A chance to showcase your Research
Dear all,
We are holding a conference at BU: Violence Against and Women and Girls: Social Justice in Action Conference – Event Date: 29 June at BGB, Lansdowne.
The Soroptimist International Bournemouth and Bournemouth University are facilitating a conference with the focus upon Violence Against Women and Girls. The aim of the day is to raise awareness of issues relating to violence against women and girls, bringing together diverse professionals, NGOs, charities and interested others to share knowledge, explore limitations and seek solutions to sustain social justice. This event is open to all those who are engaged in working with Violence Against Women and Girls and those who care about reducing this global injustice.
At the event in the lunch room we will be running an automated PowerPoint presentation, where we hope to showcase BU research that is relevant to the professional audience.
This is open to all BU academics and PGRs – and all you need is for your research to be relevant to the intended audience it does not have to be focused on the main conference topic.
If you would like to showcase your work to this audience, please send a PowerPoint slide to Orlanda Harvey by 26th June 2023.
Please do pass this opportunity on to colleagues across the University
Category / BU research
Here is what is coming in June for RKEDF
The following training events are coming up in June.
Please book now!
| Wednesday 7th June 2023, 13:00-15:00 Talbot Campus
Anatomy of an Impact Case Study This workshop is aimed at researchers who would like to learn what an excellent REF impact case study looks like and how to start building your own case study from scratch.
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| Thursday, 8th June 2023, 11:00 – 13:00 Online
· Understanding of the ESRC. · Knowledge of the requirements for the scheme. · Draft plan for developing an application. |
| Wednesday, 14th June 2023, 16:00-17:00 Hybrid session
The session will offer a space to discuss this growing issue as well as offer advice, guidance and support on how to manage, avoid and overcome such feelings. At the end of the session attendees will have achieved greater confidence in developing their career and profile. |
| Wednesday, 14th June, 10:00 – 16:00
BU Research Conference 2023: Embracing Failure, Building Success The BU Research Conference is back for 2023 and this year’s event will explore the concept of ‘failure’ in academia and building the resilience to overcome obstacles that may be in your path
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| 21-22-23/06/2023
Wednesday, 21st June 2023, 10.00 – 16.00 Online Thursday, 22nd June 2023, 08.55 – 16.45 Online Friday, 23rd June 2023, 08.45 – 16.45 Talbot Campus This workshop covers strategies for academic writing: writing to prompts, targeting a journal/specific criteria, types of prompt for academic writing, ‘snack writing’, goal-setting for writing, motivation, freewriting, generative writing, analysing academic writing, drafting and revising an abstract/summary, constructing a ‘contribution’ argument, using prompts in series, outlining, productive writing behaviours, wellbeing, writing groups, micro-groups and retreats. |
| Wednesday, 21st June, 14:00-16:00, Online
RKEDF – Real World Examples of Public Engagement · Useful knowledge into how successful public engagement are planned and delivered. · Skills in critically analysing public engagement with research projects. · Inspiring ideas that would translate into their own work and share with others · Confidence that public engagement is approachable and practical to deliver. |
| Friday, 23rd June, 10:00-16:30
Engaging with Parliament for Impact It will cover multiple ‘Common Routes to Influence’, including Government consultations, Select Committees, All Party Parliamentary Groups, think tanks etc. and the best ways to approach them. You will have an opportunity for stakeholder mapping and to plan your approach. |
| Thursday, 29th June, 13:00-15:00, Online
The Way of the Productivity Ninja In this practical, engaging, interactive and fun 2-hour online workshop you’ll learn how to utilize the mindset and tactics of the 9 Characteristics of the Productivity Ninja. |
To book a place please complete the booking form
If you have any queries please contact RKEDF@bournemouth.ac.uk
New ways of publishing?
Last we took a new step into the academic publishing by submitting a paper to Qeios. This Open Access journal publishes papers for free, more or less immediately and after the paper has appeared online peer-reviewers are being invited. The paper ‘Impact of Men’s Labour Migration on Non-migrating Spouses’ Health: A Systematic Review‘ [1] is part of Shraddha Manandhar’s Ph.D. study at the University of Huddersfield. Her supervisors are Huddersfield’s Prof. Philip Brown and Prof. Padam Simkhada and Bournemouth University’ Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen. This journal uses AI to find and invite reviewers, and these reviews will the be are published alongside our article. Should we advised by reviewers to make changes, edits or improvements the next version of the paper will be published online alongside the original submission and the reviews.
We have had some previous experience with the process of post-publication review, in 2017 BU’s Dr. Sarah Collard and Prof. van Teijlingen wrote a referee report for F1000Research after it published a methods paper on online focus groups [2]. More recently we published a COVID-19 paper in a so-called pre-print journal SSRN [3], but this was later in published in a traditional peer-reviewed journal called Scientific Reports [4], part of the Nature publishing family.
References
- Manandhar, S., Simkhada, P., Brown, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2023) Impact of Men’s Labour Migration on Non-migrating Spouses’ Health: A Systematic Review, Qeios,
May 13, https://doi.org/10.32388/BX9WFC - Collard, S., van Teijlingen, E. (2017) Referee Report For: Insights for conducting real-time focus groups online using a web conferencing service [version 2; referees: 2 approved]. F1000Research 6:122 (doi: 10.5256/f1000research.11236.r21467) https://f1000research.com/articles/6-122/v1#referee-response-21467
- Parajuli, R.R., Mishra, B., Banstola, A., Ghimire, B.R., Poudel, S., Sharma, K., Dixit, S.M., Shah, S., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., (2020) Multidisciplinary Approach to COVID-19 Risk Communication: A Framework and Tool for Individual and Regional Risk Assessment. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3634190 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3634190
- Parajuli, R.R., Mishra, B., Banstola, A. et al. Multidisciplinary approach to COVID-19 risk communication: a framework and tool for individual and regional risk assessment. Sci Rep 10, 21650 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-78779-0
Deadline extended: Zinc and Dunhill Medical Trust Innovation Fellowships in Healthy Ageing
Please see below for the following fellowship opportunity for researchers working in ageing that are looking to branch out into industry.
Zinc and Dunhill Medical Trust Innovation Fellowships in Healthy Ageing
The Innovation Fellowships in Healthy Ageing comprise a 6-9 month programme, starting in September 2023, which will allow UK-based researchers the opportunity to experience first-hand what it takes to build a mission-focussed start-up from scratch, and to build science-rich products and services to improve outcomes for people in later life. Researchers will also have the opportunity to engage in training, support and mentoring to help them translate their skills, explore new career opportunities, and connect with other talented researchers.
This opportunity is open to researchers at any career stage post-PhD, but we particularly welcome applications from early career researchers (you must have submitted your PhD thesis by September, 2023). The deadline for submission of applications is 12 noon 17th May. Interviews will be held in mid-May with decisions being communicated at the end of May.
For more details and to apply, see the full advert here
Dr. Hongchuan Yu’s Research on Automated Tracing of Neurons Published in Nature Methods
Congratulations to Dr. Hongchuan Yu from NCCA for the recent publication of their manuscript titled “BigNeuron: a resource to benchmark and predict the performance of algorithms for automated tracing of neurons in light microscopy datasets” in Nature Methods. As a co-author, Dr. Yu and their team aimed to develop an open community bench-testing platform with the goal of setting open standards for accurate and fast automatic neuron tracing.
This research project was supported by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) “The BRAIN Initiative” for over 7 years and was part of the “Brain Initiative Cell Census Network”. Dr. Yu’s group collaborated with Prof. Hanchuan Peng’s group at the Allen Institute for Brain Science (Seattle, US) on the development of neural tracing algorithms.
Currently, they are working together to develop informatics tools for analyzing, visualizing, and integrating data related to the BRAIN Initiative, with the goal of enhancing our understanding of the brain.
If you are interested in this paper, find it at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41592-023-01848-5#Ack1
Sonamoni (golden pearl) research project
Today we decided on the name of our interdisciplinary research project on ‘Drowning Prevention for newly mobile infants under two’s in Bangladesh’. We were looking for one or two words in Bangla (or Bengali) that also sounded good in English and which was not already used for another research project in Bangladesh. A team from BU and CIPRB (Centre for Injury Prevention and Research, Bangladesh) using Human-Centred Design (HCD) tools came up with the name. The wider research team, after some debate and and checking for its current use in the research field, settled for the word Sonamoni (golden pearl).
BU is leading on a new interdisciplinary study of nearly £1.7 million funded by the UK National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Sonamoni aims to reduce the deaths of newly-mobile toddlers from drowning in rural Bangladesh. This multidisciplinary project is a collaboration of BU’s Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (CMWH), BU’s Department in Accounting, Finance & Economics and Department of Design & Engineering, and external partners, namely the University of the West of England, the University of Southampton, the Poole-based Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and the already mentioned CIPRB.
The Sonamoni project has been made possible thanks to a grant from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) through their Research and Innovation for Global Health Transformation programme. For more information, visit the NIHR website.
In Bangladesh, drowning is the leading cause of death in children between one and two years old. This low-income country has one of the highest rates of drowning, especially among children in the world. This four-year project will be working with communities to apply human-centred design techniques in Bangladesh. Together they will identify and prioritise potential solutions, develop prototype interventions, and assess the acceptability and usability of proposed interventions.
Edwin van Teijlingen & Mavis Bengtsson
CMWH
Free online masterclass: How can I involve patients and the public in literature reviews?
Patient and public involvement (PPI) is now widely accepted to be a standard requirement in health and social care research. While guidance on involvement in primary studies is available from organisations such as the National Institute for Health Research, researchers are often less clear regarding how PPI in systematic reviews and other forms of evidence synthesis might work, and exactly what to do during meetings. This presentation will look beyond the guidance to offer practical suggestions on when, how, and why patients and the public can be involved in reviews of literature.
When: Wed, 19 Apr 2023 13:00 – 14:00 BST
Bio: Sue Baxter is a Senior Research Fellow who has been carrying out qualitative research, service evaluations and evidence synthesis in the field of health and social care for over 20 years. This presentation will draw particularly on learning from PPI in two evidence synthesis centres in ScHARR, which carry out reviews of research relating to Health Services Delivery, and Public Health.
A New Publication by MSPH researcher on Combat Trauma and Heart Rate Variability in a UK Military Cohort
Rabeea Maqsood is a 2nd year PhD student based in the department of Medical Sciences and Public Health. As a part of her PhD, Rabeea’s original research has been published in BMJ Military Health. Read it #OpenAccess here:
https://militaryhealth.bmj.com/content/early/2023/03/28/military-2022-002316.citation-tools
Cafe Scientifique – Improving Disaster Management with Social Science
Join Cafe Scientifique next Tuesday 4th April at the Black Cherry Cafe, Boscombe.

At Café Scientifique, you can explore the latest ideas in science and technology in a relaxed setting. Enjoy listening to a short talk before engaging in debate and discussion with our guest speaker and audience.
We’ll be joined by Professor Lee Miles and Martin Travers on Tuesday 4 April from 6:30 – 8:00pm.
African countries are increasingly vulnerable to disasters of all kinds and must urgently enhance their abilities and capacities to deal with these hazards. Join us to learn how social science research could help improve disaster management in Africa using innovative Single Points of Failure approaches and partnerships with local stakeholders. We’ll hear how African countries have embraced new technology and how disaster management can even take place over WhatsApp!
We will welcome two speakers; Lee Miles, Professor of Crisis and Disaster Management at Bournemouth University and Martin Travers, a highly experienced practitioner who has worked in Sierra Leone, to hear both academic and practical perspectives.
This event will be held at The Black Cherry in Boscombe, Bournemouth. Although the talk starts at 6:30pm, the café will be open early so we encourage you to arrive early for a drink and a bite to eat before the talk starts.
Book your place
Updated Intention to Bid form – March 2023
Since the introduction of the new electronic ITB form on 24 January 2022, there have been incremental updates and the current e-ITB form is now available.
The e-ITB form continues to give a better user experience, creates a more efficient administrative control process for Research Development and Support (RDS) and provides accurate reporting outcomes for management.
Updated ITB form: The Intention to Bid (ITB) form and the updated Research Costings Request Sheet are both available now in the Policies & Procedures/Research/Pre-award section of the intranet under Research > Pre-award. Please complete the Research Costings Request Sheet and attach it to the e-ITB form for completion. PDF copies of all submissions can be printed or saved but there are limitations to editing a form once it has been submitted.
Please send RDS the completed e-ITB form and Costing Request Sheet by the latest 4 weeks before the deadline.
Bid Enquiry Process: If you have more than 4 weeks to the submission deadline and need advice or support regarding a bid, please access the same form link and select ‘Enquiry/Advice on Bidding’. This ensures that the pre-award team will see your Enquiry, rather than emailing a sole officer who may not be available at the time.
As a service, RDS is committed to delivering service excellence to enable BU’s academic community to deliver and grow world-leading research for societal benefit. The program of work continues to look at processes to enhance the user experience.
Changes include improvements to the pre- and post-award support being offered. Building on the delivery of a new Principal Investigator report which is currently in the final stages of being rolled out, and continuing our collaboration with the Transformation Team.
The Sleeping Tree: BU research at Brighton Festival
BU LEAP’s research collaboration with Invisible Flock will culminate this year headlining the Brighton Festival on 6 and 7th May in the beautiful Dome Theatre.

A tall siamang sleeping tree. By AHKorstjens
The sleeping tree is a celebration of the beauty of the Indonesian forest.
Sleeping trees are large trees that are regularly re-used by primates. In this case the work is inspired by the small ape the siamang, Symphalangus syndactylus. Siamangs are endangered apes that live in small monogamous family groups and eat mostly fruit and leaves high up in the canopy. At that height, they are exposed to the high temperatures that we now see in this region. BU’s LEAP research has focused on understanding how temperatures and forest structure vary within this diverse yet previously selectively logged forest, and how such variation influences the behaviour and survival of local wildlife.
How do apes manage current and future conditions?

Siamang Mother and Child at Leuser National Park, Credit: Amanda Korstjenst
LEAP (Landscape Ecology and Primatology) research at BU is led by Prof. Amanda Korstjens, Prof. Ross Hill, Dr Philippa Gillingham, and Dr Tom Davis. Siamang research at BU formed part of the PhD research of Dr Chris Marsh and Dr Helen Slater and the MRes research by Emma Hankinson, Rosanna Consiglio, Nathan Harrison, and Jake Hill. Chris and Nathan followed siamang daily through the forests, with local rangers Ucok, Dian and Yagsa, and other Sikundur field station rangers.
Visitors to The Sleeping Tree at Brighton Festival will enjoy the multitude of sounds typical of this biodiversity hotspot. The experience follows the natural cycle of sounds within the forest and is ever changing. If you get up early on Sunday the 7th you can enjoy the morning call chorus of siamangs, lar gibbons and Thomas langurs. Throughout the Saturday and Sunday there will be the multitude of sounds of insects (especially the always present cicadas), amphibians, birds, deer, pigs, monkeys, elephants, and other wildlife that inhabits the forest. On Saturday there will be a panel discussion about acoustic research and the plight of biodiversity in Sumatra. Sunday also features a unique sound performance The Sleeping Tree Sound Installation | Brighton Festival
The recordings were collected within the Gunung Leuser Ecosystem, the last place on earth that harbours orang-utans, Sumatran tigers, Sumatran elephants, Sumatran rhino, and two smaller ape species (the siamang and the lar gibbon). This forest is one of the world’s most biodiverse places and plays a major role in the world’s hope of managing climate change.
Gunung Leuser ecosystem is a designated UNESCO Biosphere but it is only partly protected as a National Park and it is under constant threat of human encroachment, logging, and extraction of forest products and wildlife.
BU’s LEAP team has worked with Syiah Kuala University, Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP), Liverpool John Moores’ university, Invisible Flock, and award-winning Leuser Conservation Forum (FKL) to better understand which aspects of forest structure and micro-climatic conditions influence the survival of orang-utans, siamang and elephants.
Our acoustic journey started with a collaboration with Dr Tom Davis at BU and continued with the collaboration with the multi-award-winning interactive arts studio Invisible Flock. Victoria Pratt, Ben Eaton and Amanda Korstjens tried out various acoustic devices under the very challenging Sumatran forest conditions, during a great (occasionally muddy) trip to the Sumatran forests. Based on our findings, Invisible Flock then developed the bespoke audio recording equipment (see OFR – Open Field Recorder – Invisible Flock) and The Sleeping Tree (Pohon Tidur) – Invisible Flock.
The recordings used for the Brighton Festival sound installation consist of those collected by Victoria Pratt, Ben Eaton and Simon Fletcher, supported by LEAP, FKL, and SOCP, using directional and ambisonic microphones. These are supplemented by the OFR recordings set out by the Invisible Flock team and managed and collected over 3 months by Dr Helen Slater.
The field work depended further on many people, including Dr Abdullah Abdullah of Syiah Kuala University (UnSyiah), and Matthew Nowak and Iain Singleton of SOCP, Graham Usher, the amazing SOCP field staff at Sikundur: Suprayudi, Ucok and Supri, Riki, Ben, Winn, Argus, Chiara Ripa, and the always inspiring Rudi Putra and the team of Forum Konservasi Leuser (FKL).
Currently, BU undergraduate Independent Research Students, Chloe Shaw, Ellie Vincent, Archie Bedford, and Devon Humphries are analysing the sound files to further identify how distance to forest edge, and gun shots at night influence siamang, Thomas langurs, birds, and lar gibbon vocalisations captured by Dr Slater’s work. Their work will feature on videos displayed at the exhibition.
Find LEAP’s scientific publications via BU’s e-prints: Bournemouth University Research Online [BURO] – Search results for Sikundur.
More information on the work by LEAP: go-LEAP: Landscape Ecology and Primatology
More information on the work by Invisible Flock: Home – Invisible Flock
More details and information on the work, see: our publication: https://issuu.com/invisibleflock/docs/the_sleeping_tree_publication
To support conservation in Leuser, please support the FKL: https://leuserconservancy.or.id
Sumatran Orangutan Programme: SOCP – Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme
The importance of communication for optimal patient care
As part of the Erasmus+ exchange, Professors Vanora Hundley and Carol Clark were recently invited to discuss the importance of communication with nurses at
Manmohan Memorial Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Good communication is a vital part of quality of care, but something that can be neglected when wards are busy and nurses are handling numerous tasks.
Participants in the session came from a range of areas within the hospital from medical-surgical wards, emergency room, through to outpatients’ department.
However, all reported that finding time to stop and listen to patients could be a challenge when the hospital was busy. The group participated in a number of exercises, which included role-playing to understand how it feels to be a patient entering the hospital.
Later Vanora and Carol were able to visit the research facilities to understand how recruitment and randomisation to vaccine trials is being handled in Manmohan Memorial Hospital.
Dr Sujan Marahatta explained the process and discussed how the hospital was contributing to this important research.
Finally, a visit to the physiotherapy department provided the opportunity to discuss collaborative research in women’s health.
Erasmus+ teaching in Nepal
BU professors Vanora Hundley and Carol Clark are currently in Nepal as part of an exchange between Bournemouth University (BU) and Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS) in Kathmandu, Nepal.
They have enjoyed discussing research with the Masters in Public Health students at MMIHS, whose research proposals include topics as diverse as stress and burnout, musculoskeletal injuries in hand-loom workers, and occupational health of high altitude porters.

Yesterday they were teaching the students as part of their Sexual and Reproductive Health Unit. Vanora outlined the history of Safe Motherhood and the group had a detailed discussion about the causes of maternity mortality and strategies to improve care for mothers and babies. Carol gave a lecture on urinary incontinence (including teaching the class how to do pelvic floor exercises) and explored how we handle taboo subjects such as this.
Carol and Vanora had an opportunity to meet with students from MMIHS who had recently returned from their exchange with Bournemouth University. The students spoke about how their time in Dorset had enabled them to learn about health in the UK and to share their expertise in delivering public health in a low income country.
The Erasmus+ exchange promotes cross-border education and knowledge exchange. It facilitates networking, enables capacity building and provides opportunities for future collaboration.
REMINDER – RKEDF Evaluation Workshops: Monday 20 and Tuesday 21 February
The Public Engagement with Research Team are running two workshops this month: Evaluation of Engagement and Advanced Evaluation.
These sessions will be delivered by Dr Jamie Gallagher, one of the most experienced engagement trainers in the UK. Jamie is a dynamic and engaging trainer who makes these sessions enjoyable as well as useful.
It is recommended that both sessions are attended to gain the full benefit. The sessions will build skills from the basic principles of evaluation, through to being able to develop evaluation plans for even the most complex topics, exploring data capture, analysis and reporting. You’ll also learn how to write evaluation reports for funders or for the REF (Research Excellence Framework).
While both sessions are recommended, attending just the first session may be appropriate for your needs. It is advised against only attending the second session.
Evaluation of Engagement: Monday 20 February, 9am-12:30pm, Talbot Campus
This workshop will highlight what you need to ask yourself, and the public, to ensure you can demonstrate the success of your intervention and capture the long term impact of it.
Successful public engagement can benefit research, researchers and the public – but how do you go about demonstrating this change? This workshop will guide you through the best evaluation processes showing you when, why and crucially how to use evaluation to give you reliable and clear data. It will highlight how to demonstrate success to funders, record impact for the REF, help to improve your processes, and give you a better understanding of the people you are connecting with.
At the end of the workshop, you will be able to:
- Understand the purposes, uses and limitations of evaluation
- Apply event-appropriate evaluation methods in multiple scenarios
- Prepare useful, answerable and relevant evaluation questions
- Devise and deliver your own evaluation plan
- Interpret and report evaluation data.
To book a place on this workshop please complete the booking form.
Advanced Evaluation: Tuesday 21 February 9am – 12:30pm, Talbot Campus
Taking an in-depth look at evaluation, participants will explore data capture, analysis and reporting. From surveys to focus groups, you will learn how to format powerful questions and report meaningful data. Discover how to develop evaluation plans for even the most complex topics. You will also learn how to write evaluation reports for funders or for the REF.
This workshop requires good base knowledge of evaluation, ideally from attending the previous Evaluation of engagement workshop.
To book a place on this workshop please complete the booking form.
For any queries regarding either of these sessions please contact the Public Engagement team: publicengagement@bournemouth.ac.uk.
Join the next meeting of the Public Engagement with Research Network: Wednesday 22 February 10-11am
Join the next meeting of the Public Engagement with Research Network
Find out how you can use public engagement activities to carry out new research with your public participants.
We’ll look at how to seamlessly integrate research into your activity, how to navigate ethics requirements and what this process can do for your work.
Professor Debbie Holley and Dr Holly Henderson will share their experience of doing research with children and adults as part of a fun family activity day for the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2022.
This meeting will take place on Wednesday 22 February 10-11am at BG217.
You can join the network and find out about future meetings, join our BU Public Engagement with Research Network. Check under ‘Meetings’ for upcoming sessions.
If you have any questions, please email the team.
Take part in a national festival of public engagement with research
ESRC Festival of Social Science 2023 – call for applications will open on Monday 27 March

What is the ESRC Festival of Social Science?
The ESRC Festival of Social Science is an annual, UK-wide, free celebration of the social sciences, usually taking place during November. BU have been involved in the festival for over a decade, running our own internal selection process and delivering up to ten activities per year. The festival aims to encourage, support and create opportunities for social science researchers to engage with non-academic audiences.
Why should I take part?
The festival is a prestigious initiative by a major research funder, and BU’s continued involvement is justified by the quality of our events and activities. Being part of this festival is an achievement worth citing and celebrating.
It is an excellent opportunity to engage people outside of academia with your research and with the benefit of co-ordinated support and promotion from RDS and the ESRC.
You can apply for up to £1,000 to deliver your project.
What if I’ve never done any public engagement before?
Everyone has to start somewhere, and this is the ideal place. You’ll have access to comprehensive support, advice and training throughout. If you’re unsure, seek out a more experienced colleague to collaborate with.
Can I apply if I’m not a social scientist?
The ESRC says that events must “feature social science (ideally with a social scientist involved in the event)”. If this doesn’t clearly apply to you, consider these options;
- Does your research have clear implications for society that could be explored from a social science perspective?
- Could you collaborate with a social scientist, combining your resources and creativity to explore the impact of your research? If you’re looking for a collaborator, the Research Blog or BU website are great places to start or contact us for help.
What will I be expected to do?
You’ll be expected to;
- Familiarise yourself with best practice for public engagement with research. Whether you’re new to this or experienced, there’s always room to improve.
- Apply to our internal panel
- If successful, attend an initial training session to start out right
- Plan, deliver and evaluate your activity or event, working with the public engagement team to shape your project into an impactful, professional and fascinating experience.
What support will I get?
Being part of this festival means a higher level of support and reach than we are normally able to provide.
Before applying, you’ll have access to:
- A dedicated session of the Public Engagement with Research (PER) Network, featuring previous event holders.
- Bookable one-on-one advice slots with BU’s Engagement Officer.
- Detailed applicant guidance to help you apply.
When your application is successful, you’ll get:
- Continuing advice and support from BU’s public engagement team on all areas of planning, promoting delivering, evaluating your activity.
- The promotional boost from being part of a huge national festival.
What next?
If you’re interested in applying, here’s what to do next;
- The PER Network session is taking place on Wednesday 29 March. More details can be found here on the blog, or you can join the PER Network to stay up to date.
- Explore previous events from BU and examples from around the country.
- Start brushing up on how to make public engagement work for you. A great place to start is BU’s own video guide to getting started in public engagement with research (Brightspace). You can also browse guidance and case studies from the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE).

- Book an advice slot – once available.
We’ll provide more information on applying to the ESRC Festival of Social Science on this blog and the PER Network over the coming weeks. If you have a question in the meantime, please email the team.
Add the PhD Supervisor keyword to your BRIAN profile

Academic Staff who are currently supervising Postgraduate Researcher (PGR) students – or who wish to in the future – can now add the ‘PhD Supervisor’ keyword to their BRIAN profile.
With thanks to the IT team who worked on the developments, potential PGR applicants can now search the staff profile pages by their area of research interest, filtering it by those with the ‘PhD Supervisors’ keyword. This provides PGR applicants an outstanding resource for looking at the capacity of BU to supervise their projects, while easily allowing them to contact potential supervisors to discuss their research, ahead of making an application.
The changes to the search and filtering functions will go live shortly, but staff are able to add the ‘PhD Supervisor’ keyword already. We will update our applicant pages to provide guidance on how best to use this new facility.
If you have any questions about recruiting PGR students, please contact us on PGRadmissions@bournemouth.ac.uk
BU professors lead research workshop at Kathmandu University, Nepal
Prof Carol Clark and Prof Vanora Hundley travelled to Dhulikhel in the Kavrepalanchok District of Nepal to deliver a workshop on research methodology.

The attendees included nurses, lecturers and senior academics from Kathmandu University. Together the group discussed the research gaps in women’s health in Nepal and the types of studies needed to help build evidence for practice.
Like many countries, research into women’s health is a neglected area but one that is beginning to gather strength. The discussion identified research gaps in specific areas of health, such as postnatal care and nutrition, and also cross-cutting themes, such as empowerment and education. Next steps for research collaboration were also discussed.

The workshop was supported by Erasmus+ and Green Tara Nepal (GTN). Erasmus+ is the European Commission’s flagship for financial support of mobility for Higher Education students, teachers and institutions. Bournemouth University has been working with GTN for the last two decades and has collaborations with BU academics including Prof Edwin van Teijlingen, D. Pramod Regmi, Prof Carol Clark, Dr Nirmal Aryal, Dr Shanti Shanker, and Prof Vanora Hundley.















BU academics publish in Nepal national newspaper
New BU Physiology paper
Gender and street names
Help Shape the Future of Research at BU: Postgraduate Research Experience Survey 2026 Now Open
3C Event: Research Culture, Community & Cherry Blossom – Tuesday 14 April
REMINDER: 3MT® Competition – Deadline 9am Monday 20 April
ECR Funding Open Call: Research Culture & Community Grant – Apply now
ECR Funding Open Call: Research Culture & Community Grant – Application Deadline Friday 12 December
MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2025 Call
ERC Advanced Grant 2025 Webinar
Update on UKRO services
European research project exploring use of ‘virtual twins’ to better manage metabolic associated fatty liver disease