions like, who we are/how we would describe ourselves and what determines our behaviour in certain situations enabled the audiences to reflect on their respective journeys.
Drawing upon Samreen’s own PhD journey, the session was ended by bringing in the positive side of having multiple identities and the ways to utilise them in our best interest.
In the future, as we look back at the years dominated by COVID-19 and the policies of the government of the time, one of the emergent themes through the discourse is that of the role of research in UK society, and how research is critical to the future of our society and economy. This is visible through the rapid development of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine (a triumph in scientific excellence, agile internal investment, technology transfer and partnership working) but look more closely and you will see a plethora of policy documents that articulate the importance of R&D as we look towards a post COVID world. In this blog post, I explore how the government’s R&D roadmap illustrates this trajectory…
Since January 2020, the national R&D funding landscape has shifted abruptly in response to global events and a decisive policy trajectory outlined by the UK government. This includes (1) the UK’s departure from the EU and associated uncertainty of funding from the EU post-Brexit, (2), the impact of the COVID-19 crisis and resultant diversion of funding and activity and (3) the expectation that UK Universities will play a pivotal role in national economic recovery further to the lockdowns required to curb the spread of COVID.
In response to these elements, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy published on 1 July 2020 the UK Research and Development Roadmap. The roadmap is in the developmental stage and seeks to test how the UK can:
increase our investment in research, unlocking discoveries and applying research to solving our most pressing problems in government, industry and across society;
become world-class at securing the economic and social benefits from research;
support entrepreneurs and start-ups and increase the flow of capital into firms carrying out R&D enabling them to scale up;
attract, retain and develop the talented, diverse people and teams that are essential to delivering our vision;
take greater account of place-based outcomes in how we make decisions on R&D in the UK, ensuring that our R&D systems make their fullest contribution to our levelling up agenda;
provide long-term flexible investment into infrastructure and institutions;
be a partner of choice for other world-leading research and innovation nations, as well as strengthening R&D partnerships with emerging and developing countries;
engage in new and imaginative ways to ensure that our science, research and innovation system is responsive to the needs and aspirations of our society.
But what does this mean for researchers? I’d suggest future implications will be larger investments in riskier ideas (the famous moonshot), a greater emphasis on impact (more still), more freedom of movement of researchers/scientists (theoretically at least), a more diverse research ecosystem and a huge amount of emphasis on place (as part of the broader context of levelling up – i.e. that R&D expansion will help the UK become more equal).
There is a clear expectation that Universities are a key enabler in this strategy as the UK looks towards the recovery required in the post-COVID-19 future, but, only as part of a wider system that is seeking to reduce bureaucracy. This perhaps creates tension for the policymakers given the current Whitehall perception of where bureaucracy lies (i.e. within Universities – which are thought to be far less agile than industry).
This makes it essential for anyone working in research to consider how to respond to these changes to position itself appropriately to become a net beneficiary of the shift in the funding landscape. Even though details remain scarce as to specificities of the roadmap and how it will enrich the research environment for researchers day to day….
What we don’t know, and still don’t know, is exactly how this roadmap will be administered. We were expecting further announcements this side of Christmas, however, it is looking less and less likely, with the focus of the treasury being diverted elsewhere.
So how do you prepare? I always suggest reading the political runes i.e. the overall trajectory of travel now, rather than await specific funding calls. With the national economic recovery perhaps better than expected, I would expect in 2022 we will see announcements of big investments and changes to the national research ecosystem.
As a research community, this means that we need to have a clarity of vision of the big research ideas that can transform society, ready to articulate these through our external narratives and funding calls when they arrive. Collaboration and dialogue is essential for this, and perhaps somewhat starved, thanks to COVID. So perhaps if I have one piece of advice that is to engage with colleagues and allow yourself the space to explore our big research ideas. BU has a huge amount to offer through the R&D roadmap; I’d highly recommend we collaborate and articulate how we further it to deliver the societal impact that we are so brilliant at doing as a University.
From the RDS desk – Is research really for everyone?
The definition and scope of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) is often misunderstood, and limited to only considering ethnicity and gender. In reality, EDI is about involving so many more groups, and avoiding potential language barriers and digital exclusion.
The Research Design Service blog this month explores EDI, and makes you ask yourself the question: is this research really for everyone? Find out more.
The Health Services and Delivery Research (HS&DR) Programme has changed its name
The programme is now called the Health and Social Care Delivery Research (HSDR) Programme. The programme’s remit has expanded over time, with many of its commissioned research programmes seeking research proposals on topics related to social care.
Webinar: Expanding diversity in research approaches for multiple long-term conditions
The Programme Grants for Applied Research (PGfAR) and Programme Development Grants (PDG) team are holding a webinar on 9 December 2021, to outline their new highlight notice calling for varied research approaches to address multiple long-term conditions. Find out more.
Your local branch of the NIHR RDS (Research Design Service) is based within the BU Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) should you need help with your application. We advise on all aspects of developing an application and can review application drafts as well as put them to a mock funding panel (run by RDS South West) known as Project Review Committee, which is a fantastic opportunity for researchers to obtain a critical review of a proposed grant application before this is sent to a funding body or if you’re hoping to resubmit the panel can provide some excellent tips and feedback.
Contact us as early as possible to benefit fully from the advice
Announcing the (rescheduled) WAN Wellness Retreat fast approaching!
Our WAN (Women’s Academic Network) Wellness Mini-Retreat has been rescheduled to the morning of Wed 15 December. The chance to take care of ourselves under expert tutelage is just what we need after a frenetic semester and before the Christmas madness begins. So join us for a morning of relaxation, recuperation and recovery with friendly folk and our amazing SportsBU Wellness Guru and current WAN convenor, Dr Melsia Tomlin-Kräftner.
Details:
Date and time: Wed 15 December, 10.00-13.00.
Venue: Ashdown Leisure Centre, Canford Heath, Poole (free parking and easy access to Talbot Campus and buses to Lansdowne)
Retreat Programme and participation requirements:
A mid-morning practice of Yoga, ChiRestore & Relaxation to rejuvenate the body.
Bring your yoga mat, a large towel, socks & hoodie/woolly.
Water, fruits and cereal bars will be provided.
Be prepared to stretch…
Please note: The WAN wellness retreat welcomes all members with inclusive activities accessible for people with various levels of disabilities. Just email your requirements so Melsia can be ready to support you.
You are warmly invited to join us on Zoom this week for an hour of talking research process.
Research Meets Strategy: Tales from the Traverse – by Prof Julian McDougall
This talk will share some reflections on recent projects working with industry / government funders (ITV, BBC and DCMS) with a clear strategic pathway in mind for what media literacy can do to solve a problem for them. This is very different to other studies we have worked on within the same research field (eg with AHRC, EU, British Council). It’s not the research design or the conceptual framework that’s different, but what the findings need to do for the funder. So, the idea is to talk through this experience, offer some suggestions and invite insights from others who’ve hiked the same traverse.
This week on the BU Research Blog we are taking a close look at the UK Government’s policies and mechanisms to support research. We will look at the R&D Roadmap, the Advanced Research & Invention Agency (ARIA), the levelling-up agenda, the UK Innovation Strategy, and the R&D People & Culture Strategy. Today, we’re looking at UKRI and Research England and considering their missions and plans.
UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) was launched in April 2018, following a recommendation by Sir Paul Nurse’s review of the research councils and aims to increase integrative cross-disciplinary research. It is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS). It brings together the seven disciplinary research councils (including ESRC, AHRC and NERC), Research England and UK Innovation. UKRI, which is led by Chief Executive Officer Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, brings these nine councils together to deliver an ambitious agenda. The UKRI Corporate Plan sets out UKRI’s goals, ambitions and objectives, as well as providing examples of how UKRI is working in partnership to tackle local, national and global challenges. The plan sets out the four elements of how UKRI will deliver on its mission, these are:
to convene and catalyse by listening to and connecting diverse communities to create new combinations, and working in partnership with others
to incentivise the development of a research and innovation system that realises its vision via its choices, policies and behaviour
to invest in people, ideas and infrastructure
to conduct high-quality research and innovation
The UKRI Corporate Plan is delivered through the nine councils, each of which has a Delivery Plan. These are summarised in the UKRI Corporate Plan; however, if you are applying for funding from one of the councils (such as AHRC or EPSRC) then it is important to read that council’s delivery plan as that will explain what the council’s priorities and what research they want to invest in. You can access all the Delivery Plans here: https://www.ukri.org/about-us/what-we-do/delivery-plans/#contents-list.
Research England’s Delivery Plan set out its mission as to “create and sustain the conditions for a healthy and dynamic research and KE system in universities, while driving the transformation in university capacity and capability that will deliver the government’s target of 2.4% of GDP invested in R&D by 2027.” The approach is to understand and support university success and use this information to create a more healthy and dynamic university system in England and to deliver strong outcomes for the economy and society.
Research excellence is a key focus of Research England (and UKRI). Universities are encouraged to cultivate and implement an open research agenda; foster the development of early-career research talent; promote equality, diversity and inclusion; and broaden the skills of the next generation. Research England’s work in terms of research excellence is split into three areas:
Research assessment (e.g. the REF; the Future Research Assessment Programme).
Research culture (e.g. research metrics; open access; research integrity; interdisciplinary research; high-performing research; public engagement).
People (e.g. equality, diversity and inclusion; postgraduate researchers).
You can read more about Research England’s work in each of these areas of research excellence here: https://re.ukri.org/research/.
The delayed 2020/21 Women’s FA Cup final is finally taking place. Two London rivals, Arsenal and Chelsea, and some of the best players in the world make this a sporting event worthy of a grand stage such as Wembley Stadium. The timing of the final, December 5, is significant and ironic, as on December 5 1921 the Football Association banned women’s football.
The ban was because sports were believed to be unsuitable for females. Fifty years on from the end of this ban, women’s football is now where it belongs, at the “home of football”.
This is just one of many significant developments in women’s sport that have happened recently.
In summer 2021, English cricket’s new Hundred tournament attracted the highest attendance for a women’s cricket event ever, with a total attendance at the games of 267,000. The opening game of the American women’s soccer Challenge Cup, meanwhile, became the most-watched match in league history with 572,000 viewers, a 201% increase on the previous record. And in England, a “landmark £7m deal” was struck with broadcasters to show Women’s Super League football matches on free-to-air and subscription services.
It’s been claimed that interest in women’s sport is thriving. However, there are concerns regarding the future of women’s sport due to the COVID-19 pandemic. More needs to be done to assure its future.
The need for caution
We research key governance aspects of women’s sport and, while we agree there has been much improvement, our research also suggests that areas of inequality remain and more needs to be done by governing bodies, organisations and policymakers. While women’s sport is currently popular, changes are needed for its success to be sustained.
For instance, when men’s and women’s sports are governed by the same organisation, the decisions made typically prioritise men’s sport. Recent accusations of institutional racism highlight the issues when sports are run by hypermasculine, failed male athletes – they make decisions that benefit themselves and those that resemble them (men).
This is an issue that has worsened over time. Historically, many women’s sports were governed separately and run wholly or mainly by women – for example, the Women’s Football Association was in charge of English women’s football until the Football Association took over in 1992, and the Women’s Cricket Association ran women’s cricket until 1998 when the England and Wales Cricket Board gained control. But since the 1990s, women’s sport has typically been run by men with little knowledge of women’s sport, who tend to prioritise what they know.
This privileging of men’s sport was particularly the case at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The exception to this was in North America where women’s football has its own governing body, and where during the pandemic, women’s football was prioritised – a new tournament introduced and new commercial partners found. In other countries, women’s sport was simply cancelled.
Another area of concern is that sports media coverage, which is now the way most people access sport, continues to be dominated by men’s sports. This pattern is not helped when those who talk and write about sport remain predominantly men. Our research shows that when women have greater involvement in sports journalism there’s greater coverage of women’s sport. The challenge is breaking into the “boys’ club” of sports journalism.
We also found that women’s sport is both under-valued and under-sold. Women’s sport often receives less investment in marketing and promotion. As a result, spectators see it as less exciting and less spectacular than men’s sport.
This research also found that women’s games are often scheduled in the middle of the workday or early on weekdays, rather than primetime slots on weekday evenings or weekend afternoons. This scheduling creates problems because spectators are often not able to attend when games are during work hours or when children’s sport is taking place.
Women’s sport is often only accessible on pay-TV, limiting the potential audience. Recent research shows that when matches are moved onto free-to-air channels, the sky is the limit. A study for the Women’s Sport Trust recently showed that the broadcast audience of women’s sport in the UK has grown from 46.8 million in 2019 to 51.1 million in 2021. Much of this increase comes from new coverage of women’s cricket and women’s football, and gender-parity in Olympic coverage.
A roadmap for sustained success
So, while the future of women’s sport looks bright, inequalities remain. We propose a five-point “roadmap” detailing the changes that are needed for the success of women’s sport to be sustained:
• Ensure that the governance of women’s sport has women in visible leadership positions, to prioritise it and ensure that any decisions support the interests of women’s sport. Otherwise, if men run both men’s and women’s sport they will continue to prioritise the male version.
• The sports media workforce needs greater diversity. Although we focus on gender here, sports media is dominated by white men.
• The marketing and presentation of women’s sport need to be on a par with men’s sport. While men’s sport has greater investment in these areas it will continue to be seen as superior to women’s sport. There needs to be unity in how sports clubs communicate with fans about their men’s and women’s teams.
• Women’s sport needs consistent prime time scheduling (as seen with women’s football in England this season), rather than during the day when the majority of fans are at work and cannot attend.
• Coverage of women’s sport needs to be on free-to-air television – if it is not, awareness of it will drop.
If these points can be addressed, we believe that women’s sport will continue to thrive, not just now, but well into the future.
At Bournemouth University we collaborate with global institutions and organisations through our education, research and practice.
Our vision is that by 2025, BU will be recognised worldwide as a leading university for inspiring learning, advancing knowledge and enriching society through the fusion of education, research and practice.
In recognition of the important contribution that international academics play in driving research for the future, we are delighted to be launching the third round of the BU Global Visiting Fellowship (GVF) scheme. This aims to attract global research talent from our international priority partner institutions to collaborate with BU academics in our strategic investment areas:
Applications that incorporate social sciences and humanities are particularly welcome.
Each Fellowship is offered for a three year period to support the development of a collaborative partnership between the Fellow and their Bournemouth University host member of staff. Funding is available to support a range of activities that promote research collaboration between individuals and groups at both institutions. During their Fellowship tenure each Fellow will spend a minimum of one month (this can be spread across the three years) at Bournemouth University.
Fellows must be nominated by a member of academic staff at BU. The BU nominator will complete the Global Visiting Fellowships Application Form. The scheme can include additional BU staff members to be named, and we encourage incorporating early career researchers into the application. This collaboration will be expected to propose ambitious and innovative programmes of research and related engagement activities.
Applications are welcome from those who have had a career break or time in other roles; there are no time limits in respect of time spent outside a research environment. Global Visiting Fellowships may be held on a part-time basis in order to combine research with personal responsibilities. Applications are particularly welcome from women (as a GVF and/or BU nominator) and the panel reserve the right to apply a quota to the funding available for a minimum of one female GVF to be funded per round.
The closing date for the 2021/22 round is 18th March 2022.
To find out more details about this scheme and applicant eligibility (including who our international priority partner institutions are), please read the scheme guidance(pdf 350kb).
Contacts:
If you are from one of our international priority partner institutes, your research aligns with one of our strategic investment areas, and you would like an introduction to a BU academic to collaborate with, please contact: researchfellowships@bournemouth.ac.uk
Rosie Harper (PhD, FHSS) with this poster entitled: Nudging: a theoretical concept for a very practical approach to pelvic floor muscle training.
Click the poster below to enlarge.
A third of women suffer from stress incontinence which affects their physical, mental and social wellbeing. Pelvic floor exercises are the gold standard treatment, but women’s adherence to these exercises is poor. It is suggested behaviour change techniques, including nudge theory, could be used to improve adherence. The research will explore the role of nudge theory in causing predictable changes in behaviour in antenatal women, gain insight into antenatal women’s experience of digital nudges and allow a better understanding of the influence of digital nudges on pelvic floor muscle training adherence. The first phase involves a literature review to explore the effect of digital nudges on exercise adherence in antenatal women. Phase two of the study involves qualitative data collection and analysis to explore women’s experience of digital nudges. The third phase of the study will be a feasibility study which includes a pilot of the intervention – digital nudges.
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.
Sitsada Sartamorn (PhD, BUBS) with this poster entitled: Hybrid social media marketing; How metaverse and other cutting-edge technologies impact on consumer experiences by reducing borders between real and virtual space in Thai organic food market.
Click the poster below to enlarge.
The pandemic of COVID-19 has affected us in a world-changing way, a world where people cannot unite. However, this obstacle is now diminishing, thanks to the concept of globalisation and advanced technology development. This study aims to explore the impact of the “metaverse” and other cutting-edge innovative technologies on the marketing space of the future and consider how these advanced technologies should be integrated into the design of marketing strategies and propose a way forward. This study focuses on the organic food market in Thailand and explores how technology can integrate the boundaries between the real and the virtual, increase consumer experience and enhance the effectiveness of marketing strategies based on advanced technology. This study will use a qualitative research method to strategically design hybrid social media marketing.
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.
Samantha Everard (MRes, FHSS) with this poster entitled: How do people with multiple disabilities experience, engage with and participate in self-employment support.
Click the poster below to enlarge.
“Seeing every individual for their ability, especially those with hidden impairments, makes good business sense” (Kirby, 2014a), but when a person with multiple disabilities decides to experience, engage with and participate in self-employment support, there is currently a lack of clarity and guidance to meet the individual needs of disabled people wanting to engage in self-employment. An internet search will bring up numerous results with websites and organisations offering generalised support, but there is very limited information offering a person-centric service. This research aims to identify gaps within the general self-employment support model and work towards a more cohesive level of accessible information, advice, guidance and resources. My research is focussed on gathering qualitative data through one-to-one interviews using Photovoice as this allows the participants with multiple disabilities to openly engage with the topic and tell stories about their experiences in their own individual ways.
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.
We are currently recruiting for members on some of our Research Funding Panels.
To help us further develop our research capacity in line with BU2025, the Research Performance and Management Committee (RPMC) oversees research investment and performance. Under the auspices of the RPMC, Funding Panels have been established to have oversight of funding allocations, in order to further build the research environment, our external engagement and the quality and impact of research endeavours. Funding Panels demonstrably operate in an academically robust, fair and transparent manner.
These are exciting opportunities to get involved in University-level Panels, to network and collaborate with colleagues from across the University, and to contribute to decisions about how best to invest in future research and knowledge exchange projects.
The vacancies are:
Acceleration of Research & Networking (ACORN) Funding Panel:
1 x early career researcher
Global Visiting Fellowships (GVF) Funding Panel:
1 x early career researcher
Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) Panel:
1 x mid-career academic
Eligible staff are invited to apply via an expressions of interest (EoI) round.
Early career academics are defined in this context as those who are within 7 years of completing their doctorate (or equivalent experience) and are not Associate Professors / Professors.
Mid-career academics are defined in this context as those who are at least 7 years from completing their doctorate (or equivalent experience) and are not Associate Professors / Professors.
If you’re interested in applying for any of the vacancies, please follow the guidelines below for each of the relevant panels:
ACORN
You can find out more about the ACORN Funding Panel here
Omowonuola Okunnu (PhD, FMC) with this poster entitled: A comparative study of the interconnectedness of religion and politics in Northern and Southern Nigeria: The role of literacy level.
Click the poster below to enlarge.
Although research on the determinants of political outcomes has been a subject of debate for many decades and perhaps centuries, findings are often awash with nuances and not on par with realities at the regional level. There are more questions arising from dynamics in the societies, related to political campaigning and social movements at the regional level. Consequently, the aim of this project is to examine the independent and mediating effects of religion and literacy levels on voters’ decision and electoral outcomes at regional levels amongst female voters in Nigeria. A mixed-method approach is adopted to ameliorate any contradictions between qualitative and quantitative findings. Early findings of this research suggest a battery of issues ranging from divergence in perceptions of religious issues; poor attitude to political outcomes; a weak awareness of political issues; and an underdeveloped attention is paid to gender imbalances in politics.
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.
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Postgraduate researchers and supervisors, hopefully you have seen your monthly update for researcher development e-newsletter sent earlier last week. If you have missed it, please check your junk email or you can 
At Bournemouth University we collaborate with global institutions and organisations through our education, research and practice.
BU attendance at third annual GCPHR meeting in June
Interactive Tangible and Intangible Heritage Applications – BU student work featured in new book chapter
Second NIHR MIHERC meeting in Bournemouth this week
MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2025 Call
ERC Advanced Grant 2025 Webinar
Horizon Europe Work Programme 2025 Published
Horizon Europe 2025 Work Programme pre-Published
Update on UKRO services
European research project exploring use of ‘virtual twins’ to better manage metabolic associated fatty liver disease