Category / BU research

New Intention to Bid (ItB) Form

BU research, ECR Network, Guidance, pre-award, Research news, research staff

Since the introduction of workstreams in October 2022, the Transformation team and the Research Development and Support (RDS) team have been working collaboratively on three workstreams to improve BU’s Research & Knowledge Exchange (RKE) service provision. Feedback from the academic community at BU suggested there is a need to reduce bureaucracy and to streamline processes. As part of these efforts, and with the support of IT Services, we have reviewed  and improved the Intention to Bid (ItB) form. The form has been developed and tested with input from the academic community and the Business and Knowledge Exchange Managers.  

The new Intention to Bid (ItB) form launched on 8 April and is available to access

on our RED Public site.  

 Key improvements include: 

  • More user-friendly and easy to navigate form 
  • Ability to save progress on the form and return to it later 
  • Shorter form 
  • Costing information is no longer required as part of the ItB form submission process 
  • Form allows for collaboration – a member of the research team can create the form on the behalf of the PI 
  • Form now incorporates Knowledge Exchange aspects 

 

There are only 6 very simple questions needed to notify RDS of the intention to bid. This will trigger notifications to RDS and to the Faculty (DDRPP, HoDs, DHoDs or Exec Deans). Following this early notification process, further information can be continually developed on the form in stages. This includes information about the research team, project requirements, project goals and aims, as well as confirmation on how the mandatory Faculty Quality Approval requirements will be fulfilled. Once RDS are notified through the early notification, a member from the Funding Development Team will be in touch to work collaboratively with the PI on developing the project for submission.  

 

Short notice application route  We recognise that some projects and calls are open for short periods of time, and that other circumstances may dictate when the intention to bid form is completed. If the submission deadline is in less than 4 weeks, the form will first seek approval from RDS (in collaboration with the DDRPP) through the short notice application route. As part of the process, you will be required to submit a draft application or a 2-page concept note (excluding tenders). 

All submissions with a deadline over 4 weeks will automatically be processed.  

 We have developed some user guides on the RKE SharePoint site and will also offer drop-in sessions on MS teams.

The next scheduled session is Wednesday 24th April 12:30pm 

Click here to join the meeting

Congratulation on new interdisciplinary publication

BU research, Featured academics, hate crime, international, Research news, Women's Academic Network, writing

Congratulation to Dr. Orlanda Harvey (Social Work), Dr. Terri Cole (Psychology) and Dr. Jane Healy (Criminology) who in collaboration with Jade Levell, a colleague at the University of Bristol, had their article ‘Explorations of attitudes towards accessibility and accessing domestic violence and abuse (DVA) perpetrator support programmes by victim-survivors and perpetrators across five European countries’ accepted by the journal Abuse: An International Impact Journal [1].  This paper reports on an international mixed-methods study exploring victim-survivors and perpetrators’ attitudes towards perpetrator support programmes. The study includes a questionnaire survey of victim-survivors and interviews with male perpetrators conducted in five European countries.

Results showed that of the 93 victim-survivors of domestic violence and abuse, half stated they would have stayed in their relationship with perpetrators if the abuse had stopped, and a similar number reported that they believed their relationships would have been different had there been help for the perpetrator. Analysis of perpetrator interviews showed that they faced barriers to obtaining support, such as being labelled a ‘perpetrator’ which, had they been addressed, may have enhanced their engagement with services. Whilst acknowledging the need for safeguarding and justice, this paper demonstrates the importance of reflecting both victim-survivor and perpetrator needs in order for perpetrators to fully engage with support services. Moreover, it highlighted the need to address the underlying societal issues related to hegemonic masculinity, which can lead to the abuse of women being normalised and the vulnerability of men being stigmatised, through education for young people around healthy relationships.

 

Congratulations

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health

Reference:

Harvey H.,  Cole T., Levell, J., Healy J. (2024) ‘Explorations of attitudes towards accessibility and accessing domestic violence and abuse (DVA) perpetrator support programmes by victim-survivors and perpetrators across five European countries’,  Abuse: An International Impact Journal 5(1): 26-45    https://doi.org/10.37576/abuse.2024.055

RKEDF: Writing Academy 18th/19th/20th June 2024

BU research, Events, RKE development framework, Training, writing

Day 1 – Writing for Publication Workshop – 18 June 2024, 10am-4pm

This workshop covers a range of strategies: targeting a journal, writing to prompts, types of prompt for academic writing, ‘snack’ writing, goal-setting for writing, freewriting, generative writing, analysing academic writing in your field, criteria, writing an abstract, using prompts in series, outlining, dealing with reviewers’ feedback, writing groups, micro-groups and retreats. Many of these can be used to prepare for a concentrated spell of writing at a writing retreat – which follows tomorrow. This is a practical workshop. The aim of the writing activities in this workshop is to let you try these strategies and consider how/if/where/when they could fit into your writing practice. You can use these to write for your article during the workshop, and you have a day’s writing to develop it tomorrow.

Day 2 – Writing Retreat – 19 June, 9am-4pm

Aims – To provide dedicated writing time and develop productive writing practices.

Format

This structured retreat uses the ‘typing pool’ model. We all write at the same time, for fixed time slots, using goal-setting and peer and self-monitoring for our individual writing projects. Because we all write together, we can discuss our goals at the start and end of the day (10-15 minutes). Almost all the retreat time is writing time, with regular breaks.

Learning objectives

1. Understand the Structured Writing Retreat model.

2. Structure a writing day.

3. Maintain well-being during intensive periods of writing.

Day 3 – Free Writing Day

An in-person writing day. Lunch will be provided.

 

Book your place here under ‘Writing Academy’ – 18/06/2024 to 20/06/2024’ in the drop-down menu.

For any queries regarding this workshop, please contact RKE Development Framework

 

Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) now open

BU research, Doctoral College, Featured, PG research, Postgraduate Research

Have your say

The Advance HE Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) is now open

We are keen to make sure our PGRs have the best possible experience while studying with us. To do this, we need to know what you think works well and what as a University we could do better. This is your chance to tell us about your experience as a PGR at Bournemouth University. We also kindly ask that all supervisors encourage their PGRs to participate in the survey.

Thank you to all PGRs who completed the 2023 PRES survey – we listened to you and your feedback has helped us to enhance your PGR experience in a range of areas.

The survey is now open and will close on Thursday 16 May 2024. Upon completing the survey, PGRs will automatically entered into a free prize draw. Four winners will be able to claim a £50 shopping voucher. Terms and conditions apply.

In addition, we will be making a £1 donation for every survey completed to the student mental health wellbeing charity, Student Minds.

Once you have completed the survey, you are entitled to claim a coffee voucher worth £3.20, from the Doctoral College to use at any BU Chartwells outlet. Please come to the Doctoral College (DLG08, Talbot Campus) to collect your voucher. You will need to show a screen shot of the final page of the survey in order to claim your voucher.

How do I take part?

PGRs will receive an email to your student account from the University on Monday 15 April 2024 containing a unique link which will allow you to access and complete the survey. If you can’t find this email, contact PRES@bournemouth.ac.uk and we’ll help you to get access.

What will I be asked?

The survey will take around 15 minutes to complete. Your response is confidential, and any reporting will be entirely anonymous. The survey is your chance to tell us about your experience as a PGR at BU. It will ask you to share your views on supervision, resources, research community, progress and assessment, skills and professional development and wellbeing.

Why should I take part?

Your feedback is important. The Postgraduate Research Experience Survey is the only national survey of PGRs and so is the only way for us to compare how we are doing with other institutions and to make changes that will improve your experience in the future.

More information

If you would like to know more about the survey, please visit: PRES 2024.

We hope you take the opportunity to get involved this year and help us make improvements to your experience.

Best wishes,

The Doctoral College

For any PRES related queries, please email: PRES@bournemouth.ac.uk

 

Reminder: Opportunity to get more involved in preparing Social Work and Social Policy REF 2029 submission – impact and engagement

BU research, Impact

We are looking to recruit an impact champion in UOA 20 (the Unit of Assessment for Social Work and Social Policy) to help support preparations for our submission to REF2029. The deadline for expressions of interest is the Tuesday 30th April 2024.

This role is 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 is 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.

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

This vacancy is for a joint impact champion for UOA 20 Social Work and Social Policy. This role exists as a job share with an existing impact champion, on the basis of a combined total of 0.2 FTE (split to be decided in discussion with the successful applicant).

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

“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), explaining why they are interested in the role and what they believe they could bring to it. These should be clearly marked with the relevant role and unit and emailed to ref@bournemouth.ac.uk by Tuesday 30th April 2024.

Further details on the impact champion role, the process of recruitment and selection criteria can be found here:

Role Descriptor

Process and criteria for selection

For more information, please contact ref@bournemouth.ac.uk, or the UoA Leaders Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers and Mel Hughes with queries.

Interdisciplinary Computational and Clinical Approaches at the Edge of Brain Research

BRIAN, BU research, BU2025, Events, Featured academics, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team, Research Centres, Research news

We cordially invite you to the 3rd Symposium of the BU Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Research Centre on Wednesday, the 12th of June 2024, from 9:30-13:00 at the Inspire Lecture Theatre, Fusion Building (1st floor).

The symposium is entitled: “Interdisciplinary Computational and Clinical Approaches at the Edge of Brain Research”.

This third symposium revolves around contrasting computational and translational methodologies from a cross-disciplinary standpoint, leveraging synergies between BU and our collaborators in other universities and at the NHS. It is an opportunity for informal discussions on grant proposals and to explore shared interests with our external guests. The general schedule is as follows:

9:15. Welcome and coffee.

9:30. Keynote talk: Prof. Miguel Maravall, Sussex University.

10.20-10:40. Coffee and grants discussion.

10:40-11:40. Session I. Integrating Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience.

11.40 -12.00. Coffee and grants discussion.

12.00-13:00. Session II. Interdisciplinary Clinical Approaches & Concluding Remarks.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact Ellen Seiss, eseiss@bournemouth.ac.uk or Emili Balaguer-Ballester, eb-ballester@bournemouth.ac.uk.

Thank you very much, and we are looking forward to seeing you there.

Kind regards,

Ellen and Emili, on behalf of all of us.

 

 

 

 

Open access for books tool

BU research, open access, UKRI

There has been a lot of attention given to open access for longform research outputs so far this year, following the implementation of UKRI’s open access policy for monographs, edited collections and book chapters as well as the proposal for longform outputs to be in scope for the REF2029 open access policy.

To help authors and institutions comply with open access requirements, Jisc have launched a new ‘OA for books’ tool, to give a simple overview of a number of publisher open access policies regarding longform outputs.

The tool launched initially with 20 publishers in February 2024, so whilst the list is not exhaustive, there are plans for more publishers to be added in the near future following user feedback and further refinement.

If you are interested in publishing a longform output open access, this tool could be a useful starting point when identifying and selecting a publisher.

For UKRI funded authors

UKRI has introduced a dedicated fund to support open access costs for long-form publications within scope of their open access policy.

If you are funded by UKRI or any of its councils (or have held an award in recent years), and are planning to publish an in-scope longform output, please contact openaccess@bournemouth.ac.uk as early as possible, if you wish to apply to the UKRI fund.

Dissemination event – Inequalities in nutrition & healthy ageing for older African adults.

Awarded & submitted bids, BRIAN, BU research, Uncategorized

The Inequalities in Nutrition & Healthy Ageing for Older African Adults project (www.bournemouth.ac.uk/african-food) is funded by the funded UKRI/BBSRC Food4Years. The aims were to use innovative methods to understand the nutrition landscape and to gain insights to co-create interventions to address inequalities in nutrition and healthy ageing for older African adults. A dissemination event was held on the 25th of March 2024, at Bournemouth University, to share findings from the project with participants, community members and stakeholders. There was also an exhibition of outputs from the Photovoice study showcasing participants photos around their thoughts and opinions on inequalities and healthy ageing in older African adults. The event featured a culturally-tailored dinner and a showcase of healthy produce including fruits, vegetables mostly consumed in African countries to highlight their value in contributing to healthy, balanced culturally-tailored diets.


Project overview:
The United Kingdom is home to a diverse population, including a significant number of older African adults who often face unique challenges related to health and nutrition. Individuals from Black African communities within the UK often experience a complex nutrition landscape where they sometimes maintain their traditional diets, but also adapt to some key features of western diet and food culture, presenting a complex mix of nutrition and health outcomes. This project set out to explore the determinants of inequalities in nutrition and healthy ageing in Africans over 55 years living in the UK using Photovoice. Through rigorous research and extensive community engagement, our project has shed light on critical issues and paved the way for actionable solutions to promote healthy ageing in older adults from the African community.
The research used community-based participatory research methods including photography (Photovoice) and roundtable discussions to explore and identify factors that drive food choices & behaviour and nutritional needs as identified by the participants themselves. Collectively with key stakeholders, the research team identified solutions, recommendations and key research priority areas to promote nutrition and improve health outcomes for older Africans.

Key Insights:
1. Tradition: The need to pass on authentic traditional recipes to children and grandchildren is one particularly important determinant of food choice as food is often associated with one’s identity.
2. Nutritional Challenges: Many older African adults face barriers to accessing culturally appropriate and nutritious food options, leading to inadequate diets and increased risk of chronic diseases.
3. Socioeconomic Factors: Economic instability and social exclusion exacerbate health and nutrition inequalities, creating additional challenges for older African adults in the UK.
4. Health Awareness and Education: Limited access to health information and education exacerbates nutrition inequalities, leading to higher rates of diet-related diseases and poor health outcomes.

Actionable Recommendations:
Based on findings of this research and through stakeholder engagement, the following recommendations are given to address health and nutrition inequalities among older African adults in the UK:
1. Culturally-tailored Interventions: Develop culturally sensitive nutrition programs and healthcare services tailored to the needs of older African adults.
2. Food Accessibility Programs: Increase access to culturally appropriate and affordable food options through community gardens and farmers’ markets.
3. Nutrition Education Initiatives: Implement targeted nutrition education programs that prioritise cultural relevance, focusing on traditional foods, cooking methods, and dietary practices.

Outputs:

Photobook: https://photobook.onelink.me/QDvH/ephotobook?file=aJGrD


Looking Ahead:
We acknowledge that our work has only just started. It is a call to action—a rallying cry for continued collaboration, advocacy, and innovation. Together, we can develop innovative solutions that address health inequalities, improve quality of life and secure healthy ageing in individuals of African heritage in the UK.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to all who contributed to this project—funder, participants, research team and community members. Together we have laid the foundation for future research on healthy ageing. The conversations and actions aimed at driving change towards healthy ageing among Black African people living in the UK continue.


Project team:
Dr Sophia Amenyah – Lead researcher, Bournemouth University
Professor Jane Murphy – Professor of Nutrition, Bournemouth University
Professor Lee-Ann Fenge – Professor of Social Care, Bournemouth University
Dr Hibbah Osei-Kwasi – Lecturer, Loughborough University
Mrs Janet Adjei, Research assistant – Bournemouth University

Article Processing Charges

BRIAN, BU research, Impact, open accecss, Publishing, the conversation

Keywords: APC, Open access, REF, Repositories, Journals, Outputs.

APC and subscription-based models have their specific yet intersecting merits. Here in the UK, several aspects of publications have been repositioned during the last REF2021 census period. Lord Stern review led to several key changes, especially in terms of reporting research. Although the costs of APCs are high, HEIs have ringfenced QR funding to support outputs in quartile two and above through an internal review process. Similarly, publishers have institutional partnerships where partial or full waivers are offered. Several reputable publishers have introduced incentives to waive or partially waive APCs, for example, by contributing to the review process, participating as editors, and recommending high-quality manuscripts in terms of originality, significance, and academic depth.

APC route, for example, Creative Commons CC BY, offers many benefits to researchers, academics, and especially early career researchers in terms of flexibility of literature use as compared to traditional publication processes, such as the complexity and costs associated with permission to use or reuse infographics, including authors’ own results and images where copyright transfer has occurred. On the other hand, APCs provide an opportunity for wider availability of research to be read, used, and applied within research contexts where funding for subscription-based models is not generous or sometimes limited. Making preprint peer-reviewed and accepted author version manuscripts available on institutional repositories is a better alternative to APCs.

Traditional and legacy practices could benefit from dialogue and consideration; publishers’ subscription models could be diversified for greater inclusivity by offering variations in subscription fees based on certain metrics such as a country’s GDP or RPI. Revenues generated from both subscription and APCs should be more transparent, with figures available to public and open to stakeholders feedback. Profits should be reinvested in discounted subscription fees for HEIs, funding research through RC UK initiatives and similar programmes, and supporting early and mid-career researchers.

Another aspect which is not usually discussed is that traditionally, journals editorial teams, especially editors and chief editors, serve in their roles for prolonged periods. Although unintended, this inadvertently limits opportunities for diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunities for a diverse community of researchers worldwide. New thinking is needed to change the structure of publishers’ journal editorial teams to meet twenty-first-century needs. Some initial measures could include: (i) open calls for expressions of interest in editorial team roles, including editors and chief editors, (ii) transparent recruitment based on person specifications, and (iii) a maximum two-year tenure in the role. Subscription fees and APC revenue, combined with alternative grants from research councils and charities, could be used to incentivise engagement with the publishing process, from editorial board participation to contributing to the review process.

Zulfiqar A Khan
Professor of Design, Engineering & Computing
NanoCorr, Energy & Modelling (NCEM) Research Group Lead
Email: zkhan@bournemouth.ac.uk

New book: Money and Inflation: A New Approach to Monetary Analysis for the 21st Century

BU research, Featured, Featured academics, Publishing

Dr Mehdi Chowdhury of Bournemouth University Business School has published a book titled “Money and Inflation: A New Approach to Monetary Analysis for the 21st Century”. The publisher is Palgrave Macmillan.

A short summary:

The book aimed to develop a new scholarship on money and inflation on the background of the cost of living crisis faced by many countries of the world, and the inability of nation states to address monetary matters like inflation and the debt crisis.

Accordingly, the book proposes to go beyond the usual view of money expressed by monetary units like dollars, pounds, gold coins, bitcoins, bank money etc. and demonstrates that money is better identified as the ability of a person/party to obtain goods and services from another person/party. Such ability can originate via the possession of the money in usual sense, but also due to force, coercion, altruism, trust and human biological characteristics.

Money therefore encompasses all human activities and always in existence irrespective of forms or representation. Money, i.e., the ability to obtain originates due individual and social idiosyncrasies; and appears or disappear when those change. Inflation, instead of the usual measures expressed via the price indices, is identified as the increased need to utilise human body and mind to obtain goods and services from others. Hence inflation is connected with the availability of money, i.e. the ability to obtain of different segments of an economy. The causes of inflation are identified in the balance of triangle comprising non-market factors, the stored ability and the borrowed ability.

The current inflation can be explained by the increased desire to consume observed in modern societies, as well as the distortionary policies of governments favouring one section of the economy over another; both inducing individuals and sections to employ more body and mind to create money, i.e., the ability to obtain goods and services.

The book did not aim to provide a comprehensive analysis of economic policies, but the UK housing market has been studied to demonstrate how the policies taken during Covid-19 may have caused the inflation in the UK housing market through distortion.

The book suggests that the policies of the apex institutions like governments or central banks should on principle aim not to disrupt the balance of this triangle and to avoid distortion. This recommendation is equally applicable for the Third World countries; however, those countries should also aim to design economic policies to shield themselves from distortions caused by actions of international economic actors.

Individuals can also shield themselves from inflation i.e., the need to utilise more body and mind, by containing the desire to consume more that characterises modern societies.