Category / REF Subjects

New book about EDI in health and biomed research careers is out!

open access, Publishing, Research assessment, Women's Academic Network

Dr Ola Thomson of BUBS, People and Organisations, is pleased to announce her new book: “Nurturing equality, diversity and inclusion: Support for research careers in health and biomedicine”. The book is available as open access which means you can read it free of charge via Bristol University Press (Policy Press) – link here: https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/nurturing-equality-diversity-and-inclusion.

You can also order a hard copy of the book with 50% off until 21 January using code JAN50 at the checkout.

The book is co-authored with Prof. Rachael Gooberman-Hill of the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute for Health Research at the University of Bristol. The volume provides an overview of the state of EDI in research careers in health and biomedicine in the UK, and offers innovative organisational and individual strategies to nurture diversity in research institutions.

Today’s academic and research institutions recognise the importance of diverse research teams in health and biomedical science, in terms of the business case, social justice and the common good. This ‘go-to’ book familiarises readers with the key equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) issues in relation to research careers and researcher development. Bringing together the challenges and solutions to EDI matters with an evidence-based approach in one volume, the book offers practical strategies and interventions for academic and research settings. This is an essential guide for equality planning team members, researchers, HRM officers and managers across academia and research.

REF Impact Subcommittee Chair: call for EoIs

REF Subjects, Research assessment

Help guide the university’s impact submission

The Chair of the REF Impact Subcommittee (RISC) has an important role to play in supporting preparations for the Engagement and Impact element of Bournemouth University’s (BU) REF2029 submission.

RISC reports on progress in the development of impact case studies and against impact strategies to the REF Committee, sharing intelligence from across BU and the wider HE sector, making recommendations on impact resourcing and ensuring evidence of impact is robustly recorded.

The Chair, who should be a member of the Professoriate, needs an institution-wide perspective on the development of impact case studies and the new impact narratives, and to ensure the subcommittee is effective in reviewing progress.

 Key responsibilities include:

  1. Chairing the quarterly RISC meetings.
  2. Ensuring discussion is fair, open and supportive.
  3. Providing guidance in determining where greatest resourcing and support may be required, according to progress updates from impact champions.
  4. Acting as champion for raising awareness across BU of the importance of REF impact case studies in relation to QR funding for the institution as a whole.

Application process:

Research Development and Support (RDS) runs an expression of interest (EoI) call, inviting all those who are interested to put forward a short case (one page maximum) outlining why they are interested and the knowledge, skills and experience they think they could bring to the role. Applications from underrepresented groups (e.g. women, minority ethnic, declared disability) are particularly welcome. The deadline is: 5pm, Monday 29th January.

EoIs are submitted to RDS (impact@bournemouth.ac.uk) and reviewed against the selection criteria detailed below by a gender-balanced selection panel comprising:

  • Chair of the REF Steering Group
  • Chair of the REF Committee
  • RDS representative

In the event of there being just one EoI received for a particular panel member role, the panel will still review it using the selection criteria to ensure the applicant is suitable for the role.

Further details on the role and selection criteria are here:

Chair REF Impact Subcommittee role descriptor

Process and criteria for RISC Chair recruitment

Selection criteria

The panel will give each EoI a score out of 15, based on how well they score against the criteria outlined below. These are equally weighted, with each criterion carrying a total possible score of 5. The panel will offer the role to the applicants with the highest ranked EoIs. A member of the panel will provide feedback to all applicants.

  • Knowledge and experience of REF and research impact (scored out of 5): The Chair/Deputy Chair are expected to have a thorough knowledge of the REF process, preparations and timeline and the requirements relating to the impact submission for REF2029. Ideally, they will have been involved in preparations for previous REF exercises or submitted an impact case study. It is expected that they will be practising researchers and will have a breadth of understanding of research across BU.
  • Experience of chairing meetings and reaching consensus to ensure sound decision-making (scored out of 5): The Chair/Deputy Chair will need to be able to chair meetings effectively and ensure prioritisation decisions are made in alignment with the requirements of the impact element of BU’s REF submission.
  • Plans for leading the impact agenda across the University (scored out of 5): The Chair/Deputy Chair are responsible for motivating the impact champions of each Unit of Assessment, as well as the wider research community, to optimise BU’s performance in the Engagement and Impact element of REF2029. They should have ideas for how they will do this.

Questions

Any queries regarding the process should be directed to impact@bournemouth.ac.uk. Specific questions about the Chair role should be directed to REF Committee Chair Professor Einar Thorson.

Call for EoIs: REF Institutional Statement Lead to drive REF 2029 preparations

REF Subjects, Research assessment

Bournemouth University (BU) is preparing submissions for future REF exercises. An Institutional Level Statement was introduced as part of the submission for REF2021 and will form part of the formally assessed component for REF2029. BU has created an Institutional Statement Lead role. This will be recruited via an open and transparent process. All academic staff at Grade10+ have the opportunity to put themselves forward.

The Institutional Statement Lead is a significant commitment and will be recognised with a 0.2FT workload allocation (or job-share), and commensurate buyout return for the host department. The role is permanent, to be reviewed on an annual basis, and role holders can choose to step down at any time. Potential applicants should discuss their workload balance with their Head of Department before applying.

The Institutional Statement Lead undertakes a vital role in driving and delivering BU’s REF submission, influencing the University’s preparations, shaping an optimal submission, and ultimately having a significant effect on BU’s REF results.

Key responsibilities of the Institutional Statement Lead role include:

  1. Having an institutional outlook for the REF, i.e. aiming to optimise BU’s overall REF performance.
  2. Leading production of the Institutional Statement, bringing together content on People, Culture and Environment.
  3. Working with Academic and Professional Service Leads to optimise the Institutional Statement by working to mitigate weaknesses and to highlight strengths across all aspects of the submission.
  4. Working with UOA leaders to explore and understand the interrelationship of discipline-specific and Institutional level statements.
  5. Ensuring that the Institutional Statement undergoes rigorous review, in order to assess quality and areas of development prior to inclusion for REF.
  6. Working closely with RDS, who are managing the central REF preparation and submission process.
  7. Attend the REF Committee meetings.
  8. Working closely with RDS to respond audit queries.
  9. To undertake any other duties as requested by UET and RSG

Application process:

To apply, please submit a short statement (suggested length 300 words), explaining your interest in the role and what you could bring to it. Applications from underrepresented groups (e.g., minority ethnic, declared disability, women) are particularly welcome.

EoIs should be submitted to RDS (ref@bournemouth.ac.uk) by 5pm 26th January 2024.

EoIs will be reviewed against the selection criteria detailed in this document by a gender-balanced selection panel comprising the:

  • Associate Pro-VC Research and Knowledge Exchange
  • Chair of the REF Steering Group
  • RDS representative

The panel will invite those meeting the criteria to an interview. This process is applied consistently as per the process for UOA Leaders. In the event of there being just one EoI received for a role, the panel will still review it using the selection criteria to ensure the applicant is suitable for the role.

Selection criteria

The selection criteria are outlined below. The same criteria will be used at both EoI and interview stage. These are equally weighted, with each criterion carrying a total possible score of 10. The role will be offered to the highest scoring applicant. A member of the panel will provide feedback to all applicants.

  • Commitment, motivation and enthusiasm (scored out of 10): The REF Institutional Statement Lead is a significant commitment. The role holder needs to be willing and able to make this commitment. They need to be enthusiastic about the REF and boosting research performance.
  • Skills and knowledge (scored out of 10): The REF Institutional Statement Lead should bring with them skills and knowledge to optimise BU’s REF preparations and submission (e.g. knowledge of the REF process, expertise in research metrics, leadership experience, REF Panel membership experience, etc). It is expected that they will be practising researchers and will have a breadth of understanding of research across BU.
  • Plans for preparing the Institutional Statement and awareness of the potential challenges and opportunities (scored out of 10): The REF Institutional Statement Lead is responsible for driving and delivering the Institutional Statement, maintaining an institutional outlook to optimise BU’s overall REF performance. They should have ideas for how they will do this and the potential challenges and opportunities of this.

Further detail on the roles and selection criteria can be found here:

Role Descriptor

Process and criteria for selection

Questions

Questions regarding the process should be directed to RDS, ref@bournemouth.ac.uk. The REF Institutional Statement Lead specific questions should be directed to the Chair of RSG Professor Kate Welham.

Ref 2021/ Report analysing impact case studies

REF Subjects

This is an interesting report from the British Society of Gerontology analysing impact case studies from REF 2021. This includes work from Bournemouth University amongst various other centres.

Please find below the links to the report and presentation about “The impact of Ageing Research within the Research Excellence Framework 2021: an evaluation” as a useful reading in terms of the range and scope of age-related research.

BSG REF 2021 evaluation report

Presentation REF state of Ageing 131123

OpenBright grant awardees from Bournemouth University

Awarded & submitted bids

OpenBright grants have been available since 2020 to support women in the development of research projects at the university level, focusing on subjects related to computing and technology. OpenBright offers small grants for students studying for degrees or postgraduate qualifications in areas such as software engineering, data science, digital media, artificial intelligence, and robotics.

We are thrilled to introduce the awardees:

Assemgul Kozhabek (Final year Ph.D. candidate): Assemgul is the second-time OpenBright grant awardee. Her plan is to upgrade her computer system to conduct a thorough analysis of road networks. This upgrade will greatly support her project, titled “Examining the Topology of Urban Road Networks in densely populated countries: China and India”. Assemgul and her supervisor Dr. Wei Koong Chai abstracted road networks as complex systems and employ tools from network science to study their properties.  This study introduces multi-level urban road network robustness metrics, which incorporates macro, meso and micro perspectives. Assemgul thanks her supervisor  Dr. Wei Koong Chai and Dr. Melanie Coles for their guidance and support!

Fatima Ahmad Muazu (1st year Ph.D. student): Fatima got funding for her project “The Use of Mobile Learning and Assistive Technologies for Enhancing Digital Inclusion in Special Education for Learners with Learning Disabilities in underserved regions of Northern and Southern Nigeria”. The funding will be used to conduct a preliminary needs analysis involving stakeholders and students in special education settings of 4 Nigerian secondary schools.

Maggie Foulds (Final year BSc Software Engineering student): Her project is the development of a mobile application to aid all-star cheerleading coaches in the creation of competition routines, and to help ensure athlete safety throughout the season. Maggie has been awarded funding from the OpenBright foundation to travel to a software development conference in Miami, to boost her coding skills to take her project to the next level. OpenBright is also supporting me to attend the Cheerleading World Championships in Orlando, where I will be able to test a prototype of my application with stakeholders.

Ayo Agbeja (MSc Data Science and Artificial Intelligence): Ayo’s research title is “Plastic Wastes and Sustainability Targets in Germany: A Policy Simulation Experiment using Machine Learning”. Her project has a primary focus on Germany and aims to investigate the relationship between policies related to plastic waste management and sustainability objectives, particularly in the context of reducing carbon emissions. This simulated model will take into account the key factors: economic growth, oil and coal production, the generation of renewable energy, and energy consumption, while making projections based on an optimal weighting of these factors.

Congratulations!

The last BU blog of 2023

international, open access, Publishing, writing

First of all: Happy New Year!

One of the first message I received this morning was that our editorial ‘Addressing the inequalities in global genetic studies for the advancement of Genetic Epidemiology’ [1] had been published yesterday.  If I had know this in time it would have been the proper last Bournemouth University Research Blog of 2023 published yesterday.  Interestingly, we only submitted the draft editorial on Christmas Day, got it back for revisions on Boxing Day and resubmitted it and had it accepted on December 28th.   It dis, of course, help that both editors-in-chief of the Nepal Journal of Epidemiology are co-authors on this editorial!

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (CMWH)

 

 

Reference:

  1. Sathian, B., van Teijlingen, E., Roy., B., Kabir, R., Banerjee, I., Simkhada, P., Al Hamad, H. (2023) Addressing the
    inequalities in global genetic studies for the advancement of Genetic Epidemiology. Nepal Journal of Epidemiology, 13(4):1292-1293.
    DOI: 10.3126/nje.v13i4.61271

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).