/ Full archive

Get the dates for H2020 calls all this week!

Another reason I am very grateful BU subscribes to Research Professional is that they really listen to what universities need. Starting this week, they will publish the Horizon 2020 calls on their database, based on the draft proposals. Make sure you don’t miss a single one, by customising your account – its takes one minute and you will receive one email a week. If you get stuck when trying to customise it, just give your RKE Operations Officer or Jo Garrad a call and we will talk you through it.

 

BU Professor at COST Action Training School (Malta)

Publishing, Research Integritiy, Training

Bournemouth University contributed to the successful Cost Action Training School 2013 earlier this month (see: www.um.edu.mt/events/costactiontraining2013/). The Training School ‘Writing for maternity services research, theory, policy and practice: Integrating new theoretical insights from the iR4B COST Action’ was held at the University of Malta.
The 24 trainees who were successful in their application came from a wide-range of European countries. At the Training School each trainee was linked to one of six experienced trainers, three from Ireland: Prof. Declan Devane, Dr. Valerie Smith, and Prof Cecily Begley, and three from the UK: Prof. Soo Downe, Dr. Lucy Firth, and BU Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen. These trainers brought to the Training School not only their extensive experience as writers, but also that of scientific editors, reviewers for academic journals, and PhD supervisors.

(photo by Mário Santos, Portugal).

The Training School included presentations on how to incorporate notions of salutogenesis and complexity into maternity care and midwifery publications, issues around writing academic English as a non-native English speaker, plagiarism, how to start writing an academic paper for a MSc or PhD thesis, and many more related topics.
In their feedback some trainees stressed that this is the kind of helpful information every postgraduate student and budding academic should know about. Others said “I wish I had known that before as no one ever addresses these issues.” The trainees discussed the outlines of their papers, and they were given ample time to draft papers under the watchful eye of their trainer. All trainees have committed to submit a paper derived from the Training School by early Spring 2014.
COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) is one of the longest-running European frameworks supporting cooperation among scientists and researchers across Europe. For further information on OST in general see: http://www.cost.eu/ ).

Bournemouth University was represented by Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen based at the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health in the School of Health & Social Care.

ENABLE: Establishing Sustainable Research Networks and Building Learning Environments

Women's Academic Network

As part of the Fusion Investment Fund, we (Prof Jonathan Parker & Dr Sara Ashencaen Crabtree) won a study leave grant throughout the current academic year.

Our project aims to create sustainable research and education opportunities across BU through the establishment of a social science research, education and professional practice network with Southeast Asian and Asian universities. An aim which also enhances and builds on our personal research agendas that will lead to the development of robust Research Council funding applications, and contribute to fusion and the BU 2018 vision.
The project will identify, scope and establish a sustainable social science research academic network across BU. This aim has been initiated through discussion with some key individuals in BU and the potential to develop, in 2014-15, research council bids in respect of:
a. gender relations and practices in the professions
b. understanding the ways in which conflict resolution is culturally specific and that learning can enhance our opportunities for establishing social cohesion and a reduction of conflict
c. examination of the neo-imperialism of research ethics scrutiny from Western perspectives
d. it may also lead to work in respect of sustainability in the lives of indigenous peoples.
The core part of the study leave will develop and conduct research and research collaboration in Southeast Asia, predominantly Malaysia but including Cambodia, and Hong Kong. As part of our study leave we have both been awarded visiting Professor status at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) in Kuala Lumpur where we will spend January until April 2014, followed by visiting professorships at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in Penang from April until July. We will also be visiting universities in Hong Kong, Cambodia and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) in Kuching, East Malaysia.
Four core fusion and BU 2018 objectives underpin our project. These will result in funded research bids, increased student experience, and reputational enhancement for BU, and will be achieved through four workstreams:
Research:
1. establish a sustainable research network promoting social sciences and interdisciplinary research at BU (workstream 1).

2. develop research streams of locally specific or cross-cultural relevance (workstream 2).

Education:
3. engage and promote educational initiatives via guest lectures/research seminars, developing joint postgraduate research supervision and educational initiatives promoting student mobility, e.g. credit transfer (workstream 3).

Professional Practice:
4. engage in discipline-specific activities in relation to social work/development and welfare (workstream 4).

We have been invited to join the Tasik Chini Research Centre at UKM, a centre dedicated to research concerning the ravaged freshwater lake near Kuala Lumpur. As part of our research we will be undertaking an ethnography and conflict resolution narrative work with the Jakun tribe of the Orang Asli (the indigenous people of the region) with a view to promoting the marginalised voices of these people, disenfranchised by modernising agendas. We will also be researching approaches to unfair and wrongful discrimination in social welfare practices in the UK and Malaysia.

We look forward to keeping BU colleagues up-to-date with our work in Southeast Asia through our blogs. For those interested in developing research across these areas please contact us as we wish to ensure that social science research is highlighted across BU.

Professor Jonathan Parker & Dr Sara Ashencaen Crabtree

Protectors or Oppressors?: Welfare through the prism of Sherborne’s history

On a recent fieldtrip to Sherborne, our Sociology and Social Policy students, taking the ‘History of Social Welfare’ unit, explored the interconnections of past and present social movements and social policies. The mechanisms for the alleviation of poverty and disadvantage in Britain are reflected by Sherborne’s history, which represents a microcosm of historical trends.

Students and staff visited the almshouses (now St. Johns’ House), which is no past relic but instead has offered a remarkable six hundred years of unbroken community service, being set up in 1437 and continuing without interruption to the present time. St Johns’ Almhouse built on earlier charitable provision by the monks and we heard of its violent beginnings, of when townsfolk rioted and burned significant parts of the monastery church before gaining a voice in provision for the town’s poor folk. Students learned how the distinctions of ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ were applied then in similar ways to today, as a means of separating and distinguishing people and maintaining a particular social order.

Bringing their learning of social welfare in this case study town to the present day, we gained insight from the Rev Dr Ray Catchpole of how difficult it was in our current times of austerity to convince the people of Sherborne that people were again experiencing poverty even to the point of near starvation. He described the food bank that he now runs that has grown over six months to deliver over 200 food parcels each month.

Students reflected that the fieldtrip gave vibrancy to the classroom learning and demonstrated some of the pervading interconnections in British social policy thinking – the distinction between deserving and undeserving poor, the power relations between capital and the disenfranchised and the continuing political and moral struggles concerning how, as a society, we deal equitably and fairly with people in poverty and how we challenge normative thinking and tackle the disadvantages caused by prevailing social structures. Using the words of Sir Walter Raleigh, former resident of Sherborne and campaigner on behalf of a mistreated pauper, those with responsibility and power ‘should be protecters and not oppressers off poor pepill.’

Prof Jonathan Parker & Dr Sara Ashencaen Crabtree

Corrosion Experimental Techniques to Simulate Operating Conditions

Bournemouth University’s Sustainable Design Research Centre has recently added stat-of-the-art Temperate-Humidity Environmental Chamber (THEC) to its resources, which has the ability to configure the resistance capabilities of various materials and coatings against environmental influences of temperature combined with humidity.

THEC provides facility to conduct corrosion simulation to investigate the durability of coatings and metal alloys subject to extreme operating conditions, in addition the susceptibility of components to corrosion that will eventually lead to malfunction. These simulated corrosion experiments monitor effectiveness of various materials under varying environmental conditions at an early stage to avoid catastrophic failures. These results inform prediction techniques to deploy to assess failure mechanisms and useful life of various structures, components and systems.

THEC has a temperature range of -40°C (aerospace applications) to +180°C (process industries applications) and from 0 (dry) to 100 (wet) Relative Humidity (%age). The test chamber can accommodate test samples of 350(W) x 300(D) x 310(H) mm. The chamber has vast applications when it comes to analyse the durability of coatings and strength of materials not only for daily life domestic products but also in aerospace and automotive industries. The chamber can also be used to analyse the safe working conditions for various electronic components and in Renewable Technology applications.

Environmental simulation is analysed through a PC interface using specialist analytical tool which enables to further optimise the utilisation of environmental testing systems, e.g. deployed in various research & development programmes, production and quality assurance. The operation of both the chamber and analytical tool provides opportunities of time and cost savings for the industry. Evaluation and documentation of various test cycles helps to evaluate the performance of vast variety of industrial products and other applications.

SDRC capabilities in experimental and modelling techniques to predict useful life of components, structures & systems subject to corrosion has the potential to inform design for durability and reliability.

If you would like further or specific information in this subject please contact

 

Dr Zulfiqar Khan (Associate Professor)

Director SDRC

Email: zkhan@bournemouth.ac.uk

 

 

 

Masterclass: Systematic Reviews

PG research, Publishing

One way of collating and assessing the best possible evidence is through a method called ‘systematic reviewing’. Systematic reviewing is a specific research method whereby a structured, rigorous, and objective approach is used to provide a critical synthesis of the available evidence on a particular topic. This masterclass will examine the rationale for systematic reviews and take participants through the various elements of a systematic review: selecting (electronic) databases; literature searching; data extraction; data synthesis; interpretation and reporting.

Date: 9-10 January 2014
Time: 9.30am – 4:30pm
Venue: Executive Business Centre, Bournemouth University, 9 Holdenhurst Road, Bournemouth,
BH8 8EB. View on map>>

The course will include:

  • Designing a review protocol
  • Formulating a question
  • Identifying and selecting relevant studies
  • Systematic data extraction and collection
  • Synthesis and analysis of the data
  • Writing up & reporting systematic reviews.

Masterclass facilitators
Prof. Vanora Hundley is a midwifery researcher who has conducted a number of reviews of interventions intended for use in low income countries. She is also a Faculty Fellow with the Cochrane Collaboration College for Policy at George Mason University, USA, which produces and disseminates reviews that are relevant to public policy.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen is a medical sociologist with extensive experience in conducting systematic reviews. He has run similar workshops on systematic reviews in Nepal, and has published on the importance of systematic reviews.  
The facilitators will be assisted by Dr. Marylin Cash is researcher in the School of Health & Social Care where she recently completed a review on the portrayal of childbirth in the media. 

 

Booking information
Cost: £200 (£150 for Bournemouth University students and staff)
Please book online by midday on 6 January 2014.

Find out more and book your place >>
Or contact wellbeing@bournemouth.ac.uk

“The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.”

Oscar Wilde had his views on popularity, but he didn’t live long enough to see BU’s staff profile pages.

Since going live with the new staff profile pages on 2nd October, we have had 17,598 visits to the site.  Given below are some interesting statistics on who is looking at us and what they’re looking at:

Country / Territory  – Visits

1. United Kingdom – 54.02% 

2. United States – 7.56%

3. India – 2.94%

4. Germany – 2.03%

5. Canada –  2.13%

6. China – 1.64%

7. Australia – 1.97%

8. Malaysia – 1.53%

9. Netherlands – 1.18%

10. Greece – 0.77%

Rest of the World – 24.2%

Top 10 Pages (Based on page views)

1. People  –  9.69%   

2. Home  –  8.89%

3. Search Results  – 6.46%

4. Keywords  – 1.05%

5. Dr Hossein Hassani –  0.76%

6. Professor Stuart Allan – 0.58%

7. Dr George Filis –  0.51%

8. Professor Timothy Darvill – 0.48%

9. Dr Roman Gerodimos  –  0.39%

10. Professor Jens Holscher  – 0.38%

It is also useful for us to know how visitors found our pages and on what devices they are viewing the pages:

Channels             Visits

1. Organic Search  79.94%  – this is through Google, Bing, etc.

2.  Direct                    9.84% – they have a link set up to the page

3.  Referral                9.30% – from another web site but mainly BU’s web site, Research Blog, etc.

4.  Social                     0.87% – Twitter, Facebook, etc.

5.  (Other)                 0.02%

6.  Email                     0.02%

Usage across devices is as follows:

  • 85.64 % Desktop
  • 8.4% Mobile
  • 5.95% Tablet

The above shows that we are networking on a global scale and that the majority of visitors are searching the site rather than just viewing one individuals page.  It also demonstrates that the time taken to create our new profile pages has been worthwhile and highlights the importance of keeping your BRIAN account up to date.

If you have any queries about BRIAN or the Staff Profile Pages then please direct these to BRIAN@bournemouth.ac.uk

New AHRC guide to working in partnership

Working in partnership offers benefits to both academics and to businesses and cultural organisations. These may include identification of new research questions, opportunities for publication and dissemination through events, student projects, new knowledge and skills, increased turnover and greater customer satisfaction. But how do you go about developing partnerships? What about intellectual property? How do you deal with practical issues such as academic versus industry language, disagreements and planning the project? How can impact be maximised? Some answers to all these questions and more can be found in the AHRC publication Partnership Working in the Arts and Humanities: A guide to good practice. This offers insights from both the AHRC and their stakeholders, and is available online at http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/News-and-Events/Watch-and-Listen/Pages/Partnership-Working-in-the-Arts-and-Humanities.aspx – a hardcopy can also be ordered from the same link.

Research website training sessions

Training

On Monday many of you will have seen Rebecca Edwards’ blog post giving more information about the new research website. It explains why BU is developing it, when the site will be live, how it will work and addresses some frequently asked questions that have cropped up in discussions.

If you missed this post you can view it here.

The new website will have a host of additional features, making it easier for you to update and add your own content. It provides a considerably improved platform for integrating a wider variety of content, such as image galleries and videos.

Research website screengrabTraining sessions are taking place over the next two months. You can book a session online or contact Rebecca Edwards for more information.

Using the website is surprisingly easy and in the sessions you’ll learn how to upload, edit and tag content. Rather than carrying out training sessions with ‘dummy’ test material, we would like to use the time for you to upload relevant content to your research theme.

We’d be grateful if you could please have something available that you can upload during the training session. Examples could include:

–          New or recent images

–          Videos

–          Details of a new research project

–          Details of successful grant applications

–          A profile of a post graduate researcher

–          Information about planned or recent public engagement activity

Rebecca Edwards or I will be happy to answer any questions in the meantime, so do get in touch. We look forward to seeing you at one of the training sessions.

eBU papers viewed over 800 times by BU community!

Fusion, PG research, Publishing

The internal side of eBU has only been live for a matter of months. However, in this time eBU has internally published and reviewed 6 papers. Initially envisaged as a developmental vehicle for early career scholars, submissions are coming (and welcome!) from both senior academics and authorship teams comprising students and staff.

Submissions include original research on the emotional geographies and dynamics of doctoral supervision (Fox), e-learning resources on nutrition for supporting cancer survivors (Murphy et al), and destination management in the creative industries (Long). Review papers have also been submitted on the role of patient choice and older people (Harding et al), banking for the public good (Mullineux) and consumer attitudes toward organic food (Howlett et al).

The breadth of submissions and the extent of author engagement are clearly positive. However, I am pleased to report that I am able to offer a better measure of the success, engagement and coverage that eBU is having. As the headline to this blog states, eBU submissions have been viewed over 800 times. This is a monumental amount of engagement, and shows the value of eBU and the interest it has built up among the BU community.

If you have something to submit for immediate internal publication and open peer review or want to view existing papers, you can access eBU when on campus by typing ‘ebu’ into your web browser address bar. Logging into eBU can be achieved by using your regular BU username and password credentials. When off campus eBU can be accessed via ‘View’ (if you do not have View on your home PC or laptop, it can be downloaded here).

Finally, watch this space for the external side of eBU!

Research website training sessions: book on now!

Training

Further to my last post on the launch of the new research website, please book on to a place now via the links below:

If you have already received a diary invitation from Rebecca Edwards, your place is already reserved.

If you are unable to attend of these dates, a rolling programme of training will be running from January onwards.In the meantime, if you have any queries or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact Rebecca Edwards.

ESRC knowledge exchange funding to change

Funding opportunities

ESRC is to change the way in which it allocates funding for knowledge exchange activities. The current knowledge exchange opportunities scheme provides funding for social scientists to undertake a range of activities with non-academic stakeholders and requires 50% contribution from a partner in the user community. It is open to any social scientist to undertake knowledge exchange based on their research, whether funded by ESRC or not. This scheme will close on 31 March 2014.
From summer 2014, a replacement scheme (Impact Acceleration Accounts) will fund knowledge exchange through a block grant allocated according to institutions’ recent ESRC funding. Those institutions allocated funding will then be required to submit a business plan in order to release the money.
BU has not been allocated funding through the Impact Acceleration Accounts, so if you are a social scientist and hope to undertake funded knowledge activities, start planning your application now for submission by March… Further information can be found at http://www.esrc.ac.uk/collaboration/knowledge-exchange/opportunities/index.aspx.

Knowing how to find the right way along the career path

I have blogged already on the complexities of knowing how to build a perfect academic career path. Knowing which grant to go for, which funders, which collaborators and so on can be a minefield if you don’t have a great mentor to guide you through it.

One of the key aims of the BRAD framework is to help academic staff identify their skills and areas for improvements to help them get to where they need to be in their career. And it is helpful if you know where you want to end up.

Prof Adrian Newton is one of our most established researchers and will share his advice with colleagues attending. This will include how to develop your career to become an established researcher. The session is taking place on the afternoon of 2 December and spaces for this session are limited, so you will need to book via the Staff Development webpage.

Latest Funding Opportunities

Funding opportunities

The following opportunities have been announced. Please follow the links for more information:

 

  • The Academy of Medical Science are providing funds to support travel between the UK and Middle East through the Daniel Turnberg UK/Middle East Travel Fellowship Scheme.  Funding of up to £3,500 is available closing on 15/01/14.
  • The AHRC Science in culture innovation awards are now open.  Funding of up to £80,000 (80% of FEC) over a period of 12 months will be awarded to successful grants.  The closing date for this opportunity is 27/02/13.
  • AHRC have opened a call for Research Innovation grants in Translating Cultures.  Funding of between £150,000 and £200,000 is available.  Closing date is 06/03/14.
  • Have a great idea for an engaging exhibition stand at next Novembers Great British Bioscience Exhibition?  The BBSRC have just announced £10,000 worth of funding to support these innovative and engaging ideas.  Closing date for applications is 15/01/14.
  • The British Academy are supporting visiting fellowships through the Association of South-East Asian Studies in the United Kingdom by providing awards of up to £5,000 to enable scholars to make research visits to research centres operated by the European Consortium for Asian Field Study.  Closing date is 20/12/14.
  • EPSRC provide funding to encourage international collaboration through their Bilateral research workshops.  Funds will cover the UK participants travel costs and for UK meetings, cover the core meeting expenses. There is no set closing date for this opportunity.
  • Taking place at The University of Nottingham the EPSRC are hosting a two day workshop in Exploring the science behind additive manufacturing and 3-D printing sandpit.  Funds are available to cover the cost of travel to Nottingham. Closing date is 10/12/13.
  • Research grants of up to £1m are available from the MRC to support a wide range of projects.  Topics include Infections and Immunity (closing 15/01/2014), Molecular and Cellular Medicine (closing 08/01/14), Population and Systems Medicine (closing 21/01/14), and Neurosciences and Mental Health (closing 04/02/14).
  • £150 million is being put forward as capital by the MRC to enhance the UK’s clinical research capabilities and technologies.  Individual awards of up to £20 million are available, closing for expressions of interest is 07/01/14 with funding decisions being made in July for spend in 2015/16.
  • Funding of up to £2000 is available from the NERC to cover travel and subsistence costs associated with undertaking a Work shadow placement.  There is no closing date for this award.
  • The NIHR invite applications invites applications for the researcher-led workstream under its efficacy and mechanism evaluation programme. The closing date for this year’s round of funding is 27/02/14.
  • RCUK provide support to disabled students on a RCUK studentship through a Disabled Students Allowance scheme providing assistance with the additional expenditure arising from their disability.
  • The TSB, in collaboration with the Welsh government and the EPSRC are investing a total of £3.8 million in business led projects to develop innovative Tools and services for synthetic biology.  Individual projects should be for between £100,000 and £350,000 however those outside the range will be considered.  Closing date for registration is 08/01/14 and the deadline is the 15/01/14.
  • Four awards of up to £25,000 are available from the TSB as part of their Digital innovation contest in advertising.  The closing date for this opportunity is 06/01/14.

 

Please note that some funders specify a time for submission as well as a date. Please confirm this with your RKE Support Officer.

 

You can set up your own personalised alerts on ResearchProfessional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s RKE Officer in RKE Operations or see the recent post on this topic.

Leisure, Recreation and Tourism Seminar

Wednesday 4th December, 3.30 – 5.00, TAG32.

Emma Kavanagh and Andrew Adams: ‘Treating performance athletes as human beings: Whose rights, whose responsibilities?’

and Ian Jones (Dr): ‘Why we carry on when things go wrong: Social Creativity, Sport and Leisure.’

 

Sign-up to this theme to get seminar notifications.

 

 

 

 

BU academic at United Nations expert meeting

un

Dr Maharaj Vijay Reddy from the School of Tourism was invited to present to an expert group meeting on ‘Sustainable Tourism: Ecotourism, Poverty Reduction and Environmental Protection’, at the United Nations Secretariat, New York (29-30 October 2013). This expert group meeting was organised by the United Nations Division for Sustainable Development.

Vijay’s presentation was on the topic of planning for sustainable tourism, and highlighted six emerging global challenges in sustainable tourism.

The UN General Assembly, at its 67th session (2012-2013), adopted a resolution on the promotion of ecotourism for poverty eradication and environmental protection, which further elaborated on the close linkages and potential for ecotourism to contribute to poverty alleviation and sustainable development. In this regard, the United Nations invited the UN system and other relevant international organizations, the public sector, private companies and other stakeholders to create capacity for well managed ecotourism with minimal negative environmental and cultural impacts, through dissemination of good practice, tools and guidelines. The conclusions and recommendations emanating from this meeting will be of value to UN member states aiming to develop eco-tourism potentials, including, among others, Small Island Developing States as well as other countries with coastal, mountainous or forest, lake or desert tourism resources.

EGM ST1 cropped

Vijay commented that “the meeting was a big success and it concluded well. The participants of this expert group meeting delivered many cutting-edge presentations addressing the global challenges and the opportunities that sustainable tourism offers. The key areas we discussed at the UN include: the need for global engagement, the situation of Small Island Developing States and LDCs, developing the market for sustainable tourism services, assessing socio-economic benefits, employment generation and poverty reduction from sustainable tourism and initiatives related to Green Economy transition”.

 

Easy guide to Horizon 2020

UK Research OfficeUKRO have created a very helpful and short guide to Horizon 2020 which is available on their portal. BU subscribes to the UKRO services and therefore all BU staff have access to this (simply register for an accout if you haven’t already and you will also get very useful updates from them too!).

This hyperlink should take anyone with an account straight to it, but if you have any problems, just log in and go to ‘Future Funding’ in the left hand navigation. The three thematic areas all have their own pages and the useful over view of all contains the guide.

BU Lecturer wins ‘Best Emerging Presenter’ award

Congratulations to Emma Kavanagh, Lecturer in Sport Psychology and Coaching Sciences, who has been awarded the prestigious Celia Brackenridge Prize for the best emerging presenter at the Brunel International Research Network for Athlete Welfare (BIRNAW) Symposium at Brunel University.

The prize was awarded on the basis of Emma’s two presentations at the event. The first introduced a conceptual framework for understanding virtual maltreatment in sport and the second introduced a humanization framework for enhancing understanding of athlete welfare.

Receiving the award is great achievement given that the symposium consists of the leading researchers worldwide in the area of athlete welfare.