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An Introduction to the BRAD Framework and Development Sessions

Publishing, Training

Calling all BU Researcher Staff,

We invite you to: An Introduction to the BRAD Framework and Development Sessions– Wednesday the 18th of September 2-3.30pm (location to be confirmed).

The University has created Bournemouth Researcher/Academic Development-BRAD. BRAD is a tailor designed research development framework with supporting development sessions, for BU’s Research/Academic staff. The aims and objectives of BRAD are aligned to the Universities Strategic Plan 2012-2018, our Visions & Values-BU 2018, and Vitae’s researcher development framework. BU is providing professional and personal development sessions and online courses throughout the next academic year 2013-2014, which are all free to attend. The development sessions will cover a range of topics, from statistics, NVivo, personal effectiveness, research management and publishing in journals and books.

 

Please email Bridie at: bapplebygunnill@bournemouth.ac.uk to confirm your attendance to the Introduction to BRAD Session

Research Seminar – organized by Creative Technology Research Centre

Date:  Wed, 15/05/2013

Time: 14:00

Venue: P302 (Poole House)

Speaker: Hana Almakky

Title: Saudi Culture and User Interface Design – Facebook

Abstract:

Culture is the key aspect of any society that influences the style and perpetuation. It plays vital role in the desires of user viewing Social networking sites.

User interfaces can be more successful if the cultural characteristics are reflected in the interface design. Culturability (Culture and usability) is therefore an acceptable phenomenon and most commonly a requirement while designing user interfaces (Barber and Badre 2001).

Social networking sites have gained huge popularity over the past few decades. They have evolved the modes of communication extensively. In fact, they have contributed to globalization by making communication stronger and effective.

It has been broadly understood that Facebook has been successful in introducing a unique social and a conversational experience. About 900 million users on monthly basis, 526 million users on daily basis, generate 3.2 billion comments and likes in the first quarter of the year 2012 (Pratley, N. 2012).

Throughout 2013, social media continued to grow significantly in Saudi Arabia. Millions of Saudi is using social networking not for only for entertainment and friendship, but also for daily socializing routine.

This seminar will be discussing the initial research findings in respected Facebook user interface design for Saudi Arabia.

Service Computing Seminar Slides

Fusion

Ontology-based Software Architecture Documentation by Dr. Peng Liang

Speaker: Dr. Peng Liang, Free University Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Slides: Ontology-based Software Architecture Documentation

Abstract. A common approach to software architecture documentation in industry projects is the use of file-based documents (e.g., Word documents). This documentation approach offers a single-dimensional perspective on the software architectural knowledge contained. Knowledge retrieval from file-based architecture documentation is efficient if the perspective chosen fits the needs of the readers; it is less so if the perspective does not match the needs of the readers. In this talk, I will describe an approach we developed aimed at addressing architecture documentation retrieval issues. We employed software ontology in a semantic wiki optimized for architecture documentation. We also evaluated this ontology-based documentation approach in a controlled industry experiment involving software professionals. The efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed approach is found to be better than that of the traditional file-based approach.

 

The Smart Grid’s Big Data Generating Potentials by Prof. Marco Aiello

Speaker: Prof. Marco Aiello, University of Groningen, the Netherlands
Slides: The Smart Grid’s Big Data Generating Potentials

Abstract. The Smart Power Grid promises to not only provide for a more reliable distribution infrastructure, but also give the end-users better pricing, information, and freedom. The promise is fuelled by a pervasive digitalization of the energy production and distribution network that will finally involve utilities, governments, and end-users. The real advantages of the smart grid will be available to all, only if the physical infrastructure of energy distribution is supported by adequate information systems. In this talk, I will review the current state and possible evolutions of the concept of a smart grid, I will point to the (big) data that future information systems will need to manage and, finally, indicate possible uses for such information.

Image Quality Assessment

Image Quality Assessment by Prof. Xinbo Gao

Speaker: Prof. Xinbo Gao, Xidian University, China

Slides: Image Quality Assessment

Abstract. With the development of imaging technologies, visual information, recorded by images and videos, has become the main source for knowledge acquisition. In the process of image acquisition, processing, transmission, and storage, some artefacts or noise maybe introduced to images, which will degrade the visual quality. To improve the performance of image processing, it is necessary to assess image quality. Therefore, image quality assessment (IQA) is the prerequisite and foundation of imaging or image processing system optimization. The objective of IQA is to provide computational models to measure the perceptual quality of a given image. Recently, a large number of methods have been designed to evaluate the quality of images. In this talk, I will introduce some popular IQA metrics, especially several IQA metrics proposed by my group. They are organized into 3 categories, full-reference metrics, reduced-reference metrics and no-reference metrics.

Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) Annual Report

At the Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) we think it is important to review our activities on a regular basis, to document our achievements and to outline our plans for the future. We have decided that the best way to do this is to prepare an Annual Report. It was completed some months ago and now we would like to share it more widely with our colleagues in the University. It can be found on our microsite at http://microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk/bucru/news/ we hope it is of interest.

The support and collaborations we offer are available to staff within the University, and to staff in the NHS. In the next year we will be particularly trying to develop new collaborations between University and health service staff that will lead to high quality grant applications.

If you would like further information please contact Louise Ward (wardl@bournemouth.ac.uk Tel: 01202 961939)

http://microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk/bucru/ 

“Workforce Development in the Care of Older Adults: Perspectives from the U.S.”

Dr. Phillip G. Clark, Professor and Director of the Program in Gerontology and the Rhode Island Geriatric Education Center at the University of Rhode Island, US and Visiting Professor at the School of Health and Social Care, will be giving a seminar on Workforce Development in the Care of Older Adults: Perspectives from the U.S.

Wednesday 8 May 2013
1-1.50 pm, B126, Bournemouth House

All welcome.

Dr. Phillip G. Clark is Professor and Director of both the Program in Gerontology and the Rhode Island Geriatric Education Center at the University of Rhode Island in the US, where he has been on the faculty since 1981. He was awarded a Doctorate in Public Health from Harvard University in 1979. He has served as Visiting Professor at the Universities of Guelph and Toronto in Canada (1988-89), and was a Fulbright Scholar at Buskerud University College in Norway (2007). His experience includes teaching health care teamwork, developing interprofessional health care research and demonstration projects, and consulting on interprofessional educational program development and evaluation. He is co-author of Health Care Teamwork: Interdisciplinary Practice and Teaching (Auburn House/Greenwood, 2000); his work has been published in The Gerontologist, Canadian Journal on Aging, Journal of Aging and Health, Ageing and Society, Educational Gerontology, Gerontology and Geriatrics Education, and the Journal of Interprofessional Care. Dr. Clark is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education.  He is Visiting Professor at the School of Health and Social Care, Bournemouth University and on the leadership group of the Special Interest Group IN-2-THEORY (Interprofessional scholarship, education and practice).

Last chance to take the BU Research Blog survey!

The R&KEO wants to hear from you – do you subscribe to the Blog, what is most useful and what would you like to see different? These are just a few examples of questions on the BU Research Blog Survey. This short survey is meant to help us determine how you access the Blog as well as finding out from you what you like best and what changes can be made to make the Blog even better. The Blog is our primary source of delivering research related messages, so we want to make sure it is fit for purpose!

We’re all about feedback, so please let us know if you have any further suggestions/comments about the Blog.

Life after FP7… what’s next?

All has been rather quiet on the EC front for the last few months as we eagerly await the close down of FP7 and see what changes will be made for EC funding 2014- 2020. I have put together a very brief outline of the changes – EC funding 2014-2020 – which we know for definite will happen so far and what the new programmes will look like; including Horizon 2020, Erasmus, Marie Curie, etc.

More information will be given as it is confirmed by the EC over the next few months so watch this space!

 

 

Tags:

Application rejected? what to do next….

Guidance

 

As you all know, the research funding environment is highly competitive.   Whilst winning an award is a major achievement.  Rejection will be a common experience, for even the most seasoned academic.

All is not lost!   A huge amount work goes into the development of a proposal.  It is a great shame to park your idea, when it could be re-worked, and submitted to an alternative funder.

Our internal peer review scheme, the RPRS, is very happy to support unsuccessful submissions.  We will provide feedback on your original proposal, and make suggestions as to where amendments could be made, how you can potentially improve the style of the proposal, advise on other possible funders, and provide other useful information.   To find out more please contact Caroline O’Kane.

I would also suggest you read a couple of blog posts from a little while ago on ‘coping with rejection’.   This is a two-part series, written by Adam Goldberg from the University of Nottingham, that looks at how you can move forward when it becomes clear your time courting a potential funder comes to an end.   Follow these links if you are interested:   Part 1,  part 2.

Research Professional

Funding opportunities

Every BU academic has a Research Professional account which delivers weekly emails detailing funding opportunities in their broad subject area. To really make the most of your Research Professional account, you should tailor it further by establishing additional alerts based on your specific area of expertise.

Research Professional have created several guides to help introduce users to ResearchProfessional. These can be downloaded here.

Quick Start Guide: Explains to users their first steps with the website, from creating an account to searching for content and setting up email alerts, all in the space of a single page.

User Guide: More detailed information covering all the key aspects of using ResearchProfessional.

Administrator Guide: A detailed description of the administrator functionality.

In addition to the above, there are a set of 2-3 minute videos online, designed to take a user through all the key features of ResearchProfessional.  To access the videos, please use the following link: http://www.youtube.com/researchprofessional

Research Professional are running a series of online training broadcasts aimed at introducing users to the basics of creating and configuring their accounts on ResearchProfessional.  They are holding monthly sessions, covering everything you need to get started with ResearchProfessional.  The broadcast sessions will run for no more than 60 minutes, with the opportunity to ask questions via text chat.  Each session will cover:

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

Each session will run between 10.00am and 11.00am (UK) on the fourth Tuesday of each month.  You can register here for your preferred date:

28th May 2013: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/806064201

25th June 2013: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/492839664

23rd July 2013: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/771246561

27th August 2013: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/398714217

24th September 2013: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/882372120

These are free and comprehensive training sessions and so this is a good opportunity to get to grips with how Research Professional can work for you.

WISERD 2013 Annual Conference: 25th – 26th June 2013 – register by 10th May for Early Bird discount

WISERD (Wales Institute of Social & Economic Research, Data & Methods) Annual Conference

Tuesday 25th and Wednesday 26th June 2013

University of South Wales

Bookings are now open for Wales’ largest social science conference! The WISERD Annual Conference 2013 will take place on 25th and 26th June at the University of South Wales.

The WISERD Annual Conference showcases a broad range of research relevant to Wales, and includes presentations from researchers from across the policy, public, private and third sectors.

 

Early Bird Rate

Register by Friday 10th May to receive the EARLY BIRD RATE of £70 PER DAY!

Click HERE to book

Keynote Speakers include:

Lindsay Paterson, Professor of Educational Policy in the School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh, has served on the ESRC Research Resources Board (2003-7), and has been commissioned to provide policy advice to the Scottish Parliament’s Education Committee and to the Scottish Government.

Laura McAllister, Professor of Governance at the University of Liverpool’s School of Management and political analyst for BBC Wales and regular commentator on Welsh and British politics and elections.

David Martin, Professor of Geography at the University of Southampton and co-director of both the ESRC National Centre for Research Methods and UK Data Service.

 

Successful knowledge engagement events encourage more businesses to work with BU!

Funding opportunities

There are a variety of funded initiatives on offer to help businesses develop and grow, but many are not aware of these offers, or just how much BU can help them with their development.

This is why we felt it was important to organise the recent KTP and SMART award events, to help promote and encourage businesses to take advantage of the expertise BU has to offer.

Both events were well attended by businesses and academics wanting to find out more on Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, SMART Awards and Innovation Vouchers.  The feedback was extremely positive from all those who attended, and as a result a number of meetings have been arranged with businesses who are keen to discuss how BU can help them develop!

It was fantastic to receive such positive feedback; one business owner was particularly impressed and commented:

“I go to quite a few so called “Business Events” that serve little purpose, so I approached today’s event at BU a little circumspect.  Now I can say that this morning I have attended the best business focused event in my recent experience.  Extremely informative, very professionally managed and a great breakfast.  A big thank you for showing the way that Academia and business can and should complement each other.”

 Roger Allen  – Managing Director, Zeta Commerce Ltd

 

Should you wish to find out more on how businesses can benefit from any of the funded initiatives spoken about at the events, please contact Lucy Rossiter, email or call  01202 961215.

Action Research Masterclass

PG research

The course
Date: 4-5 July 2013
Location: R207, Royal London House, Bournemouth University, Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, BH1 3LT. View on map>>

This 2 day masterclass will discuss the range of approaches for action research, focusing primarily on action  research. Topic covered include:

  • Action research as n approach, the history, spectrum, cycles and phases of action research
  • Designing an action research project collaboratively
  • Working together to generate data and decide on further data collection
  • Issues involved in analysing data and feeding back results
  • Making collaborative decisions on action/s to take
  • Evaluating actions, disseminating results and starting again
  • Action research as a transformative approach

The Masterclass facilitated by Dr Angela Cotter, a visiting lecturer at Regents University, London (School of Psychotherapy and Counselling Psychology). She is in private practice as a Jungian analytical psychotherapist, and undertakes organisational consultancy related to residential care of marginalised groups, alongside working as academic and clinical supervisor, researcher and teacher.

Booking information
The fee of £200 (£125 for postgraduate students with further reductions for BU staff and students) includes the full two days, with the course facilitators, all refreshments and course materials. Places are limited and allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Please book online by midday on 28 June 2013.

Find out more and book your place >>
Or contact Jo Temple on 01202 962011 or jtemple@bournemouth.ac.uk

BU and University of Ljubljana working together to enhance midwifery practice

Slovenia, once part of communist Yugoslavia, is now an independent country which borders Italy, Croatia, Austria and Hungary. It is a modern and young economy with a strong infrastructure.  Midwifery has been practised in the region for hundreds of years; however a decision to suspend midwifery training in the 1980s resulted in a severe shortage of midwives.  In 1996 midwifery education was reinstated, but this time within higher education. In 2002 the first midwives were able to qualify with a degree from the University of Ljubljana, which offers the only undergraduate midwifery programme in Slovenia.

The role of the midwife in Slovenia is mainly concentrated within the area of intrapartum care; a consequence of the midwifery shortage that saw midwives drawn from other areas to cover labour and birth. Very little antenatal and postnatal care is offered by midwives. These aspects of care are typically provided by gynaecologists, obstetricians, paediatricians and community nurses. Thus there have been calls for midwives to increase their role within public health and to develop primary care services. One aspect of care that could develop midwifery practice is examination of the newborn.

A scoping visit funded by ERASMUS (British Council) and EUNF (Bournemouth University) was undertaken by Luisa Cescutti-Butler (Senior Lecturer) and Professor Vanora Hundley at the behest of the Head of Midwifery Dr. Ana Polona Misvek at the University of Ljubljana. The visit explored whether midwives, paediatricians, neonatologists and midwifery lecturers would be receptive to a course that would teach Slovenian midwives to examine normal healthy term babies. This examination is currently only undertaken by paediatricians.

A round table discussion was arranged with key professionals from the medical and midwifery community. The discussion was at times fairly animated; for example there was strong opposition from the neonatologist who believed that midwives were not ready to take on this role. In contrast, there was encouraging agreement from Professor Dr. Ciril Kržišnik (Senior Paediatrician and Head of the Paediatric Association) who was present, and Anita Prelec (Head of the Slovenian Nursing/Midwifery Association).

A positive outcome was the desire from all professionals to strengthen the midwife’s role within the initial examination of the newborn and it is this aspect of care and knowledge that offers further opportunities for future collaboration and training.

For further details about this study contact: Luisa Cescuttti Butler, Senior Lecturer, Lansdowne Campus.

PGR Development Workshop – Public Engagement

PG research

Following on from the successful PGR conference, if any Postgraduate Researcher would like to attend an introductory session on Public Engagement, there is a workshop organised for Wednesday 8th May 2013 at 2 pm in PG22. During this workshop you will look at what Public Engagement is; Why does it matter; How to do it: Engagement in practice and what support is available for creating public engagement events.  The workshop will be led by Dr Rebecca Edwards.

If you would like to reserve a place, please email gsbookings@bournemouth.ac.uk.