The RKEDF is excited to announce this ECRN seed funded event:
AI and Academic Identities: Navigating the Future
📅 Thursday, 18th July 2025
🕚 11:00 AM – 3:15 PM
📍 FG06, Fusion Building, Bournemouth University
This interdisciplinary workshop explores how artificial intelligence is reshaping academic identity, challenging traditional roles in research, teaching, authorship, and professional development. Join us to reflect on what it means to be an academic in the age of AI and how to navigate these shifts with clarity and confidence.
Workshop aims:
Examine how AI is influencing the academic profession and the nature of scholarly work
Share cross-disciplinary perspectives and with me or Samreen experiences
Encourage open dialogue around ethical, practical, and professional implications
Consider how universities can support identity development in a tech-driven landscape
Click here for more information and to register your place.
(Places are limited and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis)
We’re excited to welcome Sue Warr, Manager at PramaLife, to our July Community Voices Webinar. Sue will be sharing insights into the impactful work PramaLife is doing to empower independent lives for older people across Dorset.
For over 40 years, PramaLife has been providing care services throughout Dorset. Their vision is a world where no one is unfairly disadvantaged or excluded due to age or infirmity and where everyone can enjoy life as they age. Learn more about their mission at prama.org.uk.
Community voices is a collaboration between BU PIER partnership and Centre for Seldom Heard Voices to provide a platform and a voice to local community activists.
On Thursday 19th June, Bournemouth University hosted a Research Staff Association (RSA) away day dedicated to supporting research staff across faculties. The event, themed Getting Started, Securing Funding, and Advancing Careers, brought together a small but engaged group of around 10 research staff members from across the university. While modest in size, the group dynamic created a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere that encouraged open discussion, shared experiences, and deep reflection.
The away day was organised by RSA Rep Dr. Gladys Yinusa (FHSS), with support from RSA Reps Dr. Pooja Shah (FHSS) and Dr. Michael Adjeisah. The agenda focused on practical tools and insights to support early- and mid-career researchers in navigating the complexities of academic funding and career development.
We kicked off the day with a hands-on workshop delivered by BU’s Research Development and Support (RDS) team. This session, Getting Started with Grant Applications, demystified the process of identifying funding opportunities, understanding funder expectations, and developing strong proposals. The RDS team’s practical advice was especially useful for those of us who are still finding our footing in the world of grant writing, and the interactive format gave everyone the chance to ask questions relevant to their own projects.
The second session featured a case study presentation by Dr Michelle Heward from FST. Michelle shared her personal journey navigating funding applications, reflecting on both challenges and successes. Her talk, Experience with Funding Applications: Lessons Learned and Building on Small Pots of Funds, offered a candid look at the realities of funding in academia. She highlighted how starting small—such as with pilot grants or internal funding—can build the credibility and track record needed to apply for larger awards. Michelle’s honesty and encouragement were appreciated by all, and her story resonated with many of the early-career researchers in the room.
Beyond the sessions, the away day sparked rich conversations about the broader research culture at BU. A recurring theme was the sense of isolation often experienced by research staff—working on fixed-term contracts, across departments, and sometimes with limited opportunities to connect with peers. We discussed the need for more visible and accessible research communities within the university and brainstormed ways to build a greater sense of belonging.
There was also discussion around the design of future training opportunities—both inclusive of and separate from the doctoral college—to ensure relevance and usefulness for all research career stages. Participants expressed interest in more tailored sessions that reflect the diverse needs and experiences of researchers across faculties.
The away day was a valuable reminder of the importance of coming together as a research community. It gave us space to share knowledge, learn from each other, and feel seen in roles that are often overlooked. We’re looking forward to building on the momentum from this event to strengthen networks, advocate for researcher needs, and continue creating opportunities for meaningful connection and career development.
Dr Pooja Shah,
Postdoctoral researcher
TANGERINE Project (nuTritional heAlth aNd aGeing in oldER ethnIc miNoritiEs)
The Bournemouth University team included Finn Morgan, Nigel Davies, Serdar Akar, and Egemen Oner, alongside their client, Dr. Shamal Faily from the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl). Among the 180 guests and exhibitors, the BU team presented three Dstl-funded projects covering critical areas such as human factors, risk-informed decision-making, and cyber resilience.
Featured Dstl-Funded Projects:
Tool-support for embedding safety, security, and human factors analysis into Secure by Design requirements.
Risk-Informed Decision-Making (RIDM) in Intentional Electromagnetic Interference (IEMI).
Towards Productive Cyber Resilience and Safety Analysis in Model-Based System Engineering (MBSE).
Collaboration for Secure by Design Practices
In addition to the BattleLab showcase, Dr. Duncan Ki-Aries and Prof. Huseyin Dogan also partnered with Mima, a human-centred design consultancy. Their collaboration focused on developing and evaluating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). This MVP demonstrates how safety, security, and human factors analysis can be seamlessly integrated into Secure by Design requirements practices. The tool was successfully demonstrated at the Dstl Portsdown West site in June 2025, further highlighting Bournemouth University’s expertise in developing secure and effective systems for defence applications.
If you’re interested in learning more about these impactful projects, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Prof. Huseyin Dogan and Dr. Duncan Ki-Aries.
Scholars worldwide are in dialogue about using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in various fields of research. Of course, AI can make certain kinds of work more efficient, this is also the case in social science research. Although ethical use of AI is still fuzzy, the use of AI in visual anthropological and sociological research that entails the Interpretive Approach raises several questions. The editorial team of Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology, including BU’s Professor Edwin van Teijlingen, just published a research note raising three key questions: First, are researchers satisfied with the interpretation (the meaning created) by AI, i.e., the authenticity of the interpretation?; (b) Secondly, can AI reach the depth of the details of the visual object being interpreted? And thirdly, what ethical issues would AI-based research encounter if AI were highly supportive?
They agree that answering these questions is not easy. Since a detailed analysis of these components needs rigorous research work, we consider issues that will be the basis for further research in this editorial note. Hence, the purpose of this editorial note is to bring the research agenda to the forefront of researchers for further investigation rather than answering specific research questions mentioned above.
Reference:
Khattri, M. B., Pandey, R., Roy, R. K., Subedi, M., van Teijlingen, E., Parker, S., & Bhandari, P. (2025). Ethical Dilemmas in Visual Anthropology and Sociology in the Era of Artificial Intelligence. Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology, 19(1), i-v. https://doi.org/10.3126/dsaj.v19i1.80819
Earlier this month (15 June) Dr. Samreen Ashraf, was cited in the newspaper The Guardian in an interesting article with title ‘Modest fashion’ headed for mainstream despite political hostility, say experts. The article recognizes that Dr. Samreen Ashraf pioneered UK research into modest fashion. The journalist reporting on this, Chris Osuh, cited Samreen as saying that the growth of modest fashion “was also driven by women’s desire to avoid objectification” and that “the market remained underserved, with issues around clear labeling from big brands and affordability with smaller suppliers”.
Samreen is Principal Academic in Marketing, the Bournemouth University’s Business School.
On World Refugee Day 2025, Friday 20 June, the new Maternal and Infant Health Equity Research Centre (MIHERC) website was launched. MIHERC is a hub for research, collaboration and action on maternal and infant health equity. MIHERC) is a collaborative effort between Sheffield Hallam University, Bournemouth University and City of Doncaster Council working to reduce health inequalities for mothers and babies. This year’s World Refugee Day’s theme, hashtag#Solidarity, reflects MIHERC’s mission to stand with all mothers and babies – especially those facing health and social inequalities or barriers to care.
Yesterday the online newspaper Online Khabar in Nepal published an opinion piece in English written by three Bournemouth University academics working with a colleague in Kathmandu. This interdisciplinary piece ‘Resilient through experiences: Unlocking the entrepreneurial prowess of Nepal’s left-behind women‘ brings together ideas gained from many different studies and disciplines. The three authors from Bournemouth University are: Dr. Sukanya Ayatakshi-Endow, Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen, and Dr. Pramod Regmi, and they collaborated with Dr. Rashmee Rajkarnikar who is based at Nepal’s oldest and largest university, Tribhuvan University. The four authors brings insights from economics, business studies, sociology, women’s studies, migration studies and health.
Adele McMahon, PhD student in the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, presented at the 9th International Visual Methods Conference (IVMC9), held in Istanbul. Her presentation, titled “Tell Me About a Photo You Would Have Liked to Have Taken but Couldn’t: Ethical Implications of a Photo Elicitation Study Exploring Young Parents’ Experience of the UK Child Protection System,” reflected onthe ethical issues and challenges encountered during her research.
Presenting to an international audience of visual researchers offered a valuable opportunity to share insights and engage in meaningful dialogue. Adele was able to connect with fellow researchers and participate in rich discussions around the ethical complexity of visual methods, especially in contexts involving marginalised populations.
Adele is thankful to the IVMC9 organisers and attendees for creating such a thoughtful and stimulating conference environment and to Bournemouth University for facilitating her attendance.
Adele McMahon (PhD student in the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences) recently applied for the £3,000 scholarship offered by the Social Workers’ Educational Trust (SWET). And although she wasn’t selected for the top award, she was incredibly honoured to be shortlisted as one of the final three candidates.
As recognition of her work and proposal, she was awarded a £500 grant. This funding will go directly towards the dissemination of her research findings, helping to ensure that the insights she’s developed reaches practitioners, educators, and wider communities who can benefit from them.
Adele is deeply grateful to SWET for this opportunity and their support of her research exploring what young people say about their lived experiences as adolescent parents in the child protection system.
Yesterday (25 June) the online journal PLoS One published ‘Life-time experience of violence among women and girls living with disability in Nepal‘ our latest study on disability in Nepal [1]. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 28 municipalities representing all seven provinces as well as all three ecological regions of Nepal. A total of 1,294 women and girls with disability aged 15–59 years participated in 2021. We trained local enumerators using the KoBo application on smartphones or tablets. Both written and oral informed consent was sought from all participants. Cross-tabulations were performed in STATA 18 to determine the distribution of the prevalence of violence. Also, bivariable and multivariable logistic regression models were fitted to establish association between the participants’ characteristics and odds of experiencing violence.
Overall, 457 (35.32%) women living with disabilities had ever experienced violence at a point in their lifetime. Psychological/emotional violence was the most prevalent violence (74.40%) followed by physical violence (31.07%) and denial of services (28.67%). Age was positively associated with the likelihood of experiencing violence. Women belonging to the Brahman/Chhetri ethnic group had reduced odds of violence [AOR = 0.56; 95%CI: 0.37–0.85] compared to Hill Dalits. Divorced or separated women showed a markedly higher likelihood of experiencing violence [AOR = 6.69; 95%CI: 2.31–19.40] compared to currently married women. Participants who had not witnessed violence against other women exhibited significantly higher odds of experiencing violence [AOR = 1.86; 95%CI: 1.20–2.89]. Women living in the Koshi province [AOR = 4.04; 95%CI: 2.54–6.42], Madhesh province [AOR = 2.16; 95%CI: 1.15–4.08] and Bagmati province [AOR = 2.21; 95%CI: 1.41–3.46] reported significantly higher odds of experiencing violence compared to those in Karnali.
The paper concludes oncludes that age, ethnicity, marital status, and provincial residence are significant predictors of violence among women and girls living with disability in Nepal. Interventions aimed at addressing violence against women living with disability in Nepal must prioritize older women and those who were previously married. Also, policy-makers may want to consider giving priority must be given to those provinces where the prevalence and risk of experiencing violence is highest.
The study was funded The United Nations Women Trust Fund, and the paper is freely available in the Open Access journal. We previously published on research into disability in Nepal in 2023 [2].
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health
Visiting Faculty, Centre for Disability Studies, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, India.
This week the 3rd Annual Meeting of the Global Consortium for Public Health (GCPHR) takes place at the University of Huddersfield on June 25th-26th. GCPHR 2025 was attended by people involved in global health research from the UK, India, Nepal, Qatar, and Ghana. Building on the success of the 2023 inaugural two-day meeting and the second annual event in 2024, the 2025 meeting brought together a diverse community of health researchers, practitioners, policy-makers and global health leaders. This initiative has as its main aim to facilitate the exchange of knowledge, promote innovation, and strengthen international collaboration.
Bournemouth University academics have been involved since GCPHR’s inception, and this year Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen from the Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (CMWH) contributed to a panel discussion on ‘Innovating Tomorrow: National and Global Research in the Age of AI’. He presented around the pros and cons of Interdisciplinary Research in Global Health. Together with colleagues Edwin has published several papers on interdisciplinary research [1-3] and collaborative writing of research output with a range of colleagues from different disciplines [4-5].
Prof. Padam Simkhada from the University of Huddersfield (and Visiting Faculty in BU’s Faculty of Health & Social Sciences outlined the recently awarded British Academy grant on ‘Evidence-based Policy-Making in Nepal’. The latter project, which includes BU’s Dr. Pramod Regmi as co-investigator, also has policy-makers in Nepal as collaborators, giving it great potential to become a REF Impact Case-Study.
References:
Shanker, S., Wasti, S.P., Ireland, J., Regmi, P., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2021) The Interdisciplinary Team Not the Interdisciplinarist: Reflections on Interdisciplinary Research, Europasian Journal of Medical Sciences3(2): 1-5. https://doi.org/10.46405/ejms.v3i2.317
van Teijlingen, E., Regmi, P., Adhikary, P., Aryal, N., Simkhada, P. (2019). Interdisciplinary Research in Public Health: Not quite straightforward. Health Prospect, 18(1), 4-7. https://doi.org/10.3126/hprospect.v18i1.19337
Wasti, S. P., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P. (2020) Public Health is truly interdisciplinary. Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences, 6(1):21-22.
Harvey, O., van Teijlingen, A., Regmi, P.R., Ireland, J., Rijal, A., van Teijlingen, E.R. (2022) Co-authors, colleagues, and contributors: Complexities in collaboration and sharing lessons on academic writing, Health Prospect21(1):1-3. https://www.nepjol.info/index.php/HPROSPECT/article/view/39320/31432
Hundley, V., Luce, A., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2022) Collaborative Writing for Publication, In: Wasti, S.P., et al. (Eds.) Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books: 15-19.
Event Date and time: Tuesday, 15 July 2025, 1200-1600 GMT
Event Location: Bournemouth Gateway Building, St Pauls Lane, Bournemouth, BH8 8GP Room BG
(Refreshments and Lunch will be provided)
Join us to explore the use of Virtual Reality (VR) for training and evaluating dynamic risk assessment (DRA) in domiciliary care settings.
This stakeholder workshop will seek insights on the following research questions:
How does the domiciliary care sector and FE colleges currently train and assess their workforce/students to risk assess in a patient’s home?
How can a VR app be used by the domiciliary care sector and FE colleges to improve the learning and evaluation of dynamic risk assessment (DRA) skills?
To what extent can VR DRA improve DCWs’ (domiciliary care workers) awareness of risks in a patient’s home?
Featured Speakers (TBC):
Skills for Care, the strategic workforce development and planning body for adult social care in England.
Partners in Care BCP Dorset
BU Nursing Academics
Demo of BU’s VR for DCW DRA prototype
Who Should Attend?
Domiciliary care providers
Workforce Educators
Tech innovators in healthcare
Government Policy / CQC professionals
About CfACTs+ Project
This project explores how creative technologies like VR can transform training, improve operational efficiency, and support workforce development; see:
Next month on July 25th Bournemouth University will join in with the world-wide celebrations of World Drowning Prevention Day 2025. The first achievement to highlight is Dr. Jill Nash interesting piece recently published in The Conversation, in which she highlights Five ways to keep teenagers safe by the water[1]. It is also worthwhile to read last year’s contribution to World Drowning Prevention Day by Jill on the dangers of being near water and the role emotions play in making safer decisions [2].
The second major piece of research related to drowning prevention at Bournemouth University is the Sonamoni Project. The Sonamoni Project is working with communities in rural Bangladesh utilizing human-centered design (HCD) techniques. The research project is identifying solutions to reduce the number of drowning deaths in newly mobile children (6-24 months), developing prototype, and assessing the acceptability and usability of potential interventions. Sonamoni is coordinated by Bournemouth University in collaboration with the University of the West of England (Bristol), the University of Southampton, and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), Design Without Border (DWB) in Uganda and Centre for Injury Prevention and Research, Bangladesh (CIPRB). The interdisciplinary team at Bournemouth University covers three faculties and six academics: Dr. Mavis Bengtsson, Dr. Kyungjoo Cha, Dr. Mehdi Chowdhury, Dr. Yong Hun Lim, Mr. John Powell, and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen.
This international project funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) through its Research and Innovation for Global Health Transformation programme, also includes a BU-based PhD student, Mr. Md. Shafkat Hossein. He recently published the first article related to drowning prevention in Nepal [3].
Have you taken part in a local festival, run a community workshop, volunteered at a cultural event, or used your BU expertise to support a community group? BU is required to report on a range of knowledge exchange activities for the HE-BCI survey, collected by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). Research England uses this data to inform the annual allocation of the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF).
We are collecting details of all social, community and cultural engagement activities delivered between 1 August 2024 and 31 July 2025. Entries must be submitted by Friday 17 October 2025.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed so far. If you haven’t recorded your involvement yet, it only takes a few minutes. Every entry helps us show BU’s wider impact.
We have now moved to a single central table for collecting entries. If you have already submitted your activity to your faculty’s table, we will transfer this over for you.
This year, we can’t include information uploaded to the public engagement section of BRIAN, as it doesn’t capture all the data HESA requires. If you have added entries to BRIAN for this period, please upload the full details to the central table as well, or your activity won’t be included in the survey.
For guidance on what to include, see the FAQ section.
Does your research broadly fit the category of “rehabilitation and prevention”? Then join us for this first event of the Rehabilitation & Prevention workstream of the Centre for Wellbeing and Long-term Health!
Whatever the focus of your research is or your professional background, whether it be at population or individual level, public health or rehabilitation of a particular condition in a particular demographic of people, whether you are a PGR or a senior academic, we would like this to be your research home. Come and share the highlights of what you do in a 5-minute Lightning talk, and hear from the highlights of others.
We want this to be a stimulating event and you might just find your next collaborator(s). Dr Jonny Branney and Dr Katie Collins, the workstream leads, will be taking notes with a view to creating a quick reference guide of what the workstream members are working on to make it easier for you to find the expertise you need for your next project. We want the workstream to be a place to talk about the sort of research enquiry that gets you out of bed in the morning, that puts the joy into your working life. A place to share and celebrate in your project successes, and to get a welcome lift when your latest research bid or journal submissions are rejected. A place to learn from those more experienced, from those with alternative expertise, identify a mentor or a coach, and for others to learn from you and benefit from your coaching and mentorship. A place to test out your ideas and get feedback from critical friends. A place to identify collaborators for your next research project. Is your research broadly “rehabilitation and prevention”? Then this is your place. Register here!!
Lightning Talks
Attendees are required to prepare a 5 minute lightning talk – 5 PowerPoint slides maximum to summarise your background as a researcher, what you’ve done, are doing, and plan to do. Nice and concise so we quickly get to know what everyone is about. There will be a timer!
Rough Itinerary
12:30pm Lunch – provided
1pm Welcome from workstream leads
1.05pm 5-minute Lightning talks
2.50pm – 3pm Closing remarks from workstream leads
The paper entitled ‘Mass grave mapping and the protection of the dead gives’ insight into the current research being undertaken within the project, including the ongoing mapping of mass graves globally. It also asks, to what extent mapping can be considered a preventative process.
To read the full paper follow the link in the image below:
Dr Jill Nash writes for The Conversation about the need to educate young people about the risks of drowning, and shares her advice for helping to keep them safe…
Teaching children to swim is essential, but it’s not enough to save them from drowning. Water safety is about judgement, impulse control, peer influence and understanding your limits. Peer pressure, social situations and a false sense of confidence can all put young people in danger.
My research highlights how we’re not talking enough to young people, especially teenage boys, about the emotional and cognitive risks of making decisions around water. The National Water Safety Forum reports that young males aged between 10-19 are one of the highest groups at risk from drowning, as they assert their independence and test personal boundaries.
Drowning happens quickly, often without adults watching, when kids are hanging out by rivers and lakes, tombstoning off bridges, or misjudging their abilities when trying to impress friends.
Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox.Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.
Leading water safety organisations like the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and HM Coastguard run education campaigns about the dangers of the ocean. The Canal & River Trust, the UK’s largest canal charity, recently developed a school education pack for teenagers highlighting water safety.
Parents can also shape how teens interact with water. In Nottingham, the charity called Open Water Education Network was founded in memory of Owen Jenkins, a 12-year-old boy who drowned while trying to save two girls in difficulty. As well as teaching young people about the dangers of open water and the importance of self rescue, this charity empowers parents to talk to teens even if they seem to ignore parental advice.
Talking to teenagers about safety isn’t easy. Here’s how to do it in a way that’s honest, effective and grounded in care.
1. Talk just before they go
Rules work best when they’re short, consistent and repeated. Before a trip to the beach or river, take five minutes to remind your teen of your family’s water safety rules. Repetition builds habits. Remind them not to swim after dark or alone and explain what to do if someone’s in trouble (call for help, don’t jump in).
2. Share real-life stories
Stories help bring home the reality of water risk, especially for teens who can feel invincible in an all-male group without any supervision. While on a lads holiday on the Northumberland coast, 16-year-old called Evan saved himself from drowning in a rip tide by laying on his back to stay afloat. Eventually, a surfer managed to paddle out and reach him, and an rescue lifeboat also came to the scene. Evan recovered after treatment in hospital for hypothermia.
Teenager Evan explains how he escaped drowning in a rip tide.
Another heartbreaking story of Liam Hall, a teenager who drowned while out in a dinghy with friends in Sunderland, demonstrates how quickly things can escalate in the sea.
Not all stories end in tragedy. A group of teenagers from East Sussex made the life-saving decision to stay out of the water, using a life ring to help two swimmers in trouble, proving that staying on shore can save lives.
Female teens can play a powerful role in promoting water safety, especially in mixed-gender peer groups where social dynamics can significantly influence behaviour. Research shows that all-boy groups are more likely to engage in risk-taking activities. When girls are present, especially those who feel confident speaking up, risky behaviour often decreases.
Parents can empower girls to speak up if someone suggests swimming in dangerous conditions or places and promote safety strategies like the RNLI’s “call, tell and throw” approach. By reinforcing these behaviours, teen girls can become leaders in lifesaving culture, not only keeping themselves safe but influencing their peers to make smarter choices too.
4. Deflate false sense of confidence
Stick to the facts and be honest about the dangers. Drowning can happen within seconds, even when someone is a strong swimmer. Most drownings occur in open water, not swimming pools. Teenagers need to understand how the effects of cold water shock, fast currents and submerged objects can quickly turn a fun day into a fatal one.
5. Make brave choices
Teens don’t drown because they’re bad swimmers. They drown because they made a poor decision in a high-risk moment. Teaching safety early (before they start taking unsupervised risks) helps shape smarter thinking later.
Parents can model care, calmness and emotional awareness. Show them that bravery isn’t about bravado. It’s about looking out for your mates and making good choices. Fathers can play a powerful role in framing what strength looks like. Research shows that fathers who show empathy and emotional intelligence teach children how to be resilient during high-pressure moments. Emphasise that calm decision-making when in danger or choosing not to jump into the water under peer pressure doesn’t make a boy weak. It makes him wise. Talk to your sons about how real masculinity means thinking clearly, not reacting emotionally.
Teenagers can feel invincible. Be honest. Tell them you love them and that you trust them to make good decisions. Talking about safety is one of the most powerful things a family can do. Water safety begins at home with all of us.
Swimming, sailing, even just building a sandcastle – the ocean benefits our physical and mental wellbeing. Curious about how a strong coastal connection helps drive marine conservation, scientists are diving in to investigate the power of blue health.
This article is part of a series, Vitamin Sea, exploring how the ocean can be enhanced by our interaction with it.
We kicked off the day with a hands-on workshop delivered by BU’s Research Development and Support (RDS) team. This session, Getting Started with Grant Applications, demystified the process of identifying funding opportunities, understanding funder expectations, and developing strong proposals. The RDS team’s practical advice was especially useful for those of us who are still finding our footing in the world of grant writing, and the interactive format gave everyone the chance to ask questions relevant to their own projects.
The second session featured a case study presentation by Dr Michelle Heward from FST. Michelle shared her personal journey navigating funding applications, reflecting on both challenges and successes. Her talk, Experience with Funding Applications: Lessons Learned and Building on Small Pots of Funds, offered a candid look at the realities of funding in academia. She highlighted how starting small—such as with pilot grants or internal funding—can build the credibility and track record needed to apply for larger awards. Michelle’s honesty and encouragement were appreciated by all, and her story resonated with many of the early-career researchers in the room.
Bournemouth University psychologists publish new book
Connecting Research with Practice: FoodMAPP Secondment in Austria and France
Health promotion paper read 8,000 times
The Beautiful Work Challenge: On Birth
Free event on Solutions to Inequalities in Dementia Diagnosis and Care
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
Explore our work, meet our partners, and find out how you can collaborate with us by clicking here! MIHERC is led by Sheffield Hallam University, with Bournemouth University as a key partner and the important funding coming from NIHR (National Institute for Health and Care Research) Maternity Challenge Initiative. The BU key academics are: Huseyin Dogan, Vanora Hundley, Edwin van Teijlingen, and Deniz Çetinkaya. Please share with all who may be interested.