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November Digest RKEDF

Book now for RKEDF training in November 2024

Click on the titles to find further details and book your place

Do you need to know about the Research & Enterprise Database? This online training session on Weds 27 November, 13.00-13.30, is aimed at all academics to provide an overview of the Research & Enterprise Database. This includes how to access the system, the information available to view, budget management, and identifying your pre and post award officers. Book your place here

REF for ECR’S: A beginners guide!

This in-person session on Weds 20 November 2024, 13:00-15:00, will introduce you to what the REF is, where it came from, where it’s going, and how it may impact you as an early career researcher. We will also discuss any questions you have around expectations and processes at BU and experiences will be shared by academics with previous and current involvement in REF.

Telling a compelling story & developing a KTP application

One of a series of in-person developmental sessions on Weds 20 November, 13:00-14:00, for staff (and businesses) to debunk myths, provide insights, and forge connections, this in person session on will focus on telling a compelling story and developing a coherent and convincing Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) application.

BRIAN drop-in surgery

This is a 2-hour, in-person, drop-in surgery for questions or issues relating to BRIAN.  No question is a stupid question so pop in and ask.  No booking required – drop-in between 13:00 and 14:00 on Tues 26 November, at BG-217 Gateway Building, Lansdowne campus.

Epigeum Research Skills Toolkit 

Do you want to refresh your researcher skills? Have a look at the Epigeum Research Skills Toolkit (on demand online modules).  Further information on how to access Epigeum courses can be found here. 

Look out for events in early December, to be announced soon!

A close-up of a blue and white megaphoneDescription automatically generatedPlease help us in avoiding any waste of resources; make sure you can attend or cancel your booking prior to the session. For any further information, please contact RKEDF@bournemouth.ac.uk

 

Volatile organic compounds as diagnostic biomarkers of skin cancer

 

The Analytical Science Research Group (ASRG) has been awarded substantial funding from 6 successful grant applications to support a major clinical study investigating volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as diagnostic biomarkers of skin cancer.

The research will be led by Prof Richard Paul, with co-investigators: Dr Ramin Boroujerdi, Dr Santanu Majumder, Prof Huseyin Dogan, and Prof Illankovan (UHD). The project is a collaboration between BU and the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Unit at University Hospitals Dorset. The project aims to identify VOC biomarkers of skin cancer, and develop a rapid, portable diagnostic device tuned to detect those biomarkers, for application in primary care.

Our vision is a user friendly, rapid sensor, capable of detecting skin cancers which does not require specialist training to use. Such a device could be confidently used by a range of medical professionals in primary care, including nurses, and would enhance the detection of skin cancers.

Skin cancer sites are known to release odorous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and these compounds can be collected and analysed to aid in the chemical profiling of skin cancers.

During a recent pilot study our team developed a custom extraction device based on a modified solid phase microextraction (SPME) approach, to capture VOCs released from skin cancer sites. Our new device enabled collection of a much wider range of compounds than previously possible. The technique was applied in a pilot clinical study with skin cancer patients.

Patients donated a VOC sample from a skin cancer lesion, as well as a sample from an area of skin not affected by cancer as a control. Volunteers from the general population served as a separate control group.

The trial demonstrated that the newly developed SPME technique was simple to apply during routine patient appointments, and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) SPME was found to retain a wide variety of VOCs which remained stable for a minimum of 24 hours.

Analysis using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS) revealed VOCs that were present in skin cancer lesions that may serve as diagnostic biomarkers.  The research has developed a novel, non-invasive sampling approach for VOC collection from skin cancer patients in situ, and reveals potential biomarkers associated with skin cancers.

Our latest funding will allow us to validate this approach over a major 3-year clinical study on skin cancer patients, and to undertake work to develop new portable skin cancer detection technology for use in primary care. The development of a rapid sensor, specific to skin cancers and deployable in a point of care device is an exciting prospect, which would enable rapid detection of skin cancer in primary care, enhancing patient triage and improving patient outcomes.

 

 

The Analytical Science Research Group (ASRG) at Bournemouth University provides a focus for analytical research in the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, and a platform for collaborative work across the university and with industry.

Our research concentrates on the development of new analytical methods to deepen scientific understanding across three key themes:

  • Bioanalytical Science
  • Environmental Analytical Science
  • Forensic Science and Toxicology

To find out more about the research undertaken by ASRG, and our technical capabilities to support chemical analysis for your own work, click here.

 

The Leverhulme Trust Visit to BU, 4th December now open for bookings-

Funding opportunities

Online event – 4 December 13.00-14.30

Join us at our upcoming virtual visit from The Leverhulme Trust, The Trust has been funding research for almost 100 years and has an essential role in the UK research funding landscape via its support for fundamental and higher-risk research, which has become much scarcer in some disciplines in recent years.

We will hear from the Director of Leverhulme about the funding schemes they offer, advice for applicants, Strategy and Looking into the future.

You are all welcome to join us and you will get a chance to raise your questions – to make the process easier can you please sent Eva Papadopoulou your questions in advance so we can coordinate them.

For more information about Leverhulme Trust visit https://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/ and if you have any questions, please contact RDS.

Please book here: The Leverhulme Trust – funding development Tickets, Wed 4 Dec 2024 at 13:00 | Eventbrite

WAN Small Grant Fund 2024/25

Women’s Academic Network Application for Small Grant Funding 2024/2025

Details of the competitive funding scheme:

WAN project funds are designed to support research-based activities that meet WAN broad aims in supporting equality for women, promoting their careers and highlighting gender-based issues that affect women. Each grant is worth up to £500.

Conditions:

  • The scheme is only open to WAN members.
  • WAN members who are postgraduate researchers may apply, but the grant cannot be used to fund doctoral research.
  • Every funded project must be completed by the end of the fiscal year July 2025*.
  • Every project must lead to demonstrable outcomes/deliverables such as papers, book proposals, Research Blogs, pilot studies leading to bigger grants etc.
  • You must agree to present outcomes to WAN members and produce a blog post as a condition of funding.

*Funds must be spent by end July 2025 therefore it will not be feasible to use budget for hiring research assistants (e.g., for transcription)

Your application should be two pages in total, excluding references.

Deadline for funding application:

Please email your application to Dr Chloe Casey: ccasey@bounemouth.ac.uk by Monday 2nd December 2024

Successful applicants will be informed by Monday 16th December 2024.

Application form: WAN Small Grant Fund 202425

BASES Outreach Hub

On Tuesday 5th November academics from Bournemouth University welcomed 70 students from local schools to participate in a first of many outreach days showcasing sport and exercise provision at the university. After a competitive process, Bournemouth University was recently awarded Outreach Hub status by the British Association for Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES), the professional body for sport and exercise sciences in the UK. As a hub BU are responsible for running outreach events for local schools to promote and inspire students to study Sport and Exercise Science with Bournemouth University being an excellent place to do so.

The day began with a captivating introduction from Dr Emma Mosley, lead of the outreach project, who highlighted the expansive field of sport and exercise sciences. She illustrated the wide range of opportunities—from community health engagement to high-performance sports—that this field offers. This was followed by a keynote presentation from Dr Emma Kavanagh, a BASES Fellow, who shared her journey to becoming an HCPC-registered Sport and Exercise Psychologist. Dr Kavanagh also discussed her experiences of working with teams at major events like the Olympic, Paralympic, and Commonwealth Games. This session showcased the role of psychology in sport and the many pathways for psychologists to engage with individuals, teams and organisations in this dynamic field.

Dr Emma Mosley explained that, “The opportunity to become a BASES hub has been a fantastic springboard to promote the excellent provision of sport and exercise science we have here at Bournemouth University to local schools”

Our visitors joining us from Poole Grammar School and LeAF Academy then were introduced to nutrition, physiology, biomechanics, psychology and coaching through interactive practical sessions showcasing the university laboratory facilities and staff who are passionate about the subjects they teach.

Students got to critically evaluate the contents of sports drinks and produce their own optimally balanced version in our Nutrition laboratory delivered by the fantastic nutrition team Dr Paul Fairbairn and Dr Sarah Hillier. In the Human Performance Laboratory students took part in jump height measurement using force plates with Dr Louise Burgess, analysed their expired gas with Dr Rebecca Neal and had the opportunity to learn about reaction time and eye tracking with Dr Emma Mosley. Andy Boland completed the practical sessions with a dynamic coaching session exploring different types of practice for skill learning.

Callum Burt, teacher of PE from Poole Grammar School said “I know our students took a lot from the sessions and went away both highly engaged and motivated from the workshops delivered by the staff. We look forward to coming back next year!”

In the final session of the day students focused on the competitive element of the day, the BASES National School Poster Competition. During this time students planned an academic poster on a topic of their choice from across the day, some examples included “How do eye tracking glasses work” and “Why is muscle asymmetry problematic for athletes”. Students are due to submit their posters back to the outreach hub by the 20th of December and the team will choose a winner. The Bournemouth University winner will be entered into the BASES National School Poster Competition, where all the outreach hubs in the UK submit their posters to and BASES judge the final winner. The national winning poster entry receives a funded visit of a local sport star or coach to their school.

This outreach day was an incredible opportunity to engage with young people with a passion for sport and allow them to learn about the variety of roles across the sport sector while showcasing the sports provision here at BU.

We have undergraduate courses in for more information please look on our course pages.

BSc Sport and Exercise Science

BSc Sports Therapy

BSc Physiotherapy

BSc Nutrition

BSc Sport Coaching

BSc Sport Management

Thank you to all the team involved in the day (Dr Emma Mosley, Dr Emma Kavanagh, Dr Chole Casey, Dr Sarah Hillier, Dr Paul Fairbairn, Dr Becky Neal, Dr Louise Burgess, Emily Phillips and the school liaison team).

BU research presented at the House of Lords

The AHRC funded BRAID project, Shared-Posthuman Imagination: Human-AI Collaboration in Media Creation was honoured to share their research findings and proposed legal & policy interventions on Generative AI in the Media Industry at the UK House of Lords in an event organised by Policy Connect and Bournemouth University.

The round table event included participants from the House of Lords, Digital Catapult, BBC, The Law Society, Alan Turing Institute, PRS, UK-Music,  The Writers Guild, Equity, Industry and Academia amongst others.

The session featured an insightful discussion on the research project and its findings, particularly regarding the need for education on responsible use of Generative AI, and its impact on issues of intellectual property, labour, and accessibility. Members of Bournemouth University also  gave a  presentation in which they outlined some outcomes from the research project including a range of potential policy interventions, a summary of which is outlined below.

This scoping research was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and BRAID UK Bridging Responsible AI Divides.

The interdisciplinary research team was Szilvia Ruszev, Maxine Gee,  Melanie Stockton-Brown, Tom Davis, Xiaosong Yang, Selin Gurgun, Liam Rogers, Boyuan Cheng, James Slaymaker and Stephanie Prajitna

As well as international research partners Catherine Griffiths and Kejun Zhang.

Members of the research group are also members of Emerge Research Group.

12 policy outmodes

Bid-generating Sandpit: Interdisciplinary Research towards Sustainable Development Goals

Calling early career researchers (including practice-led) for two days of sparking ideas, discovering new project partners, and developing interdisciplinary funding bids!

26 – 27 March 2025

The British Academy Early Career Researcher Network brings together ECRs across the humanities and social sciences disciplines, regardless of their funding source or background.

Please note that in order to book a ticket to attend this event you must be a member of the British Academy Early Career Researcher Network, unless you have been invited directly by one of the event organisers. To find out if you are eligible to join the Network if you are not already a member, please see our website for more information on eligibility and how to sign up. Any questions, please email ecr_network@thebritishacademy.ac.uk.

For more information and to book see here

To secure your spot in the Sandpit, please complete and submit the following application – note that all participants must commit to attending both full days:

APPLY HERE BY 29 November 2024: https://forms.office.com/e/AQiAsf5Wxn

Logo for the British Academy ECR network

British Academy ECR network

Applications are now open for 2025 ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowships!

Funding opportunities, PG research

The ESRC invites applications for postdoctoral fellowships (PDF) to be based at the SWDTP institutions of University of Bath, University of Bristol, University of Exeter, Plymouth University, University of West of England, Bath Spa University, Bournemouth University and Plymouth Marjon University.

Fellowships are aimed at providing a development opportunity for social science researchers in the immediate postdoctoral stage of their career, to consolidate their PhD through developing publications, their networks, and their research and professional skills.

At Bournemouth University, we run a dual stage application process. Candidates must be aligned to one of the pathways to which BU belong. For BU, this means that we would be able to support applicants in one of three pathways:

In the first instance we ask potential candidates to complete an Expression of Interest (EOI) and an Equal Opportunities form. The deadline for submitting the EOI & Equal Opportunities forms is January 31 2025. Both forms are available from the pathway leads.

Prior to submission of your EOI it is a good idea to have identified a mentor who will support you to develop your application. If you are uncertain on how to identify a mentor, then please contact one of the pathway leads listed above.

Following review of all EOI received, we will nominate successful applicants and support the development of a full application to the ESRC (via the SWDTP). The full application is due on 25 May, 2025. Only nominated applicants are able to complete this second stage.

For further information, please take a look at the SWDTP web pages dedicated to the postdoctoral fellowships award. Note that this includes important Eligibility criteria.

Please also note that you can register for an online information event hosted by the SWDTP. This takes place at 2-3 pm on Wednesday 20 November 2024. Register here. (A recording will be available from 25 November).

 

Seventh edition of Social Work textbook

Publishing, writing

Congratulations to Bournemouth University’s  Emeritus Professor Jonathan Parker who has just published the 7th edition of his best-selling Social Work Practice. This latest edition of Social Work Practice comes with updated content and case studies.  First published in 2004, this textbook has guided social work students through the processes of working with people, groups and communities looking at the politics of assessment, planning, intervention and review and negotiating a value-based approach to practice that acknowledged the centrality of relationships and respect for the people with whom social workers practice.
Well done!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Next week! 3C Event – PGR Culture, Community & Cake

PG research

All PGRs and Supervisors are warmly invited to attend next week’s Doctoral College 3C event! 

The 3C events are a perfect opportunity to catch up and network with the PGR community in a social setting. Don’t miss out on the chance to make new connections whilst enjoying some coffee and cake!

Following feedback from the Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES), we will be hosting this 3C event on the Lansdowne Campus.

Join us Wednesday 13 November 10:00-11:00 in room BG-302.

Let’s foster collaboration, support and networking!

Book now

REDCap – Recommended tools for Data Management in Research Projects

Training

Recommended tools for Data Management in Research Projects

4 December 2024, 09:00 -13:00 Book here

Learn about data collection and management best practices in research and why REDCap is better that MS Excel or Qualtrics for almost every type of data collection, either through online surveys or direct entry into a database.

Our REDCap expert (Will Crocombe) will show you why this tool has been used in 2.2 million research projects worldwide to date, and with no prior knowledge, you will learn to use REDCap and be ready to use it in your next investigation at the end of this course.

Attendees on the basic course will learn:

What is REDCap and why is it important?

  • What can REDCap do and who uses it. Data management expectations, data integrity and quality, safety and security.

Data collection forms and data entry – the basics

  • Understand basics of field types and form design, build a simple study and add some data. Review form status and dashboard.

Improving usability

  • Data range checks, action tags, field skipping, option lists, calculated fields.
  • Use of Data Quality Rules, inbuilt and custom, calculations.

Data import and export

  • Data export options and format. Import features and use as data editor.
  • Data Dictionary and metadata.

So why use REDCap?

REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) is a secure, web-based software platform designed for building and managing online surveys and databases. Originally developed at Vanderbilt University, it has become widely used all over the world in academic, non-profit, and government institutions, particularly for research and clinical data management.

REDCap is considered better than Microsoft Excel for data collection and management because it is more secure, offers better data quality, and is easier to use.

Qualtrics and REDCap are both easy to use, but REDCap is more customisable and supports data entry workflows, including multiple user roles and permissions, which are particularly useful in collaborative research teams. Additionally, REDCap supports audit trails for data entries and changes, critical for research reproducibility. Qualtrics can be expensive, especially to access advanced features, while all features in REDCap are free.

For further information on this event please contact RKEDF@bournemouth.ac.uk

Book here

REDCap Key Features:

  1. Data Collection: REDCap allows users to easily create and manage data collection forms, which can be used for various purposes like surveys, longitudinal studies, or clinical trials.
  2. User-Friendly Interface: It provides an intuitive, web-based interface for project setup and data entry, allowing non-technical users to create complex projects without needing programming skills.
    1. Easy to Design Forms: REDCap provides a user-friendly interface for creating and designing online surveys and databases without needing advanced programming skills.
    2. Drag-and-Drop Interface: Allows for easy form building and question arrangement.
  3. Secure and Compliant: REDCap supports HIPAA compliance and other data security standards as GDPR and FISMA, making it suitable for handling sensitive or protected health information (PHI).
  4. Customisability: Users can customize forms, surveys, and workflows to suit their project needs, and it supports branching logic, validation, and automated alerts.
    1. Flexible Form Design: You can create complex branching logic, calculated fields, and use piping to personalize questions.
    2. Autonomy for Researchers: Users can independently design and manage their projects without needing IT support.
  5. Collaboration: It enables collaboration across institutions, allowing multiple users with different permission levels to work on the same project.
  6. Longitudinal Data Collection: It supports collecting data over time from the same participants, which is important for research projects that involve repeated measurements.
  7. Shared Library: REDCap’s Shared Library allows users to browse and search for data entry forms that other users have uploaded.
  8. Data Export: Data collected in REDCap can be exported to various statistical software formats (e.g., SPSS, SAS, Stata, R) for analysis

CfACTs Workshop @ BFX-2024: Advances in Marking Medical Images with Natural Language Processing

On Wednessday 30’th of October, The Centre for Applied Creative Technologies (CfACTs)  arranged a workshop for AI Research Academics as part of the BFX-2024 Festival in Bournemouth.

BFX Festival is an annual conference that takes place in Bournemouth and Hilton Bournemouth through this week and since 28’th of October until 2nd of November.

Among the works presented during that session, the most-recent advances in Natural Language Processing application for marking medical images, presented by Dr. Nicolay Rusnachenko.

The purpose and keypont of the talk were as follows:

✅ Showcase the potentials of NLP appliaction in processing textual narratives ✍ via GenAI ChatGPT and other systems capable for the detailed explanation, necessary for High Quality data collection and further development the domain-oriented LLM. The following figure below showcases the importance on NLP application for processing medical narratives of liver-related MRI/CT scan series, such as one mentioned in "Series Descriptions" of the DICOM metadata.

✅ Propose the concept of the end-to-end solution for uniting automatic series understanding and assessing manually written narratives by novice practitioners ‍⚕️ using the GenAI as the Core Framework. The figure below illustrates the back-end and front-end components of the related system that serve with individual direction of scientific studies dedicated for enhancing domain oriented GenAI framework.

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