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It’s INTERNATIONAL OPEN ACCESS WEEK!!

Guidance, Publishing, Research assessment

Yes it’s here again that joyful time of the year when we highlight and discuss all things open access. First up is a quick reminder…

 

What is Open Access?

Open access is about making the products of research freely accessible to all. It allows research to be disseminated quickly and widely, the research process to operate more efficiently, and increased use and understanding of research by business, government, charities and the wider public.

There are two complementary mechanisms for achieving open access to research.

The first mechanism is for authors to publish in open-access journals that do not receive income through reader subscriptions.

The second is for authors to deposit their refereed journal article in an open electronic archive.

These two mechanisms are often called the ‘gold’ and ‘green’ routes to open access:

  • Gold – This means publishing in a way that allows immediate access to everyone electronically and free of charge. Publishers can recoup their costs through a number of mechanisms, including through payments from authors called article processing charges (APCs), or through advertising, donations or other subsidies.
  • Green – This means depositing the final peer-reviewed research output in an electronic archive called a repository. Repositories can be run by the researcher’s institution, but shared or subject repositories are also commonly used. Access to the research output can be granted either immediately or after an agreed embargo period.

Article first published – http://www.hefce.ac.uk/rsrch/oa/whatis/

To encourage all academic communities to consider open access publishing, Authors Alliance has produced a comprehensive ‘Understanding Open Access‘ guide which addresses common open access related questions and concerns and provides real-life strategies and tools that authors can use to work with publishers, institutions, and funders to make their works more widely accessible to all.

To access and download the guide, please follow this link – http://authorsalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/Documents/Guides/Authors%20Alliance%20-%20Understanding%20Open%20Access.pdf

More information on Open Access Week and activities happening across the world can be found here – http://www.openaccessweek.org/ 

Understanding gender differences in autism

Dr Rachel Moseley

The 8th edition of BU’s annual research magazine – the Bournemouth Research Chronicle – has now been published.  This year’s edition focuses on the work of our Early Career Researchers (ECRs). Read on to find out more about research being undertaken in the Faculty of Science & Technology.

Autism is a lifelong condition that affects an individual’s ability to communicate and relate to others, and how they experience the world around them. Research in autism covers a wide spectrum of issues, with gender differences currently a dominant point of conversation and investigation.

Numbers of people being diagnosed with autism are very unequal; research from 2017 suggests that boys are diagnosed at a rate three times higher than girls. It is now evident that autism presents quite differently and often more subtly in girls and women. With these findings now being brought to light, more and more women are being diagnosed with autism as adults. This makes it more important to understand why it is so difficult to detect autism in young girls, who are therefore more likely to miss out on support and interventions.

Dr Rachel Moseley is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology in the Faculty of Science & Technology. Her work centres on autism spectrum conditions, and has covered a range of sub-topics, including brain connectivity, cognition and language, and more recently, ageing, mental health, self-injury and suicidality. Female diagnosis of autism has been a strong element within her research, with a major focus on reasons why autism in women is underdiagnosed.

Findings from a study run by Dr Moseley and her colleague, Dr Julie Kirkby, suggest that the tools used for screening autism may play a part in the failure to detect autism in girls and women.

“It is really hard to know why there is such a disparity in diagnosis,” explains Dr Moseley. “It might be that autism does exist more in men, as men are more commonly diagnosed. On the other hand it might be that we just don’t recognise the symptoms in women. One paper I published looked at the screening tools that doctors use to check for red flags, and all of those instruments were designed through research studies with male participants.”

Women tend to be better at hiding their symptoms, something known as camouflaging. The likelihood of picking up ‘red flags’ in individuals who can mask their symptoms, when the screening measures are based upon surface behaviour, is slim and results in much later diagnosis.

“When people have very good cognitive abilities or high intelligence, they often learn to hide their symptoms,” says Dr Moseley, “The diagnostic instruments that we have tend to pick up surface behaviours. When observing autistic people, children or adults, medical professionals are expected to assess what is going on in front of them within the room.”

“Autistic women in particular are good at learning to hide their symptoms, as they are sometimes very good at picking up social rules and interactions. It might be costing them a great deal of mental energy to do this but on the surface you can’t detect that they are struggling.”

The later diagnosis of autism in women relates to two more recent aspects of Dr Moseley’s research into autism; mental health and autism within the ageing population. Due to later diagnosis, women often spend a lot longer not understanding why they behave and feel the way they do, resulting in a vulnerability to poor mental health.

“Very few studies are interested in autistic people as they age,” says Dr Moseley. “I am currently carrying out a study into ageing in autistic women, because women are a minority group in autism research. The majority of the research is based on men and boys. Autistic women are doubly marginalised as they age, because research into autism also nearly always focuses on children.”

Dr Moseley is also currently working on developing a better understanding of self-injury and suicidality in autistic people. This is a crucial goal given the very high rates of suicide in this population, which seem to be highest in autistic women. Dr Moseley’s forthcoming research on ageing in autistic women has indicated that many struggle with the changes in cognition, mental health and social communication associated with mid-life, and that these can make them feel too overwhelmed to carry on.

Between funding from the Department of Psychology and training workshops led by the Research Development & Support team, BU has provided support to Dr Moseley in her work, helping to ensure her research continues to make a positive impact in the wider community.

Her enthusiasm for working with external organisations, such as the National Autistic Society, and for sharing the results of her research with the autistic community has gained very positive feedback. This has highlighted to her the importance of the research she is conducting.

Dr Moseley says “I find it very important to share my work with the autistic community. I give talks at local support groups and I’ve recorded videos for my online participants, among other activities. I have received lots of lovely emails saying ‘this has changed my life’ and ‘I feel a lot better about myself now’. It means the world to me and gives me the encouragement I need to pursue my research.”

To find out more about the research of BU’s Early Career Researchers, visit www.bournemouth.ac.uk/brc.

If you would like a printed copy of the magazine, please email research@bournemouth.ac.uk.

Powerless Responsibility: A feminist study exploring women’s experiences of caring for their late preterm babies

NHS, Women's Academic Network, writing

A new publication by Dr. Luisa Cescutti-Butler (FHSS) and her co-authors (Professor A Hemingway & Dr. J. Hewitt-Taylor) which explores women’s experiences of caring for a late preterm baby using feminism as a research methodology has just been published in the Australian Women and Birth Journal (October 2019). Her research found that women who become mothers’ of late preterm babies have a complex journey. It begins with separation, with babies being cared for in unfamiliar and highly technical environments where the perceived experts are healthcare professionals. Women’s needs are side-lined, and they are required to care for their babies within parameters determined by others. Institutional and professional barriers to mothering/caring are numerous. For example: some of the women who were separated from their babies immediately after birth had difficulties conceiving themselves as mothers, and others faced restrictions when trying to access their babies. Women described care that was centred on their babies. They were allowed and expected to care for their babies, but only with ‘powerless responsibility’. Many women appeared to be excluded from decisions and were not always provided with full information about their babies. The research concludes by recommending that women whose babies are born late preterm would benefit from greater consideration in relation to their needs, rather than the focus being almost exclusively on their babies.

Luisa is Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) and Lead for Examination of the Newborn in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences. If you would like any further information please email Luisa on lcbutler@bournemouth.ac.uk

References: 

Cescutti-Butler, L.D. Hewitt-Taylor, J. and Hemingway, A., 2019. Powerless responsibility: A feminist study of women’s experiences of caring for their late preterm babies. Women and Birth, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wombi.2019.08.006

Cescutti-Butler, L.D., Hemingway, A., and Hewitt-Taylor, J., 2018. “His tummy’s only tiny” – Scientific feeding advice versus women’s knowledge. Women’s experiences of feeding their late preterm babies. Midwifery, DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2018.11.001

EPSRC reopens applications for strategic advisory bodies

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has reopened applications for membership of two of its Strategic Advisory Teams (SATs).

Further applications are welcomed for the Physical Sciences and Engineering SATs in order to draw upon as wide a pool of candidates as possible.

Applicants are sought from academia, industry and other stakeholders to advise the organisation on research and training strategy as members of the Strategic Advisory Teams (SATs).

The recruitment process for SAT applications is open until 16.00hrs on Friday 25 October 2019. Applications will be through an online form. The two vacancies are:

  • Engineering: Mechanical Engineering (Industry/ User Only)
  • Physical Sciences: Physical Scientist with Expertise in using Large Data (Academic only)

Those who submitted an application during the previous call in the summer do not need to submit a further application now. Applicants can still only apply to a maximum of two vacancies across both calls.

Appointments for SAT members will begin on 01 January 2020, and will run for three years, with the possibility of an extension for up to a further three years. SAT members are paid a fee for each activity they are involved in, and are reimbursed for travel and subsistence expenses when attending meetings.

The SAT member often looks at the recommendations of EPSRC or the strategies of EPSRC and asks questions such as: how have you arrived at this recommendation? Have you been universal in your application of approach, so that the outcomes and recommendations have been arrived at through research, analysis and evidence gathering? A SAT member needs to be open to broader consensus across strategic thinking for EPSRC.

Applications from the initial round of recruitment for all vacancies are still being processed, and applicants can expect to hear from EPSRC from late November/ early December.

For further information please see the vacancies webpage.

Further information on Strategic Advisory Bodies membership.

Famous faces star in your researcher development…

PG research, Training

PGRs have a huge range of videos and e-learning courses from Video Arts, designed to help you develop a wide range of professional skills.

They feature famous actors (like Blake Harrison, Helen Baxendale, Robert Webb and Sally Phillips) and are entertaining and humorous; making it easier to remember and practise what you’ve learned.

All videos and e-learning is accessible via the Researcher Development Programme on Brightspace.

Start watching and learning now…

The Postgraduate Research Society- NOW Launched

PG research, Student Engagement, student research

The Postgraduate Research Society- NOW Launched

The Post- Graduate Society had a successful official launch on the 23rd of September 2019. This was the first of many educational and interactive events to be organized by the society to enhance postgraduate students experience. The event saw newly enrolled PGRs, MRes and current PGRs at different stages in their research project.

 

The society aims to create a post-graduate community within SUBU and BU for students to belong to a network of highly skilled postgraduate students who will seek to offer help to each other, either for personal and professional growth and development. The Postgraduate Society supported by SUBU and the Doctoral College will also host events and activities tailored for postgraduate students in order to provide both fun and academic engagement in BU.

We received some feedback from PGRs anticipating more events like this in the future. Please click here to let us know what kind of events you will prefer https://bournemouth.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/postgraduate-events

So why join us? Here are five reasons

  • Network with fellow PGRs to create a Community Within SUBU and BU
  • Belong to a group of highly skilled PGRs who will help in your Personal and Professional Growth and Development
  • Participate in social and academic events and activities to learn and have fun!
  • Make friends from different disciplines and ensure your voice is heard!
  • Graduate in style knowing that you were part of a community that will always have your back.

To be a part of this community, all you need is to register. Registration is easy. Simply click ‘Join’ at https://www.subu.org.uk/organisation/pgrsoc/ There is a membership fee of £2 per year.

For any questions, please contact us at subupgrsoc@bournemouth.ac.uk

 

Pictures from Doctoral College PGR Induction, September 2019

 

 

 

 

PGR Society

Doctoral College Newsletter | October 2019

PG research

The Doctoral College Newsletter provides termly information and updates to all those involved with postgraduate research at BU. The latest edition is now available to download here. Click on the web-links provided to learn more about the news, events and opportunities that may interest you.

If you would like to make a contribution to future newsletters, please contact the Doctoral College.

Postgraduate Researcher Development Steering Group – Call for Members (Academic, PGRs and ECR)

Centre for Excellence in Learning, PG research

Last month, approval was provided by the University’s Research Degree Committee for a brand new Postgraduate Researcher Development Steering Group to provide direction to postgraduate researcher development at BU, and I am recruiting members.

There will be 2 meetings per academic year and ad-hoc if required. Some of the main responsibilities include:

  • Develop and enhance the strategic direction, nature, quality, development and delivery of the University’s provision of researcher development for postgraduate research students (PGRs) which reflect the needs of all PGRs.
  • Guide centrally and faculty provided researcher development provisions promoting complimentary support of both increasing the personalisation of support for PGRs.
  • Evaluate University-wide PGR researcher development provisions, to ensure all programme content is maintained at a high standard and aligns with the university strategic priorities under BU2025.
  • Promote the benefits of facilitation of researcher development to staff and the benefits of engaging with researcher development to PGRs.
  • Enhance the overall PGR student experience at BU.

See the full Terms of Reference for details on the Steering Group if you are interested in becoming a member.

Please submit your Expression of Interest, including a half-page as to why you are interested, the knowledge, skills and experience you can bring to the group, via email to Natalie at pgrskillsdevelopment@bournemouth.ac.uk by midday, Friday 1 November.

Membership available:
– PGR Student Champion: 1 per Faculty (open to all PGRs)
– Academic Champion: 1 per Faculty (ideally an active PGR supervisor)
– Early Career Researcher: 1 representative

Expressions of Interest will be assessed by the Chair and Deputy Chair of the Steering Group, we look forward to receiving them.

 

Photo of the Week: Malnutrition Awareness Week

Telling a story of research through photography

The ‘photo of the week’ is a weekly series featuring photographs taken by BU academics and students. These provide a snapshot into some of the incredible research taking place across the BU community. 

As part of Malnutrition Awareness week, we’re featuring photographs taken by Dr Emmy van den Heuvel, Prof. Katherine Appleton and Prof. Jane Murphy

‘BU researchers show that providing new recipes can encourage older adults to eat more eggs’

‘We invited some older adults to Bournemouth University to try out our recipes. We have previously completed a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) for which older adults received high-protein egg-based recipes. We showed that by providing these new ideas for high protein meals, we could increase egg intake up to 12 weeks after the intervention. Eggs are a good source of protein, and are relatively easy to prepare, easy to chew, have good value for money and a long shelf life. We know that older adults need more protein, but tend to eat less, so it is very important to find ways to increase protein intake using interventions that people can keep up at home.

This week is Malnutrition Awareness Week, and with the rapid increase in British older adults, it is increasingly important to focus on finding strategies to maintain and improve good health and well-being in the older population.

Find out more about the project here

If you have any questions about the Photo of the Week series please email: research@bournemouth.ac.uk

BU Research Supervisors’ good practice recognised in national pilot programme

PG research, Training

Earlier this year, the UK Council for Graduate Education (UKCGE) ran a pilot scheme exploring the feasibility of a Research Supervision Recognition Programme to set a benchmark for good-practice in research supervision and to shine a light on this under-appreciated area of academic practice.

BU was one of 13 HEIs invited to participate in the pilot and, to recognise and celebrate good practice in research supervision here at BU, three supervisors from three faculties (FHSS, FM, FST) was asked to take part. Each participant wrote an extended reflective statement on their supervisory experience and practice, focusing on all areas of the role.  All applications were successfully assessed by the UKCGE review panel and participants were commended for the commitment and enthusiasm they demonstrate for the role, and are now able to use the title “UKCGE Recognised Research Supervisor”.

The Doctoral College led the institutional participation in the pilot and Dr Fiona Knight reported to UKCGE that “Bournemouth University is continually identifying mechanisms to improve the experience of our PGRs and recognise that the quality of the supervisory relationship is central to this. We welcome this scheme as a way of encouraging our new and established supervisors to reflect on their practice whilst engaging with continuing professional development.”

UKCGE has now launched the Good Supervisory Practice Framework which acknowledges, for the first time at a national level, the wide-ranging, highly complex and demanding set of roles involved in modern research supervision. The framework is designed to set expectations for all supervisors and sets out the criteria used to define good supervisory practice are based on the substantive body of academic literature. Professor Stan Taylor of Durham University, who was instrumental in developing the criteria, was External Examiner for the former PG Cert Research Degree Supervision at BU. It is UKCGE’s ambition that, ‘in addition to enabling supervisors to demonstrate their ability to colleagues and candidates, the criteria underpinning the programme will create a benchmark that becomes the standard for effective supervisory practice the programme’ (Dr Gill Houston, Chair of the UK Council for Graduate Education).

Recent Advance HE PRES results for BU indicate that the majority of PGRs feel very positive about their supervisory experiences, however, it is acknowledged that supervisors can feel undervalued and overwhelmed by the scale of their task that is often undertaken in addition to many other academic responsibilities.

Roll out of programme 

The Doctoral College plans to formalise BU’s engagement with the programme through its on-going programme of supervisory development activities in a process akin to TeachBU. This will enable individuals to demonstrate that they have met the good supervisory criteria and duly receive recognition. Not only will this provide encouragement for supervisors to engage with continuing professional development but it will also provide a structured process to support the development of high quality research supervision and public evidence of the quality of supervision across BU, whist aligning with a number of BU’s strategic goals that are articulated in BU2025.

Further details will be made available in due course however, if you are interested in learning more, please contact Doctoral College .

RDS Academic and Researcher Induction

The Research Development and Support (RDS, formerly RKEO) invite all ‘new to BU’ academics and researchers to an induction.

Signpost with the words Help, Support, Advice, Guidance and Assistance on the direction arrows, against a bright blue cloudy sky.This event provides an overview of all the practical information staff need to begin developing their research plans at BU, using both internal and external networks; to develop and disseminate research outcomes; and maximising the available funding opportunities.Objectives

  • The primary aim of this event is to raise participants’ awareness of how to get started in research at BU or, for more established staff, how to take their research to the next level
  • To provide participants with essential, practical information and orientation in key stages and processes of research and knowledge exchange at BU

Indicative content

  • An overview of research at BU and how RDS can help/support academic staff
  • The importance of horizon-scanning, signposting relevant internal and external funding opportunities and clarifying the applications process
  • How to grow a R&KE portfolio, including academic development schemes
  • How to develop internal and external research networks
  • Key points on research ethics and developing research outputs
  • Getting started with Knowledge Exchange and business engagement

For more information about the event, please see the following link.  The eleventh induction will be held on Wednesday, 3oth October 2019 in Melbury House, 5th Floor, Garden Room.

Title Date Time Location
Research Development & Support (RDS) Research Induction Wednesday 30th October 2019 9.00 – 12.00 Lansdowne Campus

9.00-9.15 – Coffee/tea and cake/fruit will be available on arrival

9.15 – RDS academic induction (with a break at 10.45)

11.25 – Organisational Development upcoming development opportunities

11.30 – Opportunity for one to one interaction with RDS staff

12.00 – Close

There will also be literature and information packs available.

If you would like to attend the induction then please book your place through Organisational Development and you can also visit their pages here.

We hope you can make it and look forward to seeing you.

Regards,

The RDS team

External Survey – Research-active academic staff

Training

We have received notification of an external survey:

Vitae are hosting a survey that is open to research-active academic staff, regardless of career stage or level of engagement, across the UK’s Higher Education Institutions. Results will provide an evidence-based outline of the current position across the UK to help improve training, support and professional development in higher education.

The survey will help identify examples of good practice that can be shared and mainstreamed and will also identify whether there are important gaps in researcher development and training provisions at key stages of a research-active member’s career that should be filled.

By taking part in the survey, you will help make a contribution to achieving a good and healthy research environment, and helping further embed the reputation of UK Higher Education in an increasingly competitive world research environment.

It is different from the consultation to Support the Career Development of Researchers, which ran last year, and in addition to the Principal Investigators and Research Leaders Survey (PIRLS), as the current survey focuses specifically on the training aspect of researcher development.

Complete survey here (deadline Friday 29 November 2019)  

or at https://www.vitae.ac.uk/impact-and-evaluation/review-of-staff-development-and-support-provision-for-academic-research-across-uk-higher-education-institutions

The survey is being hosted and the data processed by Vitae on behalf of the University of the Highlands and Islands and Oxford Brookes University.

This is an external survey with Bournemouth University not responsible for any third party links. This post is to raise awareness of this initiative only.

New Sociology and Development publication

international, Publishing, writing

Congratulations to Professors Sara Ashencaen Crabtree and Jonathen Parker in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences on the recent publication of their paper ‘‘Behaving like a Jakun!’ A case study of conflict, ‘othering’ and indigenous knowledge in the Orang Asli of Tasik Chini’ in the Journal of Sociology and Development [1]. This paper reports on an ethnographic study of the indigenous Jakun Orang Asli in West Malaysia.

Congratulations!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

 

Reference:

  1. Parker, J., Ashencaen Crabtree, S., Crabtree Parker, M., Crabtree Parker, I., 2019. ‘Behaving like a Jakun!’ A case study of conflict, ‘othering’ and indigenous knowledge in the Orang Asli of Tasik Chini. Journal of Sociology & Development, 3 (1):23-32.

The 11th Annual Postgraduate Research Conference

conferences, PG research

Abstracts for The 11th Annual Postgraduate Research Conference are coming in, with some fantastic applications already received!
With the option to present at the live research exhibition, oral or poster presentation or BRAND NEW rapid research there are plenty of opportunities.
 
Send in your abstract to pgconference@bournemouth.ac.uk to showcase your research with your peers and wider BU community.
 
How to apply guidance and the application form can also be found on the conference webpage.
 
Closing date – Monday 4 November.