A team of researchers from Bournemouth University (Dr Terri Cole, Dr Louise Oliver, Dr Orlanda Harvey, Anisha Sperrin and Dr Jane Healy) are working with BCP Council on a Perpetrator Programme Review Project- This project aims to review local, national and international programmes for perpetrators of domestic abuse and literary review, alongside stakeholder engagement to make recommendations of a best practice model for a perpetrator programme.
The project is mentioned in one of three draft strategy documents that are out for public consultation.
“The three proposed strategies are as follows:
The draft Preventing Domestic Abuse Strategy 2025-2030 is the overarching strategy to our response to domestic abuse across the BCP area, detailing our proposed priorities and how we aim to take our plans forward with partnership agencies.
The draft Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation Strategy 2025-2030 is focused on the provision of safe accommodation in the BCP area for survivors of domestic abuse who need support around their housing needs.
The draft Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Strategy 2025-2030 is focused on how we respond to perpetrators of domestic abuse across the BCP area. The strategy aims to prevent people from perpetrating domestic abuse, thereby preventing the harm caused to individuals, children and society.”
Here is the link to the consultation webpages, there is the option to consult on all or some of the three strategies.
https://haveyoursay.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/domestic-abuse-strategies
/ Full archive
Promoting Human-Centred Design in Drowning Prevention
The Department of Design and Engineering at Bournemouth University has a reputation for its Human-Centred Design (HCD) work. In our interdisciplinary Sonamoni project we have HCD at its centre. The Sonamoni project 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.
Last month two staff from CIPRB, Notan Chandra Dutta and Mirza Shibat Rowshan visited DBW in Uganda, as part of so-called South-South learning. Their objective was to share (1) knowledge and experience of using HCD techniques and (2) best practices of drowning prevention in both countries. Utilizing HCD techniques, Sonamoni is working to identify and prioritize potential solutions, develop prototypes, and assess the acceptability of the interventions to reduce drowning deaths among old children under two in Bangladesh.
During the visit, Notan and Shibat participated a four-day ideation workshop with the fisher community near Lake Victoria, organized by DWB. In the workshop, different HCD tools were used along with other group activities to generate and refine ideas for the solutions. The generated ideas were recorded by visualization tools. Notan and Shibat also attended a session on the principles of creative facilitation of HCD, including the need to understand the problem, role of the facilitator and other stakeholders. Various visualization tools were discussed, e.g. ‘journey maps’, ‘stakeholder map’, ‘context map’ and different types of sketches. Notan shared CIPRB’s experiences of managing the best drowning prevention practices and its challenges from Bangladesh context.
This international project funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) through their Research and Innovation for Global Health Transformation programme, also includes a BU-based PhD student, Mr. Md. Shafkat Hossein. Last week Shafkat presented our Sonamoni project in lecture to BU Engineering students at Talbot campus.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
First paper by PhD student



- Kattach, L., Singleton, H., Ersser, S., Holley, D., Pearson, I. & Shadeed, A. (2025), Nurse-Led Models of Service Delivery for Skin Cancer Detection: A Systematic Review. Journal of Advanced Nursing.[online first] https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.16854
RKEDF: ECRN – ECR & PGR online drop-in surgery
Weds 23rd April, 13:00-14:00, online
Given the recent proposals shared with staff, we recognise that this is a time of uncertainty for many of us at BU. This is an open session for all BU ECRs and PGRs to discuss any issues relating to their career development or the ECR experience with peers in the network, and receive advice and guidance (where possible) from the network’s academic leads.
Book your place HERE
For further information on this event or joining the ECRN, please contact RKEDF@bournemouth.ac.uk
Update: ESRC Festival Info Session Rescheduled to Wednesday 23 April 11am-12pm
ESRC Festival Info Session Rescheduled to Wednesday 23 April 11am-12pm
Online information session
Join our online information session to enhance your chances of a successful application and learn how to make the most of this exciting opportunity.
BU’s Public Engagement Team will co-host this session with the University of Southampton Impact Funding Team. During the session, you will hear about past festival events at both universities, learn first-hand experiences from previous participants, and gain an understanding of the application process. You will also receive guidance on how to get involved in this year’s festival.
Wednesday 23 April 2025
11am – 12pm
Online (via Teams)
To attend, please register and we will be in touch with further information
Find out more about how you can take part in the 23rd Annual ESRC Festival of Social Science
If you have any questions, please get in touch publicengagement@bournemouth.ac.uk
Prof. Jonathan Parker on social welfare
Congratulations to Bournemouth University Professor Emeritus Jonathan Parker who published a TransformingSociety blog yesterday (31 March 2025). His blog ‘Sacrificing the poor for the rich: ‘Piacular’ austerity and the need for welfare reform‘ was partly a promotion for his new book Analysing the History of British Social Welfare, which was published by Policy Press in 2024.
Prof. Parker has also been invited to speak at the Bournemouth William Temple Association at their meeting at the Marsham Court Hotel on Monday 7th April. His speech, titled “Sacrificing the Poor on Behalf of the Rich? An Examination of the Rites of Social Welfare,” will explore the relationship between the “haves” and the “have-nots” and it was advertised in the Bournemouth Echo recently.
Well done!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Faculty of Health & Social Sciences
BU academic Anastasia Veneti invited to participate at the prestigious Delphi Economic Forum, 9-12 April 2025 discussing on Radicalism and Challenges on Democracy
BU academic Anastasia Veneti has been invited to participate at the prestigious Delphi Economic Forum X that takes place 9-12 April 2025 at the historic town of Delphi, now a cultural UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Delphi Economic Forum Is a nonprofit, non-partisan organisation working in close cooperation with civil society, public organisations, business and individuals. It engages business, political, academic, and other top experts to address emerging challenges, influence the national and regional agendas and promote sustainable and socially responsible growth policies for Greece, the wider Eastern Mediterranean and Southeast Europe.
Delphi Economic Forum’s annual conference is the organization’s flagship event. Every year in the ancient city of Delphi, it gathers top leaders from across sectors to spark dialogue, inspire change, and transform conversation into action.
The Forum attracts distinguished speakers from across the world. This year’s conference includes more than 800 delegates among which the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Mathias Cormann, Secretary-General OECD, Rumen Radev, President of Bulgaria, Željka Cvijanović, Chairwoman of Presidency of Bosnia- Herzegovina, Abdullah Al Saud, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Saudi Arabia, Ana Abrudhosa, Minister of Territorial Cohesion of Portugal.
Previous speakers include former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, Jose M. Barosso, former President of the European Commission and former Prime Minister of Portugal, Jean-Claude Junker, former President of the European Commission, Ekrem İmamoğlu, Mayor of Instabul, Timothy Garton Ash, Oxford University, Richard N. Haass, former President of Foreign Relations, USA and many more.
Dr Veneti will be participating in the panel of ENA Institute for Alternative Policies, discussing on the topic of Varieties of Radicalism: Challenges and Opportunities for Democracy. This panel examines the evolving landscape of radicalism in the 21st century, focusing on the dual dynamics of far-right extremism and the imperative for progressive radicalism. Amid a surge in authoritarian populism and anti-democratic practices, far-right radicalism poses an urgent threat to democratic institutions and values. In response, the panel explores the potential of progressive radicalism to counteract these forces, advocating for transformative policies and inclusive civic engagement to reinvigorate democracy. Panellists will discuss the ideological, cultural, and digital factors driving these radicalisms, from grassroots to digital activism and movements, emphasizing the need for strategies that challenge far-right extremism while fostering a bold, progressive vision for democratic renewal.
Nepal Family Cohort Study dissemination event



- Kurmi, O.P., Chaudhary, N., Delanerolle, G., Bolton, C.E., Pant, P.R., Regmi, P., Gautam, S., Satia, I., Simkhada, P., Kyrou, I., Sigdel, T.K., Hundley, V., Dali, P.R., Lokke, A., Hubert Lam, K.B., Bennett, D., Custovic, A., van Teijlingen, E., Gill, P. Randeva, H., O’Byrne, P.M., and Nepal Family Cohort Collaborators Group, Nepal Family Cohort Study: A Study Protocol, BMJ Open 14:e088896. doi:10.1136/ bmjopen-2024-088896
When is a ‘new’ paper no longer new?
This week we had two new academic papers published online. The first paper was an education one ‘PhD Progress and Transfer Vivas at Universities in the United Kingdom‘ [1] and the second focused on ‘Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Masters Level Students in the COVID-19 Pandemic‘ [2]. The first paper clearly states “Article History: Received: 10 Jan 2024; Revised: 17 Feb 2024; Accepted: 26 Feb 2024”, the online information for the second paper states: “Published 2024-12-31”, i.e. both are clearly identified as 2024 papers.
The problem for the authors is that both only appeared online this week. For example, today (27th March 2025) Nepal Journals Online (NepJoL) reports the publication of the latest issue of Education Quarterly, Volume 5 Issue 1, the one in which we published, as 24th March (see picture below). The reason this happens is because the journal editors experienced problems in the past year and did not manage to publish an issue in the calendar year, which makes the publication history look less professional. To avoid having a year missing the most recently published issue is given an official 2024 publication date.
In a world full of problems the minor inconvenience of papers being backdated is twofold for academic authors. First, we can not really announce the publication of a a new Bournemouth University paper since the dated stamped on it is last year’s. Secondly, paper can’t be used for the REF as the acceptance date is also set in the past, for papers to be acceptable for inclusion in REF 2029 typically papers need to be made available on Open Access within three months after the acceptance date .
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health
References:
- van Teijlingen, A., Marmion, V., Harvey, O., Regmi, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2024) PhD Progress and Transfer Vivas at Universities in the United Kingdom, Journal of Education and Research, 14(1): 104-116, https://doi.org/10.51474/jer/16196
- Pasa, R.B., Khanal, K.P., Khatri, B.B., Adhikari, D., Kharel, S., Sharma, M.K., van Teijlingen, E.R. (2024). Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Masters Level Students on the COVID-19 Pandemic. Education Quarterly, 5(1): 53–72. https://doi.org/10.3126/jeqtu.v5i1.76745
New research evaluating a domestic abuse programme: A collaboration between BU & Yellow Door
A team at Bournemouth University have won funding to evaluate a holistic domestic abuse programme run by Yellow Door in Southampton, a domestic abuse charity. The Early Years Domestic Abuse Programme is run over a 10-week period for mothers/caregivers and their children (under 5 years) who have experienced domestic abuse. The interdisciplinary team at BU consists of Project Lead, Dr Jane Healy, Criminology, alongside colleagues in social work and psychology.
Chloe Gilbert, Head of Business Operations and Strategy at Yellow Door stated: “The course is run in 2 parts: the parents course covers the impact of domestic and sexual abuse, effective communication skills, working with challenging behaviour, developing protective behaviours and strategies for keeping mothers, children and young people safe. We then also run separate Thera-play sessions for the children delivered by a qualified Play Therapist. We are really looking forward to working with Bournemouth University to assess the impact of this important work”.
Yellow Door extend their thanks to Rayne Foundation and Charles Hayward Foundation for their support. If you would like to find out more about the project which is running until 2027, please contact: Victoria at Yellow Door, at info@yellowdoor.org.uk.
The other members of the research team have strong ties to this field of research having published widely in the areas of domestic abuse, gender-based violence and social work practice. They include Dr Terri Cole and Dr Orlanda Harvey, who will lead on work with professionals, and Dr Stefan Kleipoedszus and Dr Louise Oliver who will work with the children. Dr Healy will work with the parents/carers, alongside Research Assistant Dr Anna Kopec Massey.
This research builds on previous work undertaken in collaboration with Yellow Door (Final Report for Yellow Door and Stop Domestic Abuse) and Harvey, Healy and Cole have previously evaluated domestic abuse services through a number of local and international projects (including: OSSPC “The Other Side of the Story : Perpetrators in Change “, Yellow Door and Stop Domestic Abuse) which have included interviews with adult victim-survivors and focus groups with professionals.
The evaluation will contribute substantially to understanding both the benefits and challenges to delivering an Early Years programme to adults and children. The evaluation will produce an evidence-base in relation to this specific programme, in the form of an open-access and accessible research report, published articles and conference presentations, and position it within wider national, international, practitioner and academic context. It will gather information from service users, including children, parent/carers, professionals and practitioners to provide an independent but holistic evaluation of the programme.
Presenting Advances in Marking Medical Images at NLP Healthcare Summit 2025
📢 The NLP Heathcare Summit 2025 is nearly in a week. This year, I am looking forward to showcase advances that were made at Bournemouth University in Understanding Medical Concepts via LLM in Textual Series Narratives of Imaging Series ⚕️
In this talk we cover LLM evaluation concepts through the detailed overview of manual reporting directions in liver cancer imaging. We cover radiological imaging aspects that doctors tend to mention ✍️ and see how these aspects could be retrieved by LLM 🤖 by means of NLP and IR techniques. We provide recommendations on model scale choice and findings out of result analysis.
These advances were achieved while at Centre for Applied Creative Technologies CfACTs+ by working on “Marking Medical Image Reports Automatically with Natural Language Processing (NLP-MMI)” project.
Dr. Nicolay Rusnachenko
Research Fellow at Centre For Applied Creative Technologies PLUS (CFACT+)
Bournemouth University
BA ECRN South West & South Wales events
SWSW Webinar Series: How to Create and Deliver an Effective Presentation
Malcolm Love – Weds 2nd April, 1200-1330 Zoom
The British Academy Early Career Researcher Network (ECRN) – Southwest & South Wales (SWSW) invites ECRs across humanities and social sciences to its Webinar Series.
In this webinar Malcolm Love will talk about how to prepare and deliver highly effective presentations, including tips on presenting material and yourself: overcoming stage fright, storytelling, body language. This will be an interactive event.
Malcolm (https://malcolmlove.org/) is a former senior producer (programme maker) at the BBC. He is an independent producer, radio presenter, lecturer and public communication skills coach. He specialises in public engagement skills and has more than 25 years’ experience in delivering skill building workshops and masterclasses around the world in over 40 countries.
SWSW Connect: online connection and inspiration each month
Tuesday 15th April 1200 – 1300 Zoom
The British Academy Early Career Researcher Network (ECRN) – Southwest & South Wales (SWSW) invites ECRs across humanities and social sciences to a monthly ECR-driven online gathering where we get to know each other, exchange knowledge, support and inspiration. Meetings combine thematic content with time for networking and fostering new connections across the region.
April’s topic:
Continuing the REACH Principles: What does Reach IN, Reach OUT, Reach BEYOND mean for us as individuals and as a Network?
How can we best use the ECRN for connecting with others (Reach Out) and using the supportive environment to extend skills (Reach Beyond)? We will discuss this together as a group and in smaller breakout groups which will allow time for connecting with each other.
For more information, email Linda Lanyon
CWLTH Research Seminar & Centre Meeting
The Centre for Wellbeing and Long-Term Health (CWLTH) will be hosting their next Research Seminar and Centre meeting at 11:00 on Tuesday 22nd April. PhD student Yagya Adhikari will be presenting their doctoral research exploring ‘Parental migration for work and psychosocial problems among left-behind adolescents in Nepal.‘ Click HERE to join this meeting on Teams. Contact CWLTH@bournemouth.ac.uk for more information about the Centre.
Early Labour App Interns attend NIHR Celebration Day

NIHR Undergraduate Interns Tom Lower and Kaisei Wieczorek Numao with their supervisor Dr. Dominique Mylod attended the Round 1 NIHR Undergraduate Intern Celebration at International Student House, Regent’s Park, London on 19th March 2025.
Tom and Kaisei are both BU Computer Animation students. Together with Year 3 midwifery student Carys Nash they have developed the User Interface and tracking systems on our Early Labour App during their internship. In line with the feedback that Carys has gathered from women and birth partners, the app provides education and strategies for families to navigate the latent phase (or ‘early labour’) at home before labour establishes and they transfer to a birth unit or Labour Ward. The app content has been developed from research through the BU Centre for Midwifery and Women’s Health and with the latest funding from the NIHR Undergraduate Internship programme.
Tom presented on behalf of the group and we caused some excitement by showcasing the app on a mobile phone to the other attendees!
Join our online info session to find out how you can apply for the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2025
The ESRC Festival of Social Science (FoSS) is back, running from 18 October to 8 November 2025.
Partnership with the University of Southampton
For the third consecutive year, Bournemouth University is partnering with the University of Southampton (UoS) to deliver a programme of social science events across Dorset and Hampshire. This collaboration enables BU researchers to organise joint events with UoS colleagues and share impactful research with a broader community.
Funding available for your social science event
Apply for up to £1,000 and join the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2025 to showcase your research.
Online information session
Join our online information session to enhance your chances of a successful application and learn how to make the most of this exciting opportunity.
BU’s Public Engagement Team will co-host this session with the UoS Impact Funding Team. During the session, you will hear about past festival events at both universities, learn first-hand experiences from previous participants, and gain an understanding of the application process. You will also receive guidance on how to get involved in this year’s festival.
Wednesday 2 April 2025
11am – 12pm
Online (via Teams)
To attend, please register and we will be in touch with further information
Get inspired about planning your event
The 2025 open call will launch soon. In the meantime, explore these resources from last year to gather ideas and see which events resonated with public audiences while aligning with the festival’s goals:
To help with planning and audience engagement, check out these useful guides from last year’s open call:
If you would like to start discussing your ideas, please get in touch publicengagement@bournemouth.ac.uk
The Great British Medalists Project reaches 600 citations and 70,000 downloads
Here at BU, in work led by Professor Tim Rees, we developed what Dr Simon Timson, Director of Performance for City Football Group, described as “the primary piece of empirical research that underpins talent identification, selection, confirmation, and development practice across Olympic, Paralympic and professional sport domains in the UK”. This work underpinned preparations for the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2021 Games, and still permeates talent development programmes worldwide today. The research underpinned one of UoA24’s Impact Case Studies for REF 2021: “The development of athletic talent: Driving policy change in national sporting organisations.”
The first article from this project, published OA in the prestigious Sports Medicine, just reached 600 Google Scholar citations, with over 70,000 downloads. If you’re interested in a whirlwind tour of all we know about athletic talent development—despite being published in 2016—this is still a reasonably comprehensive overview.
Alongside working with UK Sport, the nation’s high-performance sports agency, this was part of a wider collaboration with colleagues at Bangor University, University College London, University of Kaiserslautern, University of Queensland, and Queens University.
Reference.
Rees, T., Hardy, L., Güllich, A., Abernethy, B., Côté J., Woodman, T., Montgomery, H., Laing, S., & Warr, C. (2016). The Great British medalists project: A review of current knowledge into the development of the world’s best sporting talent. Sports Medicine, 46(8), 1041-1058. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-016-0476-2 OA Link
Reading about Positionality
This week ResearchGate informed us that the paper ‘The Importance of Positionality for Qualitative Researchers‘ by Bournemouth University M.Res. student Ms. Hannah Gurr has been read over 800 times. The co-authors are Hannah’s supervisors Dr. Louise Oliver, Dr. Orlanda Harvey and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences (FHSS), and one of Nepal’s foremost sociology of health and illness researchers Prof. Madhusudan Subedi.
The paper is of particular interest for qualitative and mixed-methods researchers as these researchers are especially required to be critically reflective and explain to readers their positionality on 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. The journal in which this methodological paper is published is Open Access and therefor freely available to read for anybody across the globe.
Reference:
- 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,
New Social Work Education paper published
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Frampton, M., Schiller, U., Parker, J., Hartogh, T., Arlinghaus, G.A., Fry, A.D.J., Autio, K., Ndhlovu, N. (2025): Using the arts in social work education for short-term European mobility: evaluating student experiences on an Erasmus+ blended intensive program, Social Work Education, DOI: 10.1080/02615479.2025.2466707