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2014 sees a surge in engagement with eBU

PG research, Publishing

Through immediate internal publication and open peer review, eBU is ideally placed to support the developmental needs of authors at any career stage, and I’m pleased to say that, so far, the 2014 issue has seen a levels of engagement from across the career spectrum. eBU has had two working paper submissions so far in 2014 (and there are plenty more in the archived 2013 issue!).

Firstly, under the Lifelong Health and Wellbeing theme, Sheetal Sharma (HSC) and colleagues submitted a paper titled Eliciting Nepali women’s views on childbirth and the newborn. A full text file of this paper has been openly reviewed and can be viewed here – http://ebu/index.php/ebu/article/view/17.  I understand Sheetal has just submitted this paper to an external journal, so best of luck and we await with great excitement to hear the outcome!

Secondly, under the Education, Learning and Practice theme, Jonathan Williams (again HSC) has submitted a paper titled Is student knowledge of anatomy affected by a Problem-Based Learning approach? A full text file of this paper can be read here – http://ebu/index.php/ebu/article/view/24.

eBU was also delighted to be able to support outputs from the 2014 PGR conference, and a number of PGRs have decided to use eBU to showcase their work. Why not take a look at the following abstracts and posters:

Business, Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth

Alice Bonasio – PGR Conf 2014 Abstract: Customer Engagement Through Crowd-Funding and Social Media: http://ebu/index.php/ebu/article/view/21

Lifelong Health and Wellbeing

Ben Hicks – PGR Conf 2014 Abstract: Using commercial computer game technology to benefit men with dementia residing in rural areas of Dorset: http://ebu/index.php/ebu/article/view/19

Sheetal Sharma – PGR Conf 2014 Abstract: Pregnant and ‘dirty’ for 40 days: A qualitative study of childbirth practice, beliefs and myths in Nepal: http://ebu/index.php/ebu/article/view/20

Jonny Branney – PGR Conf 2014 Abstract: Is spinal manipulation associated with changes in cervical inter-vertebral motion?: http://ebu/index.php/ebu/article/view/23

Research Methods and Practice

Jenny Roddis – PGR Conf 2014 Poster: Experience of interviewing: face-to-face vs. telephone: http://ebu/index.php/ebu/article/view/22

Technology & Design

Manuel Salvador – PGR Conf 2014 Poster: Automating Data Pre-processing for Online and Dynamic Processes in the Chemical Industry: http://ebu/index.php/ebu/article/view/18

Book Now! The Leverhulme Trust are visiting BU on Wednesday the 19th of March 2014

Funding opportunities, Grants Academy

Following on from our well attended visit from the AHRC and the British Academy I am pleased to remind you that the Leverhulme Trust will be visiting us next on the 19thof March – it is not too late to get yourself booked in….

Working on a variety of initiatives in R&KEO over the years, one element of development which we receive consistently excellent feedback, is the events we arrange where funders come to BU and present their organisations funding priorities and give advice on making an application. We have arranged for several funders to visit BU in 2014, we have already hosted visits from the AHRC and the British Academy and are pleased to announce our next arranged visit is with the Leverhulme Trust.

This will be taking place on Wednesday 19 March 2014, and Jean Cater (Mrs) The Assistant Director from the Leverhulme Trust which funds all academic disciplines will be visiting to discuss their grants and give advice on making an application.

Spaces on this event are becoming limited due to the room available so booking is essential!

Grants Academy members can be guaranteed a space by emailing Dianne. Or by emailing Staff Development

The booking hyperlink is:

Leverhulme Trust  funder visit

This is taking place mainly over the lunchtime period (12 midday until about 1pm -1:30pm ish) so please feel free to bring your lunch with you

We look forward to seeing as many of you who can make it.

BUDI – Lunch time seminar

BUDI welcome 
Associate Professor Elaine Wiersma to deliver a lunch time seminar

Date:     Tuesday 8 April
Time:     12 Noon until 13.00
Venue:  EB203

Limited places available:  email mobrien@bournemouth.ac.uk to reserve your place.

Engaging People Living with Dementia in the Development of Services: Lessons Learned from a Canadian Context
This presentation will explore the ways that a Canadian research team is engaging people living with dementia in the development of services. Specifically, two projects will be discussed—the development of a self-management program for people living with dementia, and a dementia journey mapping project. The engagement of health and social care providers with researchers and people living with dementia will be described within those two projects. Lessons learned about people, relationships, and process will be described and discussed.

Bio:
Elaine Wiersma is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. She is the Advisor for the Interdisciplinary Certificate in Dementia Studies, the lead of re-THINKing dEMENTIA, the division of Dementia and Seniors’ Mental Health at the Centre for Education and Research on Aging & Health, Lakehead University, and the chair of the North West Dementia Network. Her work has spanned community and long-term care sectors, using qualitative and participatory methodologies to examine the social dimensions of aging and dementia. Currently, her work is focusing on the development of self-management in dementia and exploring the context of aging and dementia in rural northern communities in Ontario. Elaine is engaged in a number of initiatives, both research and community initiatives, that seek to engage people living with dementia and care partners as equal partners, recognizing that the involvement of these groups is vital to creating more effective services and programs.

Open Access Event

Guidance, Info Days, Publishing, Research assessment

On Wednesday 7th May, Bournemouth University will be hosting a sector-wide Open Access Event looking at the benefits of Open Access from both the green and gold perspectives, as well as, focusing on how Open Access can support the achievement of research impact. 

So far confirmed external sessions are as follows:
 
open access logo, Public Library of ScienceThe Benefits of Open Access
Alma Swan – Director of Advocacy Programmes, SPARC Europe
 
Open Access and Implications for REF2020
Ben Johnson – Higher Education Policy Adviser, HEFCE
 
The Twitter Effect and How Social Media Can Promote Engagement with Research
Jane Tinkler – Manager, LSE Public Policy Group
Sierra Williams – Managing Editor, LSE Impact of Social Sciences Blog
 
The Open Access Framework
Catriona MacCallum – Advocacy Projects Manager, Public Library of Science (PLOS)
 
Case Study: Successful Implementation and Best Practice
Catriona Cannon – Assistant Director, Bodleian Libraries University of Oxford
 
There will also be sessions delivered by Bournemouth’s BURO team and Bournemouth academics talking about their own open access experiences.
 
Places are limited so if you’re interested, please register here!

Bournemouth European Network in Cyber Security (BENICS)

Fusion

In recent years, the field of Cybersecurity has attracted researchers and practitioners from academic fields ranging from Computer Science and Design, through to Psychology and Business Studies. To date, however, these communities have not been influenced by each other. Their research are disseminated in a variety of workshops and conferences across these fields. As a result, there is a misunderstanding of the role these different fields play in improving cybersecurity. For example, some researchers describe people are “the weakest link” and encourage designers to build systems that “Homer Simpson” can use safely. Unfortunately, treating users as a problem limits opportunities for innovation when people are engaged as part of a solution. Similarly, treating practitioners like cartoon characters disenfranchises the very people that a design is meant to support. Bournemouth University is one of the few institutions in the world with interests across the disciplines contributing to Cybersecurity, a small enough size for academics across these disciplines to engage with each other, and the vision necessary to fuel this engagement. To take advantage of the opportunities afforded to Bournemouth, an interdisciplinary seminar series in cybersecurity was launched in September 2013. The seminar series has attracted both staff and students from across the university, together with practitioners from local industry with interests in cybersecurity. So far, this has led to connections forming across the Faculty of Science & Technology, and the Media and Business schools. Resulting collaborations with our seminar speakers have also led to prospective KTP and Horizon 2020 proposals, and invitations to deliver guest lectures at other universities.

To build on this momentum in interdisciplinary cybersecurity activity at Bournemouth, we have created the Bournemouth European Network for Interdisciplinary Cyber Security (BENICS): a FUSION funded SMN activity. Over the coming year, BENICS will bring five invited European cybersecurity academics to Bournemouth to engage in short (one-week), focused collaborative visits. These visits will introduce invited academics to Bournemouth’s cybersecurity capabilities, allow them to share their interests with us as part of the cybersecurity seminar series, and engage in short and focused proposal building, research, or teaching resource creation activities.

Following each visit, Bournemouth and the visiting academic will engage in pump-priming activities; these will refine deliverables produced to sustain the momentum created during the visit. These deliverables will form the basis of a joint publication at an agreed international conference or journal.

Watch this space for more information about these visits, and please get in touch if you’re interested in engaging with BENICS and our cybersecurity research in general.

Sustainable Design Research Centre – Faculty of Science & Technology Research Seminar

Fusion, PG research

Date: 02/04/2014

Time: 12:00 – 12:30

Venue: PG 22

Title: Renewable energy goes global – what is wrong with the wind turbines?

 Abstract:

As a fast growing renewable energy source, wind turbines have undergone significant development over the past thirty years providing a suitable portion of renewable energy in many countries. However, the world’s demand for wind energy supply will continue to increase in the next five to ten years. To increase the production efficiency, wind turbine manufacturers have been focusing on the increase of output power from individual turbines. Larger and heavier gearboxes are being put up ‘in the air’ (on the top of high towers), which has unfortunately been accompanied by an escalation of tribological issues related to wear and lubrication in the drivetrain systems. The unsatisfactory performance and reliability of wind turbines are threatening the sustainability of wind energy globally. Wind turbine failure, white structure flaking (WSF), has been found to limit the lives of a large number of wind turbine gearboxes from the design life of over 20 years to as short as 6 months to 2 years and the premature failure has a huge impact on the reliability of wind turbines and the cost of wind energy due to its frequent occurrences and high cost involved (at £300k per gearbox replacement). This talk presents the research on WSF at University of Southampton.

Brief bio:

Dr Ling Wang is a lecturer in condition monitoring of tribological systems at the national Centre for Advanced Tribology at Southampton (nCATS), Engineering Sciences Academic Unit, Faculty of Engineering and the Environment since 2007. She has published over 80 peer reviewed papers and conducted collaborative research projects with a wide range of industrial partners including Rolls-Royce plc. GE Aviation, Vestas Wind Systems, Shell Global Solutions, Afton Chemical Corporation, BP and Agusta Westland.

These seminars are organised by the University Sustainable Design Research Centre in the Faculty of Science & Technology to provide a platform for disseminating latest research activities and results. These seminars are good opportunity of networking for both BU staff and students.

If you would like further information on research activities in corrosion, corrosion simulation and corrosion monitoring please visit SDRC webpage. For any specific inquiries please contact

Dr Zulfiqar Khan (Associate Professor)

Director Sustainable Design Research Centre

Dementia Friends Training – Thursday 20 March,Talbot Campus

Training

Do you wish to become a Dementia Friend?  Janet Scammell, Dementia Champion  is running an introdutory session which will last from 50 mins to 1 hour on Thursday 20 March at 12 noon in TA131 (Tolpuddle Annex, Talbot Campus).   This training is open to all staff and students. At the end of the session, participants are invited to become Dementia Friends (which basically means promoting positive thinking about living well with dementia in their own communities).  You also get a lovely dementia friends badge!

If you wish to attend please let Michelle O’Brien know by either email mobrien@bournemouth.ac.uk or call 01202 962771.

Fusion – Exploring Histories of Women’s Radio in Europe

Fusion

I am delighted to report that I, and my Co-investigator Dr Kate Murphy, have been successful in our Fusion Investment Fund bid, which will support an international academic research network Women’s Radio in Europe Network (WREN) that I have played a key part in developing since 2012.

WREN investigates the history and role of women’s radio in Europe and at the centre of this inquiry stands the idea of radio’s double articulation as both (domestic) technology and medium of communication. Women broadcasters and women’s radio provides a lens through which a number of histories and transnational flows can be analysed. Up till now, most women’s radio histories have mainly been examined within national contexts or narratives. These highlight the important role played by women’s radio in times of social change, financial and political crisis and modernisation. Yet, there has been no systematic research to the various patterns of transnational circulation mediated through women’s radio, nor a sustained comparative research. A vital aspect of WREN’s work is making these transnational connections between women, radio and society visible and accessible to researchers, practitioners and publics.

Funding was sought from the Staff Mobility and Networking Strand (SMN) and will enable a WREN workshop to be held at BU in the autumn (2014). WREN currently includes active members from the UK, Netherlands, Turkey, Denmark, Portugal, USA and Australia. The aim of WREN is to develop international collaborative research exploring women’s radio histories. The fusion funding will enable us to organise the first stand alone meeting of the network at BU. The aim of this meeting is to further develop plans for publications, bids for future external funding, and to build and develop our current web presence (http://womensradioineurope.org/). The workshop will also include an open seminar to which staff and students will be invited to attend. This is exciting news and I am looking forward to start planning and preparing!

Dr Kristin Skoog Lecturer in Media (Broadcasting History) – The Media School

 

 

Congratulations and Good Luck

News from the PVC

February saw a relatively quiet level of activity for bids being submitted and awards being won with congratulations due to Schools for winning research and consultancy contracts.

For the Business School, congratulations to Andy Mullineux for his consultancy with Cooperatives UK Ltd.  Good luck to Maurizio Borghi and Ruth Towse with their AHRC application, to grants academy members Lukman Aroean and Julie Robson and to Gelareh Roushan with their British Academy application, to Hossein Hassani and Mansi Ghodsi with their SIGMA application, and to Juliet Memery and Dawn Birch for their contract to the Crown Estate.Professor Keith Brown

For HSC, congratulations are due to Keith Brown for his contract with Plymouth City Council and his consultancy with Mouchel Management Consulting Ltd.  Good luck to grants academy member Sarah Hean with her contract to Association for Medical Education in Europe.

For MS, congratulations to Richard Scullion for his consultancy with WISH (Women in Social Housing), to Darren Lilleker for his consultancy with Borough of Poole, to Peter Truckel for his two short courses, and to Paula Callus for her VFX Academic conference.  Good luck to Julian McDougall for his application to AHRC, and to Ana Adi and grants academy member Anna Feigenbaum for their application to the British Academy to research the digital memory of ephemera.

For the Faculty of Science and Technology, congratulations are due to Tania Humphries-Smith, Nigel Garland, Mark Hadfield, Clive Hunt and Philip Sewell for their EPDE conference with the Institute of Engineering Design, to Adrian Pinder for his consultancy with Natural England, and to Jonny Monteith for his consultancy with Anesco.  Good luck to Mark Hadfield and Zulfiqar Khan for their contract to Wessex Institute, and to Timothy Darvill for his application to AHRC to research Stonehenge and Avebury rock source exploitation during the neolithic.

For ST, congratulations to Ehren Milner for his consultancy with Bournemouth Borough Council, and to Richard Gordon for his two consultancies with the British High Commission and the Royal Office of Oman.  Good luck to Jonathan Hibbert for his consultancy to Resort Development Organisation.

Training on Mixed Methods – book now for 19th March

Training

This session will provide researchers with a broad overview of the practical and philosophical aspects of mixed methods research.  The following areas will be outlined:

  • paradigmatic assumptions of post-positivist and constructivist/interpretivist research
  • the key philosophical debates surrounding the paradigmatic stance of mixed methods inquiry
  • practical issues such as priority and sequence decisions, point of integration, write-up and dissemination

This session would be extremely useful for anyone thinking of using a mixed methods approach for their research, or those looking to develop their understanding of research paradigms more generally.

Facilitated by: Joanne Mayoh, Lecturer in Sport and Physical Activity, School of Tourism

Aimed at: Academic Staff

Date: Wednesday 19 March 2014, 13.00 – 15.00, P405, 4th Floor, Poole House, Talbot Campus

Booking: staffdevelopment@bournemouth.ac.uk

eBU news, updates and success story!

PG research, Publishing, Research themes

eBU news: updates and achievements

It’s been a while since I posted about eBU. Since my last post there has been some exciting updates and progress to report. There are some new faces to welcome, a reminder to encourage students to submit, news that eBU is supporting outputs from the PGR conference and will support outputs from an exciting new conference, and…  (drum roll…) a paper originally submitted to eBU has been published in an external journal!

Welcome aboard!

Heather Savigny has joined me as a co-editor. I have met with Heather a few times now, and it is obvious that she is passionate about developing writing and scholarly skills. On this basis, Heather is a perfect addition to the team. We have both met with the new PVC Prof John Fletcher, and I’m glad to say that, like his predecessor, he is very supportive of eBU. Shelly Maskell from R&KEO has also come aboard and will provide vital support in helping develop eBU.

Encourage students to submit

One immediate challenge for eBU is not appeal to students. eBU launched a bit too late last year to appeal to students who would have made important submissions at the end of last academic year (dissertations etc), but hopefully we will be well placed to appeal to them this year! So I urge all academic staff to encourage students who produce good quality to a) encourage them to spend a little bit more time and format their work into a publishable output and b) offer some support to this end.

PGR conference

eBU is well placed to help early career researchers and students make that leap into the ‘publish or perish’ world of academia. On this basis, it is a tool that PGRs should take advantage of. We are actively encouraging people who presented their work at the PGR conference to submit their work to eBU. We have received a good number of abstracts and posters already, and eBU will be a great platform to showcase this work BU wide. Outputs associated with the PGR conference to have deadlines, and these are:

  • Please submit posters before Friday 14th March.
  • Please submit abstracts before Friday 14th March.
  • Please submit conference papers before 12th April

I would encourage those who made an oral presentations to write it up as a conference paper. There is guidance for PGRs on myBU and on the Graduate School website, but do feel free to get in touch with any questions. We don’t generally set deadlines, so please remember that you can submit any other papers you might have in the pipeline (e.g. review papers) at any time, and we will guarantee a quick internal and open peer review.

Future scope

Congratulations to Luciana Esteves from ApSci, who has been successful in winning some Fusion funding to kick-start an annual undergraduate research conference at BU – SURE@BU. This is something to look out for in the future, but it is worth stating now that eBU will play a key role in the publication of conference abstracts, posters, conference papers etc.

Success!!!

I’m glad to report that one of the submissions to eBU has been published by an external journal, and I believe others will shortly follow suit. The successful paper in question is a paper that I wrote with colleagues. However, it is a useful little case study to illustrate how and why eBU works.

Myself and colleagues in HSC and outside (University of Exeter, University of Plymouth and Westbourne Medical Centre) submitted a grant application in the second half of last year. In most grant applications you have opportunity to summarise the key literature, and this one was no different. Unfortunately whilst the grant application was unsuccessful, I took a senior colleagues advice and spent a little bit of time turning the application into a paper. After a few weeks I submitted it to eBU (the phrase ‘put your money where your mouth is’ comes to mind!). As I had a bit of a vested interest it was processed by editorial colleagues and reviews were uploaded after a few weeks. It really helped having two sets of informed but fresh eyes scrutinise the paper, and changes were made on the basis of these reviews. The paper was submitted to a journal and accepted with suggestions for minor changes.

When I wrote this article I was a Research Assistant here and, like many early career researchers, I had aspirations of becoming published in peer reviewed journals. One of my trepidations was getting that first publication. I’m now a PhD student here, and I’m sure the floodgates will open (along with another colleague have since have had another accepted!) as I now have many ideas for potential papers and now – thanks to eBU – I have no fear of the unknown!

Andy Harding

Doctoral Researcher and eBU co-editor

 

Workshop on Streaming Analytics Thursday 13th March 10:30.

Fusion, PG research

As part of a collaboration between BU and several other EU based universities and intitutions we will be hosting SAAT 2014 a workshop on the emerging area of streaming analytics. The workshop is open to all for the first day (the second day is taken up with management meetings). The focus of this workshop is on the technical aspects of how to provide streaming analytics.

Scalability and responsiveness of algorithms and architectures for large scale data streams are fundamental to harvesting the power of data generated in real-time networks. The workshop seeks to bring together industry and academic partners to explore specifically the requirements of data processing, the real-world target applications and develop from there the techniques required. The scope thus includes applications, scaling algorithms, streaming platforms, integration of streaming and batch algorithms, graph partitioning together with machine learning for streaming, concept drift and dynamic data analysis. Additional topics such as security issues and tool and platform development are of interest.

Aims:
The key aims in this workshop are several fold. Primarily we seek to identify the key issues associated real world streams of data, including key target applications. Integrated  solutions, combining appropriate topics from the scope which target likely directions in this field is the end goal. Specifically, the aim of the workshop is to facilitate interaction as a crucible for consortium building in advance of Horizon 2020 (call 1.A.1.1 from the 2014-15 draft work programme.).

Organisers: Dr. Hamid Bouchachia(DEC) , Dr. Damien Fay (DEC)

Higher Education in the News

Nowadays in Higher Education we are increasingly being asked to respond to Government priorities, the needs of society, and changing attitudes towards the role of universities.

To help us navigate this increasingly dense minefield of ‘external context’ I have been collating the key policy indicators from the press at the end of each week – please find below the summary from last week for your information / personal amusement.

If you’d like any further information or have trouble accessing any of the articles please just email me at ccherry@bournemouth.ac.uk.

Friday

The government’s new immigration minister, James Brokenshire MP, is trying to make a name for himself by threatening to make it tougher for education institutions to keep their student visa licences. He warned that he has “considerable concerns” about some education institutions; rejected fears that immigration policy is harming “world-class” universities as a “ludicrous fiction”; and dismissed anger from academics about the immigration checks they must mount on students.

Thursday

Today’s pick is an interview with Nicola Dandridge (CEO of UUK) in which she says that she hopes student fees and university funding will not be election issues. She also warns that UUK will not support any Labour pledges for £6,000 fees or a graduate tax. Fees ‘amnesty’ tops UUK’s pre-election wish list (THE)  

Student places

Universities may need to cut their spending per student next year because teaching funds will have to cover up to 30,000 extra students, sector figures have warned. More students will stretch unit of resource, some fear (THE)

Also, institutions could be inspected if they take on “unusual” numbers of “unplanned” extra students when the cap on undergraduate recruitment is lifted in 2015-16, according to David Willetts. ‘Unusual’ growth in student numbers will be reviewed (THE)

Immigration policy

Home Office officials often make “poor quality” decisions when they reject student visa extension applications, UUK argues, making it vital that the government does not scrap the right to appeal. Vice-chancellors urge retention of right to appeal on visas (THE)

Also, open warfare has broken out between Vince Cable and his cabinet colleague, Theresa May, over immigration with the Liberal Democrat business secretary saying that every time he puts his head “above the parapet” by talking positively about migrants he feels he needs “a reinforced tin hat”. Coalition war breaks out as Vince Cable attacks Tory immigration target (Guardian)

World rankings

The THE have released their World Reputation Rankings today which ranks institutions by “reputation”. The table is based on academic votes with 10 UK institutions featuring (Cambridge – 4, Oxford – 5, Imperial – 13, LSE – 24, UCL – 25, KCL – 43, Edinburgh – 46, Manchester – 51/60, London Business School – 91/100, School of Hygiene and Trop Medicine – 91/100).

Student bursaries

A report from OFFA finds that some £1.3bn spent on bursaries over a five-year period had “no effect” on students’ chances of dropping out of university. 

Research

Undergraduates at UCL could be helping academics to conduct research from day one of their degree courses, according to plans unveiled by Michael Arthur aimed at boosting the student experience. Research to start on day one of degree course (THE) 

A look at Poland – Student numbers

Dwindling student numbers are causing a problem for universities in Poland. After growing rapidly for two decades, higher education enrolments peaked in 2009, having risen fivefold to almost 2 million. This year, the numbers have tailed off and are set to fall further, even though Poland’s university enrolment rate is the fourth highest among OECD nations. Poland: growth stalls in an academy overdue for reform (THE)  

Appointments

The vice-chancellor of Durham University is to step down from his position later this year. Chris Higgins to step down as Durham v-c (THE) 

Wednesday

Research excellence

Three universities which research brain tumours have been named as centres of excellence, two of which are Alliance universities. The University of Portsmouth, Plymouth University and Queen Mary University of London will be part of a national network of scientists. The aim is to revolutionise research into the tumours, which kill more people under 40 than any other cancer, a spokesman said. Universities named centre of excellence for brain tumours (BBC)

International students

Several UK universities have seen the number of Indian students plummet by more than 50 per cent in recent years. The figures came to light during a series of evidence sessions for the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, which is investigating the effects of immigration controls on international student numbers in STEM subjects. Universities detail hit to Indian demand (THE)

Private institutions

Regent’s University London has become the second private institution to be admitted to UUK, following the University of Buckingham. For-profit institutions BPP University and the University of Law are other potential candidates that could seek to join UUK. Regent’s University London joins UUK (THE)

Tuesday

There is a damaging “apartheid’’ at the heart of England’s education system that is dividing academic qualifications from the pursuit of vocational skills, Michael Gove has warned. In a speech at the McLaren technology centre in Surrey, Gove said it was vital that school pupils should have access to both types of learning to ensure they are prepared for the changing labour market, which increasingly values technological ability and innovation. Michael Gove warns of UK education’s damaging ‘apartheid’ (FT)

Apprenticeships

Katie Allen, writing in the Guardian, looks at the growing attraction of apprenticeships. She says, “with half of new graduates trapped in low-paid, low-skilled work, the appeal of on-the-job training is growing fast.” Financial: Meet the white collar apprentices – no milk round, no tuition fees and no dirty overalls (Guardian)

HE policy

Step 1 of the government’s plan was George Osborne removing the cap on student numbers. Step 2 will remove ‘red tape’. And step 3? An end to the £9,000 cap on fees, says Peter Scott. Education: End to cap on university student numbers clears path for private equity (Guardian) 

The Oscars

Gravity, the space thriller starring Sandra Bullock, won seven Oscars this year. 40-50 graduates from Bournemouth University worked behind the scenes and played a key part in the process. The Gravity graduates: experience that’s out of this world (Guardian) 

And finally…..

Michael Gove will make political history as the first Conservative education secretary to send his child to a state secondary after his daughter won a place at the comprehensive school of her choice. Michael Gove’s daughter wins place at state school (Telegraph)

Monday

More than 160 academics have written to the Guardian to protest at being used as an extension of the UK border police, after universities have come under more pressure to check the immigration details of students.

While a fight is raging between the Tories and Liberal Democrats after Vince Cable suggested the recent increase in immigration figures was a “good thing”. Responding in the Mail on Sunday, Theresa May said that “we need boundaries” as there is “an overwhelming incentive for people to move from poorer nations to richer states.” While Liam Fox has said that the Tories must change their policy to win back voters from the UK Independence Party

However the Guardian has come to the defence of Vince Cable by arguing that pulling up the drawbridge in the face of global economic change and the digital era is simply not possible. Beyond the blame game (Guardian)

Labour education policy

All teenagers will have to study maths and English up to the age of 18 under a Labour government, the party will announce today as it unveils plans for a “national baccalaureate” to better equip young people for the workplace. All children to study maths and English to age 18, says Labour (Observer)

Social mobility

Harry Mount, writing in the Sunday Times, “argues that people in the Middle Ages had more chance of improving their station than we do”. He says this is, “bad news for the Tory toffs trying to rebrand themselves as the party for aspirational workers.” If you want to improve social mobility Mr Cameron, dish out new genes (Sunday Times)

 

“Six-hit” for PR History

Publishing

Collating and editing six books on the history of public relations is one of the main projects being undertaken by Professor Tom Watson of the Media School during his FIF-supported study leave.

The books will be the first-ever study of PR’s history outside North America. Collectively the series is entitled “National Developments in the Development of Public Relations: Other Voices” and is being published by Palgrave in its new Pivot model.

The first book, Asian Perspectives in the Development of Public Relations: Other Voices, is now in production and will be published in May. It will be followed by Eastern Europe and Russia (being edited), Middle East & Africa, Latin America & Caribbean, Western Europe and a final book of essays on the theorisation of public relations history.

“In public relations literature for several decades, it was assumed that PR was an American invention,” Prof Watson said. “And American scholars nationalistically purveyed that world view. Since the start of the International History of Public Relations Conference at BU in 2010, it was evident that PR and informational/promotional communications have many sources which depend on social, political and cultural influences.

“This series will shift the historiography of PR and related methods of communication away from the US to the ‘other voices’ of the series title. It is an important development that keeps BU as a world leader in PR and media/communication history research, alongside the work of the Centre for Media History.”

Prof Watson says publication of the series should be complete by mid-2015. Each Pivot volume is up to 50,000 words and is published by Palgrave in e-book and print-on-demand formats. The publisher undertakes to publish each book within three months of its submission.

Vice-Chancellor PhD Scholarships

The Graduate School is delighted to announce the launch of the 2014 Vice-Chancellor Doctoral (Fee Waive) Scholarships (VC PhD Scholarships) which will offer support to up to 25 outstanding postgraduate research students (PGRs).

The VC PhD Scholarships will be awarded to candidates who meet the eligibility criteria, have the support of their supervisory teams, are accepted by the relevant Academic School and UET.

Details of the Scholarships:

The VC PhD Scholarships will provide a full fee waive for up to 36 months, and exceptionally to a maximum of 48 months in the case of part-time candidates.  Fees will be charged after 36/48 months respectively.  To be clear about the ‘48 month exception’: this is included so that in some cases a sponsor or employer may continue to provide candidates with part-time employment, effectively releasing them for doctoral study part-time.  Please note these scholarships will only be allocated to part-time candidates in exceptional circumstances.  The Scholarships may NOT be used to support professional doctorates, current BU postgraduate research students, nor may they be used to support BU staff to complete doctoral programmes.

Stipends, to cover living expenses, are NOT included in the scholarship and candidates must demonstrate at application stage that they are able to support themselves as part of the application process.

It is up to the Academic School or Faculty the number of Scholarships allocated.  Please speak to your Deputy Dean for Research & Enterprise for guidance on the number that will be available for your School/Faculty.

For full details about the Scholarships, including Candidate Eligibility, Process and Timetable, please refer to the VC PhD Scholarship 2014 – Policy

Prospective applicants should be directed to: http://research.bournemouth.ac.uk/pgr/vice-chancellor-phd-scholarships/

 

 

PGR Development Fund – March Deadline

PG research

The PGR Development Fund closes at the end of this month, so if you are planning to attend a conference or research development activity over the coming months, don’t forget to submit an application for financial support to the Graduate School by 31st March.

Awards are available of up to £1,000 and will cover direct costs, such as – travel, subsistence, training or development costs.

Don’t forget you will need to seek the support of your Supervisory Team and Deputy Dean for Research, so please factor this in when submitting your application.  Completed applications should be emailed to gsfunding@bournemouth.ac.uk by 5 pm – 31st March 2014.

Full details can be found on myBU – Graduate School PGR Community – remember you’ll need to log on with your student username and password.