Category / BRIAN

Discovering Causal Relations and Equations from Data

BRIAN, Fusion themes, open access, REF Subjects, staff profile pages

Discovering equations, laws, or invariant principles underpins scientific and technical advancement. Robust model discovery has typically emerged from observing the world and, when possible, performing interventions to falsify models.

Recently, data-driven approaches like classic and deep machine learning are evolving traditional equation discovery methods. These new tools can provide unprecedented advances in computer science, neuroscience, physics, philosophy, and many applied areas.

We have just published a new study discussing concepts and methods on causal and equation discovery, outlining current challenges and promising future lines of research. The work also showcases comprehensive case studies in diverse scientific areas ranging from earth and environmental science to neuroscience.

Our tenet is that discovering fundamental laws and causal relations by observing natural phenomena is revolutionised with the coalescence of observational data and simulations, modern machine learning algorithms and domain knowledge. Exciting times are ahead with many challenges and opportunities to improve our understanding of complex systems.

This study is a collaborative work between eight universities in Europe and the United States (Valencia, Berlin, Tübingen, Jena, Stockholm, New York, and Bournemouth Universities).

Camps-Valls, G., Gerhardus, A., Ninad, U., Varando, G., Martius, G., Balaguer-Ballester, E., Vinuesa, R., Diaz, E., Zanna, L. and Runge, J., 2023. Discovering causal relations and equations from data. Physics Reports, 1044, 1-68 (Impact Factor=30).

 

RKEDF training opportunities coming up in December

BRIAN, Knowledge Exchange

We’re excited to share … 

some great RKEDF training opportunities coming up in December 

Please, click on the post titles to see details and book your place on to upcoming events.

By the end of the session, attendees will have an understanding of BRIAN and how it relates to Staff Profile Pages, how to create and update items and activities, how to claim/create/import publications, as well as how to upload full text articles to BURO (Bournemouth University Research Online). 

  • Online RSA Drop-In meeting Wednesday 6th  December, 10:30-11:00

Meet your RSA reps, hear updates on how BU is implementing the Research Concordat and give feedback or raise concerns that will help to develop and support the research community at BU

This session will provide an overview of the REF, it’s purpose and how it is carried out, as well as looking ahead to the next REF2028 assessment.

This is an opportunity to have a guided tour of the Konfer platform and its full functionality, enabling you to create and connect to the UK research collaborations with other universities and businesses.

By the end of this session, you will be familiar with the structure of an impact case study, what makes an excellent case study and what you will need in order to start building an impact case study from your own research.

By the end of this session, attendees will have a strong foundation of what to expect when being responsible for their awarded projects.

This session is aimed at all academics to provide an overview of the Research & Enterprise Database, including how to access the system, the information available to view, budget management via RED.

 

Please make sure you inform us in advance if you cannot attend an event that you have already booked onto, at RKEDF@bournemouth.ac.uk 

Introduction to BRIAN-BU’s publication management system

BRIAN, Publishing

BRIAN (Bournemouth Research Information And Networking) is BU’s publication management system.

This introductory session is aimed at those who are new to BU, or have not updated their staff profile for a while. It will cover the basics of BRIAN, including how to use BRIAN to manage your research outputs, biography and research interests, professional activities and more.

By the end of the session, attendees will have an understanding of BRIAN and how it relates to Staff Profile Pages, how to create and update items and activities, how to claim/create/import publications, as well as how to upload full text articles to BURO (Bournemouth University Research Online).

Wednesday 6th December, 10:00 – 11:00 at Talbot Campus

To book onto this session, please complete the Booking Form under “Introduction to BRIAN – 06/12/2023”

 

For any queries regarding this workshop, please contact Claire Fenton, REF Manager, cfenton@bournemouth.ac.uk

 

Dr. Hongchuan Yu’s Research on Automated Tracing of Neurons Published in Nature Methods

BRIAN

Congratulations to Dr. Hongchuan Yu from NCCA for the recent publication of their manuscript titled “BigNeuron: a resource to benchmark and predict the performance of algorithms for automated tracing of neurons in light microscopy datasets” in Nature Methods. As a co-author, Dr. Yu and their team aimed to develop an open community bench-testing platform with the goal of setting open standards for accurate and fast automatic neuron tracing.

This research project was supported by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) “The BRAIN Initiative” for over 7 years and was part of the “Brain Initiative Cell Census Network”. Dr. Yu’s group collaborated with Prof. Hanchuan Peng’s group at the Allen Institute for Brain Science (Seattle, US) on the development of neural tracing algorithms.

Currently, they are working together to develop informatics tools for analyzing, visualizing, and integrating data related to the BRAIN Initiative, with the goal of enhancing our understanding of the brain.

If you are interested in this paper, find it at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41592-023-01848-5#Ack1

A New Publication by MSPH researcher on Combat Trauma and Heart Rate Variability in a UK Military Cohort

BRIAN, Knowledge Exchange

Rabeea Maqsood is a 2nd year PhD student based in the department of Medical Sciences and Public Health. As a part of her PhD, Rabeea’s original research has been published in BMJ Military Health. Read it #OpenAccess here:

https://militaryhealth.bmj.com/content/early/2023/03/28/military-2022-002316.citation-tools

This is the first study- to the authors’ knowledge- to have comprehensively explored the association between combat trauma (status, severity and mechanism) and ultra-short term HRV in a large sample of 862 participants.
 The co-authors on this paper (in no specific order) are Rabeea’ supervisors: Prof. Ahmed Khattab (MSPH, BU), Prof. Christopher Boos (Department of Cardiology, UHD) and collaborators from the ADVANCE study: Prof. Alex N Bennett (DMRC, Stanford Hall), Prof. Nicola Dear (King’s College London), Prof. Anthony Bull (Imperial College London), Prof. Paul Cullinan (Imperial College London) and Miss Susie Schofield (Imperial College London).

Association between Traumatic Injuries and Heart Rate Variability- Systematic Review Published in PloS One by an MSPH PhD Student

BRIAN, Knowledge Exchange, open access, student research

Rabeea is a 2nd year PhD student who is based in the Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health. As a part of her PhD, her systematic review on the association between traumatic Injuries and HRV has recently been published as an open access research in PloS One.

It is the first systematic review to provide evidence on the relationship between non-acute traumatic injuries and Heart Rate Variability  (RMSSD, SDNN and LF/HF) ratio. This also highlights paucity of evidence and calls for further research in the field, especially in the Military research- the focus of Rabeea’s PhD.

The co-authors on this paper are Rabeea’ supervisors: Prof. Ahmed Khattab (MSPH, BU), Prof. Christopher Boos (Department of Cardiology, UHD), and Prof. Alex N Bennett (DMRC, Stanford Hall).

REF mock exercise – submit your research outputs

BRIAN

The first internal mock exercise for the next Research Excellence Framework (REF) is now taking place. Academic colleagues are invited to nominate research outputs such as journal articles, books, chapters, films, and digital artefacts, which have been published since 1 January 2021 to a panel of internal reviewers. You will receive feedback on the overall shape of your REF outputs profile and receive advice on how to strengthen and position your future outputs.

Following the success of our REF2021 submission, we have ambitious plans to include the majority of eligible staff in the submission, whilst increasing the quality of the research submitted. This exercise represents the first formal stage in our preparations.

From Monday 30 January 2023 to Friday 10 Feb 2023, all eligible BU colleagues can start nominating your outputs on BRIAN for review as part of this mock exercise.

There are resources available to guide authors and producers on how to nominate your outputs for review.

For queries related to this nomination exercise, including questions on BRIAN, please contact REF@bournemouth.ac.uk.

For advice on output selection or other academic aspects, please contact the UOA Teams.

2023 review timetable summary

30 January Review exercise launched
30 January – 10 February Academics to nominate research outputs on BRIAN for review
February – April Review period
May Moderation period
June – July Feedback period

Tourism, marketing and health in 2022

BRIAN, international, Publishing, writing

In his overview of 2022 on LinkedIn Professor Dimitrios Buhalis reminded us that: “The Encyclopedia of Tourism Management and Marketing Marketing was finally published with 1250 entries contributed by 1500 academics from all over the world to produce 4 volumes and 3528 pages. This will work brought together the best thinking process and brains in tourism management to contribute to the rebuilding of the tourism industry, globally, and contribution to communities around the world.”

We are happy to have made a small contribution to this book.  Professor Padam Simkhada (BU Visiting Faculty and Professor at the University of Huddersfield) and I contributed the chapter on trekking guides in Nepal and sexual health [1].

 

 

Have a happy and healthy 2023!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH)

 

Reference:

  1. Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen E. (2022) Sexual relationships and trekking guides. In: Encyclopedia of Tourism Management and Marketing, Buhalis, D. (ed.), Cheltenham, Edward Elgar Publishing, pages: 77-79.

UKRI Open Access Policy

BRIAN, BU Challenges, open access, Publishing

 

In conjunction with the International Open Access Week, it is timely to highlight the UKRI Open Access policy that was introduced in April 2022. If you are a UKRI grant holder, this will apply to you.

As of 1st April 2022, the new UKRI Open Access Policy became effective.

This policy applies to publications which need to acknowledge funding from UKRI or any of its councils. This includes funding from:

  • the research councils
  • Research England
  • Innovate UK.

The policy applies to the following types of publication, when they are required to acknowledge funding from UKRI or any of its constituent councils

a. Peer-reviewed research articles, including reviews and conference papers, that are accepted for final publication in either a journal, conference proceeding with an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN), or publishing platform

b. Monographs, book chapters and edited collections, as defined at Annex 1 of the policy document (the policy will only apply to these publication types after 1 January 2024)

For research articles, these are the key things you need to know – 

  • the policy applies to all research articles submitted for publication on or after 1 April 2022
  • there are two different compliant routes to open access
  • Route 1 – Publish your research article open access in a journal or publishing platform which makes the Version of Record (VOR)(also known as the final published version) immediately open access via its website
    • The VOR must be free and unrestricted to view and download. It must have a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) licence, or other licence permitted by UKRI (see the policy for more information)
    • The research article must be made open access in a journal or publishing platform that facilitate access, discovery and reuse
  • Route 2 – Publish your research article in a subscription journal (also known as hybrid journal) and deposit the Author’s Accepted Manuscript (or if the publisher permits, you can upload the VOR) in an institutional repository (in our case, this would be BURO – Bournemouth University Research Online, and the deposit is done via BRIAN), or a subject repository at the same time of final publication, as defined at Annex 1.
    • The deposited version must be free and unrestricted to view and download. It must have a CC BY licence, or other licence permitted by UKRI
    • A publisher-requested delay or ’embargo period’ between publication of the Version of Record and open access of the deposited version is not permitted.
    • The research article must be made open access in a repository that facilitate access, discovery and reuse

For more details on the policy requirements, please refer to the UKRI Open Access policy website.

If you are a UKRI grant holder and you are unsure about what you should do to comply, please email your questions to OpenAccess@bournemouth.ac.uk

Open Access @ BU – An overview

BRIAN, BU Challenges, open access

In conjunction with the International Open Access Week, it is timely to talk about what Open Access means at BU!

Open Access

Open access is a broad international movement that seeks to grant free and open online access to academic information, such as publications and data. A publication is defined ‘open access’ when there are no financial, legal or technical barriers to accessing it – that is to say when anyone can read, download, copy, distribute, print, search for and search within the information, or use it in education or in any other way within the legal agreements.

 

 

 

 

Open Access Funding @BU

Although Bournemouth University has been awarded the UKRI Open Access block grant, it is a very modest amount. However, there is a small centralised BU Open Access Fund that BU authors can get access to on a competitive basis. Due to a very limited budget, application for funding is extremely competitive, and the selection criteria are stringent. In the past years, through the centralised open access fund, Bournemouth University has been able to support open access outputs from various impactful key research, including Epibentic and mobile species colonisation of a geo textile artificial sur reef on the south coast of England, Dignity and respect during pregnancy and childbirth: A survey of the experience of disabled women, Seven Characteristics Defining Online News Formats, Applied screening tests for the detection of superior face recognition, and many more!

Open Access Funding through Transformative Deals

Through the UK JISC Agreements, Bournemouth University currently has Read and Publish open access transformative deals with publishers such as BMJ, SAGE, Springer, PLOS, Wiley and more, which means that BU authors can publish open access for free in the journal titles covered under the deals, subject to their terms and conditions. Each transformative deal and what it covers varies from one another.

For example, the BMJ transformative deal only covers original research articles from research funded by UKRI, British Hearth Foundation, Blood Cancer UK, Cancer Research UK, Parkinsons UK, Versus Arthritis or the Wellcome Trust. As for the SAGE transformative deal, there is no such restrictions; however, you can only publish open access for free under a select list of journal titles.

In order to ensure that you get the maximum benefit from these transformative deals, do head over to the Bournemouth University Library and Learning Support guide for more details and information!

Green Open Access @ BU

Green Open Access, also referred to as self-archiving, is the practice of placing a version of an author’s manuscript into a repository, making it freely accessible for everyone. The version that can be deposited into a repository is dependent on the funder or publisher. You can make use of the Sherpa Romeo online resource to check the copyright policies of your target journal or publisher. At Bournemouth University, the self-archiving process is done through our current research and information system called BRIAN (Bournemouth Research Information and Networking); and all successfully reviewed and deposited manuscripts will be housed in our institutional repository called BURO (Bournemouth University Research Online).

It’s INTERNATIONAL OPEN ACCESS WEEK!!

BRIAN, BU Challenges, open access

 

 

 

 

Yes it’s here again that joyful time of the year when we highlight and discuss all things open access. First up is a quick reminder…

There are two complementary mechanisms for achieving open access to research.

The first mechanism is for authors to publish in open-access journals that do not receive income through reader subscriptions.

The second is for authors to deposit their refereed journal article in an open electronic archive.

These two mechanisms are often called the ‘gold’ and ‘green’ routes to open access:

  • Gold – This means publishing in a way that allows immediate access to everyone electronically and free of charge. Publishers can recoup their costs through a number of mechanisms, including through payments from authors called article processing charges (APCs), or through advertising, donations or other subsidies.
  • Green – This means depositing the final peer-reviewed research output in an electronic archive called a repository. Repositories can be run by the researcher’s institution, but shared or subject repositories are also commonly used. Access to the research output can be granted either immediately or after an agreed embargo period.

Article first published – http://www.hefce.ac.uk/rsrch/oa/whatis/

To encourage all academic communities to consider open access publishing, Authors Alliance has produced a comprehensive ‘Understanding Open Access‘ guide which addresses common open access related questions and concerns and provides real-life strategies and tools that authors can use to work with publishers, institutions, and funders to make their works more widely accessible to all.

To access and download the guide, please follow this link – http://authorsalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/Documents/Guides/Authors%20Alliance%20-%20Understanding%20Open%20Access.pdf

More information on Open Access Week and activities happening across the world can be found here –https://www.openaccessweek.org/

New BU PhD education paper

BRIAN, Centre for Excellence in Learning, international, Student Engagement, writing

This week the editor of the journal Journal of Education & Research informed us that our paper ‘Reflections on variations in PhD viva regulations: “And the options are….”’ has been accepted for publication [1].  This paper grew out of a discussion between the six authors about the apparent differences between the outcomes of the PhD viva at different universities.  We have all acted as internal or external examiners for a PhD viva and had noted inconsistencies between universities, either in the regulations or in the interpretation of their PhD regulations.  The authors are based at three different universities, on two different continents and, between them, have examined PhD theses submitted to universities based in at least ten different countries.  Three authors are based in BU’s Faculty of Health & Social Sciences (Prof. Vanora Hundley, Dr. Pramod Regmi & Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen), two authors are based in the School of Human & Health Sciences at the University of Huddersfield (Prof. Padam Simkhada & Dr. Bibha Simkhada and both are Visiting Faculty at BU), and one author is based in the Institute for Global Health in the School of Public Health & Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA (Prof. Krishna C. Poudel).

This paper outlines the range of outcomes of a PhD examination.  It also includes four short case studies, each reflecting on a particular aspect /differences we experienced as examinees or as examiners. The authors aim to alert PhD candidates and examiners to study the examination rules set by the awarding university, as the details of the PhD examination outcome, and hence the options available to both examiners and the students, may differ more than one might expect.  This is the latest CMMPH education publication around aspects of the PhD [2-5].

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH)

 

References:

  1. van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, B., Regmi, P., Simkhada, P., Hundley, V., Poudel, K.C. (2022) Reflections on variations in PhD viva regulations: “And the options are….”, Journal of Education and Research (accepted).
  2. Way, S, Hundley, V., van Teijlingen, E, Walton, G., Westwood, G. (2016) Dr Know. Midwives 19: 66-7.
  3. Wasti, S.P. Regmi, P.R., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V. (2022) Writing a PhD Proposal, In: Wasti, S.P., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P.P., Hundely, V. & Shreeh, K. (Eds.) Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books: 176-183.
  4. Hundley, V., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2022) Converting your Master’s or Doctoral Thesis into an Academic Paper for Publication, In: Wasti, S.P., et al. (Eds.) Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books: 184-189.
  5. Regmi, P., Poobalan, A., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2021) PhD supervision in Public Health, Health Prospect: Journal of Public Health 20(1):1-4. https://www.nepjol.info/index.php/HPROSPECT/article/view/32735/28111

UN SDGs now on BRIAN and Staff Profile Pages

BRIAN, BU Challenges, staff profile pages

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all.

BRIAN, Bournemouth Research Information and Networking system now allows you to record up to 4 of the most relevant UN Sustainable Development Goals which your work contributes towards. This information from BRIAN will also be displayed on your staff profile page and it will look like this –

To record this information on BRIAN, log into your BRIAN account and choose to add a new “Professional activity”,

Once you have clicked on “+add new”, you will be presented with a menu box. Choose “UN Sustainable Development Goals” as highlighted –

On the next page, you are then given the option to select from the drop down menu, up to 4 UN Sustainable Development Goals which your work contributes towards. Don’t forget to click “save” when you have finished.

To have this newly added information displayed on your staff profile page, you can either choose to wait for the overnight auto-refresh process for the information to be drawn from BRIAN to populate the staff profile page; or you can instantly refresh your staff profile page manually by scrolling to the bottom of your profile page and click on “Refresh now”

For more help and information, please email BRIAN@bournemouth.ac.uk