/ Full archive

Trying to define digital economy

BU Challenges, Research themes

At a recent meeting which John Oliver arranged we tried to define some key terms for the creative and digital theme and the inital viewpoint was that the ‘digital economy’ was a narrower definition focusing mainly on enterprise and ‘doing’, however this definition of the digital economy from the The Research Council UK is broader:  “the novel design or use of information and communication technologies to help transform the lives of individuals, society or business (RCUK website accessed February 2011).”

AHRC to hold four broadcast media training events in July and September 2011

Following on from the recent AHRC/Radio 3 New Generation Thinkers pilot scheme and the over-subscribed AHRC Broadcast Media workshops , the AHRC will be running four further broadcast media training events across the UK in July and September 2011.

These events will allow early career researchers in the arts and humanities to benefit from a day of radio/broadcast training.  

Each workshop will be led by at least three production and editorial staff from national broadcasters, including Radio Five.

Each day-long workshop will consist of:

· an introduction to programme-making;

· what you need to do to become the expert that programme producers will value;

· best practice tips based on experiences of academics already successful in broadcast media;

· developing and pitching your programme idea based on your research

· one to one sessions with a broadcaster for those who want detailed feedback on their programme idea.

With each workshop having only forty spaces available we will be allocating those spaces to the first forty people to email applying for a space. The four workshops will take place as follows:

1 – London July 8th

2 – Northumbria University July 11th

3 – London September 16th

4 – Manchester Metropolitan University September 19th

To apply to attend one of these workshops you need to email Jake Gilmore (j.gilmore@ahrc.ac.uk) and put your preferred venue and date in the subject line e.g. London July 8th.

Funding for optimising outcomes for victims of violence, trauma and abuse announced

Funding opportunities

DoH  invites applications for research on optimising outcomes for victims of violence, trauma and abuse. This aims to encourage research that supports the policy intention to improve outcomes for victims, stimulate collaborations between policy, research and informatics communities, and generate evidence to optimise outcomes for users of health and care services. The total budget is £1.8 million; see the website for more details.

Funding for CO2 storage, security, rural policy, climate adaptation and climate policy

Climate Action funding is available for a range of tenders, relating to the geological storage of CO2, security measures used by the financial sector, the optimal development of rural policy, EU strategies for climate change adaptation and policy development and assessment in relation to climate change. Funding is worth up to €230,000 over 36 months for CO2 storage proposals, up to €250,000 over six months for financial sector studies, up to €400,000 over 12 months for rural projects, up to €700,000 over 15 months for climate change adaptation and up to €2.5 million over 12 months for climate policy actions.

Prof Rudy Gozlan – ‘A Fish Tale, World Preservation and You’

Last month Rudy Gozlan gave an inaugural lecture as part of BU’s Public Lecture series. He discussed the biggest issue in ecology right now – how we going to accommodate another 3 billion people on this planet in the next 40 years.  Watch Rudy’s lecture (‘A Fish Tale, world preservation and you’) on this subject here:  httpv://youtu.be/kK3IsaZ2FYc

EU funding for water, energy and land use statistics

Eurostat invites proposals for a range of tenders exploring statistics in relation to water use in developing countries, agro-agricultural land use, national statistical systems and energy. Funding is worth up to €100,000 over 12 months for water statistics projects, €10.7 million over 21 months for land use projects and €75,000 over 12 months for NSS research. For energy research up to €300,000 over 12 months is available, divided into three contracts, or up to €270,000 over 30 months, divided into three contracts, depending on the lot selected. View the full details for these calls by performing a Funding Search for 1162932, 1162933, 1162934 or 1162955 in the Full Text field.

The Public Value of the Humanities

Demonstrating the public value of research will be a significant part of the forthcoming REF exercise. Most major funding bodies now require an impact statement as part of the application process. Universities are being required to demonstrate that their research offers value for money and tangible benefits outside of the academic sphere. This is easier in some disciplines than others, with many people believing the arts, humanities and social sciences (AHSS) will struggle to demonstrate impact.

The Public Value of the Humanities, recently published by Bloombury Academic and edited by Prof Jonathan Bate (University of Warwick), demonstrates how the AHSS discplines can demonstrate that their research has public impact, benefit and value.

For a full review of the book see the review on the THE website.

You can buy this book on Amazon.

Funding available for EU sustainable development indicators & audiovisual production and statistics

Eurostat has funding available for two topics:

Tenders submitted under ‘Publications and an audiovisual production on European Union sustainable development indicators‘ should  review the knowledge relating to this field in the EU by carrying out conceptual work and analyses and drawing up a draft manual as a citizens’ guide to assessing sustainable development. Funding is worth up to €200,000 over six months and the deadline is 28.07.11.

Tenders submitted under EU Statistics should focus on income and living conditions methodological studies and publications; statistics on high-tec industries, knowledge-based services and human resources in science and tehcnology; statistics on innovation; patent statistics, with a focus on patenting by SMEs; methodological development of statistics on crime and criminal justice. The overall budget for this call is €1.75 million over 36 months and the deadline is 28.07.11.

Excellent BU Research Highlighted in New Report

Universities Week What's the Big Idea? 13-19 June 2011

Big Ideas for the Future

Thursday’s theme is Big Ideas for the Future and a research project being undertaken by Prof Alan Fyall and Dr Heather Hartwell has been highlighted in a new report out today.  The report produced by Research Councils UK (RCUK) and Universities UK (UUK) called Big Ideas for the Future looks at 100 ground breaking pieces of research from all fields, including science, social sciences, engineering, and the arts and the humanities, that is taking place in UK higher education at the moment and what it will mean for us in 20 years time.  The report is narrated and backed by high-profile celebrity academics such as Professor Lord Robert Winston, Dr Alice Roberts and Professor Iain Stewart.

The BU research team are exploring the relationship of co-locating a tourism and public health strategy, in particular examining the positioning of seaside towns in Southern England.  The Big Ideas for the Future Submission prepared by the team and containing more information on the research is available by clicking the link.

BU research reported in Times Higher Education today

The BU research-based film we previously reported on has been highlighted today by Times Higher Education UK. Rufus Stone is part of the New Dynamics of Ageing programme and will tell the story of being gay and growing older in the British countryside. Using research findings in this way is a great way of engaging the public, creating and impact and raising the overall profile of BU.  Shooting should begin in mid-July so we will have to wait to see the final result but congratularuons again to Kip Jones and the rest of the team involved.

UK academics accused of demanding too much office space: discuss!

The Estate Management Statistics annual report has found that academics in the UK have more office space than people working in other sectors and it will take a “cultural change” to make them use their space more efficiently. The report says that office-space norms in the UK higher education sector are “completely at odds” with those in other sectors and that there is significant of scope for rationalisation. The report also states that while other sectors have moved from the concept of private offices to shared spaces, some academics still view having their own office as the “norm for their discipline and method of teaching, and perhaps a status symbol”. The EMS recommends institutions make departments more accountable for use of space by charging them for it. What do you think about this?

Population and patient data sharing for mental health research funding available

Funding opportunities

The MRC invites proposals for a population and patient data sharing initiative for research into mental health. Projects should exploit high-quality existing data in novel ways to advance knowledge of factors affecting addiction and mental illness and inform research for new treatments. A total budget of £1 million is available; see the MRC website for more details.

Universities need public-private funds to boost innovation, says Committee of the Regions

According to president of the Committee of the Regions Mercedes Bresso in the , universities are drivers of regional development and innovation, and should be encouraged to set up partnerships with businesses through joint public and private innovation funds and in addition to using Structural Funds for regional development more strategically, loans, venture capital and credits should be more easily accessible to small companies to boost technology transfer.

New BU Blog poll is published

Many thanks to everyone who voted in the first BU Research Blog poll! This was on whether journal impact factors are a good indicator of quality. Anita will write a future blog post on the results.

We’ve now issued the second poll which you should be able to see on the right hand side of the Blog homepage, alongside the Quick Links. The second poll focuses on academic support for specific research activities (such as writing proposals, managing grants, etc) and asks which you’d appreciate more support with.

Please do take the time (it honestly only takes a couple of seconds) to respond as this will shape the support offered to academics in future 🙂

 

Research Themes – Culture and Society meeting

Prof Barry Richards, Media School, is convening a meeting of interested people to explore whether there is sufficient common ground for a meaningful Culture and Society theme to be defined.

If you are interested in attending please could you let Barry know by email (brichards@bournemouth.ac.uk) which of the times below would be most convenient (or register interest if neither time is possible for you). Dr Rosie Read, Health and Social Care, has drafted a possible prospectus for such a theme, as a starting point for discussion, which is available via the Research Themes section of the Blog (you can access it here).

The options for the meeting are:
9.30 Friday 24th June
1.00 Monday 27th June

Universities Week – Big Ideas for Society

This week is Universities Week 2011, a national campaign demonstrating the benefits of universities within UK society! Today focuses on universities’ historical contribution to the big society, long before this phrase became commonly used. Thriving university towns and cities will be highlighted by demonstrating how universities give back to the local and national community.

A new report out today shows the social impact of universities is worth over £1.31 billion in the form of health and wellbeing, citizenship and political engagement, and that universities benefit everyone not just those who go to university to study. The report, published by leading independent thinktank nef and Universities UK (Degrees of Value: How universities benefit society) attempts for the first time to put a monetary value on some of the ways that universities contribute to society at a local and a national level, using Social Return on Investment (SROI) methodology. These values are above and beyond the economic contribution that universities make.

BU makes a significant contribution to society through many initiatives, such as:

  • sponsoring St Aldhelms Academy in Poole
  • providing volunteering opportunities for staff and students via The Hub
  • exercise classes, sports facilities, tournaments, children’s summer camps, etc, offered by SportBU
  • citizenship days for local school children are run by the Centre for Global Perspectives
  • the Atrium Art Gallery showcases work by local and national artists, offers free entry and is open to the public

You can read the full report here.

Leisure and Recreation (Sean Beer and Scott Cohen)

BU Challenges, Research themes

Author: Sean Beer and Scott Cohen (Tourism)

Alternative name suggestion: Recreation and leisure

Brief theme summary: We view leisure and recreation as an interdisciplinary theme that closely engages associated subjects of tourism, sport, health, events, retail and hospitality, as well as the arts, outdoor pursuits, play and entertainment, amongst others. Central to understandings of leisure is its association with non-work time and work/life balances, although admittedly the boundaries between leisure and work often blur. 

Experience is central to leisure and recreation, in which people may seek to enhance the quality of their lives through leisure’s potential to transform, refresh, recreate, relax and/or escape. Leisure and recreation link to the renewal and development of social bonds, social capital, forms of cultural consumption, creativity and self-development, through both formal and informal modes and at home and away from home. 

Leisure and recreation is also concerned with issues of social inclusion, equity and diversity through policy and practice, as well as socio-cultural and environmental research in relation to its impacts.

Also drawing together notions of hospitable space and the formation of some types of temporary events, leisure and recreation can thus be seen as encompassing a full range of practices associated with the meanings, processes and activities that may enrich non-work time and space.

Scope of theme: what is included? Leisure, recreation, leisure/work balance, tourism, hospitality, events, retail, sport, health and healthy living, physical activity, exercise, play, gaming, experience, entertainment, casual/serious leisure, art, culture, creativity, learning, consumption, pro-sumption, lifestyle, volunteering, adventure, local/global, physical/virtual, transport, movement/mobility, social/cultural/environmental/economic aspects of leisure, fusion.

Scope of theme: what is excluded? For discussion of this please see section on Links with other BU themes under consideration.

Which big societal questions are addressed by this theme?

  • Quality of life: mental, physical, spiritual
  • The Big Society: the relationship between the public, private and third sectors and society, responsibility and individual behaviour within society with regard to many of the big issues of the day such as climate change, health, sustainability
  • Work life balance: the blurring of the edges between work and leisure
  • Equality and access (Gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, wealth, family units)
  • Aging population (A particular issue for the UK and the SW of England.)
  • Multiculturalism
  • Localism and globalisation
  • The growth of the virtual world

How do these link to the priorities of the major funding bodies?

  • Arts and Humanities Research Council, numerous opportunities
  • Economic and Social Research Council, all areas of their strategic priorities; Influencing Behaviour and Informing Interventions, A Vibrant and Fair Society, Economic Performance and Sustainable Growth.
  • Leverhulme, broad, but for example, particularly focussing on surmounting traditional disciplinary academic boundaries
  • British Academy, a wide range of opportunities
  • Nuffield Foundation, many opportunities
  • Esmée Fairbairn Foundation,  opportunities for funded research which helps them in their aim to improve the quality of life for people and communities in the UK both now and in the future
  • Natural Environment Research Council, links between leisure, the natural environment and sustainability
  • Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, areas such as technology and behaviour interventions.
  • Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, areas such as food and sustainability.
  • Medical Research Council, collaborative work through programme grant scheme
  • European Union, potential under FP7 and in other areas

Research Excellence Framework Unit of Assessment 26 & 19 (and also others though the emphasis would be more towards the theme of the other Unit.)

How does this theme interlink with the other BU themes currently under consideration? There are a multitude of connections to the other themes.  This is not seen as a disadvantage, we deliberately set out to be inclusive and holistic in our approach rather than exclusive and reductionist.  The approach is underpinned by an intention to look for fruitful areas of collaboration and to be able to showcase the work of colleagues in a variety of ways. 

Thus within Health and wellbeing there are overlaps in terms of quality of life, social inclusion and involvement in volunteering, for instance, but not necessarily in relation to management of health care and health care professionals.  In terms of Environmental change and biodiversity and the Green economy and sustainability the natural environment and human wellbeing are intrinsically linked, as are concepts of sustainability and the action of the individual through volunteering for an environmental charity for example.  The science of biodiversity is not an area that comes within the theme. 

There are synergies with regard to work looking at Aging, relating to access and quality of life, but not directly with specific therapies.  For many people learning is leisure, though work based learning is not.  There are connections with Learning and public engagement, as there are with Entrepreneurship and economic growth, given the role of individuals outside work in things like social entrepreneurship and also entrepreneurship within specific leisure and recreation industries.

For many individuals leisure and recreation is bound up with Technology and design as well as the Creative and digital economies, and whilst this theme is not connected to the intricacies of web design (unless it is your hobby) increasingly people are conducting their leisure lives in virtual worlds, where social connections and connecting is a virtual experience of life, love and even sex, but who is to say that it is any better or worse for that.  All this seems to be underpinned by change and any consideration of Culture and society or Society & Social Change must be a close bed fellow to this and all the other themes.