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Yawning Up-State Post-Visit Report Part 2 – Santander Travel Scholarship – Dr Simon Thompson

Awarded & submitted bids, Fusion, Post-award, REF Subjects, Research themes

Science Center, Bard College, Rhinebeck, New York State.

 

Bard College, Rhineback, New York State.

 

Circada.

 

L-R: Dr Andrew Gallup; Dr Simon Thompson.

 

Most people can relate to yawning as all of us have done this at some time, with some of us being prolific yawners. However, little is known about the reasons for us yawning or the mechanisms involved.

My work on the link between cortisol and yawning has been published and is gaining momentum in the scientific community with presentations at the First International Conference on Yawning in Paris in 2010 and a forthcoming symposium being planned by me at Bournemouth University.

My travel scholarship enabled me to visit key workers in the field in upstate New York and with affliations with Prinecton University and Bard College (see photos). This has been so successful that we envisgae research collaboration between BU and the USA. I was even able to meet with the assistant to the world famous Professor Oliver Sack’s to discuss my resaerch and to “put it on the map” in the neurological community!

A bonus of my trip was to encounter first hand an extremely rare circada that hatches in the region I visited only every 17 years! What a privilege!

I am most grateful to Santander for their generous support and I believe this trip will help me make significant steps forward in my clinical research i yanwing and multiple sclerosis at BU.

The ‘Clone Wars’: Episode 1 – The Rise of 3D Printing and the Implications for Intellectual Property

Training

Do you, or any of your colleagues / students want to find out more?

17 July 2013

Bournemouth University, Executive Business Centre, 89 Holdenhurst Road, Bournemouth BH8 8EB 

Arrival from 6pm for a 6:30pm start 

The Centre for Entrepreneurship together with the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy and Management (CIPPM) will present a series of workshops which will focus on 3D printing with particular focus on the Intellectual Property implications.  The workshops will be led by Dr. Dinusha Mendis, Co-Director of CIPPM.

This workshop will be based on Dr. Dinusha Mendis’s recently published paper on this topic and will provide an overview of the challenges to IP as a result of 3D printing. In looking to the future and in drawing parallels with the entertainment industry and the download culture, Dr. Mendis will consider whether any lessons can be learnt from the past and if so, how they can be applied to this new type of technology which will most certainly challenge IP laws.  The presentation will also suggest that rather than focusing on stringent IP laws the future lies in adopting new business models in adapting to this new technology.  In conclusion Dr. Mendis will present some thoughts for the future in taking this suggestion forward.

Workshop 2 and 3 will take place later in the year and will include a hands-on workshop with a 3D printer, and a round table discussion about the future of 3D printing. 

This is a free event for businesses, BU students, BU staff and BU Alumni. Refreshments will be provided.

To find out more or to book your place please visit http://bucfe.com/events/3d-printing-intellectual-property-law/

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:

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.

Erasmus, Lifelong Learning Programme, Leonardo… – will they exist in Horizon 2020?

The short answer is ‘Yes’! BU holds a number of these awards and I am delighted they will be staying in Horizon 2020 with a huge budget of €19bn. To make things simpler, the EC has streamlined several programmes into one ‘Erasmus for All’ which contains three action strands.

1. Learning mobility of individuals: This is focused on Staff mobility (in particular teachers and trainers); mobility for higher education students; a Master degree scheme and volunteering and youth exchanges.  This is where Erasmus Mundus and Erasmus Staff Mobility as you know it will sit.

2. Cooperation for innovation and best practices: This focuses on strategic partnerships between youth organisations and other relevant actors; Large-scale partnerships between education and  training establishments  and business; IT-Platforms; and cooperation with third countries. Also included in here are the existing Sector Skills Alliances and Knowledge Alliances (the latter is a structured partnership between a  university and enterprise to promote an active 2 way knowledge exchange  with a focus in partnership, innovation and long term impact; an example is here).

3. Support for policy reform: This includes an open method of Coordination; valorisation and implementation of EU tools; and policy dialogue with stakeholders, third countries and international organisations.

More details on Erasmus for All will be posted as I get them and you may wish to read this leaflet produced by the EC in the meantime.

Tick tock! Tick tock! – Fusion Fund deadline today at 2pm

Funding opportunities, Fusion

A reminder that applications to the Fusion Investment Fund must be submitted via email to FusionFund@bournemouth.ac.uk  by the deadline which is 2pm TODAY! No exceptions will be made to this deadline.

Please ensure you use the correct application form when applying. They are different this year. 

This one for SMN standard, CCCP and SL: FIF Application Form 

This one for Erasmus: Erasmus Application form 

This one for Santander:  Santander application form

If you haven’t already accessed the documents you need please visit the FIF intranet pages.

The Fusion Investment Fund is managed by Samantha Leahy-Harland and is administered by Natalie Baines. Please direct all initial enquiries to Natalie Baines.

Now Available: Research Ethics e-module on myBU

Research Ethics

The research ethics e-module training course is officially launched TODAY.

Please login to myBU and click on ‘Research Ethics’ under the ‘My Communities’ tab to begin the e-module. Contact Julia Hastings Taylor with any comments/questions regarding the e-module. If ‘Research Ethics’ is not visible on your myBU homepage, contact Julia Hastings Taylor and she will add you to the participant list.

The University Research & Knowledge Exchange Committee (URKEC) recently approved the implementation plan of a mandatory research ethics e-module training course. The research ethics e-module is vital to ensure all academic staff and PGRs at BU are provided with training in research ethics. This will ensure all members of staff who conduct their own research and supervise students are proficient in basic research ethics principles.

In accordance with the recommendations from the BU Research Ethics Review, the University procured two research ethics courses (Ethics 1: Good Research Practice and Ethics 2: Working with Human Subjects). Both courses will be available on myBU.

The first course (Ethics 1: Good Research Practice) covers standard practice and recent changes in universities’ ethics policies related to research that investigates people and their data. This course will be mandatory for all academic staff and PGRs. Successful completion of the course requires a score of 8/10 on the end of course assessment.

  • All academic staff (including all BU employees who supervise students on dissertations, thesis, etc.) will be required to complete the course no later than three months after the release date (1 July 2013) and refresher training will be required every two years thereafter.
  • All new starters will be notified of the requirement to complete the course. They will also be given three months to complete the course.
  • PRGs will be required to complete the course within three months of the start of their first year. This will begin at the start of the 2013/14 academic year. For ease of access, both courses will be available on the Graduate School’s myBU page, which will be available in the coming months.

The second course (Ethics 2: Working with Human Subjects) covers the ethics of involving human participants – directly or indirectly – in research projects. This course is recommended for all academic staff and PGRs and is mandatory if the research project involves working with human participants. Successful completion of the course requires a score of 8/10 on the end of course assessment.

Several engagement initiatives with internal support opportunities will be undertaken to ensure maximum participation with the e-module. For example, Fusion Investment Fund (FIF) applicants will be required to successfully complete the e-module. Additionally, internal development schemes (Grants Academy, EU Academics Development Scheme, etc.) will require that all new members complete the e-module. Due to the potential risks if relevant staff and PGRs are not adequately trained in research ethics, several non-compliance measures will be implemented to ensure they have basic knowledge of research ethics principles and best practice. Please visit the Research Ethics page of the blog for more information on the e-module, to include detail on engagement initiatives and non-compliance measures.

Flying through Mexico – a reconnaissance tour

Fusion

 

I visited Mexico for 2 weeks earlier this month (6-20 June) to assess the potential for future research collaboration and to establish links between Bournemouth University (BU) and Mexican organisations. As I have the role of School of Applied Sciences (ApSci) Academic Lead for Students Placements, one of my objectives was to find potential hosts for our students and also opportunities for staff and student exchange. The talks I gave (5 in total!) allowed me to disseminate some of the work I do, the wider teaching and research at ApSci and to promote BU overall. After the talks there was always a good interaction with students and staff and I think there is a good chance that this was the start of long-lasting partnerships between BU and at least some of the organisations I visited:

  • Instituto de Investigaciones Oceanologicas, Universidad Autonoma de Baja California, Ensenada – researchers from other departments and also from CICESE (Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education) also attended the talk, what was very good. Many thanks to Dr Amaia Ruiz de Alegria Arzaburu for organising everything. It was great to catch up with you and hopefully we will be doing something together soon.
  • Instituto de Ingenieria, Universidad National Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico City -attendance to the talk was very good and there was also an interview and material will be added to their website, so quite good dissemination. Dr Rodolfo Silva Casarin is a star, brilliant head of a very interesting group, it was great to have met him after so many emails we have exchanged in the recent past. Many thanks!
  • CINVESTAV (Center for Research and Advanced Studies), National Polytechnic Institute, Merida – here I had a closer contact with research conducted by staff and PhD students and also with coordinators of relevant programme, including some clear demonstration of will for visiting BU and start collaboration. Thanks to Dr Ismael Marino Tapia for the invitation and for being such a great host. Very interesting research are being conducted in CINVESTAV.
  • Laboratorio de Ingeniería y Procesos Costeros, Universidad National Autonoma de Mexico, Sisal – this people are so lucky, they have brand new facilities right at the beach, beautiful settings and they are building new labs, which I’m sure will host great quality research. The talk was well attended and hopefully we will be able to keep in touch with colleagues that were very interested in staff and student exchange. Many thanks to Dr Ernesto Tonatiuh Mendoza Ponce and Dr Cecilia Enriquez for the opportunity to visit your facilities – I look forward to working with you.
  • Instituto EPOMEX (Instituto de Ecología, Pesquerías y Oceanografía del Golfo de México), Universidad Autonoma de Campeche – Thanks to Dr Gregorio Posada Vanegas for introducing the research conducted at EPOMEX and for facilitating the contact with students and other staff. The interactions  after the talk were very informative and hopefully we will continue our collaboration in the future.

This was my first time in Mexico and I had the opportunity to see a bit of very different parts of the country, talk to researchers and students and learn about their work, culture and life style. I call it a tour because in two weeks I visited Ensenada in Baja California, Mexico City and a number of locations in the Yucatan Peninsula, including Merida, Sisal, Campeche and also part of the coast of Quintana Roo. So every other day I was packing and unpacking, which was very tiring. But all worth it for the people I met and the things I learned.

Many thanks to BU’s EUADS (EU Academic Development Scheme) funds for allowing me to engage in this reconnaissance tour.

I will keep you posted of further developments from this initiative.

Fusion supports Euro PR History Network advance

Delegates to the EPRHN Planning Meeting

With financial support from the Fusion Investment Fund, the European Public Relations History Network (EPRHN) held its first planning meeting at BU on Wednesday June 26.

The network was founded virtually in 2012 by Prof Tom Watson of the Media School and drew interest from 33 academics and practitioners in 11 European countries. It was approved.as a project by EUPRERA (Europe’s PR education and research association) in autumn last year.

Its aims are to develop and produce information about the history and historiography of public relations in Europe through the identification and formation of archives, transnational research, joint research bids and the production of publications in print and online formats.

The meeting of EPRHN’s core group brought seven historical researchers from Germany, Romania, Spain, Scotland, Turkey and Bournemouth. Fusion assisted their attendance through travel bursaries.

Among the actions to be progressed are a bid to the EU’s COST (Cooperation in Science and Technology) scheme, which was facilitated on Wednesday by Paul Lynch of RKE; a second edition of its Archives Record publication; and a panel session on ‘developing the history of European public relations’ at EUPRERA’s annual conference in October.

Prof Watson, who was supported by Dr Tasos Theofilou in the organisation of the meeting, said it had been highly productive. “There’s a limit to what we can achieve by email and Skype. The EPRHN made a big forward step because FIF helped bring key members together”. It will also assist Prof Watson and Dr Theofilou to fully launch the group at the October conference.

“At present, 13 countries are represented in the network. We hope to widen that base and engage many more historical researchers in its activities”, said Prof Watson.

For more information about EPRHN and BU’s contribution to the burgeoning field of PR history, go to: http://historyofpr.com.

CEMP Conversations this week and next

PG research

An extract from this morning’s conversation is here: CEMP conversation Tom Stacey

Tom Stacey shared an article about second language acquisition and related this to his own PHD research into coding as language acquisition.

He also talked about the practice-based element of his research, of which this robot is an example.             

Next week – on Friday 5th July, at 11.30 – 12.30, in the CEMP office, our final CEMP conversation of the academic year will take place.

We’ll be discussing two related items:

(1) Marketa Zezulkova’s book chapter on a holistic approach to media literacy education:  Marketa Book Chapter

(2) Richard Wallis’s recently published article, co-authored with David Buckingham, on the construction of media literacy within the policy context of the Communications Act: European Journal of Communication-2013-Wallis-0267323113483605

It should be a cracker, and,as always, all colleagues are very welcome to join us, in the current CEMP office, for the last time!

Joint PhD studentships: an example of FUSION in practice.

Fusion, PG research

For many clinicians undertaking a PhD means choosing to either give up clinical practice for a period of time or studying on top of an already demanding full-time job. Now a partnership between the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) and Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust (PHT) is making it easier for midwives to undertake a doctorate while still maintaining their clinical skills. The team has developed a novel joint studentship that will allow midwives to combine clinical practice with a research role, working across BU and PHT. The studentships will run for four years and PhD students will spend two days per week working as a midwife in clinical practice and three days per week working on their thesis. This set up facilitates the co-creation of knowledge.

In addition to providing the individual midwives with excellent education, these studentships are designed to examine an area of clinical practice identified by PHT where the evidence is lacking and research is needed. As a consequence the research studies will be directly relevant to practice and will have a demonstrable impact in the future. Hence BU will be able to show that its research and education have a direct benefit to the wider society. Finally, the studentships benefit midwifery practice by building a critical mass of researchers, which will help translate research findings into practice and so create a culture of evidence-based practice.

The result is a studentship that truly fuses research, education and practice.

The CMMPH/PHT partnership has developed three matched-funded PhD studentships for midwives, which will begin in September 2013. These joint PhD studentships will be supervised by both BU academics (Sue Way, Catherine Angell, Carol Wilkins, Maggie Hutchings, Edwin van Teijlingen & Vanora Hundley) and supervisors from PHT based in practice.  We are excited about this novel approach to PhD studentships and hope that we will have many more studentships with other NHS Trusts in the future.

For further information please contact Prof. Vanora Hundley or Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen.

FIF Applicants – please use the correct form

Funding opportunities, Fusion

A quick reminder to applicants to the Fusion Investment Fund: Please can you ensure you use the correct application form when applying. They have been updated since previous rounds. 

Please use the following (as on the intranet pages):

This one for SMN standard, CCCP and SL: FIF Application Form 

This one for Erasmus: Erasmus Application form 

This one for Santander:  Santander application form

All other documents including policies and FAQs are available on the FIF intranet pages.

The Fusion Investment Fund is managed by Samantha Leahy-Harland and is administered by Natalie Baines. Please direct all initial enquiries to Natalie Baines.

Time is running out! – Deadline for applications is 2pm on Monday

Funding opportunities, Fusion

If you would like to apply to any strands of the FIF please make sure you submit your application by the deadline which is 2pm on Monday 1 July. No exceptions will be made to this deadline.

For all the updated strand policy documents, Fund FAQ’s and information about applying, please visit the FIF intranet pages.

 The Fusion Investment Fund is managed by Samantha Leahy-Harland and is administered by Natalie Baines. Please direct all initial enquiries to Natalie Baines.

Marie Curie 2014-2020: The new structure

I know many of you are preparing your Marie Curie applications for August and can’t bear to think about 2014! For those of you who are interested in making an application to the Marie Curie scheme in 2014 and beyond, an insight into how these will look will be helpful.

So far Britain has had the most success with the scheme so far receiving  almost €800m in funding covering almost 3, 000 successful applications in a range of subjects.  BU is amongst this number and we hold more than 10 Marie Curie grants.  We have seen the benefits of Marie Curie Fellowships, just as other successful award holders have; with a recent study finding that 95% of Marie Curie fellows stay in touch with their international hosts actively after 5+ years.  86% confirmed that participating in Marie Curie projects had strengthen existing collaborations with the international partner organisation, so this scheme really is a great one to be involved in.

The  good news is that the strands will pretty much exist as they are, although the overarching labels and title are changing slightly which may leave you confused! The Marie Curie Scheme will be called Marie Skłodowska- Curie Actions in 2014 and will fall under the ‘Excellent Science’ pillar of Horizon 2020; this represents a new increased focus on the excellence of the host and candidate in Marie Curie actions moving forward. The aims of the scheme will remain the same and the budget is a healthy €5.75b (2014-2020).

The COFUND and ITN schemes will remain unchanged and the other schemes will be condensed into two – Individual Fellowships and RISE.

  • The ITN scheme is dedicated to early-stage researchers and involves a wide partnership of institutions from academic and non-academic sectors. It addresses the triple ‘I’ dimension of mobility – international, innovative, interdisciplinary – and combines scientific excellence with an innovation orientated approach. It focuses on developing entrepreneurship and skills matching research and innovation labour market needs and aims to enhance the employability of researchers in their chosen career.
  • Individual Fellowships will provide opportunities’ for international and intersector mobility of researchers to facilitate career moves. It encompasses intra-European, incoming, outgoing mobility as well as re-intergration and under Horizon 2020 there will the opportunity to undertake inter-sector secondments.
  •  The Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE) scheme is a new type of exchange action to stimulate knowledge transfer. The scheme will be flexible allowing European and international exchanges of highly skilled research and innovation staff based on a common research project.
  • COFUND has regional, national and international programmes designed to foster excellence by spreading best practices of Marie Curie actions in terms of international mobility, research training and career development. It will be extended to doctoral training and will build on the experience of FP7 COFUND.

When I receive more information on this scheme, I will share it but in the meantime if you have any questions on the Marie Curie scheme, do get in touch.

Papers from 19 countries at 4th PR history conference

Boston University (BU) speakers at IHPRC 2013

Aussie academics at IHPRC 2013

 

 

The fourth International History of Public Relations Conference, held at BU on June 24-25, attracted papers from 19 countries. Organised by the Institute for Media & Communication Research in The Media School, it covered topics as diverse as the Royal Family’s first PR adviser to PR in Kazakhstan, and publicity for the launch of Gone With The Wind in 1939.

Held at the Executive Business Centre, there were two strong themes: the historiography of public relations and historical aspects of the professionalisation of PR. They symbolised the conference’s development since 2010 from largely descriptive narratives to a more analytic, sometimes critical approach.

The conference welcomed the authors of five new or recent books and witnessed the launch of the first title in Routledge’s New Directions on Public Relations and Communication Research series which has been developed and edited by Dr Kevin Moloney of the Media School. The book, Public Relations and Nation Building: Influencing Israel, was written by Dr Margalit Toledano and Prof David McKie.

Prof Tom Watson gave the keynote presentation about the state of scholarship in public relations history. He called for historians to move away from “comfortable” topics to more critical investigation into the use and abuse of public relations.

The conference dinner was addressed by Bob (Robert S.) Leaf, a pioneers of international public relations in the 1960s to 1980s, when he was the international chairman of the leading public relations consultancy Burson-Marsteller. Mr Leaf recently published a memoir, The Art of Perception. Delegates also attended a “meet the editors” session which featured contributions on research and publishing by the editors of four major academic journals in the field.

Papers and presentations will be published on the conference website, http://historyofpr.com, in the late summer. Planning for the 2014 conference, which will be held at the EBC on July 2-3 next year, will start shortly.

REMINDER – the Research Ethics e-module will be launched on 1 July!

Research Ethics

The research ethics e-module training course will be launched on 1 July.

The University Research & Knowledge Exchange Committee (URKEC) recently approved the implementation plan of a mandatory research ethics e-module training course. The research ethics e-module is vital to ensure all academic staff and PGRs at BU are provided with training in research ethics. This will ensure all members of staff who conduct their own research and supervise students are proficient in basic research ethics principles.

In accordance with the recommendations from the BU Research Ethics Review, the University procured two research ethics courses (Ethics 1: Good Research Practice and Ethics 2: Working with Human Subjects). Both courses will be available on myBU.

The first course (Ethics 1: Good Research Practice) covers standard practice and recent changes in universities’ ethics policies related to research that investigates people and their data. This course will be mandatory for all academic staff and PGRs. Successful completion of the course requires a score of 8/10 on the end of course assessment.

  • All academic staff (including all BU employees who supervise students on dissertations, thesis, etc.) will be required to complete the course no later than three months after the release date (1 July 2013) and refresher training will be required every two years thereafter.
  • All new starters will be notified of the requirement to complete the course. They will also be given three months to complete the course.
  • PRGs will be required to complete the course within three months of the start of their first year. This will begin at the start of the 2013/14 academic year. For ease of access, both courses will be available on the Graduate School’s myBU page.

The second course (Ethics 2: Working with Human Subjects) covers the ethics of involving human participants – directly or indirectly – in research projects. This course is recommended for all academic staff and PGRs and is mandatory if the research project involves working with human participants. Successful completion of the course requires a score of 8/10 on the end of course assessment.

Several engagement initiatives with internal support opportunities will be undertaken to ensure maximum participation with the e-module. For example, Fusion Investment Fund (FIF) applicants will be required to successfully complete the e-module. Additionally, internal development schemes (Grants Academy, EU Academics Development Scheme, etc.) will require that all new members complete the e-module. Due to the potential risks if relevant staff and PGRs are not adequately trained in research ethics, several non-compliance measures will be implemented to ensure they have basic knowledge of research ethics principles and best practice. Please visit the Research Ethics page of the blog for more information on the e-module, to include detail on engagement initiatives and non-compliance measures.

1-2-1s with Martin Pickard now available 10th July 2013 – Book Now!

Grants Academy, Training

 

A few spaces are still available for 1-2-1 appointments with Martin Pickard on Wednesday the 10th of July 2013 – *Please note: these are being held at the Talbot Campus in DL104 (opposite the Octagon in the Library).

If you feel you would benefit from a ‘face to face’ meeting with Martin either in relation to any bid/proposal or Marie Curie application you are currently working on please contact me Dianne Goodman ASAP with your time preferences.

Appointments are approx 45 minutes long. You will also have unlimited telephone and email support to progress your application after meeting with Martin.

With a career background in both Academia and Industry Dr. Martin Pickard of Grantcraft is a specialist in writing and supporting research grant applications and tenders as well as providing administrative and management support services for ongoing projects. During the last 20 years Martin has worked extensively across Europe with a large number of universities, and research institutes as well as industrial firms, ranging from small SME’s to major international companies.

Martin is providing individual 1-2-1 surgeries with any BU academic staff member and works individually and confidentiality with each Principal Investigator as the project is structured and prepared in order to optimize the application documentation from every aspect of the Funders perspective; guiding, steering and showing how to optimize the application throughout the bid process.

Academics at BU who have undertaken his guidance have stated his ‘support and direction was invaluable – Martin gave me some pragmatic suggestions which really helped to shape the bid. His eye for detail made the document much easier to read and the message much clearer. I was very grateful for his input’  Assoc. Prof Heather Hartwell, School of Tourism.

The process, although labour intensive, works; with a proven historical average success rates of close to 1 in 2 against norms of 1 in 8 to 1 in 10.

Martin is at BU on the following dates and times:

  • 10th July 2013, 9:15am- 5pm (Talbot Campus) – some afternoon appointments available
  • 4th September 2013, 9:15- 5 (Lansdowne Campus)

 

Book on the Living with Environmental Change (including Energy) Sandpit today

Feedback from BU staff who have participated in academic sandpits is always positive: “Sandpits stimulate creative thinking and encourage you to step outside of your comfort zone. They are an opportunity to learn from others whose approaches to research may be different from your own” – Prof. Adele Ladkin, School of Tourism, EPSRC Sandpit Participant

Sandpits provide an intensive, interactive and free-thinking environment. A group of participants from a range of disciplines and backgrounds use this space to get together to become immersed in a collaborative thinking processes in order to construct innovative approaches to issues or questions.

As sandpits involve diverse participants, they force catalysation, collision and collaboration. This produces unique and innovative outputs and fosters new partnerships.

We are facilitating with expert bid writer Dr Martin Pickard of GrantCraft, three 1-day sandpits at BU which focus around relevant Research Council UK cross-thematic areas. The Living with Environmental Change (including Energy) Sandpit is being held on 17.07.13

Attending the sandpit will:

  • facilitate you networking with other researchers across BU who you wouldn’t normally come in to contact with
  • allow you to get a fresh perspective from a different discipline on the same issue
  • enable you to be part of a multidisciplinary team who potentially bids for Research Council funding
  • give you a truly unique experience

Spaces are limited for each of the sandpits and you can register for a place on the Staff Development website.