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Michelle Heward; reflections from an ACORN Awardee

Awarded & submitted bids, Post-award, Training

How BU ECR ACORN funding has helped my research career

I was awarded BU ECR Acorn funding in 2018 for a study titled ‘Minimising disorientation in care homes: Experiences of care home staff’. The funding enabled me to recruit and manage a student Research Assistant to undertake telephone interviews with care home managers, exploring how they address spatial disorientation and navigation of residents with dementia in such environments.

With guidance and support from my line manager Prof Jan Wiener and colleagues from Brighton and Sussex Medical School, I was able to gain experience of leading the study as Principal Investigator and contributing to the evidence base of current practice by publishing the findings in a journal article.

This experience has proven to be an essential element in building my research profile. It demonstrates my capability to build a multi-disciplinary team and lead a study through the research cycle, from idea to dissemination stage. As such, it has been a catalyst for me to obtain external research funding from the Alzheimer’s Research UK South Coast Network to continue developing my expertise and networks in this area. It has also given me the confidence to take forwards further research interests and ideas with my other line manager Prof Jane Murphy and various internal and external colleagues. I have since applied to funders such as NIHR, EPSRC, and Alzheimer’s Society – with some success and some still awaiting an outcome!

Personally, I feel that the support for ECRs at BU has improved recently with the development of initiatives such as the ECR network, ECR Acorn funding, and training and development courses specifically aiming at ECRS as part of the RKE Development Framework. I have benefited from career planning and development advice and resources from my line managers, those who run the ECR network, the BU MyCareerHub (particularly the networking and Linked in guidance) and having access to health and wellbeing resources such as a coach to discuss career trajectory.

I would encourage all ECRs at BU to take the time to look at what is available and make use of what is appropriate to them. If applying for ECR Acorn funding, start with a small, manageable project and involve more experienced colleagues to ensure you feel supported and able to complete the study.

Register to attend the Annual Postgraduate Research Conference  – Wednesday 1 December.

conferences, Knowledge Exchange, PG research, student research

Register to attend the Annual Postgraduate Research Conference  – all welcome!

Come along to support our postgraduate research community at the Annual Postgraduate Research Conference, Wednesday 1 December 2021, 09:30 – 17:30. Oral presentations will be hosted on Zoom.

You are also invited to FG06 during the day to network, and for PGRs we will be offering the opportunity to get a free professional headshot during the lunch break.

There will be a virtual poster exhibition on the BU website and across the blogs during the week of the conference with further pre-recorded presentations available to view at your leisure.

The full brochure, with all presenters and presentation types, will be circulated shortly. In the meantime, please see the live presentation conference programme for the day below.

It would be great to see many of you there. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch: pgconference@bournemouth.ac.uk. 

Natalie Stewart (Research Skills & Development Officer), Doctoral College.

PGR Supervisory Lunchbites | Supporting International PGRs

PG research, Training

Hosted by the Doctoral College, these one hour online lunch bite sessions supplement the regular New and Established Supervisory Development Sessions and are aimed at all academic staff who are new to, or experienced at, supervising research degree students and are interested in expanding their knowledge of a specific aspect or process in research degree supervision.

Each session will be led by a senior academic who will introduce the topic, and staff will benefit from discussions aimed at sharing best practice from across BU. Bookings are arranged by Organisational Development.

This session is focused on expanding individuals’ knowledge on the challenges of and best practice for supervising overseas PGRs. This discussion will be led by Dr Hanaa Osman, BUBS.

Staff attending this session will: 

  • have gained additional knowledge of the challenges of supervising overseas PGRs
  • have gained additional knowledge of the best practice for supervising overseas PGRs

Further details on the session as well as information on future lunchbite sessions can also be found on the staff intranet.

Date: Tuesday 30 November 2021

Time: 12:00 – 13:00

To book a place on this session please complete the booking form.

Further details and future sessions can also be found on the Supervisory Development Lunchbite Sessions staff intranet page.

Introducing the Early Career Researcher Network

Our established network of Early Career Researchers extends across the faculties. It provides support to Early Career Researchers from the experienced academic leaders of the network, Dr. Sam Goodman, and Prof. Ann Hemingway, as well as from peers, and highlights the support available from the Research Development and Support department and other BU teams. It also, as the name suggests, provides a forum for networking and making connections that can be of great benefit to an academic’s research career.

We have monthly networking events. We plan to continue holding them online for the time being, with a view to trialling at least a couple of hybrid events later in this academic year. We have a mix of themed discussions, (on topics like career planning, dealing with imposter syndrome, managing your profile as a researcher), plus open surgeries with more general Q&A.

For a more animated introduction, here is a short video of Sam and Ann talking about the network.

If you are not already a member of the network but would like to be, or if you have any queries, please contact RKEDF@bournemouth.ac.uk. No restrictions apply, as long as you identify yourself as someone in the early stages of their research career.

To have a look at what sessions are on, and to book onto any of them, please see here.

Webinar on ‘Theory in [Tourism] Research’

Hi, I’m Dr. Miguel Moital, Principal Academic in Events Management within the Department of Sport & Events Management, Bournemouth University Business School.

Last Thursday I had the honour to contribute to the CinTurs Seminars 2021 series, with a presentation on “Theory in (tourism) research”. The essence of the topic is that by understanding the theory behind using theory in (tourism) research, researchers will be better equipped to achieve high levels of theorisation, with all the benefits that ensue.

CinTurs in a government accredited research centre affiliated to the Algarve University, Portugal, whose mission focuses on the development and transfer of knowledge towards the sustainable development of tourism destinations and the well-being of tourists, visited communities and employees in the tourism industry. CinTurs is funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), and had the highest grade among the Tourism, Hospitality and Hotel management R&D centres in the last FCT evaluation cycle. The research centre consists of almost 40 active researchers and over 50 PhD students.

More than 70 people registered for the webinar, which included time for questions at the end. Some of the material had been presented before at the 2020 and 2021 Annual Conferences of the Brazilian Association of Tourism Research and Post-graduation (ANPTUR), in association with Professor Verônica Mayer of Fluminense Federal University (Rio de Janeiro).

I thoroughly enjoyed sharing some of the material collated and developed over the past few years. I also managed to provide a professional and interactive digital experience by using my state-of-the-art-digital learning experiences production studio that I have set up at home (if you want to know what I am talking about, watch this video followed by this one). I used a highly animated and colourful powerpoint presentation, providing a more guided narrative, which is vital when delivering content virtually. I also branded the event using the ‘supersource’ feature of the ATEM Mini Extreme video switcher. This feature allows me to bring myself and the presentation on to a single image over a background picture, which in this instance contained institutional logos and the name of the event.

The combination of content and narratives presented in the webinar is still quite new and developing all the time, so you never know how participants will react to it. This is particularly the case when there is a mixed audience made up of undergraduate, masters and PhD students, ECRs and experienced researchers, as was the case of this Webinar.

I am pleased to say that feedback was extremely positive.

Professor João Albino Silva, Full Professor at the Algarve University, said:

Congratulations on the excellent lesson you delivered this afternoon. It is not an easy topic but the clarity of your explanations is a result of the substantial investment you have done in this area. Without a doubt, your contribution to our Seminar series is very important for us, and in particular for our PhD students.

Dr. Maria João Carneiro, Assistant Professor at Aveiro University, commented that:

I enjoyed the Webinar very much. The content was very interesting and useful. Everything was very clear, with enriching and interesting perspectives, supported by very clear examples. 

Dominique Carrignton, a BU undergraduate student that I supervise, said:

I thought it was really helpful and useful! It was very engaging with the interactive slides and helped to visually see the process of theory. You covered a lot of the key content in a short time, finding the right balance of material with examples. It helped me think about where my research idea fits for sure!

The 90-minute webinar focused on the following themes:

  1. Why theory is essential in (tourism) research
  2. The role and functions of theory
  3. The types of theory
  4. The components of a theory
  5. The three levels of theoretical development
  6. Abstract thinking and theorisation

The content presented in the webinar is part of a wider initiative within my Dissertation Academy project (underpinned on this Youtube Channel), which involves developing a videobook on dissertation writing. Besides more complete versions of the topics above, other topics related to ‘theory in research’ already included in the table of contents of the planned videobook include:

  • The role of context in theory development (opportunity context and suitability context)
  • Trade-offs between breadth and depth
  • Theory, research and research design
  • Theory & Impact
  • Evaluating theories

Some of these topics are ‘mini-videobooks’ on their own, given the richness of the topic.

Launched Today: Making research matter Chief Nursing Officer for England’s strategic plan for research

The Chief Nursing Officer for England`s  `Making Research Matter Strategic Plan for Research` is being launched today. The plan is for all nurses working everywhere across health, social care, academia and policy development in England. The strategic plan will provide a vision for and begin the process of creating an inclusive accessible research career framework for nurses. BU`s Professor Ann Hemingway was involved in informing the plan. You can access the summary and the full document today which includes the implementation plan to 2023. https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/B0880-cno-for-englands-strategic-plan-fo-research.pdf

FMC research process seminar this Tuesday. Classifying Emotions in Images: Humans versus Computers. All welcome

In the FMC Research Process Seminar Series, this week we welcome Dr Michael Bossetta, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication and Media at Lund University.

His talk is on: “Classifying Emotions in Images: Humans versus Computers” which should be of interest to many colleagues from across disciplines. Summary below:

There seems to be a renewed interest in emotions from political and communication scholars. In this talk, I’ll provide examples of existing approaches to study emotions, as well as my experiences using computer vision to classify emotions in politicians’ social media images. That entails, first, discussing how to manage, sort, and deduplicate thousands of images. Then, I’ll show examples of where computer vision performs well and poorly. I’ll also share some preliminary results into how computers stack up against human judgements of emotions. In wrapping up, the strengths and weaknesses of applying computer vision for emotions research will be discussed.

Tuesday 23 November at 2pm on Zoom. 

https://bournemouth-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/9292103478?pwd=UzJnNTNQWDdTNldXdjNWUnlTR1cxUT09

Meeting ID: 929 210 3478

Passcode: rps!4fmc

These seminars are approx 60 mins long and are focussed on the process of doing research – with the aim of sharing good practice and making us better researchers.

All welcome

Hope to see you there

Dan Jackson and Sae Oshima

Introduction to ACORN

Funding opportunities

What is ACORN fund about?

ACORN funding provides central investment to the most talented Early Career Researchers (ECRs) to support them in gaining experience in managing and leading their own pilot research projects. The name ACORN stands for ACceleration Of Research and Networking. These awards support BU’s commitment to the Concordat to Support to Career Development of Researchers.

It is increasingly common in the sector for universities to provide a central fund for research development activities, with funds allocated via an internal competitive process. The decision-making body is a panel, technical project implementation support, including financial management, is provided by faculties.

ACORN funding is managed by one of the internal funding panels; the ACORN panel consists of ten panel members representing all faculties, Doctoral College and Professional Services. The panel is led by the Chair Professor Jan Wiener, Vice-Chair Professor Julie Turner-Cobb and supported by Secretary and Clerk  from RDS.

There is a strong link between the ACORN Fund and the ECR Network (ECRN). Both were launched in 2018, with the ECRN having monthly meetings and a Brightspace community. Award holders are expected to engage with the ECRN and present at an ECRN event. In this way, those who do not benefit directly from the ACORN scheme by receiving funding, benefit indirectly though interaction with those ECRs who receive support via this scheme.

There are some key eligibility requirements applicants have to consider before applying for ACORN funding:

  • applicants must have completed their PhD;
  • applicants must have a post at BU (established or fixed term) for the full duration of the award;
  • applicants should have held a 0.2 or above research contract for no more than six years in total;
  • ACORN award holders cannot hold more than one ACORN award concurrently;
  • applicants are required to secure at least one mentor to provide support and advice through the application process and beyond.

Funded projects

Since ACORN funding started, 23 grants have been awarded.

Round 1

  • Return to Work after Stroke, PI Dr Kathryn Collins (HSS);
  • Enhancing Educational Practice Through 3D Pedagogy Workshops, PI Dr Deborah Gabriel (FMC);
  • Building BU-Brazil partnerships: self-managed breathing training for falls prevention, PI Dr James Gavin (FMC);
  • Training prisoners as hospitality workers: The Clink Charity case, PI Dr Charalampos Giousmpasoglou (FMC);
  • Minimising disorientation in care homes: Experiences of care home staff, PI Dr Michelle Heward (HSS);
  • Virtual Reality for supporting dementia care, PI Dr Ben Hicks (FST).

Round 2

  • The Beach Bots – preliminary study, PI Dr Rashid Bakirov (FST);
  • Contemporary Issues in Fertility Control, PI Dr Jeffrey Wale (FMC);
  • Women’s Sport Governance: Merger-Takeovers in the 1990s and beyond, PI Dr Rafaelle Nicholson (BUBS);
  • Using the power of the creative arts in supporting dementia care, PI Dr Amanda Adams (HSS);
  • Equity Based Online Crowdfunding Platforms and Gender Bias in Decision Making, PI Dr Sukanya Ayatakshi-Endow (BUBS);
  • Factors affecting access to mental health services in the Nepali and Iranian communities living in UK, PI Dr Bibha Simkhada (HSS);
  • Accessible Emoji, PI Dr Benjamin Gorman (FST).

Round 3

  • Turning Your Film Into Mine: Filmmaking and the Quotation Exception, PI Dr Claudy Op Den Kamp (FMC);
  • Neonate simulators and digital stories: enhancing social work practitioner’s knowledge of problem substance use during pregnancy, PI Dr Humaira Hussain (HSS);
  • Drawing Lines across Virtual Spaces: Nigerian Political Cartooning in the Digital Age, PI Dr Malcolm Corrigall (FMC);
  • Exploring pathways from suicide ideation to attempts in autism, PI Dr Rachel Moseley (FST);
  • Reliability and Development of Normative Data of the Total Faulty Breathing Scale, PI Dr Vikram Mohan (HSS).

Round 3.5

  • Using Game-based learning and Gamification to develop reflective practice in social work students and practitioners, PI Dr Louise Oliver (HSS);
  • Study into best inpatient ward bed layout at University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust, PI Dr Nirmal Aryal (HSS);
  • ‘Out-of-Commerce: Out-of-Mind’: Finding the Lost Films, PI Dr Melanie Stockton-Brown (FMC);
  • Filling the Gap: Investigating past and present socio-ecological resilience to aid future sustainability in the Poole Harbour Catchment, PI Dr Kimberley Davies (FST);
  • Smartphone-assisted automated grape disease diagnosis and remedial system, PI Dr Avleen Mahli (FST).

Round 4

The ACORN Fund Round 4 is now open for applications, so your name may be here in the future; all ECRs working at BU are welcome to submit their applications by 5pm on Friday, 10th December 2021.

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.

The Panel and RDS are grateful for grant holders’ commitment and wish success to all Round 4 applicants.

This Sunday is a midwifery day

international, NHS

Today Sunday 21st November was a midwifery dominated day today.  This lunchtime a interdisciplinary team from CMMPH (Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health) at BU and the University of Exeter submitted a research proposal to the ICM (International Confederation of Midwives) on Midwife-Led Birthing Centres in Low- and Middle-Income  Countries.   As a personal observation: whoever thought that setting the submission deadline for a Sunday was a good idea has no respect for researchers’ work-life balance!

This afternoon many of us attended the  March with Midwives vigils which were held nationwide in the UK to highlight issues with midwifery staffing and working conditions.  The March with Midwives vigil took place in 50 towns and cities, as a vigil to make the general public and politicians aware about the maternity crisis.  In Poole Park it attracted over fifty people.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH

Recruiting : Faculty Reps for the Research Staff Association

The BU Research Staff Association (RSA) is a forum to promote research culture at BU. Research staff from across BU are encouraged to attend to network with others researchers, disseminate their work, discuss career opportunities, hear updates on how BU is implementing the Research Concordat, and give feedback or raise concerns that will help to develop and support the research community at BU.

The Association is run by two leaders, supported by at least two reps from each faculty. Eligible research staff are those on fixed-term or open-ended employment contracts (not PTHP/casual contracts). If you are interested in this role, please supply a few words to demonstrate your suitability, interest, availability in relation to the position to Researchdev@bournemouth.ac.uk by the 30/11/21.

Please contact your faculty RSA rep to chat about it if you have any queries.

The future of mental health research in Wessex – online meeting

NHS

Date: 9 December 2021

Time: 12:30-14:00

Location: OnlineChaired by Professor Chris Kipps, in this meeting attendees will learn about the new mental health network in Wessex and explore opportunities to collaborate and discuss the mental health research landscape across Wessex. Register for a place here.

Free training sessions for dementia researchers

conferences, international, Knowledge Exchange, Training

Bournemouth University is involved in a wider collaboration which organises the Advanced Dementia Research Conference (ADRC 2021).  The conference is delivered online today and tomorrow (19th-20th November).  ADRC 2021 is led by Dr. Brijesh Sathian, BU Visiting Faculty, based in the Geriatric Medicine Department, Rumailah Hospital, in Doha, Qatar.  Saturday morning Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen will be delivering a session on qualitative research, preceded by a session on mixed-methods research from Prof. Padam Simkhada, also BU Visiting Faculty, from the University of Huddersfield.

The programme shown is for Day 2 tomorrow.   All sessions today and tomorrow are free to attend!  You can register here! Please, note that advertised times a Qatar times which three hours ahead of the UK at the moment.  

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH (Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health)

 

PGR Supervisory Lunchbites | Examining Research Degree Theses

PG research

Hosted by the Doctoral College, these one hour online lunch bite sessions supplement the regular New and Established Supervisory Development Sessions and are aimed at all academic staff who are new to, or experienced at, supervising research degree students and are interested in expanding their knowledge of a specific aspect or process in research degree supervision.

Each session will be led by a senior academic who will introduce the topic, and staff will benefit from discussions aimed at sharing best practice from across BU. Bookings are arranged by Organisational Development.

This session is focused on expanding individuals’ knowledge on the research degree examination processes and responsibilities involved in examining a research degree thesis. This discussion will be led by Professor Mark Hadfield, FST.

Staff attending this session will: 

  • have gained additional knowledge of the purpose of the research degree examination
  • have gained additional knowledge of the role of the research degree thesis examiners
  • be aware of the relevant sections of the Code of Practice for Research Degrees

Further details on the session as well as information on future lunchbite sessions can also be found on the staff intranet.

Date: Wednesday 24 November 2021

Time: 13:00 – 14:00

To book a place on this session please complete the booking form.

Further details and future sessions can also be found on the Supervisory Development Lunchbite Sessions staff intranet page.