You are warmly invited to this week’s research process seminar. Hosted in FMC but open to all staff and research students
Summary of talk:
Whether explaining scientific details, introducing concepts from postcolonial politics or quoting archival texts, turning research into news is always a challenge. In this seminar I introduce my process for identifying ‘infobites’ and tailoring them for an intended audience to maximise the reach and impact of your academic research. I also offer tips on ‘what not to wear’ and how to deal with journalists’ questions that you don’t want to answer. This seminar draws from my extensive experience working with media outlets ranging from Vice News to the BBC, from Elle magazine to Business Insider. At the end of this seminar, you will know:
– How to identify ‘infobites’ that target a specific outlet and audience
– How to deal with difficult questions
– How to link research to impact via engagement with the media
Speaker bio:
Anna Feigenbaum is a Professor in Digital Storytelling here at BU where I also co-direct the Science, Health and Data Communications Research Centre. My research spans these fields of communication. I am the author of Tear Gas (Verso Books 2017) and an author of Protest Camps (Zed/Bloomsbury 2013), Protest Camps in International Context (Policy Press 2017) and The Data Storytelling Workbook (Routledge 2020). I am currently working on a monograph for Verso about infertility and the IVF marketplace and publishing findings from my UKRI/AHRC COVID-19 Rapid Response research project that investigated the use of webcomics on social media to share public health messages.
About the research process seminar series:
The purpose of this research seminar series is different to your typical research seminar and conference presentation. Instead of presenting the results and outcomes of research, we want to share good practices around the process of doing research. This might often involve a focus on research methods but it also includes aspects of publishing, writing, time management, career management etc.
The idea here is that the speaker takes us through the anatomy of the project or approach focussing particularly on the process – the challenges, the successes, and the failures. For the audience, we walk away with a practical application of a method or approach we may not be familiar with or may not have applied in this way before. Our ambition is to make us all better researchers as a result.
November’s Community Voices webinar welcomes Laney White from Portland Global Friendship Group
Do join us to hear from Laney first hand about the inspirational work the group have been doing….
When the concept of the Bibby Stockholm barge for asylum seekers was announced in Portland without any public consultation, our local community experienced a groundswell of racist, violent opinion and speech.
A group of local people who were dismayed by this racist intolerance came together through Stand Up To Racism and formed The Portland Global Friendship Group. We were (and are) opposed to the asylum seekers being housed on The Barge but are in full support of the men.
Amongst a sea of hostility we wanted the asylum seekers to know they were welcome within our community. We have been supporting the asylum seekers through a variety of different ways. We oppose racism on any level but hope we can build bridges within our community by showing kindness and tolerance.
Community voices is a collaboration between BU PIER partnership and Centre for Seldom Heard Voices to provide a platform and a voice to local community activists.
It is awarded by Vitae, a global leader in supporting the professional development of researchers, and was retained following an external review.
As part of the review process, institutions need to demonstrate that they have completed a gap analysis of their existing policies and practice against the Concordat, developed a robust action plan for implementation, and taken into account the views of researchers.
Key achievements highlighted in our ten-year submission include providing Bridging Funding to enable research staff on fixed term contracts to remain in post while awaiting the outcome of future funding applications, and creating 12 new research posts within high-performing academic teams as part of the Research Capacity Transformation Scheme.
Research staff at BU can also participate in a range of training and development opportunities through the Research and Knowledge Exchange Development Framework (RKEDF) and can access support through networks including the Early Career Researcher (ECR) Network and the Research Staff Association (RSA).
BU is one of three institutions to retain the award after their 10-year review and one of 87 Vitae UK member institutions with the award.
Professor Mike Silk, Co-Chair of the Research Concordat Steering Group (RCSG) at BU, said:
“We are absolutely delighted to have retained the HR Excellence in Research Award following our 10-year review. The award demonstrates our long-term commitment to supporting the career development of our research staff, developing policies to support researcher development, and providing space to empower our research staff to impact their careers.
“Our research staff are integral to the success of Bournemouth University and I’m particularly pleased with how well the RCSG have worked collaboratively this last couple of years to ensure the voices of our research staff have been at the very centre of our progress towards the award.”
He added: “The award not only recognises the progress we have made to date, but provides the impetus for further development in three key areas: our environment and culture, employment conditions, and professional and career development for research staff.
“Our forward-looking action plan will be demanding, but progressing our key actions will ensure we further embed the principles of the research concordat into our processes, procedures, strategic goals and research culture at BU.”
‘Innovation and Productivity of Firms, Labour, and Academia in Times of Violence’ was the most relevant session. Kyiv (Ukraine) had assessed academia output publications with R&D as a measure of productivity for national innovation, showing the impacts of conflict. Then the USA attempted to quantify impacts of variables for the Mexican Drug War effects upon manufacturing firm productivity. Presentations were given on the complex global geopolitical issues of Ukraine reconstruction. This online economics IZA workshop with EACES, presented research productivity models and rationale for causal impacts, with attending international researcher collaborations: including IZA, IOS, Ifo, BiB, EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) and ISET(Georgia). The Chairman concluded this event was one of the best in its field for 2023.
The initial need is for BU (post-2022 global events) to develop the BUBS existing relationship engagements and build new connections for managing transition economics and shaping the presentation of future BU key empirical analyses on firm productivity in transition economies. So, to achieve its future international research outputs end 2024/2025 – ultimately aligning with BU 2025 strategies for international publications and KE. Fiona ‘Stewart’ Vidler MBA MSc MLIBF BUBS – her independent report on this event – on behalf of her two BU AFE advisors, both published in IZA Policy Papers 2019: Professor Jens Hölscher (member, past president of EACES) and Dr Peter Howard-Jones (EACES best thesis award winner 2021 BU with institutional economist links to LSE, London School of Economics).
Follow Link for full details. Note: Photos (faces/names) use on all media is fully approved by organisers appearing with abstracts, papers, you tube recordings – credit source links from Germany: IZA (Institute of Labour Economics) and as an event from EACES (European Association for Comparative Economics Studies) online global workshop conference (27-28 October 2023).
Making the Creative Majority is a new report from the All-party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Creative Diversity launched at the House of Lords earlier this week. The report analyses ‘What Works’ to support diversity and inclusion in creative education and the talent pipeline with a focus on the 16+ age category.
I attended the event for two reasons. The research closely aligns to my own: the report’s focus is work in the creative industries generally; mine is on work in the media industries specifically, so there is much common ground. But my invitation was also prompted by having found myself in the unusual position (for me) of also being the subject of the research. One of my Level 5 units – Client & Audience – provides the report with its case-study for work-simulated learning (see pp 137-138 of report). It is a unit in which media production students work on a live brief for an external organisation, but within a safe and highly controlled University environment. The report suggests that this model can reach students for whom the offer of internships and other forms of work-integrated learning will simply not reach.
The new report has been produced by King’s College London, University of Manchester, University of the Arts London, YouTube, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, and the Creative Policy and Evidence Centre. Key findings are: the creative workforce is dominated by graduates; there is huge inequality of gender, ethnicity and class across creative HE courses and employment outcomes; the Russell Group of Universities has the most work to do to support DEI in creative HE; and apprenticeships aren’t working for the creative industries.
The report also includes a series of evidence-informed recommendations for government and Higher Education.
Making the Creative Majority full report is available here.
The UK Council for Graduate Education (UKCGE) is the representative body for postgraduate education and research. As BU is a member of the UKCGE, staff can attend online events free of charge.
See below for details on tomorrow’s online event:
Session
Details
Date, Time & Book
Supporting Neurodivergent PGRs
The online discussion session will examine issues surround how best to support neurodivergent PGRs. Attendees will also have opportunity to share and discuss challenges & successes in supporting neurodivergent PGRs in their own institutions.
A reminder the following online events are coming up and may be of interest to research degree supervisors and academic and professional staff who support our PGRs:
Session
Details
Date, Time & Book
Administrative Milestones to Support On-Time Completion
This online Town Hall discussion will focus on ways to improve completion rates amongst PGRs. Using a new initiative at the University of Sheffield as a starting point, attendees will have to opportunity to discuss & share challenges & successes in instigating administrative processes to support PGRs & their supervisors to completion.
Administrative Checks for Examiners of Vivas: Right to Work Checks and Other Challenges
This online discussion will examine some of the administrative issues faced by institutions in ensuring that examiners of vivas are appointed in an appropriate manner. For example a number of institutions have reported challenges with right to work checks for viva examiners. This discussion, led by the University of Westminster and held under the Chatham House rule, will allow colleagues from across the sector to share and discuss their own, and other institutions’, approaches in this area.
What is the impact of doctoral research in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences?
This online discussion, run in collaboration with The British Academy, will examine the impact of doctoral research in the arts, humanities and social sciences.
At BU we promote and celebrate the work done to engage public audiences with our research. The Public Engagement with Research team in Research Development and Support can help promote your event to relevant audiences through our monthly newsletters and via our social media channels.
To be considered for inclusion, your event or activity must be;
Focused on BU research, either solely or as part of a wider programme. Events or activities that do not involve BU research, such as marketing or recruitment events, will not be accepted.
Intended for and open to non-academic audiences, either entirely or as a portion of the audience.
Submitted, at the latest, in the first two weeks of the month preceding the event. For example, an event taking place in June should be submitted via the form any time before 14 May.
Event descriptions may be edited for consistency in style with other content.
Dr Emma Kavanagh co-authors this article for The Conversation about new research exploring how children talk about – or don’t talk about – their experiences of abuse in sport:
Many Australian kids abused in sport won’t ever speak up. It’s time we break the silence
Sport is supposed to be a safe place for kids to learn and play.
Too often, however, sporting clubs can be places where children are abused psychologically, physically or sexually.
Imagine, then, a child in your life had been abused, but never told an adult about it.
Our new research shows that’s the case for many children who’ve experienced abuse in a community sport club.
Here’s what we found about how children talk about – or don’t talk about – their experiences of abuse in sport.
Survey shows abuse goes undisclosed
Our research is the first to explore how often children tell adults about abuse in community sport.
Before this, we knew very little about how children spoke about their experiences of abuse.
This data builds on our previous study, focusing on the responses of the 800 adults who had all experienced abuse in community sport as children.
In our new study, our survey tool asked about childhood experiences of abuse in sport. These ranged from psychological violence (excessive criticism and humiliation), physical abuse (throwing equipment, striking someone), sexual violence (sexualised comments or acts) and neglect (ignoring a child after a poor performance).
We found more than half said they never spoke to an adult about it.
Three in four children never spoke to an adult about abuse from a coach.
Rates of disclosure were even lower when the abuse was from a parent, with eight in nine children not speaking to another adult about their experiences.
We also found boys disclose peer abuse in sport less frequently than girls, while girls had lower rates of disclosing to an adult within the sport club (coach/club manager) than boys.
The evidence shows delayed disclosures of abuse (or never disclosing) can have severe and long-lasting impacts on a child’s mental health.
This makes these findings highly concerning.
Even when children are aware and able to say something is wrong, we found they think twice before speaking to an adult. Shutterstock
Having a policy is important, but not enough
Clubs often try to stamp out abuse by having policies aimed at protecting children.
But we found while policies can provide guidance on who to report abuse to, even getting that far can be difficult.
First, a child victim/survivor (and adults around them) needs to recognise their experience as abuse. In community sporting clubs, a child would then need to talk to an adult (a club member protection officer, for example). Finally, the adult/child would need to formally report the abuse for the policy to be enacted.
In an environment where abuse has become so normalised, children may not even realise they’re experiencing it.
The response system relies on reports of abuse, but participants are often afraid to come forward, or aren’t believed when they do.
Even when children are aware and able to say something is wrong, we found they think twice before speaking to an adult.
The children often questioned whether their experiences were bad enough, especially when they saw other kids going through the same things.
One participant shared bullying was so widespread that:
[…] it’s [violence] a cultural thing in the sport. And so you just learn to live with it, ignore it.
How we respond to children matters
Often children will not have the words to say “I am experiencing abuse”.
In our study children would simply tell their parents they weren’t enjoying sport.
They often didn’t even think they were talking about abuse. One of the people we spoke to said:
I didn’t know I was disclosing […] I just thought I was reiterating what happened during the day.
In most instances, the responses from adults normalised or rationalised the child’s experience of abuse.
A participant shared her parents’ response was:
Sorry you’re experiencing this, but time to just be resilient. Like, just don’t think about it.
Sometimes, the adult offered a supportive and empathetic response, but this was rarely followed up with long-term support or lodging an official report of abuse.
This leaves the experiences of abuse undocumented and unaddressed.
Believe children when they say they are uncomfortable, not enjoying sport or feel unsafe, and ask them how you can help. Shutterstock
Taking action against abuse in sport
We need to talk more about abuse in sport.
The issue is gaining some traction, with the launch of international and national campaigns.
Start To Talk encourages people to have conversations about poor behaviours and improving safety in sport.
Our team in Australia is running workshops on abuse with community sporting organisations.
We have passionate volunteers who want to change the culture, but need support to do so.
Abuse thrives in the shadows, and it is time for more significant action to realise real change. Here is what you can do to help:
listen to children, really listen to what they say
believe them when they say they are uncomfortable, not enjoying sport or feel unsafe, and ask them how you can help
Prof. John Oliver (FMC) recently delivery a keynote speech to over 1000 delegates at the 6th Digital Agenda Summit in Cyprus. The talk examined the subscription video on demand (SVOD) market which has seen explosive growth in recent years with global revenues reaching US$154bn in 2022. He argued that a new phase of low-growth competitive rivalry is emerging with global and local European players fighting for market share and that future growth will be achieved by merger and acquisition in an industry that will inevitably consolidate.
Other keynote speakers taking to the main stage included the President of Cyprus, the Head of Global Communications & Marketing at Google DeepMind & Space X and the Global Lead of Design Communication at BMW.
The report follows the consultation that was conducted by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in November 2022 and outlines how Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and blockchains should be tackled in the future, particularly in relation to art and culture; professional sport and advertising.
In relation to intellectual property rights (IPRs), the report cites copyright infringement, limited recourse and redress (for consumers and creators), the scale of infringement, consumer confusion and the inflexibility of transferring IP as the main issues that needs consideration.
In responding to these issues, the report cites the research by Prof. Mendis calling for more protection for consumers and creators as a result of rising IP infringements, scams and frauds. The report also identifies the unique nature of NFTs and blockchains and cites Prof. Mendis’ research in demonstrating how current laws – such as ‘notice and takedown’ or ‘the right to be forgotten’ – which apply in other circumstances relating to piracy and counterfeiting, may not necessarily apply to online marketplaces. As such, the report recommends a code of conduct to be adopted by online platforms dealing with NFTs.
The hype surrounding NFTs was short-lived and in mid-2022, investors saw a collapse in the NFT market. However, as the report states, “cryptoassets such as NFTs continue to have advocates … [and] even if NFTs never again reach the peak they achieved over the last few years, areas of concern [in relation to regulation] remain”.
As such, based on the research presented in this report relating to intellectual property, the CMSC recommends that the “Government engages with NFT marketplaces to address the scale of infringement and enable copyright holders to enforce their rights”. In relation to sports, the report identifies the financial risks and harm which NFTs present to fans and the reputational harm it presents to clubs and recommends that “any measurement of fan engagement in sports, including in the forthcoming regulation of football, should explicitly exclude the use of fan tokens”.
Finally, in relation to advertising, and once again citing the research by Prof. Mendis, the report recommends that the Government respond to misleading and/or fraudulent advertising for NFTs.
This session is aimed at academics and researchers at all career stages and at all stages of the project lifecycle – from formulating research questions and preparing grant applications to developing a potential impact case study.
This practical workshop provides the tools, advice and time to start putting together your own plan to achieve impact.
By the end of this session, you will have created a detailed impact development plan, tailored to your particular needs and stages of impact development.
Impact Essentials: creating your impact development Plan
Tuesday 28th November
13.00 -15.00 at Talbot Campus
To book onto this session, please complete the Booking Form.
Introduction to RED – The Research & Enterprise Database
This session is aimed at all academics to provide an overview of the Research & Enterprise Database,
including how to access the system, the information available to view, budget management via RED,
and how to use RED to identify your supporting pre and post award officers.
Thursday 15th November Talbot Campus, 14.00-15.00
Principal Investigation – Post Award for RKE
This session is aimed at any researcher who is, who plans to be, a Principal Investigator for an externally funded research or knowledge exchange project.
Topics covered include:• What is post award?• Roles and responsibilities• Systems• Key policies• Starting your awarded project
• Making changes to your project and reporting• Hints and tips
By the end of the session, attendees will have a strong foundation of what to expect when being responsible for their awarded projects.
This session is aimed at ECRs who are new to or who have experience of academic publishing and wish to find out more.
The session will offer insight into the point and process of academic publishing in journals, edited collections and monographs. It will offer advice and guidance on pitching, developing ideas for publications, how to respond to reviewer feedback, and how to write a monograph proposal.
By the end of the session, attendees will have acquired greater knowledge of academic publishing and greater confidence in pursuing publications relevant to their career stage and development goals.
Wednesday 8th November from 13.00 – 14.00
Talbot Campus – MS Teams
To book onto Academic Publishing session, please complete the Booking Form.
BU is a partner of The Conversation, a news analysis and opinion website with content written by academics working with professional journalists.
In addition to the training sessions run by Conversation editors throughout the year, they have now created four new asynchronous online courses to help you learn more about working with The Conversation and what they are looking for from pitches and articles.
Four short courses are now available for you to complete online at your leisure:
The courses are open to all BU academics and PhD candidates who are interested in finding out more about working with The Conversation. They will help you to understand how The Conversation works, the editorial support provided, and develop the skills to write for non-academic audiences.
The courses are being mapped to Vitae’s researcher development framework to help further contribute to professional development at all levels.
The Conversation is a great way to share research and informed comment on topical issues. Academics work with editors to write pieces, which can then be republished via a creative commons license.
Since we first partnered with The Conversation, articles by BU authors have had over 9.5 million reads and been republished by the likes of The i, Metro,National Geographic Indonesia and the Washington Post.
Bournemouth University is committed to continue supporting the growth of our postgraduate researchers (PGRs) through the BU match-funded studentship scheme. As such, we are delighted to announce the launch of the allocative process for projects due to start during 2024-2025 academic year.
There are up to 10 match-funded studentship projects available, with a focus on supporting the BU research themes. There are no fully-funded studentships on offer. Match-funded studentships will only be offered in conjunction with guaranteed external match-funding.
The allocative process will be overseen by the BU Studentships Funding Panel and administered by the Doctoral College.
The deadline for submission of applications is 5pm on Monday 11 December 2023.
If you have any questions about your application, please speak with your Deputy Dean for Research and Professional Practice (DDRPP) or the Heads of the Doctoral College: Dr Fiona Knight (for FST or FHSS enquiries) or Dr Julia Taylor (for BUBS or FMC enquiries).
Over the past fifteen years, we have cultivated and nurtured a robust and enduring research partnership with The Tank Museum. This extensive collaboration has borne fruit through a series of successful projects, undertaken in conjunction with both The Tank Museum and the Ministry of Defence UK. One of the standout outcomes of our cooperative efforts with The Tank Museum was the pivotal role it played in the creation of the REF2021 BU UoA12 Impact Case Study. Throughout this period, our collaborative research has not only thrived but has also made substantial contributions to fostering a mutually beneficial relationship between BU and industry, primarily in the realm of Design Engineering education.
The end of a significant chapter in our long-standing collaboration was marked by a farewell luncheon in honour of The Tank Museum’s Director, Richard Smith OBE. Richard Smith will be embarking on a new venture within another esteemed organisation. While this may signify the conclusion of an era, it is unequivocal that our commitment to fostering and fortifying our alliance with both The Tank Museum and Richard’s new organisation will remain unwavering.
With deep respect and gratitude, Professor Khan and his distinguished team, comprising Dr. Adil Saeed, Dr. Hammad Nazir, Professor Keith Stokes, and Dr. Jawad Latif, extend their heartfelt best wishes to Richard Smith OBE. Simultaneously, they extend a warm and anticipatory welcome to the incoming Director of The Tank Museum, as we collectively embark on new horizons of research and education in the days to come.
The deadline is approaching to get your application in to present at the 15th Annual Postgraduate Research Conference 2023.
The conference will take place on Wednesday 29 November. This is a great opportunity for postgraduate researchers to showcase and promote their research to the BU community whether they have just started or are approaching the end of their journey at BU.
Attending the conference is a great opportunity to engage and network with the postgraduate research community and find out more about the exciting and fascinating research that is happening across BU.
Abstracts are invited from postgraduate researchers to present via oral or poster presentation.
Professor Khan has been recently awarded prestigious research exchange funding by Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. Tsinghua University ranks 1st in Asia and 12th World Ranking and 9th World Reputation. The collaboration between Professor Khan and Professor Yonggang Meng of Tsinghua University has been in place since 2009-2010 and has resulted in multiple exchange visits and academic achievements. Building on his ongoing collaborative research with Tsinghua University, which is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of PR China and Global Visiting Fellowship Award from Bournemouth University, has led another output which has been accepted for publication in Tribology Letters, a solid quartile one journal in mechanical engineering. This recent collaborative work offers valuable insights into the mechanisms of achieving super low friction in liquid-lubricated sliding point contacts. Its potential applications in various industries and contributions to academic understanding make it a significant endeavour with far-reaching impacts.
The central question being explored by Professors Khan and Meng, along with their research teams, is the key to achieving super low friction in water-based ultralow or super low friction experiments. This question carries significant importance for both academia and industry.
In academia, understanding the factors that influence super low friction can advance our knowledge of friction reduction mechanisms. This research contributes to the academic understanding of this critical field and can serve as a foundation for further investigations.
In the industrial context, the impacts are substantial. Achieving super low friction has the potential to improve the efficiency of mechanical components and reduce energy consumption in various industries. This knowledge will lead to the development of more efficient machinery and systems, saving resources and costs for industries.
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