Category / REF Subjects

Delay to the next Research Excellence Framework (REF) exercise

BU research, Featured, REF Subjects, research staff

Following community consultation on the REF initial decisions published in the summer of 2023, the four UK higher education funding bodies have announced an extension to the timing of the next REF exercise.

The next REF will now be REF2029, with results to be published in December 2029.

It is likely that submission will now be autumn 2028. The REF team have advised that an updated timeline will be published “as soon as possible”.

The extension to the timeline is in recognition of the complexities for Higher Education Institutions in:

  • the preparation for using HESA data to determine REF volume measures,
  • fully breaking the link between individual staff and institutional submissions,
  • the reworking of institutional Codes of Practice

As well as the change to the timing for the REF, a number of other updates have been announced, including:

  • The Units of Assessment structure used in REF2021 will remain unchanged.
  • Institutions may submit any output where there is a “demonstrable and substantive link to the submitting institution within the REF period.”
  • Outputs sole-authored by PGR students will not be eligible for submission, nor will those produced by staff on teaching-only contracts.
  • The minimum number of impact case studies that an institution can submit per disciplinary submission will be reduced to one, and there will be a removal of the 2* quality threshold for research that underpins impact case studies.

More detail on the initial decisions next steps can be found at https://www.ref.ac.uk/news/update-on-initial-decisions/

Deadline Extended!! Social Work and Social Policy Academics – REF roles

BU research, REF Subjects, Research assessment

Logo for REF2028

We’ve extended the deadline for expressions of interest for REF roles in Social Work and Social Policy until Wednesday 6 December 2023. Further information below…
We are currently recruiting to a number of roles to help support preparation for our next REF Submission to Social Work and Social Policy. The deadline for expressions of interest is the
The roles are recruited through an open and transparent process, which gives all academic staff the opportunity to put themselves forward. Applications from underrepresented groups (e.g. minority ethnic, declared disability) are particularly welcome. We are currently preparing submissions to thirteen units (otherwise known as UOAs). Each unit has a leadership team with at least one leader, an output and impact champion. The leadership team are supported by a panel of reviewers who assess the research from the unit. This includes research outputs (journal articles, book chapters, digital artefacts and conference proceedings) and impact case studies. We currently have vacancies in the following roles: 
Impact Champion –20 – Social Work and Social Policy 
Output Champion – 20 – Social Work and Social Policy  x2

Review Panel Members –

20 – Social Work and Social Policy 

All roles require a level of commitment which is recognised accordingly with time to review, attend meetings, and take responsibility for tasks.

Undertaking a UOA role can be enjoyable and rewarding as two of our current champions testify:

“As UOA Outputs Champion you develop a detailed knowledge of all the great work that colleagues are doing related to the subject, and the different outlets used for disseminating their work.  As an outputs committee member, you also get to know what research is going on across BU, and it’s interesting to see the differences between disciplines.  It’s a good way develop your knowledge of the bigger picture of BU’s research, and also to understand the importance of REF and how it works in practice.  You do spend quite a bit of time chasing colleagues to put their outputs on BRIAN for REF compliance but hopefully they forgive you!”

Professor Adele Ladkin – UOA 24 Output Champion

“As a UoA 17 impact champion, I work closely with the UoA 17 impact team to encourage the development of a culture of impact across BUBS. I try to pop into Department / research group meetings when I can to discuss impact, and I’ve enjoyed meeting people with a whole range of research interests. Sometimes it can be tough to engage people with impact – understandably; everyone is busy – so it’s important to be enthusiastic about the need for our BU research to reach the public. Overall, the role is about planting the seeds to get researchers thinking about the impact their work might have in the future (as well as the impact they have already had, sometimes without realising!)”

Dr Rafaelle Nicholson – UOA 17 Impact Champion

 How to apply

All those interested should put forward a short case (suggested length of one paragraph) as to why they are interested in the role and what they think they could bring to it. These should be clearly marked with the relevant role and unit and emailed to ref@bournemouth.ac.uk by Wednesday 6 December 2023.

Further detail on the roles, the process of recruitment and selection criteria can be found here:

UOA Leader Output Champion Impact Champion Panel Reviewer
Role Descriptor Role Descriptor Role Descriptor Role Descriptor
Process and criteria for selection Process and criteria for selection Process and criteria for selection Process and criteria for selection

For further information please contact ref@bournemouth.ac.uk, a member of current UOA Team or your Deputy Dean Research and Professional Practice with queries.

BU Sonic Arts concert featuring Jonty Harrison

Events, Uncategorized

You are warmly invited to the first BU Sonic Arts concert of 2023/24. Come and experience the magic of immersive, spatial music and sound!

We are delighted to welcome composer Jonty Harrsion, an inspirational and acclaimed figure in electroacoustic music. This is a rare opportunity to hear Harrison’s work projected on our multichannel loudspeaker system, here in Bournemouth University’s Screening Room, Poole Gateway Building, Talbot Campus. The programme will be a historical retrospective, charting his evolving compositional practice, moving from stereo to 8-channel, to extensive multichannel, and then to ambisonic sound. Jonty is Emeritus Professor of Composition and Electroacousitc Music at University of Birmingham.


http://www.electrocd.com/en/bio/harrison_jo/

Date: Thursday 7th December 2023
Time: 17:30-19:30
Location: Screening Room PG217, 2nd Floor, Poole Gateway Building, Talbot Campus
Admission is free but please book a ticket : https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bu-sonic-arts-concert-featuring-jonty-harrison-tickets-760552030597?aff=oddtdtcreator

Congratulations to BU sociology professors

BU research, Featured academics, international, open access, Publishing, Uncategorized, Women's Academic Network, writing

Congratulations to Professors  Sara Ashencaen Crabtree and Jonathan Parker on the publication  of their book chapter ‘Social work with children and human rights’ in the edited collection Change Agents: An interprofessional book about children with disabilities in Tanzania and Norway [1]. 

The chapter explores human rights in social work with children, based on cases from several countries in the world. Human rights and social justice differ across countries and cultures. This is complicated further in respect of children who are dependent and as a result potentially vulnerable. This chapter discusses the balance between protection of the child versus allowing the child to be exposed to “risky” situations and develops a model for complex human rights social work with children.

The book also has a chapter by former BU staff member Prof. Sarah Hean, who is currently linked with the University of Stavanger in Norway.
Congratulations on this Open Access publication!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Reference:

Parker, J. &  Ashencaen Crabtree, S. (2023)  Social work with children and human rights, In: Change Agents: An interprofessional book about children with disabilities in Tanzania and Norway, Siv E. N. Sæbjørnsen, Mariana J. Makuu, & Atle Ødegård (Editors),  Scandinavian University Press, pp.55-75. 

What is REF

BU research, REF Subjects, research staff, Research Training, RKE development framework, Training

The Research Excellence Framework (REF), is the UK’s system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions.

This introductory session is aimed at anyone who wants to know more about the REF and what is means for research and researchers at BU. It 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.

 

 

What is REF :  Wednesday 6th December

from 13:30 – 14:30 at Talbot Campus

 Book your place here – under “What is REF – 06/12/2023” in the drop-down menu

 

For any queries regarding the content of this session, please contact RKE Dev Framework

Match funded PhD in wellbeing, water sports and marginalisation

BU research, Doctoral College, Postgraduate Research

The Department of Sport and Event Management is advertising a match-funded PhD opportunity titled ‘Understanding marginalisation and experiences of Blue Spaces and water sports.’ This PhD is supported by the Royal Yachting Association, the UK’s national body for all forms of boating and watercraft. Additionally, it receives support from the Andrew Simpson Foundation, a charity committed to fostering inclusivity and accessibility in watersports, placing an emphasis on utilising the challenges inherent in watersports to develop young people. The deadline for applications is 22/01/2024. We kindly request staff to share this opportunity with interested networks.

Questions related to the project should be directed to Dr Ellie Gennings and the full project details are available online.

The aims of this PhD are broad as the potential candidate should identify how they would approach the topic and how this might link to them as an individual or to their experiences and expertise. The project will:

Two people in a sail boat
  • Explore the experiences and relationship with Blue Spaces among social groups/communities experiencing overlapping forms of marginalisation;
  • Engage with community groups and policy actors to co-create toolkits/guidelines and inform programmes that can support and enhance access to and engagement with Blue Spaces;
  • Critically evaluate issues of access and relationship with Blue Spaces as vehicles for innovation in physical activity participation policy and identify the socio-cultural and policy shifts needed to successfully implement change.

2023-24 Missing Persons Indicator Cohort begins work

Awarded & submitted bids, BU research, humanities, research integrity, research methods, Student Engagement, student research

A team of 10 LLB Law students from across all levels is collating data on a pro bono basis on international, knowledge exchange project.

 

The Missing Persons Indicator Project is a collaboration between the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) and Bournemouth University, with students at the heart of the project. Through students’ voluntary extra-curricular engagement, they are gathering data for sustained, high quality indicators and analysis. At the same time, participation equips students with a plethora of transferable skills and valuable research experience while contributing to a real-life societal problem with the overarching aim of alleviating missing persons cases.

So here’s a massive thank you to our student researcher cohort of 2023-24:

  • Angel Beaumont
  • Arman Ali
  • Maisie Lee
  • Lola Jones
  • Suzie Moore
  • Jazz White
  • Poppy Holland
  • Jasmin Sidhu-Bansal
  • Lydia Gee
  • Siobhan McClatchey

The data collated will help better understand the way states engage with, and seek to solve, missing persons cases, thereby assisting those involved in missing persons efforts. The collation and analysis of data will have a dual purpose: (1) to highlight missing persons protection and investigation mechanisms for improved implementation but also to (2) assist in prevention efforts. The development of indicators offers a way to capture the necessary data whilst facilitating analysis and comparison.

Findings to date will form part of the forthcoming ICMP Global Report and we will present the project rationale, methodology, data analysis and visualisation at the online Social Data School in December as part of the University of Cambridge Digital Humanities initiatives. Over the past two academic years and through the help of dedicated students on staff (Dr David Biggins from BUBS; Melissa Bowden from the Library and Dr Jonathan Whittle in H&L), on structural indicator 1 alone, some 12,288 data entry points have been populated.

The missing persons indicator project team has developed a robust platform and methodology for continued data collation. We are really pleased and grateful to continue on this path to complete the data set for structural and context indicators.

Social Work and Social Policy Academics – Would you like to get more involved in preparing our next REF submission?

BU research, REF Subjects, Research assessment

Logo for REF2028

We are currently recruiting to a number of roles to help support preparation for our next REF Submission to Social Work and Social Policy. The deadline for expressions of interest is the 4 December 2023. 
The roles are recruited through an open and transparent process, which gives all academic staff the opportunity to put themselves forward. Applications from underrepresented groups (e.g. minority ethnic, declared disability) are particularly welcome. We are currently preparing submissions to thirteen units (otherwise known as UOAs). Each unit has a leadership team with at least one leader, an output and impact champion. The leadership team are supported by a panel of reviewers who assess the research from the unit. This includes research outputs (journal articles, book chapters, digital artefacts and conference proceedings) and impact case studies. We currently have vacancies in the following roles:Impact Champion –

20 – Social Work and Social Policy 

Output Champion – 

20 – Social Work and Social Policy  x2

Review Panel Members –

20 – Social Work and Social Policy 

All roles require a level of commitment which is recognised accordingly with time to review, attend meetings, and take responsibility for tasks.

Undertaking a UOA role can be enjoyable and rewarding as two of our current champions testify:

“As UOA Outputs Champion you develop a detailed knowledge of all the great work that colleagues are doing related to the subject, and the different outlets used for disseminating their work.  As an outputs committee member, you also get to know what research is going on across BU, and it’s interesting to see the differences between disciplines.  It’s a good way develop your knowledge of the bigger picture of BU’s research, and also to understand the importance of REF and how it works in practice.  You do spend quite a bit of time chasing colleagues to put their outputs on BRIAN for REF compliance but hopefully they forgive you!”

Professor Adele Ladkin – UOA 24 Output Champion

“As a UoA 17 impact champion, I work closely with the UoA 17 impact team to encourage the development of a culture of impact across BUBS. I try to pop into Department / research group meetings when I can to discuss impact, and I’ve enjoyed meeting people with a whole range of research interests. Sometimes it can be tough to engage people with impact – understandably; everyone is busy – so it’s important to be enthusiastic about the need for our BU research to reach the public. Overall, the role is about planting the seeds to get researchers thinking about the impact their work might have in the future (as well as the impact they have already had, sometimes without realising!)”

Dr Rafaelle Nicholson – UOA 17 Impact Champion

 How to apply

All those interested should put forward a short case (suggested length of one paragraph) as to why they are interested in the role and what they think they could bring to it. These should be clearly marked with the relevant role and unit and emailed to ref@bournemouth.ac.uk by 4 December 2023.

Further detail on the roles, the process of recruitment and selection criteria can be found here:

UOA Leader Output Champion Impact Champion Panel Reviewer
Role Descriptor Role Descriptor Role Descriptor Role Descriptor
Process and criteria for selection Process and criteria for selection Process and criteria for selection Process and criteria for selection

For further information please contact ref@bournemouth.ac.uk, a member of current UOA Team or your Deputy Dean Research and Professional Practice with queries.

Challenges and New Directions in Journalism Education

BU research, Featured academics, Fusion, Industry collaboration

“What journalism should we teach?” “How can the academy drive and lead change in practice?” These questions run like a red thread through a new publication produced by a collective of BU academics. Challenges and New Directions in Journalism Education (Routledge) draws on original and innovative contributions from educators, practitioners and students – including BU alumni. Its aim: to inform our understanding of journalism pedagogy in the context of ongoing shifts in journalism practice that often run deeper than merely technological change. Some observers describe journalism as broken – accused of elitism and often branded as too far removed from the reality of people’s lives. Beleaguered by a persistent crisis of trust, journalists and journalism are often portrayed as core to the problem, rather than the solution. Inclusivity remains an urgent issue with news organisations and industry councils, such as the National Council for the Training of Journalists intensifying protocols in a bid to create more diverse newsrooms.

Against this background, Challenges and New Directions in Journalism Education engages with a series of key themes and objectives: These include discussions around safeguarding, sustainability, journalism’s ‘democratic deficit’, integrating media literacy, podcasting and the ‘post-pandemic’ context. Each chapter draws on a research-informed approach: primary data, case studies and examples to describe and unpack the topic, and concludes with practical suggestions for journalism educators. The core tenet is the importance of listening — to the voices of students, the requirements of industry and to each other.

The book is accompanied by a podcast, in which the chapter authors expand on the final section of the book – Reflections. “ Journalists don’t often have time to reflect on their practice” says the book’s editor, Professor Karen Fowler-Watt “their work is tomorrow’s ‘fish and chip wrapper’ – so it was refreshing to have the time and space to discuss with each other the findings of our chapters and our own thoughts about the process of writing this book”. The book concludes with a Manifesto for Change, drawn up by the authors — it is intended to spark a conversation within and between industry and the academy.

The podcast (deftly edited by Jason Hallett) also includes the findings of a ‘call and response’ exercise with final year students of BA (Hons) Multimedia Journalism. Each chapter author devised a question for the students to debate and produce a call to action in response – this exercise was discussed further with journalism.co.uk. Senior reporter Jacob Grainger devoted the latest podcast to an interview with Karen Fowler-Watt, who is a former BBC journalist, about the book project, the students’ responses and ways of growing the next generation of journalists. They also discuss how journalism schools and news organisations can work together towards the shared goal of producing journalists that are ready to hit the ground running in industry. Never has this been more important than now – the conversation is only just beginning!


Challenges and New Directions in Journalism Education is published by Routledge.
Editor: Karen Fowler-Watt
Chapter authors – Members of the Journalism Education Research Group (JERG):
Andrew Bissell; Jaron Murphy; Graham Majin; David Brine; Michael Sunderland; Jo Royle; Max Mauro and Julian McDougall; Fiona Cownie; De-Graft Mensah (BBC Newsround presenter and BU alumnus); Daniel Henry (ITV News reporter).

The 2 part podcast: I Challenges and II New Directions is available under ‘Support Materials’ for the book.
The journalism.co.uk podcast is available here.