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I am back – Kaska Musial-Gabrys

K Musial-GabrysOver a month has passed since I re-joined Bournemouth University. As some of you may remember, I first joined BU in 2010 but then went to King’s College London for almost four years. Now I am back in my new role of Principal Academic in Computing (what a mystery that job title is!). Living at the sea side cannot be overrated!

Main areas of my research are complex networked systems, and analysis of their dynamics and evolution, as well as predictive, adaptive modelling of networked systems. I have recently started research in a new direction – the application of machine learning approaches to networked, dynamical systems. So, if you have some data for analysis, please keep in touch.

As for my experience, I received my MSc in Computer Science from Wroclaw University of Technology (WrUT), Poland, and an MSc in Software Engineering from the Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden, both in 2006. I was awarded my PhD in November 2009 from WrUT, and in the same year I was appointed a Senior Visiting Research Fellow at Bournemouth University (BU), where from 2010 I was a Lecturer in Informatics. I joined King’s College London in November 2011 as a Lecturer in Computer Science and I worked there till the end of August 2015. At Bournemouth I work in the Faculty of Science and Technology and together with my colleagues we try to develop Data Science Institute that is a cross-disciplinary initiative at BU.

I hope that I will be able to meet you in the future, maybe over a cup of coffee? Please do let me know if you think that my research work may be relevant to what you do.

Best,
Kaska

Conference on Citizenship and Education – 3 November

international

In association with the British Sociological Association, BU is hosting the conference “Citizenship and Education“. The event will take place in Bournemouth House on the 3rd of November, and is organized by the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences.

The program includes a Policy and Politics: Citizenship and Neo-Liberalism panel, and sessions on Comparative Contexts, “Britishness” and Faith, Faith and “Cohesion” and Policy Processes and Relations where experts from around the world will present and discuss their most recent results. Dr Bridget Byrne and Professor David James will open and conclude the event with keynote speeches.

The complete program is available here.

For more information or to book to attend the conference, please visit the British Sociological Association website.

02/11/15 Reminder for our next- European IPR Helpdesk Webinar

Funding opportunities, Info Days

European IPR webinarsThe European IPR Helpdesk is running a number of webinars over the next few months and RKEO are promoting those relevant to EU Horizon 2020 activities. Coming up we are holding the following webinar events:

02/11/15 IP Management in H2020 – with a special focus on MSCA Casterbridge – Talbot Campus

02/12/15 Impact and Innovation in H2020 – a Guide for Proposers The Octagon – Talbot Campus

16/12/15 Maximising the impact of H2020 projects B325 – Bournemouth House – Lansdowne Campus

Please arrive at 9:15am for a prompt 9:30 start with the webinar duration being one hour (45 minutes presentation with 15 minutes for questions). We have the room booked for a longer time so that we can have a post-webinar discussion afterwards, if appropriate. Please only register on the European IPR Helpdesk link if you will be joining the webinar(s) from your own desk rather than joining us. You can also check the European IPR Helpdesk Calendar for all their events.

If you would like to attend any of these, please email Dianne Goodman stating which webinars you will attend. If they prove very popular, we may need to change the room, so pre-booking is essential.

BU International Open Access Week : 19 – 25 October 2015

Info Days, open access, Publishing

Open Access 2015 blog banner 1

Open Access Week, a global event now entering its eighth year, is an opportunity for the academic and research community to continue to learn about the potential benefits of Open Access, to share what they’ve learned with colleagues, and to help inspire wider participation in helping to make Open Access a new norm in scholarship and research.

WHAT IS IT?       Open access is free, unrestricted access to peer-reviewed scholarly research literature and data.

WHY DO IT?       Publicly-funded research should be made freely available to the community who support it

BENEFITS

To the members of public

  • Allows access to journal articles without restrictions of costs and time delay
  • Reveals the latest medical discoveries and breakthroughs (which may save your life)
  • Gives crucial information  freely to medical professionals, students and nurses in developing countries so saving thousands of lives
  • Enriches the educational experience of millions of students and teachers around the world (who otherwise cannot afford subscriptions to prestigious journals)

To the academics

  • Removes  barriers  to networking and sharing research
  • Increases exposure and use of publications
  • Facilitates interdisciplinary collaboration and new discoveries
  • Increase usage, citations and impact

Please visit the links below to hear from our academics about some of the Open Access research that is available to you:

Celebrate Open Access at BU and join us at these exciting events.

oa

NB: Please email Charmain Lyons (clyons@bournemouth.ac.uk) if you wish to join the Faculty Open Access Lunch so that lunch can be ordered for you.

For more information about

  • The International Open Access Week and how you can get involved or help out;
  • Open access in general;
  • how to publish your article open access

Please get in touch with Pengpeng Hatch (pphatch@bournemouth.ac.uk, tel: 01202 963154).
All logo and colour scheme attributed to : www.openaccessweek.org

HE Policy Update

Monday

Europe

Organisations representing universities and students have joined the campaign for the UK to remain in the European Union, while a group of pro-EU scientists has also set out its arguments. NUS and UUK join EU ‘in’ campaign. (THE).  

Tuesday

Oxford University

A Freedom of Information request has revealed there are just 13 women paid more than £140,000 a year, compared with 145 men at Oxford University. Oxford University criticised for gender gap among top earners (BBC News).

Wednesday

TEF

Sajid Javid, the Business Secretary has been questioned by the BIS select committee on the TEF. When questioned on the timescale of the TEF, Mr Javid said that introducing the TEF for 2017 is workable but concerns for universities around it being rushed were understandable, he went on to say that his priority is to ensure they get the TEF right.  Sajid Javid: priority for TEF is to ‘get it right’ (THE).

HEFCE

A piece in the Guardian looks at the future of HEFCE, including how likely it is to continue to exist as well as the importance of it to the higher education sector.  Has Hefce had its chips? (The Guardian HE network).

Thursday

Green Paper

The likely inclusion of widening participation metrics in the teaching excellence framework is being shaped by ministers’ drive to meet targets set by David Cameron and a fear of dropout rates rising after the scrapping of student number controls. Cameron access targets ‘a major factor’ in higher education Green Paper (THE).

General Election

According to a report by HEPI, students had less impact on the outcome of this year’s UK general election than expected. HEPI reveal that one of the reasons for this could be the lack of enthusiasm for Labour’s £6K fees policy. Student voters had ‘less impact than expected’ on general election (THE).

Friday

Student loans

GuildHE has criticised the Chancellor’s plan to freeze loan repayment thresholds for all post-2012 students and graduates in England, calling the move an ‘unfair retrospective change’ that would prompt doubts among future students about whether to go to university.

Osborne plan to force current students pay more for loans ‘unfair’ (THE).

PG Researcher Development Workshops – A new programme for 2015-16

PG research

Organised by the Graduate School, a new programme of workshops is now available to all Postgraduate Researchers.

Coming up in October:

  • SPSS Workshop 2: Managing and Manipulating data in SPSS
  • Time Management AM – Limited Places available
  • How to Manage your Research Project – PM – Limited Places available
  • How to Conduct a Literature Review
  • SPSS Workshop 3: Normality testing and t-tests in SPSS

A full programme of workshops is available – see PGR Workshops – 2015-16 Timetable for further information.  If any are of interest to you, booking is via myBU Graduate School PGR Community (don’t forget to log on with your student username and password).

Supervisors – information on how you can support your PGRs in their personal and professional development can be found on the Graduate School Intranet.

AHRC report measures value of public investment in culture

Funding opportunities

ahrcA new report, published today, addresses the challenge that cultural institutes face when trying to capture the full value of their work to individuals in society.  Commissioned by the AHRC’s Cultural Value Project and using two of the UK premier cultural institutions, the Natural History Museum (NHM) and Tate Liverpool (TL), the report explores alternative approaches and practical evaluation techniques to measuring the value of culture.

The report addresses an evidence gap as far as cultural policy is concerned and has the potential to bring quantitative economic techniques to policy debates which, say the authors of the report, have been “fragmented and curiously ungrounded in empirical evidence”.

View the AHRC press release and link to the report here and find out more.

Cultural celebrations of the biggest Irish Community outside Ireland. A Fusion project.

I have recently returned from a Santander sponsored trip to Glucksman House Ireland, New York University for a series of meetings with key academics within the department of Irish Studies Professor Miriam Nyham, and Professor Mick Moloney at NYU. I attended a number of events to connect with key stakeholders in the Irish events sector in New York. Having recently received funding from the BU Fusion Staff Mobility and Networking Fund (SMN) I plan to continue my networking at NYU performing research regarding my PhD topic ‘The role of identity and place attachment for Irish Diaspora audiences at Irish cultural events’. I am very excited about returning to NYU in Spring next year to meet with my contacts at Glucksman Ireland House, NYU and to perform my Ethnography field research at the Irish Arts Center NY, the Irish Center in Long Island and the range of events at Glucksman Ireland House NYU with many commemorative Irish cultural events. For more information about this project, please contact: Pearl Morrison morrisonp@bournemouth.ac.uk

Mick GH

Undergraduate Research Assistantship programme – staff application deadline extended

student research

Staff are invited to submit applications for an undergraduate research assistant (URA).

The Undergraduate Research Assistantship programme aims to support at least 50 undergraduate students to work under the guidance of an experienced academic in a research position that is directly related to their career path and/or academic discipline.

The staff application deadline has been extended to Sunday 25th October.

To apply for a URA, please complete the following URA Application and send to urap@bournemouth.ac.uk by midnight on Sunday 25th October.  The following selection criteria will help your application.

If you have any questions, please contact Rachel Clarke, KE Adviser (KTP) on 01202 961347 or email clarker@bournemouth.ac.uk

Smartphone device for diabetic tele-monitoring nominated for three awards

A smartphone device for monitoring sensation loss in patients with diabetes has been nominated for three awards at the Institute of Engineering and Technology Innovation Awards. The device, developed by Bournemouth University, the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch NHS Foundation Trust and Poole Hospital Trust enables patients to self-monitor their symptoms and wirelessly transmit their results to their consultants.

Over time, people with diabetes can develop nerve damage, caused by prolonged exposure to high blood glucose levels. Sensation loss needs to be monitored by medical professionals to try and limit further damage. The severity of the nerve damage will dictate the frequency of hospital visits, but it can be as often as monthly which is quite time intensive for both patient and consultant.

The device, created by Dr Venky Dubey and his Postdoctoral Researcher Dr Neil Vaughan, involved the development of a smartphone app and a 3D probe fitted to the phone. The 3D probe is designed to vibrate, according to the intensity set by the app, which helps to analyse the levels of sensation loss in a patient. This data, along with basic details such as weight and height, are recorded by the app and can be transmitted to a GP or consultant who can monitor the need for further treatment or check-ups. As well as being a considerable time saver for both patients and medical professionals, the device also helps to give patients more control over their care.

Commenting on the nomination, Dr Dubey said, “I’m very pleased that our device has been nominated for three awards as it recognises the hard work that went into the project and its potential to make a difference to patient care. Looking to the future, we hope to run clinical trials to test the device and gain patient feedback so that we are able to improve it further before its commercial potential is realised.”

The smartphone app and 3D probe have been nominated for three awards at the Institute of Engineering and Technology Innovation Awards. The categories the team have been nominated for are communication, healthcare technologies and measurement in action. The awards ceremony will be held on 18th November in London.

Reminder for the 03/11/15 Research Professional visit – Book in now!

Funding opportunities, Info Days

Research-Professional-logoAttend our Research Professional visit taking place on the 3rd Nov and get expert help with setting up your personal account and searches!

Every BU academic has a Research Professional account which delivers weekly emails detailing funding opportunities in their broad subject area. Jordan Graham from Research Professional is visiting BU on the 3rd of November 2015 to demonstrate to academics and staff how to make the most of their Research Professional account.

This will include:

  • Building searches
  • Setting personalised alerts
  • Saving and bookmarking items
  • Subscribing to news alerts
  • Configuring your personal profile

Location and the session timings are:

Talbot campus P424

10.15 – 11.15 – Research Professional presentation

11.15 – 11.45 – RKEO interactive session setting up searches

Lansdowne campus S103

13.30 – 14.30 – Research Professional presentation

14.30 – 15.00 – RKEO interactive session setting up searches

After the presentation, the RKEO Funding Development Team will be on hand for an interactive session where they will help you set up your Research Professional account, searches and offer advice from a BU perspective.

This is a great opportunity to learn more about funding opportunities and to meet the Funding Development Team, particularly if you are new to BU.

Please reserve your place now at a BU Campus to suit through Organisational Development