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RCUK Research Outcomes Project

Research assessment

In an effort to record the outcomes and impact of research beyond the end of a funded project, Research Councils UK (RCUK) have been developing a system to gather the relevant quantitative and qualitative evidence. The information collated will be an important part of the Research Councils’ strategy development, and will be crucial in demonstrating the benefits of RCUK-funded research to society and the economy.

Currently, the Research Outcomes Project remains on course to go live in summer 2011, although a full roll out may not occur until autumn. Grant holders will be required to provide information on the following output types:

  • Publications
  • Collaboration
  • Communication
  • Exploitation
  • Recognition
  • Staff Development
  • Further Funding
  • Impact

The idea is for the system to allow outcomes to be reported at any point during the funding agreement and beyond, recognising that impacts from research are often realised some time after funding agreements have been completed.

The project team are engaging with users to ensure the system will be easy to use and aligned as far as possible with universities’ own research management information systems. A focus group of research managers provided feedback on the system, which is currently being built, and a pilot exercise is due to take place in August 2011.

BU is currently following the development of the Research Outcomes Project and will be looking at ways to help academics provide the required data in due course. In the meantime, please contact Anita Somner if you have any questions. To raise queries or concerns, or to make suggestions to RCUK, you can use the project email address: researchoutcomes@rcuk.ac.uk .

Research Development Unit (RDU) changes

I’m pleased to confirm four significant changes to the Research Development Unit (RDU) that will take place over the coming months.

First, our name has changed from the Research Unit to the Research Development Unit (RDU) to more accurately reflect what it is we do and the services we offer.

The second group of changes are to the existing RDU team:

My job description has been tweaked slightly and my job title remains the same – University Research Development Manager. I will continue to lead the RDU and work closely with the PVC (Research, Enterprise & Internationalisation), and be responsible for the operationalisation of BU research strategy, research policy, external research assessment returns, research management information, and R&E systems (such as RED).

Corrina Dickson’s job description has been updated and her job title changed to Senior Research Development Officer (EU). Once all of the changes have been made, Corrina will no longer be undertaking the management of the internal peer review scheme (RPRS) and all of her time will be dedicated to supporting EU funding, i.e. identifying and promoting EU funding opportunities, working with academic staff to strengthen proposals, and brokering relationships with EU bodies. This is the first time BU has had a dedicated EU support post so is an exciting time for both BU and Corrina.

Anita Somner’s job description has also been updated and her job title has been changed to Research Development Officer (REF). These changes reflect Anita’s continuing and valued role in supporting the University’s preparations for the forthcoming Research Excellence Framework (REF).

I’m sure you’ll all join me in congratulating Corrina and Anita, and wishing them well in their roles!

The third change to the RDU is that in addition to the job description and job title changes for the existing team members, there will also be two further posts which we will seek to recruit to over the next few months:

Research Development Officer (Funding & Processes) – having been vacant since November 2009 due to a staff secondment this post will be advertised internally later this week. The post-holder will be responsible for ensuring our internal R&E systems (such as RED & iCOST) and pre- and post-award processes are efficient and streamlined. Other duties will include administering external R&E systems (such as Je-S, Research Professional, etc), collating R&E management information, sourcing funding opportunities and serving as Secretary for the University Research Ethics Committee.

Senior R&E Officer (Peer Review) – This is a new part-time post that will be dedicated to managing the internal peer review scheme (RPRS). The post-holder will initially be based in the Research Development Unit, mentored by Corrina, with the aim of transferring to the CRE Operations team later in calendar year. Having this post based in CRE Operations will ensure that internal peer review is embedded in the pre-award research process resulting in a much more streamlined process for academics submitting bids. This post will be advertised in May.

These are both excellent opportunities – if you would like to discuss either of them, please contact me (ext: 61208) and I will happily provide further details.

The fourth and final change is our line management and direction which will now come from two senior posts at BU – the Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research, Enterprise & Internationalisation) (Prof Matthew Bennett) and the Head of Financial and Commercial Services (Susanne Clarke). This will ensure that there is an academic voice shaping research support and development, whilst also ensuring that research remains integrated with FCS for elements such as audit, external reporting, and R&E systems and processes.

These are really exciting changes for the Research Development Unit and we look forward to continuing to provide excellent service, support and advice for all research matters across BU.

😀 We always welcome feedback and suggestions as to how to improve our service, particulary at times such as this when there are lots of opportunities for change. If you do have any feedback or suggestions, please leave a comment to this post or email us.

Julie Northam

University Research Development Manager

Future BU research themes – have your say!

Following the current refresh of Vision & Values led by the Vice Chancellor Professor John Vinney the intention is to look again at the research and enterprise strategy for BU.

There are likely to be two big elements of change: one is a shift to talking about research as an all embracing term for not only the creation of knowledge but also its dissemination through enterprise and professional practice, and the other is a move towards a more outward facing approach led by the large societal themes both of the day and of the future.  This will position BU to respond more effectively to the big research questions; those associated with the funding and societal impact.  As the first step towards this we are trying to identify a series of broad themes or communities of interest around which we can focus and foster a more collegial and collaborative research mission. 

Identifying these themes or communities is something we wish to engage all staff in.  In the short term these themes and communities will be used to promote our research via the web through a shift to a more narrative based approach rather than one based on our internal structures as at present. 

To start this process off we looked first at the key funding themes for the research councils and other large funders and then ‘road-tested’ them via the BU Professoriate to come up with a long list of possible research themes or communities of interest.  I am now seeking your input via a survey; what themes speak to you? What themes would your research fit under? What are we are missing?  The survey takes less than two minutes to complete. Your participation is very much appreciated and will help directly shape not only the way in which we promote our research via the BU website but also our future research strategy.

To complete the survey click here!

 The survey is open until Monday 2 May.

 

Matthew Bennett

PVC (Research, Enterprise & Internationalisation)

Writing & Time

Guidance

One of the recurrent issues for researchers is time, as for most things in life.  I am in the process of visiting all the BU Research Centres and at various points in all of these conversations time for research and the balanced workload emerges as an issue.  There are no easy solutions to balancing ones work load; and there is a mix of both personal and corporate responsibility.  As a busy academic, with lots of external commitments, a big job and two young boys, time is for me the one thing that I don’t have and is something most of us have in common to varying degrees.  Research is often the first thing to be sacrificed as the time pressure builds or it is pushed into stolen moments between other things.

Twenty years ago as a young lecturer I used to prioritise my research over everything else and my teaching was done in the time that was left, but in those days there were few external commitments and time had that elastic property which it seems to have lost with age.  These days such flexibility does not exist, but my research is still to the fore dominating the spaces between other commitments.  Like today for example on the walk into work I was puzzling how to portray some data; I spent a few minutes while making a cup of tea between meetings outlining the structure of my next paper in my head; a structure which I finally sketched out before introducing tonight’s Professorial Inaugural lecture.  With luck I may find the time next week to start work on fleshing out this paper which I am quite excited about on the quiet.  Snatched moments are not ideal but are better than nothing; the key for me is to make the most of them.

The hardest part of getting a new paper started is setting out the first scrappy draft on paper, or just the first few pages.  Once I have this I am able to continue to work on it in stolen moments but that first bit with the cursor constantly blinking at you is hard and I need to find some proper time to marshal my thoughts and launch myself at it.  Writing is one of those hard things which you quickly get out of the habit of and getting back to paper writing after a break can be challenging.  Yes we write e-mails and texts all the time, but real prose is a struggle for most of us, certainly for me.

Last year a very eminent academic gave me a piece of advice which I now try to follow.  It is a simple task around a writing discipline which has helped me a lot.  Their advice was to write something ‘proper’ every morning as the first thing you do each day; just for twenty minutes or so rather than reach instantly for your inbox or that pile of marking.  According to their advice it leads to a more productive day in which you are more likely to write good stuff in those stolen moments.  Well I am a bit sceptical about advice like this I started the practice last year in desperation and found that it really does help.  In fact I try to spend twenty minutes writing something both morning and night now; the evening is more about trying to get ideas and issues out of my head but I do feel more productive when I start the day with some proper prose.  It can be anything and in my case is often written long hand in my ‘ideas book’; this blog post for example, a few paragraphs of a strategy paper, or better still some of my research notes.  It works really well when I am in the field or analysing data and makes a big difference to translating that fieldwork or analysis into published output.  Sitting in my tent or a seedy hotel somewhere in the world I try to write down my reflection on the day’s fieldwork and sketch out and articulate my emerging ideas.  A bit like the Victorian scientist or explorer writing out their notes or diary in laborious copper plate!  My notes are far from copper plate but the idea works.  I suppose the key point is that writing regularly really helps me keep productive and makes the most of those stolen moments for research helping me to stay positive about my research progress even when there is in reality very little due to other work commitments.  There are many such techniques and I would be interested in hearing from you on this subject, but the key thing is to find the time for research.  The appraisal round commences next term and it is your chance to be pro-active in challenging your mangers for the time to push forward your research agenda not just in stolen moments but in meaningful blocks of time; I wish you luck in this challenge and you have my support!  There are no magic solutions to the issue of time, but if you know of any I would love to hear about them!

Matthew Bennett

PVC (Research, Enterprise & Internationalisation)

ERA journal ranking list

Guidance

ERA logoFollowing on from Anita’s post on Journal Impact Factors and my post on Publications, I thought it would be beneficial to share the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) Journal Ranking List which was published by the Australian Research Council (ARC) in 2010.

It is provided here as a guide to help you make informed decisions about the quality of the journals that you target.

RankingThe list provides probably the most comprehensive, expert opinion based list ever attempted, capturing numerous disciplines (science, social science, business, humanities, etc.) and over 20,000 journals. In this list, and as a broad translation, A and A* ranked outlets are judged to be the best; B is deemed pretty decent, and so on.

As with all journal ranking lists, this comes with the usual health warning: it’s “expert opinion based”, and thus subjective. As such, it’s an imprecise science, but perhaps a useful guide, especially for those BU disciplines without an equivalent UK quality guide.

You can access the list here – Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) Journal Ranking List

Journal Impact Factors Explained

Guidance, Research assessment

There is often some confusion around Journal Impact Factors in terms of where they come from, how they’re calculated and what they mean. Hopefully the following will provide a brief explanation.


What are Journal Impact Factors?
Journal Impact Factors are just one of a number of journal analytical measures that form part of an online resource provided by Thomson Reuters on their Web of Knowledge called Journal Citation Reports® (JCR), which covers journals in the sciences, technology and social sciences. JCR provides a facility for the evaluation and comparison of journals across fields within the subject areas covered.

Other publications databases may provide their own tools for bibliometric or citation analysis (such as Elsevier’s Scopus) but Journal Impact Factors are only found on the Web of Knowledge.

A Journal Impact Factor is the average number of times that articles from a particular journal published in the past two years have been cited in the JCR year.

How are Journal Impact Factors calculated?
Journal Impact Factors are calculated by dividing the number of citations to articles published by a particular journal in the JCR year by the total number of articles published in the two previous years. For example, an Impact Factor of 2.5 means that, on average, the articles published in that journal up to two years ago have been cited two and a half times. Citing articles may be from the same journal although most citing articles are from different journals.

The number of articles given for journals listed in JCR primarily include original research and review articles. Editorials, letters, news items and meeting abstracts are usually not included in article counts because they are not generally cited. Journals published in non-English languages or using non-Roman alphabets may be less accessible to researchers worldwide, which can influence their citation patterns.

How are Journal Impact Factors used?
Journal Impact Factors can help in understanding how many citations journals have received over a particular period – it is possible to see trends over time and across subject areas, and they may help when you’re deciding where to publish an academic paper. However, as with all statistics, Journal Impact Factors should be used with caution and should ideally be combined with other metrics depending on how they’re being applied.

Equally, a journal’s Impact Factor is not necessarily a direct indicator of the quality of an individual paper published in that journal. Some published articles never receive any citations, for various reasons, even if they appear in a high impact factored journal.

Journal Impact Factors and the REF
Some of the assessment panels will be provided with citation metrics as part of HEFCE’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) in some subject areas, which will help inform the panel members’ judgements. However, journal impact factors or equivalent journal ranking systems (e.g. the ABS list) will NOT be used at all within the assessment process.

links for 2011-04-06

Delicious links

Funding opportunities:

  • ESRC – DFID-ESRC Growth Programme The Department for International Development (DFID) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) are partnering in a new programme on economic growth in developing countries. The DFID/ESRC Growth Programme will fund world class scientific research on issues relating to inclusive economic growth in Low Income Countries (LICs), with high potential for impact on policy and practice.
    (tags: research funding)
  • EPSRC logoEPSRC Fellowships in Manufacturing – EPSRC EPSRC is looking, in a Pilot call, to support a number EPSRC Fellowships in Manufacturing who have the potential to be future research leaders in their field in Manufacturing Research, supporting either academics who have recently (within the last three years) moved from industry, or people in industry, currently involved in innovation, looking to move into academia. (tags: research funding earlycareer epsrc)

If you are interested in applying to either of these calls, talk to your R&E officer in CRE Operations.

Publication, publication, publication!

Guidance

VC Jonty de WolfeIt was with mixed feelings that I settled down to watch the first episode of Campus last night. Would it be funny, would I get the in-jokes, would they mention research, or would it be too close to the mark and therefore too painful to watch? The main thrust of the episode saw Vice Chancellor Jonty de Wolfe pressuring English professor Matt Beer to write a best selling publication, as one of his colleagues in another department had recently managed, but unfortunately the professor was too distracted to comply. Replace distracted with another word (perhaps busy, unsure, pressured) and this may resonate a little better with BU.

Whilst Campus was far fetched and at times utterly ridiculous, the pressures on academics to produce high impact publications are very true, especially now as we are preparing for our submission to the REF. Rather than acting like tyrannical and eccentric VC de Wolfe, we’ve pulled together some sources of information for academics feeling the pressure of publication.

How to get published – The Times Higher Education have produced an excellent booklet – How to get Published: a Guide for Academics. The guide includes the seven chapters, written by experts in academic publishing, including advice and information on the publication process, getting your work into an academic journal, and how to turn your research into a best seller (I’m sure this last chapter would have been useful for the Professor in Campus last night).

journalsHow to get published in academic journals – The road to getting published in academic journals can be a daunting journey. There is a booklet published by PSA/Wiley-Blackwell called Publishing in Politics: a Guide for New Researchers which is an excellent introduction to publishing recommended for researchers in all disciplines, not just politics.

Professor Keith Dowding (LSE) has produced a couple of guides for those new to getting published in academic journals which are particularly useful. These were published in European Political Science and provide an overview of the journal publishing journey:

Individual journal publishers usually provide advice and guidelines for prospective authors – these can normally be found on their websites.

Open access publishing – BU has a central budget for paying for open access publishing costs. Read more here.

Do you have any advice on getting published that could benefit your colleagues? If so share it here by adding a comment to the BU Research Blog!

EPSRC study days

Guidance

EPSRC logoThe Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is holding Study Days on 17 May and 14 July at their offices in Swindon. Study Days are one-day events designed to give university researchers and administration staff an overview of the EPSRC and their peer review process.

A Study Day typically involves:

  • Presentations – Introductory presentations from experienced members of EPSRC staff;
  • Mock Panel – Attendees have the chance to participate in a mock prioritisation panel meeting, led by a real panel convenor;
  • Pathways to Impact – An interactive session offering advice on how to complete the Pathways to Impact question on the grant application form;
  • EPSRC activities and opportunities – introductory talks on Transformative Research, People Support and International Engagement
  • Tips on Proposal Writing – First steps in grantsmanship.

This is an excellent opportunity for any academic staff interested in applying to the EPSRC for funding.

Study Days are free to attend. If you are interested in attending please contact Julie Northam in the first instance as the Research Development Unit will administer your booking on your behalf.

For further information please see the EPSRC Study Days webpage.

Employee wellbeing consultancy package offered to health-conscious businesses

typical workplace

The Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) awarded by HEFCE to English HEIs as an annual block grant to support the development of a pervasive enterpreneurial environment through sustained engagement in enterprise activities. Prof Steve Ersser and Dr Ann Hemingway (HSC) were internally awarded HEIF-4 funding to collaborate with academics across BU to develop a consultancy package to promote wellbeing and humanisation in the workplace, building on the success of the cross-School Centre for Wellbeing and Quality of Life (CeWQoL). We caught up with Project Manager Dr Ann Hemingway to find out how the project is going…

The funding is to enable BU to develop a multi-dimensional consultancy package to help businesses improve the wellbeing of their employees.

“Organisations are more dependent than ever before on well-trained, highly qualified and motivated staff,” said Dr Ann Hemingway. “60% of adult waking hours are spent at work, yet 175 million working days are lost to illness, so organisations need to tackle head-on issues around absenteeism but also sickness presenteeism – employees still turning up for work despite ill health and complaints that can so often result in future sickness absence.”

Dr Hemingway continued: “Our research on workforce health and wellbeing has enabled us to achieve a new understanding of health at work which encompasses physical wellbeing, mental wellbeing and the social determinants of health.”

CeWQol has received £250,000 from the University’s HEIF) grant to support commercial and public sector firms and charity organisations in their quest to be recognised as healthy workplaces – and achieve formal accreditation through external agencies such as Investors in People and the Royal Society for Public Health.

The package focuses on wellbeing and humanisation – a term being championed by the University (building on the work of Prof Kate Galvin and Prof Les Todres) around the importance of people-centred processes that support wellbeing and the concern with helping employees feel valued.

Organisations will have the unique opportunity to draw on the University’s wide-ranging research expertise from across all the schools in the university. This includes human resources management (recruitment and retention), occupational health and safety, healthier communities (nutrition, exercise and sport), and the design of working environments and stress alleviation.

As such the project involves five academic schools – Health and Social Care; Business School; Design, Engineering and Computing; Media School; and Applied Sciences – and the BU Wellbeing Enterprise Network in collaboration with the Centre for Practice Development and the Centre for Qualitative Research.

As part of the grant BU has developed a Collaborative Research Space at the Lansdowne campus in which staff can engage in collaborative activity and deliver consultancy training for external organisations.

“What we are offering organisations is our multi-disciplinary expertise to help them organise their work, their environment, and the communication and social opportunities for their staff.”

Anyone interested in finding out more about the wellbeing and humanisation in the workplace consultancy package should contact Dr Ann Hemingway at BU’s Centre for Wellbeing and Quality of Life on 01202 962796 or aheming@bournemouth.ac.uk.teamwork

Bournemouth University staff involved in the project are: Professor Steven Ersser; Dr Ann Hemingway; Dr Paul Stevens; Dr Fiona Cowdell; Professor Les Todres; Professor Kate Galvin; Mr Clive Andrewes; Professor Yannis Georgellis; Professor Thomas Lange; Dr Eloise Carr; Professor John Edwards; Mr Joe Flintham; Dr John Hallam; Associate Professor Heather Hartwell; Dr Sarah Hean; Dr Ian Jones; Dr Elizabeth Norton; Ms Julie Robson; and Colin Hewitt Bell. 

For further information please see project page on the CeWQoL website.

Support to participate in the ESRC Festival of Social Science

Funding opportunities

The ESRC Festival of Social Science (05.11.11) welcomes event applications targeting a non-academic audience including young people, third sector, the public, business or government. There are two types of applications available:  i) applying for support of up to £2000 – due 3 June  ii) applying for event to be listed: non-supported – due 17 June. If you have any questions contact one of the festival team .

Sign up for FP7 information & alert service

Funding opportunities

The UK Research Office (UKRO) promotes effective UK participation in European Union funded research, higher education and training, and related activities. Established in Brussels in 1991, UKRO is jointly sponsored by the UK Research Councils.UK Research Office
UKRO provides information and advice on EU funding opportunities, and EU programmes and policies. You can sign up for the UKRO FP7 information and email alert service. Simply, “create a profile” (a personalised web page, covering the areas that you are interested in) and then select to receive email alerts at whatever interval you would prefer. UKRO has also produced a  guide to help you understand more about this service.

Making sense of IP

Guidance

Researchers are increasingly being required to think about the commercial potential of their research. Geoff Bell and Philip Robinson in the Centre for Research and Enterprise have written a summary of the basics of Intellectual Property (IP) to help researchers make sense of it all.

Research, inventions and business ideas can be protected with one or more intellectual property rights:

  • registered IPPatents – These are perhaps the best known and most obvious form of protection, although the process of obtaining a granted patent is typically expensive and complicated. Patents protect the technical elements, the workings and the functionality. So provided your proposal does something that hasn’t been done before, a patent could be the most effective option. It is important to file a patent application before publication, because once research is publicly disclosed, a UK / European patent cannot be applied for retrospectively. A competitive advantage might therefore be lost, should you wish to commercialise the output. Public disclosure includes grant applications, journals, presentations, abstracts, theses, emails, poster displays, exhibitions and any other non-confidential verbal disclosure.
  • Designs – Design rights give protection to the physical appearance of a product. This includes the component parts, surface decoration, contours, colours, shapes, textures and materials. Registered designs can be applied for up to 1 year from first public disclosure in the EU and 6 months from disclosure in the US. Other countries may vary.
  • Trade marks – A trade mark protects the goodwill and reputation of a company and or its products. Trade marks are a registerable right and potentially perpetual providing the renewal fees are paid
  • Copyright – Copyright gives the creator exclusive rights to copy their original piece of work for a period of time. Copyright applies to the following works: literary, dramatic, artistic, musical, audio, video, broadcasts, cable and some software (which may possibly be patented under the right circumstances)
  • Know-how and Confidential Information – Know-how is knowledge which may not be protectable through formal registration, but which has commercial value. Confidential information may also be referred to as a ‘trade secret’. Whilst the law provides certain protections, both are best protected through the signing of an appropriate non-disclosure agreement with those whom such know-how and information is shared.

top secretWho owns the intellectual property?
Before embarking on a research or enterprise project, it is important to clarify the ownership of any subsequent intellectual property output. Failure to do so can lead to longer-term complications and sometimes even termination of the project or legal action. Check out the BU Intellectual Property Policy for more information.

More information
If you have any general questions regarding intellectual property and the ownership of your work please contact Geoff Bell and Philip Robinson in the Innovation & Commercialisation Team.

The Commercialisation and Product Licensing pages on the BU Intranet are also a valuable source of information.

Bids: Good Luck & Congratulations Week Ending 1 April 2011

Awarded & submitted bids

Last week was a modest week for bidding but Media School was the exception with bids going to the British Academy from Carrie Hodges and Darren Lilleker.  Hugh Chignell and Vanessa Edwards have also put in sizable bids last week.   Congratulations are due for three bids from the Creative Enterprise Bureau (Mike Molesworth, Dan Jackson, Liam Sheridan) and another small success from Mike Molesworth for work with On The Wild Side.  In Applied Science Adrian Newton put in a large bid to the New Forest Higher Level Stewardship Board and Mark Dover secured another small enterprise contract for GIS work.  All good stuff!

Matthew Bennett

Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research, Enterprise & Internationalisation)

FP7 Partner Searches

Funding opportunities

Partner search: Sport & Health – The Centre for Sport Health and Exercise Research, Staffordshire University, is seeking partners to join a research project in the fields of sports and health.

For Emotion Regulation; Emotion and Cognitive Performance; and Emotion and Motor Performance. Email marc.jones@staffs.ac.uk.

For Physical activity/health and the environment; Green space and physical activity/health; Community health/physical activity promotion; and Primary care-based health/physical activity promotion. Email c.gidlow@staffs.ac.uk

Partner Search: Turkish SME & Wearable Cardiac Diagnosis Tool – The European Care Network is seeking partners to join a research project regarding a wearable cardiac diagnosis tool (in a vest) with clinical decision support system. For further information contact n.yilmaz@euro-care.net