Category / BU research

Online Resources for Principal Investigators

BU research, Guidance, Post-award, Research Training, Training

Leadership Development
Not too long ago HEFCE funded a project to provide online resources to help principal investigators develop their skills, these excellent resources are hosted by Vitae. This collaborative project involved colleagues at a number of universities across the UK, RCUK, Leadership Foundation for Higher Education, ARMA and Universities UK.

The resources can be found here and include some fantastic sections on:

RKEO Drop-in Session 24th February

BU research, Guidance

research lifecycleAs previously posted, RKEO will be holding monthly drop-in sessions throughout 2016. The full schedule of sessions can be found here.

The first session will be held on 24 February 2016 between 2-4pm in Bournemouth House Cafe. Anyone can attend with any queries for RKEO. The following RKEO staff will be available for the session:

You don’t need to be from these faculties as staff will help with any queries they have and if they’re not able to answer your query then and there, they’ll ensure you receive a timely response from RKEO. Basically, come along and have a chat. These are also great opportunities for us to gather feedback from you on the service that we deliver to you.

RKEO look forward to seeing you.

2016 BU PhD Studentship Competition – only 1 week left!

BU research, Funding opportunities, PG research, Uncategorized

2016 BU PhD Studentship Competition

Call for submission of up to 20 matched funded Postgraduate Research Projects now OPEN

The Graduate School is delighted to announce the launch of the 2016 BU PhD Studentship Competition, with up to 20 matched funded projects available.

At this stage, Academic Staff are invited to submit proposals for studentship projects which, if successful, will be advertised to recruit PhD candidates for a September 2016 start.

Full details can be found on the Graduate School Staff Intranet where the following information can be found:

Submission Deadline:

Applications should be submitted on the Studentship Proposal Form to the Graduate School via email to phdstudentshipcompetition@bournemouth.ac.uk no later than 9am on Monday 22 February 2016.

The Graduate School will manage the recruitment process along the following timetable:

Date Action
Wednesday 13 January 2016 Launch PhD Studentships Internal Competition – development of proposals
Monday 22 February 2016 Closing date for submission of proposals
Tuesday 15 March 2016 Panel meeting
Late March 2016 Feedback to supervisors and preparation of adverts
March – June 2016 Launch PhD Studentships External Competition – recruitment of candidates
September 2016 Successful Candidates start

A series of co-incidents

BU research, international, Publishing, Uncategorized

Over 25 years ago during my PhD research comparing the organisation of midwifery and maternity care in the Netherlands and the Northeast of Scotland I wrote a chapter comparing the history of maternity care in the two countries.  I needed to write this not, as I thought at the time, to improve my thesis, but for myself to help me as a sociologist to help understand these historical developments.

In the process of researching the history of midwifery in the Netherlands I found a commemorative book by Drenth (1998) celebrating the centenary of the Dutch midwifery organisation. In this book is a footnote stating that the first chair of the KNOV (Royal Dutch Organisation of Midwives), Ms Francijntje de Kadt, lived and worked in the town of Vlaardingen in the late 19th to early 20th century (Drenth 1998). This note caught my eyes as I am born and bred in Vlaardingen.

Francijntje de Kadtlaan in Vlaardingen, the Netherlands

Francijntje de Kadtlaan in Vlaardingen, the Netherlands

After a bit more searching and a visit to the archives of the town of Vlaardingen I managed to dig up a little more about Francijntje de Kadt, but not an awful lot. During a family visit to the Netherlands I visited the archives of Vlaardingen to see what information they had about her. The archivist immediately recognised the name of Francijntje de Kadt, since genealogists keep finding her name as the midwife listed on their ancestors’ birth certificates. However, the archivist did not know that Francijntje de Kadt had been the first chair of the Dutch Mmidwifery organisation from its establishment in 1898 till 1926. At that point I decided to apply for a small travel grant in the History of Medicine from the Wellcome Trust. That application was successful, awarding a travel grant of £ 1,050 in 2001. My research in various archives in the Netherlands resulted in two papers (in Dutch) about Francijntje de Kadt, one in a local history journal (van Teijlingen 2003a) and one in the Dutch midwifery journal (2003b) and one about the collapse in 1921 of the midwives’ first pension fund (van Teijlingen 2002). This was for a while the end of my career as an amateur historian due to my busy day job as a health researcher and MSc coordinator at the University of Aberdeen.

Many years later (2010) I ended up talking to the burgomaster of Vlaardingen at the reception organised by the town to celebrate the fact that my father had been awarded the Dutch equivalent of an OBE. Over a drink I asked the burgomaster what the process was for suggesting a new street name in Vlaardingen. He suggested I write to the Street Name Committee with a justification why Francijntje de Kadt deserved a street name. With my recommendation I sent this committee my two Dutch publications. A few months later the secretary to the Street Name Committee wrote to say that my proposal had been accepted and that her name would be given to a street in a new development of the former local hospital grounds.

Then in mid-2015 a Dutch historian Eva Moraal came to Vlaardingen with her partner on a day trip and they ended up walking through the Francijntje de Kadtlaan. She read the subscript on the street sign (see photo) and thought ‘This woman need to have an encyclopaedia entry!’ A few days later she emailed me at Bournemouth University for further information on the live, work and achievements of Francijntje de Kadt to help her write a piece for the encyclopaedia. Two months ago Eva Moraal (2015) published her very nice contribution on Francijntje de Kadt.

So what started as a small historical study as an introduction chapter of a PhD thesis in Medical Sociology ended up with a ‘forgotten’ national midwifery leader having a street named after her in the town she spent most of her working live and her own entry in the encyclopaedia, Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon van Nederland (in Dutch: Online Women’s Lexicon of the Netherlands). What is even more interesting that this otherwise chronologically logical story is based on three major co-incidents: first, spotting a footnote in commemorative book about Vlaardingen. If Francijntje de Kadt had lived and worked anywhere else in the Netherlands other than my birthplace I would not have paid much attention. Secondly, speaking to the burgomaster of Vlaardingen and having a conversation in which street names cropped up, and thirdly, Eva Moraal who just happened to walk through the Francijntje de Kadtlaan, reading the street sign, and thinking this is an historical figure who needs better recognition.

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

 

References:

Drenth, P. (1998) 1898-1998. Honderd jaar vroedvrouwen verenigd, Bilthoven: KNOV.

Moraal, E. (2015) Kadt, Francijntje de, in: Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon van Nederland. URL: http://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/vrouwenlexicon/lemmata/data/Kadt

van Teijlingen, E. (2002) Ondergang eerste pensioenfonds voor vroedvrouwen (in Dutch: Decline of the first pension fund for midwives), Tijdschrift voor Verloskundigen (in Dutch: Journal for Midwives), 27(12): 684.

van Teijlingen, E.R. (2003a) Berichten – Francijntje de Kadt (1858-1929), Tijdschrift voor Verloskundigen (in Dutch: Journal for Midwives), 28(12): 630-633.

van Teijlingen, E.R. (2003b) Francijntje de Kadt (1858-1929). Vroedvrouw te Vlaardingen en eerste voorzitter van de Nederlandsche vroedvrouwenvereeniging, Tijd-schrift (in Dutch: Time-Magazine) 88: 14-23.

Committee inquiries: open calls for evidence

BU research, Research news

Below is a list of committee inquiries with current open calls for evidence. Please contact Emma Bambury-Whitton if you would like to discuss submitting evidence.

 

Commons Select Committee inquiries

 

Lords Select Committee inquiries

 

Joint Committee inquiries

 

Public Bill Committees

 

Latest Funding Opportunities

BU research, Funding opportunities

money

The following is a snap-shot of funding opportunities that have been announced. Please follow the links for more information:

Royal Society of Chemistry

Emerging Technologies Competition

Our Emerging Technologies Competition aims to accelerate the commercialisation of innovative technologies in the following areas:

  • Health & wellbeing
  • Energy & environment
  • Food & water
  • Materials

The competition is free to enter and open to small companies, universities, and research institutions, who can apply using our online application form.

Maximum Award: £20,000 Deadline: 14 March 2016

Outreach Fund

Our Outreach Fund provides financial support to individuals and organisations in order to enable them to run chemistry-based events and activities for public audiences.

Maximum Award: £25,000 Deadline: 29 April 2016

Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council

Large-area Electronics Pathfinder

The EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Large-Area Electronics (LAE) is seeking proposals from academic and postdoctoral research staff at UK universities and associated research institutions for short pathfinder projects with the following objectives:

  • To demonstrate novel approaches to tackling critical manufacturing problems
  • To promote technology transfer to and collaboration with industry
  • To pump prime new research collaborations and facilitate larger scale collaborative projects.

Maximum Award: £40,000 Deadline: 31 March 2016

 Manufacturing the Future

The EPSRC Manufacturing the Future challenge theme invites investigator-led proposals which address key research challenges facing manufacturing in the UK today and in the future. First grants as well as standard research proposals are invited. All proposals will be assessed in accordance with standard EPSRC procedure and prioritised within the most appropriate capability theme panel (i.e. Engineering, ICT, Physical Sciences or Mathematics).

Maximum award: Total budget available – £5 million Deadline: Open, next batching date 31 August 2016

Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board

Management for Soil Biology & Soil Health – Research Partnerships

AHDB, in collaboration with the British Beet Research Organisation (BBRO), is inviting researchers to form a collaborative Research Partnership, which will be responsible for devising and implementing a new programme of research and knowledge exchange projects to address challenges identified for the UK agricultural and horticultural industries on the call theme “Management for Soil Biology and Soil Health”.

Maximum Award: £200,000 Deadline: 28 April 2016

Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council

Flexible Interchange Programme

Our FLexible Interchange Programme (FLIP) supports the movement of people from one environment to a different one to exchange knowledge/technology/skills, developing bioscience research/researchers and addressing our strategic priorities.

Maximum Award: £120,000 Deadline: 17 August 2016

British Ecological Society

Research Grants

These grants support scientific ecological research where there are limited alternative sources of funding. Small projects can be awarded up to £5,000 and early career ecologists can apply for funding up to £20,000.

Maximum Award: As above Deadline: 21 March 2016

British Society of Soil Science

Field Equipment Grant

This grant is designed to enable institutions to buy field equipment to aid in the instruction and understanding of soil science.

Maximum Award: £1000 Deadline: 1 April 2016

Burdett Trust for Nursing

Men’s Health & Emergent Longer-term Conditions

The Trustees are interested in supporting nurse-led projects that will help to define proactive strategies and interventions that promote better self-care and reverse the negative impact that undetected and untreated men’s longer-term health challenges may impart.

Maximum Award: Various Deadline: 2 April 2016

If you are interested in submitting to any of the above calls you must contact your  RKEO Funding Development Officer with adequate notice before the deadline.

For more funding opportunities that are most relevant to you, you can set up your own personalised alerts on Research Professional. If you need help setting these up, just ask your School’s/Faculty’s Funding Development Officer in  RKEO or view the recent blog post here.

If thinking of applying, why not add notification of your interest on Research Professional’s record of the bid so that BU colleagues can see your intention to bid and contact you to collaborate.

The use of technology to provide physical interaction experiences for cognitively able young people who have complex physical disabilities

BU research, PG research, Research communication, staff profile pages

We would like to invite you to the latest research seminar of the Creative Technology Research Centre.

 

Title: The use of technology to provide physical interaction experiences for cognitively able young people who have complex physical disabilities

ShivaSpeaker: Mark Moseley (a post graduate researcher from the Centre for Digital Entertainment (CDE) based in the Faculty of Media and Communication)

Time: 2:00PM-3:00PM

Date: Wednesday 17th February 2016

Room: P302 LT, Poole House, Talbot Campus

 

Abstract:

Young people who have severe physical disabilities and good cognition may face many barriers to learning, communication, personal development, physical interaction and play experiences. Physical interaction and play are known to be important components of child development, but this group currently has few suitable ways in which to achieve this.

 

Technology can help to facilitate such experiences. This research aims to develop a technology-based tool to provide this group with the potential for physical interaction and physical play, in order to develop their knowledge of spatial concepts. This tool will utilise eye-gaze technology, robotics and haptic feedback (artificial sensation).

 

This presentation will explain the rationale behind this research as well as the aims and approach used in the development of a proposed tool.

 

 

We hope to see you there.

 

What’s the importance of the funding submission process?

BU research, Guidance

The Research and Knowledge Exchange Office (RKEO) Funding Development Team (FDT) are here to help academics apply for external funding. There are so many funders out there with so many different guidelines that it’s not always easy to find out how, who and what you should be applying to.

There is huge kudos in obtaining external research funding for the academic and BU. It not only enables you to progress your research ideas and potentially build centres of excellent in your area at BU, but knowing that your research has made a benefit to society has to be the greatest achievement.

How can FDT help?  The competition is tough out there and so we want to ensure that you are fully supported at BU to submit a winning application.  The costing of all proposals (including those that we are not the lead on) need to be undertaken by FDT before proposals reach the submission stage. Costings are undertaken by FDT to ensure that a) they are complete and include full costs, b) that they include indirect and estates costs at current BU rates and c) that they include inflation at the BU rate. Proposals need to be added to our grants system RED in order to track our bidding activity, which is in turn reported on and used for KPI’s, REF, HEBCI and HESA returns; and RED generates the APF (Activity Proposal Form explained below). The costs need to be added to our costings system, pFACT, for accurate costings and audit purposes.

In addition to this, Legal Services need to check whether we are agreeing to any terms and conditions in advance of submitting the bid – and, if so, what these are. We also need to check for any potential financial issues in advance of submission that need to be noted (for example, the risk of exchange rate fluctuations, if match funding is required, etc.). The APF (Activity Proposal Form from RED detailing the costs and income) and CAF (Contract Agreement Form from Legal Services detailing any legal or financial risks) need to be signed by a BU authorised signatory before the bid can be submitted; this gives approval for submission. This approval ensures that the appropriate senior staff (DDRPP/DoP/Dean/UET members/Board members) are aware of the risks and commitments which arise from us undertaking the project, assuming it were to be awarded. All proposals will also have to go through your Faculties agreed Quality Approval process.

The FDT will need to complete all of the above processes before the approval process can be completed. In addition, an intention to bid form needs to be completed at the beginning to establish what processes an application may need to go through and the timescales required. If you are intending to bid then please contact the Funding Development Officer for your Faculty to obtain a form (they have been tailored for each Faculty).

Why do we need to go through these processes?  The purpose of having a centralised group is that we connect all the necessary processes for academics (Finance, Legal, Faculty signatories) and we’re there to help ensure that the application has the best possible chance of being funded. If academics are successful then they will receive a contract and that contract has to go through certain processes in order to obtain the money and ensure it goes to the correct place. Most importantly, if this information is never recorded on RED then it has a knock on effect on several things. BU receives additional money from HEFCE based on the funding that we have received throughout the year and this also improves our REF submission. Small pots of money add up to large sums and if these are never recorded then we lose out on additional funds from HEFCE. Also, there are KPI’s with targets for R&KE funding to be obtained by academics in each of the Faculties. By not recording funding this will have a detrimental effect on the faculties targets for meeting the KPI’s.

The FDT also have Research Facilitators available to help you develop your research ideas at an early stage of your application.  We have also provided a number of pages to help you identify which funder would be appropriate for your research.  There is a wealth of information that can be found in the Research Funders’ Guide.  We have also put together an application submission timeline and have provided sample costs to aid you drafting out your costs.  More details can be found here.  Finally, there is a comprehensive list of all RKEO’s activities that support you in the Research Lifecycle.

Do get in touch and see how we can help you acheive your goals.

British Science Association’s Media Fellowship scheme

BU research, Research news

Applications are now open for the British Science Association’s Media Fellowship scheme.

To apply for 2016’s placements, please fill out the online application form by the 18th March at www.britishscienceassociation.org/media-fellows-applications

The Media Fellowships provide a unique opportunity for practising scientists, clinicians and engineers to spend two to six weeks working at the heart of a media outlet such as the Guardian, BBC Breakfast or the Londonist.

Every year up to ten Media Fellows are mentored by professional journalists and learn how the media operates and reports on science, how to communicate with the media and to engage the wider public with science through the media.

After their media placement Fellows attend the British Science Festival in September, which provides an opportunity to gain valuable experience working alongside a range of media organisations from all over the UK in our dedicated Press Centre. The Festival also offers opportunities to learn from a wide range of public engagement activities and network with academics, journalists and science communicators

Any queries, please e-mail mediafellows@britishscienceassociation.org

Research Publication Clinic – Face your fear!

BU Challenges, BU research, Publishing, writing

write

Does the thought of writing a research publication make you feel queasy?

Do publication targets bring you out in a cold sweat?

Are you sick of journal editors and referees?

Maybe our publication clinic can help! This event, facilitated by Professor Adrian Newton, is provided for anyone who has experienced difficulty in producing research publications or getting their manuscripts published. The idea is to provide a forum for discussing such challenges, in an informal and supportive environment. Please bring along your symptoms for diagnosis, or relevant case histories, so that we can explore potential remedies!

Title Date Time Location
Research Publication Clinic Wednesday 17 Feb 2016 12:00-13:30 Lansdowne Campus

To secure a place at this publication clinic, please email OD@bournemouth.ac.uk.

For more info, please refer to – Research Publication Clinic

14:live – ‘Clone Wars’: The Rise of 3D Printing and 3D Scanning and its Implications for Intellectual Property Law

BU research, Research news

Hello!

14:live will be returning on the 9th of February 14:00-14:45 at Poole House Refectory, next to Papa Johns. This is open to all staff and students and I am pleased to welcome Dinusha Mendis.

3D Printing and 3D scanning allows for replication of physical objects – which in turn raises questions relating to intellectual property (IP) laws. For example, what are the implications of modifying someone else’s Computer Aided Design (CAD) file or scanning an existing object to create a new product, thereby replicating it? What IP rights of the creator would it infringe? How much ‘modification’ is needed to create a new and non-infringing product? For businesses, IP issues could arise when replacement parts are 3D printed, perhaps through a third-party supplier. These questions demonstrate that whilst the technology has significant potential for the future it raises some very important questions relating to IP law.

This talk will explore such issues whilst also considering new business models for the protection and exploitation of IP. The talk will be based on the research carried out for a Commissioned Project for the UK Government (UK Intellectual Property Office) which was led by the Speaker and published in April 2015.

It would be great to see you all there to listen to what’s going to be a very interesting talk with Dinusha, and just to give you that little bit more incentive to come along, there will be 30 x tokens for the first 30 audience members to be exchanged for a FREE individual Papa John’s Pizza at the end of the talk, plus lots of free tea & coffee, don’t miss out! If you have any questions about this event or would like to hear about any other upcoming student engagement with research events, contact me on ocooke@bournemouth.ac.uk

Supporting you to support students: a survey

BU research, Centre for Excellence in Learning, Research news

As part of the Fair Access Research project we would like academic staff to complete this survey to help us understand how students are supported at BU. The area we are focusing on is support for students’ health and wellbeing, as this is becoming increasingly important for students and staff in universities. Your responses to the survey will help us find ways to support you in supporting students to succeed at BU.

hands

Questions of access to higher education do not end (or start) at the university gates. Widening participation involves an engagement with long and complex cycles of learning.

The Fair Access Research project seeks to understand the experiences of students from different backgrounds in order to develop practical solutions to enhance outcomes and maximise opportunities. This includes understanding how students are supported at BU.

In the words of Vincent Tinto: “Access without support is not opportunity”. If we are committed to opening up higher education, we must be committed to supporting all students to succeed across the university learning journey.

A recent survey by the NUS found that 78 per cent of students said they experienced mental health issues over the last year. More than half of the students said that they sought no support.

In a report to HEFCE by the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) and Researching Equity, Access and Partnership (REAP) it was found that students with mental health and social/communicative impairments (such as autism) have doubled since 2008-09. These significant increases are impacting the structures of support that institutions have in place, including academic support

Living with challenging health and wellbeing needs, and not always seeking support, shapes whether or not you stay and impacts upon attainment. It re-orients (or, perhaps, disorients) your whole student experience. And that includes your interactions with academic staff.

With all this in mind, we are surveying academic staff to find out more about how they understand their role in supporting students’ health and wellbeing.

We have developed a short survey for you all to complete. It should take no more than 10 minutes to complete and we hope that it will lead us to develop ways to support you with your students:

To complete the survey click here

Please complete the survey and share with your colleagues from across the university. Your responses will help us to find ways to support you to better support your students, particularly those most in need.

If you want any more information about the survey please email Alex on awardrop@bournemouth.ac.uk

For more information about the Fair Access Research project please email the Principal Investigators, Dr Vanessa Heaslip (vheaslip@bournemouth.ac.uk) and Dr Clive Hunt (chunt@bournemouth.ac.uk)

The Research Lifecycle

BU research, Research news

If you haven’t checked out the BU Research Lifecycle yet then you most definitely should! Our Research Lifecycle diagram is a jazzy interactive part of the BU Research Blog that shows the support and initiatives that are available to staff and students at each stage of the research lifecycle. The information is general enough so as to apply to all disciplines and you can use it to organize and identify the many activities involved in your research. You can explore the Research Lifecycle to find information on how to get started with:

1. Developing your research strategy

2. Developing your proposal

3. The research process

4. Publication and dissemination

5. Impact

RKEO will be adding to the Research Lifecycle to ensure it always contains the most up to date information to support you with planning, organising and undertaking your research.

You can access the diagram from the links in this post or from the menu bar that appears on all screens in the Research Blog.

Contact, Help, Advice and Information Network (CHAIN) Demonstration 23rd March 2016

BU research

CHAIN – Contact, Help, Advice and Information Network – is an online mutual support network for people working in health and social care. It gives people a simple and informal way of contacting each other to exchange ideas and share knowledge.

The online Directory can be used to identify and communicate with other members. You might wish to do this to draw from their experience, or to elicit an opinion on an issue or something you are doing. Or you might wish to find collaborators or liaise with fellow-travellers or people with specific skills or interests for a wide range of purposes. You can do this quickly and easily with CHAIN, and part of the advantage is that the people you find will usually be happy to help you if they can.

A representative from CHAIN will be visiting BU on 23rd March at 2:30pm in Wollstone Lecture Theatre, Bournemouth House (BG10) to demonstrate how to make the most of being part of the network. All staff are welcome to attend, and please pass the invitation on to your final year students who may be interested in learning more about what CHAIN has to offer.

Contact Lisa Gale-Andrews at lgaleandrews@bournemouth.ac.uk to book your place.