Latest research and knowledge exchange news at Bournemouth University
Lunchtime Seminar with Fiona Kelly, Wednesday 6th May 1-1.50pm, R302
Please come to listen to Fiona Kelly present on BUDI’s innovative approaches for changing public perceptions of dementia and experiences of living with dementia.
Further information on this Seminar series can be found by clicking on the link below.
There is no need to book – just turn up. Contact Zoe on zsheppard@bournemouth.ac.uk for more information.
Fiona looks forward to seeing you next Wednesday.
For our most recent GeoNet event we were lucky enough to have a visit from Gaius Wilson all the way from Southern India. Gaius told us about his PhD research into elephant behaviour. Apparently there are 12-15,000 elephants in Southern India, and they commonly come into conflict with humans. Farmers try to protect their crops with deep ditches (elephants can’t jump!) and electric fences. However, elephants are clever, and have realised that their tusks don’t conduct electricity, so the males (females don’t have tusks) push over fences or use trees to break them. An emerging problem is the spread of a weed called Lantana, which was introduced from South America as an ornamental hedge plant. Lantana forms very high, dense stands which elephants can’t cross. It takes up space and so there is a loss of fodder, since elephants don’t eat Lantana, and the plant contains oils and can lead to more intense forest fires. This pushes elephants closer to villages to find food, and means that locals with captive working elephants have to travel further to find food. One thing the forest department can do to stop elephants being forced to use farmer’s resources is to remove Lantana where it appears. Employing villagers to do this could create work opportunities, with associated economic benefits.
After Gaius’ talk we had an interesting discussion (joined by Susanna Curtin and Mandy Korstjens) about the potential for wildlife tourism to mitigate human/wildlife conflict. The idea is that if farmers have another income stream provided by tourists, it becomes in their interest to protect the animals that the tourists pay to see. However, most wildlife tourism in India is domestic, so not much cash is generated. There are pitfalls with this type of tourism, in that guides and others employed are often not local people, hotels are usually some distance from wildlife sites and locals often don’t receive any benefit from tourist visits, which can lead to resentment. There are some success stories – in Peru all guides are local by law and receive training to fulfil the role. Small-scale tourism in Peru involving locals has spread as nearby villages see the benefits and follow the example of those who set up schemes. However, in India legislation prevents people from setting up such schemes in protected areas, and until this is allowed nature tourism won’t have a role in persuading locals to protect elephants.
Our next three events are;
7th May 13.00-14.00 Lawrence LT (Talbot Campus)
Participatory Research – Gitte Kragh (BU Life Sciences) Hayley Roberts (BU AAFS) Rick Stafford (BU Life Sciences) Paola Palmer (BU AAFS)
14th May 13.00-14.00 KG01 (Talbot Campus)
Storymaps and place-based storytelling – Anna Feigenbaum (BU M & C)
21st May 13.00-14.00, PG19 (Talbot Campus)
Cultural heritage landscapes and deathscapes – Craig Young (Reader in Human Geography at Manchester Met University), Tim Darville (BU SciTech AAFS), Anne Luce (BU M & C)
In response to an open email invitation, a group of social scientists from across BU met on Tuesday 17 March to discuss prospects for inter-Faculty collaboration. As in previous meetings between FMC and HSS colleagues, it was apparent that there were opportunities for more collaborative work than currently exists, and that there is considerable enthusiasm for developing links. A growing presence of the social sciences in BU, and of BU in the social sciences, was felt to be essential to BU’s development as a university with a rich intellectual community. If you haven’t received the report from this meeting by email, and would like to do so, please email Prof. Barry Richards (brichards@bmth.ac.uk)
Ever since BU has built relationships with German Sport University Cologne – arguably, the leading global sport university – in 2012 it has been an evolving partnership in terms of student exchange, teaching and research collaboration as well as other academic and industry-oriented work.
Recently, lead contact Dr Tim Breitbarth’s visit has further maintained and widened this link. Mainly, he taught on international sports marketing and management Masters courses; discussed potential future collaborative teaching formats (such as the already co-organized international student management games); met with current BU exchange students in Cologne; and outlined a joint paper on ‘sponsorships as B2B relationships’ based on empirical data from a student dissertation; and defined the direction for a submission to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellowship Programme.
Why Erasmus? Why Europe?
There is much going for strategically developing Erasmus links, especially if departments seek to extent relationships with European partners beyond student exchange only (arguably, both the core and a starting point). Firstly, it steers EU money towards BU (for both students and staff). Secondly, travel is usually much cheaper than to overseas destinations, so more interaction is likely (and: likely to be funded). Thirdly, there are lots of EU research funding opportunities that require/encourage collaboration within Europe. Fourthly, there is much intercultural learning available for students (and staff). Also, after all, 60% of UK trade is with Europe.
For a variety activities reported on this partnership see the following links on the BU Research Blog and the Faculty of Management Blog (may be search for ‘Cologne’):
http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/author/tbreitbarth/
https://microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk/tourism/category/sport-management/
Bournemouth University offers two opportunities to learn how in-depth research was turned into the award-winning biopic, RUFUS STONE. Premiered in 2012 at Bournemouth, the film has gone on to be screened by universities and by service providers across the UK and abroad. Since the first of the year, the film has also been available for free on the Internet and has been viewed over 9,000 times around the globe.
On Thursday, 14 May RUFUS STONE will be screened on the Talbot Campus of the University in the Marconi Theatre in the Kimmeridge Building, 14:00-15:30 (Please note there will refreshments available from 13:30). This is an opportunity to see the film on a large screen with a sophisticated sound system—the best way to view the poetic rendering of this breath-taking story. Following the half-hour screening, Project Lead, Author and the film’s Executive Producer, Dr. Kip Jones, will take part in a Q & A with the audience. Dr. Trevor Hearing from the Media Faculty will moderate the discussion.
Please register for free at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/from-ivory-tower-to-silver-screen-academics-engaging-with-filmmakers-for-impact-and-to-reach-a-tickets-16206925350 The screening is part of a series of events during the week at Bournemouth University celebrating interdisciplinary research. More info: https://research.bournemouth.ac.uk/interdisciplinary-research-week-2015/
Rufus Stone is the key output of the three-year research project, “Gay and Pleasant Land? -a study about positioning, ageing and gay life in rural South West England and Wales “. The Project was a work package in the New Dynamics of Ageing Project, “Grey and Pleasant Land?: An Interdisciplinary Exploration of the Connectivity of Older People in Rural Civic Society” and funded by Research Councils UK.
Award-winning author and educator, Patricia Leavy, describes the plot in her review of the film for The Qualitative Report: The film tells the story of a young man in rural England who, while developing an attraction to another young man, is viciously outed by small-minded village people. He flees to London and returns home 50 years later and is forced confront the people from his past and larger issues of identity and time.
“Seven years of you life? Was it worth it?” A second opportunity, the following week on Monday, 18 May at 2:35 p.m. in the Executive Business Centre 206, Holdenhurst Road BH8 8EB, will provide a chance to hear just how Jones went about developing the project bid and obtaining funding from the Research Councils. Jones will tell the tale of the three years of development that went into securing the funding for the research and finally, the production of the film.
The Gay and Pleasant Land? Project was a research project that took place as part of the New Dynamics of Ageing Programme (a unique collaboration between five UK Research Councils—ESRC, EPSRC, BBSRC, MRC and AHRC) on ageing in 21st Century Britain. If that wasn’t complicated enough, our project at Bournemouth University was one of seven projects in The Grey and Pleasant Land? group being funded by the NDA in south west England and Wales. Hear how Jones navigated this knotty progression, always keeping his eyes on the prize of making a professional film based on in-depth research.
Open to the public and free. More information at: http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/2015/04/27/hss-sharing-research-experiences-day-18-may-2015/
The call for proposals is now open for this year’s ESRC Festival of Social Science, which will run between the 7th and 14th November. Funding of up to £1500 is available for the Festival , and with Bournemouth University becoming an official partner of the Festival, now is the time to start thinking about submitting a proposal if you wish to be involved in 2015.
If you’re struggling for inspiration for what type of event you can submit for this year, below you can find the fourth in a series of blog posts which will highlight popular events from previous Festivals.
How do people use the outdoors? Was an interesting event as a part of the 2012 ESRC Festival.
This webinar presented findings from the third year of Monitor of Engagement with the Natural Environment survey. Natural England’s social scientist Judith Hannah spoke about people’s use of the outdoors in England; how and why people use green spaces, and how patterns of use are affected by geography and socio- economic factors.
Are you inspired to run an event similar to ‘How do people use the outdoors?’ at this year’s ESRC Festival?
Once you have decided on a proposal idea and are ready to submit an event, the next step will be to complete the application form, which can be found here. If you have any further queries or would like help with ideas for your event, you can email fol@bournemouth.ac.uk and we’ll be happy to help. Alternatively, if you would like to gain more inspiration from past events from looking at previous year’s events, please click here.
Congratulations to Mastoureh Fathi for her latest paper: “I Make Here My Soil. I Make Here My Country” in Political Psychology.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
Olivia Magnante, Undergraduate Student
I worked alongside Heather Hartwell and Veggieat to conduct my research for my dissertation project, which proved to be a great and interesting experience . Veggieat is a European project so it was quite unique to be able to be part of such a large scale project for my dissertation, as it would have been impossible for me to organise and conduct the same research without the help of Heather. This was not only a great experience, but it allowed me to gather really interesting and in depth results to discuss within my dissertation, as well as obtain a substantially larger sample size.
It was exciting to be working alongside so many researchers and for the time that I assisted, I was not seen as a “helper” or a “volunteer”, but as a researcher doing the same work and input as others which was also really important. Most importantly though, it was an enjoyable way to conduct research. Many people do not have the resources or time to conduct research on this scale so it was great to have the opportunity to be a part of something a bit different. I feel this gave me a really good set of results which can give you the basis of an interesting discussion. As a final year it is really important to try and strive to achieve what you want, and the dissertation is a good example of how continuous hard work can pay off.
For all postgraduate Researchers – the following PG Researcher Development workshops are available throughout May:
See PGR Workshops – An Overview for further information about the workshops. 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)
The Politics and Media Research Group in FMC has a very stimulating guest speaker lined up for Monday 11th May. Dr. Jeffrey Murer is Lecturer on Collective Violence at the University of St. Andrews, in the School of International Relations. He is unusual for an IR specialist in that he draws deeply on ideas from psychoanalysis in his studies of violent political conflict. The title of his talk is “The Politics of Splitting: Anxiety, Loss and the Anti-Semitic, Anti-Roma Violence of Contemporary Hungary”. While focussing on the situation in Hungary, his talk will illustrate how an interdisciplinary, psycho-social approach can be applied to generate insights into violence in many other contexts.
The talk will be in P406. It will start at 5.00 and be followed, until 6.30, by questions and discussion.
All staff and students are welcome.
With recent requirements imposed by major research funders, researchers are presented with both opportunities and challenges – opportunities to re-use and re-purpose published outputs and datasets, and challenges in making one’s own work legally and ethically available to others.
Last year, thirty Northampton researchers contributed to focus groups looking at open access publications and data, with a particular focus on compliance with funder requirements. From the outcome of the focus groups, University of Northampton developed an Open Access and the research lifecyle guidance, which has been adapted to fit in with BU’s institutional policies.
This guide, which is part of a JISC-funded Open to Open Access project, is intended for researchers who wish to engage with the open access agenda, but aren’t entirely sure how best to achieve this. This short guide highlights some of the issues to consider at each stage of the research lifecycle and the tools that are available to support you.
Please click here – Open Access and the research lifecyle guidance to access a printable version of the guidance. For further queries, please get in touch with Pengpeng Hatch (pphatch@bournemouth.ac.uk) at RKEO.
Der Rathaus (town hall) Bremen
Last week we (Prof Sara Ashencaen Crabtree and Prof Jonathan Parker) were fortunate to have been in Germany sharing and discussing social science research and its potential for achieving positive change in people’s lives.
First of all we attended the XVII SocNet98 conference held at the Hochschule Bremen, taking with us eight students from the Department of Social Sciences and Social Work in the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences.
At the conference we presented two extended workshop sessions and hosted a publishing meeting. The first session was particularly exciting for us as it introduced faculty and students from across Europe, including Finland, Belgium, Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic and the UK, to the centrality of religion and spirituality in understanding and accounting for people’s welfare needs; especially important given continuing migration patterns and recognition of a super-diversity of ethno-cultural and religious positions.
It was great that our three first-year sociology students attending with us were able to assist us in facilitating discussion subsequent to the presentation and to offer their own perspectives; something to add to their CVs! The five social work students who attended with us expressed recognition of the importance of intercultural and international sharing of ideas. All students found this opportunity illuminated their understanding of their discipline within the broader framework of academic internationalisation.
The Whiting & Birch international book series Critical Studies in Socio-Cultural Diversity has published two books relating to proceedings in previous SocNet98 conferences. Following the publishing meeting held in Bremen it was decided that a third would be published from this year’s conference edited by our colleague Prof Dr Christian Spatscheck and ourselves. This will include the paper given by our three sociology students Dan Marsh, Emilie Reeks and Ceyda Vasif and us; an excellent outcome for them in stepping up to their first academic publication.
Secondly, we gave an invited lecture at the University of Vechta, a dynamic rural university with a fascinating history reflecting preoccupations with prisons, penology and intensive animal farming. Vechta itself boasts of being the home region of the fabulous, real-life Baron von Munchausen. The invited guest lecture allowed us to promote awareness of the plight of the Orang Asli of Tasik Chini from our ethnographic research undertaken on study leave in Malaysia last year; a study that is now being written up. We heard later that the lecture was very well received by students and staff attending. To our pleasure and surprise we also bumped into former Erasmus students from Vechta who had joined our sociology classes last year. We look forward to receiving more Vechta students this coming Autumn.
Subsequently, we negotiated research and publication opportunities with academic colleagues and an extension of our Erasmus links for student exchanges as we move forward towards approving our new Sociology and Criminology programme later this year. Vechta is well placed for partnership with this programme having a prison right next to the University – our colleagues assured us that the barbed wire atop the walls were not to keep in their students! Academic staff at Vechta were excited about developing programmes in English for reciprocating BU Erasmus exchanges and about possible prison visits and observations. In the late afternoon we visited an old prison within the town fort’s arsenal, replete with history and stark examples of potentially dualistic practices of disciplining the body and humiliation of the spirit throughout the history of regulating social behaviour in Vechta.
All-in-all this was a great week for today’s students, bodes well for future students and was a very productive one for ourselves.
Jonathan Parker & Sara Ashencaen Crabtree
Mark Painter, Centre for Entrepreneurship Manager, was invited by the DCCI to participate in a business consultation with the Dorset local authorities focussing on economic development.
Dorset’s nine councils are looking to promote economic growth and cooperation by working together differently and are inviting businesses and stakeholders to have their say.
All of Dorset’s councils believe economic development is a priority. Council leaders have agreed that it makes sense to review whether or not their combined governance in the field of economic development and transport strategy could be improved. This would cover such things as how decisions are made on overall priorities. Separate to this, councils are also considering bringing together in one team some of the staff involved in providing the economic development and transport services.
The Councils asked the DCCI to be engaged in the consultation who invited their Business Partners to a dedicated Business Partner consultation with senior representatives of the local authorities in the area covered by Dorset County Council and Bournemouth and Poole Unitary Councils.
Mark Painter said, ‘I was delighted to have been invited to this consultation and enable Bournemouth University to contribute to this important discussion around key issues and opportunities in the local economy.’
Further details can be found at www.dorsetforyou.com/prosperous-dorset
‘Can you tell the story of your research in a single image?’ That’s the challenge we set BU’s academics and postgraduates earlier this year, and the overwhelming response saw researchers from all across the university downing tools to take up their cameras and think of unusual ways to illustrate their research.
The resulting images demonstrate not just the creativity of our academics and postgraduates, but also the fascinating range of research taking place at BU.
Researchers from all across the university, working in areas as diverse as dementia, archaeology, kayaking and 3D printing submitted images to the competition.
Thousands of BU students, staff and members of the public voted for their favourite images, and we can now reveal the winners.
Down on a farm, tucked away in the beautiful Dorset countryside, the therapeutic use of farming practices is being used to provide health, social and educational care services for a wide range of people. The farm offers the opportunity for people who are the hardest to reach, to utilise a rural environment to enhance their well-being and to achieve their potential. The farm has achieved many great success stories of people who have turned their lives around, been given confidence in their own value and become equipped with the learning they need to successfully engage in wider society. The challenge they now face is to show this model of care is successful to enable their work to continue and grow.
Historically, much of the awareness and research regarding mental health issues has focused predominantly on females, whilst males with mental health concerns have faced an element of negativity from society, despite being at higher risk of depression and loneliness, alcohol dependency, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and suicide. My study aims to explore the benefits of the care farm model as an alternative social care intervention on improving physical / mental health outcomes and the quality of life of young males with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties as well as older men with dementia, and the benefits of intergenerational interaction between the two groups.
1 in 4 of us will experience mental health problems in our lifetime. The pathophysiology of mental illness involves a interplay of genetic and environmental factors and it is only the last few years that the aetiological picture has started to show. As a result uncertainty and oversimplified ideas regarding the causes of mental illness exist. This can exacerbate stigma and increase the emotional burden of mental illness amongst families. A major function of Psychiatric Genetic Counselling is to help affected individuals and families. This can help them successfully adapt to the condition as well as address and reduce feelings of shame, guilt, blame and stigma, thus having both informative and therapeutic values.
I will explore understanding amongst the UK about the causes of mental illness in order to evaluate the application of Psychiatric Genetic Counselling to the UK. This photograph captures 100 BU students’ answers to the question: “What causes mental illness?”
The last decade has witnessed a change in the use of medicine products beyond diseases’ treatments to improve an individual’s life. Lifestyle products include medicines, cosmetic and herbal products which improve physical appearance and physical/mental performance. Counterfeit lifestyle products could be encountered anywhere across the wholesale supply chain.
The effects resulting from a counterfeit lifestyle product could range from ineffectiveness (at their best) to toxic/lethal effects (at their worst). As these products can be encountered anywhere, it is important to develop rapid, non-destructive and mobile technology for their identification. Handheld instruments techniques offer these advantages. Therefore, this project underlies developing methods for the rapid and non-destructive identification of counterfeit lifestyle products using handheld spectroscopic techniques.
In particular, the project involves building libraries which contain signatures of lifestyle products and materials commonly present in these products.
Two day Masterclass, Thursday 11th and Friday 12th June, Executive Business Centre, Lansdowne Campus
Art has been said to be a way to express ourselves, to make sense of our experiences and to connect with ourselves, others, our world and life. The arts are beginning to gain greater recognition as a deep form of learning.
This Masterclass will provide health and social care educationalists and practitioners with the opportunity to immerse themselves in hands-on arts experience and come away with individualized working methods to adapt in their own practice and learning contexts. No previous experience of the arts is necessary.
Dr Catherine Lamont-Robinson is an artist/researcher, with a BA and MA in Fine Art and a Doctorate in Education. Catherine is passionate about creative engagement and bringing different ways of knowing into practice – drawing on the role of tacit knowledge, discourses around embodiment and whole-body intelligence. She has worked for over ten years in clinical, educational and community contexts and is a Senior Associate Lecturer at Bristol University facilitating Creative Arts and Humanities within Social and Community Medicine.
Schedule:
Each day will start at 9.30am and run until 4.15pm with regular refreshment breaks and lunch provided. The two days will include some presentations, discussions and practical sessions.
Booking Information:
This price includes two full days with the course facilitator, all refreshments and all class materials. Accommodation and travel costs are not included.
Book your place online by 1 June 2015 at https://using-art-in-health-and-social-care.eventbrite.co.uk
For more information contact: (01202) 962184 / rfreeman@bournemouth.ac.uk
The following calls are now open on the Participant Portal. All relate to the main Horizon 2020 pillar – Science with and for Society
All close on 16/9/15 at 17:00 (Brussels local time) 
Please click on the links for more information, including the call documentation.
You should also contact Emily Cieciura or Paul Lynch (Research Facilitators – EU and International) or contact your RKEO Funding Development Officer if you intend to apply to any of these schemes, ensuring that we can help you at the earliest opportunity.
NIHR research programme boards and panels select the most important research questions to commission, and make funding recommendations on project applications.
They are looking for additional expertise for the boards or panels of the following programmes:
For more information please see: Opportunities to influence Health Research
COST is the longest-running European framework supporting trans-national cooperation among researchers, engineers and scholars across Europe.
As part of the projects, training courses or other events are often arranged. The following are taking place in the next few months:
5th to 7th May : Training school: Applications of Ground Penetrating Radar in Urban Areas – the Sensitive Case of Historical Cities (grants available)
8th to 9th June : Is fascism on the rise? A dialogue between social psychologists and historians on collective memory and the current revival of fascist ideologies
12 June : COST Highlights on Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials – as part of the EuroNanoForum 2015
To find out more, follow the links or for more information about COST, go to the website. You can also register for updates, find out about submitting your own COST application, join an existing action or become a COST expert.
BU staff can login below:
BU attendance at third annual GCPHR meeting in June
Interactive Tangible and Intangible Heritage Applications – BU student work featured in new book chapter
Second NIHR MIHERC meeting in Bournemouth this week
MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2025 Call
ERC Advanced Grant 2025 Webinar MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2025
Update on UKRO services
European research project exploring use of ‘virtual twins’ to better manage metabolic associated fatty liver disease
Research Information Network
Horizon Europe Work Programme 2025 Published
Horizon Europe 2025 Work Programme pre-Published