Category / BU research

Photo of the week: ‘Active ageing in place’

Telling a story of research through photography

The ‘photo of the week’ is a weekly series featuring photographs taken by BU academics and students for our Research Photography Competition which took place earlier this year.

These provide a snapshot into some of the incredible research taking place across the BU community. 

This week’s photo of the week was taken by Dr Michelle Heward and is titled;

‘Active ageing in place’

The onset of physical and mental impairments in later life may mean that mobility declines and individuals need to adjust or change their levels of activity accordingly. Older people therefore require choice of physical activities that are flexible to ensure all abilities are catered for. The GO Active Gold Programme in Oxfordshire encourages people in rural areas age 60 and over, to live more active lifestyles, by setting up local physical activities for all abilities. With funding received from Sport England, they employed rural Activators, to work in partnership with local communities to deliver a varied, inclusive and social physical activity programme. To date, the programme has engaged over 3000 participants from 81 different villages.

Under the ‘Activity and Inclusion’ research theme the Ageing and Dementia Research Centre are currently evaluating how far the project has improved the physical and mental well-being of older adults; encouraged stronger community spirit by reducing loneliness and social isolation through participation in activities; developed a sustainable physical activity programme. Research team: Dr Michelle Heward (Post-Doctoral Research Fellow), Amanda Adams (PhD Student) Prof Jane Murphy (Professor of Nutrition)

If you have any questions about the Photo of the Week series or the Research Photography Competition please email research@bournemouth.ac.uk

Clinical Governance Standard Operation Procedures – now live

The Standard Operating Procedures relating to Clinical Governance at BU are now live and can be found on SharePoint.

A full list of documents and links to each are provided in this table, with a link also present on the Clinical Governance blog.

If you have any queries surrounding the information present within the SOPs, or cannot access the links, please email Research Ethics.

Remember – support is on offer at BU if you are thinking of introducing your research ideas into the NHS – email the Research Ethics mailbox, and take a look at the Clinical Governance blog.

Happy reading!

Growing wealth of migration publications at Bournemouth University

Yesterday saw the latest publication based on Bournemouth University (BU) migration research.  The international journal BMC Public Health published our quantitative paper ‘Psychological morbidity in Nepali cross-border migrants in India: a community based cross-sectional study’ [1].  This scientific article highlights that since Nepali migrants can freely cross the border with India and hence work and stay there, they are largely undocumented. The majority of these Nepali migrant workers is involved in semi-skilled or unskilled jobs with limited labour rights and social security, which predisposes them to psychological distress. The paper assessed the prevalence of and factors associated with psychological morbidity among Nepali migrants upon their return from India.

Just a few days ago the UN Migration Agency in Nepal IOM (International Organization for Migration) published ‘Research on the Health Vulnerabilities of the Cross-Border Migrants from Nepal‘, an online report to which BU academics (Aryal, Regmi & van Teijlingen) had contributed [2].  Just recently we had published the qualitative sister paper on Nepali migrants working and living in India. [3].  Whilst Dr. Nirmal Aryal was the lead author on a paper highlighting the need for more research specifically focusing on adolescents left behind by migrant workers [4]. Earlier this year BU PhD graduate Dr. Pratik Adhikary published his latest paper from his thesis, the paper is called ‘Workplace accidents among Nepali male workers in the Middle East and Malaysia: A qualitative study’ and was published in the Journal of Immigrant & Minority Health [5].

Last year was also a very good year for BU migration research, including a systematic review on sex trafficking (perhaps the worst kind of migrant workers) [6], an earlier research paper by Dr. Adhikary with his PhD supervisors [7], and one paper on Nepali female migrants workers in the Middle-East & Malaysia [8].  Earlier BU academics published on general health issues and accidents among Nepali migrant workers in Malaysia, Qatar & Saudi Arabia [9-10], Nepali migrants in the UK [11-12] , other papers included: a call for action on Public Health [13]; a systematic review [14]; a paper on migrant workers’ spouses [15]; migrant health workers in the UK [16-17]; migration and tourism industry [18-20]; migrants and space in Italy [21-22]; an anthropological perspective on migration [23]; a media studies’ perspective [24]; and archaeological perspective [25]; and a socio-economic perspective [26].  No doubt there are several other publications I have forgotten or I am simply unaware missed in this list.

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health

 

References:

  1. Dhungana, R.R., Aryal, N, Adhikary, P., KC, R., Regmi, P.R., et al. (2019) Psychological morbidity in Nepali cross-border migrants in India: A community-based cross-sectional, BMC Public Health 19:1534
  2. International Organization for Migration (2019) Research on the Health Vulnerabilities of the Cross-Border Migrants from Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal: International Organization for Migration.
  3. Regmi, P., van Teijlingen, E., Mahato, P., Aryal, N., Jadhav, N., Simkhada, P., Syed Zahiruddin, Q., Gaidhane, A., (2019) The health of Nepali migrants in India: A qualitative study of lifestyles and risks, Journal of Environmental Research & Public Health 16(19), 3655; doi:10.3390/ijerph16193655.
  4. Aryal, N., Regmi, P.R., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Mahat, P. (2019) Adolescents left behind by migrant workers: a call for community-based mental health interventions in Nepal. WHO South East Asia Journal of Public Health 8(1): 38-41.
  5. Adhikary P, van Teijlingen E., Keen S. (2019) Workplace accidents among Nepali male workers in the Middle East and Malaysia: A qualitative study, Journal of Immigrant & Minority Health 21(5): 1115–1122. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10903-018-0801-y
  6. Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Sharma, A., Bissell, P., Poobalan, A., Wasti, S.P. (2018) Health consequences of sex trafficking: A systematic review, Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences, 4(1): 130-149.
  7. Adhikary P, Sheppard, Z., Keen S., van Teijlingen E. (2018) Health and well-being of Nepalese migrant workers abroad, International Journal of Migration, Health & Social Care 14(1): 96-105. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMHSC-12-2015-0052
  8. Simkhada, P.P., van Teijlingen, E.R., Gurung, M., Wasti, S. (2018) A survey of health problems of Nepalese female migrants workers in the Middle-East & Malaysia, BMC International Health & Human Rights 18(4): 1-7. http://rdcu.be/E3Ro
  9. Adhikary, P, Sheppard, Z., Keen, S., van Teijlingen, E. (2017) Risky work: accidents among Nepalese migrant workers in Malaysia, Qatar & Saudi Arabia, Health Prospect 16(2): 3-10.
  10. Adhikary P., Keen S., van Teijlingen E (2011) Health Issues among Nepalese migrant workers in Middle East. Health Science Journal 5: 169-75. www.hsj.gr/volume5/issue3/532.pdf
  11. Adhikary, P., Simkhada, P.P., van Teijlingen E., Raja, AE. (2008) Health & Lifestyle of Nepalese Migrants in the UK BMC International Health & Human Rights 8(6). Web address: www.biomedcentral.com/1472-698X/8/6
  12. van Teijlingen E, Simkhada, P., Adhikary, P. (2009) Alcohol use among the Nepalese in the UK BMJ Rapid Response: www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/339/oct20_1/b4028#223451
  13. Aryal, N., Regmi, PR., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Adhikary, P., Bhatta, YKD., Mann, S. (2016) Injury and Mortality in Young Nepalese Migrant Workers: A Call for Public Health Action. Asian-Pacific Journal of Public Health 28(8): 703-705.
  14. Simkhada, PP., Regmi, PR., van Teijlingen, E., Aryal, N. (2017) Identifying the gaps in Nepalese migrant workers’ health & well-being: A review of the literature, Journal of Travel Medicine 24 (4): 1-9.
  15. Aryal, N., Regmi, PR., van Teijlingen, E., Dhungel, D., Ghale, G., Bhatta, GK. (2016) Knowing is not enough: Migrant workers’ spouses vulnerability to HIV SAARC Journal of Tuberculosis, Lung Diseases & HIV/AIDS 8(1):9-15.
  16. Scammell, J., 2016. Nurse migration and the EU: how are UK nurses prepared? British Journal of Nursing, 25 (13), p. 764.
  17. Sapkota, T., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2014) Nepalese health workers’ migration to United Kingdom: A qualitative study. Health Science Journal 8(1):57-74.
  18. Janta, H., Ladkin, A., Brown, L., Lugosi, P., 2011. Employment experiences of Polish migrant workers in the UK hospitality sector. Tourism Management, 32 (5): 1006-1019.
  19. Dwyer, L., Seetaram, N., Forsyth, P., Brian, K. (2014) Is the Migration-Tourism Relationship only about VFR? Annals of Tourism Research, 46: 130-143.
  20. Filimonau, V., Mika, M. (2017) Return labour migration: an exploratory study of Polish migrant workers from the UK hospitality industry. Current Issues in Tourism, 1-22.
  21. De Martini Ugolotti, N., 2016. ‘If I climb a wall of ten meters’: capoeira, parkour and the politics of public space among (post)migrant youth in Turin, Italy. Patterns of Prejudice, 50 (2), 188-206.
  22. De Martini Ugolotti, N., 2015. Climbing walls, making bridges: children of immigrants’ identity negotiations through capoeira and parkour in Turin. Leisure Studies, 34 (1), 19-33.
  23. Mai, N., Schwandner-Sievers, S. (2003) Albanian migration and new transnationalisms, Journal of Ethnic & Migration Studies 29(6): 939-948.
  24. Marino, S., Dawes, S., 2016. Fortress Europe: Media, Migration and Borders. Networking Knowledge, 9 (4).
  25. Parker Pearson, M., Richards, C., Allen, M., Payne, A. & Welham, K. (2004) The Stonehenge Riverside project Research design and initial results Journal of Nordic Archaeological Science 14: 45–60.
  26. Chowdhury, M., 2014. Migration, Human Capital Formation and the Beneficial Brain Drain Hypothesis: A Note. Migration & Development, 3 (2), 174-180.

RKE News – Latest issue out now

The latest issue of RKE News is out now. The purpose of the newsletter is to provide a termly update of internal and external research and knowledge exchange news, successes and opportunities.

This issue focuses on BU2025, the Strategic Investment Areas, Research Funding Panels, some of the many funding opportunities which are available and upcoming events.

I hope this information is helpful and of interest to you. If you would like to send in any stories or ideas for inclusion or if you have any feedback in general, please let me know.

 

Call for EoIs: Impact Champion for UOA 18 to drive REF 2021 preparations

BU is preparing submissions for units of assessment (UOAs) for REF 2021. Each UoA has a UoA Leader, supported by an Impact Champion and Outputs Champion.  The roles are recruited through an open and transparent process, which gives all academic staff the opportunity to put themselves forward for UOA roles.

We are currently seeking an expression of interest (EoI) from academic staff interested in supporting impact development for UoA 18 Law.

Impact Champions play a key role in shaping the impact element of their UoA’s submission.  They work closely with their Faculty’s Impact Officer and Impact Post-Doctoral Researcher, where relevant.

Key responsibilities of the Impact Champion role include:

  • 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 undertake any other duties as requested by the relevant Deputy Dean for Research and Professional Practice (DDRPP) and/or Unit of Assessment leader.

The full role description can be found here – Impact Champion Role Descriptor.

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 Professor Dinusha Mendis by Friday 22nd November 2019.  The EoIs will be reviewed by the UoA Leader and Output Champion.

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 or current Impact Champion 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.

Call for EoIs: Output Champion for UOA 20 to drive REF 2021 preparations

BU is preparing submissions for units of assessment (UOAs) for REF 2021. Each UoA has a UoA Leader, supported by an Impact Champion and Outputs Champion.  The roles are recruited through an open and transparent process, which gives all academic staff the opportunity to put themselves forward for UOA roles.

We are currently seeking an expression of interest (EoI) from academic staff interested in supporting output development for UoA20 Social Work & Social Policy.

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.

The full role description can be found here.

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 Professor Jonathan Parker by Friday 22nd November.  The EoIs will be reviewed by the UoA Leader and Impact Champion.

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.

Call for EoIs: Output Champion for UOA 17 to drive REF 2021 preparations

BU is preparing submissions for units of assessment (UOAs) for REF 2021. Each UoA has a UoA Leader, supported by an Impact Champion and Outputs Champion.  The roles are recruited through an open and transparent process, which gives all academic staff the opportunity to put themselves forward for UOA roles.

We are currently seeking an expression of interest (EoI) from academic staff interested in supporting output development for UoA17 Business & Management, alongside the existing Output Champion George Filis.

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.

The full role description can be found here.

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 Professor Chris Chapleo by Friday 22nd November.  The EoIs will be reviewed by the UoA Leader and existing Output Champion.

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 or current Output Champion 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.

Photo of the week: ‘Rich and poor living side by side in 21st century India’

Telling a story of research through photography

The ‘photo of the week’ is a weekly series featuring photographs taken by BU academics and students for our Research Photography Competition which took place earlier this year.

These provide a snapshot into some of the incredible research taking place across the BU community. 

This week’s photo of the week was taken by Professor of Maternal and Perinatal Health Research; Edwin van Teijlingen and is titled:

‘Rich and poor living side by side in 21st century India’

‘This photo of a shack made of corrugated iron surrounded by newly build white painted concrete apartment buildings represents the old and the new India. It also reflects the enormous gap between the poor and those growing urban middle-class. The shack is located on a bit of wasteland, suggesting a something temporary, perhaps this piece of land is a future building site. At the same time this humble abode has washing hanging outside signifying certain standards of hygiene as well as dignity in poverty.’

‘This photo was taken in Pune (India) which I visited as part of BU’s Global Festival of Learning in February 2018. This mixture of ‘old and new’ as well as ‘rich and poor’ can be found all over cities in India and Nepal. The picture represents our research in the sense that we continuously try to improve the lives of the poorest in South-Asian society.’

If you have any questions about the Photo of the Week series or the Research Photography Competition please email research@bournemouth.ac.uk

Ways of Seeing Sport Coaching Violence – a unique interactive installation

On Monday 4th November 2019, as part of the ESRC festival of social science, Dr Emma Kavanagh and Dr Adi Adams (Faculty of Management) alongside final year sport student Terri Harvey, curated and hosted an arts based installation to showcase their research on inter-personal violence in sport. The event adopted an innovative, immersive, sensory art-based method not traditionally utilised in sport coach education (but widely used in other ‘caring’ professions) to bring their research knowledge to life and allow coaches and other practitioners to engage with data in a dynamic manner. This was achieved through re-presenting research data collected by the BU academics in audio and visual forms.

Abuse, intimidation and violence in sport and coaching remains a significant global problem. In 2017 the British Government published the Duty of Care in Sport Review, sharing the findings of a critical inquiry into the culture and climate of elite sport in the United Kingdom. High performance sport came under significant scrutiny linked to a number of high profile accounts in the media that raised serious questions concerning the safety of elite sporting spaces and the threats they can pose to athlete welfare. Allegations of bullying, racial, sexual and gender abuse alongside other forms of discrimination have been made across Olympic and Paralympic sports. This ESRC event provided an opportunity to engage practitioners in debates surrounding the safety of sporting spaces as a way of promoting the duty of care in practice.

The event brought to life qualitative social science research data, currently available to academics through peer-reviewed journal articles through the production of an immersive arts-based installation. The data was used to enable those who attended to see/hear/feel and confront the contemporary issue of inter-personal violence in the world of sport coaching, from the perspective of ‘others’. The event aimed to bring sport coaches (and other practitioners) together around a shared concern/problem in the sport industry, with the aim of inspiring awareness, understanding, empathy, care and practical solutions to reducing interpersonal-violence. An arts and media-based approach is often adopted in the education of other ‘caring’ professions engaged in complex, difficult, ‘social’ and emotional work (e.g. nurses, medical practitioners, social workers, palliative care workers), yet has gained limited application in the sporting profession.

 

The event attracted significant attention from external practitioners, students and local organisations. Participants moved around and shared the immersive space with others, experiencing the ‘felt difficulty’ (Trevelyan et al., 2014) of ‘what it feels like’ to experience violence and intimidation as a participant in sport. It is anticipated that experiencing this ‘felt difficulty’, provoked by engaging with material that is ‘perplexing’ or ‘disorientating’ has the potential to provide a platform for coaches to reflect authentically on and transform their own practice. The impact of attending the installation is currently the topic of Terri’s dissertation and the team are excited to understand more about how participants experienced the event.

The event would not have been a success without the support of the ESRC team and, in particular, Adam Morris who helped drive the installation forward. In addition, thanks goes to the sport students who volunteered on the evening and actively engaged in the project through ‘becoming voices’. All of these people shared one passion; making sport a safer space for all those who participate in it.

What makes a Bournemouth University publication?

Last week the IOM (International Organization for Migration) in Nepal, the UN Migration Agency published a new report online: Research on the Health Vulnerabilities of the Cross-Border Migrants from Nepal.  This report mentioned the input and advice of Bournemouth University (BU) staff, including Dr. Nirmal Aryal, who worked on the report prior to his appointment at BU and who is listed as Co-Investigator, furthermore listed as Resource Persons are: Dr. Pramod Regmi and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen.  Working with the charity Green Tara Nepal (GTN) on this study has been good for IOM and BU.  All of use have worked on the report in different kind of ways and to different degrees.  The publication suggested a corporate authorship as ‘International Organization for Migration’, which is great for the status of the report as it is a UN agency.  We feel part of this as BU academics and feel we are part of the team despite this not being a BU publication!

 

 

Professor Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

 

Reference:

International Organization for Migration (2019) Research on the Health Vulnerabilities of the Cross-Border Migrants from Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal: International Organization for Migration.  Available at : https://nepal.iom.int/sites/default/files/publication/Research_on_The_Health_Vulnerabilities_of_The_Cross_Border_Migrants_from_Nepal_0.pdf

Registration open!

Registration has opened! Draft programme available.

Spaces for the oral presentation session are limited. Please only book sessions you can commit to attending. Lunch will be provided to those attending oral presentation sessions and conference presenters.

To attend the Keynote by Professor Genoveva Esteban please book onto session 2 oral presentations.

No need to book for the Live Research Exhibition or Poster Presentations, please just come along to FG06 between 09:30 – 11:30 to visit the exhibitions. However, if you are based at Lansdowne you may wish to register for a ticket as you can show it on the bus for free U1 UniBus travel between campus during the conference.

Register now and spread the word.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Talk/session with the Wessex Clinical Research Network Study Support Service

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is the nation’s largest funder of health and care research – the NIHR oversee 15 Clinical Research Networks (CRN) and these CRNs work alongside NHS Trusts, primary care providers and Universities. Each CRN has a dedicated Study Support Service.

The NIHR have a portfolio of research studies that are eligible for consideration for support from the CRN in England.  Portfolio status is usually vital to participating NHS Trusts when considering undertaking a proposed study.

Information on the NIHR portfolio is present on the research blog, but at this session our local CRN’s Study Support team will provide you with an opportunity to hear about and discuss the network and the service, and how it could benefit you.

This session is aimed at those planning on conducting clinical research.
It is also designed to raise awareness at BU about the benefits and importance of the NIHR portfolio, so if you’re just interested in learning more, please book on.

The session will take place on Tuesday 10th December at 2:3opm until 4:00pm on Lansdowne Campus.

To register your interest or if you have any queries, please get in touch with Research Ethics.

Photo of the week: ‘A sense of place’

Telling a story of research through photography

The ‘photo of the week’ is a weekly series featuring photographs taken by BU academics and students for our Research Photography Competition which took place earlier this year.

These provide a snapshot into some of the incredible research taking place across the BU community. 

This week’s photo of the week was taken by  Dr Sue Baron and is titled;

‘A sense of place’

This image ‘A Sense of Place’ illustrates one of the many often unreported benefits of co-creation projects, where research outputs are achieved by BU staff, students and members of the public working together. An important part of being human is for us to feel a sense of place; not just in terms of our environment and objects but also through our experiences and the connections we make as these contribute to our sense of belonging, togetherness, comfort and security. Being aware of the importance of these factors is vital in research that seeks to investigate or report on human experience as was the aim of this project. This image captures the positive sense of place and togetherness which developed between two former strangers, Emma and Helen (L-R) through their engagement with this project. Helen has cerebral palsy and complex communication needs and has experienced many and varied challenges as a patient in hospital which she wanted to share.

Outputs from the project include a series of filmed interactions between a patient and nurse. An example can be viewed on Virtual Empathy Museum click on ‘Take a Walk in my Shoes’, Simulation Room and ‘Empathic care of a person with cerebral palsy e-simulation’. The photograph was taken on location in Helen’s home.

If you have any questions about the Photo of the Week series or the Research Photography Competition please email research@bournemouth.ac.uk

WeObserve launches its first online course: Citizen Science Projects – How to make a difference

WeObserve, in partnership with FutureLearn, introduces its first online course, Citizen Science Projects: How to make a difference. The course starts on 18 November 2019 and will run for four-weeks. It is open to anyone and is free to participate. The course is now open for registration on the FutureLearn platform here.

During the course, learners will be able to discover citizen science projects and find out how to create and lead their own citizen observatory. Citizen science experts will share their knowledge, experiences and best practices in delivering citizen science projects. The course will also support co-creation and shared learning through discussion forums and group activities.

Exploring a diverse range of citizen science topics including:

  • Understanding the issue or problem: exploring environmental issues, deciding on a researh focus and defining the research question(s).
  • Creating a community: finding the people who are brought together by a shared concern and positively nurturing the sharing of ideas and experiences.
  • Deciding what data to collect: using the research question(s) to select what information will be gathered.
  • Capturing or generating the data: collecting the information, keeping motivated and engaged.
  • Analysing the data: interpreting the data, being able to spot trends and anomalies.
  • Disseminating results: using the findings from the data to communicate with others about the environmental concern.
  • Change-making and planning action: using the findings to lobby for change, or plan an intervention or action to inform others about the environmental concern.

Through this course, the aim is to build an international community of learners that will explore what is citizen science, what are citizen observatories, which tools they can use and where to find them, how to plan and conduct a data collection campaign, and how they can act.

This a great opportunity to reach an audience of DIY Citizen Scientists interested in taking action in their own communities, or researchers interested in the Citizen Science method.

For more information please contact Adam Morris – Engagement Officer

A seminar sesssion ‘Community branding on the consensus building’ is on the way😇 27th November 2019, 10:00-11:30. Venue: EB206

We will have a seminar session with the guest lecture, Dr Sachiyo Kwakami (Fukui University, Japan) on the 27th November. This session will be held as a Skype meeting at EB206.

Dr Kawakami is a PostDoc researcher who is specialised in the field of ’Consensus Building in communities, and she has been working on the research projects on ‘Learning and collaborative problem solving attitudes’ in Fukui area.

During this session, we will discuss ‘potential functions of a community and citizens’ collaboration’ and the impact of ‘collaborative work as the management platform’ to contribute to the local issue solving (e.g., problem recognition of high-radio active waste disposal and how to support marginal settlements in the deprived area).

This session will provide unique topics in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as ‘Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being’, ‘Goal 9: Sustainable Cities and Communities’ and ‘Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals’.

This session also aligns with BU2025 strategic investment areas (SIAs), Simulation & Visualisation and Assistive Technology.

The BU ECRs, PhD researchers, and MSc students are welcome to this session.
The session will be facilitated by Dr Hiroko Oe with a contributor, Mr. Gideon Adu-Gyamfi (MSc International Management).
*For more details, please email to hoe@brounemouth.ac.uk😇

BU Studentships: Drop-in Support Sessions

A reminder that BU is running two drop-in support sessions this week for Academic Staff considering applying for the BU Matched Funded Studentship Competition which launched last month.

The sessions will be facilitated by a number of Academic and Professional staff who will be available to answer questions about securing matched funding, developing research degree projects or the application process.

There will be two sessions:

  • Lansdowne Campus: When: Tuesday 12 November 2019 | Time: 12:00-13:00 | Where: EB203
  • Talbot Campus: When: Thursday 14 November 2019 | Time: 12:00-13:00 | Where: F106

Please ensure you are familiar with the allocative process (see below) before you come.

The competition plays an important role in growing PGR numbers, building and strengthening of a greater number of external relationships, providing a stronger Fusion learning experience for our PGRs. For 2020, there will be up to 46 matched funded PhD studentships available over three strands:

  • PhD Studentship Strand 1 Allocative Matched Funding (up to 9 matched funded studentships)
  • PhD Studentship Strand 2 Competitive Matched Funding (up to 31 matched funded studentships)
  • PhD Studentship Strand 3 DTC Pump Priming (up to 6 matched funded studentships).

In addition, for the first time this year, BU is offering a limited number of MRes Studentship Competitive Matched Funding (up to 3 matched funded studentships).

Application Process

At this stage, academic staff are invited to submit proposals for matched funded Studentship projects which, if successful, will be advertised to recruit PhD candidates for a September 2020 start.

Full details, including the BU Studentship Allocative Process and Proposal Form, can be found on the Doctoral College Staff Intranet .

Submission Deadline:

Applications should be submitted to the Doctoral College via email to phdstudentshipcompetition@bournemouth.ac.uk no later than 5pm on Monday 13 January 2020.

If you have any questions about your application please speak with your Deputy Dean for Research and Professional Practice (DDRPP) or the Doctoral College Academic Managers: Dr Fiona Knight (for FST or FHSS enquiries) or Dr Julia Taylor (for FM or FMC enquiries).

Please ensure applications contain all relevant information (project proposal signed by Faculty DDRPP; letter of support from matched funder; due diligence form signed by Faculty DDRPP) as incomplete applications will not be considered.