
BU’s Sascha Dov Bachmann presents on Hybrid Warfare at UNG, USA

Latest research and knowledge exchange news at Bournemouth University
When: 30 January 2018
Where: London
On 19 October 2017, NERC announced that its second round of investment in doctoral training partnerships (DTP2) would be made through a fully open competitive call. This decision was made following the outcomes of the mid-term evaluation of NERC’s existing DTPs in 2016-17.
The DTP evaluation concluded that this mechanism of delivering PhD studentships provides valuable training and that NERC should continue to support PhD studentships in this way. A fully open competitive call will ensure that they build on the success of existing investments while enabling innovation and change within the DTP community. It will ensure that all eligible organisations are able to compete for access to NERC studentships based on excellence, determined by a robust and consistent assessment process.
The DTP2 call will be launched in early January 2018, at which point an announcement of opportunity will be published on the NERC website. To ensure clear communication regarding the scope and expectations of this call, NERC will be holding a town hall meeting for interested parties to discuss the call in more detail with NERC staff and to network with potential DTP partners. The meeting will take place once the call has been launched.
The purpose of the town hall meeting is to provide an opportunity for those interested in applying to the DTP2 call to receive detailed guidance about the scope and requirements of the call, raise any questions with NERC staff and network with prospective DTP partners. The meeting will commence with a presentation from NERC staff, followed by a plenary question and answer session, and will conclude with an open session to include lunch and networking.
Those expressing an interest in attending will be invited to propose questions to be addressed at the meeting – this will enable NERC staff to tailor the content of presentations and ensure that they address as many commonly asked questions as possible. Common queries raised following the publication of the call will also be addressed at the meeting.
Following the presentations and Q&A, the meeting will be unstructured, providing an opportunity for attendees to network with one another and discuss potential partnerships, as well as to talk further with NERC staff regarding specific questions.
Attendance at this meeting is not a pre-requisite for submission of a DTP2 proposal. A summary report of the meeting will be published on the NERC website as soon as possible after the event.
To express your interest in attending the meeting, you must complete the online registration form.
The closing date for registration is 16:00 on 1 December 2017.
There are a limited number of places available and so the submission of an application is not a guarantee of a place at the meeting. If the event is oversubscribed, NERC will limit the number of attendees per organisation to allow for even representation from across the NERC community – this will be done in discussion with the individuals and organisation, as appropriate. Those applicants offered a place will receive a formal invitation confirming attendance once all applications have been processed. NERC will aim to confirm the final list of attendees by early January 2018.
NERC Research Careers
researchcareers@nerc.ac.uk
On Tuesday 26th September, ADRC’s Dr Samuel Nyman was invited to present to the Department of Health, University of Bath.
He presented on, “Promotion of physical activity among people with dementia: A behaviour change perspective”.
A seminar room filled with staff and postgraduate students were interested to learn about the TACIT Trial .
Dr Nyman provided the rationale for the study along with the approach taken to delivery of the intervention. We are harnessing participants’ implicit memory, which remains relatively intact in people with dementia.We are also using behaviour change techniques to help people get as much benefit from the free Tai Chi course.
To find out more please see our webpage, Facebook page, and YouTube video
On Friday 15th September, ADRC’s Dr Samuel Nyman presented a poster at the annual falls conference held in the UK organised by the British Geriatrics Society.
Dr Nyman presented on behalf of BU MSc student Renuka Balasundaram, who was the lead author on a Fusion-funded quality improvement project, “Evaluation of the Otago Exercise Programme at Christchurch Day hospital”
[link to http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/2017/07/05/experiences-from-a-fusion-investment-funded-student-research-assistant-project-aiming-to-improve-the-quality-of-local-nhs-care/].
Working closely with the falls prevention team, Christchurch Day Hospital, Renuka evaluated the exercise programme delivered there and made recommendations on how to improve adherence with the use of behaviour change techniques. There was much interest in this work and the effective collaboration between physiotherapists and psychologists to improve patient care for older people.
Episode 2: Stepping up, moving on and alternative career paths for researchers
What do researchers go on to do after their PhD? What are the different career paths available? What are the transferable skills you develop as a researcher?
Careers consultant Kate Murray from Kings College London provides her advice, and also previous PhD students working outside of academia to get a taster of some of the different career paths researchers take.
Download the podcast here. Taylor & Francis Group created with Vitae.
Sense about Science is holding a Standing up for Science workshop at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society on Thursday 30 November 2017. This full day event is for STEM and social science early career researchers (PhD students, post-doctoral fellows or equivalent).
At this workshop, you will meet researchers who promote science in the face of hostility and are recognised for their achievements, learn from respected science journalists about how the media works, how to respond and comment, and what journalists want and expect from scientists.
These workshops are very popular and places are limited.
To apply, please complete the application form and email Rachel Bowen (rbowen@bournemouth.ac.uk) to let her know that you wish to attend.
Closing date for applications: Monday 13 November, 5pm.
For more details about the workshop, get in touch with Ana Skamarauskas (ana@senseaboutscience.org).
Bookings have already closed and catering arranged but, if BU staff are now able to attend, without the networking lunch, please feel free to join us, when you can, in PG140 from 11:30 to 12:00 (UKRO and Brexit update) and then 13:00 to 14:15 (New Work Programmes, especially the Societal Challenges) and 14:30 to 15:15 (Industrial collaboration)
All BU staff can access the UKRO site. If not registered, why not sign up now to ensure that you get the latest news delivered to your own inbox?
BU staff considering applying for any of these calls and other international funding, should contact Emily Cieciura, RKEO’s Research Facilitator: International Funding, for further information and support.
The Doctoral College and Centre for Research Capability and Development at Coventry University will be holding a one day conference happening on Friday 19th January 2018. Our Call for Something is currently open and closes on 12th November. For more information on the event and the full CFS, please follow the link:
https://sway.com/SeG6cezMbHXXh8FY?ref=Lin
For further details, please contact Dr Kieran Fenby-Hulse
I was lucky, and honoured, in late October to visit Vechta, Lower Saxony, to give a keynote at the Gemeinsame Werte in Europa? (Common values in Europe?) conference as part of a European-wide celebration of 30 years of Erasmus funding and exchanges. Having acted as part of a European-wide panel on the future of Erasmus – especially post-Brexit – my keynote address dealt with the challenges of ‘precarity’ for many of our citizens throughout Europe and the need for radical social action to confront the increasing insecurities, uncertainties and inequities within contemporary society. It was a plea for European solidarity and action against neoliberal atomisation and its debilitating effects on the communitas, something that resonated with the European and international audience.
Last week my colleague from Universität Vechta, Magnus Frampton, continued the dialogue begun in Germany by offering an important seminar ‘What’s in a word? Bildung and pedagogy: two German understandings of education’ which explored, amongst other things, Wilhelm von Humboldt’s legacy to education. This was important in reminding us that education specifically focusing on the requirements of the economy or business is potentially damaging to the individual. It reminds us that the human and the social is central.
So, as we contribute to developing education, meaning and society, not as a linear project of the enlightenment but as a means of cultivating the self and the social and in shaping and creating anew who we are as human beings, we need to challenge and to question, to resist and make new rather than to be moulded as economic units for those with power. Long may the potential of Erasmus offer this academic freedom!
Jonathan Parker
Written by Jamie Chadd (Research Administrator – Admissions and Conferment)
On Tuesday 31 October 2018, the Doctoral College sent myself, Academic Manager Julia Taylor and Marketing Account Manager Cathi Farrer to the FindAPhD Live! fair in Oxford. Our job was to talk to potential PGRs about what we offer at BU, from our areas of study and current research themes to fees, funding and Bournemouth nightlife. Armed with plenty of leaflets, booklets, postcards and pens, we spent three hours at Oxford Town Hall discussing research ideas and answering questions.
And there were plenty of ideas and questions throughout the session. We spoke to a lady who wanted to bring digital media into the world of fine art; a man who worked on using multiple different frame rates in the same film; an individual wanting to explore international aid and development law; another looking into the regional diplomatic effects of the Rohingya crisis, and many more ranging from health sciences to accounting and finance. We also helped to answer some of the burning issues potential PGR applicants have – how do you write a research proposal? Should I contact supervisors that match my interests? When are your studentships announced?
There was of course the opportunity to discuss the other things that make studying at BU special – the excellent Researcher Development Programme which offers a huge variety of workshops PGRs can tailor to their own needs and requirements, our work on the fusion themes and how they filter into our PGR environment, and the exciting new buildings being built both at Talbot and Lansdowne. Not to mention our sunny Bournemouth beaches, which might swing an application or two our way alone!
We also took this time to have a look at the other university stands and how they promoted their own research departments. There were some really smart prospectuses and brochures that have given us an idea or two, and conversations with representatives from other institution highlighted developments in the sector.
Our hosts were great too; their QR-scanning facility meant we could scan the badge of each interested person, logging their ideas down so we could email them specific information this week. We even managed to turn one of our conversations into an application which came in the next morning!
Overall the FindaPhd fair was a great opportunity to speak to prospective PGRs about their aspirations and understand what they are looking for at research institutions. We have taken on board what we found out and will use it to ensure BU is attractive to new students.
FindaPhD.com lists new PhD opportunities as they come out and also post plenty of articles about applying, writing research proposals and seeking funding.
The British Library is running a series of Open Days for Doctoral Students, taking place in December 2017 as well as January and February 2018. The Doctoral Open Days are a chance for PhD students who are new to the Library to discover the British Library’s unique research materials. All events take place in the British Library Conference Centre at St Pancras, London, except for the event on Wednesday 31 January 2018, which takes place at the Library’s site in Boston Spa, Yorkshire. For further details of the all Open Days and how to book please visit the website. Places cost £10.00 including lunch and other refreshments.
On the 25th-27th October 2017, Dr Ben Hicks (Psychology and ADRC) and Professor Wen Tang (Department of Creative Technology) welcomed the ERASMUS+ project team to Bournemouth University. The team consisted of practitioners based at Alzheimer’s Valencia, Alzheimer’s Greece, Alzheimer’s Slovenia, Alzheimer’s Romania and IBV. Since October 2016, thanks to funding from the European Commission, the team has been developing an e-training platform to promote the use of Serious Games with people with dementia. This meeting-the third since the project began- enabled the research team to present the work they had been undertaking within their associated countries and discuss the next stages of the project. This included:
The e-training platform is beginning to take shape, although the training materials are not yet publically available. If you would like to access the web platform it can be found at: http://adgaming.ibv.org/
Although the meetings were long (and the discussions incredibly fruitful), the research team still had time to visit BU facilities and live the student experience for a day. This included having lunch within the Fusion Building canteen, undertaking Virtual Reality Navigational testing within the Psychology labs and buying two-for-one pints in Dylans at the end of the day!
The next project meeting will take place in Bucharest, Romania, in February 2018, where plans to disseminate and evaluate the training delivered to health practitioners will be discussed.
Welcoming the research team
The meetings begin
Experiencing student life at Dylans
On Sunday BU and RSPB staff along with volunteers from SUBU enjoyed hearing what young people under 12 years old thought about about being outdoors.
The research team welcomed over 60 children to the KingFisher Barn to take part in this ESRC Festival of Social Sciences event. There were various outdoor activities for the young people to try including den building in the woods. Many of the fun activities also gave young visitors the opportunity to share their ideas about the importance of spending time outdoors playing with friends or family. Many of the young visitors added their ideas to the event’s ‘Big ideas Trees’. There was also the chance for them to suggest how green spaces could be improved to make them more attractive as places to play. Not all the data has been analysed yet but it would seem for the under 5’s one popular enhancement to any green space would be more muddy puddles!
Recently, I was fortune enough to become the Research Assistant on the HEIF-6 project run by Dr Ben Hicks. This is a one year project that aims to develop and evaluate a free Virtual Learning Environment tool that will support practitioners and care home staff wishing to use commercial gaming technology (iPads, Nintendo Wii) with people with dementia and their care partners. We have a number of experts involved in the research, such as Dr Samuel Nyman from Psychology Department and ADRC, Professor Wen Tang from Department of Creative Technology, Dr Sarah Thomas who is Deputy Director BUCRU and Dr Clare Cutler who is Research Skills and Development Officer. We also collaborate with Alive! who are a charity dedicated to improving the lives of older people and people with dementia through delivering innovative activities (e.g. the use of technology) and training dementia care practitioners. They work with 350 Care Homes and Day Centers across the South West of England and we are lucky to have Malcolm Burgin onboard who as the Regional Manager of Alive!.
Being part of such a research team, and having the chance to contribute to the HEIF-6 project is a great privilege and will certainly be beneficial as I begin my journey as an early career researcher.
If you would like further information on the project, please feel free to email Ben on bhicks@Bournemouth.ac.uk
The application deadline for 2017-18 Santander Mobility Awards for PGRs is fast approaching.
Make sure you submit your completed application form by 09:00 Monday 13 November 2017 in order to be considered.
Full details can be found on the website
Our next instalment of the ‘Photo of the Week’ series features Professor Matthew Bennett’s image footprints in the sand, which represents his research into tracking criminals. The series is a weekly instalment, which features an image taken by our fantastic BU staff and students. The photos give a glimpse into some of the fascinating work our researchers have been doing across BU and the wider community.
Within our lives we leave thousands of individual footprints – in the snow, on the beach, in the park and sometimes even muddy prints on the kitchen floor! Tracks are more numerous than any other form of trace evidence, and record a unique snap shot in time about the track-maker. Not only do they record details of the shoes worn, but information about our body mass, style of walking and the specific wear on the soles of our shoes that record information about the history of our footfall. Reading these clues digitally provides an important forensic tools and HEIF-funded BU research (www.DigTrace.co.uk) in this area is shaping forensic practice both in the UK and overseas.
If you’d like find out more about the research or the photo itself then please contact Professor Bennett.
This photo was originally an entry in the 2017 Research Photography Competition. If you have any other questions about the Photo of the Week series or the competition please email research@bournemouth.ac.uk
Are you interested in engaging the public with your research but have no idea where to begin? Do you already have an idea for a public engagement event and want to make it a reality? If you’ve answered yes– or even maybe– to either of these questions then our forthcoming workshop on Developing a Public Engagement Event is for you!
Our workshop offers a step-by-step, practical guide to turning your research into a fully-fledged public engagement activity through a series of interactive talks, hands-on activities and take-away resources that will help guide the way through the murky world of engaging with the general public.
The session will explore:
By the end of the session you should feel fully equipped to deliver some public engagement with research and feel confident to participate in some of our upcoming events.
The session will run from 1pm – 4pm on Wednesday 15th November 2017 on Talbot campus (room tbc). To find out more and book your place, click here.
If you want to arrange a more 1-2-1, tailored session around public engagement with your research, or would just like to chat through some ideas, we are always available to provide support. Just drop Natt Day (our Engagement Officer) an email and she’ll be in touch.
UPP have released Skills to Pay the Bills: How students pick where to study and where to work. In the report they consider decision making at application stage, the relative importance of employability and which factors drive graduation retention in the area.
Read the concluding remarks and the recommendations for universities on page 15.
“Universities must be careful to ensure that they act in ways that cement the personal, institutional and civic bargain embodied by higher education. Focusing on employability, opportunity and retention is a vital part of that bargain.”
The above report was compiled from data collected in the UPP Annual Student Experience Survey. Click here for a deeper dive into the wider survey’s data and infometrics.
UUK have published Higher Education in Facts and Figures 2017 which provides headline data on students, staff and finances. UUK describe their highlights:
The Industrial Strategy Commission published their Final Report recommending a complete overhaul of the Government’s initial plans. They recommended the Industrial Strategy be owned by all and be “rethought as a broad, long-term and non-partisan commitment to strategic management of the economy… [it] must be an ambitious long-term plan with a positive vision for the UK.”
Dr Craig Berry (Sheffield Political Economy research Institute): “Industrial strategy isn’t just about supporting a small number of sectors. It should focus on big strategic challenges like decarbonisation and population ageing – and ultimately it should aim to make material differences to people’s everyday lives. This will mean rethinking how government makes policies and chooses its investments.”
Recommendations:
Health and social care at the centre of industrial strategy
An effective, efficient and financially viable health and social care system, in the context of an ageing demography, is a key strategic goal for the UK. The new strategy must incorporate social care, public health, the NHS (as a market as well as a service), and the UK’s strong industrial sectors in pharma/life sciences and medical technology, as one whole system.
Future increases in public spending on health should come with the strict expectation that investment should be used to raise productivity. The provision of health and social care in all places means that even small productivity increases could have a significant impact.
The new industrial strategy should aim to achieve higher productivity and better health outcomes by ensuring more skilled and satisfying jobs in the health and social care sector. An urgent focus on redesigning training and education should aim to both raise the skills of existing employees and attract new people to the sector.
Health and social care services should be integrated, but this should be steered by the goal of achieving better outcomes for people’s wellbeing and not purely by reducing costs. This will lead to savings but not on a sufficient scale to meet the spending pressures of an ageing population. Lessons must be learned from the places which are now experimenting with health and social care integration to build the evidence base for how to achieve better outcomes.
Read more on Health & Social Care from page 64.
Goals
The report outlines what the UK’s 2017 goals should be:
Apprenticeships: DfE confirmed they will review level 4 and 5 technical education to ensure it better addresses the needs of learners and employers. This includes progression from the new T level which will be taught from 2020. Anne Milton (Apprenticeships and Skills Minister) said: “High quality technical education helps young people and adults get into new, fulfilling and better paid careers. That’s good for them and good for our economy. This is the way we build a better, higher skilled workforce.”
Getting your research into parliament: A new How to guide has been released. Here are there 10 top tips:
Making connections
Presenting research
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