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ZOOM Academic Writing & Publishing Workshop for Bangladesh

international, Publishing, Training, writing

Colleagues are invited to our Bangladesh Midwifery Academic Writing & Publishing Workshop

This online workshop is an introduction to the world of academic writing and publishing.  The workshop organisers, Professors Hundley and van Teijlingen will introduce the basic structure of an academic article, highlight the importance of selecting the most appropriate journal, reading and following the author instructions, understanding the role of the journal editor and that of peer reviewers.  The authors will use the submission requirements of the Journal of Asian Midwives as an example.

The ZOOM event will be held this Tuesday 18 February 14.00-16.00 UK time.  FHSS colleagues who are interested in joining this introductory workshop with midwives and midwifery researchers from Bangladesh can use the following link:

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BU student’s M.Res. paper read 500 times

international, open access, Publishing, student research, Women's Academic Network, writing

Yesterday ResearchGate alerted us that our paper ‘The importance of positionality for qualitative researchers‘ [1] has been read 500 times. This methods paper was only written last year by Bournemouth University M.Res. student Hannah Gurr, her M.Res. supervisors Dr. Orlanda Harvey, Dr. Louise Oliver and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen in collaboration with Prof. Madhusudan Subedi from Patan Academy of Health Sciences in Nepal.

In the paper we remind qualitative researchers about the importance of critical reflection, and why they need to explain their positionality to readers of their work. This account can be relatively straightforward, but there are occasions when this process of reflection and outlining one’s positionality is much more complicated. This method-paper explains this process. It outlines, using examples of different occasions and situations, where and why such complications may arise, for example, around values and personal experiences. It concludes with further practical advice on writing the section on positionality for novice social scientists.

Well done Hannah!

Dr. Lou Oliver, Dr. Orlanda Harvey & Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

 

Reference:

  1. Gurr, H., Oliver, L., Harvey, O., Subedi, M., & van Teijlingen, E. (2024). The Importance of Positionality for Qualitative Researchers. Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology, 18(1): 48–54. https://doi.org/10.3126/dsaj.v18i01.67553

Free Research Event – Wednesday 26th February – A Celebration of Sustainable Consumption Related Research

BU Research Centre CSSRC is celebrating its interdisciplinary and intersectoral research around Sustainable Consumption on Wednesday 26th February 2025, 3.15-5.00pm.

The Centre for Sustainable & Socially Responsible Consumption (CSSRC) invites you to attend its research event on Wednesday 26th February 2025 to celebrate its interdisciplinary and intersectoral research around sustainable consumption. After a welcome refreshment this interesting and informative event will comprise of two topical presentation sessions, each lead by a member of CSSRC, as outlined below. Opportunity for discussions and networking over refreshments after the talks will round off the event.

Session 1: Sustainability, Place Brands and congruence- how important are they in student choice? 

Professor of Societal Marketing, Chris Chapleo will discuss his current research in relation to two core projects: the first of these concerns the role of sustainability in university communications and branding, and whether sustainability league tables really matter to key stakeholders. He is also looking at sustainable city brands and how this links to universities in these cities. This is a joint project between BU and Pannonia, Hungary.  The second, related project is looking at how students choose a university and their ‘congruence’ with city/ university brands. This project is a collaboration between Bournemouth University, University of the West of England, and University of Plymouth.

Session 2: Understanding and encouraging the consumption of pulses

Professor of Psychology Katherine Appleton will present this session and introduce her work in this area. Pulses, including beans, chickpeas and lentils, are healthy, sustainable, low-cost foods, but consumption is low and increased consumption would benefit the health of the population and the planet. I have a programme of work looking at trying to understand why pulse consumption is low, and how we can increase this. I will speak about two studies that were completed last year looking at barriers and facilitators to pulse consumption, with specific foci on the use of recipes, enjoyment and cooking skills in increasing consumption. I will finish by considering our current ongoing study, and where we might be going next.

Provisional Timetable:

3.15-3.30pm – Welcome refreshment

3.30-4.30pm – Presentation sessions

4.30-5.00pm – Discussion, networking and refreshments

This is a free event, but you must register to attend via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-celebration-of-sustainable-consumption-related-research-tickets-1224716332519?aff=oddtdtcreator

About CSSRC

The Centre for Sustainable & Socially Responsible Consumption (CSSRC) aims to promote and advance the understanding of sustainable consumption and socially responsible consumption through developing and delivering internationally renowned research. It provides a hub to explore and address topics that are currently globally relevant, through utilising a strong interdisciplinary focus. Webpage: https://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/centres-institutes/centre-sustainable-socially-responsible-consumption

The impacts of Metaverse on tourist behaviour and marketing implications

NEW METAVERSE PAPER JUST PUBLISHED

Kılıçarslan, Ö., Yozukmaz, N., Albayrak, T., Buhalis, D., 2025, The impacts of Metaverse on tourist behaviour and marketing implications, Current Issues in Tourism, Vol.28(4), pp.622–642 https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2024.2326989

ABSTRACT

Metaverse is expected to deeply affect the travel and tourism industry and requires a dearth of empirical research. In this investigation, two exploratory qualitative research studies were conducted to fill this gap. The first research explored the potential impacts of Metaverse on the travel and tourism industry by interviewing tourism academics. Findings revealed that Metaverse could be used for marketing, CRM, and HRM by hospitality organisations, while it would be useful for marketing and sustainability of destinations. It could also influence tourist behaviour before, during, and after travel experiences. One of the notable findings was related to the close relationship between Gen Z and virtual events. The second research identified the motivations of Gen Z individuals to attend a concert organised in Metaverse. Accordingly, novelty-seeking, escape, fun and excitement, and socialisation were the most significant push factors to use Metaverse. Metaverse-specific characteristics, accessibility, and availability were the important pull factors to attend a Metaverse concert.

 

 

 

Group-mediated exercise for chronic conditions: an urgent need for implementation and scale-up

This week, Professor Tim Rees and colleagues from the Orthopaedic Research Institute published, in the prestigious British Journal of Sports Medicine, their position on the use of group exercise rehabilitation for those with chronic conditions. Supported by a UKRI Healthy Aging Catalyst Award, this followed their work using group exercise for people with hip osteoarthritis, and is inspired both by their research into group exercise and their training of physiotherapists with University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust.

Part of a wider collaboration with colleagues at University of British Columbia and Australian National University, this work is addressing the fact that an aging population and growing NHS waiting lists are leaving an increasing number of people with chronic conditions needing treatment. At the same time, there is compelling evidence for the use of exercise in the treatment of 26 conditions, but when exercise is prescribed, rates of adherence are typically poor.

Professor Rees and colleagues show meta-analytical evidence that people are more likely to sustain their involvement in exercise programmes if they are given the opportunity to exercise with others in social, or group-based, settings rather than individually. Such group-mediated exercise is not only effective for getting people to adhere to their exercise rehabilitation, but groups are a convenient and cost-effective mode of delivery of exercise for rehabilitation, because many people can receive help at the same time and often via a single delivery agent. But current practice does not train health and exercise professionals to lead effective exercise groups. Professor Rees and colleagues make several recommendations for practitioners, organisations, and researchers.

Update on UKRO services

Funding opportunities, international

Thank you to everyone who was able to attend our Horizon Europe event on 12 February. For those who missed it, the presentation is available on the RDS SharePoint site.

We briefly touched on a question regarding UKRO services, and here are further details on this matter, as recently communicated by UKRO.

UKRO has made changes to its service provision for subscribers in the current financial year. They are in the process of moving towards the UKRO future state and expect to communicate to subscribers in March what we can expect from April 2025 onwards.

The subscriber round-tables held in September 2024 have contributed to these plans, as well as ongoing discussions with the UKRO Steering Group. UKRO is extremely grateful for the feedback received and for the patience and understanding of subscribers during this time.

At present, UKRO is unable to allocate a named European Advisor to all subscribers and is instead focusing resources on responding to enquiries and producing portal content.

For those with more specific questions related to the Pillar II call topics, as mentioned during yesterday’s presentation, I would suggest getting in touch with the UK National Contact Points, who provide support for each specific area.

Just a quick reminder about UKRO: The UK Research Office (UKRO) supports the UK research and innovation community and works with partners across government and stakeholders to maximise UK engagement in the Horizon Europe programme. UKRO provides subscription-based advisory services for research organisations, and BU is one of UKRO’s subscribing organisations.

UKRO also offers free UK National Contact Point services for those interested in Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, the European Research Council, Widening Participation, and COST. However, some sections of the UKRO website are only available to staff at subscribing organisations. Any BU employee can access UKRO services by creating their own profile.

We encourage all BU academic staff to register – it’s a quick and simple process that only requires an institutional email address. Registered users receive tailored news articles on the latest EU funding and policy developments, as well as factsheets on various strands and aspects of EU research, innovation, and higher education activities.

In the meantime, I will continue to keep an eye on the 2025 work programmes and inform you of any updates we receive.

New BU health publication in Portuguese

international, Publishing, writing

Congratulations to Dr. Debbie Almeida in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences, who published her latest article late last month colleagues and students.  This article SKIN TEARS: FRICTION INJURIES IN THE ELDERLY AND NURSING DIAGNOSES is in Portuguese and addresses the decline in organic functioning predisposes to a reduction in the human body’s response capacity, increasing the state of vulnerability and fragility of the elderly, especially in relation to the skin. This work aimed to organize nursing diagnoses to support nurses in proposing intervention and care for elderly people with friction injuries or skin tears. Exploratory study, carried out in two stages, with a literature review from December/2022 to March/2023, and structuring of nursing diagnoses. Eleven studies published in the last ten years on skin tears in elderly people were analyzed and 14 nursing diagnoses were structured. Preventive, care and therapeutic measures for skin tears were addressed, as aspects to structure nursing diagnoses for elderly people. Assertive diagnoses are fundamental for the correct planning and implementation of committed and safe assistance, influencing the quality of life of the person assisted

 

Well done!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

 

Reference:

Tobse, L., Santos, dos Santos, B.B., Costa da Cruz, D.M.O., de Paulo, J.G., Almeida, D.G. (2025). SKIN TEARS: LESÕES POR FRICÇÃO EM PESSOA IDOSA E OS DIAGNÓSTICOS DE ENFERMAGEM. Arquivos de Ciências da Saúde da UNIPAR, 28(3):914–933, https://doi.org/10.25110/arqsaude.v28i3.2024-11494

Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Competition

PG research

A reminder that applications are still open for the 3MT competition. Don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity to develop your presentation skills, share your research and be in with a chance of winning a prize!  

We are excited to host the Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) competition at BU for the very first time! Originally developed by the University of Queensland in 2008, 3MT® is an internationally renowned research communication challenge. It challenges doctoral researchers to condense their thesis into a compelling three-minute presentation, communicating its originality and significance to a non-specialist audience.

On Wednesday 26 March we will have four parallel sessions, one for each Faculty, to select the 2 finalists to advance to the final round, which will take place in the afternoon. The winner will take part in the national competition run by Vitae.

More information about the history of 3MT® can be found on the Vitae and 3MT® websites.

Eligibility

Active PhD and Professional Doctorate Research candidates who have successfully passed their Probationary Review (including candidates whose thesis is under submission/examination) by the date of their presentation (26 March 2025) are eligible to participate. Graduates are not eligible.
Please Note: MRes/MPhil students and students on interruption are NOT ELIGIBLE to enter the 3MT Competition.

Competition Rules

Make sure you read the international 3MT® rules before applying.

In order to allow all our P/T and remote PGRs to take part, if unable to attend in-person a pre-recorded video will be accepted, in line with the 3MT® rules.

Prizes

  • 1st prize: £150 voucher
  • 2nd prize: £100 voucher
  • 3rd prize: £50 voucher
  • People’s Choice winner: £50 voucher

Key dates

  • Applications open 15 January 2025
  • Applications close 28 February 2025 (midnight)
  • 3MT Competition: 26 March (10:00-12:00: First round and 13:00-14:30: Final round – timing TBC)

Why should I take part?

  • Develop your presentation and public speaking skills.
  • Networking opportunities.
  • Raise your own researcher profile.
  • Prizes to be won.
  • The winner will represent Bournemouth University at the National Vitae 3MT competition.

Apply here

Further information available on Brightspace.

Registration to attend will open in March.

Please do contact us if you have any questions: pgrskillsdevelopment@bournemouth.ac.uk

Best wishes,

The RDP Team

The Future of Palliative and End of Life Care

Summary from our visiting professor lecture.

The Visiting Professor Lecture, delivered by Professor Bee Wee, CBE, titled “The Future of Palliative and End of Life Care,” was held on 5th February 2025 at Bournemouth University and proved to be a resounding success. The event brought together a diverse and engaged audience, including members of local communities, nursing students, nurse educators, researchers, health professionals, staff and volunteers from Lewis Manning Hospice Care, as well as prominent figures from NHS Dorset Integrated Care Partnership, Dorset Integrated Care Board, and the Burdett Trust for Nursing.

In addition, specialist professionals in palliative and end-of-life care from hospices and NHS Hospital Trusts across Dorset, Wiltshire, Hampshire, and the Isle of Wight attended the event, which provided a unique platform for collaboration and knowledge-sharing among healthcare professionals and students working within this critical field.

Key highlights of the afternoon, apart from the keynote lecture by Professor Bee Wee, included a presentation by Cathy Beresford, who is investigating experiences of care in advanced liver disease for her doctoral research study. An insightful panel discussion, led by Professor Bee Wee, featuring recently graduated nursing students from Bournemouth University—Tina Smith, Julia Copson, and Christina Keeping. These nursing graduates shared their personal experiences as former BU/Lewis Manning Hospice Care Scholarship recipients, offering valuable insights into the practical application of palliative care principles in their new professional roles as registered nurses working in a hospice, specialist palliative care unit, and acute stroke unit in Dorset.

The event also included an introduction to the Centre for Wellbeing and Long-term Health, with presentations by Professor Sam Porter and Dr. Duncan Randall on ongoing research within the centre and various aspects of palliative and end-of-life care.

“We are thrilled with the success of this year’s Lewis Manning Hospice Care Visiting Professor Lecture,” said Dr. Sue Baron, Principal Academic at Bournemouth University. “It was an incredibly enriching experience to bring together so many dedicated professionals and students who are passionate about improving palliative and end-of-life care. Professor Bee Wee’s expertise, coupled with the variety of presentations, made for an uplifting and thought-provoking afternoon.”

The event was a collaboration led by Clare Gallie, CEO of Lewis Manning Hospice Care, and Dr. Sue Baron, Principal Academic in the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences at Bournemouth University. Together, they provided attendees with a unique opportunity to engage with thought leaders in the field of palliative care, network with colleagues, and discuss future advancements in the sector.

Looking ahead, organizers are already planning future initiatives to continue advancing the discussion and research into the future of palliative and end-of-life care.

For more information about the Visiting Professor Lecture Series and ongoing research into palliative care, please visit Centre for Wellbeing and Long-Term Health www.bournemouth.ac.uk/CWLTH

About Lewis Manning Hospice Care Lewis Manning Hospice Care is a charity dedicated to helping people with life-limiting illnesses and their families across East Dorset. They promote acceptance, hope, and peace of mind, helping people to live well through their illness. The organization offers a range of services that prioritize quality of life and compassionate care. Lewis Manning website https://lewis-manning.org.uk/

Contact: Dr. Sue Baron Principal Academic in Nursing & Lead of Lewis Manning Hospice Care/Bournemouth University Nursing Scholarships in Palliative and End of Life Care Department of Nursing Science, Bournemouth University Contact: sbaron@bournemouth.ac.uk / cwlth@bournemouth.ac.uk Centre for Wellbeing and Long-Term Health Website @CWLTH_BU

RKEDF: Principal Investigation – Post Award for RKE

Post-award

Are you a Principal Investigator or planning to be one? Then book now for this in person session!

 

This is for researchers who are or plan to be a Principal Investigator for an externally funded research or knowledge exchange project and is taking place in BGB, 13:00-14:30 on Weds, 19th March 2025.

Topics covered include:

• What is post award?
• Roles and responsibilities
• Systems
• Key policies
• Starting your awarded project
• Making changes to your project and reporting
• Hints and tips

By the end of the session, attendees will have a strong foundation of what to expect when being responsible for their awarded projects.

Book your place HERE.

For any queries regarding this workshop, please contact RKE Development Framework

BU ECRN Funding call – closes 10th March 2025

The BU ECRN & RKEDF are delighted to offer funding to organise an event, roundtable, meeting, training, or workshop in support of research at BU. 

This funding supports BU Early Career Researcher Network members to organise and facilitate an event that can be thematic, subject/discipline based, foster community engagement, knowledge exchange or networking and does the following; 

 – Brings ECRs and others together to share ideas, knowledge and learning. 

– Provides a space for intellectual discussion. 

– Helps to facilitate collaboration and future opportunities.  

– Enables an opportunity for networking.  

 BU ECRN members can access up to £500 to organise and host an event, roundtable, meeting, training, or workshop at BU. Please see the requirements below.  

Read about past successful applicants here: BU Research Blog | Early Career Researcher networking funding outcomes: A Tabletop Discussion on Cyber Signatures in Human Trafficking | Bournemouth University

BU Research Blog | Early Career Researcher Network funding outcomes: Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) workshop | Bournemouth University

 – Please note all requests are subject to approval by the RKEDF Team and must be made at least 3 weeks in advance of the event date. No reimbursements for payments will be made without prior authorisation from the team. 

 – All expenses must be paid by the end of the BU financial year (July 2025) 

 – You will need to receive written confirmation from RKDEF that your request has been successful before you can proceed with organising the event.   

 – The event cannot have taken place prior to submitting your application. 

 Eligible costs  

  • Event space 
  • Travel bursaries for attendees 
  • Catering and refreshments (Tea, Coffee, Water, Light snacks, Lunch) 
  • Av (projector, screen, laptop, tech support on the day, microphones)  
  • Printing costs (meeting handouts) 
  • Speaker fee (up to £500) 

Ineligible Costs  

  • Software or hardware. 
  • International event, speaker, or travel costs.  
  • Costs for dependants or spouses to attend events.  
  • Research costs.   

How to apply: 

Please download and complete all of the sections of the EOI for BU ECRN Funding 2425 (500 words max per section) and email your completed application to: RKEDF@bournemouth.ac.uk by 10th March 2025. Successful applicants will be notified by 17th March 2025. 

If you have any questions or queries, please contact BU ECRN Academic Leads Ann Hemingway (aheming@bournemouth.ac.uk) and Sam Goodman (sgoodman@bournemouth.ac.uk) or RKEDF Advisor Joelle Fallows (jfallows@bournemouth.ac.uk).

BU conference presentation Federalisation & Nepal’s health system

international, Publishing, writing

The health system in Nepal’s unique federalisation experiment will be presented by Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen at a three-day conference at the Far Western University, Nepal on Saturday 8th February.  Nepal’s introduction of its federal system in the 2015 Constitution changed the way society, including its health system, was organised.  It meant that political changes and health systems changes occurred in parallel.  Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen explores the impact of federalisation on Nepal’s health system as part of an interdisciplinary mixed-methods study* called ‘The Impact of Federalisation on Nepal’s Health System: A longitudinal Analysis’.

First, implementing a new federal system is a slow, resource intensive process. While building new federal structures is important, challenging the status quo through strategic “unlearning and undoing” of old tendencies is also essential, as this creates spaces for new approaches that are more in line with federalism. This requires attention to emotional and political spheres, and not just structural or technical ones.

Federalisation, generally, brought decision making, resources and service delivery closer to the people, yet the process remains challenging and incomplete. Importantly, at the same time as federalism was being introduced, Nepal’s health system had to respond to COVID-19, making it difficult to disentangle the effects of the pandemic from those of federalisation. The health system is also part of a broader, complex, and interdependent set of socio-political, economic, legal, and cultural systems.

We found that the impact of federalisation varied across the six WHO building blocks and pre-existing conditions, e.g. wealthier regions often benefit disproportionately, exacerbating inequities in health.  Our study further highlighted: (a) the importance of leadership and governance, combined with financing mechanisms; (b) insufficient planning and misalignment between central and local levels resulting in inefficiencies; (c) weak health information systems hinder the ability to measure long-term effects.  Overall, unlocking the full potential of federalism will require political will and commitment at all three levels of government.

To date eight papers have been produced based in this project [1-8].

 

References:

  1. Koirala, B., Rushton, S., Adhikary, P., Balen, J., et al. (2024) COVID-19 as a challenge to Nepal’s newly federalised health system: capacities, responsibilities, and mindsets, Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health (online first) https://doi.org/10.1177/1010539524125012.
  2. Sapkota, S., Rushton, S., van Teijlingen, E., et al. (2024) Participatory policy analysis in health policy and systems research: reflections from a study in Nepal. Health Research & Policy Systems, 22 (No.7) https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-023-01092-5 .
  3. Wasti, S.P., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., et al. (2023) Selection of Study Sites and Participants for Research into Nepal’s Federal Health System, WHO South-East Asia Journal of Public Health 12(2):116-119.
  4. Sapkota, S., Dhakal, A., Rushton S., et al. (2023) The impact of decentralisation on health systems: a systematic review of reviews. BMJ Global Health 8:e013317. doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2023-013317.
  5. Wasti, S.P., van Teijlingen, E., Rushton, S., et al. (2023) Overcoming the Challenges Facing Nepal’s Health System During Federalisation: An Analysis of Health System Building Blocks, Health Research Policy & Systems 21(117) https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-023-01033-2
  6. Sapkota, S., Panday, S., Wasti, S.P., et al. (2022) Health System Strengthening: The Role of Public Health in Federal Nepal, Journal of the Nepal Public Health Association 7(1):36-42.
  7. Adhikary, P., Balen, J., Gautam, S., et al. (2020) The COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal: Emerging evidence on the effectiveness of action by, and cooperation between, different levels of government in a federal system, Journal of Karnali Academy of Health Sciences 3 (3): 1-11.
  8. Rushton, S., Pandey, S., van Teijlingen, E., et al. (2021) An Investigation into the Impact of Decentralization on the Health System of Nepal. Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences, 7(1): 3–14. https://doi.org/10.3126/jmmihs.v7i1.43146

Join us for the Centre for Science, Health and Data Communication Research Spring Speaker Series

Fusion

The Centre for Science, Health, and Data Communication Research invites you to our Spring 25 speaker series. Featuring researchers from BU and around the world, these online talks are open to the public and encompass topics on the exploitation of seaweed, the adoption and use of VR, communicating numbers, AI migration governance, and using AI to build ‘databases from below’.

 All events take place on zoom– Wednesdays 14:00-15:00 UK time