Last week, to mark International Clinical Trials Day, BU’s Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) collaborated with BU alumna Zoe Sheppard and her research team at Dorset County Hospital to take part in their research awareness-raising ‘Randomised Scone Trial’!
The format was simple; participants, after signing a consent form, were randomised to either the ‘jam and cream’, or ‘cream and jam’ arm of the trial, and then provided subjective ratings on important scientific parameters such as taste and texture having eaten their scone. Data are yet to be analysed, but findings are expected to deliver both a high academic and societal impact. Dissemination routes are still being explored.
The event successfully garnered attention for clinical research from both hospital staff and patients alike, and was enjoyed by all. However, it was noted that the scone-containing end of the event table received slightly more attention that the leaflet/information-containing end!!
Welcome to this week’s political scene within research. Here is a summary of the week’s generic policy reports and releases, alongside new niche consultations and inquiries.
The role of EU funding in UK research and innovation
This week the role of EU funding in UK research and innovation has hit the headlines. Its an analysis of the academic disciplines most reliant on EU research and innovation funding at a granular level.
Jointly commissioned by Technopolis and the UK’s four national academies (Medical Sciences, British Academy, Engineering and Royal Society) it highlights that of the 15 disciplines most dependent on EU funding 13 are within the arts, humanities and social science sphere.
Most reliant on the EU funding as a proportion of their total research funding are Archaeology (38% of funding), Classics (33%) and IT (30%).
The full report dissects the information further considering the funding across disciplines, institutions, industrial sectors, company sizes and UK regions. It differentiates between the absolute value of the research grant income from EU government bodies, and the relative value of research grant income from EU government bodies with respect to research grant income from all sources, including how the EU funding interacts with other funding sources.
There are also 11 focal case studies, including archaeology and ICT. Here’s an excerpt from the archaeology case study considering the risks associated with Brexit and the UK’s industrial strategy:
“As archaeologists are heavily dependent on EU funding, a break away from EU funding sources puts the discipline in a vulnerable position. This is exacerbated by the fact that the UK is short of archaeologists and/or skilled workers active in the field of Archaeology because of the surge in large scale infrastructure projects (e.g. HS2, Crossrail, and the A14), which drives away many archaeologists from research positions.” Source
See the full report page 25 for particular detail on ICT and digital sector, and page 39 for archaeology. For press coverage see the Financial Times article.
Bathing Water Quality
The European Environment Agency published European Bathing Water Quality in 2016. It sees the UK as second to bottom in the league table for quality of bathing water. While 96.4% of British beaches were found safe to swim in last year 20 sites failed the annual assessment. Only Ireland had a higher percentage of poor quality bathing waters at 4%.
This week Research Professional ran a succinct article encouraging researchers to think more about when and how they submit evidence to policy makers. Timing is key, policy makers often want information instantaneously and the article urges researchers to be responsive but pragmatic, including a pro-active approach of gently keeping key policy makers informed of new developments.
Responding to a select committee call for evidence is a great way for academics to influence UK policy. If you respond to a consultation or inquiry as a BU member of staff please let us know of your interest by emailing policy@bournemouth.ac.uk at least one week before you submit your response.
This week there are three new inquiries and consultations that may be of interest to BU academics.
Examples where a community based approach has been successful in removing barriers to participation in sport and physical activity?
Approaches that were particularly successful in increasing participation among certain social groups, like women, ethnic minorities, certain age-groups?
The barriers facing volunteers and how can they be overcome? The aim is to inform how Scotland might increase participation rates across all groups and sectors of society, respondents can select to answer only the most relevant questions.
The call for evidence closes on 30 June.
Body Image
The British Youth Council has opened an inquiry into body image and how the growth of social media and communications platforms has encouraged attitudes that entrench poor body image. Included among the inquiry questions are:
Has the growing use of social media and communications platforms amongst young people encouraged practices and attitudes that entrench poor body image? What is the link between “sexting” and body dissatisfaction?
Do internet companies, social media platforms or other platforms have a responsibility to tackle trends which entrench poor body image? What are they already doing in this area? What more should they be doing?
Are particular groups of young people particularly prone to poor body image, or less likely to seek help? What causes these trends?
In relation to young men and boys, minority ethnic groups, and those who self-identify as transgender: what are the specific challenges facing young people in these groups? How effective is existing support?
To what extent is dissatisfaction with body image contributing to the increase in mental health problems amongst children and young people?
Professor Heather Hartwell will be delivering a workshop on June 15th, 2017, that will help participants gain insight into how it is possible to build resilience in the area of Research and Knowledge Exchange. This session will explore how it may be possible to build resilience in the area of research and knowledge exchange, where rejection for funding and from publishers is common. The speaker will offer their views of how resilience can be built and how to overcome obstacles.
There will be the opportunity for discussion around the topic. For those interested in booking onto the course, please follow the link here. If you would like further information about the workshop, please contact Ehren Milner (emilner@bournemouth.ac.uk)
You’ve probably seen on the BU Research Blog, that in RKEO we hold lots of ‘sandpit’ events. If you have ever wondered what a sandpit is, they offer the opportunity to meet new people, and to spend dedicated time developing novel ideas for research projects. They also involve lots of post-it notes, and occasionally some colouring!
We have been very busy this week, with three sandpits taking place across BU.
On Monday, we facilitated a mini-sandpit event for the Department of Creative Technology in the Faculty of Science and Technology. Lively interactions occurred, and interesting ideas were discussed. We look forward to working with the department to develop these ideas.
On Tuesday, we welcomed fantastic speakers from Public Health England, Project Nurture and the Better Care Fund (NHS England), who set the scene for our health & wellbeing sandpit event titled ‘Health & Wellbeing in the 21st Century: Is it your responsibility?’. We had a full house for the day, including attendees from Southampton Solent, the University of Surrey and Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust. By the afternoon, the room was buzzing with wonderful ideas including lots of nature themed ideas inspired by Project Nurture’s talk earlier in the day. We hope to develop these ideas into applications for funding over the coming months.
On Wednesday, the Royal Society came to visit and provided an overview of their strategic priorities and the application process. After their presentation, attendees then engaged in our third and final sandpit of the week on AI and robotics. Vicky Isley and Paul Smith from ‘boredomresearch’ talked about artificial life, artificial intelligence and artificial emotion. They discussed how they plan to introduce emotion in robotics, which set off some interesting discussions on the topic. Some fantastic ideas for research projects were generated, leading to three teams winning grant development funding to support the development of their ideas.
We’ve had a great week meeting lots of different people across BU and beyond, and look forward to seeing even more of you at our sandpit events next academic year! Check back to the BU Research Blog for upcoming opportunities as part of the Research and Knowledge Exchange Development Framework.
Motor racing’s most glamorous event, the Formula One Grand Prix in the glittering tax haven of Monaco is just around the corner. It is 67 years since drivers first took on the famous, twisty roads through the principality on the south coast of France, but is age starting to creep up on the F1 scene?
Since the earliest Olympic Games, racing has been used to advance wheeled transport. It was in the Tethrippon, Keles and Apene events in Ancient Greece, that chariots were developed and the numbers of horses, foals and mules adjusted to provide optimum power and handling. Centuries later, in 1899, the French Renault brothers understood that city-to-city racing could help harness the very different horsepower of their new combustion-engined cars.
Today we use many F1 technologies on the road. Ferrari’s semi-automatic gearbox and the “flappy paddle” transmissions are now standard in many road cars. Shell and Total produced friction-reducing fuel additives, and tyres made by Goodyear, Michelin, Bridgestone and Pirelli have all benefited from F1 research. Williams Advanced Engineering created the technology behind the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) to be found in Volvo’s C30 Electric road car and the BMW i3 electric city car is the first to be constructed from carbon fibre-reinforced plastic, a technique pioneered in F1 by McLaren.
But while F1 has driven innovation that has made it to the car showroom, there is a risk it may fall behind by failing to embrace the key evolving trend in road car technologies. Could Formula E (FE), the fully electric vehicle street racing competition, end up being more relevant to the world’s major motor manufacturers?
This year, FE had its own race in Monaco, a fortnight before F1 arrived. According to Jean Todt, President of the Federation Internationale de L’Automobile (FIA), FE is the perfect showcase for new electric vehicle technologies; a device to promote the use of clean engine technology, especially in cities and towns.
It is in those urban settings that pollution is a major problem. Oslo banned diesel road cars for two days to combat rising air pollution while the Norwegian government intends to ban the sale of fossil fuel-based cars by 2025.
Others have similar intentions. India is considering a draft report recommending that all vehicles should be electric by 2032. China, where pollution in major cities can be devastating, is the largest electric vehicle market in the world. BYD Auto sold 507,000 cars last year and GAC Motor, another of China’s large motor manufacturers, intends to build 200,000 vehicles per year. Unsurprisingly, Alejandro Agag, founder and CEO of FE wants to expand the championship into China.
Agag recognised that the automobile industry’s focus on electric vehicles offered a different direction to most motor sports. He would appear to be right. FE already has an impressive line-up of contributing manufacturers, many of which have been familiar names in F1.
Brand awareness
FE cars currently use batteries supplied by Williams Advanced Engineering, a subsidiary of the Williams F1 Team. The Renault e.dams team has allowed Renault to demonstrate its FE pedigree with the all-electric TreZor concept car, which was one of the stars of the 2016 Paris Motor Show. McLaren Applied Technologies will supply all the championship’s new batteries from 2018. Jaguar, which was formerly in F1, has backed FE’s Panasonic Jaguar Racing team to showcase its future range of electric cars.
Other manufacturers, including current world F1 championship winning team Mercedes-Benz, are joining FE soon and even Ferrari, a cornerstone of F1 since the World championship started, is said to be interested.
BMW, which used to have a prominent position in F1 attained “Official Vehicle Partner” status by supplying electric utility vehicles for FE, including Safety Cars, Medical and Support Cars and the official Rescue Car. BMW will get further involved on track in the actual racing when it joins the FE grid in 2018 with the Andretti Team.
In 2017, Audi, which could have gone to F1, completely realigned its motor sport strategy after being dominant in sportscar racing. It became involved in FE with a factory-backed commitment to The Abt Schaeffler Audi Sport team. This fits Audi’s business strategy to produce new electric vehicles, particularly aimed at the Chinese market.
Musk makes baby steps into racing. EPA/PETER FOLEY, CC BY
You might wonder why headline-grabbing US car maker Tesla hasn’t dipped its toe into FE. Well, Elon Musk’s firm has seen its Model S version P85+ chosen as the base car for the world’s first Electric GT Championship, which starts in a few months time.
So is F1 missing out? Certainly not financially. At the moment, the budgets involved in F1 remain much larger, but that should not be taken for granted if motor manufacturers continue to jump ship. The point has certainly been made that FE is attracting major companies for whom electric technology is becoming increasingly relevant, to the detriment of both F1 and Indycar.
It does seem unlikely that Formula e, as it stands, can truly compete with the decades of history and glamour associated with the combustion-engine machismo of F1. But in 2020, the FIA’s F1 engine rules are due to change and history shows that to justify the substantial investment, this will probably have to be for at least five seasons. The current 1.6-litre V6 600 horsepower hybrid turbo petrol engines, that gain an added 160 horsepower from their electrical recovery systems will be consigned to the scrap heap.
Will the FIA choose another hybrid engine configuration for F1 or could it too go more electric? Perhaps a path might even be laid for a fully electric F1 in later years? In any case, the FIA’s choice will be vital for the future of both F1 and FE. It will also be a strong signal of the pace of change which will dictate the types of cars we will all end up driving to the shops, in China, Norway and beyond.
• Health researchers holding a PhD (or equivalent) degree and be able to demonstrate relevant experience in the disease area they propose to review.
• Eligible individuals may currently be employed in a health research position in the academic, private or public sectors, or may have retired from such a position.
• Applications will be accepted from single authors or groups.
• The current call is restricted to applicants in the United States, Canada, European Union and South Korea.
The closing date for this call is 30 June 2017
If you are interested in applying to this or other non-UK funded calls, please contact Emily Cieciura, RKEO’s Research Facilitator: EU & International.
‘Where are we now?’ was the theme of the 2017 International IPA conference this week. The short answer: at Glasgow Caledonian University. The long answer: using a qualitative methodology initially confined to healthcare research but which is now enjoying exponential growth across diverse disciplines. Talks over the two days ranged from advance care planning to museum visitor research, with one particularly innovative study by Hilda Reilly (PhD candidate, University of Glasgow). Her work uses narrative to explore the medical concept of hysteria. Reilly talked about the case of Anna von Lieben, one of Freud’s most significant patients. She demonstrated how accounts such as poetry and diaries left by the deceased can form data for analysis and interpretation.
Just a stone’s throw from Glasgow city’s own necropolis or ‘city of the dead’ (pictured), it was a fitting metaphor for one of the key aims of IPA: to make heard the quietest of voices. It let me reflect on the voices which I am working to make heard through my own PhD studentship project; those from successful, persistent students from low-income backgrounds who are under-represented throughout higher education (HE), but have great value in widening participation in HE and as part of a greater commitment to social equality.
Such novel approaches fit well with Dr Michael Larkin’s keynote exploring new developments in design and data collection in IPA research. The lecture and Q&A was particularly relevant to my own research, as it explored less common topic formulations in IPA research; namely when the phenomenon is a background phenomenon or an external theoretical construct (in my case, ‘resilience’). The recommendation to use explicitly narrative and reflective strategies rang true with my own approach to data collection.
Likewise, Professor Jonathan Smith delivered his keynote on personal experience of depression, offering rich, textured accounts of participants. He urged us as researchers to ‘dig deeper’ and ‘mine’ our participant data. In interviews, he reminded us “it is easy to talk to people; it is demanding to get high quality data”. Professor Paul Flowers closed the conference by provoking us to move from questioning ‘where are we now?’ to ‘where do we go from here?’ And, for me at least, this signifies a move towards drawing deep, ‘juicy’ interpretations from my data, to maximise the potential impact of my research.
As part of an AHRC funded research project – we are seeking participants for focus group discussions about the last Paralympic games in Rio – we would appreciate it if you could circulate this call to any local contacts or networks you have. To be clear we are not seeking BU staff to join these focus groups. Thanks
Remembering Rio and the Paralympics
We’re keen to hear about your memories and experiences of watching the Paralympic Games last summer. If you would like your voice to be heard as part of a 2-year project researching the impact and legacy of the Paralympics, then get in touch and join one of our small friendly focus group discussions taking place during the weeks of June 12th and June 19th 2017.
Location: –
BU Fusion Building
Bournemouth University Talbot Campus
Fern Barrow, Poole, BH12 5BB
Car parking and refreshments will be provided.
To thank you for your time and effort each participant will receive an M&S voucher to the value of £15.00
For more information and to register your interest please call us now on 01202 965046 or email cmartins@bournemouth.ac.uk
Calling all early career researchers- Sense about Science will be running a Standing up for Science media workshop this June.
The workshop will take place on Friday 30 June at the University of Warwick. This free to attend event is a great opportunity for early career researchers and scientists to learn how to make their voices heard in public debates about science.
Attendees will hear from scientists who have engaged with the media, learn from these distinguished scientists about how the media works, how to comment and what journalists expect from scientists. This is a free event and is open to all early career researchers and scientists- PhD students, post-docs or equivalent- in all sciences, engineering and medicine.
The deadline for applications is 14 June. You can find out more information here.
The previous workshop was held in Manchester in April. You can find out what attendees Jade and James thought of the workshop and view photos here.
If you have any questions please email Joanne from Sense about Science.
Applications are now open for 2018 Travelling Fellowships
Are you inspired by projects you know of abroad? Do you have the drive and determination to undertake global research?
The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust funds UK citizens to investigate ground-breaking practice in other countries and return with innovative ideas for the benefit of people in the UK.
Grants cover return and internal travel, daily living and insurance within the countries visited. No qualifications are required.
Categories include:
Environment, Conservation and Sustainable Living
Education
Health and Wellbeing
Mental Health – Community Based Approaches
Migration – Living Well Together
New Approaches to Social and Affordable Housing
Nursing and Allied Health Professions
Science, Technology and Innovation
Supporting Vulnerable Children following Bereavement
A new impact tracker has been added to BRIAN as part of the recent upgrade. The tracker is designed to help you keep a record of your impact evidence, which is useful both to help manage the direction of your future impact strategy and for writing impact narratives.
Once logged into BRIAN, you now have the option to add in impact evidence, which will include details of internal or external collaborators, uploading documents and files or linking to URLs. The type of evidence you might wish to add will depend on your research and the difference it’s making, but could consist of:
A testimonial from an organisation or collaborator explaining how your research has influenced them,
Survey evidence from stakeholders demonstrating a change,
Media coverage statistics to show how your research is helping to inform public debate,
Financial or sales reports from a company you’re working with,
Evidence linking your research to a policy change,
Evidence to show that your research has influenced professional practice in your field.
Further examples can be found in BU’s impact guide. The evidence you gather will vary according to your project. The key point to remember is to gather examples that specifically link your research with the change that it has made.
A guide to adding your impact evidence can be found here.
INASP, an Oxford-based organisation, aims to improve access to, and production and use of, research information and knowledge for sustainable development. Part of their approach is the Journals Online project which increases the accessibility and visibility of developing-country research. The Journals Online project includes a set of journals published Open Access in Nepal, know as NepJOL. On of the journals in the stable of NepJOl is the SAARC Journal of Tuberculosis, Lung Diseases & HIV/AIDS. Journals selected for inclusion on the Journals Online project must be:
scholarly in content, and contain original research;
peer reviewed and quality controlled;
able to provide all necessary content in electronic format (tables of contents, abstracts and PDFs of full text);
published, managed and developed within their respective country.
Yesterday INASP selected a paper published late last year and co-authored by two Bournemouth University academics for a special press release. The press release can be found here! This press release highlights our recently published paper in the SAARC Journal of Tuberculosis, Lung Diseases & HIV/AIDS. Our paper ‘Knowing is Not Enough: Migrant Workers’ Spouses Vulnerability to HIV’ argues that despite having generally a good knowledge and awareness of HIV and risk associated with migration and HIV; migrants’ wives could not discuss sexual health issues with their husbands, thus increasing their vulnerability to HIV and other sexually transmitted infections [1].
Dr. Pramod Regmi, Post-Doctoral Research in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences is quoted in the press release as saying: “knowledge alone would not be sufficient to fight against the spread of HIV/STI among wives of migrant workers.” This paper is an addition to a range of papers on health and well-being of Nepali migrant workers produced by BU academics [2-6].
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
References:
Aryal, N., Regmi, P.R., van Teijlingen, E., Dhungel, D., Ghale, G., Bhatta, G.K. (2016) Knowing is not enough: Migrant workers’ spouses vulnerability to HIV SAARC Journal of Tuberculosis, Lung Diseases & HIV/AIDS 8(1):9-15.
Adhikary, P., Simkhada, P.P., van Teijlingen E., Raja, AE. (2008) Health & Lifestyle of Nepalese Migrants in the UK BMC International Health & Human Rights8(6). Web address: www.biomedcentral.com/1472-698X/8/6.
Adhikary P., Keen S., van Teijlingen E (2011) Health Issues among Nepalese migrant workers in Middle East. Health Science Journal 5: 169-175. www.hsj.gr/volume5/issue3/532.pdf
Sapkota, T., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2014) Nepalese health workers’ migration to United Kingdom: A qualitative study. Health Science Journal8(1):57-74.
Simkhada, P.P., Regmi, P.R., van Teijlingen, E., Aryal, N. (2017) Identifying the gaps in Nepalese migrant workers’ health and well-being: A review of the literature, Journal of Travel Medicine24 (4): 1-9.
Aryal, N., Regmi, P.R., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Adhikary, P., Bhatta, Y.K.D., Mann, S. (2016) Injury and Mortality in Young Nepalese Migrant Workers: A Call for Public Health Action. Asian-Pacific Journal of Public Health28(8): 703-705.
Health Education England (HEE) has commissioned Bournemouth University 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).
Prof Jane Murphy, Dr Michele Board, Dr Michelle Heward and Ashley Spriggs from the Ageing and Dementia Research Centre (ADRC) delivered the first pilot session in Oxford on 10thMay 2017. This interactive day was really well received and included attendance by Jan Zietara, Head of Operational Delivery, HEE; Jacqueline Fairburn-Platt, Associate Dean Quality Improvement, HEE Thames Valley as well as Dementia and Quality Improvement Leads. Over the next 2 months another 12 sessions will be delivered to trainers across the HEE regions in England. The delivery of the programme will be evaluated as well as the roll-out across England by the trainers themselves to staff to understand the impact the education is having on practice for the delivery of dementia care. In June the early evaluation work will be supported with the help of a Student Research Assistant, Laurie Emerson. Laurie is currently a final year psychology student in Faculty Sci Tech.
Dr Sascha Dov Bachmann, Associate Professor in International Law and Extraordinary Associate Professor in War Studies (Swedish Defence University) visits the Qatar Armed Forces to speak about his work on Hybrid Warfare and the use of law in defensive and offensive operations.
Sascha will highlight the role of law fare as a potential counter measure and built on his work undertaken on the subject jointly with colleagues from NATO, the Swedish Defence College and the UK Army.
The BU PIER (Public Involvement in Education and Research) partnership are hosting a sandpit event with RKEO on 20th June 9.30-4pm to bring together service users, carers, community organisations and researchers to explore and generate ideas for user led and user generated research. There are 15 places for researchers who are keen to explore research ideas with service users and to help us to develop ways of supporting user led research. If you would like to be involved, please contact Dr Mel Hughes, Academic lead for service user and carer involvement mhughes@bournemouth.ac.uk
New training opportunity from the library’s academic liaison team
RKE Development Framework Workshop – “Bibliometrics: an introduction to research impact metrics”
Wednesday, 31st of May, 10am – 12pm
Understanding and demonstrating impact is becoming an essential part of any research activity.
Have you ever wondered how other people are citing your work? Do you know how to calculate your “h-index”? Have you heard of Altmetrics? Come along to this session to find out more.
Natalia Adamczewska and Yolanda Barrado-Martín represented the Psychology Department and Ageing & Dementia Research Centre (ADRC) at the Third Edition of the EU Falls Festival in Amsterdam on 8th and 9th May 2017. The theme of the congress was: Developing Collaborations across Professions and throughout Europe.
This festival brought together over 200 professionals from multiple disciplines (such as Nursing, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Medicine, Psychology and Technology) working under a common target: The prevention of falls amongst older adults. It was a great opportunity to see how different countries in Europe, but also researchers in America, represented by Dr. Robin Lee, US Lead Home and Recreation Team; and Australia, represented by Kim Delbaere, Falls Balance and Injury Centre, NeuRa; are working under this objective, the resources different countries invest on this and the different approaches used from different disciplines. A variety of interventions were presented from educational to exercise, and a debate was organised regarding the relevance of the role of technologies to prevent falls and support research.
Falls are the first external cause of death amongst older adults which explains the importance of researchers, practitioners and policy makers working together. Members of the World Health Organisation and the European Commission were also attending this meeting and sharing their views on the relevance of falls prevention.
Yolanda’s PhD project looks into the acceptability and adherence of participants living with dementia to a Tai Chi exercise intervention. Adherence to falls interventions was one the main concerns of the congress, however, the experiences of those living with dementia remain mostly under-explored.
Natalia focuses on the psychological adjustment to falls in her PhD project and she looks at fall-related PTSD. Various interventions presented at the festival could possibly be applied in order to enable participants to cope with psychological consequences of falling, such as virtual reality treatment presented by Jeff Hausdorff that he originally developed for fall prevention in idiopathic fallers.
Gathering women for a focus group discussion in a rural area of Nepal
Our next instalment of the ‘Photo of the Week’ series features Preeti Mahato’s image of her gathering women for a focus discussion in rural Nepal. 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.
Preeti’s research focuses on evaluating quality of care provided at birthing centres in rural areas.
Conducting a focus group in a rural community of a low income country like Nepal is not always easy, especially when it involves babies and small children. This photo shows BU’s postgraduate researcher Preeti interacting with women she gathered for a focus group discussion. The discussion involved women in the community who gave birth at the nearby birthing centre and others who gave birth either at home or other health institutions outside the village. Many of the women brought their babies along with them. Preeti said that she found it hard to conduct the discussion as the babies would cry or start shouting. The women were also asked about the quality of service they received or have heard of is provided by their nearby birthing centre.
If you’d like find out more about the research or the photo itself then please contact Preeti.
You’ve probably seen on the BU Research Blog, that in RKEO we hold lots of ‘sandpit’ events. If you have ever wondered what a sandpit is, they offer the opportunity to meet new people, and to spend dedicated time developing novel ideas for research projects. They also involve lots of post-it notes, and occasionally some colouring!
On Tuesday, we welcomed fantastic speakers from 
On Wednesday, the 
Who can apply
Winston Churchill Memorial Trust
NIHR-funded research launches website
Academics write for newspaper in Nepal
New paper published on disability in women & girls
Global Consortium for Public Health Research 2025
World Drowning Prevention Day at BU
MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2025 Call
ERC Advanced Grant 2025 Webinar
Horizon Europe Work Programme 2025 Published
Horizon Europe 2025 Work Programme pre-Published
Update on UKRO services
European research project exploring use of ‘virtual twins’ to better manage metabolic associated fatty liver disease