/ Full archive

BU welcomes EU-China Industrial Technology Transfer Centre

innovation, international, Knowledge Exchange

EUCITTC-LOGOBournemouth University welcomed Mr Peter Huang, Deputy Director of the EU-China Industrial Technology Transfer Centre, when he visited on 5th May 2016.

Mr Huang, a BU alumnus, presented the future EUCITTC vision for engagement with international universities, including those in the UK.

Central to this vision is the development of an international technology canal for transporting R&D, innovation, technology, funds and opportunities for cross-boundary cooperation; opening a new pattern for technology achievements transferring and transforming and facilitating the combination of technology and economy. Meanwhile, by cooperating with many partners, EUCITTC is planning and formulating the system for the technology cooperation between the EU and China, so as to break through the bottleneck of international technology exchange and cooperation.

Find out more about the EUCITTC services and their structure.

How does research influence public policy?

Knowledge Exchange, PG research

Informing government policy was the most commonly cited impact in REF 2014.  Join us on Wednesday 25 May or Thursday 26 May to find out how government policy is developed, and explore the ways in which policy can be influenced and informed by research.

In bitesize hour-long seminars, Jane Forster (Policy Adviser to the Vice-Chancellor) and Emma Bambury-Whitton (Policy and Public Affairs Officer) will explore successful routes to impact through policy engagement.  From giving evidence at Select Committee inquiries and creating policy briefing papers, to engaging in direct correspondence with MPs and Peers, this session will give practical tips and examples of how research filters into policy discussions.

The session will also outline the opportunities and resources available within BU and externally to support academic and support staff to engage decision-makers with research.

Book your place via Eventbrite:
Wednesday 25 May – Talbot
Thursday 26 May – Lansdowne

The session will take place on Wednesday 25 May in Kimmeridge House (KG03) Talbot campus from 13.30 – 14.30 and will be repeated on Thursday 26 May at 12.30 – 13.30 in the Executive Business Centre (EB708) Lansdowne campus.  Please feel free to bring your lunch along to the sessions.

impact wordle 3

This session forms part of a series of research impact seminars and workshops, organised by RKEO to explore the various pathways to achieving societal and economic impact.  Within the series, attendees will explore methods for effectively engaging a variety of research users throughout the research process, and develop new ways to plan, deliver and evidence impact.

 

View the other events in the series or email Genna West for further information.

 

Smart Cities Sandpit – One week to go!

BU Challenges, Funding opportunities, Research themes, Training

creativity road signThere are still a few places remaining at the RKEO Smart Cities Sandpit on Tuesday, 24 May 2016.

We have a fast-moving and interactive day planned for attendees. Amongst others, we will be joined by Dr Adorkor Bruce-Konuah from Oxford Brooks’ Low Carbon Building Group, who will talk about ERIC – a smart energy system project in Oxford.

So, how do I book onto this event?

To take part in this exciting opportunity, BU staff  should complete the Smart-Cities-Sandpit-Application-Form and return this to Dianne Goodman by Thursday, 19th May (extended)

By applying, you agree to attend for the full duration of the event on 24th May (c. 9:30 – 16:30). This event will be held in BU’s Executive Business Centre (EBC).

If you have any queries prior to submitting your application, please contact Emily Cieciura, RKEO Research Facilitator: EU & International.

EPSRC seeking advisory team members

EPSRC_logoEPSRC is seeking applications from industrialists, academics and individuals working in the third sector and government organisations to join Strategic Advisory Teams (SATs), across the range of EPSRC‘s Themes.

They are looking for suitable individuals to guide and advise as theme experts across a range of EPSRC‘s current key themes. They seek the widest participation: you can be full-time or part-time, on sabbatical or a career break, academic or researcher, based in academe, industry, the third sector or government organisation.

Further information and terms of reference can be found on the EPSRC website. Further information on the Energy SAC and the Digital Economy PAB can be found on the RCUK website.

Please visit the Strategic Advisory Boards Membership page for further information on vacancies and how to apply. The closing date is 01 July 2016.

White paper on Higher Education published today

bis-headerLogoAhead of the Queen’s speech on 18 May, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has published a press statement outlining the main content of its white paper on higher education. In it BIS said that the government wanted to create a single organisation called UK Research and Innovation to bring together the seven research councils and Innovate UK under a single umbrella, although ensuring that the agencies retained “their identities and delegated budgets”.

At the same time BIS proposed stripping the Higher Education Funding Council for England of its research and knowledge exchange functions, including QR funding, which will be transferred to UK Research and Innovation.

The white paper, called Success as a Knowledge Economy, follows a public consultation launched in November.

By the end of the week, BU’s Policy and Public Affairs office will provide an analysis of what this means for the university, and what actions will follow.  Keep an eye on the research blog for further news and details of internal workshops to be held.  Wonkhe has published a blog outlining the ‘hopes and fears’ of the white paper which you can see here. The blog includes a comment from BU’s Jane Forster.

You can read a summary of the white paper in an article published by Research Professional.

 

How can working with the media help generate impact from your research?

Knowledge Exchange, PG research

Join us on Tuesday 24 May and Thursday 26 May to find out how researchers can reach a wider audience and effectively use the media to increase the impact of their research.

The PR Team here at BU will take you through traditional and social media channels that can be used to communicate your research findings to both the general public and more specialised audiences. You will receive tips on how to work effectively with the media and find out how BU can support this process.

Dr Sarah Bate will then talk you through her experiences of engaging with the media, presenting a key impact case study that has extensively used the media to generate and evidence impact.

Book your place via Eventbrite:
Tuesday 24 May – Lansdowne
Thursday 26 May – Talbot

The session will take place on Tuesday 24 May in the Executive Business Centre (EB306) Lansdowne campus from 12.30 – 14.00, and will be repeated on Thursday 26 May in Kimmeridge House (KG03) Talbot campus from 13.30 – 15.00. 

 

impact wordle 3

This session forms part of a series of research impact seminars and workshops, organised by RKEO to explore the various pathways to achieving societal and economic impact.  Within the series, attendees will explore methods for effectively engaging a variety of research users throughout the research process, and develop new ways to plan, deliver and evidence impact.

 

View the other events in the series or email Genna West for further information.

FMC Cross-Departmental Seminar Series 18 May 2016

Communicating Research

FMC Cross-Departmental Seminar Series 2015-16

The Faculty of Media and Communication at BU

Venue: W240, Weymouth House, Talbot Campus, Bournemouth University, Fern Barrow, Poole, Dorset, BH12 5BB

Wednesday 18 May 2016, 4pm, W240

A Journalism Research Group Guest Lecture

Tim Markham, Birkbeck (University of London)

Making Audiences Care: Journalistic Depictions of Distant Suffering

One of the tropes often heard in journalism research is that audiences suffer from compassion fatigue: with all the suffering going on in the world, they aren’t willing or able to care about it as much as journalists want them to. This is usually framed in pejorative terms, with readers and viewers seen as cosseted, and in response scholars and practitioners try to come up with new ways of breaking through the desensitised fog in which people are thought to live. In this seminar it will be seen that such strategies are largely counter-productive, and that if we want to reengage audiences with the realities of conflict and injustice we need to understand better how they pay attention to it amid the routines and rhythms of everyday life.

About the series

This new seminar series showcases current research across different disciplines and approaches within the Faculty of Media and Communication at BU. The research seminars include invited speakers in the fields of journalism, politics, narrative studies, media, communication and marketing studies. The aim is to celebrate the diversity of research across departments in the faculty and also generate dialogue and discussion between those areas of research.

Contributions include speakers on behalf of

The Centre for Politics and Media Research

The Centre for the Study of Journalism, Culture and Community

Promotional Cultures & Communication Centre

Public Relations Research Centre

Narrative Research Group

Journalism Research Group

Advances in Media Management Research Group

Kind Regards,

Brian

Brian McNulty

Research Development Co-ordinator

Faculty of Media & Communication

The Loft (P181), Poole House, Talbot Campus

Fernbarrow, Poole

BH12 5BB

bmcnulty@bournemouth.ac.uk

(+44 (0)7834 154984

Office Hours: Monday-Friday 8:00-16:30

Web: www.bournemouth.ac.uk

Join us on: Facebook |Twitter |YouTube |LinkedIn

Funding – 3D printing solutions

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, innovation

InnovateUK_LogoA_Interim_RGBx320govuk[1]

Are you working with a business that may be interested in this funding opportunity?

Businesses can apply for a share of £4.5 million for innovation projects that develop smarter, better connected 3D printing solutions.

Innovate UK is investing up to £4.5 million in industrial research projects that will stimulate innovation in additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing.

Additive manufacturing is a well-established tool for rapid prototyping and tooling. It can provide direct production of end-use components and consumer goods. These can be in a wide variety of global market sectors – from medical devices to aerospace.

Businesses can apply for funding to help them explore and develop their wider digital manufacturing capability. Projects must show a significant innovation step in both additive manufacturing and connected digital manufacturing.

Competition information

  • the competition opens on 23 May 2016
  • applicants must register before noon on 20 July 2016
  • a UK-based business must lead the project and work with at least one other business
  • businesses could receive up to 70% of their project costs for industrial research
  • we expect projects to last between 1 and 3 years
  • we expect total eligible project costs for each project to be between £500,000 and £1.5 million
  • there will be a briefing event for potential applicants in London on 7 June 2016

Click here for more information.

Competion brief can be found here.

Pedro Zamora, Sexuality and AIDS Education

Fusion

After researching the life of AIDS activist Pedro Zamora for some time (since my Phd in 2005 in fact), and having the opportunity more recently to work on an ‘educational biography’ of his life, partly funded by the Fusion Project a couple of years ago, I am delighted that the book is now coming out on 1 June, 2016.  Pedro’s life story is inspiring, he was an immigrant from Cuba arriving in the United States in 1980, aged 8.  He found out that he was HIV positive aged 17, and went on to become possibly the most well known HIV/AIDS educator who was able to reach youth audiences through his appearance on the reality television series The Real World: San Francisco in 1994.  He died not long after the series was broadcast at aged 22, but he reached so many people, and his message is still so relevant, when we consider that HIV/AIDS is more than ever a worldwide concern, devastating in many places.  Pedro’s message touches us deeply, and his message is not lost. I must sincerely thank not only John M Clum (Professor Emeritus of Theater Studies and English at Duke University) and Toni Tan at Cambria Press for commissioning the book, when I found it difficult to find anyone interested in an ‘educational biography’,  but also to Bill Nichols and Christine Holmlund for such endorsements of the book.

9781604979237front

Showcase YOUR research at the RSA Festival of Learning Event

We are looking for researchers from across BU to take part in the BU Research Staff Association (RSA) Festival of Learning event ‘RSA – Research with impact’ on 28th June 2016 between 4 -7pm.

During this event researchers from across BU will have an oppoortunity to showcase their research to the public in innovative ways (e.g. through Lego, artefacts,  or talking around an exhibited poster or object etc). Please note that we have a small budget to help researchers pay for posters and other artefacts.

If you would like an opportunity to showcase your research to wider audiences then please email Michelle Heward mheward@bournemouth.ac.uk for an expression of interest form (expressions of interest to be received by 27th May 2016).

Kind regards, Michelle Heward and Marcellus Mbah

BU Research Staff Association

Touch Gesture for Smartphone

PG research

We would like to invite you to the latest research seminar of the Creative Technology Research Centre.Gestures

 

Title: Touch Gesture for Smartphone

 

Speaker: Chi Zhang (Bournemouth University PhD student)

 

Time: 2:00PM-3:00PM

Date: Wednesday 18th May 2016

Room: P302 LT, Poole House, Talbot Campus

 

Abstract:

The number of smart device users is over one-quarter of the global population for the first time in 2015 and there will be 2 billion smart device users over the world by 2016. Increasingly the number of intelligent apps available to access is also one reason for its popularity. However, as a result it becomes challenging to locate and launch an app easily and quickly. In this seminar Chi Zhang will talk about her research on how a user defined gesture may enhance user’s experience on locating an app. The talk will present the results of an initial experiment. Participants are first asked to create a gesture for 15 often used apps (such as Chrome, Gmail, Facebook, etc.), based on apps’ function, and their icons’ textural or visual information. Then the next day the participants tried recalling their defined gestures and use a gesture to locate and launch the corresponding app. The experiment aims to find out what information the user applies to create a gesture and how it’s related to the recalling of the gesture.

 

We hope to see you there.

Committee inquiries: open calls for evidence

Below is a list of committee inquiries with current open calls for evidence. Please contact Emma Bambury-Whitton if you would like to discuss submitting evidence.

Commons Select Committee inquiries

Joint Committee inquiries

 

HE Policy Update

UCU

UCU has confirmed that staff will strike on Wednesday 25 and Thursday 26 May, adding that if no agreement is reached in the coming weeks “members have agreed to target further strike action in June and July”. There is concern that the strikes will affect students over the exam period. University strike could threaten exams. (BBC News).

DHLE Consultation

HESA has released its consultation on the future of DLHE. The consultation is looking for feedback on high level principles regarding what information needs to be gathered about post study outcomes for those leaving higher education in future. It will focus on four key themes: future-proofing, efficiency, fit for purpose and supporting legislation. BU will be coordinating a response to the consultation.

 Resolution Foundation

The Resolution Foundation has published a report looking into improving career pathways for non-graduate careers. The report highlights that previous analysis and policy has focused on two groups – boosting high-level skills and improving the employment prospects of the least educated, whereas individuals in between those groups have been overlooked. You can view the report here.

 HEPI

HEPI has published a new report looking into why fewer men go to university than women, and why those who do attend, do not perform as well at university. The report makes several recommendations, including the suggestion of adopting a ‘Take Our Sons To University Day’ modelled on ‘Take Your Daughter To Work Day’. You can view the report here.

OFFA

OFFA has published their annual report on the outcomes of its access agreements in 2014/15. The report notes that while headway has been made to address under-representation among some groups, including students with a disability, more limited progress has been made in relation to part-time and mature students. You can view the report here.

NUS

Newcastle University Students’ Union has joined Lincoln in voting to disaffiliate from NUS. As at Lincoln, turnout was low, but the result was far more comprehensive in Newcastle with 67% voting to leave. Newcastle cut ties with the National Union of Students. (The Telegraph).

 HE White Paper

We are expecting the HE White Paper early next week. Wonkhe has published a blog outlining the ‘hopes and fears’ of the white paper which you can see here. The blog includes a comment from Jane Forster.

HEFCE

HEFCE has announced its preferred bidders for the new operating model for quality assessment in higher education in England.

  • Gateway into the higher education system (Lot 1): the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.
  • Verification of a provider’s approach to its own review processes (Lot 2): the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.
  • Support for governing bodies (Lot 3): the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education.
  • Unsatisfactory quality investigations (Lot 4): the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.
  • Degree standards (Lot 5): the Higher Education Academy.
  • International activities (Lot 6): the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.

John Maddox Prize

Nominations are now open for the 2016 John Maddox Prize for Standing up for Science. Now in its fifth year, this unique international prize recognises the work of an individual who promotes sound science and evidence on a matter of public interest, facing difficulty or hostility in doing so.

Could you help spread the word and share this with your networks? (#MaddoxPrize on Twitter) And it would be great if you could start thinking about who you might nominate for the award. The deadline for entries is 1st August 2016.

John Maddox was a founding trustee of Sense about Science, and an inspirational figure to many. A passionate and tireless communicator and defender of science, Maddox engaged with difficult debates, inspiring others to do the same.

To nominate someone for the prize or find out more, please visit http://bit.ly/Maddox2016.

For more info on Sense about Science, see  http://www.senseaboutscience.org/