Latest research and knowledge exchange news at Bournemouth University
Get some of these interesting presentations in your diary now ‘Enhancing social life through global social research’:The social sciences at BU. For details click here!
Three sessions:
Part 1. Young people and development
Part 2. Ethnographies of religion & cultures
Part 3. Social science research in diverse communities
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
Panelists at #PSASchools 2015
On Tuesday 13 october 2015, Dr. Darren Lilleker, Dr. Dan Jackson and Dr. Anna Feigenbaum from the Faculty of Media and Communication travelled up to London to lead sessions at the Political Studies Association’s first annual PSA Schools Conference. The event brought together 150 Sixth Form students from schools around London and the South East for an afternoon of exploring Pressure Groups, Anti-politics and Representation. In packed out workshop room, Dr. Lilleker and Dr. Jackson sparked debate over the rise of digital politics, asking in their session on Social Media and Political Communication, “Does social media offer a new way to develop a more dialogical relationship between citizens and their elected representatives?” Reflecting on the workshop, Dr. Lilleker said, ““It was interesting to hear the views of young people on digital media use and get them thinking about how their behaviour links to broader social trends in political engagement.”
Dr. Anna Feigenbaum’s session drew from her research into protest camping. She engaged students in a hands-on activity, designing blueprints and political strategies for their own hypothetical protest camps. Choosing Women’s Equality as their campaign issue, following a compelling keynote by Sophie Walker, Leader of the Women’s Equality Party, the students choose their protest sites, including Parliament and the Playboy Mansion. From clever hashtags to lodging people on houseboats in the Thames to politically subversive games of pin-the-tail-on-the-bunny, students showed their creativity and tactical savvy. 
Taking part in the Question and Answer Panel Session that rounded out the day, Dr. Anna Feigenbaum joined Campbell Robb, CEO of Shelter; David Bowles, Director of Public Affairs of RSPCA; Graham Smith, CEO of Republic and Maddy Ryle of the Democracy Centre in a lively discussion facilitated by Dr Andy Mycock (University of Huddersfield) that ranged from the purpose of direct action to strategic uses of the law in political campaigning. Covering questions of Britishness and the Monarchy and the ethics of lobbying, sixth formers in the audience showed they were far more than an apathetic generation of youth. Politically reflective and insightful, they spoke of media misrepresentations of the working class, the need to scrutinise profiteering bankers, growing inequality in representative politics and when engaging in civil disobedience might be justified.
Speaking 
of his participation in the event, Dr. Jackson – who also convenes the PSA Media and Politics Specialist Group – said, “It is great to engage young people with some of the big political challenges of our day. Plus, this is a great way to put Bournemouth on the map, in terms of politics education at BU, as we develop our curriculum around politics, political communication and social movements.” Based on the success and positive feedback from this first event, the Political Science Association has plans to make the conference an annual affair. An exciting opportunity to share our BU Research in an interactive way with young people, we would encourage colleagues to join in future events!
With thanks to James Ludley and Helena Djurkovic of the PSA for organising this innovative event.
A smartphone device for monitoring sensation loss in patients with diabetes has been nominated for three awards at the Institute of Engineering and Technology Innovation Awards. The device, developed by Bournemouth University, the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch NHS Foundation Trust and Poole Hospital Trust enables patients to self-monitor their symptoms and wirelessly transmit their results to their consultants.
Over time, people with diabetes can develop nerve damage, caused by prolonged exposure to high blood glucose levels. Sensation loss needs to be monitored by medical professionals to try and limit further damage. The severity of the nerve damage will dictate the frequency of hospital visits, but it can be as often as monthly which is quite time intensive for both patient and consultant.
The device, created by Dr Venky Dubey and his Postdoctoral Researcher Dr Neil Vaughan, involved the development of a smartphone app and a 3D probe fitted to the phone. The 3D probe is designed to vibrate, according to the intensity set by the app, which helps to analyse the levels of sensation loss in a patient. This data, along with basic details such as weight and height, are recorded by the app and can be transmitted to a GP or consultant who can monitor the need for further treatment or check-ups. As well as being a considerable time saver for both patients and medical professionals, the device also helps to give patients more control over their care.
Commenting on the nomination, Dr Dubey said, “I’m very pleased that our device has been nominated for three awards as it recognises the hard work that went into the project and its potential to make a difference to patient care. Looking to the future, we hope to run clinical trials to test the device and gain patient feedback so that we are able to improve it further before its commercial potential is realised.”
The smartphone app and 3D probe have been nominated for three awards at the Institute of Engineering and Technology Innovation Awards. The categories the team have been nominated for are communication, healthcare technologies and measurement in action. The awards ceremony will be held on 18th November in London.
Yesterday BMJ Open published our latest article on the weight management in obese men, under the title A qualitative evidence synthesis on the management of male obesity.[1] To the best of our knowledge, this is the first synthesis of qualitative studies investigating men’s perceptions and experiences of weight management services. The interdisciplinary study was conducted between the three research centres at the University of Aberdeen, namely the Health Services Research Unit (HSRU), the Health Economics Research Unit (HERU) and the Rowett Institute of Health & Nutrition, the University of Stirling’s NMAHP Research Unit, the University of Edinburgh’s Scottish Collaboration for Public Health Research & Policy (SCPHRP) and Bournemouth University.
Studies published between 1990 and 2012 reporting qualitative research with obese men, or obese men in contrast to obese women and lifestyle or drug weight management were included. The studies included men aged 16 years or over, with no upper age limit, with a mean or median body mass index of 30 kg/m2 in all settings. In total 22 studies were identified.
Health concerns and the perception that certain programmes had ‘worked’ for other men were the key factors that motivated men to engage with weight management programmes. Barriers to engagement and adherence with programmes included: men not problematizing their weight until labelled ‘obese’; a lack of support for new food choices by friends and family, and reluctance to undertake extreme dieting. Retaining some autonomy over what is eaten; flexibility about treats and alcohol, and a focus on physical activity were attractive features of programmes. Group interventions, humour and social support facilitated attendance and adherence. Men were motivated to attend programmes in settings that were convenient, non-threatening and congruent with their masculine identities, but men were seldom involved in programme design.
The paper concluded that men’s perspectives and preferences within the wider context of family, work and pleasure should be sought when designing weight management services. Qualitative research is needed with men to inform all aspects of intervention design, including the setting, optimal recruitment processes and strategies to minimise attrition. This paper grew out of the larger ROMEO study which was published in our full HTA (Health Technology Assessment) report, which is also freely available on line, click here! [2]
CMMPH
Reference:
29-30 January 2016
Thanks to Fusion Investment funding I will be co-running with Dr Paul Stapleton (QUB) a symposium exploring Interagency in Technologically-Mediated Performance. Despite a growing community of people creating digital musical instruments and a growing associated academic field, there has been little recognition within these communities of the associated approaches to a Philosophy of Technology that examines human-technology interactions from a variety of social, political and philosophical perspectives.
This event will bring together researchers and industry representatives from the fields of Philosophy of Technology and Digital Musical Instrument (DMI) design to establish an overview of best practice of new musical instrument creation and set out a road map for future research in this area. The symposium will feature talks by five keynote speakers that are all internationally recognised experts in their fields. Workshop and discussion will form a large part of the symposium in order to have time to fully establish an overview of best practice and to define the future research agenda.
The symposium will run 29th and 30th of January 2016. There will soon be a call for attendance, places will be limited so sign up quick if you are interested. There will also be a short concert on Friday 29th Jan from 17:30- 18:30 attendance for this is open to everybody.
Tom Davis
Professor Edwin van Teijlingen (CMMPH) has been invited to present a key note speech at the Kennispoort Verloskunde conference in Utrecht, the Netherlands in January 2016. He will be speaking about ‘Dealing with risk in maternity care: the social versus medical model’. The presentation is based on a number of publications around the sociological topic of the medical/social model of childbirth. [1-3]
One of the ways sociologists analyse health and health care is in terms of a ‘medical’ versus a ‘social’ model, or in this field, a midwifery model. As pregnancy and birth are biological and physiological events which are very much embedded in a social and cultural setting, these are good examples to highlight the use and misuse of the medical and social model. Modern Western society has a slightly paradoxical view of pregnancy. On the one hand, the average woman in childbirth is not ill because pregnancy is not an illness. On the other hand, pregnant women are deemed to need a lot of health care throughout pregnancy and childbirth. Making the distinction between a medical and a social model of a social phenomenon is not exclusive to midwifery. Over the past decades researchers have pointed to the existence of a medical and social model in alcohol misuse, obesity, sex, eating disorders, infertility treatment, to name but a few phenomena.
References:
Professor Jill Atkins of Henley Business School at the University of Reading will speak to the first of a new series of staff research seminars organized in the Faculty of Management on Wednesday, October 14, at 15:00 at Bournemouth House, BG14. Her topic, “Exploring rhinoceros conservation and conversation: The emergence of emancipatory accounting for ‘extinction’,” links problems of sustainability of natural resources with theoretical developments that seek to take better account of the environment.
The ESRC website lists its Festival events for 2015 and amongst the interetsing events is a record number of BU events! The full list can be found on the ESRC webpages, click here!
Pathways to impact: part deux!
This event aims to engage participants who attended a previous one-day ESRC Festival of Science event which took place in 2012 entitled, “Pathways to Impact: ageing, diversity, connectivity and community”.
Children will have the chance to take part in a creative mapping exercise using coastal artefacts and pictures to create their own sensory and emotional maps of the topic, starting with the question of ‘how does it make me feel to be here?’
Older people are increasingly at risk of falling victim to financial scams that target vulnerable people, including mass marketing fraud via post, telephone or email and doorstep fraud.
This event will give practitioners, agencies and members of the public, the opportunity to come together to learn more about the threats posed.
This event asked the question:
Bournemouth University Dementia Institute (BUDI) will bring dementia awareness to life through running creative activities including a performance from the BUDI Orchestra – made up of people affected by dementia and musicians – poetry and technology such as IPads and Nintendo Wii.
Are British children disadvantaged compared to children in other Western countries? An analysis of data from global sources compares the standards of mortality, poverty and health funding for children and adults in Britain vs. those in 20 other Western countries.
One year ago, in October 2014, the UK Government introduced major changes to the Copyright Law with the aim of promoting innovation and creativity. These included a range of exceptions and limitations benefiting users as well as educational and cultural institutions.
These exhibitions run over the course of three days presenting a showcase of Bournemouth University research projects demonstrating our research impacts on social and community wellbeing and our concern for diverse groups and work with a wide variety of stakeholders.
A group of researchers from Bournemouth University are researching the lived experience of students entering higher education from and in ‘non traditional’ contexts. By bringing together research, educational practice and students as research co-creators, a unique lens is created through which to observe the question.
The 5-a-day campaign went global after a recommendation from the World Health Organisation that we should all be eating a least 400g of fruit and vegetables per day. Variations on this message are repeated in countries all across the world. But does the message cause more confusion than good?
These exhibitions run over the course of three days presenting a showcase of Bournemouth University research projects demonstrating our research impacts on social and community wellbeing and our concern for diverse groups and work with a wide variety of stakeholders.
These exhibitions run over the course of three days presenting a showcase of Bournemouth University research projects demonstrating our research impacts on social and community wellbeing and our concern for diverse groups and work with a wide variety of stakeholders.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
Congratulations to CMMPH Professor Edwin van Teijlingen on his latest publication about why researchers do not always seek ethical permission for health research conducted in low income countries. The authors in this paper have identified and explained five possible reasons; a) approval not needed: b) not familiar with the ethics committee: c) applying the wr
ong committee; d) resource constraints; and e) assumption that non-clinical research are exempted, which are of course overlap and interact each other, for not applying ethical approval in low income countries. They have also provided examples of ethical approval taken from other countries than the host countries and further go on to stress that junior researchers and students should be encouraged to be familiar with research ethical approval. In their paper, they encourage journal editors and peer reviewers to ensure ethical approval bein
g granted for manuscripts based on empirical studies. This paper was co-authored by BU visiting faculty Professor Padam Simkhada and recently published in Nepal Journal of Epidemiology. The paper is freely available through the journal’s website http://nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/issue/view/919
Reference:
van Teijlingen E, Simkhada P. Failure to apply for ethical approval for health studies in low-income countries. Nepal J Epidemiol. 2015;5(3); 511-515
Pramod R Regmi, PhD
Post Doctoral Research Fellow, Faculty of Health and Social Science
It is estimated that some 30% of airline engines worldwide are analysed using PA’s current-generation technologies to detect fan blade defects
A team from the Faculty of Science and Technology, led Professor Siamak Noroozi and Dr Richard Gunstone, have successfully obtained a Grant Offer Letter (GOL) for a high-impact KTP working with Precision Acoustics Limited (Dorset).
In this blog post we discuss some of the background to this KTP, and objectives.
Precision Acoustics (PA) manufactures acoustic measurement products for the medical and Non Destructive Testing (NDT) industries and is well established as a major supplier of equipment for the (MHz) ultrasound markets world-wide. PA has a close working relationship with the National Physical Laboratory, London, and academic establishments across the UK to further R&D.
The company’s core products are acoustics measuring devices. The company already has a significant share of the world market in this area, and is now embarking on innovative industrial NDT systems working on a number of precursor projects including with Rolls Royce. The longer term objective can only be achieved if PA introduces a software capability able to devise, maintain and develop a development process that has the expected attributes of resilience, performance and integrity, supporting product deployment. This is the principal focus for the KTP, capitalising on the capability in systems design, software, and assurance within BU.
The diagnostic systems work at PA are being developed and used in numerous applications, including malaria detection. It is estimated that some 30% of commercial airliners globally use the technologies developed by PAL for analysing defects in engine fan blades, for example. Due to the inherent nature of NDT systems and the potential application areas, these application areas are likely to have societal relevance and high-impact.
A great deal of effort has been spent in designing the project to be flexible and comprehensive. This has been made possible by the capable contribution of Norman Stock, the Faculty Business Relations Officer. He has worked closely with the academic staff and also the company to present a suitable proposal to Innovate UK, who are part-funding the collaboration.
In terms of project design, the KTP incorporates the new “KTP laydown” of an integrated MRes opportunity for the Associate, combined with expectations of research activity leading to co-authored papers. This provides a route for knowledge transfer of expertise from the university to the company, in a way that delivers advantages for all stakeholders.
We look forward to providing further reports on our collaboration with PA as time progresses.
In terms of advice for others considering KTP funding, Richard highlights a few relevant points:
“Engage early with the Business Relations Officer for your Faculty. Make sure deadlines are adhered to, including submission windows with Innovate UK. Finally, clarify the project plan as early as possible, including what is achievable in the project timescale – scoping is key”
This is a monthly publication that provides a digest of useful information about funding, financing, support and events to assist creative, digital and design businesses with their innovation and growth strategies.
You can sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox or alternatively follow the Knowledge Transfer Network group on social media.
This is a great way to get a quick heads up on what is happening in these sectors with links to further information.
Click here for more information.
We would like to invite you to the latest research seminar of the Creative Technology Research Centre.
Speaker: Dr Wen Tang
Title: Real-time Physics for Games
Time: 1:00PM-2:00PM
Date: Wednesday 14th October 2015
Room: KG03 LT, Kimmeridge House, Talbot Campus
Abstract: “Without accurate physics simulation, even the most beautiful game feels static and lifeless”- PhysX.
Developing fundamental computational algorithms and software pipelines that can truly unleash the power of physics simulation in computer games has been a major research activity in computer graphics.
This talk will present soft body simulation algorithms and a scalable software framework that are capable of handling simulation realism and computational efficiency to satisfy unpredictable user interactions and fast responses in computer games. Soft bodies such as cloth and solid deformable objects offer special visual effects in film, computer games, virtual reality and medicine. These objects are not only computationally expensive to simulate due to a wide range of material properties, but are also difficult to design and to control the simulation effects. This talk will also describe the latest research direction in how to develop institutive tools by deriving mathematic expressions using simple curves. Designers can then edit physics via direct modifications of curve profiles since they represent underpinning physical behaviour of the soft bodies.
We hope to see you there.
Well done Team BU (Chi Zhang, Erika Borkoles, Sarah Collard, Gary Head, Barry Squires and Clare Farrance) for taking part in the Sport England hackathon* last weekend. We had just 24 hours to develop our concept and build a prototype app to help 18-25 year olds become more physically active.
We developed a location based game app called ‘Nudge’ and incorporated social gamification strategies to encourage sustained physical activity adherence. We also sought strategies to help those who are already active in this age group encourage their inactive peers to participate.
The hackathon was a great experience and an excellent opportunity to collaborate across BU faculties and services.
A special mention needs to go to Chi who programmed through the night to make sure we had a working prototype. Hiring an experienced flutter developer can save you a lot of time and money and enable developers to solve complex problems at the last minute.
The winning team will be announced at the Sports Technology Awards in April 2016 and awarded a bursary of £10,000 to help them build the app.
Well done Team BU and fingers crossed for next April!
* A hackathon is a portmanteau of the words “hack” and “marathon”, where “hack” is used in the sense of exploratory programming.
The National Centre for Post-qualifying Social Work is pleased announce that it will be hosting a FREE event on safeguarding vulnerable adults from financial scamming as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science.
Financial scamming and mass marketing fraud (MMF) are growing aspects of financial crime, and those working to protect vulnerable adults needs to develop increased awareness and understanding of the challenges it poses. The Office of Fair Trading estimates that UK consumers lose about £3.5 billion to scams each year. These threats take on many forms, including doorstep scams, phone scams, postal scams and increasingly scams via the internet.
This ESRC Festival of Social Science event will showcase recent research and best practice responses dealing with the threat posed by financial scams. This event will bring together staff from key agencies and the public to explore research and best practice to tackle this issue.
Louise Baxter – The National Scams Team
‘The National Trading Standards Scam Team – What is being done to identify, protect and prevent future harm to victims of mass marketing fraud’
Sean Oliver – Croydon Council and Trish Burls Trading Standards
‘Safeguarding Social Work and Trading Standards, Joint Working: Research and Experiences from Croydon Council’
Rebecca Rogers – BU Cyber Security Unit
‘Protecting the vulnerable from cyber-crime’
Phil Mawhinney – Policy Officer – Consumer & Community, Age UK
Only the Tip of the Iceberg: Scams and Older People
After lunch there will be an opportunity to work with others to explore new ways of working together to tackle financial scams and to explore and the ways in which agencies can develop strategies to support vulnerable adults who are at risk or are victims of financial scams.
Staff from the National Centre for Post-qualifying Social Work will also showcase the recently updated National Safeguarding Framework for Adults
Places are limited and can be booked by CLICKING HERE
CLICK HERE to see the flyer, feel free to print it out and share with your colleagues.
For further information on the event please contact
Dr Lee-Ann Fenge – Deputy Director NCPQSW
Reference
Office of Fair Trading (2009) The psychology of Scams, Office of Fair Trading: London
Sarah Thomas from the BU Clinical Research Unit is part of a multi-disciplinary research team on a grant recently funded by the UK Multiple Sclerosis Society that starts this month. The grant is entitled “Which treatments are effective for fatigue in people with multiple sclerosis (MS): A systematic review with process and meta-analyses” and was submitted in response to a national commissioned call. The project is led by Prof Rona Moss-Morris at King’s College London (KCL) and involves other collaborators at KCL as well as Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. The main aims of the project are to provide an overview of current evidence and make recommendations for the design of a future clinical trial for fatigue in people with MS. This is an exciting opportunity to collaborate with other leaders in the field and further develop expertise in the area of MS-fatigue.
https://www.mssociety.org.uk/ms-research/research-blog/2015/09/let%E2%80%99s-put-fatigue-rest
The current issue of the Nepal Journal of Epidemiology published today carries an editorial by a BU-led team of researchers and development workers. The editorial Mental health issues in pregnant women in Nepal highlights the intervention funded by THET which aims to improve the knowledge and attitude of maternity care workers in a rural district in the south of Nepal. The BU authors include Visiting Faculty: Padam Simkhada, Samridhi Pradham, Jillian Ireland and Bibha Simkhada, the other co-authors are affiliated with the charity we work with in Nepal (Ram Chandra Silwal), the Buddhist charity based in London Green Tara Trust (Padmadharini Fanning), and our Tribhuvan University based colleagues (Lokendra Sherchan, Shyam K Maharjan, and Ram K Maharjan.
This THET-funded project will involve over 15 UK short-term volunteers. It is important to bring UK volunteers, who as health professionals will bring their experience of, and training in, the provision of mental health and maternity/midwifery services including the area of mental ill health prevention and health promotion. These experienced health workers (such as midwives, family doctors, mental health nurses, health visitors, psychiatrists) from the UK are invited to volunteer for two to three weeks at a time to design and deliver training. The mixture of training staff abroad (= Education) by UK professionals (=Practice) through an intervention which is properly evaluated (=Research) is a perfect example of BU’s FUSION in action.
This project is supported by the Tropical Health & Education Trust (THET) as part of the Health Partnership Scheme, which is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and runs from this year May 1st until the autumn of 2016. The paper is freely available on line, click here!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
Refererence:
van Teijlingen E, Simkhada P, Devkota B, Fanning P, Ireland J, Simkhada B, Sherchan L, Silwal CR, Pradhan S, Maharjan KS, Maharjan KS. Mental health issues in pregnant women in Nepal. Nepal J Epidemiol. 2015;5(3); 499-501.
On Wednesday 30th September, the Bournemouth University Dementia Institute (BUDI) hosted a Masterclass on creative approaches in dementia. This was the third in a series of four Masterclasses set for the 2015 calendar year. We provided a day full of information and inspiration on the use of a range of creative activities with people with dementia. The morning included sessions on the importance of engaging people with dementia in creative activities, how much residents in a care home are engaged in meaningful activity on a daily basis, and the use of gardening and nature for wellbeing. As well as presentations from the BUDI team we also benefited from presentations from a professional artist, photographer, poet, and musician.
The afternoon was a series of workshops that gave delegates an opportunity to try out some of the activities and explore how they might facilitate people with dementia and their carers in activities such as music, poetry, visual art, photography, and drama. Such creative arts were used not only to demonstrate how we can engage people with dementia in meaningful activities, and the creative ways that we can make use of the creative arts, but how we can also use the arts to challenge the public’s perceptions of the capabilities of people with dementia.
Feedback from delegates has been very positive and we look forward to providing the next Masterclass in a few months!
Next Masterclass:
Wednesday 2nd December:
Promoting Wellbeing at the End of Life
Report by Dr Samuel Nyman, BUDI
Innovate UK and Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) are to invest up to £580,000 in technical feasibility studies to stimulate innovation throughout the software development lifecycle (SDLC) while focusing on the verification and validation* (V&V) of two classes of complex systems: cyber physical systems (CPS) and systems with emergent behaviours.
This competition encourages businesses to develop appropriate ‘links’ between the behaviour of a system in the physical world and the software implementing its planned interactions. It also seeks to stimulate development of new engineering methods for systems in which a machine – rather than a human user or operator – drives the decision- making process. Such systems can be trained to recognise complex patterns and to make intelligent decisions based on existing data. They are starting to be used in sectors such as automated and autonomous vehicles, and robotics and autonomous systems (RAS). Our aim is to ensure that small and micro businesses in the UK further develop their early capabilities in this area.
Projects are open to companies of any size, but must be led by a small or micro company, working in collaboration with one or more business or research partners.
BU staff can login below:
MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024
Research Information Network
Fifteen years at BU
New eBook published in April
Horizon Europe News – December 2023