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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.
CMMPH student wins The Postgraduate Research Prize
Ms. Sheetal Sharma who will be graduating from Bournemouth University with a Ph.D. on November 10th has been awarded Bournemouth University’s The Postgraduate Research Prize. This prize is for the postgraduate student whose achievement is deemed by the Vice-Chancellor to have been most outstanding in their time at BU.
Sheetal stood out as a Ph.D. student as her maternal health research project in Nepal resulted in several many publications [1-6], some in very prestigious journals such as BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth [4] and PLOSOne [5] . She won the best poster prize at the international GLOW conference in Birmingham in 2013 with the poster presentation ‘Getting women to care in Nepal: A Difference in Difference analysis of a health promotion intervention’. She won a SBSP travel scholarship to present a poster at the 8th European Congress on Tropical Medicine & International Health in 2013 in Denmark. Sheetal’s abstract of the poster was also officially published [7].
Sheetal presented at the Science in Society conference (SiS) at Berkeley University in November 2012 where she received a Graduate Scholar Award. In addition, she won a Santander travel scholarships for £5,000 to learn about research at the University of Buenos Aires, Institute for Clinical Effectiveness & Health Policy (Argentina) and at the University of Barcelona in Spain. This scholarship resulted in a great publication with the world-famous researcher in reproductive health care prof. Jose Belizan as co-author. Sheetal also presented her work at the first ever national health promotion conference in Nepal.
Sheetal also had less academic achievements as she won the BU photo competition at the 2014 PGR conference with the photo in this blog.
Sheetal was also actively involved as a student representative in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences as well as in the Graduate School. She even found time to join the editorial board of the newly formed Journal of Asian Midwives.
Over the past five years Sheetal has had many mentions on this BU research blog as one of BU’s most prolific publishing PhD students.
As supervisors and co-authors we are proud of her!
Dr. Catherine Angell, Prof. Vanora Hundley & Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen (CMMPH)
BU Visiting Professor Padam Simkhada, Liverpool John Moores University
Dr. Elisa Sicuri, Assistant Research Professor at ISGlobal, Spain
Prof. Jose Belizan, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
References to published work by Sheetal Sharma:
- Joshi, R., Sharma, S., van Teijlingen, E. (2013) Improving neonatal health in Nepal: Major challenges to achieving Millennium Development Goal 4, Health Science Journal 7(3): 247-257. http://www.hsj.gr/index.files/Page1421.htm
- Sharma, S., Joshi, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2015) ‘Nepenglish’ or ‘Nepali English’: A new version of English? Asian Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences 4(2): 188-193. www.ajssh.leena-luna.co.jp/AJSSHPDFs/Vol.4%282%29/AJSSH2015%284.2-21%29.pdf
- Simkhada, B., Sharma, S., van Teijlingen, E., Silwal, RC, Simkhada, P. (2015) Exploring Maternal Mortality Reduction. In: Wasti, SP, Simkhada, PP, van Teijlingen, E. (Eds.) The Dynamics of Health in Nepal, Kathmandu: Social Science Baha & Himal Books: 95-121.
- Sharma, S., van Teijlingen, E., Belizán, J.M., Hundley, V., Simkhada, P., Sicuri, E. (2016) Measuring What Works: An impact evaluation of women’s groups on maternal health uptake in rural Nepal, PLOS One 11(5): e0155144 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0155144
- Sharma, S., van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V., Angell, C., Simkhada, P. (2016) Dirty and 40 days in the wilderness: Eliciting childbirth and postnatal cultural practices and beliefs in Nepal BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth 16: 147 https://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12884-016-0938-4
- Sharma, S, Simkhada, P, Hundley, V, van Teijlingen E., Stephens, J, Silwal, RC, Angell, C (2017) Evaluating a Community Maternal Health Programme: Lessons Learnt. Journal Asian Midwives 4(1):3–20.
- Sharma, S., van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V., Stephens J., Simkhada, P., Angell, C., Sicuri, E., Belizan, J.M. (2013) Mixed-methods evaluation of a maternity care intervention in rural Nepal: measuring what works, Poster P.2.3.004 (A), Tropical Medicine & International Health 18 (Suppl. 1): 108–231.
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
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
- ERC 2018 Synergy Grant call (deadline: 14 November)
- ERC 2018 Proof of Concept call (deadlines: 16 January, 18 April and 11 September 2018)
- ERC 2018 Consolidator Grant call (deadline: 15 February 2018)
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
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
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
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
Newton Fund – Funding Update
Please see the calls currently open, or forthcoming, being offered through the Newton Fund scheme. Some calls are newly opened whilst others have been promoted previously via the BU Research blog. In each case, please refer to the call website for full details including eligibility requirements and thematic priorities:
If you are interested in applying to any of these calls then please contact your RKEO Funding Development Officer, in the first instance.
Horizon 2020 – hit the ground running for 2018-2020
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:
AHRC funded Reading on Screen Project moves on to Brighton and Sheffield
The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded Reading on Screen project held two workshops recently; one at the University of Brighton (22-24 September) and one last weekend (14-15 October) at Sheffield Hallam University.
At Sheffield we were fortunate to be included in the programme for Off the Shelf, a literary festival that runs throughout October in the city featuring some high profile authors, including this year Robert Webb and Henry Blofeld. We also took part in Brighton’s Digital Festival, showcasing some of the stories and also featuring some of our storytellers in a lively discussion about the future of reading in the digital age.
The stories produced in the workshops are now available for viewing on the project website and we welcome comments!
An exhibition of the stories is planned for December 15 in Brighton’s Media Centre. Here we will be featuring the stories we are producing based on photographs and audio recordings captured during the workshops. We will also be hearing from some of the storytellers from all three workshops (Bournemouth, Brighton and Sheffield) about their experiences of the workshops and how this opportunity has opened new doors for them.
*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.
US Sponsored Projects – Key messages
At a recent NCURA (US National Council of University Research Administrators) workshop, the following key messages were given to research administrators and managers from research offices from across Europe:
- US funding can be obtained by non-domestic researchers and it can be worth the time and effort to engage with this source of funding
- The processes and terminology are different to the UK and European context but, with care and attention, this can be overcome
- US Federal opportunities are systematically promoted:
- Grants.gov for grants and co-operative agreements
- FED BIZ OPS for contracts and consultancy
- BU also has access to Research Professional where alerts can be set up with the USA as the country of the funder
- There are specific (and complex) costing rules, meaning that contact should be made with BU’s Research & Knowledge Exchange Office at a very early stage to assess viability
- US Federal Funding uses the Uniform Guidance to manage projects but individual funding agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, may have their own additional requirements
- The administrative burden is great, especially for reporting and auditing; for the right grant this may be worth the challenges faced
One major take-away message from this event?
For a UK-based researcher, the best way to start your journey to a successful US funding award, is to work with a project lead based in the US and to ensure that your Funding Development Officer, is introduced to their US-based administrative team.
If you are considering applying for US Federal Funding, please arrange to meet with Emily Cieciura, RKEO’s Research Facilitator: International, at your earliest convenience!
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
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.