The Research and Knowledge Exchange Office is delighted to announce that US funding expert, Robert Porter, PhD, of Grant-Winners Seminars, will be delivering four US Funding sessions to BU Academics on 8th and 9th March.
Bookings are now open to faculty academic and researchers, in the first instance – please reserve your place now for as many sessions as you can attend:
Thursday, 8th March:
US funding opportunities for international researchers – This session will focus on the eligibility requirements, funding levels, proposal development guides and submission deadlines for key US funders.
Strategies for success in sponsored research – In addition to developing their writing skills, grant seekers must focus on the relational issues that are key to success. This session will address these contextual challenges
Friday, 9th March:
Grants in the Humanities & Social Sciences
Building the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grant Proposal
There is a networking lunch between the morning and afternoon sessions. When booking, please advise if you will require lunch and any dietary requirements
If space allows, attendance will be opened to PGRs after 28/2/18.
If you want to develop your international research portfolio, please contact your faculty Research Facilitator.
In November, the government published its ‘Industrial Strategy‘. This includes science, research and innovation being central to driving productivity and is therefore one of the five key drivers.
As a first step, Government has committed to increase public funding of R&D from around £9.5bn in 2016/17 to around £12.5bn in 2021/22. They are also developing a ‘roadmap’ in partnership with industry and other partners. There are four Grand Challenges, which seek to galvanise action across disciplines and different sectors of the economy. They include:
Putting the UK at the forefront of artificial intelligence and data revolution
Maximising the advantages for UK industry from the global shift to clean growth
Becoming a world leader in shaping the future of mobility, and
Harnessing the power of innovation to meet the needs of an aging society
In order to make progress with the Grand Challenges, the UK needs to increase collaboration further and in a number of ways:
Collaboration between disciplines
Collaboration across the economy – including between universities, research and innovation bodies and businesses
international collaboration
Interdisciplinary collaboration
Collaboration between different academic disciplines is required, as well as innovation across business and industrial sectors. The establishment of UKRI is in recognition of this. In addition, the introduction of the Strategic Priorities Fundfurther demonstrates this. This is a ‘common fund’, supporting multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary programmes (to be announced shortly).
Collaboration across different institutions and economic actors
The Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund aims to bring together the UK’s world-leading research with business. Investment of £725 million will be in new Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund programmes to capture the value of innovation.
Impact on local growth from research and innovation is greater in areas where there are strong institutions that collaborate together. The Industrial Strategy has announced the Strength in Places Fund. This will fund R&I projects which build on a local strength, demonstrate a strong impact on local growth and productivity, and enhance collaboration between local institutions. Calls are expected shortly.
International collaboration
The UK is currently agreeing science and technology strategies with the US and China and will be published later this year. The Industrial Strategy includes an additional investment of £300m in world-class talent from 2018/19 onwards. This supports the flow of people between industry and academia and interdisciplinary and cutting-edge research and innovation. Support will range from KTPs and PhD programmes with strong industrial links, to prestigious awards that support rising stars and the top talent from both the UK and overseas.
If you would like to discuss potential research collaboration with industry, please contact Ehren Milner, RKEO, Research Facilitator – Industrial Collaboration.
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, we give you a flavour of some of the events coming up over the next two months – please click on the event titles that are of interest and get yourself booked on asap:
Last week the Journal of Manmoham Memorial Institute of Health Sciences based in Nepal published as its editorial ‘What can we learn from the Nepal Health Facility Survey 2015. [1] The Nepal Health Facility Survey 2015 is a first of its kind. It is a much needed start to help analyse and improve the workings of the country’s health system. This is very important and timely as one of the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) is to reduce premature mortality by one-third from non-communicable diseases. Success in this effort will depend on the concerted efforts on health facilities (for both health promotion, prevention and management) for an early and optimal care. The editorial also raises some of the ethical and methodological issues associated with the first ever Nepal Health Facility Survey 2015. The lead author of the editorial is Dr. Pramod Regmi and our co-authors include Prof. Padam Simkhada (Visiting Faculty in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences). The Journal of Manmoham Memorial Institute of Health Sciences is an Open Access journal hence freely available to scholars and politicians and health managers across the globe, including those based in low-income countries such as Nepal.
Reference:
Regmi, P., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P, Kurmi, O, Pant, P. (2017) What can we learn from the Nepal Health Facility Survey 2015? Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (JMMIHS) 3(1): 1-5
Today is the third day of BU’s Global Festival of Learning, after a successful visit to Chennai the team arrived last night in Pune. Today part of the academic programme includes lectures at Symbiosis School of Liberal Arts. The lectures will be given by Dr. Shanti Shanker, Lecturer in Psychology, who is associated with BU’s Ageing & Dementia Research Centre, Dr. Anastasia Veneti, Senior Lecturer in Marketing Communications, and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen, who is based in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences.
Nearly two thirds of FHSS academics are now members of research entities. You are encouraged to join a research cluster, centre or institute in order to access support and maximise your research. Please click on the links to find further details about the research entities and current membership.
Seldom Heard Voices: marginalisation and societal integration’ brings together a range of existing academics across Social Sciences and Social Work, both early career researchers keen to be mentored and established researchers. A key aspiration is to collaborate, develop and share networks for joint research activities and funding bids to achieve a critical mass of high quality Social Science focussed research within the faculty that will underpin a credible REF submission. This area includes both qualitative and quantitative methods to engage with marginalised communities and often excluded or silenced voices, particularly through user-led and participatory co-created research.
Members:
Sara Ashencaen Crabtree, Jennifer Bigmore, Tula Brannelly, Sid Carter, Wendy Cutts, Jill Davey, Lee-Ann Fenge, Jane Healy, Richard Heslop, Kate Howe, Mel Hughes, Maggie Hutchings, Hyun-Joo Lim, Stefan Kleipoedszus, Richard Murphy, Jonathan Parker, Rosie Read, Ros Richards, Lynne Rutter, Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers, Patrick Van Calster, Richard Williams.
Associate members
Sarah Collard, Vanessa Heaslip, Sally Lee, Lisa Oakley – Visiting Fellow, Sam Porter, Colin Pritchard, Emily Rosenorn-Lanng, Julie Ryden
The Orthopaedic Research Institute (ORI) works across the university and with hospitals, industry partners and academia to produce high quality research and educational outputs that have a proven impact for patients, clinicians and society.
The Nursing Research Cluster came into being in May 2016 and following some scoping of members’ expertise and areas of interest in the context of contemporary nursing and health care, our focus from autumn 2017 will concern Nursing and long-term health challenges. The cluster brings together academics with passion, expertise and reputation in nurse education and research for impact on patient benefit and the preparation of a resilient workforce to support healthy communities. It is led by a core group of very experienced researchers with high level collaborations nationally and internationally. It will support and build the reputation of nursing research at Bournemouth University and enable many more staff to achieve a fused portfolio of activity for Ref 2021.
Managing people with long-term conditions is a significant challenge for the UK and global health community. As the largest professional group in health care, nursing has a major role to play. Colleagues at BU have been researching leadership, workforce development and value-based nurse education, as well as issues pertaining to long-term conditions such as cancer and chronic obstructive airway disease (COPD). The aim is to bring these three strands together to form a synergy to establish a clear framework for research activity that supports the development of a nursing workforce capable of meeting the challenges of changing patterns of health need in the coming decades.
Moving forward cluster members will develop and lead distinct research themes to provide a clear framework for nursing research at BU. The potential for collaborative activity with FHSS research groups is clearly evident and to be encouraged. However the unique focus of this group is the nursing contribution towards healthy communities, particularly for those living with long-term conditions.
Members
Janet Scammell; Sam Porter; Elizabeth Rosser; Stephen Tee; Katherine Curtis; Sue Baron; Teresa Burdett; Ian Donaldson; Sarah Eales; Martin Hind; Janet James; Andy Mercer; Desiree Tait; Petra Brown; Sonya Chelvanayagam; Karen Cooper; Nikki Glendening; Sue Melling; Jill Phillips; Ashley Spriggs; Lucy Stainer; Sharon Waight; Clive Andrewes; Amanda Watson; Sarah Keeley; Clive Andrewes; Ann Bevan; Clive Matthews; Emma Bockle; Mark Gagan; Helen Farasat; Bernie Edwards; Jane Hunt; Ros Joy; Julie Ryden; Hilary Walsgrove; Belinda Humphries; Eleanor Jack; Clare Uren
Associate members
Michele Board; Sara White; Anneyce Knight; Jonny Branney; Lisa Gale-Andrews; Vanessa Heaslip; Peter Thomas; Andrew Powell, Mariam Vahdanina.
PGRs
Adam Spacey; Gladys Yinusa; Ejike Thankgod Ezeh; Emma Thorne
NCPQSW specialises in providing high quality education, continuing professional development (CPD) and training for professionals within Health and Social Care. Post qualifying social work education is centred on a commitment, passion and dedication to develop professional practice, the enhancement of which is crucially focused on challenge and creative resolve, encompassing sound professional values, reasoning and judgement.
The centre currently works in partnership with over one third of local authorities in England. The flexible delivery model means we come to you to deliver education and training designed to make a positive contribution to practice.
The Integrative Wellbeing research centre (iWell) has its ancestry in a previous Research Centre, viz., the Centre of Wellbeing & Quality of Life. The legacy of this centre is a wealth of expertise that can be brought to bear on several key domains of health-related wellbeing, including the development of public health innovations, physical and mental health, physical activity and nutrition.
Our inter-disciplinary, and cross-faculty team will undertake research to improve health and wellbeing at population, community and individual citizen levels. Furthermore, members are committed to the INVOLVE principles for the co-production of research questions with service users.
Current Membership
Steve Trenoweth (Head), Alison McConnell, Jaqui Hewitt-Taylor, Pramod Regmi, Christoph Schroth, Paula Shepherd, Jo Hirdle, Matt Hartwell, Sara White, Osman Ahmed, , Ann Hemingway, Carol Clark, Swrajit Sakar, Sarah Collard, Angela Turner-Wilson, Liz Norton, Jonny Branney, Pete Phillips, Kathryn Collins.
Associate
Tula Brannelly, Clare Killingback, Jane Murphy, Sue Baron, Adele Ladkin, Sharon Docherty, Petra Brown, Karen Rees, Isaac Ngugi
PGRs
Sarah Gallimore, Besty Jose, Sophie Smith, Joanne Holmes, Sue Melling, Jo Frost, Funmi Omotade, Karen Cooper, Julie Northam, Debbi Houghton, Malika Felton, Francesco Ferraro, James Odell, Mashael Alsufyani, Andrew Harding, Folashade Alloh, Charlotte Clayton, Elizabeth Njoki Waithaka, Pippa Hillen, Sara Glithro, Michael Gara, Dominique Mylod, Andrea Lacey, Nikki Glendening, Donna Wixted, Marta Paglioni
CQR is part of The Faculty of Health & Social Sciences but attracts membership from across faculties at BU. The Centre offers a potential springboard for cross-faculty development with the Media, Business and Science and Technology Faculties and with the Centre for Excellence in Learning (CEL).
CQR members hold editorial board positions on major international qualitative research journals and an impressive list of internationally relevant publications. The Centre remains an internationally recognised resource for knowledge transfer activities and for the alignment of teaching and research. It has increasingly become an interdisciplinary and methodological resource beyond its historical contribution to Health and Social Care studies.
The Centre for Qualitative Research acknowledges a history of achievements and expertise which serve as foci for emerging developments in: Humanising Health and Social Care; Performative Social Science and Arts-led Research; Narrative and Biographic Research; and Novel and Innovative Research including auto-ethnography, poetic inquiry, fiction, and creative use of media including Research as Film.
Judith Chapman, Andrea Lacey, Liz Norton, Carole Pound, Anne Quinney, Immy Holloway, Sarah Collard, Michele Board, Sheila Brooks, Caroline Ellis-Hill (Deputy Director), Kip Jones (Director), Catherine Hennessey (Visiting Professor), Karen Rees, Karen Cooper, Maria (Camila) Devis-Rozental, Wendy Cutts, Jo Thurston, Jenny Hall.
ASSOCIATES
Lorraine Brown, Trevor Hearing (Media), Lee-Ann Fenge, Clare Cutler, Jen Leamon, Janet Scammell, Jonathan Parker, Jane Fry, Nicky Glendenning, Vanessa Heaslip, Mark Readman (Media), Sarah Crabtree Parker, Ben Hicks, Maggie Hutchings, Andy Mercer, Jill Phillips, Lynn Rutter, Carly Stewart, Emma Kavanaugh
POSTGRAD AFFILIATES
Clare Gordon, Peter Wolfensberger, Kathleen Vandenberghe, Louise Oliver, Elizabeth Gauntlett, Mevalyn Cross, Mananya Podee, Chantel Cox, Katy Baldock, Sharon Waight, Paul Leal, Helen Ribchester, Elizabeth Waithaka
CMMPH focuses on research in midwifery, maternal and perinatal care. Academic researchers associated with the group employ a wide spectrum of research approaches, ranging from qualitative to quantitative research and from mixed-methods studies to systematic reviews. They also cover a range of different topics, with studies undertaken locally in Dorset and the South of England, nationally across the UK, and internationally as far afield as Afghanistan, Nepal, Pakistan and the USA. We currently have 21 doctoral students working on a wide variety of projects both local and international.
Research focuses on the following broad areas
Improving maternal outcomes in low and middle income countries
Edwin van Teijlingen (Head), Sue Way (Deputy), Catherine Angell, Luisa Cescutti-Butler, Simon Dyall, Sarah Emberley, Jane Fry, Vanora Hundley, Denyse King, Jen Leamon, Lesley Milne, Sara Stride, Alison Taylor, Fotini Tsofliou, Carol Wilkins, Pramod Regmi, Juliet Wood.
Associate Members
Ann Luce, Andrew Mayers (Sci-tech).
PGRs
Dana Colbourne (staff), Rebecca Cousins, Liz Davey (staff), Hannah Haydock, Debbee Houghton (staff), Rie Inomata, Michelle Iriving, Alice Ladur, Preeti Mahato, Susan Mant (staff), Amy Miller, Dominique Mylod, Isabell Nessell, Stella Rawnson (staff), Layla Toomer, Daisy Wiggins (staff), Donna Wixted, Iro Arvanitidou, Charlotte Clayton.
Visiting Faculty
Jo Alexander, Debra Bick, Sheena Byrom, Suzanne Cunningham, Jillian Ireland, Minesh Khashu, Gwyneth Lewis, Paul Lewis, Ans Luyben, Wendy Marsh, Zoe Matthews, Emma Pitchforth, Samridhi Pradhan, Kath Ryan, Brijesh Sathian, Rob Sawdy, Bibha Simkhada, Padam Simkhada, Mandy Forrester.
“BUCRU aims to design, conduct and manage high quality, funded, health-related randomised controlled trials and other well-designed studies within HSS, across University Faculties, with researchers in National Health Service (NHS) Trusts and with national and international collaborators.
It does this by:
Supporting researchers in improving the quality, quantity and efficiency of research across Bournemouth University and local NHS Trusts.
Incorporating the Dorset office of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Research Design Service (RDS) to support the methodological development of high quality research grant applications.
Offering methodological and statistical collaboration for health related research, particularly research of relevance to the NHS and public health.
Conducting high quality nationally and internationally recognised research in complex interventions (including digital health) and long term conditions. “
Current Membership
Peter Thomas (Head), Tamas Hickish (Head), Sarah Thomas (Deputy), Helen Allen, Sharon Docherty, Vanessa Heaslip, Ian Darby, Ahmed Khattab, Roger Baker (Visiting Professor), Katie Ryan, Andy Powell, Maria Vahdanina, Louise Ward (administrator).
The ADRC is the only cross faculty centre at BU that brings together expertise in the areas of ageing and dementia. The aim of ADRC is to use the team’s collective expertise to develop person-centred research which will improve the lives of older people with long-term conditions including dementia and their families. The research falls under three broad categories – developing ageing & dementia friendly environments, nutrition & wellbeing and activity & social inclusion. The ADRC is led by Professor Jane Murphy, supported by staff and students from the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences and the Faculty of Science & Technology.
Yolanda Barrado- Martin (Sci-Tech), Iram Bibi (Sci-Tech), Sophie Bushell (HSS),Mary Duah-Owusu White (Sci-Tech), Mananya Podee (HSS), Vladislava Segen (Sci-Tech), Raysa El Zein (HSS).
Western society has a rather specific view of what a good childhood should be like; protecting, sheltering and legislating to ensure compliance with it. However, perceptions of childhood vary greatly with geography, culture and time. What was it like to be a child in prehistoric times, for example – in the absence of toys, tablets and television?
In our new paper, published in Scientific Reports, we outline the discovery of children’s footprints in Ethiopia which show how children spent their time 700,000 years ago.
We first came across the question of what footprints can tell us about past childhood experiences a few years back while studying some astonishingly beautiful children’s footprints in Namibia, just south of Walvis Bay. In archaeological terms the tracks were young, dating only from around 1,500 years ago. They were made by a small group of children walking across a drying mud surface after a flock of sheep or goats. Some of these tracks were made by children as young as three-years-old in the company of slightly older children and perhaps young adolescents.
Namibian footprints. Matthew Bennett, Author provided
The detail in these tracks, preserved beneath the shifting sands of the Namibian Sand Sea, is amazing, and the pattern of footfall – with the occasional skip, hop and jump – shows they were being playful. The site also showed that children were trusted with the family flock of animals from an early age and, one assumes, they learnt from that experience how to function as adults were expected to within that culture.
No helicopter parents
But what about the childhood of our earlier ancestors – those that came before anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens)? Children’s tracks by Homo antecessor (1.2m to 800,000 years ago) were found at Happisburgh in East Anglia, a site dating to a million years ago. Sadly though, these tracks leave no insight into what these children were doing.
Reconstruction of Homo Heidelbergensis. Jose Luis Martinez Alvarez/wikipedia, CC BY-SA
But the footprints described in our recent study – from a remarkable site in the Upper Awash Valley of Southern Ethiopia that was excavated by researchers from the Università di Roma “La Sapienza” – reveal a bit more. The children’s tracks were probably made by the extinct species Homo heidelbergensis(600,000 to 200,000 years ago), occurring next to adult prints and an abundance of animal tracks congregated around a small, muddy pool. Stone tools and the butchered remains of a hippo were also found at the site, called Melka Kunture.
This assemblage of tracks is capped by an ash flow from a nearby volcano which has been dated to 700,000 years ago. The ash flow was deposited shortly after the tracks were left, although we don’t know precisely how soon after. The tracks are not as anatomically distinct as those from Namibia but they are smaller and may have been made by children as young as one or two, standing in the mud while their parents and older siblings got on with their activities. This included knapping the stone tools with which they butchered the carcass of the hippo.
The findings create a unique and momentary insight into the world of a child long ago. They clearly were not left at home with a babysitter when the parents were hunting. In the harsh savannah plains of the East African Rift Valley, it was natural to bring your children to such daily tasks, perhaps so they could observe and learn.
This is not surprising, when one considers the wealth of ethnographic evidence from modern, culturally distinct human societies. Babies and children are most often seen as the lowliest members of their social and family groups. They are often expected to contribute to activities that support the mother, and the wider family group, according to their abilities. In many societies, small boys tend to help with herding, while young girls are preferred as babysitters. Interestingly, adult tools – like axes, knives, machetes, even guns – are often freely available to children as a way of learning.
Artistic impression of scene at Melka Kunture. Matthew Bennett, Author provided
So, if we picture the scene at Melka Kunture, the children observing the butchery were probably allowed to handle stone tools and practice their skills on discarded pieces of carcass while staying out of the way of the fully-occupied adults. This was their school room, and the curriculum was the acquisition of survival skills. There was little time or space to simply be a child, in the sense that we would recognise today.
This was likely the case for a very long time. The Monte Hermoso Human Footprint Site in Argentina (roughly 7,000-years-old) contains predominantly small tracks (of children and women) preserved in coastal sediments and it has been suggested that the children may have played an important role in gathering seafood or coastal resources. Similarly, most of the tracks in the Tuc d’Audoubert Cave in France (15,000-years-old) are those of children and the art there is striking. Perhaps they were present when it was carved and painted?
However, these observations contrasts to the story that emerged last year based on tracks from the older Homo Homo erectus (1.5m-year-old) at Ileret, located further south in the Rift Valley, just within the northern border of Kenya. Here the tracks have been interpreted as the product of adult hunting groups moving along a lake shore, rather than a domestic scene such as that at Melka Kunture. However, these scenes aren’t mutually exclusive and both show the power of footprints to provide a snapshot into past hominin behaviour.
But it does seem like the overwhelming parenting lesson from the distant past is that children had more responsibilities, less adult supervision and certainly no indulgence from their parents. It is a picture of a childhood very different from our own, at least from the privileged perspective of life in Western society.
The National Geographic are currently seeking proposals for projects to help advance the field of science communication by determining more effective ways to market nature and inspire action.
Proposals can be made for up to $50,000 of funding for projects that: advance the science of nature communication by systematically testing visual communication and education methods; visualise complex data; communicate about an environmental issue; or develop new education methods for reaching learners of all ages.
Priority will be given to projects that aim to do one or more of the following:
Propose an interdisciplinary collaboration of a scientist (including social scientists) and a visual artist, photographer, or videographer to quantify impact of visual communication via different channels (e.g., Instagram)
Engage students in identifying and implementing effective strategies for communicating about nature
Use social marketing principles to inform the approach
Study how the human brain responds to nature imagery
Measure audience engagement and test the effectiveness of different communication approaches as part of a storytelling proposal
Demonstrate increased engagement among target audiences (e.g. decision makers, students, etc.) on the chosen topic
The deadline for applications is 4th April 2018. Further information about the proposal and the application form can be found here.
If you are interested in applying for this funding and would like some support from our Public Engagement team around it, you can! Just email our Engagement Officer Natt Day (nday@Bournemouth.ac.uk) to arrange
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The Research and Knowledge Exchange Office is delighted to announce that US funding expert, Robert Porter, PhD, of Grant-Winners Seminars, will be delivering four US Funding sessions to BU Academics on 8th and 9th March.
In November, the government published its 
Nursing Research REF Impact in Nepal
Fourth INRC Symposium: From Clinical Applications to Neuro-Inspired Computation
ESRC Festival of Social Science 2025 – Reflecting back and looking ahead to 2026
3C Event: Research Culture, Community & Cookies – Tuesday 13 January 10-11am
Dr. Chloe Casey on Sky News
ECR Funding Open Call: Research Culture & Community Grant – Application Deadline Friday 12 December
MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2025 Call
ERC Advanced Grant 2025 Webinar
Horizon Europe Work Programme 2025 Published
Update on UKRO services
European research project exploring use of ‘virtual twins’ to better manage metabolic associated fatty liver disease
