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New Harding and Pritchard paper in international health policy journal

Publishing

InternationalMapAndrew Harding and Colin Pritchard have recently had a paper published in the International Journal of Health Policy and Management.

The paper, titled ‘UK and Twenty Comparable Countries GDP-Expenditure on-Health 1980 2013: The Historic and Continued Low Priority of UK Health Related Expenditure, uses GDPEH data to outline the low proportional commitment that the UK makes to healthcare expenditure. It is well established in the health and social policy world that the UK prioritises less of its wealth to health than almost any comparable country. However, the authors use an innovative and novel means of exploring proportional differences in commitment.

The key finding is that since 1980, in order to meet the mean average European health spend, the UK would have needed to have made an additional commitment of one-fifth. For the final period, between 2010-2013 the authors show that the UK has prioritised 12% less in proportional terms (as a % of GDP) than the European average.

The paper ends with the following quote, “Echoing others who have recently contributed to discussion in this area, if other comparable countries can make a larger proportional commitment and deem it affordable, in light of aforementioned challenges, why cannot the United Kingdom prioritise accordingly?”

New paper FHSS Dr. Sarah Collard

PG research, Publishing, writing

Sarah Collard 2016Congratulations to Dr. Sarah Collard on her latest paper ‘The psychosocial impact of exercising with epilepsy: A narrative analysis’ in Epilepsy & Behavior.  The paper offers valuable insight into the psychosocial benefits of and barriers to exercising with epilepsy and draw attention to the individual differences in how a person with epilepsy copes with uncontrolled seizures and their impact on his/her exercise routine. This knowledge can lead to future research in exploring how a person with epilepsy can overcome these barriers to exercise and encourage more people with epilepsy to enjoy the benefits of exercise.

Congratulations!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

Fair Access Research publication: Troubling ideas

Centre for Excellence in Learning

festival of learning 2 (2)

Bournemouth University is undertaking a large collaborative research study exploring issues of access to higher education. We are pleased to announce that members of the Fair Access Research project from BU and the University of Liverpool have had an article published in the influential Journal of Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning.

We explored how universities and colleges use research as part of their plans to widen participation and open up higher education to people from disadvantaged backgrounds.  They found that while national policy is leading to more institutions mentioning research as part of their Access Agreements; it tends to be in the context of justifying spending rather than leading to significant behaviour change.

The most recent strategic guidance from the Office for Fair Access emphasised the importance of building a community of practice across institutions, with practitioners and academics working and learning together to understand effective practice and the impact of interventions.

It is hoped that when the 2017-18 access agreements are published over the coming months we see a sector engaging much more with research in order to transform thinking, practice and the sector as a whole.

For more information of this paper email Alex Wardrop (awardrop@bournemouth.ac.uk). For more information about the Fair Access Research project email Vanessa Heaslip (vheaslip@bournemouth.ac.uk) and Clive Hunt (chunt@bournemouth.ac.uk)

 

 

 

 

NERC/AHRC/ESRC GCRF Building Resilience call

Funding opportunities

NERCAs part of the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), the UK research councils, led by NERC, the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), are taking a leadership role in generating inter-disciplinary research and communities which can address the issue of ‘Building Resilience’.

AHRC_logo_anniversaryBuilding resilience rests on the ability to take a holistic approach which encompasses environmental knowledge, socio-economics, infrastructure, governance, and the history and culture of a community or region that is affected. It will require new inter-disciplinary research and recognition of the importance of engaging with local actors to understand what knowledge is required and how it can be implemented to design solutions that help all parts of society.

ESRC logoThe call is open to proposals addressing resilience to natural and man-made environmental hazards in a range of developing world contexts. The focus is on how to build resilience in relation to both sudden and slow-onset environmental hazards (eg land-degradation, deforestation, drought, hurricanes, climate change) taking into account the intersections and relationships with other contexts such as conflict and fragility, poverty and famine, urbanisation, economics and health / disease risks.

The call will fund foundation-building activities to stimulate the creation of inter-disciplinary international research communities; to enable broader, deeper and more effective collaborations with beneficiaries and user organisations at the forefront of the development agenda; test new innovative ideas and inter-disciplinary approaches for addressing the issue of developing resilience. All proposals are expected to take an inter-disciplinary approach, bringing together environmental science with social science and arts and humanities.

A total of £3.3 million of funding is available for this call. Awards are expected to vary in scale according to the nature of the activities proposed and not to exceed £200,000 (at 100 per cent full economic costs). The funders anticipate funding 15-20 projects ranging from 3-9 months. A small number of projects of 12 months duration can be funded. Successful projects will be expected to start no later than 1 November 2016.

The closing date for applications is 16.00 on 6 September 2016.

Networking-300x140Workshop

There will be a workshop on 19 July 2016 to provide more information on the call and facilitate the development of collaborations between academics from different disciplines and between academics, beneficiaries and users. To apply to attend please complete the online application form by 27 June 2016.

Further information

Further details about the call and workshop can be found on the NERC website.  If you are interested in applying to this call then please contact the RKEO Funding Development Team in the first instance.

Reminder – Development Opportunity – Engaging with a Business Audience

Business Engagement

Development Event Reminder

The Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team along with the Service Excellence Team have put together a one-day development event for academic colleagues who wish to engage with organisations.

This activity takes place daily across the Institution, however if you are interested in learning about how to engage and communicate with a business audience including developing relationships and networking, this one-day development event will help you.

Lunch is included with refreshments throughout the day.

Venue: Marriott Hotel, Bournemouth

Date: Tuesday 19th July

Time: 9am-4.30pm

For further information and to book your place, please contact Rachel Clarke, Knowledge Exchange Adviser (KTP and Student Projects) on 61347 or email clarker@bournemouth.ac.uk  

Would you like to test the new research council grants system?

Je-S logoThe research councils are replacing their electronic grants submission service, Je-S, in 2017. More information about this project can be found here http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/funding/2017update/

They are looking for more people to get involved in user research. Can you help?

Initially they are looking for researchers; they need to test with both people who have never applied for a research grant through the Je-S system before as well as those who are more frequent applicants. At this stage they will predominantly be testing prototypes with users. User testing will be carried out throughout the year in a number of formats, such as site visits, remotely over Skype, or through labs where users go to a central location nearby.

Test sessions will take between half an hour to an hour. If you are interested in being a tester then please can you let me, Jo Garrad, know by 15th July 2016. You will need to provide me with the following information:

  1. Name
  2. Organisation
  3. Academic Discipline (high level)
  4. Email address and telephone number
  5. Have you got experience of applying for grants? yes/no
  6. Are you likely to apply for grants in the future but haven’t done so to date? yes/no
  7. Do you work in a research development, finance or other research office role? yes/no
  8. Have you conducted peer reviews for the Research Councils or any other funder before? yes/no
  9. Have you sat on an assessment or moderating panel for the Research Councils or any funder before? yes/no

New HSS PhD paper!

BRIAN, PG research, Publishing, student research

SPSHSS PhD student Andrew Harding and fellow authors  Jonathan Parker, Sarah Hean and Ann Hemingway have recently had a paper accepted for publication in Social Policy & Society, the sister publication to the Journal of Social Policy and run by the Social Policy Association.

A critical yet under-researched area, the paper presents a comprehensive literature review that critiques current research on the outcome/impact of information and advice on welfare. A realist evaluation approach is then proposed as being capable to address critical weaknesses in existing research.

Among other areas that are covered, the paper provides an overview of the importance of information and advice in the context of the marketisation of UK welfare provision and a new ‘efficacy framework’ is developed which can be used to assess the scope of research.

A final draft post-refereeing version of the paper will be uploaded to BRIAN in due course.

BU Research Staff Association at the Festival of Learning 2016

A team of researchers at Bournemouth University (BU), representing the BU Research Staff Association (RSA), held an event as part of the annual Festival of Learning. The event captioned ‘Making a difference through research: research with impact’ took place on Tuesday 28th June 2016 in the Fusion Building of the Talbot Campus of BU, and drew a cross section of participants from the University, including members of the public. During the event, presenters showcased research that makes a difference and responds to societal needs. Poster presentations and demonstrations at the event covered a range of topics such as:

  • Improving short term management of patients with dementia admitted to hospital
  • BU Research in Nepal
  • Blaming active volcanoes or active volcanic blame? Volcanic crisis management in developing countries: the case of Cameroon
  • SME Access to Finance
  • Developing a support framework to enhance the placement experience of international students
  • Exploring lifestyle factors among African immigrants living with Type 2 diabetes in the UK
  • Making an Impact with UK Media
  • An evaluation of online 3D Mass Customisation (MC) Design
  • Integrating the Tourism Industry with Emergency Response Planning for Crises and Disasters, Using Building Block Scenarios in the Context of Complexity: Case Study on Cruise Ship Industry
  • Water Pollution vs. Water Management in India

Lead presenters include the following BU researchers: Marcellus Mbah, Michelle Heward, Mary Duah-Owusu White, Yolanda Barrado-Martín, Huiwen Zhao, Folashade Alloh, Genoveva Esteban, Majda Al-Salti, Mary Nanyongo, Thanh Huynh, Pramod Regmi, Henry Bang and Katie Thompson. The following photos captured the engaging and inspiring nature of the event:

FOL 1 FOL 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FOL 3 FOL 6

 

 

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We are thankful to all members of staff who gave a presentation or contributed in some respect to the success of the event. The next BU RSA coffee morning will take place in July. Should you want to get in touch with BU Research Staff Association (RSA) for support or information, do contact the representatives, Marcellus Mbah mmbah@bournemouth.ac.uk. and Michelle Heward mheward@bournemouth.ac.uk.

HE Policy Update

EU referendum

The Minister for Universities and Science, Jo Johnson MP released a statement on 28th June on ‘higher education and research following the EU referendum’.

  • He confirmed that EU citizens currently studying in the UK, or starting their courses in September 2016 will continue to receive loans until they finish their courses.
  • There will be no immediate changes concerning immigration rules of British students living in the EU, and European students living in the UK.
  • There are no changes to students studying in the EU, beneficiaries of Erasmus+ or those considering applying in 2017.
  • There will be no immediate effect on those applying to or participating in Horizon 2020.

Any future changes to the above will depend on the negotiations between the UK and EU.

Jo Johnson also spoke at the Wellcome Trust on ‘Leading the world in the new age of global science’.

  • He said that the prospect of Brexit inevitably poses new challenges at a time when research itself is becoming more collaborative and more global, and that our task now is to chart a course that protects the UK’s status as a full-spectrum scientific power.
  • The government will be creating a new annual £1 million Newton Prize. The prize will be awarded for the best science or innovation projects that promote the economic development and social welfare of Newton partner countries, or address the problems of poor people around the world.
  • The government want the REF and the TEF to be mutually reinforcing and will ask institutions to consider how they promote research-led teaching in their TEF submissions.
  • Jo Johnson also announced he would be concerned about any discrimination against UK participants in Horizon 2020.

Jane Forster has written a blog about the next steps for higher education in light of the EU referendum result, you can view the blog on the Bournemouth University website.

Graduate Employment

The DLHE survey for 2014/15 has been published. The Times Higher has reported that the proportion of UK university leavers in work or further study has hit a record high, with more graduates going into professional jobs, but that there is a growing gender pay gap, with male graduates earning significantly more on average than their female counterparts. However The Telegraph reports that over 50,000 new graduates are in non-graduate jobs, including lollypop ladies, factory workers and hospital porters.

Irish Higher Education

Irish universities risk losing part of their funding if they fail to tackle gender inequality under proposed reforms to improve women’s promotion chances in academia. Institutions would also be unable to apply for research funding if they failed to achieve at least a Silver Athena SWAN award within seven years. Improve gender balance in Irish HE or face fines, says review (THE).

Student Loans

The Petitions Committee has granted a debate on ‘stopping retrospective changes to the student loans agreement’ following the petition on the subject receiving over 100,000 signatures. The debate will take place on 18th July at 4:30pm and will be led by Helen Jones MP, Chair of the Petitions Committee. You can watch the debate via this link.

TEF

An article in the Times Higher Education claims that an industry-wide, university-student “contract to educate” must be implemented. This should incorporate as binding terms the representations made by the university to the applicant/student-consumer, and include the essential comparative data that students need to begin to overcome the information asymmetry problem. The TEF: trading standards whose time has come (THE).

Why editorials?

international, Knowledge Transfer, open access, Publishing, Research Integritiy, writing

Zika editorial 2016BU academics are editors on a wide range of scientific journals.  As editors we often write editorials for academic journals which have a number of specific functions.  It is a key means of communication between the editor(s) and the journal’s readership.  It is also vehicle to highlight topical academic and political issues related to the journal and the discipline(s) it represents. JAM June 2016 editorial

Earlier this week the latest issue of the Journal of Asian Midwives came out with an editorial which is an illustration of the first point giving information to the readers [1].  The topics addressed in this editorial included the announcement that this new journal was now indexed in the CINAHL Database, a recent major international conference in the field and a call for the forthcoming 2017 ICM (Internation Confederation of Midwives) tri-annual conference.  Today saw the publication of an editorial on the Zika virus and its potential impact in Nepal in the journal Medical Science [2].   This guest editorial co-written by BU’s Visiting Faculties Dr. Brijesh Sathian and Prof. Padam Simkhada with Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen (Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health) calls for action in Nepal.  A country where malaria is endemic. The Zika virus uses mosquitoes like the ones spreading Dengue fever and malaria.  Zika is a virus we do not wish to see spreading in countries where malaria is already rife.  The editorial warns that precautionary measures are needed to prevent a Zika outbreak as the spread of the virus to the country seems inevitable, the only uncertainty is when it will be arriving.

Both journals are Open Access which means these editorials can be read by anybody with internet access free of charge.

References:

  1. Jan, R., van Teijlingen, E. (2016) Editorial JAM June 2016, Journal of Asian Midwives 3(1):1. http://ecommons.aku.edu/jam/vol3/iss1/1/
  2. van Teijlingen, E., Sathian, B., & Simkhada, P. (2016). Zika & Nepal: a far greater risk for its population than to individuals. Medical Science 4(2): 312-313. http://www.pubmedhouse.com/journals/ms/articles/1064/PMHID1064.pdf

 

Research and Knowledge Exchange Development Framework – building a team

Knowledge Exchange

teamworkWe have previously posted about the Research and Knowledge Exchange (RKE) Development Framework. Here we introduce another of the pathways: that dedicated to building a team.

The ‘building a team’ pathway will take into consideration the many types of team which can be required for research and knowledge exchange. There will be sessions on working with stakeholders, and external facilitators will be brought in to deliver events based around building a team and networking for research and knowledge exchange. We will run several sandpits, each based around a grand challenge, with a view to bringing together interdisciplinary and inter-sector teams to address a major research problem.

We’ll be populating the the OD website with more information and the booking link over the coming weeks. We’ll also be providing a timetable of all events as soon as possible. In the meantime, updates will be posted on the BU research blog and the Faculty blogs.