/ Full archive

ECRs can apply to participate in an international research workshop

Funding opportunities

The British Council have a number of research workshops available to ECRs to attend under Researcher Links and the Newton Fund.  The workshops give researchers the opportunity to form new international connections.

If you are an early-career researcher based in the UK or the partner country you can apply for a grant to participate.

Current opportunities are:

Is Poverty a By-Product or a Building Block of Prosperity? Trends in Economic Development from Brazil and the United Kingdom

  • Date of workshop: 21-24 August 2017
  • Location: Belo Horizonte, Brazil
  • Application deadline: 1 May 2017, 12 noon UK time.
  • Programme: Newton Fund Researcher Links
  • For further information, elegibility criteria and application form please contact the workshop organiser.

Information and Communications Technologies in Homes and Cities for the Health and Well-Being of Older People (ICT4HOP’17) 

  • Date of workshop: 14-16 August 2017
  • Location: Bradford, UK
  • Application deadline: 20 May 2017
  • Programme: Newton Fund Researcher Links
  • Eligibility and further information can be found here.

Geological Disaster Monitoring Based on Sensor Networks

  • Date of workshop: 14-17 July 2017
  • Location: Harbin, China
  • Application deadline: 14 April 2017
  • Programme: Newton Fund Researcher Links
  • Eligibility and further information can be found here .

Socially Inclusive WM&RE in Supply Chains Workshop

  • Date of workshop: 23-25 May 2017
  • Location: Florianópolis, Brazil
  •  Application deadline: 23 February 2017
  • Programme: Newton Fund Researcher Links
  • Eligibility and further information can be found here .

Re-naturing Cities: Theories, Strategies and Methodologies

  • Date of workshop: 10-13 July 2017
  • Location: Goiânia, Brazil
  •  Application deadline: 23 April 2017
  • Programme: Newton Fund Researcher Links
  • Eligibility and further information can be found here.

RCUK Policy and Guidelines on the Governance of Good Research Conduct

Guidance, Research Ethics

The RCUK Policy and Guidelines on the Governance of Good Research Conduct aims to help researchers and research organisations to manage their research to the highest standards, and provides guidance on the reporting and investigation of unacceptable research conduct.

The guide has been updated from 1 April 2017.  The updates include the need to notify the relevant research council of an allegation of research misconduct at the stage that it is decided to undertake an informal inquiry; not, as previously, at the (later) stage of deciding to undertake a formal investigation.  Please see the link above for the full changes.

UKCDS – Making science work for development

Funding opportunities, Guidance

The UK Collaborative on Development Sciences (UKCDS) is a group of 14 UK government departments and research funders working in international development.

A small coordinating team (the Secretariat) brings this group together with researchers and other key organisations to share knowledge and identify opportunities for collaboration.  By stimulating collaboration, UKCDS ensures the best science is funded and used to benefit international development, as well as the UK.

The UKCDS has a wealth of resources available to researchers.  The ‘Researcher Hub’ provides inspiration from world-leading scientists (including case studies) and the tools to use your skills and knowledge to help tackle the world’s greatest challenges.

The ‘Funding Hub’ allows you navigate the UK funding opportunities in global development research.  This includes a list of current calls.  The list contains some of the key large funding sources within the UK funded by either a single funder (DFID, Wellcome Trust) or a group of funders (Newton Fund, GCRF, Ross Fund). Each page provides an overview of the funding topic areas, countries they fund, eligibility for both UK and international researchers and key funding programmes.

All of the funding opportunities shown (apart from the Wellcome Trust) are part of the UK’s commitment to spend 0.7 % of the UK’s Gross National Income on Official Development Assistance (ODA). To be accepted as ODA, this funding must meet certain criteria. Please view the Newton Fund and Global Challenges research Fund (GCRF) ODA guidance for more information to help you decide if your work is applicable and questions to consider.

The Funding Hub also contains useful documents on how to find and build effective partnerships across countries, disciplines and sectors for global development research projects, and H2020 topics suitable for international cooperation.

You can subscribe to their mailing list here.

Research & Knowledge Development Framework – give us your feedback

Guidance, Info Days

It’s been over six months since Bournemouth University launched its new Research & Knowledge Exchange Development Framework, which was designed to offer academics at all stages of their career opportunities to develop their skills, knowledge and capabilities.

 

Since its launch, over 30 sessions have taken place, including sandpits designed to develop solutions to key research challenges, workshops with funders such as the British Academy and the Medical Research Council and skills sessions to help researchers engage with the media and policy makers.

 

The Research & Knowledge Exchange Office is currently planning activities and sessions for next year’s training programme and would like your feedback about what’s worked well, areas for improvement and suggestions for new training sessions.

 

Tell us what you think via our survey and be in with a chance of winning a £30 Amazon voucher. The deadline date is Friday 21 April.

Upcoming sessions:

  4 April Public engagement: an overview
  13 April Getting started on applying for research funding
  25 April How to update your Staff Profile Page using BRIAN
  9 May Writing Academy – Writing Day
  10 May Using social media to share your research
  18 May Targeting high quality journals
  18 May Writing an academic paper
  18 May Writing a good abstract
  18 May Dealing with editors
  24 May Research Data Management
  24 May Introduction to the Royal Society
  24 May My publication story so far… Prof. Tim Rees
  25 May Writing Academy – Writing Day

 

Advisory Board meet to discuss Dementia-Friendly Design Guidelines

People with dementia often find it more difficult to understand and navigate built environments. Dementia-friendly environments compensate for impairments to maximise independence and quality of life. Within the Ageing and Dementia Research Centre (ADRC) a team of academics are conducting research into the design of supportive dementia-friendly environments. This research builds on over 10 years of research by Prof Jan Wiener and is currently supported by a two year ESRC grant which support a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow and several PhD Students.

A key output of the research is to create empirically validated design guidelines that support effective way finding in people with Alzheimer’s Disease. These principles are widely applicable to many stakeholders including architects, building standards agencies and care commissioning bodies to ensure that they are used to develop national standards for residential care home design. Our Advisory Board who met for the first time in January 2017, is therefore formed of invited stakeholders from organisations that span these diverse disciplines: Dr Moamer Gashoot, BU; Sian Gregory, Sunrise; Alexandra Ledger, Bright Bay Design Limited; Jo Malyon, Alzheimer’s Society; Graham Parkes, Quantum Group; Stephen Pennington, QP Architecture; Lynne Petty, Sunrise; Becky Robson, Quantum Group; Sue Slater, First Port Retirement Property Services; Alice Stevens Arts Univeristy Bournemouth; and Susan Wiffen, BUPA. These invited stakeholder join internal colleagues who represent the ADRC: Dr Jan Wiener (Chair), Dr Ramona Grzeschik, Dr Michelle Heward, Christopher Hilton, Mary O’Malley, Denise Carroll and Michelle O’Brien.

The aim of our research is to help increase or preserve the independence and well-being of people with dementia, avoiding a further loss of autonomy, dignity and control that is, in theory, preventable. The Advisory Board will meet again in May and we look forward to the discussions at our next meeting!

PCCC’s 2017 Biennial Seminar Held in London

Day of Deviance

Thoughts from the fringes and future deviations in consumer and brand research

The Promotional Cultures and Communication Centre (PCCC) hosted a one-day seminar under the theme of ‘deviance’ on 16 March 2017 at the  Hunterian Museum in London. The event involved researchers from the fields of critical marketing, consumer culture, branding, popular culture and punk. The aim was to generate discussions around discordant theories, digressive methodologies, deviant consumers and disruptive brands.

Academics invited were those who are (or have) been providing a discordant voice in the literature, or been researching in an area that could be perceived as deviant, or been exploring a sector considered as marginal, or some of their views expressed in some of their work could be considered as deviant. According to Dr Tauheed Ramjaun, lead organiser of the event: “The idea was to gather an eclectic mix of participants to stimulate debate but also to encourage a cross-fertilisation of ideas around non-mainstream perspectives”.

Participants were given the opportunity to present think pieces of five minutes about their topic of interest in an informal setting. Presentations included themes like extraterrestrial consumption, consuming the Third Reich, the voluntary consumption of physical pain, marketing and industrious modernity, the normalisation of consumer deviance, glitch as a methodological device, critique of the service-dominant logic, pursuing gay masculinities through consumption practices, the evolution of punk, etc. Our colleagues Maria Musarskaya, Chris Miles and Stuart Armon also contributed to the event.

This seminar follows the very successful Seminar by the Sea (2011) and Contemplating in the City (2014) organised previously by the PCCC. According to Dr Janice Denegri-Knott, Head of PCCC: “It was a day of thought-provoking discussion.  The productive and often dangerous quality of the ‘deviant’  was clearly evident in the think pieces that were shared on the day and the conversation they initiated.  A number of collaborations are in the pipeline as a result of this, and we look forward to our next seminar in 2019′”.

An ‘Early Reflections’ booklet for industry is currently under production as a follow-up to the event. The next event will be organised in 2019 in collaboration with another academic institution.

Need tips on developing a publication strategy?

BRIAN, Guidance, open access, Publishing, writing

Then come along to one of the Writing Academy’s “My publication story so far…” lunchbyte sessions.

The first of 2017, is happening today at midday led by Prof. Matthew Bennett.

Matthew Bennett will be talking about his personal publishing experience, his approaches to research and writing, his tips on developing a publication strategy and working with co-authors, reviewers and editors. He will talk about all types of publishing from journal articles, to books via edited compilations. Drawing on personal experience publishing in Nature, he will also focus on how you target high impact journals.

Click here to book on!

Future sessions:

Prof. Tim Rees – Wednesday 24th May, 12-1.30pm

Prof. Sara Ashencaen Crabtree – Wednesday 28th June, 12-1.30pm

Click here to book on!

Inaugural lecture: Performing hip replacements in space

Digital screen

Established in 2015, Bournemouth University’s Orthopaedic Research Institute (BUORI) is at the forefront of developing virtual reality training and robots that will allow surgeons to perform hip replacements in this world and beyond.

As part of his inaugural lecture, Professor Robert Middleton, Head of BUORI, will share his research into developing virtual reality training for surgeons, which allows them to practice in the space in front of them – or even in space!

After the lecture, you’ll have the chance to see some of the state-of-the-art training equipment being used by BUORI and even try your hand at virtual surgery.

Professor Middleton joined Bournemouth University in 2015, while continuing to practise as a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital and working as the Director of Trauma at Poole Hospital.  His extensive clinical experience helps to inform his research and the direction of Bournemouth University’s Orthopaedic Research Institute (BUORI).

Bournemouth University’s inaugural lecture series aims to celebrate new professorial appointments and the depth and breadth of research produced by the university.  For further information on the inaugural lecture series, please visit www.bournemouth.ac.uk/public-lecture-series

About the event

To book your free ticket, click here.

Venue: Executive Business Centre, Holdenhurst Road.

Date: Wednesday 12 April.

Time: 6:30pm for a 7pm lecture start.

Refreshments will be provided at the event.

For more information about the event, please contact Rachel Bowen at rbowen@bournemouth.ac.uk.

RCUK launches impact reports

Funding opportunities

Yesterday, the RCUK launched reports detailing the impacts of a collective investment of £3.4Bn in 2015/16.  These impact reports showcase specific examples of the impact of investment through their various awards, programmes and collaborations. The wide-ranging nature of the impact extends from furthering technological advances to combatting disease to breakthroughs in the creative economy.  Click here for an overview.

Links to Impact Reports are available below:

Impact – in numbers

  • Growth, productivity and job creation
  • 93% of Research Council funded PhD graduates are employed 6 months after graduation
  • 17,435 current doctoral students
  • 57 spin out companies and 182 instances of IP in 2015
  • 30% of academics interact with private business
  • £229M additional funding leveraged from external partners
  • 17% rate of return on public investment in medical research (See MRC impact report)
  • 3202 instances of new collaborations reported in researchfish® in 2015/16 across all Research Councils
  • More than 50% of PhD graduates work outside academia 7-9 years after graduation – CFE Research (2014)

Global impacts

Mental Health in Prisons: COLAB get its first spin off funding

The Ministry of Criminal Justice in Norway have funded Bournemouth University’s Dr Sarah Hean and Finnish colleagues 300 000NOK to continue their work piloting the Change Laboratory Model of workplace development and transformation in the Norwegian prison system.  The aim of this pilot is to enhance working between mental health and prison services, particularly in the way confidential information on the mental health of offenders is shared between agencies

This funding is the first spin off project from the Horizon 2020 funded COLAB project that began in February this year in which Bournemouth University and staff (Dr Sarah Hean, Prof Jonathan Parker, Prof Sara Ashencaen Crabtree, Dr Carol Bond and Dr Jaqui Hewitt Taylor) are participating.  COLAB has developed a strong international community of practice of participants from practice and academic partners in the UK, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Norway that is well placed to make a significant contribution to the way services work together when addressing the multiple rehabilitation needs of the offender population.

For further information on either this project or COLAB as a whole, please contact the project lead/COLAB coordinator Dr Sarah Hean (shean@bournemouth.ac.uk).

Ageing and Dementia Research Centre at the Alzheimer’s Research UK ‘Living with Dementia 2017’ Conference

On 1st February 2017 the South Coast Network of Alzheimer’s Research UK (ARUK) held the ‘Living with Dementia 2017’ Conference. This one day public meeting was designed to provide the public with an opportunity to hear about the latest in dementia research. Topics discussed during the day included: end of life care, dementia friendly cities, research into new treatments and how we might improve diagnosis. The event brought together researchers from across the South Coast including the Universities of Bournemouth, Southampton, Portsmouth, Brighton and Sussex with interested members of the public.

Prof Jan Wiener, Dr Ben Hicks, Dr Michelle Heward and Iram Bibi represented the Ageing and Dementia Research Centre (ADRC) at the conference hosting a scientific cafe in the afternoon session. The scientific cafes were interactive sessions that members of the public were invited to join academics round-the-table for informal discussions about their current research projects. The ADRC projects discussed focused on the psychological and social aspects of living with dementia and included an evaluation of an acute care setting, the development of serious games and tai chi for people with dementia, dementia-friendly environments, and the use of graffiti to give people living with dementia the opportunity to express themselves.

The conference attracted over 100 members of the public many of whom were either caring for someone with dementia themselves, or working in the dementia field. This was a fantastic opportunity for ADRC to disseminate the findings of their research to the public and network with other researchers from the ARUK South Coast Network.

HE policy update w/e 24th March 2017

international, Training

Higher Education and Research Bill – the third reading of the Bill in the House of Lords was scheduled for Wednesday and was about to start when the attack took place in Westminster, so the session was cancelled. It has now been rescheduled for Tuesday 4th April.  The current version of the bill as amended at the report stage is here. There is a short list of amendments for the third reading – these are usually “tidying up” amendments rather than the more substantive ones that we have seen in the earlier stages – and are monstly (but not exclusively) government amendments.  The Bill will then return to the Commons – probably after Easter – when all six of the opposition and cross bench amendments made by the Lords are likely to be removed – including the one decoupling TEF ratings and fee increases, removing the Gold, Silver, Bronze TEF system and replacing it with a pass/fail, and measures aiming to support international students and staff studying and working in the UK.

There may be government amendments proposed in the Commons to seek to address some of the concerns behind the amendments to the TEF, but it seems unlikely that there will be concessions on international staff and students in the bill as these issues will be relevant to the separate consultation on immigration policy, which we are still waiting for. There will therefore inevitably be another process of “ping-pong” . If the Lords don’t accept the position approved by the Commons (and any concessions made) then there is a risk that the bill will run out of time in this session.

To respond to concerns raised by the Lords, Jo Johnson and the sponsor of the bill in the House of Lords, Viscount Younger of Leckie have written a number of letters during the report stage.

  • 15th March 2017 – powers to enter and search
  • 6th March 2017 – regulation (compliance with the Regulator’s Code – will require a statutory instrument but government agree), role of the Competition and Markets Authority (the government believe there is no overlap between the OfS and the CMA). One government amendment clarified that in addition to promoting competition, the OfS should have regard to the benefits of HEI collaboration for students and employers.
  • 3rd March 2017 – defending the TEF and its metrics, setting out the context and background and confirming a commitment to ensuring that the TEF supports widening participation.

There has not been a response to the amendments that were passed, so we will wait to see. In the meantime, there were some interesting articles about the future for the TEF on Wonkhe on Monday:

Another concern raised by the Lords and also raised in Education questions in the Commons this week related to free speech. Jo Johnson, the universities minister, added that the bill would safeguard free speech by extending the duty to take reasonably practicable steps to secure freedom of speech to all registered providers. On the same day, Johnson also wrote to universities asking them to pay particular attention to this issue. He advised: “Policies and codes of practice should not simply be allowed to gather dust; they are crucial to demonstrating to students that free speech should be at the heart of our university system. They need to be meaningful documents that students and staff understand and, crucially, respect.”

Brexit – with the PM expected to serve formal notice to start Brexit negotiations under Article 50 next week, Peers debated EU membership and UK science after the referendum on 23 March. They urged the government to replace any money lost from EU research programmes with fresh money from Westminster, rather than with the extra £4.7 million allocated to science and innovation in the 2016 autumn statement.

The Parliamentary and Scientific committee have published a statement on science priorities for Brexit.  It asks for immediate actions, sets out negotiation priorities and changes to domestic policy.  It’s very short and readable – a list of proposals rather than a long summary of evidence and background

Its first statement is about staff and skills – it calls for immediate reassurance for EEA staff working in the UK, research about mobility of skilled workers to inform immigration policy and for the government to develop a communications strategy that champions Britain as a welcoming hub for research and innovation.

On funding, it says that there must be no decline in overall funding for science and innovation across all disciplines, calls for continued participation in Horizon 2020 and for the government to “set the closest possible association for the UK with EU research and innovation programmes”.  It also proposes a target of 3% of GDP for combined public and private R&D investment, with at least 0.7% of GDP invested in research and development.    It calls for a comprehensive review of all current public funding for UK research and development to ensure there is no gap as the UK leaves the EU.

It sets out requirements to ensure that UK-based researchers are able to collaborate, including funding and infrastructure for partnerships.  On trade, it suggests that all government departments should have scientific advisers, and calls for a comprehensive review of the current regulatory environment.

Student Loans – in a written answer to a parliamentary question Jo Johnson noted that the latest Student Loans Company statistics show that there were around 113,600 English student loan borrowers known to be abroad at the beginning of the financial year 2016-17. Of these around 22 per cent were EU-domiciled borrowers. The figures also show that the overall outstanding loan balance of these borrowers resident abroad was around £1.6 billion, of which around £220 million was held by EU-domiciled borrowers. He added in a separate answer that the Student Loans Company established a repayments evasion unit in 2016 to detect borrowers who live abroad and who fail to repay their loans.

Advance marketing – along with Professor Debbie Holley, I am presenting some policy briefings and workshops – read more and book via the intranet.

New midwifery paper by Dr. Jenny Hall

international, Publishing, writing

Congratulations to Dr. Jenny Hall in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) on the publication of her paper ‘Spiritual aspects of living with infertility: synthesis of qualitative studies’. [1]  Dr. Hall co-authored this paper in the Journal of Clinical Nursing with colleagues from Ireland and Portugal.

This international team conducted review and synthesis of qualitative research to seek a deeper understanding of the spiritual aspects of patients’ experiences of infertility.  They concluded that infertile couples’ experiences of infertility may offer an opportunity for spiritual care particularly related to the assessment of spiritual needs and the promotion of spiritual coping strategies. Moreover, effective holistic care should support couples in overcoming and finding meaning in this life and health condition.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

Prof. Tim Rees – My publication story so far…

Guidance, open access, Publishing, writing

On Wednesday 24th May, the Writing Academy will be hosting a Lunchbyte session with Tim Rees. During the session Tim will talk about his personal publishing experience, his approaches to research and writing, his tips on developing a publication strategy and working with co-authors, reviewers and editors. He will talk about all types of publishing drawing on personal experience.

Aims:

  • Developing a Publication Strategy
  • Dealing with Co-Editors, Reviewers & Editors
  • Targeting high impact Journals

Click here to book on!

Dedicated Time and Space to Write…

BRIAN, Guidance, Publishing, writing

As part of the Writing Academy, a series of writing days have been organised to help support BU authors work on their publications by providing some dedicated time and space, away from everyday distractions.

The days will have a collaborative focus on productive writing with other BU authors, the RKEO team will also be on hand to provide authors with help and guidance on all areas of the publication process.

Writing Days have been scheduled on the below dates:

  • Tuesday 9th May
  • Thursday 25th May
  • Friday 9th June
  • Monday 19th June
  • Tuesday 20th June
  • Wednesday 5th July
  • Thursday 27th July

Spaces are limited so please only book on if you are able to commit to attending for the whole day.

Click here to book on!

What is FoMO and how do you deal with it?

Student Engagement, student research

Students and staff attended 14:Live in the Student Centre, on Tuesday afternoon to hear from Dr Miguel Moital about FoMO.

FoMO is a fairly new area of research which looks into the psychology behind the ‘Fear of Missing Out’.

With the upcoming festival season, the session looked at FoMO in relation to festivals and marketing tactics used to convince consumers to attend.

Much of the research has been conducted by events management undergraduate students Ellie Taylor and Helena Jarman who previously worked on the topic as part of their dissertation.

Ellie was the pioneer conducting the first dissertation on the topic, whilst Helena worked with Dr Miguel Moital during June-July 2016 as a Student Research Assistant. Helena collated and organised material around FoMO in events leading up to the organisation of a workshop for local event professionals. The students created and provided a large amount of material for 14:Live.

The fear of missing out is a psychological fear that comes from a heightened sensation that everyone but us appears to be having more fun. Social media can often make us feel as though we’re missing out on socially driven events and experiences, because of posts from friends, family or even strangers.

FoMO appeals are often used by marketers to sell an event or product to consumers. Marketers often use specific communication tactics which play on someone’s emotions. This can include using ‘highlights videos’ and using techniques such as ‘75%’ sold out. This then encourages you to book early or attend at the risk of ‘missing out’ on the event.

Dr Moital commented “We looked at the types of emotions felt when experiencing FoMO, what it is people miss out on, how people may behave when they feel FOMO, the types of communication tactics that can be used when designing FoMO event marketing appeals, and what strategies can individuals reduce the levels of FOMO,”

“The session was very interactive and it was great to see a mix of colleagues from faculties and professional services, as well as a number of very engaged students.”

If you’d like to hear more about FoMO please contact Dr Miguel Moital.

14:Live is monthly lunchtime session, that discusses the different areas of research being undertaken here at BU. If you’d like to hear more about 14:Live please contact Hannah Jones.