Category / BU Challenges

Publish with Six PLOS journals for FREE

BU Challenges, open access, Publishing

Starting 1 April 2022, all BU corresponding authors will no longer need to pay the Article Processing Charge (APC) for publishing with PLOS Computational Biology, PLOS Digital Health, PLOS Genetics, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, PLOS ONE and PLOS Pathogens, due to the JISC PLOS flat fee agreement that Bournemouth University has signed up to.

In order to benefit from this agreement, it is important that you properly self-identify during the submission process to be recognised as eligible for this agreement.

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If you wish to find out more about this publishing deal, you can visit this FAQ – and ensure that you expand the PLOS Institutional Partnerships menu and select PLOS Flat Fee Agreements –

For all related enquiries, please email OpenAccess@bournemouth.ac.uk 

 

Rapid Response Research: Real-time Mass Grave Open Source Documenting in Ukraine

Awarded & submitted bids, BU Challenges, Fusion, student research

Reports of mass graves in the city of Mariupol, Ukraine, are emerging. Since the casualties are alleged to be civilians unlawfully killed as a result of armed conflict, international law demands protection to facilitate an effective investigation. Documenting and cataloguing mass graves is vital for protection and investigation measures to follow.

With the help of two BU LLM Public International Law students, over the next weeks, we will be conducting real-time open source documenting of mass graves. Our aim is to catalogue reporting on mass graves found in media outlets, civil society research, official statements. This will include gathering information on the recording of mass graves; the reporting on mass graves; information on victim numbers in mass graves; the protection of mass graves; alleged disturbances of mass graves and, where applicable, the investigation of mass graves.

Through this activity we will be producing an important repository with significant utility for BU’s ongoing research portfolio in the area of mass graves and missing persons but also in response to a call by the International Criminal Court’s Prosecutor Karim Khan. In a press release he stated that he is seeking

“the support of all States Parties and the international community as a whole as my Office sets about its investigations [into the alleged commission of crimes in Ukraine].  I will be calling for additional budgetary support, for voluntary contributions to support all our situations, and for the loan of gratis personnel. The importance and urgency of our mission is too serious to be held hostage to lack of means.” [Statement of 28 February 2022]

The project is funded through the Humanities & Law Department’s QR budget, and is led by Professor Melanie Klinkner, supported by Dr Jonathan Whittle.

 

 

 

Call for EoIs: Impact Champion for UOA 23 (Education)

BU Challenges, Research assessment

An opportunity has arisen for an Impact Champion for Unit of Assessment (UOA) 23 (Education) to help drive preparations for the next REF. This role would initially be until summer 2022.BU is making early preparations towards units of assessment (UOAs) for the next Research Excellence Framework (REF) exercise. Each UOA has a UOA Leader, supported by Impact and Outputs Champions.  The roles are recruited through an open and transparent process, which gives all academic staff the opportunity to put themselves forward for UOA Leader roles.We are currently seeking expressions of interest (EoI) from academic staff interested in supporting impact development for UOA 23 (Education). Impact Champions play a key role in shaping the impact element of their UOA’s submission, working closely with their Faculty’s Impact Advisor.Key responsibilities of the Impact Champion role include:

  • Early detection of potential impact case studies
  • Review the development of impact case studies being prepared within the UOA
  • Provide guidance on how impact case studies can be accelerated and evidenced
  • Advise colleagues on the REF impact guidelines
  • Review impact strategies related to the UOA and assess progress made against them
  • Review and implement recommendations from external research users to strengthen research impact
  • Ensure that colleagues are updating institutional systems for impact tracking
  • Promote relevant training and development opportunities
  • Review impact arising from major programmes of research and knowledge exchange to make recommendations as to how these can contribute to impact case studies
  • Advise on the use of appropriate metrics specific to the subject area
  • To help embed a culture of research impact
  • To undertake any other duties as requested by the relevant Deputy Dean for Research and Professional Practice (DDR&PP) and/or Unit of Assessment leader.

Application process:

To apply for one of the Impact Champion roles, please submit a short statement (suggested length 300 words) explaining your interest in the role and what you could bring to it. This should be sent by email to Dr. Gelareh Roushan by 14 January 2022.  The EoIs will be reviewed by the UOA Leader and DDR&PP.

The selection criteria used at EoI are outlined below. Each criterion carries a total possible score of 5. The role will be offered to the highest scoring applicant. A member of the panel will provide feedback to all applicants.

  • Knowledge of the REF and research impact (scored out of 5): Applicants should have the appropriate level of skill and knowledge to help them support the development of impact in their UOA. It is expected that Impact Champions will predominantly be practising researchers and will have a breadth of understanding of research across their Faculty.  They are also expected to have an understanding of the REF assessment process and of research impact.
  • Experience of external engagement and / or impact development (scored out of 5): Impact Champions are expected to be able to provide advice and direction to colleagues who want to develop their research impact. Experience of engaging with external organisations or developing your own research impact would be of benefit in this role.
  • Commitment, motivation and enthusiasm (scored out of 5): Being an Impact Champion is a big commitment and the role has the scope to help shape impact development at BU. Applicants need to be committed to the role, as well as showing the enthusiasm and motivation needed to support their UOA.

A  role description is available here: UOA Impact Champion Role Descriptor-Nov 2021.

Call for EoIs: Outputs Champion for UOA 23 (Education)

BU Challenges, Research assessment

An opportunity has arisen for an Outputs Champion for Unit of Assessment (UOA) 23 (Education) to help drive preparations for the next REF. This role would initially be until summer 2022. BU is making early preparations towards units of assessment (UOAs) for the next Research Excellence Framework (REF) exercise. Each UOA has a UOA Leader, supported by Impact and Outputs Champions.  The roles are recruited through an open and transparent process, which gives all academic staff the opportunity to put themselves forward for UOA Leader roles.We are currently seeking expressions of interest (EoI) from academic staff interested in supporting outputs development for UOA 23 (Education).

Output Champions play a key role in shaping the output element of their UoA’s submission.  Key responsibilities of the Output Champion role include:

  • Support the development of research outputs being prepared within the UOA
  • Provide guidance on how research outputs can be produced and published
  • Advise colleagues on the REF output guidelines specifically those in relation to assessment, open access and research metrics
  • Review output strategies related to the UOA and assess progress made against them
  • Ensure that colleagues are updating institutional systems such as BRIAN and BURO
  • Promote Open Access publication and use of the Open Access Publication Fund as appropriate
  • Promote relevant training and development opportunities
  • Review outputs arising from major programmes of research and knowledge exchange to make recommendations as to how these can contribute to the UoAs output profile
  • Work with Post-Doctoral Research Fellows on REF Output related activity as appropriate.

Application process:

To apply for the role, please submit a short statement (suggested length 300 words) explaining your interest in the role and what you could bring to it. This should be sent by email to Dr. Gelareh Roushan by 14 January 2022.  The EoIs will be reviewed by the UoA Leader and DDR&PP.

The selection criteria used at EoI are outlined below. Each criterion carries a total possible score of 5. The role will be offered to the highest scoring applicant. The UoA Leader will provide feedback to all applicants.

  • Knowledge of the REF  (scored out of 5): Applicants should have the appropriate level of skill and knowledge to help them support the development of outputs in their UoA. It is expected that Output Champions will predominantly be practising researchers and will have a breadth of understanding of research across their Faculty.  They are also expected to have an understanding of the REF assessment process and of research outputs and open access.
  • Experience of output development (scored out of 5): Output Champions are expected to be able to provide advice and direction to colleagues who want to develop their research outputs.
  • Commitment, motivation and enthusiasm (scored out of 5): Being an Output Champion is a big commitment and the role has the scope to help shape output development at BU. Applicants need to be committed to the role, as well as showing the enthusiasm and motivation needed to support their UoA.

A  role description is available here: Outputs Champion Role

Writing references: The hidden work of academics

BU Challenges, writing

Halfway through October I have written several academic references for three people already.  This is one of the more hidden aspects of an academic job.  Writing a good reference is often time consuming for good reasons, including: the reference needs to be tailor-made for the specific job and the candidate; you may not have seen the candidate for several years and finding relevant details, such as ‘when did the candidate work for your organisation?’ takes time;  and last but not least, the employer asking for a reference has its own system.  The latter is a more recent addition to the burden of writing a reference.  Gone are the days of writing a structured letter about the candidate, a letter which you could tweak for different jobs the candidate applied for.  Most employers have their own reference system which may make the job easier them but creates far more work for the writer of the reference.

To illustrate each these points with an example.  One reference I write on an online form automatically assumed I was writing as the most recent employer, the electronic form ‘forced’ me to write as if I was the most recent employer and then explain in the text box for another question that I had worked with the candidate some years ago.  Another request was for a reference for a former colleague whom I had worked with 15 years ago in Aberdeen.  She was returning to a research post and had looking after children and working in clinical practice in the intermediate period.  Lastly, a former BU M.Sc. student  is applying to several universities for a Ph.D. place and each university offered a different thesis topic and required me to complete its own online form, and, of course, each form is slightly different!

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

NEW UKRI Open access policy

BRIAN, BU Challenges

UKRI announced its new open access policy in August 2021.

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.

It aims to ensure that findings from research funded by the public through UKRI can be freely accessed, used and built on.

The policy applies to:

  • peer-reviewed research articles submitted for publication on or after 1 April 2022
  • monographs, book chapters and edited collections published on or after 1 January 2024.

Please see this link for the full policy document and other related information and details –

https://www.ukri.org/publications/ukri-open-access-policy/

BRIAN unavailable due to upgrade – 2nd & 3rd August!

BRIAN, BU Challenges

Just a reminder that BRIAN will be unavailable to users today and tomorrow, Monday, 2nd August and Tuesday, 3rd August for a scheduled upgrade.

If you need any help using the new system or if you encounter any problems after the upgrade, please do send an email to BRIAN@bournemouth.ac.uk and a member of staff will be able to assist you.

In the meantime, if you do have general queries relating to the upgrade, please get in touch with BRIAN@bournemouth.ac.uk

Further information will be available once BRIAN is up and running again following the scheduled upgrade.

Dorset Integrated Care System (ICS) Innovation Hub: Open call for priority support

BU Challenges, NHS

Dorset Integrated Care System (ICS) Innovation Hub: Open call for priority support

Dorset ICS Innovation Hub

To help improve health and social care outcomes, equity and accessibility across Dorset, University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust is implementing a Dorset Innovation Hub. It will seek to address the unique challenges of caring for the population of Dorset, and the need to innovate and transform care.

The Hub will support adoption of proven innovations across the Dorset ICS. It will coordinate horizon scanning approaches and prioritise which innovations to bring to Dorset for rapid adaptation and adoption, at scale. A core project team of innovation multidisciplinary professionals will be assisted by a wider well-established network of subject matter experts.

Details of the Call

The Innovation Hub recognises that there is a plethora of improvement, transformation and innovative workstreams being undertaken and it has therefore been agreed that an open call would be made to partner organisations such as Bournemouth University so that each could made one request for priority support.

Priority Support Available

The Innovation Hub is seeking to support a range of local priorities across health and social care in the process towards implementation and adoption via the following ways:

  • Project management and oversight
  • Horizon scanning
  • Implementation
  • Training and education
  • Benefits realisation including evaluation
  • Finance, commission, and procurement advice
  • Quality and risk advice
  • Patient, public engagement advice

Therefore, if you have a health or social care related project that supports these local priorities and which would benefit from additional priority support to speed its implementation and adoption, you are strongly encouraged to submit your project for nomination.

 

 

Eligibility

Bournemouth University will nominate one project to go forward for priority support consideration by the Innovation Hub core project team.

Nomination assessment criteria

All projects submitted before the deadline will be evaluated using the following scoring criteria:

  • The project provides a solution to a problem in one of the following areas: Health inequalities/Population health management/Place based interventions/Workforce/Winter planning/Implementing clinical services review/Digital/COVID recovery
  • Novelty (Score 1-5): Projects should be novel and highly innovative in their support of local health or social care priorities.
  • Alignment with SIAs (Score 1-5): Projects that are nomination worthy will demonstrate alignment to the scope of one or more of the SIAs.
  • Interdisciplinarity (Score 1-5): Projects that are nomination worthy will demonstrate how they will secure interdisciplinary working that will achieve stronger outcomes than disciplines working in silos.
  • The potential for medium/long-term development and impact across Dorset (Score 1-5): Projects that are nomination worthy will demonstrate potential to secure societal impact with extensive reach and/or significance.

Application Process and Timescales

To apply, please complete and submit the application form to Lesley Hutchins (Research Commercialisation Manager) at innovate@bournemouth.ac.uk by 17:00 Friday 20 August 2021. Applications submitted after this time will not be considered.

Completed applications describing eligible projects will be reviewed by BU members of the Dorset Innovation Hub and the DDPPRs after the application deadline.

The nominated project will be informed and announced on the BU Research and Faculty blogs. BU’s nomination will be submitted to the Dorset ICS Hub for consideration on or before Tuesday 31 August 2021. 

The Dorset Innovation Hub core project team will then approve which projects will be taken forward in their Tuesday 28 September 2021 meeting. If selected by the Innovation Hub, the BU nominated project’s Principal Investigators will be notified shortly thereafter.

Important: The Dorset ICS Open call for priority support may be promoted elsewhere. Please do not submit your application to any of these other portals as it will not be eligible for nomination. BU applications should only be submitted to innovate@bournemouth.ac.uk

Find out more

If you have any questions, please email Lesley Hutchins (Research Commercialisation Manager) at innovate@bournemouth.ac.uk

BRIAN will be unavailable due to upgrade – 2nd & 3rd August 2021

BRIAN, BU Challenges

BRIAN will be unavailable to users next week on Monday, 2nd August and Tuesday, 3rd August for a scheduled upgrade.

If you need any help using the new system or if you encounter any problems after the upgrade, please do send an email to BRIAN@bournemouth.ac.uk and a member of staff will be able to assist you.

In the meantime, if you do have general queries relating to the upgrade, please get in touch with BRIAN@bournemouth.ac.uk

Further information will be available once BRIAN is up and running again following the scheduled upgrade.

Upcoming symposium “Social Impact of Audiovisual Media” – 12th – 13th August 2021 – Register now!

BU Challenges

Please note our upcoming symposium “Social Impact of Audiovisual Media” – 12th – 13th August 2021 (12th: 4 – 8 PM CEST, 13th: 11 AM – 5 PM CEST):

See the website for the full programme and information about the speakers and their presentations:

https://www.filmuniversitaet.de/en/research-transfer/research/conferences/online-symposium-social-impact-of-audiovisual-media
Free registration:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/social-impact-of-audiovisual-media-online-symposium-tickets-161235787581

Many films, videos and television programmes are produced with the intention of creating “social impact” – for example, reducing social discrimination, spreading environmental awareness or changing destructive habits. Media practitioners and researchers discuss a variety of impact strategies such as the emotional persuasion of large or small audiences, participatory production with affected communities or the targeting of individual decision-makers. At the same time, there is considerable disagreement about the feasibility and ethics of certain impact strategies, as well as about the concept of impact itself. The symposium aims to stimulate an exchange between media practitioners, researchers, activists and other stakeholders to better understand the “impact” of audiovisual media in its various dimensions, challenges and forms, be they fictional or non-fictional.

New JISC transformative Read and Publish agreement with Taylor and Francis

BU Challenges, Guidance, open access, Publishing

In the recent months, Bournemouth University have been in negotiation with Taylor and Francis through JISC to sign up to the latest JISC Read and Publish deal and last week, the process was finalised and Bournemouth University officially became a member of this deal.

In theory, this means that Bournemouth University authors can now publish for free in any of the Open Select Taylor and Francis titles. However, due to a recent ruling by the HMRC on the publisher, all HEIs are being charged 20% VAT for every article that is approved for publication.

The implication of this is that if you are looking to publish in an Open Select title with Taylor and Francis, and you wish to make your article Open Access through this deal, you will still be required to submit an application to the BU Open Access fund through the normal route. This is due to the fact that BU will still have to cover the 20% VAT incurred from each article; we therefore need to ensure that we have the funds to cover these articles before approvals can be processed.

For more information and author guidance on this latest deal, please see the link below:

https://authorservices.taylorandfrancis.com/publishing-open-access/oa-agreements/jisc/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=EmailStudio&utm_campaign=JQD20019_4061355

Alternatively, if you have more questions about this deal, please email OpenAccess@bournemouth.ac.uk.

Reminder: Medical Science Virtual STEAMLab APPLY NOW

BU Challenges, Funding opportunities

This is a reminder that on Thursday 22nd July 2021 from 2-4pm, RDS will be hosting a virtual STEAMLab event under the strategic investment area (SIA) of Medical Science.

Please apply for a space by 5pm Monday 14th June.

We ask all participants to download and complete the Application Form and return this to Lisa Andrews. 

For more information, please see our previous blog post.

If you have any queries prior to submitting your application, please contact RDS Research Facilitators Lisa Andrews or Ehren Milner.

Open Access @ BU and how it works

BU Challenges, Guidance, open access, Publishing, writing

BRIAN (Bournemouth Research Information and Networking)

According to BU’s Publications Policy and Procedures, on acceptance of publication by the publisher, all BU authors should record all research outputs in BRIAN immediately, and no later than three months after this point. For journal articles and conference proceedings, to comply with the REF Open Access policy, all BU authors should ensure that the author-accepted-manuscript (full text) is also deposited in BRIAN at the same time, and no later than three months after this point.

To do so, after you’ve created your publication record, click on the blue arrow up icon to deposit your full text –

You will then be directed to a page where the terms and conditions associated with the deposit will be made clear, before you proceed with choosing your file to be uploaded –

After you’ve uploaded your full text, it will then go through a review process by one of the Bournemouth University Research Online (BURO) team members with the Library and Learning Support Team. This is to ensure first of all, that the correct version of the full text has been uploaded; and depending on the publisher copyright policy, an embargo period may be imposed on the full text before it is visible to the public. If there are any problems with the deposit, one of the BURO teams members will contact the author directly to resolve the issue.

BURO (Bournemouth University Research Online)

Once the full text has been reviewed and processed by the BURO team, it will then be deposited into our institutional repository (IR), which is Bournemouth University Research Online (BURO) and you would have complied with BU’s open access policy. In BURO, you will find all full texts deposited by other BU authors and you can browse the content by year, group or author (surname); and if you’re interested, you can also view the repository statistics in terms of the number of total outputs deposited, their breakdown by type, or you can even check out the most downloaded items from our repository!

BU Staff Profile Page

After your full text has been deposited into BURO, if you have a BU Staff Profile Page, the link to the full text will also appear under your publication record on your Staff Profile Page and it will look like this –

Any visitor to your Staff Profile Page can then click on the link and be directed straight to your full text in BURO read all about your research.

If you have any further queries, please don’t hesitate to email either BRIAN@bournemouth.ac.uk, BURO@bournemouth.ac.uk or OpenAccess@bournemouth.ac.uk

 

Invitation to the Medical Science Virtual STEAMLab 2021

BU Challenges, Funding opportunities

On Thursday 22nd July 2021 from 2-4pm, RDS will be hosting a virtual STEAMLab event under the strategic investment area (SIA) of Medical Science. It will be the third of a series to 2-hour long virtual STEAMLabs to be held in the course of 2021.

The ideas generated at this event may also be used to help select colleagues for further Scramble events at short notice.

Booking onto this event

To take part in this exciting opportunity, we ask all participants to download and complete the Application Form and return this to Lisa Andrews by Monday 14th June.

By applying, you agree to attend for the full duration of the event on 22nd July from 2pm – 4pm. Places at the event are limited and you will be contacted to confirm your “virtual space” by 21st June 2021

If you have any queries prior to submitting your application, please contact RDS Research Facilitators Lisa Andrews or Ehren Milner.

The Brief

We’re seeking to come up with highly innovative and urgently required research which is ambitious in scope and will require a high level of expertise, commitment and funding. The research must address challenges in the field of Medical Science.

In short, we anticipate the development of innovative, ground-breaking cross-disciplinary and ambitious projects which have the capacity to attract significant, high value external funding from the public and private sectors in the future.

We would also like to use this opportunity to further collaborations with our local clinical colleagues, and are delighted to be welcoming a number of attendees from local NHS Trusts to join us at this event.

Who should attend?

We welcome those who wish to contribute to having a positive impact through addressing scientific challenges, but in particular, we are specifically targeting the following:

  1. Those academics whose research aligns with one or more of the BU’s core research areas, or whose research would benefit from the multidisciplinary, collaborative engagement supported by the Medical Science SIA;
  2. Those who have experience of involvement in medium to large scale research projects.

Some Answers to your FAQs:

Do I need to do anything in advance?

During the STEAMLab, you’ll be guided through a process which results in the development of collaborative research ideas. To aid us in this process, we will be using the platform Padlet to discuss and share ideas on a number of research themes ahead of the event. This will enable us to identify the themes of the day by asking you as the attendees to contribute your thoughts and ideas ahead of the STEAMLab.

What is the immediate objective?

The objective by the end of the STEAMLab is to have scoped some leading and grand ideas around which a working group or cluster can be formed to take forward towards the development of a large grant application. This event is run to facilitate new interdisciplinary research collaborations.

What do I need to do afterwards?

Your project idea may be “oven-ready”, but it is more likely that you/your group’s project idea/s will require some time to crystallise fully, and for the optimum partners to be found for the building a winning consortium. To this end, it is envisaged that you and your potential collaborators will be committed to meeting on a regular basis, with a firm timetable.

What if my topic area is very specialised, within fields such as medical diagnostics or environmental science?

Your contribution will be very welcome! One of the main benefits of a STEAMLab event is to bring together individuals with a range of backgrounds and specialisms who are able to see things just that bit differently to one another.

Open Access @ BU – An overview

BRIAN, BU Challenges, Guidance, open access, Publishing

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

Bournemouth University is unfortunately not a current recipient of the UKRI Open Access block grant. 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 and Wiley, 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).

Stay tuned for the next segment where we’ll be talking more about “Open Access @ BU & how it works!”