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Pitch at the Pitch Challenge

If you’ve got a great business idea or consider yourself a budding entrepreneur, you’re invited to present your pitch to a panel of five or six enthusiastic local business people at the AFC Bournemouth Vitality Stadium in June.

The panel will be made up of passionate local business people including, Lucy Cooper, Dorset Growth Hub and Nick Hixon, from Hixsons Business Advisors. Each pitch will be expected to last around 15 minutes, followed by 10 minutes for questions from the panel. There are five prizes of £1000 to be won which will be awarded at 4pm on the day.

To get involved, send a brief summary (no more than one side of A4) of your idea to careers@bournemouth.ac.uk by midday on Friday 20 May, with the subject line “Pitch at the pitch”.

Ten finalists will be invited to present their pitches at AFC Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium and successful applicants will be contacted on Friday 27 May.

For the full entry terms and conditions, please login to MyCareerHub using your BU login details.

The challenge is open to all levels and all years of BU students – so, why not get the ball rolling!

The pitch at the pitch challenge is brought you by Santander in conjunction with BU and hosted by AFC Bournemouth.

EU and International Research Facilitator Surgery – Thursday 14th May 2016

Funding opportunities, international

emailEmily Cieciura, RKEO’s Research Facilitator for EU and International funding will be available to chat about funding opportunties from 1-2pm on Thursday 12th May 2016, based in the Global Hub room (DG68).

As these sessions have not proved popular with academics, as has been the case with the RKEO Drop-in Sessions, this will be the last one.

If you need support regarding EU or International funding, please contact Emily to arrange a one-to-one meeting.

Freshwater advanced training course open to PhD students

PG research

Professor Genoveva Esteban and Dr Daniel Franklin, Faculty of Science and Technology, are running a Freshwater Taxonomy and Field Identification skills short course for PhD students, in collaboration with the Freshwater Biological Association.

The course has been funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and has a maximum of 20 funded places available for UK-based applicants. It is based in Dorset and will run for five days from 27 June – 1 July 2016.

To find out more and to apply visit the Freshwater Biological Association website. The deadline for applications is Sunday 15 May 2016.

Introducing the Research and Knowledge Exchange Development Framework!

Knowledge Exchange, Training

We are delighted to announce that the Research and Knowledge Exchange (RKE) development framework will launch in October 2016! launching soon pic

The RKE development framework will offer a new range of opportunities for BU academics  to develop their skills, knowledge and capabilities in relation to research and knowledge exchange.

Consultation with academic colleagues has been key to its development, to ensure that the opportunities to be made available match their needs and wishes. We have created an agile and flexible Framework which we trust will appeal to colleagues undertaking research and knowledge exchange activities across the University.

Look out for more information coming each week on the research blog.

 

 

The Concordat to Support Research Integrity

Research Integritiy

The Concordat to Support Research Integrity provides a comprehensive national framework for good research conduct and its governance. It outlines five commitments which the University must be compliant with as recipients of HEFCE funding.

HEFCE’s letter to all the heads of HEFCE-funded higher education institutions explains the requirement for institutions to comply with the Concordat to Support Research Integrity. It sets out HEFCE’s view of compliance with the Concordat, and provides advice for institutions on finding further information. The five commitments are:

  1. Maintain the highest standards of rigour and integrity in all aspects of research;
  2. Ensure that research is conducted according to appropriate ethical, legal and professional frameworks, obligations and standards;
  3. Support a research environment that is underpinned by a culture of integrity and based on good governance, best practice and support for the development of researchers;
  4. Use transparent, robust and fair processes to deal with allegations of research misconduct should they arise;
  5. Work together to strengthen the integrity of research and to review process regularly and openly.

Each commitment outlines the responsibilities of the researcher, the employers of researchers and the funders of research.

Bournemouth University is committed to ensuring that the research conducted at the Univeristy follows appropriate ethical, legal and professional frameworks and obligations.

A link to the Concordat can be found here:

http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/highereducation/Documents/2012/TheConcordatToSupportResearchIntegrity.pdf

Innovate UK launches £15m manufacturing call

Business Engagement, Funding opportunities, innovation, Knowledge Exchange

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Innovate UK has opened a £15-million competition to support the development of novel technologies or production processes across the manufacturing industry.

Projects need to focus on identified technical or commercial challenges. Innovate UK will fund projects that aim to lead to increased UK SME productivity, competitiveness and growth.

Projects need to be led by a business and must involve at least one SME. They can be carried out by an SME working alone or in collaboration with other organisations. Projects with costs of £100,000 or more must involve working with other partners

Innovate UK are looking for projects which focus on any of the technical feasibility, industrial research or experimental development research categories.

Projects should last between 6 months and 3 years. They should range from total costs of £50,000 to £2 million.

Competition brief in full.

Competition guidance.

If you are interested in submitting to any of the above calls you must contact your  RKEO Funding Development Officer with adequate notice before the deadline.

For more funding opportunities that are most relevant to you, you can set up your own personalised alerts on Research Professional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s/Faculty’s Funding Development Officer in  RKEO or view the recent blog post here.

If thinking of applying, why not add notification of your interest on Research Professional’s record of the bid so that BU colleagues can see your intention to bid and contact you to collaborate.

Rewilding Dorset

conferences

A very successful meeting with 140 delegates from was held in May 2016 at Charlton Down Village Hall, near Dorchester to discuss and explore the application of rewilding concepts to Dorset co-hosted by Bournemouth University and the Dorset Wildlife Trust.

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In recent years, rewilding has become a major theme in conservation, stimulated by publications such as George Monbiot’s Feral and the launch of rewilding organisations both in the UK and at the European scale. While a number of rewilding initiatives have been launched in the UK, most of these are predominantly located in upland areas in the north and west of the country. Elsewhere in Europe, many rewilding initiatives are seeking to encourage ecological recovery on agricultural land that has been abandoned. This raises the question of whether rewilding concepts are applicable to intensive agricultural landscapes such as Dorset, and if so, how they might best be implemented.

We were delighted to be able to welcome a number of speakers who presented at the meeting, including leading researchers with expertise in rewilding, and practitioners with experience in implementing rewilding projects. The meeting also involved representatives from a number of conservation organisations in Dorset.

Speakers included:

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Dr Paul Jepson, Oxford University – “Rewilding policy: risk and opportunities”

 

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Dr Christopher Sandom, University of Sussex – “Putting rewilding into practice”

 

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Dr Matthew Heard, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology – “Ecological impacts of rewilding using extensive grazing: the case of Knepp Estate”

 

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Fiona Bowles, Poole Harbour Catchment Initiative – “Is there space for Dorset Rivers to run wild?”

 

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Helen Meech, Rewilding Britain – “Why Rewild Britain?”

 

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Professor Richard Brazier, Exeter University – “Quantifying the ecohydrological impacts of reintroducing Eurasian Beaver to intensively managed, lowland agricultural landscapes”

 

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Alison Turnock, Dorset AONB – “The Wild Purbeck Nature Improvement Area – towards bigger, better, more, joined”

 

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The day was rounded off with a lively and positive discussion with  Jonathan Spencer (Forestry Commission), Ian Alexander (Natural England), Mark Robbins (RSPB), David Brown (National Trust), Imogen Davenport (Dorset Wildlife Trust) and chaired by Prof. James Bullock (Centre for Ecology & Hydrology).

 

This meeting was held as part of the Modelling Natural Capital in Dorset Project (funded under the Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) initiative). Any questions can be addressed to Research Assistant Arjan Gosal.

Interdisciplinary Research HE Sector Day 21st June 2016 – more speakers confirmed

Please see all the details of BU’s Interdisciplinary Research HE Sector Day on 21st June 2016, dedicated to exploring the benefits and challenges of interdisciplinary research.

With the majority of speakers now confirmed, this is shaping up to be a busy and inspirational day.

Don’t miss out – book now via Eventbrite.

FMC Cross-Departmental Seminar Series 11 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 11 May 2016, 3pm, W240

A Centre for Politics and Media Research Guest Lecture

Maria Rovisco, Department of Media and Communication, University of Leicester

Picturing the Square: the Indignados Social Movement, Pop-up Democracy and the Occupied Square

This paper is concerned with how the indignados social movement (also known as M15) used particular forms of symbolic communication to articulate their collective self-representation as a movement of global citizens. Using a cultural sociology approach, I argue that in their public communication the indignados use the image of the ‘occupied square’ as a symbol of democracy ‘from below’ to transcend the local and address a global public of equally disaffected ordinary citizens. City squares became a stage for a political theatre in which the indignados go on to articulate their democratic struggles and a new way of doing politics outside formal politics, which is highly performative, and constitutive of their collective identity. Drawing upon Hariman and Lucaites’s (2007) conception of iconic image, we will see that the image of the occupied square resonates with global audiences because its meanings tap on a repertoire of culturally shared representations of non-violent occupations of urban space in the twentieth-century (e.g., Tiananmen Square, the civil rights sit-ins) that is powerfully embedded in western public memory. Through semiotic analysis of visual material (maps, photos, posters, image memes) and discourse analysis of public documentation (e.g., pamphlets, manifestos) available in the blogs of the encampments of Lisbon, Barcelona and Madrid, I will show how the occupied square can be understood both as a model of dissent and democratic participation, which becomes available for global circulation when it is picked up and amplified by the media.

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

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Final 3 Minute presentation (3MP) event for the 2015/16 academic year

PG research, student research

Dear all,

3MP is back for the final time for this academic year. This event challenges postgraduate researchers to talk about their research in 3 minutes and is designed to expose the audience to a variety of ideas from different disciplines in a bitesize way. There will be plenty opportunities to meet like-minded individuals and to create new connections among staff and colleagues across the University.

Just to give you a small sample of what to expect we have talks about:

  • Midwifery
  • Diabetes & lifestyle
  • Hacking & Gaming Technology
  • Corporate governance
  • Nature Conservation
  • and much more!!

The event will commence on Thursday 19th May from 18:00 on Talbot Campus.

To attend – book your 3MP ticket here

We hope to see you there!

3MP May promo

Opportunity to receive updates on knowledge exchange and innovation (AURIL Membership)

Business Engagement, innovation, Knowledge Exchange

AURIL

 

Association for University and Research Links  (AURIL) is the professional association representing all practitioners involved in knowledge creation, development and exchange in the UK and Ireland who work to ensure that new ideas, technologies and innovations flow from their institution into the market place. AURIL has more than 1600 members from universities and public sector research establishments across Europe.

The Association enjoys widespread international recognition through its success in influencing UK government policy. It has strong working relations with the Confederation of British Industry, Universities UK, the UKIPO, the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), HM Treasury and Higher Education Funding Councils.

Bournemouth University is a member of this association with a number of academic and professional services support staff members of AURIL.

A number of events are co-ordinated by AURIL during the year including the annual conference – a good way of keeping up-to-date with  what is happening within the sector aswell as a chance to network and meet industry contacts. For more information on this association click here.

You can also opt in to receive regular updates on topics such as EU funding, Local Economic Partnerships (LEP), Student Enterprise & Employability, CPD, Knowledge Exchange. To check out the full list of topics and to be added or to  update your current listing please contact Jayne Codling in RKEO.

The next series of updates will be sent by the end of the month so get your request in soon!

Brownsea Marine and Coastal Observatory

In the pioneering spirit that has characterised previous endeavours on Brownsea Island, a group of seven BU Environmental Science students and staff have been carrying out surveys and studies that will contribute to the creation of a Marine and Coastal Observatory for Poole Harbour. In a partnership that includes the National Trust, Dorset Wildlife Trust and Poole Harbour Study Group, the observatory will create a fusion of coastal research and teaching and provide student placement opportunities.

During this past week, students have been carrying out plankton surveys with Dr Dan Franklin, establishing intertidal monitoring stations and recording nesting bird behaviour on the lagoon with Dr Roger Herbert and Dr Rick Stafford and fieldwork linked to coastal sediment movements and cliff erosion with BU geomorphologists Andy Ford and Dr Luciana Esteves. We were grateful for excellent accommodation at the Dorset Wildlife Trust ‘Villa’ and boat and equipment logistics and transportation using the National Trust vessel Enterprise.   bvuvguer

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Students on board Sea Rush sampling plankton with BU marine biologists Dr. Dan Franklin and visiting Prof. John Humphreys (jhc Research and Poole Port Commissioner).

 

Examining the catch in the National Trust ‘Sail Loft’.

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View down the microscope showing copepods. On hand was BU Alumni and local plankton expert Andrew Powell from Poole Harbour Study Group.

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Surveying beach profiles on the south-west coast.

Important aims of the Observatory are to create a web-based an inventory of marine life of the harbour and to publish reports and papers that record and interpret environmental change.

For further information contact Dr. Roger Herbert, Department of Life and Environmental Sciences.

rherbert@bournemouth.ac.uk

Research Councils publish Delivery Plans for 2016-2020

Funding opportunities, Guidance

RCUKlogoThe UK Research Councils have published their Delivery Plans for the period 2016-2020.

The plans outline how the Research Councils individually and collectively will use their allocations from the Science and Research Budget announced in March to meet their strategic aims and to support the research base to benefit the economy and wider society.

Each Research Council plan is available on their individual websites:

The RCUK Executive Directorate has published a Delivery Plan for the first time which is available here . The Executive Directorate was established a year ago from the former RCUK Strategy Unit to give leadership for the collective activities across the Research Councils and to support the individual Councils to focus on their disciplines and communities. The Directorate’s Delivery Plan outlines future plans for policy and analysis, international, communications and public engagement, the Global Challenges Research Fund and the RCUK Change Programme.

In addition to outlining individual priorities for this period the Research Council Delivery Plans provide information on collective commitments to reform of the Research Councils, equality and diversity, partnership with Innovate UK and the Global Challenges Research Fund.

A helpful summary of each councils delivery plan is provided by Research Professional.