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Sandpits can help researchers escape disciplinary bubbles – why YOU should attend a BU STEAMLab

Idélab

For a team in Norway who attended the first Idélab in 2014 (otherwise known as a sandpit) the event gave them the opportunity to develop four collaborative, cross-disciplinary projects to ‘help save the world’. When discussing the sandpit approach they stated that it “created both cross-disciplinary projects and collaborative practices. These are for the moment only ripples. But a ripple can make a wave that advances the tide”.

The full article details further benefits, and challenges, of the sandpit approach and makes a convincing case as to why it’s important to engage with such events. The article is available on the Research Professional pages.

What we do at BU

As you will have seen, we have recently renamed our sandpit events as STEAMLabs (inspired by Norway’s extremely successful Idélab). This demonstrates the purpose of the STEAMLabs as being open to all disciplines and encouraging truly interdisciplinary research ideas.  The ‘Lab’ part demonstrates the working environment that leads to the creation of novel research ideas and partnerships. In a nutshell, the STEAMLabs offer the opportunity to meet new people from all disciplines and sectors, and to spend dedicated time developing novel ideas for research projects.

Food Glorious Food

Our next STEAMLab is on 14th November on the topic of Food Security. Spaces are still available, so please apply by completing the Food Security Application Form and return this to RKEDevFramework by Friday 3rd November.

By applying, you agree to attend for the full duration of the event on 14th November 2017 (c. 9:30 – 16:00). This event will be held in the EBC, Lansdowne Campus.

If you have any queries prior to submitting your application, please contact Lisa Gale-Andrews, RKEO Research Facilitator.

This event is part of the Research Knowledge Exchange Development Framework.

BU Briefing – Parametric investigations to enhance thermal performance of paraffin

Our BU briefing papers are designed to make our research outputs accessible and easily digestible so that our research findings can quickly be applied – whether to society, culture, public policy, services, the environment or to improve quality of life. They have been created to highlight research findings and their potential impact within their field. 

Research and development in clean energy technologies is a direct response to the need of generating 50% of energy requirements through renewable sources by 2050 as set by the EU initiative. Renewable energy sources have significant potentials to address key issues in terms of depleting natural energy resources, rocketing energy prices and security.

This paper introduces a two-dimensional finite element computational model which investigates thermal behaviour of a novel geometrical configuration of shell and tube based latent heat storage (LHS) system. It also presents an insight into how to augment the thermal behaviour of paraffin based LHS system which helped inform novel design solutions for wide-ranging practical utilisation in both domestic and commercial heat storage applications.

Click here to read the briefing paper.

For more information about the research, contact Professor Zulfiqar Khan at zkhan@bournemouth.ac.uk or Kamran Tabeshf at KTabeshf@bournemouth.ac.uk.
To find out how your research output could be turned into a BU Briefing, contact research@bournemouth.ac.uk.

ERC News

Funding opportunities

We have received an update from the European Research Council, which highlights….

  • The current ERC Starting Grants call has now closed with results due in the summer of 2018.  The ERC Work Programme has earmarked €581 million for an estimated 391 Starting Grants in 2018.
  • Ideas, the ERC newsletter, autumn issue is now available, with a focus on serendipity in research.
  • An agreement has been concluded between the EU and India to encourage research visits of Indian top researchers in teams funded by the European Research Council (ERC) in Europe. In line with the ERC global approach, this is the tenth international initiative of this kind, which comes at a time when the ERC also marks its tenth anniversary.  The first initiative of this kind was signed in 2012 with the USA (National Science Foundation, NSF) and agreements then followed with prestigious funding bodies in South Korea, Argentina, Japan, China, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil and Canada.

Open Calls

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.

Changes to CAF exemptions for research applications

Guidance

From 1st November 2017, all research applications for external funding will be treated as CAF-exempt (Contract Authorisation Form) where no commitment exists at application stage.  This has been agreed by UET in October 2017, following a request from RKEO and Legal Services made in response to applicant feedback.

RKEO will take on responsibility for ensuring that all research application terms are reviewed prior to submission to ensure that no commitment is being made at submission stage (funders currently listed as CAF-exempt will not require review).  By streamlining the process to just one Professional Service, it should reduce the time required to process research applications.  If an application is subsequently awarded, a contract and CAF will be required.

Legal Services have amended the Contract signing Policy and Procedures in line with the above changes.

A full description of the changes can be found on the intranet policy section under ‘research’ and then ‘pre-award’. If you are an applicant or approver for applications then it is essential that you read the full document to see what is and isn’t included in the new process.

NIHR Grant Applications Seminar & Support event – last chance to book

 

 

 

 

Are you planning to submit a grant application to NIHR?

Research Design Service South West (RDS-SW) are holding a one day event on 9 November 2017 at Plymouth Science Park, Devon.

Last few days to book!

The events consists of:

  • a morning seminar session which is open to anyone to come and RDS advisers give presentations on what makes a good grant proposal.
  • an afternoon support session of one-to-one appointments which is for those who would like to discuss their own proposal with an RDS adviser. Those interested in this opportunity will be asked to supply in advance a brief description of their project idea.

Registration is FREE and lunch will be provided. Places are limited and will be allocated on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. In order to secure a place at one of these events, delegates will need to complete the online registration form by 1pm 30 October 2017. One-to-one appointments need to be booked in advance by selecting the appropriate option on the registration form.

You can find out more here

Don’t forget your local branch of the NIHR Research Design Service is based within the BU Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) on the 5th floor of Royal London House. Feel free to pop in and see us, call us on 61939 or send us an email.

FHSS student needs help with online questionnaire for her research

PG research, student research

Our PhD student Orlanda Harvey is currently conducting her study on why people use Anabolic Androgenic Steroids (AAS).  Since steroid use is a sensitive topic and its users are a hard-to-reach population we need as much help as we can get to get her survey distributed to as many as possible potential steroid users (aged 18 and over).  We, as her PhD supervisors, would like to ask you to alert friends, family, neighbours, health care professionals working with this target group, etc. to the existence of this survey.   Her questionnaire is available in paper version (from harveyo@bournemouth.ac.uk or telephone Edwin van Teijlingen at: 01202-961564).  However, the easiest and most anonymous way would be for people to complete it online using the following online link.

 

Thank you very much in advance!

Dr. Margarete Parrish

Dr. Steven Trenoweth

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

 

 

Congratulations to James Palfreman-Kay

BU Challenges, innovation

Congratulations to BU’s Equality and Diversity Adviser James Palfreman-Kay whose application to HEFCE’s ‘Catalyst Fund: Tackling hate crime and online harassment on campus‘ has been successful.  He is one of 40 academic recipients of funding at universities and colleges throughout England.  Applications have been  assessed by a panel of HEFCE staff and external experts from across relevant areas of knowledge particular to student safeguarding.

 

Congratulations!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

 

 

Horizon 2020 – hit the ground running for 2018-2020

Funding opportunities, international

The European Commission has pre-published a number of the Horizon 2020 draft Work Programmes for the period 2018-2020. In each case, please keep in mind that these drafts have not been adopted or endorsed by the European Commission and are for the purposes of providing potential participants with the currently expected main lines of these work programmes, as per the disclaimer at the start of each of the documents below.

With reference to calls which are ‘top-down’, please keep an open mind and do not assume that all the calls in, for example, Societal Challenge 1; Health, Demographic Change and Well-being are only for those working directly in those disciplines. Far from it, this Work Programme requires the research expertise of those working in, amongst others, big data, digital health, cybersecurity, smart living, ICT enabling technologies and regulatory frameworks, as well as the more obvious fields of maternity, ageing and the treatment of disease.

The pre-publication documents currently available are:

Strategic Programme Overarching Document – giving context for the suite of Work Programmes and the cross-cutting themes

Pillar 1: Excellent Science:

Other Related Schemes:

Once adopted, links to the Work Programmes will be promoted on this blog and will also be readily accessible on the European Commission’s Participant Portal.

 

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.

*LAST CHANCE TO BOOK* Rebel Yell: The Politics of Equality and Diversity in Disney’s Star Wars

#TalkBU is a monthly lunchtime seminar on Talbot Campus, open to all students and staff at Bournemouth University and free to attend. Come along to learn, discuss and engage in a 20-30 minute presentation by an academic or guest speaker talking about their research and findings, with a Q&A to finish. 

Since Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012, the Star Wars saga has become a lightning rod for political debate and discussion. Both The Force Awakens and Rogue One have activated a series of online quarrels hinged on a marked shift in fictional representations of women and ethnic minorities.

In this talk, Dr. William Proctor will examine the forces and factors surrounding these quarrels, specifically the way in which mainstream media outlets promote and publicise the ideologies of right wing commentators in the contemporary age of Brexit and Donald Trump.

When: Thursday 26 October at 1pm – 2pm

Where: Room FG04, Ground Floor in the Fusion Building

Register here to attend

Click here to find out more about our future and previous #TalkBU events.

Research Staff Association coffee morning 25.10.17 – theme Project Management

The next BU Research Staff Association coffee morning will take place on 25th October, 10-11 am in S107, Studland House, Lansdowne Campus. The focus is an Introduction to Project Management. 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 speaker Dr Roger Atkinson, Senior Lecturer in Project Management to share his knowledge and experience in this area.

We look forward to seeing you there.

BU Research Staff Association

ADRC at CoPMRE Fourteenth Annual Symposium ‘Healthcare Simulation: playing seriously’

Dr Michelle Heward and Dr Michele Board from the Ageing and Dementia Research Centre (ADRC) attended the Centre of Postgraduate Medical Research and Education (CoPMRE) Fourteenth Annual Symposium ‘Healthcare Simulation: playing seriously’ on Wednesday 18th October 2017. During the day several presentations highlighted current research on simulation in healthcare education and its application in health and social care settings – from the use of virtual reality training for surgeons to the ‘simulance’ ambulance simulator by paramedics.

Dr Heward gave a presentation ‘using simulation in dementia education’ highlighting the ADRC’s current projects with Health Education England and Alzheimer’s Research UK. Both projects involve the evaluation of simulated learning in dementia education.

Health Education England  (HEE) has commissioned the ADRC to deliver a new ‘Train the Trainers’ enhanced education programme called ‘Dementia Education and Learning Through Simulation’  2 (DEALTS 2). This builds on previous work undertaken in 2013/14 by HEE to ensure healthcare professionals understand and can deliver key competencies according to the Dementia Core Skills Education and Training Framework at TIER 2 (Skills for Health and Health Education England, 2015). The ADRC have now delivered 13 train the trainers sessions nationally across England and are currently evaluating the adoption, adaption, and impact of the programme on practice until June 2018.

The ADRC also had a stand at the event providing attendees with information about their current research themes: ageing and dementia-friendly environments; nutrition and wellbeing; and activity and social inclusion. For more information about the ADRC please email adrc@bournemouth.ac.uk

H2020 Societal Challenge 2 (Food security, sustainable agriculture, blue growth and the bioeconomy) Event – 31st October

Funding opportunities, Info Days, international

Innovate UK and the Knowledge Transfer Network are hosting the Horizon 2020 Societal Challenge 2 event (Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research and the bioeconomy) which is aimed at supporting collaboration across the UK and Europe.

They will be promoting funding opportunities available for food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research and the bioeconomy through Horizon 2020, the EU’s largest research and innovation funding programme, with over 1 billion Euros earmarked for calls in 2018-2020.

Find out more about the development of the Horizon 2020 work programme. The pre-publication draft of the SC2 2018-2020 Work Programme is already available, prior to final publication which is due at the end of October.

BU staff considering applying for this and other international funding calls, should contact Emily Cieciura, RKEO’s Research Facilitator for EU & International Funding for further information and support.

 

 

BU Research contributes to National Creativity, Arts, Health and Wellbeing report

Dr Caroline Ellis-Hill  from the Centre for Qualitative Research (CQR) and the Humanising practice SIG  (FHSS),  recently attended a discussion of the new All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) report on Arts, Health and Wellbeing Creative Health: The Arts for Health and Wellbeing at Kings College,  London.  Speakers included Darren Henley, Chief Executive of Arts Council England, Shirley Cramer, Chief Executive of the Royal Society for Public Health, Lord Howarth of Newport and Ed Vaizey MP, co-Chairs of the APPG.

Caroline contributed to one of the parliamentary inquiry meetings and also led the  HeART of stroke study which is cited in the report, and which was funded through the National Institute for Health Research – Research for Patient Benefit (NIHR-RfPB) funding programme.  The research was carried out with colleagues from Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) and many external stakeholders including NIHR, the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust and the University of East Anglia.

The APPG report is a landmark document that brings together available evidence from across the UK to support the role of the arts in the health and wellbeing of people across the life-course. The report has ten recommendations which will be considered at national and local policy level, with the aim of promoting the arts within mainstream services when considering health and wellbeing in the future.

Horizon 2020 Health Info Day – 7th November

Funding opportunities, Info Days, international

Sold Out

There will be a H2020 Health, Demographic + Well-being – Match and Info Day on Tuesday, 7th November at Cardiff City Hall.

If you would  like to attend, please register for the event now as bookings close next week.

You can also sign up to the related brokerage events, but must be registered to attend the main event to do so.

The pre-publication draft of the SC1 2018-2020 Work Programme is already available, prior to final publication which is due at the end of October.

BU staff considering applying for this and other international funding calls, should contact Emily Cieciura, RKEO’s Research Facilitator for EU & International Funding for further information and support.