BU Research Blog

October 3, 2016

Research project showing the transmission of infectious diseases through animation wins Lumen Prize

Researchers from Bournemouth University and the University of Glasgow have won 2016 Lumen Prize Moving Image Award for their project AfterGlow, which shows the transmission of an infectious disease through 3D animation.

Their work forms part of Silent Signal, a collaborative project produced by Animate Projects and funded by the Wellcome Trust, bringing together animation artists and biomedical scientists to create experimental animated artworks. The resulting artworks are designed to make us think again about science and the human body.

BU animation research lecturers, Paul Smith and Vicky Isley, have been working with Dr Paddy Brock, a Research Associate at the University of Glasgow to explore the transmission of malaria. Their completed real-time animation shows the spread of the disease through the dancing patterns of mosquitoes at twilight – their prime feeding time.

The animation shows the island terrain lit up by glowing trails of light, mimicking mosquito flight patterns. These spirals represent blood droplets carried by the mosquitoes, infected with Plasmodium knowlesi, a malaria parasite recently found to jump the species barrier from monkey to human. The infection left in the wake of Macaque monkeys as they roam the island for food, demonstrates the intricate relationship between disease transmission and its environment.

Together Paul and Vicky form boredomresearch, an artistic collaboration which is renowned for creating artworks that explore extended time frames.

As Vicky explains, “boredeomresearch’s art practice is really inspired by natural and biological processes. We like to use computer animation to explore the diversity present in nature, exploring behaviours, movements and patterns and why they occur.”

“We were really interested in the unknowns around Dr Brock’s research into mosquitoes and macaques in Malaysia – how little was known about how the macaques move around the island and the mosquitoes populations. It was these that really fascinated us, because we wanted to explore how you could begin to map and visualise these.”

“We’re thrilled that AfterGlow has won the 2016 Lumen Prize’s Moving Image Award and it was an honour to have this award presented by Tessa Jackson OBE. We would like to thank all at BU, as well as our collaborators at the University of Glasgow, who have supported us with this project which was recognised for its fusion of arts and science. It was a pleasure to act as a beacon highlighting Bournemouth’s unique appreciation of the value of interdisciplinary practice.”

The animation can be viewed here.

October 3, 2016

Research Professional – all you need to know

BU research, Funding opportunities Jo Garrad

Every BU academic has a Research Professional account which delivers weekly emails detailing funding opportunities in their broad subject area. To really make the most of your Research Professional account, you should tailor it further by establishing additional alerts based on your specific area of expertise. The Funding Development Team Officers can assist you with this, if required.

Research Professional have created several guides to help introduce users to ResearchProfessional. These can be downloaded here.

Quick Start Guide: Explains to users their first steps with the website, from creating an account to searching for content and setting up email alerts, all in the space of a single page.

User Guide: More detailed information covering all the key aspects of using ResearchProfessional.

Administrator Guide: A detailed description of the administrator functionality.

In addition to the above, there are a set of 2-3 minute videos online, designed to take a user through all the key features of ResearchProfessional. To access the videos, please use the following link: http://www.youtube.com/researchprofessional

Research Professional are running a series of online training broadcasts aimed at introducing users to the basics of creating and configuring their accounts on ResearchProfessional. They are holding monthly sessions, covering everything you need to get started with ResearchProfessional. The broadcast sessions will run for no more than 60 minutes, with the opportunity to ask questions via text chat. Each session will cover:

Self registration and logging in
Building searches
Setting personalised alerts
Saving and bookmarking items
Subscribing to news alerts
Configuring your personal profile

Each session will run between 10.00am and 11.00am (UK) on the fourth Tuesday of each month. You can register here for your preferred date:

25th October 2016

22nd November 2016

These are free and comprehensive training sessions and so this is a good opportunity to get to grips with how Research Professional can work for you.

October 3, 2016

CIPPM’s AHRC-funded Project Copyrightuser.org publishes Episode II of the Award-Winning ‘Game is On!’ Film

Awarded & submitted bids, BU research, Featured academics, Fusion, Fusion Investment Fund, Knowledge Transfer, Post-award, REF Subjects, Research communication, Research news, Research themes, Student Engagement cippm

Copyrightuser.org – is a collaboration between the Law Department’s Centre for Intellectual Property Policy and Management (CIPPM) at Bournemouth University (BU) and CREATe, University of Glasgow, has produced Episode II of the ‘Game is On!’ Series.

The project led by the Principal Investigator for Bournemouth University, Dr. Dinusha Mendis, Associate Professor in Law and Co-Director of CIPPM was initially funded by BU’s Fusion Investment Fund in 2012. Since 2013 the project has been successful in securing AHRC funding under the leadership of Dr. Mendis and in November 2015, won the AHRC Innovation in Film Award.

Game is On! by Copyrightuser.org is a s a series of short animated films that puts copyright and creativity under the magnifying glass of Sherlock Holmes, providing a unique, research-led and open access resource for school-aged learners and other creative users of copyright. Drawing inspiration from well-known copyright and public domain work, as well as recent copyright litigation, these films provide a springboard for exploring key principles and ideas underpinning copyright law, creativity, and the limits of lawful appropriation and reuse.

Episode I of the ‘Game is On!’ Series titled The Adventure of the Girl with the Light Blue Hair won the AHRC Innovation in Film Award in November 2015 and was shortlisted for a BUFVC Learning on Screen Award in April 2016 and has been recently used by Into Film to develop the educational resource ‘Exploring copyright for clubs’.

The accompanying Case Files – an important feature of the ‘Game is On!’ series – for Episode I was authored by CIPPM’s Co-Director, Dr. Dinusha Mendis and CIPPM PhD Candidate, Ms. Hayleigh Bosher.

Episode II titled The Adventure of the Six Detectives is also accompanied by a number of Case Files, authored by CREATe researchers Megan Rae Blakely and Andrea Wallace and offer points of discussion around many of the most pressing copyright questions and concerns faced by screenwriters: http://copyrightuser.org/the-game-is-on/episode-2/

The short films are written, directed and produced by Professor Ronan Deazley (Queen’s University Belfast) and CREATe producer Bartolomeo Meletti (currently seconded to the British Film Institute) with Art Direction / Design by Marco Bagni, illustrations by Davide Bonazzi and music by SFX:Sarco.

October 3, 2016

BU Academic Presents AHRC Funded 3D Printing Research Through a Treasure Hunt Theme

Awarded & submitted bids, BU research, conferences, Events, Featured academics, Knowledge Exchange, Post-award, Public engagement, REF Subjects, Research communication, Research news, Research themes cippm

Dr. Dinusha Mendis, Associate Professor in Law and Co-Director of the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy and Management (CIPPM) presented a poster at the 107th Society of Legal Scholars Conference 2016 capturing the research carried out for the Going for Gold Project.

The AHRC-funded ‘Going for Gold’ project explores the intellectual property implications of 3D scanning, 3D printing and mass customisation of ancient and modern jewellery, with a particular focus on the cultural and business sectors. In so doing, the project considers the copyright, design, licensing and contractual issues faced by key stakeholders in these industries.

The poster (illustration below) showcases the research carried out in the cultural sector (ancient jewellery), in collaboration with museums and points out the challenges faced by the museums as well as the opportunities which lie ahead in embracing this technology.

The research is led by Dr. Mendis in collaboration with Museotechniki Ltd and Uformia Ltd and the research team will produce Practice Guidelines on the adoption of 3D scanning, 3D printing and mass customisation within the cultural and business sectors.

This project builds on the research carried out for the UK Intellectual Property Office Commissioned Project on the IP implications of 3D Printing which was completed in 2015, leading to the publication of three reports.

October 3, 2016

BU Associate Professor in Law teaches NATO officials about the complexities of hybrid war

BU research Rachel Bowen

Dr Sascha Bachmann, Associate Professor in Law, has been invited to speak at the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s (NATO) School about his research into ‘hybrid war’ and its legal ramifications. Hybrid war is a concept that has emerged since the Cold War and sums up the complexities of modern warfare, which go beyond conventional military tactics, often involving cyberwarfare, propaganda and a fluid, non-state adversary.

Given the rapidly changing nature of conflict, the importance of research in this area cannot be underestimated as it can help policy makers shape national and international responses to security threats. For the last few years, Dr Bachmann has been working with military experts at the Swedish Defence University to explore the idea of hybrid war and provide advice to policy makers about how to respond. He has been working with Professor Håkan Gunneriusson, Head of Research: Ground Tactical and Operational Matters at SEDU, since 2011 on the subject.

“Hybrid war as an idea has become particularly topical since Russia’s activities in Ukraine and the Crimea, as it’s become clear that modern warfare has evolved into something very different, which presents policy makers with a new challenge,” explains Dr Bachmann, “It’s a new concept and one that is changing very quickly. Hybrid war is something that governments and policy makers need to know how to respond to as conventional military strategies don’t work in the face of it.”

“Underpinning this is a need for a very different type of legal framework to tackle hybrid war, because at present we have very few tools that will help us to respond to it. Take the internet as an example; it’s very hard to prevent the spread of disinformation and fear-based propaganda, but it’s important that we know how to deal with this in kind as false information can rapidly sway public opinion.”

“The fast moving pace of this area and the need for new information about it means that it’s an area where academic researchers can make a real difference to policy,” says Dr Bachmann, “By working together, we can look at these issues in a new way and come up with an international response and a new legal framework to tackle them.”

Dr Bachmann will be presenting his research as part of a course designed to provide senior personnel with an evaluation of NATO’s current and future security environment.

Further information about Dr Bachmann’s recent research can be found here and a recent submission to the Parliamentary Defence Select Committee can be found here.

October 1, 2016

CQR lunchtime seminars “In Conversation …” continue with “Social Work as Art” this Wednesday!

BU research, PG research, Research news Kip Jones

Following the first very successful (and jam packed!) Centre for Qualitative Research Seminar “In Conversation …” the series continues with

“Social Work as Art”

presented by Lee-Ann Fenge and Anne Quinney

Wed., 5 Oct., Royal London House 201 at 1 pm.

Give these two some arts materials or a dressing-up box, who knows what will transpire! Mark your diaries now and join us for an intriguing conversation!

Because CQR is keen to make information available to students and staff about qualitative METHODS, the seminars are arranged somewhat differently than the typical lunchtime seminar.

We are asking TWO (or more) presenters to agree to present each research method as a CONVERSATION…first, between each other, and then with the audience. We are also asking that no PowerPoint be used in order that it is truly a conversation and NOT a lecture. The conversations will be about a particular research method and its pros and cons, NOT research projects or outcomes.

Many of us then move next door to RLH to Naked Cafe to continue the conversations and network. Faculty and Students invited to attend!

See you Wednesday at Royal London House 201 at 1 pm. ALL are Welcome!!

September 30, 2016

‘Talk and Draw’: 3 Lessons learnt

BRIAN, BU research, Public engagement, Research news sashraf

‘Talk and draw’ is a relatively new qualitative data collection method in management research. Dr Julie Robson and Samreen Ashraf from the Business School (FOM) have used this method in four separate studies, most recently in their project ‘Perceptions and use of pension savings: the case of South Asian consumers living in the UK’ funded by the Academy of Marketing.

Using this technique, interviewees were asked to draw a picture in advance of an interview. The picture was to represent what comes to mind when the interviewee thinks about their pension and retirement. Interviewees were asked to talk about their picture and what the images meant to them during the interview. While this method was advantageous for this research, helping interviewees to think more broadly about the topic and surface thoughts that may not have initially come to mind in an interview, it also brought some challenges which we thought we would share to help other researchers thinking about using this technique.

The need to produce a masterpiece

Initially prospective interviewees expressed concern that they were not very good at drawing. Some were reluctant to take part thinking that the quality of the drawing was important. It was therefore necessary to reassure interviewees up-front that we were interested in the content of the drawing and what the images represent rather than the production of a masterpiece.

Producing the drawing before the interview

For most people drawing is an enjoyable activity, but it does take time. Some interviewees wanted to delay the production of the drawing to the interview itself. It was important to contact interviewees prior to the interview to remind them of the need to produce their drawing in advance rather than use the time allocated for the interview.

A final check for any additions or changes to the diagram

During the interview, interviewees reflected on their drawing and the meaning of the images they have produced. During this discussion new thoughts emerged and it therefore became evident that there was a need to check at the end of the interview if the respondent wanted to add or change anything in their diagram and ask why?

If you have used the talk and draw method or are thinking about doing so we would be very interested to hear about your experience or plans. Please contact Julie Robson (jrobson@bournmeouth.ac.uk) or Samreen Ashraf (sashraf@bournemouth.ac.uk)

September 29, 2016

New inter-interdisciplinary media & health paper

BU research, Global engagement, international, open access, Publishing, Uncategorized, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

The week saw the publication of multi-disciplinary paper ‘Media, Health & Health Promotion in Nepal’, co-written by Faculty of Media & Communication academic Dr. Ann Luce, Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) professors Vanora Hundley and Edwin van Teijlingen and Bournemouth University (BU) Visiting Faculty Prof. Padam Simkhada (who is based at Liverpool John Moores University) [1]. The paper appeared in the latest issue of the Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences, an Open Access journal which is part of the Journals Online Project.

The paper paper ‘Media, Health & Health Promotion in Nepal’ offers insight into the media and health promotion in Nepal as well as advice to health promoters, health policy-makers and practitioners about collaborating with the media to get health messsage out to people across the country. The paper is freely available online, which was an important feature in our decision to publish in the Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences as this reduced the cost barrier for underpaid health workers and underfunded project to accessing information. We have also written a short piece about the topic (and the paper) on the site: Media & Midwifery

BU has a long history of conducting health research in Nepal [see for example 2-9] and it has a growing number of publications in the inter-disciplianry field where health and media overlap [10-18].

References:

van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Luce, A., Hundley, V. (2016) Media, Health and Health Promotion in Nepal, Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences 2(1): 70-75. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/JMMIHS/article/view/15799/12744
Milne, L., van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V., Simkhada, P., Ireland, J. (2015) Staff perspectives of barriers to women accessing birthing services in Nepal: A qualitative study BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth 15:142 biomedcentral.com/1471-2393/15/142
Acharya, J., van Teijlingen E., Murphy, J., Hind, M. (2015) Study of nutritional problems in preschool aged children in Kaski District in Nepal, Journal of Multidisciplinary Research in Healthcare 1(2): 97-118. http://dspace.chitkara.edu.in/jspui/bitstream/1/560/1/12007_JMRH_Acharya.pdf
Subedi, Y.P., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2016) Where is Nepal in the Demographic Transition within the wider context of the Nutrition Transition? Open Journal of Social Sciences 4: 155-166. http://file.scirp.org/pdf/JSS_2016052310320947.pdf
Mahato, P., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Angell, C. (2016) Birthing centres in Nepal: Recent developments, obstacles and opportunities, Journal of Asian Midwives 3(1): 18-30. http://ecommons.aku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1033&context=jam
Sharma, S., van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V., Angell, C., Simkhada, P. (2016) Dirty and 40 days in the wilderness: Eliciting childbirth and postnatal cultural practices and beliefs in Nepal BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth 16: 147 https://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12884-016-0938-4
Sharma, S., van Teijlingen, E., Belizán, J.M., Hundley, V., Simkhada, P., Sicuri, E. (2016) Measuring What Works: An impact evaluation of women’s groups on maternal health uptake in rural Nepal, PLOS One 11(5): e0155144 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0155144
Simkhada, B., van Teijlingen E., Simkhada, P., Porter, AM, Wasti, S.P. (2014) Why do costs act as a barrier in maternity care for some, but not all women? A qualitative study in rural Nepal, International Journal of Social Economics 41(8): 705-713.
Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Devkota, B., Pathak, RS, Sathian, B. (2014) Accessing research literature: A mixed-method study of academics in Higher Education Institutions in Nepal, Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 4(4): 405-14. nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/11375
Devkota, S., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Rai, L.D. (2012) Media use for Health Promotion: Communicating Childhood Immunisation Messages to Parents. Journal of Health Promotion 4(1): 1-9.
Devkota, S., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Rai, L.D. (2013) Childhood Immunisation in Nepal: Parents’ knowledge, attitudes and behaviour & implications for Health Policy. Health Science Journal 7(4):370-383
Devkota, S., Maharjan, H.M., van Teijlingen, E. (2015) Media and Health. In: Wasti, S.P., Simkhada, P.P. & van Teijlingen, E. (Eds.) The Dynamics of Health in Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal: Social Science Baha & Himal Books: 169-184.
Hundley, V., Luce, A., van Teijlingen, E. (2015) Do midwives need to be more media savvy? MIDIRS Midwifery Digest 25(1):5-10.
Devkota, S., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Rai, L.D. (2012) Media use for Health Promotion: Communicating Childhood Immunisation Messages to Parents. Journal of Health Promotion 4(1): 1-9.
Devkota, S., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Rai, L.D. (2013) Childhood Immunisation in Nepal: Parents’ knowledge, attitudes and behaviour & implications for Health Policy. Health Science Journal 7(4):370-383
Devkota, S., Maharjan, H.M., van Teijlingen, E. (2015) Media and Health. In: Wasti, S.P., Simkhada, P.P. & van Teijlingen, E. (Eds.) The Dynamics of Health in Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal: Social Science Baha & Himal Books: 169-184.
Luce, A., Cash, M., Hundley, V., Cheyne, H., van Teijlingen, E., Angell, C., (2016) “Is it realistic?” the portrayal of pregnancy and childbirth in the media BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth 16: 40 http://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12884-016-0827-x
Hundley, V., Duff, E., Dewberry, J., Luce, A. and van Teijlingen, E. (2014) Fear in childbirth: are the media responsible? MIDIRS Midwifery Digest 24(4): 444-447.

September 29, 2016

BU academic presents at international lipid conference in South Africa

BU research, Fusion, Public engagement, Research news, Uncategorized sdyall

Dr Simon Dyall has just returned from the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids (ISSFAL) 12^th congress in Stellenbosch, South Africa, September 5 to 9^th 2016.

“I wish to express my gratitude to the Department of Human Sciences and Public Health for their support towards my attendance at the congress, and also to the Biochemical Society”.

I presented some of our work on essential fatty acid intake in extremely preterm infants and the interaction between omega-3 fatty acids and endocannabinoid signalling in neural stem cells. The work was extremely well received and I am in the process of following up some exciting new potential collaborations.

The ISSFAL congress is held every two years and is the preeminent scientific conference on fatty acids and lipids. It brings together a wide range of researchers, clinicians, nutritionists and representatives from industry. Of course a major part of conference attendance is the potential to network, and I was able to recruit a few of the speakers to present some lectures on our new MSc in Nutrition and Behaviour.

A major highlight for me was seeing Prof Michael Crawford from Imperial College London, receive the Alexander Leaf Award. Prof Crawford has been a true pioneer in the field of brain chemistry and human nutrition, and hearing him talk about his work is always a pleasure.

We are all now looking forward to the next ISSFAL congress in Las Vegas in 2018, where we are aiming for our PhD students to present their work!

If you are interested in finding out more about this research I will be talking about some of the work on nutrition for preterm infants at the Wellbeing Seminar on October 19th in R208 between 1.00 and 2.00 pm.

Or I can be contacted on sdyall@bournemouth.ac.uk

Oral presentation:

Dyall, S.C., De Rooy, L. and Hamdallah, H.: Extremely preterm infants receiving standard neonatal intensive care receive very low levels of AA and DHA

Poster presentations:

Dyall, S.C., De Rooy, L. and Hamdallah, H.: Blood AA and DHA levels correlate with markers of inflammation in extremely preterm infants
Dyall, S.C., De Rooy, L. and Hamdallah, H.: Variability of breast milk AA and DHA content from mothers of extremely preterm infants
Dyall, S.C., De Rooy, L. and Hamdallah, H.: Relationships between dietary intake and blood levels of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in extremely preterm infants
Dyall, S.C., Mandhair, H., Fincham, R., Kerr, D., Roche, M. and Molina-Holgado, F.: Eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids increase levels of the endocannabinoid 2-arachadonoylglycerol in neural stem cells

September 29, 2016

Pedro Zamora Biography Book Launch and Screening

BU research, Events Rachel Bowen

3 October – 5pm – W240 Screening Room – Weymouth House Talbot Campus – held by Christopher Pullen

Researchers, students and staff at BU are invited to the UK book launch of the first biography of Pedro Zamora, an openly gay AIDS activist of Cuban descent, who became a worldwide media phenomenon for health education in the 1990s. While he passed away in 1994 just a few months after his participation in The Real World television documentary series (set in San Francisco) his life story continues to offer an important contribution to debates on AIDS education, particularly with regards to cultural diversity and the need to address youth audiences.

Following on from the US book launch of Pedro Zamora, Sexuality and AIDS Education: The Autobiographical Self, Activism and The Real World which took place over summer in San Francisco and was reported on in The Bay Area Reporter and The Advocate, Dr Christopher Pullen will not only offer an intimate talk about the book including its methodological focus on self-reflexivity, but also the moving (yet rarely screened documentary) ‘A Tribute to Pedro Zamora’ will be presented (duration 50 mins approx.).

Christopher Pullen celebrates Zamora’s life, offering new insight into his story, his political goals, and his ability to reach audiences through his performance of the “mutable self,” where vulnerability, intimacy and strength are significant factors. Zamora encouraged us to share our stories, stimulating the notion of a shared autobiographical project, in the dissemination of HIV/AIDS education.

Emeritus Professor Bill Nichols of the Cinema Department at San Francisco State University and The Documentary Film Institute affirms: “Christopher Pullen gives Pedro Zamora’s extraordinary life compelling form in this illuminating account. He urges to rethink our notions of self and identity. Our lives depend on them, and this book makes clear how very true that is.”

Please come along for the discussion and screening, including afternoon tea and refreshments. A discounted price will be available for the book at the event.

Dr. Pullen who teaches in the faculty of Media and Communication at Bournemouth University is the author of a number of books focusing on sexuality and the media. His recent books include Straight Girls and Queer Guys: The Hetero Media Gaze in Film and Television, Gay Identity, New Storytelling and the Media, and Documenting Gay Men: Identity and Performance in Reality Television and Documentary Film, and the edited collections Queer Youth and Media Cultures, LGBT Transnational Identity and the Media, LGBT Identity and Online New Media, and Queer Love in Television and Film.

September 28, 2016

13th Asian Confederation of Physical Therapists – Kuala Lumpur

BU research, Fusion, Fusion Investment Fund cclark

Physical activity is one of the five priority interventions for the prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). NCDs include; cardio vascular diseases (strokes, dementia, heart disease), diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases and some Cancers. NCDs account for almost two thirds of deaths globally and are major contributors to ill-health in the elderly. Physiotherapists are well placed to enable and empower people to initiate and sustain adequate levels of physical activity as they are aware of the challenges and opportunities throughout the life span. As an invited speaker this is one of the key messages that will be conveyed at the 13^th Asian Confederation of Physical Therapists in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 7^th-8^th October.

I will also have an opportunity to attend an academic conference at INTI International University aimed at strengthening ties between INTI and BU. Professor Narasimman Swaminathan (Deputy Dean – faculty of Health) and I will collaborate in a joint session for physiotherapy students to inspire their interest in public health initiatives. Professor Narasimman Swaminathan is a visiting professor in the FHSS at BU and is leading research initiatives at INTI which link closely to those in the Department of Human Sciences and Public Health at BU.

Fusion funding and HSS faculty conference funding has contributed to making this trip possible.

September 28, 2016

HEFCE & RCUK report: Understanding the interdisciplinary research environment

BU research, Research communication, Research news Jo Garrad

HEFCE and Research Councils UK have published a review of the interdisciplinary research landscape in the UK, supported by a report examining 10 institutional case studies in English universities.

The studies complement work recently published by the British Academy, the Global Research Council and HEFCE with the Medical Research Council.

The reports will form part of the discussion at the conference: ‘Interdisciplinarity: Policy and Practice’ on Thursday 8 December 2016, co-hosted by HEFCE, the British Academy and Research Councils UK.

The reports provide an overview of the current interdisciplinary research landscape in the UK, drawing on a survey of over 2,000 participants, workshops, interviews and case studies.

The findings reflect researcher, strategic leader and funder perspectives, highlighting interdisciplinary research (IDR) as a crucial part of the UK research landscape.

A desire to achieve broader impact, the challenges associated with peer review and evaluation, the importance of institutional support and the value of flexible funds featured as common themes.

The case studies identified good practice in a range of institutions seeking to grow, sustain and embed interdisciplinary practice in their research cultures.

The importance of balancing top-down and bottom-up approaches, the role of flexible funding, and institutional infrastructure that prioritises high-quality research were identified as some potentially beneficial features in successful institutional IDR environments.

The reports also highlighted that:

Submitted outputs declared as interdisciplinary did as well as single discipline outputs in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF). This is despite the structure of the REF being perceived as a barrier by some researchers.
The measurement of impact in research assessment is seen by some as a showcase for interdisciplinary activity that has helped IDR to gain traction in universities.
Universities can and do use many models to support IDR. What works is contextual, but there are lessons to be learned from existing good practice.
IDR often requires more time for initial teams to develop and for projects to result in outcomes.

The evaluation of interdisciplinary research outputs, and their impact, were highlighted by Lord Stern’s Independent Review of the Research Excellence Framework as areas for further development.

Subject to the views of our respective Ministers, the UK higher education funding bodies intend to take this forward in a consultation, to be launched before the end of 2016.

Read the reports

September 28, 2016

BU academic presents on Hybrid War at NATO School Oberammergau

BU research, Fusion, Public engagement, Research news sbachmann

Sascha Dov Bachmann, Associate Professor in International Law and Extraordinary Associate Professor in War Studies (Swedish Defence University) http://staffprofiles.bournemouth.ac.uk/display/sbachmann will present his work on Hybrid War and its legal implications at NATO School Oberammergau. The presentation is a keynote presentation on the subject to their Senior Officer Policy Course which is the ‘flagship course’ at NATO School and runs two iterations per year. The aim of the course is to provide senior NATO personnel (Colonel and above) with an evaluation of NATO’s current and future security environment.” http://www.natoschool.nato.int/Academics/Resident-Courses/Course-Catalogue/Course-description?ID=32.

September 27, 2016

AHRC GCRF Pre-call announcement

BU research, Funding opportunities Jo Garrad

ahrc As part of the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) is intending to announce a call in October 2016 for large-scale, collaborative grants for international development. Funding will support multi-disciplinary, internationally collaborative programmes rooted in the arts and humanities that take an area-based approach to addressing global development challenges.

The intention is to make funding of £1.5-2 million and up to 3 years duration available per project through the ‘Network Plus’ funding model. This model provides opportunities to bring together arts and humanities area-based expertise across disciplines and research organisations to address a set of integrated development challenges in particular places, societies and development contexts. The AHRC anticipates funding up to 5 projects.

The application process is expected to be in two stages with the deadline for Expressions of Interest likely to be in January 2017. There will then be further engagement with those invited through to full submission stage, expected to be in early summer 2017.

In support of the anticipated launch of this call the AHRC is holding a Town Meeting / Networking event at The Studio in Birmingham on 4th November 2016. Further details of the event and how to apply for a place can be found on our Events pages. RKEO strongly urges interested parties to attend the town meeting. If you are interested in applying for this great opportunity then please contact Ehren Milner, RKEO Research Facilitator to see how he can support you.

Further information about the call will be announced on the AHRC website in due course.

September 27, 2016

Writing Academy Lunchbyte – Structuring your paper: looking at grammar, vocabulary and style

BU research, Events, Publishing, writing Pengpeng

Join us in this Writing Academy Lunchbyte session and have a better awareness of structuring your writing in terms of grammar, vocabulary and style from Paul Barnes, who is the Lecturer in English For Academic Purposes.

Date : 5 October 2016 (Wednesday)

Time : 12.00 – 13.00 (presentation); 13:00 – 13:30 (lunch)

Venue : Talbot Campus

The following language aspects will be covered –

1. Grammar

Tense usage
Articles
Passive voice
Punctuation

2. Vocabulary

Signposting language
Linking words
Reporting verbs
Collocation

3. Style

Levels of formality
Objectivity
Language to avoid

Come and join us in this session and afterwards, there will be opportunities to have informal discussions with the presenter while having a bite to eat.

To ensure that we place the right catering order, please get in touch with Staff Development to book your place.

September 27, 2016

FMC-CMC’s Journal of Promotional of Communications Publishes New Volume

BU research, Fusion, student research jdknott

The editorial board of the Journal of Promotional Communications would like to announce that Volume 4 Number 1 is now available for download at: http://www.promotionalcommunications.org/index.php/pc/index.

Stephen Waddington, Partner and Chief Engagement Officer at Ketchum, writes the introductory commentary on the future of Public Relations. Seven papers follow, tackling pressing issues in promotional and political communication. The journal was launched in 2013 and is the first open-access, peer-review journal for the study of promotional cultures and communication to publish outstanding undergraduate and postgraduate work. This number includes seven outstanding papers penned by FMC-CMC students that had presented their research at CMC’s 6^th Annual Promotional Communications Conference.

CMC students can choose to write a traditional dissertation of 10,000 words or write a research paper in the style of an 8,000-word journal article and deliver a 20-minute paper at the student conference.

Dr.Dan Jackson, Dr Richard Scullion, Dr Carrie Hodges, and Dr Janice Denegri-Knott received BU Fusion Funding to launch both the conference and the journal.

September 27, 2016

RKEO Academic and Researcher Induction

BU research, Guidance, Research communication, Research Training, RKE development framework Jo Garrad

The Research and Knowledge Exchange Office (RKEO) invite all ‘new to BU’ academics and researchers to an induction.

This event provides an overview of all the practical information staff need to begin developing their research plans at BU, using both internal and external networks; to develop and disseminate research outcomes; and maximising the available funding opportunities.

Objectives

The primary aim of this event is to raise participants’ awareness of how to get started in research at BU or, for more established staff, how to take their research to the next level
To provide participants with essential, practical information and orientation in key stages and processes of research and knowledge exchange at BU

Indicative content

An overview of research at BU and how R&KEO can help/support academic staff
The importance of horizon-scanning, signposting relevant internal and external funding opportunities and clarifying the applications process
How to grow a R&KE portfolio, including academic development schemes
How to develop internal and external research networks
Key points on research ethics and developing research outputs
Getting started with Knowledge Exchange and business engagement

For more information about the event, please see the following link: http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/research-lifecycle/developing-your-proposal/

The fifth induction will be held on Tuesday, 18th October 2016 on the 4th floor of Melbury House.

Title	Date	Time	Location
Research & Knowledge Exchange Office (R&KEO) Research Induction	Tuesday 18th October 2016	9.00 – 12.00	Lansdowne Campus

9.00-9.15 – Coffee/tea and cake/fruit will be available on arrival

9.15 – RKEO academic induction (with a break at 10.45)

11.25 – Organisational Development upcoming development opportunities

11.30 – Opportunity for one to one interaction with RKEO staff

12.00 – Close

There will also be literature and information packs available.

If you would like to attend the induction then please book your place through Organisational Development and you can also visit their pages here. We will directly contact those who have started at BU in the last five months.

We hope you can make it and look forward to seeing you.

Regards,

The RKEO team

September 26, 2016

New THET project paper published

BU research, international, open access, Publishing, Research news, Training, Uncategorized Edwin van Teijlingen

Today saw the latest publication on our BU-led THET in Nepal. The paper ‘Needs assessment of mental health training for Auxiliary Nurse Midwives: a cross-sectional survey’ was published the Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences [1]. This paper reports on a quantitative survey with nearly all Auxiliary Nurse Midwives in Nawalparasi District in the southern part of Nepal. The findings illustrate the lack of training on mental health issues related to pregnancy and childbirth in this group of health workers. Thus the paper’s conclusions stress the need for dedicated training in this field.

This is the third publication linked to our mental health and maternity care project. In Nepal mental health is generally a difficult to topic to discuss. THET, a London-based organisation, funded Bournemouth University, and Liverpool John Moores University in the UK and Tribhuvan University in Nepal to train maternity workers on issues around mental health. This latest paper and the previous two papers are all Open Access publications. The previous two papers raised the issue of women and suicide [2] and outlined the THET project in detail [3].

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

References:

Simkhada, B., Sharma, G., Pradhan, S., van Teijlingen, E., Ireland, J., Simkhada, P., Devkota, B. & the THET team. (2016) Needs assessment of mental health training for Auxiliary Nurse Midwives: a cross-sectional survey, Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences 2(1): 20-26. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/JMMIHS/article/view/15793/12738
Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen E., Winter, R.C., Fanning, C., Dhungel, A., Marahatta S.B. (2015) Why are so many Nepali women killing themselves? A review of key issues Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences 1(4): 43-49. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/JMMIHS/article/view/12001
van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Devkota, B., Fanning, P., Ireland, J., Simkhada, B., Sherchan, L., Silwal, R.C., Pradhan, S., Maharjan, S.K., Maharjan, R.K. (2015) Mental health issues in pregnant women in Nepal. Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 5(3): 499-501. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/13607/11007

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Following the first very successful (and jam packed!) Centre for Qualitative Research Seminar “In Conversation …” the series continues with

“Social Work as Art”

presented by Lee-Ann Fenge and Anne Quinney

Wed., 5 Oct., Royal London House 201 at 1 pm.

Many of us then move next door to RLH to Naked Cafe to continue the conversations and network. Faculty and Students invited to attend!

See you Wednesday at Royal London House 201 at 1 pm. ALL are Welcome!!

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