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Research Ethics @ BU

Planning Ahead – A Reminder (Staff & PGRs)

If you’re hoping to start data collection activities at the beginning of September and are in the process of completing your research ethics checklist, please remember that during August there are NO Research Ethics Panel Meetings.  If you want to start your data collection activity in August/September, please submit your checklist in time for Panel meetings to be held in June or July.  Checklists (for ‘above minimal risk’ projects) received during August will be deferred until the Panels reconvene in September (dates to be advised).

Reviews for low risk projects (Staff and Postgraduate Research) will continue as normal during August.

More details about the review process and Panel meeting dates can be found on the Research Ethics Blog.  Email enquiries should be sent to researchethics@bournemouth.ac.uk.

Research Professional – all you need to know

Every BU academic has a Research Professional account which delivers weekly emails detailing funding opportunities in their broad subject area. To really make the most of your Research Professional account, you should tailor it further by establishing additional alerts based on your specific area of expertise. The Funding Development Team Officers can assist you with this, if required.

Research Professional have created several guides to help introduce users to ResearchProfessional. These can be downloaded here.

Quick Start Guide: Explains to users their first steps with the website, from creating an account to searching for content and setting up email alerts, all in the space of a single page.

User Guide: More detailed information covering all the key aspects of using ResearchProfessional.

Administrator Guide: A detailed description of the administrator functionality.

In addition to the above, there are a set of 2-3 minute videos online, designed to take a user through all the key features of ResearchProfessional. To access the videos, please use the following link: http://www.youtube.com/researchprofessional

Research Professional are running a series of online training broadcasts aimed at introducing users to the basics of creating and configuring their accounts on ResearchProfessional. They are holding monthly sessions, covering everything you need to get started with ResearchProfessional. The broadcast sessions will run for no more than 60 minutes, with the opportunity to ask questions via text chat. Each session will cover:

  • Self registration and logging in
  • Building searches
  • Setting personalised alerts
  • Saving and bookmarking items
  • Subscribing to news alerts
  • Configuring your personal profile

Each session will run between 10.00am and 11.00am (UK) on the fourth Tuesday of each month. You can register here for your preferred date:

26th Jun 2018

24th July 2018

28th August 2018

25th September 2018

These are free and comprehensive training sessions and so this is a good opportunity to get to grips with how Research Professional can work for you.

Have you noticed a new box appear on the BU Research Blog homepage?

By clicking on this box, on the left of the Research Blog home page just under the text ‘Funding Opportunities‘, you access a Research Professional real-time search of the calls announced by the Major UK Funders. Use this feature to stay up to date with funding calls. Please note that you will have to be on campus or connecting to your desktop via our VPN to fully access this service.

Patients across Wessex report positive experience of research

The National Institute for Health Research oversee 15 Clinical Research Networks (CRN) throughout England. Locally, NHS Trusts and Universities that are conducting health research will work alongside the Wessex CRN, based in Hedge End, Southampton.

In October of last year, Wessex CRN conducted a survey looking into patient experiences of research across the region.
The results are now available, and show an extremely positive response, with 91% of patients stating they would be happy to participate in another research study, and 94% stating they had a good experience of taking part in research.

The survey likewise raised shortfalls that are important to address going forward. You can view the report here.

If you are thinking of undertaking your own research within the NHS or have any queries related to clinical research, then get in touch with researchethics@bournemouth.ac.uk

Lunchbite Session Tuesday 5th June: Examining & Chairing Research Degree Viva Voce Examinations

 

This one hour lunchbite session is aimed at all academic staff who are new to, or experienced at, supervising research degree students and are interested in expanding their knowledge of a specific aspect or process in doctoral supervision.

Lunch and refreshments provided.

 

Tuesday 5th June 2018

12.00  – 13.00

Talbot Campus

Examining & Chairing Research Degree Viva Voce Examinations

 

Click here for further details and to book your place

through Organisational Development

 

This session will be led by a senior academic who will introduce the topic, and staff will be free to participate in discussions aimed at sharing best practice from across BU. It will be focused on expanding knowledge on the processes and responsibilities involved in examining & chairing research degree viva voce examinations.

 

Bookings can also be made for upcoming sessions covering different aspects of research degree supervision including:

These sessions will run again at intervals in the next academic year.

 

Engaging with a Business Audience – Book now

On Wednesday, 4th July 2018, BU’s Research and Knowledge Exchange Office invite BU staff to attend the event –  Engaging with a Business Audience.

This interactive one-day workshop aims to equip you with the necessary skills to be proficient and confident when communicating with a business audience. The key learning outcomes are:

  • Communicating to a business audience
  • Being confident when you are at a networking event

This event will be delivered off-campus but within the Bournemouth area. The event is a full day so those booking will be expected to attend for the full duration, with catering provided for attendees.

Reserve your place and find out how you can bring your research to the attention of industrial stakeholders and potential partners!

BU researcher Chris Miles publishes new book on marketing, magic and rhetoric.

Chris Miles, Senior Lecturer in Marketing & Communication in the Faculty of Media & Communication, has just published Marketing, Rhetoric and Control: The Magical Foundations of Marketing Theory (ISBN: 9781138667273). The 216 page monograph is the first book to be published in the new Routledge Studies in Marketing series.

Marketing, Rhetoric and Control investigates the tensions that surround the place of persuasion (and, more broadly, control) in marketing. Persuasion has variously been seen as an embarrassment to the discipline, a target for anti-marketing sentiment, the source of marketing’s value in the modern organisation, a mysterious black box inside the otherwise rational and logical endeavour of enterprise, and a rather insignificant part of the marketing programme. This book argues that this multifarious reputation for persuasion within marketing stems from the influence of two quite oppositional paradigms – the scientific and the magico-rhetorical – that ebb and flow across the discourses of its discipline and practice.

Constructing an interface between original, challenging close readings of texts from the beginnings of the Western rhetorical tradition and an examination of the ways in which marketing has set about describing itself, this text argues for a Sophistic interpretation of marketing. From this perspective, marketing is understood as providing intermediary services to facilitate the continuing exchange of attention and regard between firm/client and stakeholders. It seeks to manage and direct this exchange through an appreciation of the changing rational and irrational motivations of the firm and stakeholders, using these as resources for the construction of both planned and improvised persuasive interactions in agonistic (or competitive) environments.

The book is aimed primarily at researchers and academics working in the fields of marketing, marketing communications, and the related disciplines of marketing theory, critical marketing, and digital marketing. It will also be of value to marketing academics in business schools, including those working in the areas of media and communication studies who have an interest in commercial and corporate communication, brand use of interactive media, and communication theory.

One early review rave review from Prof. Stephen Brown of Ulster University states:
“There is nothing “mere” about rhetoric. Long demonised and often misrepresented, rhetoric is an ancient artform whose time has come. As Miles shows in this exemplary text, rhetoric is central to the modern marketing condition. Marketers’ seemingly magical ability to cast spells of delight, desire, distinction over delirious consumers is rooted in their rhetorical acumen. A sagacious review of the principal rhetorical traditions and a brilliantly-written reading of marketing principles and practices, Miles’ book is a rhetorical triumph. In a word, it’s magic!”

Link to the book’s page on the Routledge website:

https://www.routledge.com/Marketing-Rhetoric-and-Control-The-Magical-Foundations-of-Marketing-Theory/Miles/p/book/9781138667273

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1 A History of Rhetoric for Marketers

Chapter 2 Marketing Scholarship and Rhetoric

Chapter 3 Control and the Discourse of Marketing Science

Chapter 4 A Rhetorical Approach to Marketing as Exchange

Chapter 5 Marketing and Sophism – a comparison

Chapter 6 Magic, Sympathy, and Language

Chapter 7 The Magical Roots of Rhetoric

Chapter 8 Magical Persuasion and Marketing

Chapter 9 A Sophistic Marketing

Chris Miles was co-convenor of the 1st International Symposium on Marketing (as) Rhetoric which was held last year at Bournemouth University. His research deals with the discursive construction of marketing theory and practice, particularly as it relates to communication and control. He also publishes in the areas of rhetoric, cybernetics, and alternative religion.

Call for Expert Reviewers for the Newton Fund Prize

Call for Expert Reviewers for the Newton Fund Prize

The UK National Commission for UNESCO, which is administrating the Newton Prize, is delighted to announce a great opportunity to be part of the Reviewer Team for the Newton Prize 2018.

The Newton Prize is a prestigious global award for research and innovation in developing countries. All the applicants this year are in partnership with South American Newton Fund projects with Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico.

UNESCO are looking for experts from industry and academia in the fields of Agriculture, the Built Environment, Economic Development, Education, Energy, Engineering, Environment, Health, Manufacturing, Sustainability and Technology. Reviewing takes place via an online portal which can be accessed at your convenience between 15 June and 31 July 2018. If you fit the bill or know someone who does, please register here.

Research Staff Association coffee morning 30/05/18 – theme knowledge exchange and impact

The next BU Research Staff Association coffee morning will take place on the 30th May, 10-11am in S107, Studland House, Lansdowne Campus. The focus is on knowledge exchange and impact. These coffee morning are open to all staff at BU, and we particularly welcome those on research specific contracts including PGRs.

We are delighted to welcome guest speakers Jane Kavanagh-Lauridsen from the BU RKEO team to share their knowledge and experience in this area.

We look forward to seeing you there.

BU Research Staff Association

Thinking internationally? Think Newton Fund!

For those wishing the increase the internationalisation of their research, the UK’s Newton Fund provides opportunities throughout the year to network and collaborate with overseas colleagues to expand your research horizons!

The current calls are:

Newton Fund Researcher Links Workshop Grants (between the UK and Brazil, China, India, Jordan, and Peru) – these bring together early-career researchers from the UK and a partner country to make international connections that can improve the quality of their research

Researcher Links Workshop Grants (UK and Russia) – these bring together early career researchers from the UK and a partner country to make international connections that can improve the quality of their research

Newton Fund Researcher Links Travel Grants – which provide financial support for early-career researchers to undertake an international research placement to strengthen links for future collaboration, build research capacity in developing economies, and enhance the researcher’s career opportunities.

Newton Fund Institutional Links Grants (between the UK and Turkey, Vietnam, Mexico, Indonesia, Peru, Philippines, and Thailand) – these aim to build UK-partner country research and innovation collaborations centred on shared research and innovation challenges which have direct relevance to social welfare and economic development.

These current calls, above, all close on 8th June 2018, with more in the pipeline.

Institutional Links Grants (UK and Gulf countries) – this programme is part of the UK Government’s strategic commitment to strengthening partnerships with the Gulf countries in our interests and theirs to help tackle the challenges we share. This call closes on 28th June 2018.

With varying dates for application, you may also wish to apply to attend one of the forthcoming International research workshops.

If you wish to apply for international funding, please contact your Faculty’s Research Facilitator, in the first instance.

Why not sign up to the EURAXESS Newsletter which promotes the Newton Fund calls and other pertinent news for the mobile researcher?

 

Postgraduate Researcher Expert Sessions- Spaces Available

Creating thinking and problem solving – Monday 4 June 2018 – 09:00-12:00 – Talbot Campus  Book Now

Saying ‘no’ positively – Monday 4 June 2018 – 13:00-16:00 – Talbot Campus Book Now

Managing pressure positively – Tuesday 5 June 2018 – 09:00-12:00 – Lansdowne Campus Book Now

*Please note these sessions are for PGRs only, bookings will be closely monitored.

BU researchers pick up two awards at International Communication Association (ICA) conference

Bournemouth University researchers picked up two prestigious awards at the International Communication Association (ICA) annual conference held in Prague, 24-28 May 2018. This is the largest communications conference in the world and highly competitive, so receiving recognition in the form of awards is a great honour.

Dr Nael Jebril was recognised for his co-edited book entitled Political Journalism in Comparative Perspectivethat won the Harvard International Journal of Press/ Politics best book award. This is a major honour and awarded by the top journal in the field of media and politics. Dr Jebril received the award with his co-editors, Prof Erik Albæk (University of Southern Denmark), Prof Arjen van Dalen (University of Southern Denmark), and Prof Claes H. de Vreese (Universiteit van Amsterdam).

Dr Emma Pullen, Dr Daniel Jackson, Prof Michael Silkand Dr Richard Scullion won the top faculty paper award for the Sports Communication division of ICA, for their paper entitled Giving Disability the ‘Hollywood Treatment’: Channel 4 and the Broadcasting of the Paralympic Games. This is their first output from the AHRC funded Paralympics project on the cultural legacy of the 2016 Rio Paralympics (grant ref: AH/P003842/1). Keep up to date with their progress via the project website www.pasccal.com, Twitter @pasccalproject, and the BU research blog.

Abstracts

Political Journalism in Comparative Perspective
Prof Erik Albæk, Prof Arjen van Dalen, Dr Nael Jebril, Prof Claes H. de Vreese

Political journalism is often under fire. Conventional wisdom and much scholarly research suggest that journalists are cynics and political pundits. Political news is void of substance and overly focused on strategy and persons. Citizens do not learn from the news, are politically cynical, and are dissatisfied with the media. This book challenges these assumptions, which are often based on single-country studies with limited empirical observations about the relation between news production, content, and journalism’s effects. Based on interviews with journalists, a systematic content analysis of political news, and panel survey data in different countries, this book tests how different systems and media-politics relations condition the contents of political news. It shows how different content creates different effects and demonstrates that under the right circumstances citizens learn from political news, do not become cynical, and are satisfied with political journalism.

Giving Disability the ‘Hollywood Treatment’: Channel 4 and the Broadcasting of the Paralympic Games
Dr Emma Pullen, Dr Daniel Jackson, Prof Michael Silk and Dr Richard Scullion

Studies that have critiqued para-sport broadcasting, particularly through a narrative lens, have almost exclusively relied on textual and/or content analysis of the Paralympic Games as the source of cultural critique. We know far less about the decisions taken inside Paralympic broadcasters that led to such representations. In this study – based on interviews with senior production and promotion staff at the UK’s Paralympic broadcaster, Channel 4 – we provide the first examination of mediated para-sport from this vantage point. We explore the use of controversial promotional devices such as athletes’ backstories – the “Hollywood treatment” – to hook audiences as a vehicle to achieving its social enterprise ambitions of changing public attitudes toward disability. In so doing, we reveal myriad tensions that exist within a Paralympic broadcaster as they attempt to balance the competing goals of key stakeholders with their own desire to make the Paralympics a commercial and socially progressive success.

BU contribution to Routledge Handbook of Well-Being

Congratulations to current and past academics in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences and the Faculty of Science & Technology who contributed to the newly published Routledge Handbook of Well-Being.  The editor Prof. Kate Galvin was previously based at Bournemouth University.  She is currently Professor of Nursing Practice in the School of Health Sciences at the University of Brighton.

The following four chapters in the edited collection have been authored or co-authored by BU scholars and students past and present:

  • Dwelling- Mobility: An Existential Theory of Well-being Chapter 8 by Les Todres & Kate Galvin
  • Heritage and Well-being: Therapeutic places, past and present Chapter 11 by Timothy Darvill, Vanessa Heaslip & Kerry Barras
  • Embodied Routes to Well-being: Horses and Young People Chapter 20 by Ann Hemingway
  • Eighteen Kinds of well-being but there may be many more: A conceptual Framework that provides direction for Caring Chapter 30 by Kate Galvin & Les Todres.

 

Congratulations to all!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

ADRC and HEE launch ‘DEALTS 2’ at Alzheimer’s Society Conference (22nd/23rd May) during Dementia Action Week

Prof Jane Murphy and Dr Michelle Heward from the Ageing and Dementia Research Centre (ADRC) were invited to join Health Education England (HEE) to launch the Dementia Education and Learning Through Simulation 2 (DEALTS 2) programme at the Alzheimer’s Society Annual Conference in London. The ADRC have been commissioned by HEE to develop and evaluate the DEALT2 programme across England.

The DEALTS 2 programme was showcased on the HEE stand; providing a fantastic opportunity to launch the programme resources, which are now freely available to download on the HEE website. DEALTS 2 is a simulation-based dementia education programme for staff in acute hospitals across England. It is based on an experiential learning approach, placing hospital staff into the shoes of a person with dementia, to facilitate a positive impact on practice.

Throughout the two days at the conference there were many talks including those from members of the 3 Nations Dementia Working Group; Jeremy Hughes, CEO Alzheimer’s Society; Alistair Burns, NHS England; Minister Takashi Okada from Japan; and Carey Mulligan Alzheimer’s Society Ambassador (pictured below). The key message was that dementia is everyone’s business and we all need to commit to taking small or large actions to improve society for people with dementia.

HE policy update for the w/e 25th May 2018

Brexit

In the PM’s speech this week referred to below, she mentioned the implications of Brexit for research:

…. since 2010 the number of overseas students coming to study at UK universities has increased by almost a quarter. The UK will always be open to the brightest and the best researchers to come and make their valued contribution. And today over half of the UK’s resident researcher population were born overseas.

When we leave the European Union, I will ensure that does not change.

  • Indeed the Britain we build together in the decades ahead must be one in which scientific collaboration and the free exchange of ideas is increased and extended, both between the UK and the European Union and with partners around the world.
  • I know how deeply British scientists value their collaboration with colleagues in other countries through EU-organised programmes.  And the contribution which UK science makes to those programmes is immense.
  • I have already said that I want the UK to have a deep science partnership with the European Union, because this is in the interests of scientists and industry right across Europe.  And today I want to spell out that commitment even more clearly.
  • The United Kingdom would like the option to fully associate ourselves with the excellence-based European science and innovation programmes – including the successor to Horizon 2020 and Euratom R&T.  It is in the mutual interest of the UK and the EU that we should do so.
  • Of course such an association would involve an appropriate UK financial contribution, which we would willingly make.
  • In return, we would look to maintain a suitable level of influence in line with that contribution and the benefits we bring.

The UK is ready to discuss these details with the Commission as soon as possible.

Some more flesh was put on these bones by a policy paper from the Department for Existing the EU: Framework for the UK-EU partnership Science, research and innovation

AI, data and other Industrial Strategy news

The PM made a speech this week announcing 4 “missions” that sit below the Industrial Strategy with a  focus on AI and data, amongst other things– you can read my blog of the highlights here

In related news, Innovate UK published a report on the immersive economy

And the government issued 4 calls for ideas and evidence on the PM’s 4 missions.  They want new ideas here:

  • AI and data:  “we have one question:  Where can the use of AI and data transform our lives?”
  • Ageing society: “we would like to hear your thoughts on the following: How can we best support people to have extra years of being healthy and independent? 
  • Clean Growth: “we would like to hear your thoughts on the following:  How can our construction industry use its existing strengths to halve energy use in buildings?”
  • Future of mobility: “we have one question:  How can we ensure that future transport technologies and services are developed in an inclusive manner?.

If you’d like to contribute to any of these, please contact policy@bournemouth.ac.uk

Subject level TEF

You can read BU’s response to the subject level TEF consultation here.  We agree with the issues raised below and we advocated a new model because of serious problems with both Model A and Model B.  We also suggested a longer time frame (because of the volume of work involved, not complacency), and disagreed with both grade inflation and teaching intensity metrics.  And we challenged the awards at both institutional and subject level, proposing instead two awards (good and excellent/ excellent and outstanding) with stars for subjects.

Interesting developments for TEF (and more generally), the OfS have published their timetable for NSS and Unistats data for 2018:

  • The Office for Students (OfS) is applying the Code of Practice for Statistics to its data publication in anticipation of its designation as a producer of official statistics by July 2018. This has implications for the pre-publication access that we can grant to NSS outcomes and Unistats data, as these will now be treated as official statistics. As a consequence, we will now publish the NSS public dataset at the same time as providers are able to access their own data 2 on Friday 27 July 2018.
  • There will also be no provider preview as part of the annual Unistats data collection and publication process, and data available in system reports will be limited to that essential for quality processes associated with the Unistats return.
  • In June 2018, we will add earnings data from the Longitudinal Education Outcomes dataset for English providers to Unistats.
  • From September 2018, we will begin to use the Common Aggregation Hierarchy developed for the Higher Education Classification of Subjects to present data on Unistats in place of the current subject hierarchy.
  • The Unistats website will be updated in June 2018 to include Year three outcomes from the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework.

And :

  •  Following consultation on the outcomes of the Review of Unistats in 2015, the funding bodies are working together on options for a replacement for the Unistats website. This new resource would draw on the findings from the review about decision-making behaviour and the information needs of different groups of prospective students. We will progress this work in stages – ensuring that it is developed in a way that meets the needs of prospective students across all countries of the UK – and will provide the sector with periodic updates, the first of which will be in summer 2018.

Research Professional have a neat summary of the sector response.

On Wonkhe:

  • panel chair Janice Kay of the University of Exeter reflects on progress made and the challenges – and opportunities – arising from the exercise.  when breaking down the metrics into 35 subjects, cohort sizes can be small”  “ it is clear that the current format of the seven subject groupings poses challenges. For example, while it may reduce the writing load by asking institutions to describe its subjects in a summated way, it has sometimes limited what subjects can say about themselves, making it difficult to identify what happens in individual subjects. And we have heard that the format can increase writing effort, even if volume is reduced… It’s critical during this exercise that the written judgments can continue to do this, and that holistic judgments are not captured by metrics. There is therefore a question whether metric and written submission data can be better balanced in Model B.”  Plus some credibility issues with Model A
  • Melanie Rimmer, chief planner at Goldsmiths, University of London, ponders the likely outcomes of the subject-level TEF consultation.  Model B best meets the primary intention of Subject-Level TEF – that being to provide greater information to students – since it allows for greater variation between outcomes for subjects. However, highlighting variation in provision will only be attractive to institutions where that differentiation is a better rating than the current provider-level rating. If you want to hide weaker performance, then opt for Model A.  The main argument in favour of Model A is that it will reduce the burden of submission and assessment. That will be attractive to institutions which, having been through the exercise once and established their credentials, perceive the requirements of TEF as an unnecessary additional imposition that will deliver minimal return. Solid Golds and Silvers are likely to prefer Model A for this reason. Those at the borders of the ratings, with an eye on how close they are to moving between them, are more likely to see value in the greater effort required by Model B.”  “Those which are unlikely to see their rating change, or indeed which might see their metrics moving in the wrong direction and worry about a lesser rating, will naturally support longer duration awards. Those hoping to gain a shinier medal as a result of improving performance will see value in more regular submissions.”  “There are, however, bound to be areas of common ground on the consultation proposals. Every institution I have spoken to has identified a problem with the subject classifications, highlighting why combining disciplines X and Y makes no sense in their institution. However, in each case the disciplines cited are different because the issues stem primarily from institutional structures.”
  • Stephanie Harris of Universities UK (UUK) looks ahead to the future of TEF and the forthcoming statutory review of the exercise.
  • Claire Taylor of Wrexham Glyndŵr University looks at TEF from a quality enhancement perspective and considers the options for institutions in devolved nations.  “perhaps the very act of putting together the written submission also provides an opportunity for us to engage with an enhancement agenda. By reflecting upon TEF metric performance within the written submission, providers have an opportunity to outline the qualitative evidence base in relation to enhancement, evaluation and impact, within the context of their own overall institutional strategic approach to improving the student experience”.  But: “the introduction of grade inflation metrics during TEF3 is of questionable value. Such a metric does not consider the contexts within which providers are operating. Providers have robust and detailed mechanisms for ensuring fair and equitable assessment of student work, including the use of external examiners to calibrate sector-wide, a system that contributes positively to the enhancement agenda and to which the grade inflation metric adds little value.”, and “The consultation asks for views around the introduction of a measure of teaching intensity. In my view, the proposed measure has no meaning and no connection to excellence, value or quality, let alone enhancement. There is the potential for the information to be misleading as it will need specialist and careful interpretation”
  • with an updated TEF diagram, “The Incredible Machine”, David Kernohan and Ant Bagshaw look at TEF3 and question its compatibility with the earlier versions of the exercise.  “So what – honestly – is TEF now for? It doesn’t adequately capture the student experience or the quality of teaching. It does not confer any benefit – other than a questionable marketing boost – to providers, and there is no evidence that students are making serious use of it to choose courses, universities, or colleges. Internationally, concerns have already been raised that the three-level ratings are confusing – it’s been widely reported that “Bronze” institutions are often not considered to meet the UK’s laudably stringent teaching quality thresholds. And it is not even a reliable time series – a TEF3 Gold is now achievable by an institution that would not have passed the test under TEF2 rules. Later iterations may well be built “ground up” from subject TEF assessments, once again changing the rules fundamentally. Let’s not even mention TEF1 (it’s OK, no-one ever does) in this context.”

From Dods: The Science and Technology Committee have published its report from the Algorithms in decision-making inquiry which acknowledges the huge opportunities presented by algorithms to the public sector and wider society, but also the potential for their decisions to disproportionately affect certain groups.

The report calls on the Centre for Data Ethics & Innovation – being set up by the Government – to examine algorithm biases and transparency tools, determine the scope for individuals to be able to challenge the results of all significant algorithmic decisions which affect them (such as mortgages and loans) and where appropriate to seek redress for the impacts of such decisions. Where algorithms significantly adversely affect the public or their rights, the Committee highlights that a combination of algorithmic explanation and as much transparency as possible is needed.

It also calls for the Government to provide better oversight of private sector algorithms which use public sector datasets, and look at how best to monetise these datasets to improve outcomes across Government. The Committee also recommends that the Government should:

  • Continue to make public sector datasets available for both ‘big data’ developers and algorithm developers through new ‘data trusts’, and make better use of its databases to improve public service delivery
  • Produce, maintain and publish a list of where algorithms are being used within Central Government, or are planned to be used, to aid transparency, and identify a ministerial champion with oversight of public sector algorithm use.
  • Commission a review from the Crown Commercial Service which sets out a model for private/public sector involvement in developing algorithms.

Social Mobility Commission

Under the 10 minute rule, the Chair of the Education Committee Robert Halfon introduced legislation to give greater powers and resources to the Social Mobility Commission (SMC), the body set up to promote social justice.  (Link here at 13.52.09pm).  It will have its second reading on 15th June.

The Committee published a draft Bill in March alongside its report.  In its report, the Committee called for the establishment of a new implementation body at the heart of Government to drive forward the social justice agenda.

And in the meantime, the Government have announced a recommendation for a new Chair.  Dame Martina Milburn has spent 14 years as Chief Executive of the Prince’s Trust, supporting more than 450,000 disadvantaged young people across the country in that time, with three in four of these going on to work, education or training. She is also a non-executive director of the National Citizen Service and the Capital City College Group, and was previously Chief Executive of BBC Children in Need and of the Association of Spinal Injury Research, Rehabilitation and Reintegration.

Immigration

From Dods: Last Friday the Science and Technology Committee announced that it intends to develop its own proposals for immigration and visa rules for scientists post-Brexit. This work follows the Government’s rejection of the Committee’s call for the conclusions of the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) relating to science to be brought forward to form part of an ‘early deal’ for science and innovation.

The Committee published its report on “Brexit, Science and Innovation” in March, and has recently received the Government’s response. The report welcomed the Prime Minister’s call for a “far-reaching pact” with the EU on science and innovation and recommended that an early deal for science—including on the ‘people’ element—could set a positive tone for the rest of the trade negotiations, given the mutual benefits of cooperation on science and innovation for the UK and the EU.

The Committee will draw on the submissions to its previous Brexit inquiry and the sector’s submissions to the MAC to construct its proposals for the immigration system, but further input to this process is welcome on the following points:

  • If an early deal for science and innovation could be negotiated, what specifically should it to contain in relation to immigration rules and movement of people involved with science and innovation?
  • What are the specific career needs of scientists in relation to movement of people, both in terms of attracting and retaining the people the UK needs and supporting the research that they do?
  • What aspects of the ‘people’ element need to be negotiated with the EU-27, as opposed to being simply decided on by the Government?
  • On what timescale is clarity needed in relation to future immigration rules in order to support science and innovation in the UK?

Consultations

Click here to view the updated consultation tracker. Email us on policy@bournemouth.ac.uk if you’d like to contribute to any of the current consultations.

Subscribe!

To subscribe to the weekly policy update simply email policy@bournemouth.ac.uk

JANE FORSTER                                            |                       SARAH CARTER

Policy Advisor                                                                     Policy & Public Affairs Officer

Follow: @PolicyBU on Twitter                   |                       policy@bournemouth.ac.uk

 

 

Your ‘Timely Reminder’ – don’t miss these events in June and July!

Every year, the Research & Knowledge Exchange Office, along with internal and external delivery partners, runs over 150 events to support researcher development through the Research & Knowledge Exchange Development Framework (RKEDF).

Responding to your feedback and by popular request, below are the main events coming up over the next two months – please click on the event titles that are of interest to find out more and reserve your place as soon as possible:

JUNE 2018

Wednesday 6th June – STEAMLab – Virtual problems See this Blog post on how to Apply for a place

Monday 11th June – Research impact and the Research Excellence Framework (REF): an introduction 

Wednesday 13th June – REF 2021 Guidance – Q&A session

Thursday 14th June – Royal Society – Bid Writing Retreat 

Wednesday 20th June – BRIAN, Open Access and the Impact Module

Wednesday 27th June – Preparing for Brexit 

27-29 June – Writing Academy – Summer 

JULY 2018

Wednesday 4th July – US Funding Day (Federal & Charities)

Wednesday 4th July – Targeting high quality journals

Wednesday 4th July – 10 ways to increase the impact of your paper

Wednesday 4th July – Writing an academic paper

Thursday 5th July –  Fellowship interview Training – Royal Society

Wednesday 11th July – Introduction to bibliometrics

Wednesday 11th July – Advanced Bibliometrics – Using bibliometrics to understand research impact

10/07/18 – 11/07/18 – Marie Sklodowska Curie – MSCA bid writing retreat (2 days)

Thursday 12th of July – Writing and presenting for non-academic audiences (ECR session) *New*

Monday 23rd July –  The Writing Academy – Writing day

Tuesday 24th July – Preparing impact case studies for the Research Excellence Framework: a workshop

To see all the events within the RKEDF and the wider Organisational Development offering, please refer to the handy Calendar of Events.

Additionally if you are a PGR please visit the Doctoral College Researcher Development Programme for your own special tailored events.