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September Early Career Forum – How to get that first grant or paper…..

In September we held the second of our open forum meetings for Early Career Researchers (ECRs).  These meetings provide  an opportunity to ask for advice and guidance from a team of experienced academics and research managers in an informal setting. Questions can be about anything related to research – from publications to projects to funding to research strategy! The Forums also provide an opportunity for ECRs to network with colleagues from across the University.

The September meeting was well attended by ECRs from Schools across the University, and they met with Prof Bogdan Gabrys, Assoc Prof Richard Berger,  plus Jennifer Roddis and myself from the Research and Knowledge Exchange Office.

The discussions related getting started – how to get that first grant, or first paper when you don’t have a track-record (apart from your Phd research). One of the key messages here was to work on your profile, and there are various ways you can approach profile-raising.  Here are some of the key messages that emerged from this theme:

Publishing: Remember, your Phd is a valid piece of research!  You might want to talk to your supervisor about targeting likely publications and jointly publishing on your Phd topic or theme.  Regularly publish if you can.  Get your name out. 

Don’t be afraid to take a tangent:  A useful message from this meeting was don’t be precious about your research area.  You may miss opportunities if you are not prepared to follow a research path on a tangent.  After completing your Phd it can be challenging to find topics to research or publish on.  Take a look at your literature review and early drafts of your Phd.  Examine the abandoned strands of argument and research questions you decided not to pursue.  These could present themselves as great opportunities for research and publication, as they are related to your Phd topic, but not restricted by it.   This is one way that you might expand your research out of your Phd subject.

For example, Richard Berger won a BBC grant that was not strictly in his subject area.  He felt out of his comfort zone for the 8 weeks of the project.  However, he learned enormous amounts about new methodolgieis, delivering research, and presenting his work, which has stood him in good stead for his further research work.

Networking: Getting involved in networks is an effective part of raising your profile.  Attending conferences is a good start. You might start by choosing conferences with the best repuation, or by going to small conferences, where you may find other academics like you!  Over time, you will naturally get to know the other conference attendees (peopl you sit next to etc).    If you find someone you like, you might want to start presenting together. 

This was the experience of one of the senior academics – they started presenting together, then started to write together, then started their own journal on the subjects that they are interested in.   Starting your own journal is not as hard as it sounds.  You could publish online, and academics from around the world like being invited to be on editorial boards.  Its worth a thought. You can try submitting papers to conferences – but bear in mind that there is a lot of competition, with probably a 20% chance of your paper being accepted, but if you don’t try, you won’t know!

Networking funds?  Ask in your School if there are funds available for attending conferences.  Each School has a different way of doing things, so it is worth asking around. Investigate the research councils and other funders, which offer networking grants.   You could organise your own conference – this would be a great opportunity to generate some funds, plus a fantastic way to create your own network.  Host it at the EBC, write about it on the reserach blog, write about it on other blogs, advertise it through online networks.    

Cold calling:  When you are cold-calling, make sure you have something to offer – be honest and be upfront.  The worst that can happen is that you receive a polite no, or are ignored!   Maybe don’t always email potential collaborators. If they are within BU knock on their door and be pursuasive!  Research groups at other institutions may well be looking for speakers on certain topics.  Do some research, find out, offer yourself as a speaker.

Online communities: there are networks of excellence that operate online.  Join in and find like-minded people.   A good opportunity to make connections and raise your profile.

Research Grants:  Take advantage of schemes such as the Grants Academy and Research Proposal Review Service.   Subscribe to the research blog for news on internal funding opportunities.  Bid for Phd studentships. Talk to colleagues – maybe you could collaborate?  Use Research Professional and look for open calls.  Don’t focus only on the big research council grants – these are highly competitive, and generally are looking for a research grant track record.  Look for smaller funding opportunities – charities, foundations and even regional funding agencies are often good places to start.  A good piece of advice:  stay away from scary deadlines until you are ready!   

Prepare to fail! You will get rejections – because everyone gets rejections for papers submitted to journals, and for research grant applications.   When you suffer a rejection your first reaction will be emotional.  Take time to reflect.  Then go back to your proposal and take a constructive look.  The work won’t be wasted, as you will be able to re-work it for another journal or another funder.

BRIAN: make sure your profile is up to date.

Make the most of internal support available:

One of the ECRs who attended has helpfully set up a Facebook page called ECR BU – here is the link:

http://www.facebook.com/groups/265825716854423/

What next?

If you’re interested in coming to one of the next ECR Forums you will need to book to confirm your attendance (this is so we can order enough food and refreshments in advance). The next Forums are scheduled as follows (rooms to be confirmed):

19 November 12:30 – 15:00 on the Lansdowne Campus

11 December 12:30 – 15:00 on the Talbot Campus

HEA Call for expressions of interest: teaching research methods in the Social Sciences

Funding opportunities

HEA have launched a call for expressions of interest in working with the HEA Social Sciences cluster on their strategic project – teaching research methods in the Social Sciences projects. Project strands include:

1.      Developing STEM skills in qualitative research methods teaching and learning
2.      Assessment for learning in research methods
3.      Teaching research methods within HE programmes in FE settings
4.      Making the most of open educational resources (OER) in research methods teaching and learning
5.      Research methods and knowledge exchange

For further details and to submit an expression of interest: http://mail.heacademy.ac.uk/12ZA-ZWSN-6DLHZU-DXEGR-0/c.aspx

FIF Launch Week – Focus on Staff Mobility and Networking strand

Funding opportunities, Fusion, Guidance

The Staff Mobility and Networking (SMN) strand exists to fund £1k-£10k projects enabling networking. In round one the committee funded 13 applications, awards totalling £72,771.33. 

A development for the second round of the strand is the inclusion of an Erasmus Staff Mobility strand which has been added to the scope of the SMN committee. Erasmus Application and Guidance (Word 2010).

The SMN strand of the FIF saw exciting initiatives from staff across BU, staff are starting to share their experiences and hopes for their projects using the Research Blog.  I hope you will be inspired to apply yourself to this strand! 

 

Read blog posts from funded applicants in round one below:

Chris Pullen – In this post Chris explains the background for his project entitled ‘A ‘tool kit’ to address Bullying and Name Calling in School: Teaching Practice and the use of Media in the Classroom’.

Some great research has already taken place looking at LGBT identity issues in school, Chris is looking to extend these ideas, looking at how media is used in the secondary school classroom. Exploring name calling that goes unchallenged within diverse social environments.

Jian Chang – who will establish a strategic partnership between the National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA) of Bournemouth University and the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC), and to create opportunities in joint research, enterprise and education endeavours. UESTC has been among the top ranked Chinese universities, and has been the best educational base in China for computer science and electronic engineering. It is located in Chengdu, one of the largest cities in Western China

Dont forget to apply before the 1st December deadline!

EU Showcase Event – hear some great tips, experiences and eat some cake!

I am very excited to for this years EU Showcase Event! Last year’s event was a tremendous success and this year’s looks like it will be even bigger and better!

We all know the importance of getting involved in EU funding as national funds dwindle, greater importance is placed on international collaborations and of BUs strategic focus on internationalisation. This event will celebrate our successful EU award holders who will share their tips for engaging in EU funding.

We have presentations on schemes to help you start your EU career (Christos Gatzidis on the Leonardo scheme of the Lifelong Learning Programme and Bogdan Gabrys and Rob Britton on Marie Curie schemes) and schemes for those already engaged (Anthea Innes on applying for an FP7 grant and Adrian Newton on being a Partner in an FP7 consortium). We also have top tips on how to network effectively to become involved in EU funding (from the very experienced Dimitrios Buhalis and Cornelius Ncube). Finally I will be launching 3 very exciting internal EU focused funding competitions at this event to help you engage in EU funding and we have presentations from those who won funding through 2 of these schemes last year.

The informal and informative event will be opened by Matthew Bennett in Kimmeridge House  on 14th November. Plenty of coffee, tea, lunch and cake provided and due to the restriction of room size, registration is essential. This takes only 10 seconds on the Staff Development website.

The event will be finished in plenty of time for you to drive/ catch the uni bus to the Executive Business Centre (EBC) to hear the Inaugural Lecture Dementia: personal journey to policy priority by HSC’s Prof. Anthea Innes.

Two-day Masterclass: Systematic Reviews

PG research

This masterclass has been designed to suit professionals, academics and postgraduate students who are looking for an introduction to systematic review methods.

About systematic review
Systematic review is a specific research method whereby a structured and rigorous approach is used to provide a critcal synthesis of the available literature on a particular topic.

About the course
Date: 8 – 9 November 2012
Location: BU Executive Business Centre, Holdenhurst Road, Lansdowne Campus

This masterclass will be led by Professor Edwin Van Teijlingen and Professor Vanora Hundley, who both have extensive experience in conducting systematic reviews. You will examine the rationale for systematic reviews of both qualitative and quantitative data, and explore the various elements of a systematic review; selecting electronic databases, literature searching, data extraction, data synthesis, interpretation and reporting.

There will be a mixture of seminars & discussions, Q&A sessions and group activities focusing on:

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

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 2 November.

Additional information
This masterclass can also be taken as a stand-alone Master’s level unit of accredited study – contact
Dr Caroline Ellis-Hill for more information.

Find out more and book your place >>

British Academy info session: 21st November – all welcome

Funding opportunities

On 21st November, The British Academy is coming to BU to host an information session.

The purpose of the session is to:

  • give participants an understanding of the British Academy and its range of activities
  • increase awareness of the Academy’s research funding opportunities.
  • give some insight into evaluation criteria and what assessors are looking for in applications to the Academy.

Dr Ken Emond and Kate Kenyon will be hosting.

Dr Emond is the Head of Research Awards at the British Academy. Ken is a graduate of the University of St Andrews with a doctorate in Scottish History, for a thesis on the Minority of King James V, 1513-1528. After working in the Department of Transport, Ken joined the Academy in 1992. As Head of Research Awards since 2008, Ken is responsible for the administration of all of the Academy’s UK grants and fellowship schemes, and he has extensive experience in advising on research funding matters.

Kate Kenyon is an International Officer within the International Department of the British Academy. Kate is a Modern Languages graduate of University College London, and joined the Academy in 2011 following periods at the Italian Chamber of Commerce and the London Deanery. Kate is responsible for the administration of the International Department’s International Partnership and Mobility Scheme and the Academy’s involvement in the Tier 1 Exceptional Talent visa route.  

Important info:

  • When: Wednesday, 21st November
  • Time: 1.15 – 2.30pm
  • Place:  Allesbrook Lecture Theatre, Talbot campus
  • How to book:  Please click here to book your place.

Information about funding opportunities with the British Academy:  http://www.britac.ac.uk/funding/index.cfm

For more information please contact Caroline O’Kane

Fusion Investment Fund Launch Week – Focus on Study Leave strand

Funding opportunities, Fusion, Guidance

 The Study Leave (SL) grants are designed to buy individuals out of one semester/term of teaching and provide support for overseas travel and subsistence or for expenditure associated with distance working within the UK.  Opportunities for paid study leave include undertaking or participating in:

  1. A period(s) of business or industrial secondment.
  2. International staff exchange or periods of overseas research, professional practice or educational activity.
  3. In staff exchange or periods of research, professional practice or educational activity at other Universities or Government research establishments in the UK.
  4. Secondments within different parts of BU, for example within different Schools. 

Study Leave was the most undersubscribed strand of the Fund in round one with 5 applicants taking the £45,661.50 allocated in July.  To give some clarity on what will be funded by the committee please see the FIF Study Leave policy Sept V1

Matthew Bennett writes in his blog piece ‘Jumping Trains’ how Study Leave can help in building networks. Periods of study leave need not be contiguous but can consist of a series of short visits or secondments at one or more institutions. An application for Study Leave may be combined or linked to a bid to the Staff Networking and Mobility Strand where additional travel and subsistence costs are required. Periods of Study Leave are normally between 2 or 6 months, but some flexibility for both shorter and longer periods will be exercised by the committee where there are good reasons for doing so. 

The normal cycle of applications is two per year – June and December – however the Committee recognises that opportunities arise at other times and is prepared to take out of cycle applications at any point during an academic year.

I hope you will see the diversity of possibilities available from this strand – by reading the Dr Lai Xu post on securing the maximum £15,000 funding.  The project  ‘Strengthening Service Computing Research in BU’ is enabling inward mobility into the School of Design, Engineering and Computing.

As part of the intervention programmes in October and November the committee members are all contactable for help, please details on intervention activity here.

Good Luck!!

Good luck & Congratulations!

Awarded & submitted bids

Congratulations to Roger Herbert (ApSci) for his matched funding from Natural England, Zhidong Xiao (Media School) for securing funding from Wuhan Vocational College of Software and Engineering to run Wuhan Teachers Training Programme in Computer Animation, Anthea Innes and Clive Andrewes (HSC) for their funding from TSB, Kip Jones (HSC) for securing funding from ESRC, Caroline Ellis-Hill (HSC) for running the Masterclass: Systematic Reviews and Jonathan Monteith (ApSci) for his funding received from Blandford Forum Town Council.

Good luck to Raian Ali (DEC) for his application to Marie Curie, to both Zulfiqar Khan (DEC) and Venky Dubey for their applications to EPSRC/DST, Hongchuan YU (Media School) for his application to AHRC, Heather Savigny (Media School) for her application to the British Academy, Rosie Read (bid led by Bradford University) for her ESRC dementia initiative, Mary-Ann Robertson and Clive Andrewes for their application to the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospital, Chris Shiel (ApSci) for her EC – FP7 Collaborative Stage 1 (of 2) application, Anita Diaz (ApSci) for her application to the Higher Education Authority, Richard Stillman (ApSci) for his applications to the Marine Management Organisation – RPS  and HR Wallingford, Peter Comninos (Media School) for his EC FP7 Collaborative Stage 1 (of 2) application and Anthea Innes and Samuel Nyman (HSC) for their EC FP7 – Health – collaborative project Stage 1 (of 2) application.

Best wishes

Matthew

Bournemouth University’s School of Tourism host International Week with new Erasmus partner universities:

Bournemouth University’s School of Tourism has recently signed three Erasmus agreements with three Universities in Europe to enhance international links to high quality international research and teaching institutions, especially in the area of sport business and events management.

To celebrate this recent agreement Dr Tim Breitbarth (Senior Lecturer in Sport Management) organised various guest lectures, presentations to staff and students as well as informal opportunities to meet and mingle as part of an International Week in Sport and Events Management.

Professor Dr Sebastian Kaiser, a professor in sport and events at the SRH Hochschule Heidelberg; Dr Stefan Walzel a senior lecturer at the German Sport University Cologne, Institute of Sport Economics and Sport Management; and Gerco Van Dalfsen, a program coordinator sport management at Hanze University of Applied Sciences in Groningen and Secretary General of the European Association of Sport Management all took part in international week and also represented their university.

On Wednesday Sebastian, Stefan and Gerco hosted a presentation as part of the School of Tourism Staff Development. A substantial number of colleagues from across School of Tourism, research students and university managers concerned with international development attended the session.

Dr Richard Shipway (Associate Dean International Engagement) framed the presentations by mentioning relevant aspects of BU’s strategy to create more and higher quality international opportunities for staff and students.

 

Gerco, Stefan, Sebastian each presented their respective universities and provided an overview of their study programmes. In particular, they showed how they integrate international student exchange, international competitions and workshops into their programs in order to enhance student abilities and networking. School of Tourism staff were, for example, impressed by the vast and modern sport and scientific infrastructure of the German Sport University Cologne, and the strong international and multidisciplinary focus of sport, events and health programmes at Hanze University. The presentations and opportunities to cooperate led to lively conversations and concrete projects/ideas to follow-up.

The second part of the Lecture on Wednesday saw Stefan and Sebastian present some of their high quality research. :

Stefan provided insights into the discussions around relevance and impacts of the Youth Olympics and the organisation of the first summer and winter Youth Olympics. The particular focus of his empirical investigation was on the use of ambush marketing despite clean venues and no commercial sponsorship allowed at the games. German Sport University Cologne also very successfully integrated student visits and volunteering at the games with both international teaching and study opportunities.

 

Sebastian outlined similarities and peculiarities of events management in sports and culture from socioeconomic theory. In his empirical study he explores the impact of the economic sectors by utilising regression analysis of a dataset from surveys amongst managers within the industry. His major conclusion was that events management may benefit not only from a dialogue between science and practice but particularly from an interdisciplinary perspective integrating theories and approaches from sports and culture management.

 

On Friday, Sebastian and Stefan helped kick off the weekly Research Seminar Series for, mainly, sport science and sport management students. Around 100 students attended and Dr Ian Jones (Associate Dean Sport) pointed out that those regular seminars are to widen student’s horizon and an opportunity to engage with relevant topics that may be beyond their core areas of interest.

The presentations from the international visitors provided the students with a glimpse of how/what their peers in other countries are taught;  an important experience since those universities no longer educate their students for national markets but acknowledge that they have to compete on an international labour market after graduation.

Stefan’s presentation introduced the students to the link between psychological, behavioural and economic dimensions behind corporate hospitality activities at sport events. Whereas the main conclusion from Sebastian’s presentation was that there are different ways to calculate the possible impacts of events based on the same numbers.

 

Students were invited to mingle with the presenters and amongst each other afterwards in Dylan’s Bar and a few students used this opportunity to discuss particular aspects of the respective topics in special and the international sport management in general.

Students that attended the Lectures and Seminars were given the opportunity to win quality merchandise from the new partner universities.

All three of the visiting Lecturers were in Bournemouth for 5 days and were very impressed with the Bournemouth University campus and its facilities, especially our eLearning opportunities / environment.

For further information about the International Week or our new Erasmus partner universities please contact Dr Tim Breitbarth on tbreitbarth@bournemouth.ac.uk or 01202 965113.

 

Erasmus Staff Mobility Funding Competition for BU launches today!

You may or may not have heard of the Erasmus Staff Mobility scheme which BU has run for the last few years. If you have, then you will know it is a great scheme. If you haven’t then now is a great chance to learn more. Grants are available for BU staff to visit an enterprise or university in Europe and undertake teaching or training. This is not only a fantastic experience in itself but also a really great way to start to develop your networks. Your visit can be between 5 days and 6 weeks and non-academic staff can apply to the teaching strand too.

This year, I have taken over the gauntlet from Deborah Velay and incorporated the Erasmus Staff Mobility fund into the Fusion Investment Staff Mobility and Networking Fund. There is a really short application form to complete and the deadline is December 1st. The processes have been combined to improve our efficiency in delivering this scheme to you.

The Fusion Investment Fund was launched today and you can find out more on this absolutely brilliant scheme by following the link posted on the blog.

 

Fusion Investment Fund – 2012/13 December Round opens today!

Funding opportunities, Fusion, Guidance, R & KE Operations

The Fusion Investment Fund (FIF) is again opening the three strands currently available to staff!

At c. £3m per annum for the first three years the FIF represents the significant investment that BU is making in the development of staff and students, and the embedding of the Fusion philosophy. 

New Fusion Investment Fund online application form and general FAQ’s can be viewed on the FIF website www.bournemouth.ac.uk/FIF   

Also launching today is the Erasmus Staff Mobility scheme which has been merged into the Existing Staff Mobility and Networking strand, please see Erasmus Application and Guidance (Word 2010) 

 Follow the links below to be directed to the new strand policy documents as well as the new Application Form:

 Details of the intervention sessions can be seen here. Apply before the deadline on 1st December!

 If you have any questions about the fund do not hesitate to contact Sam Furr FIF Administrator.

Back in the Office

News from the PVC

I know this is old news and I will post something more interesting later in the week, but I thought I should just give a quick update for those that have been following my office-less experiment.  The headline is clear its finished after four weeks as a homeless PVC!

In terms of experience? Well to be honest it’s been mixed.  Could I do without my office and remain productive?  Yes is the simple answer.  Do I want to?  Not so sure on that score!  Initially it worked well since I had a bit more time free in my calendar, the atrium and other public work spaces were quieter, I also worked at home a bit and crucially I met lots of people and made some connections which all felt useful.  Towards the end the atrium in particular became almost impossible to find a seat in, let alone do any work, and my calendar was so full that I had little free time to meet people around the campus.  I learnt a bit about mobile working and how our IT systems aren’t really up to it for prolonged periods and also that we need more public work spaces apart from those around the coffee shops.  These are all issues that I will try to feed in as appropriate to our estates and IT plans when I get a chance over the coming months since mobile working is a legitimate choice and preference for many and may increase in the future.

Anyway the experiment is now officially over as I ease back into the comfort of my office, stretch my feet out beneath the desk, enjoy a decent computer screen, reach for my favourite mug and stare at the pictures of arctic landscapes on the wall.  But please feel free to continue to stop me and talk as I move about the campus and I intend to continue to find time in the coming months to adopt a more mobile pattern of working and to continue to let people know where I am working!

Fusion Investment Fund – Intervention Programmes in October / November 2012

Funding opportunities, Fusion, Guidance

Fusion Investment Fund Intervention Sessions

Applications to the December round of Fusion Investment Funding is now open.  To support academics in making applications two series of interventions are now available!

Grant Writing Development here at Talbot! – Book now onto the “Strengthening your FIF Proposal” workshop led by Martin Pickard

Two half day sessions are running on Tuesday 6th November with Martin Pickard from Grantcraft visiting Talbot. To book click here and fill out the booking form, numbers are limited to 12 in each session so do hurry!

Tuesday 6th November 2012, 09:00-12:00 – The Octagon, Talbot Campus

Tuesday 6th November 2012, 13:00-16:00 – The Octagon, Talbot Campus

This session will be led by Martin Pickard from Grantcraft and will provide academics who have drafted their FIF proposals with the opportunity to have their proposals reviewed by Martin and to identify areas that could be strengthened. Max of 12 attendees per session.

The session includes a one hour introductory presentation Martin calls ‘Grantmanship’, followed by a group workshop. Lunch included for both morning and afternoon attendees from 12:00 – 13:00.

Max of 12 attendees per session.

 

Hear it direct from the horse’s mouth! – Individual one-to-one advice from FIF committee members

For the December round of Fusion Investment Funding the committee members from all three strands (open to staff) are available to contact to arrange advice and guidance on completing your applications, from today right up to the 1st December deadline.

Please note the CCCP committee members will be available by phone or email only.

To contact members from one of the panels send an email to a member, names found clicking on the following pages:

Co-Creation and Co-Production strand CCCP

Staff Mobility and Networking strand SMN

Study Leave strand SL

 

Don’t forget to apply by the 1st December deadline!