Category / BU research

The virtual and the field: enhancing visualisation in archaeology using serious game technologies

BU research, Fusion, Fusion Investment Fund

The FIF funded collaborative project between the Creative Technology and Archaeology Frameworks has produced another output.

Virtual&Field

A visualisation of the Iron Age banjo enclosure discovered in the Bournemouth University Durotriges Big Dig at Winterborne Kingston has been produced using Unreal Engine 4. The system allows users to explore the environment as it may have appeared in the Iron Age at a human scale.

This was a pilot study that was produced as part of a Fusion Investment Fund project at Bournemouth University in collaboration between staff and students on the Archaeology and Games Technology courses. It is anticipated that the environment will be further developed by Games Technology students as part of their final year project studies with enhancements made to the existing environment and with the addition of visualisations of the same site at different historical periods of habitation.

A fly through of the Iron Age environment can be seen at:

For more information about the visualisation please contact djohn@bournemouth.ac.uk.

BRAD Week coming soon…..watch out for details!

BU research, Info Days, Training

final wordle

Just to advise you details of our next BRAD events programme will be coming out very soon….watch out for our announcements on the Research BLOG and BU Intranet and get yourself booked in via Organisational Development.

BRAD week will be held from the 29th of June – 6th of July 2015.

Please see the comments we received from people who attended our last BRAD event week in April.

Pop these dates in your calenders and get ready!

BFX 2015 ACADEMIC CONFERENCE

BU research, Uncategorized

 

Following from last years successful academic conference  (forming part of the BFX Festival)  will be running  for the second time between the 26th-27th September at Bournemouth University’s  Executive Business Centre.

This year’s theme is ANALOGUE TO POST-DIGITAL.  The BFX Conference is underpinned by a strong belief in the benefits interdisciplinary discourse, and aims to create a platform for these exchanges to take place around the field of digital moving images and related technologies. Contemporary still and moving images and their related practices sit in the interstices of the analogue and digital. The BFX conference invites participants to consider the trajectories of these movements as we engage in a discourse of the ‘post-digital’ in still and moving image.

Embedded within these fields are a range of themes such as: memory and the archive, media archaeology, hybridity, intermedia practices, folksonomies and virtual curatorships, the network, new pedagogues and education design. The conference welcomes approaches that consider the continuities and breaks in technologies and practices, as well as the range of possibilities that may be inspired by thinking about the post-digital.

The conference will also focus upon both academic discourse and artistic practice, and has included artist roundtables as part of their programme.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Prof. Charlie Gere, from the Lancaster Institute for Contemporary Arts and author of Digital Culture(2002), Art, Time and Technology (2006), Non-relational Aesthetics, with Michael Corris (2009), and Community without Community in Digital Culture (2012)as well as co-editor of White Heat Cold Technology (2009), and Art Practice in a Digital Culture (2010), and many papers on questions of technology, media and art.

Dr. David M. Berry, Director of the Sussex Humanities Lab and author of Critical Theory and the Digital, The Philosophy of Software: Code and Mediation in the Digital Age,Copy, Rip, Burn: The Politics of Copyleft and Open Source,the editor of Understanding Digital Humanities and co-editor ofPostdigital Aesthetics: Art, Computation and Design

Prof. Wolfgang Ernst. Professor for Media Theory at the Institut für Musik und Medienwissenschaft at Humboldt University, Berlin, where he co-runs the Media Archaeological Fundus. He is also author of Digital Memory and the Archive (2012), and a compilation of other literature including“Media Archaeography: Method and Machine versus History and Narrative of Media”, and From Media History to Zeitkritik (2013).

CALL FOR PAPERS AND SUBMISSIONS

You can submit your proposals by using this link, and this year you will notice that we have included the 3 new submission options, as an individual paper, as a constituted panel, and as an artist roundtable.

 

Facebook User Interface to suit Saudi Arabian culture

BU research, PG research, Research news

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

 

Speaker: Hana AlmakkySaudi_Facebook

 

Title:   Facebook User Interface to suit Saudi Arabian culture

 

Time: 2:00PM-3:00PM

Date: Wednesday 10th June 2015

Room: P302 LT, Poole House, Talbot Campus

 

Abstract: Social media has continued growing in Saudi Arabia. Millions of businesses and trades are now using social media for entertainment, advertisement and promoting themselves internationally.

 

Social networking sites, like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc., have gained huge popularity at personal as well as professional scale. Therefore, work is being done to evolve the modes of communication over these platforms, extensively.

 

My research explores the effect of Saudi cultures on the design of social media site of Facebook. This talk presents the updated results of the research and proposes a theoretical framework that guides the design of a user interface for Facebook to meet the Saudi’s expectations.

 

We hope to see you there.

Neurogenetics in Bonn

BU research

Following on from a Fusion funded workshop hosted by BU on Psychiatric Genetic Counselling in February, two PGR students, Zara Ghodsi and Rosa Spencer-Tansley were invited by Dr Franziska Degenhardt to spend two weeks of training in Neurogenetics at the University of Bonn, Germany this May.

The course comprised the basis of human molecular genetics and disease gene identification in the first week and molecular genetics of specific disorders and novel statistical analysis of genetic studies in the second week. Sessions were led by world leaders in the field, including Prof. Markus M. Nöthen.

Both BU PGR students said: “We were happy to find that the course comprised of a  well-balanced mixture of molecular genetics and statistical analysis of genetic disorders. This meant we were able to consolidate our previous experiences in psychiatric genetic studies as well as expand our knowledge in new areas.”

They also added: “We found the discussions one of the most valuable aspects of this course; there was a wealth of experience and variety of viewpoints and ideas being shared ​amongst both lecturers and other students. This aspect of the course made us to evaluate what we had learnt already, consider future directions in the field of psychiatric genetics,  and  reflect on how we can integrate this information into our research projects. We enjoyed the whole experience of taking this course, exploring the beautiful city of Bonn and the rich culture of Germany”.

Their supervisor, Dr Kevin McGhee said: “I am delighted that both of my PGR students were offered this opportunity. I would like to personally thank Dr Degenhardt for her generosity and for the useful advice she gave Zara and Rosa on moving their projects forward. The course has provided further networking and collaborative opportunities for my students, hopefully leading to quality publications in the near future. On their return, we also identified how we will incorporate some of the course information into the final UG year Genetics unit.”

Zara will next be presenting a poster at the European Society of Human Genetics in Glasgow in June and Rosa is analysing her data for presentation at the World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics in Toronto in October. Zara is also supervised by Dr Hossein Hassani and Dr Demetra Andreou.

 

Academic induction to Research and Knowledge Exchange at BU

BU research, Guidance

The Research and Knowledge Exchange Office (RKEO) invite all ‘new to BU’ academics and researchers to an induction.  The purpose of the induction is to inform you of the following:

  • how we can support you when planning your research career;
  • how to apply for funding (the policies and processes around costs and approvals);
  • how to manage your successful research applications (including ethics, governance, risks and finance);
  • how we can support you on impact, public engagement, outputs and open access, case studies, and a whole lot more.

The second induction will be held on 16th June 2015 on the 4th floor of Melbury House.  The format of the day is as follows:

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

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

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 contact Charmain Lyons, clyons@bournemouth.ac.uk for an official invitation.  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

BRIAN training dates now available!

BRIAN, BU research, Post-award, Publishing, Research communication, Training

 

 

 

 

 

 

Following the recent BRIAN upgrade, we are happy to inform you that the system is now functioning as normal. In the unlikely event that you do encounter any problems following the upgrade, please do email BRIAN@bournemouth.ac.uk and a member of the team will be able to assist you.

We have also lined up a couple of BRIAN training dates in June and July. Please see details below:

28 Jan 2016  –   9.00am to 10.30am      –      S102, Studland House, Lansdowne Campus

24 Feb 2016   –   2.00pm to 3.30pm       –      C203, Christchurch House, Talbot Campus

16 Mar 2016   –   2.00pm to 3.30pm        –      S102, Studland House, Lansdowne Campus

5 April 2016   –   9.30am to 11.00am      –      C203, Christchurch House, Talbot Campus

25 May 2016  –   10.00am to 11.30am    –      S102, Studland House, Lansdowne Campus

Please get in touch with Organisational Development to book a place in this training. If you have further queries regarding this training, please get in touch with Pengpeng Hatch (01202 961354).

Sport Psychology Researcher to Visit BU

BU research, Research news, Uncategorized

Dr Sylvain Laborde a researcher from the German Sport University Cologne is visiting Bournemouth University this week. His research concerns performance psychology in sport in particular trait emotional intelligence and heart rate variability.

He will be giving a talk about heart rate variability and its uses within sport and exercise psychology this Thursday (4th of June) at 10am in PG19. Please see the below abstract for a summary of the content.

“In this talk I will introduce heart rate variability (HRV), the change in the time interval between successive heart beats, as a psychophysiological parameter being able to play a role of utmost relevance regarding the theoretical, methodological and applied advancement of the field of sport and exercise psychology. I will first review four theoretical models focusing on HRV. Then I will discuss shortly some methodological considerations regarding HRV measurement. Afterwards I will introduce a broad range of sport and exercise psychology phenomena where HRV could be integrated, such as: aggressiveness; cognition; ego depletion; health behaviour; injury recovery; motivation; personality-trait-like individual differences; sleep; social functioning; stereotypes; stress, coping, and emotions; training recovery and overtraining; resilience; and talent identification and development. Finally, at the applied level, I will detail how HRV can be used as a basis to improve many aspects related to health and sport performance, through HRV biofeedback and daily monitoring with smartphone apps. In summary, this talk will show how an unspecific marker, HRV, can, cautiously used, help sport and exercise psychology embrace fully psychophysiology to impact human performance and health-related issues at a society level.”

 Keywords: Pressure, competition, vagal tone, parasympathetic nervous system, neurovisceral integration model, polyvagal theory, resonance breathing frequency, psychophysiological coherence

If this is of interest to you let me know via email emosley@bournemouth.ac.uk.

Funding Opportunities

BU research, Research news

This weeks funding opportunities: 

 

Natural Environment Research Council, GB

NERC/Welsh Government high level policy placement

NERC’s Policy Placement Fellowship Scheme allows researchers and other staff involved in environmental science research to work closely with policymakers within government and other public and third sector organisations in the UK. The scheme also allows placements of government and third sector policymakers to work within NERC head office and research centres.

NERC has launched three opportunities for policy placements with:

  • Welsh Government
  • Scottish Government
  • Go-Science

Please note this scheme is not open to research students. NERC has a separate policy internship for students.

Fellowship policy placements are organised by NERC in collaboration with a policy-making body, for example a government department, devolved administration or agency. The applicant applies for the position, which will be for a fixed term and on a specified topic. The placement is jointly funded by NERC and the partner organisation on a 50:50 basis, with the exception of NGOs, who are asked to provide 25% of the funding. Successful applicants will be awarded a NERC grant. During the placement, the fellow will remain employed by her/his institution. Applicants must be from a NERC research centre or a HEI in receipt of NERC-funded research. The fellowship can be taken up by post-doctoral researchers at any stage of their career or policy makers with at least two year-experience. Requirement for each fellowship may vary and this will be specified in the announcement of opportunity.

Sabbatical arrangements available to the applicant will not count towards the fellowship period, but could add value to it, before or after.

Closing Date: 08/July/2015


Economic and Social Research Council, GB

Urgent research grants – strategic call for proposals related to the Mediterranean migration crisis

ESRC Urgent Research Grants: Strategic call for proposals related to the Mediterranean migration crisis

In July 2013, ESRC piloted an Urgency Grants Mechanism, managed on a responsive mode basis, to respond to rare and unforeseen events where there is a strong case for immediate social science research. Following a review of the pilot scheme, Urgent Research Grants are now run on a strategic basis, with ESRC inviting calls for projects in areas deemed to require rapid action. We are now opening an Urgent Research Grant all for projects related to the currently unfolding migration crisis in the Mediterranean. Through this call, we aim to test and demonstrate the capability of the UK social science community to respond to urgent social crises. We aim for projects to commence by 1 August 2015.

Proposals are expected to demonstrate:

  • a robust social science methodological framework to conduct qualitative and/or quantitative research among migrant groups, informed by appropriate, current social science conceptual frameworks
  • suitable connections with governmental and/or non-governmental actors in one or more relevant countries to enable access to the migrant populations
  • a management plan for how the project will enable fieldwork to commence in a matter of weeks
  • plans to make the data and analysis available as quickly as possible to relevant practitioners and policymakers, with appropriate considerations for security, privacy, confidentiality and research ethics.

We invite proposals for a duration of up to 24 months, to a maximum amount of £200,000 (100 per cent fEC). As normal, ESRC will pay 80 per cent of the fEC, with the research organisation contributing the other 20 per cent. This length of time is intended to enable analysis of the data, and potentially some additional fieldwork in 2016. However, we expect that the majority of data collection activity will take place this summer and early autumn. We expect to fund one or two projects under this call.

Key dates

Project outlines must be submitted by 16.00 UK time on 9 June 2015

Full proposals must be submitted by 16.00 UK time on 30 June 2015

Grants to commence – 1 August 2015

 

Innovate UK, GB and other funders

Enhanced individual protective equipment

Up to £1 million is available for Phase 1 of this two phase competition funded by theMinistry of Defence (MOD).

The mission of the MOD’s Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) is “To equip and support our Armed Forces for operations now and in the future.” DE&S is responsible for procuring and supporting all the equipment and services for the UK Armed Forces.
  The ability to operate in harsh, hostile and toxic environments, whilst maintaining operational effectiveness is an enduring challenge. The overall aim is to provide fit, form and function. That is, provide the user with IPE that is comfortable to wear whilst also ensuring the user is able to operate safely, effectively and efficiently; whether this is on land, sea or in the air (or a combination of these).
The overall aim of the E-IPE challenge is to improve user effectiveness through a coherent and integrated clothing and protection system and bidders are requested to focus on one or more of the following seven key themes:

  • CBRN Protection – low burden, broad spectrum respiratory and dermal protection against toxic vapours, liquids and aerosols via integration with existing operational equipment
  • Climatic/Environmental Protection – for integration of protective clothing against extremes of hot and cold e.g. on the upper deck of a carrier
  • Fire Protection – enhanced level of protection and reduction of the thermo physiological burden of the fire protection on board ships/carriers
  • Industrial Protection – for personnel against, for example, hazardous materials or substances, noise etc
  • Blunt and Ballistic Protection – for integration of protective material into clothing without unduly affecting the human factors (bulk, thermal burden, range of movement)
  • Enhanced Hand Protection –to increase the capability and interoperability of gloves whilst providing increased functionality e.g. touch screen capability
  • Novel Fitting Techniques – to enable accurate measuring of the user for IPE in order to improve the accuracy of armour positioning and optimise the sizing and fit.

This competition opens on Monday 1st June and will close at 12 noon on Wednesday, 29th July, 2015.

A briefing event will be held in London on Tuesday 14 July 2015.

Birth paper cited one hundred times in Scopus

BU research, Featured academics, Publishing, Research news, Uncategorized

We have just been alerted that our paper has been cited for the hundredth time in Scopus. The paper ‘Maternity satisfaction studies and their limitations: “What is, must still be best’ was published in Birth. The paper originated from the Scottish Birth Study which we were both part of in our previous academic posts at the University of Aberdeen.

This paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of satisfaction studies in the field of maternity care, including the issues that service users tend to value the status quo (i.e. What is must be best) . The implications are that innovations, of which users have no experience, may be rejected simply because they are unknown. The paper warns that problems may arise if satisfaction surveys are used to shape service provision. We advised that satisfaction surveys should be used with caution, and part of an array of tools. While involving service users is important in designing and organizing health services, there is still the risk that using satisfaction alone could end up promoting the status quo.

 

Professors Vanora Hundley & Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

Reference:

van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V., Rennie, A-M, Graham. W., Fitzmaurice, A. (2003) Maternity satisfaction studies and their limitations: “What is, must still be best”, Birth 30: 75-82.

2015 BU PhD Studentship Competition – Round 3 Call for Proposals

BU research

The Graduate School is delighted to announce the launch of Round 3 of the 2015 BU PhD Studentship Competition. Potentially, there will be up to 8 studentships available across two parallel strands: (1) Matched Funded and (2) Fully Funded/Part-Funded.

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

Full details can be found on the Graduate School Staff Intranet.

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 5pm on Monday 13 July 2015.

Research Professional – all you need to know

BU research, Guidance, Uncategorized

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:

23rd June 2015

28th July 2015

25th August 2015

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.