Category / BU research

Measuring research impact – report from the Medical Research Council shows the societal reach of research

BU research, Research news

Measuring research impact beyond academia is becoming a standardised part of research.  Thanks in part to the changes to the REF, more and more emphasis is being placed on the need to demonstrate the value of research more widely.  With that in mind, the latest research outputs, outcomes and impact report from the Medical Research Council (MRC) is a useful tool for demonstrating that impact to a broad audience.  Based on research taken place over the last few years, the report gathers together impact statistics and case studies of key outcomes and explains them in language accessible to all.

It makes for interesting reading, with statistics showing:

  • 46% of MRC-funded research projects attracted further funding from more than 1,000 different funders,
  • Between 2006 and 2013, researchers took part in more than 23,000 public engagement events,
  • One fifth of researchers reported that their work had an impact on local, national or international policy,
  • 12% of awards led to the development of a product or intervention.

Statistics aside, some of the most exciting parts of the report lie in the stories and case studies identified.  For example, research about portion sizes from the MRC’s Human Nutrition Research Group went on to inform a recent ‘Portion Distortion’ campaign from the British Heart Foundation.  Not only did the research support an effective campaign, it was also used to influence public health policy in the Department of Health and prompted major food companies to re-shape their business strategies.

A further example from the MRC Institute of Hearing Research demonstrated how researchers were able to develop a new test to measure listening attention by measuring sound comparison and reaction times.  It looks at how quickly people respond to sounds, how quickly people can pick out changes in relevant information in sound and how well people ignore irrelevant information in sounds.  The test is being used in research training and testing, with versions available for both children and adults.

So what can be learned from this?  The report showcases only a few exciting and inspiring research projects funded by the MRC – clearly there is far more going on than can be reported.  However, it is an excellent example of the research work going on across the country and shows the wide range of impacts and outcomes research can have in areas such as policy, product development and industry collaboration to name but a few.  While research impact is still an emerging area, this latest report from the MRC shows why it is so important to measure it, as the contribution MRC-funded projects are making to society as a whole is clearly substantial.

You can find out more about BU’s research impact work here or by contacting the Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team.

Horizon 2020 – Innovate UK Webinars

BU research, Funding opportunities, Research news

The Knowledge Transfer Network invite you to H2020
Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation programme ever with nearly €80 billion of funding available over 7 years (2014 to 2020) – in addition to the private investment that this money will attract. It promises more breakthroughs, discoveries and world-firsts by taking great ideas from the lab to the market. The Knowledge Transfer Network in partnership with Innovate UK, is hosting a series of support workshops and events to assist business in accessing, partnering for, and understanding the opportunities presented by Horizon 2020. 
Webinars Announced…
15th Oct; H2020 Webinar: Energy Efficient Buildings Calls (EeB) 2015
 
21st Oct; H2020 Webinar: 2015 Calls for Proposals for Low Carbon Energy projects including renewable electricity, renewable heat, smart grids and energy storage
22nd Oct; H2020 Webinar: 2015 Calls for Proposals for Energy Efficiency projects
 23rd Oct; H2020 Webinar: 2015 Calls for Proposals for Smart Cities and Communities projects
 
20th-21st Nov, London; Pilot Live event: H2020 International Proposal Exercise on Built Environment Calls (EeB and EE)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Past Events 
European Funding for the Materials & Nanotechnology, Chemistry & Manufacturing Communities – Presentations available here.
Sustainable Value Chains – European funding for innovation in sustainable use and supply of resources – Presentations available here.
Get in Touch 
claire.claessen@ktn-uk.org

 
Support for a wide variety of business applying to H2020
The Knowledge Transfer Network events will provide support to a wide spectrum of businesses through a combination of information, networking, pitching, drop in surgeries & consortia building events.
Dates have been announced for a series of webinars covering Energy Efficient Buildings, Low Carbon Energy, Energy Efficiency and Smart Cities  & Communities. Details can be found below.Get involved

Which EU Internet of Things Large Scale Pilots? Consultation and Invitation for Commitment: This is your chance to influence what goes into the work programme – and show some willing, if you are so inclined. Participate here.
15th October; H2020 Webinar: Energy Efficient Buildings Calls (EeB) 2015
The webinar  will present the current Horizon 2020 Call for Proposals for Energy Efficient Buildings projects. The current Call for Proposals has a budget of 72M€ and includes topics on design tools for refurbishment of buildings, buildings design for new highly energy performing buildings and integrated approaches to retrofitting of residential buildings.
More >>
 21st October; H2020 Webinar: 2015 Calls for Proposals for Low Carbon Energy projects including renewable electricity, renewable heat, smart grids and energy storage
This webinar will highlight the forthcoming opportunities in Horizon 2020 Energy within the Low Carbon Energy Call topics. 
More >>
     
22nd October; H2020 Webinar: 2015 Calls for Proposals for Energy Efficiency projects
This webinar will highlight the forthcoming opportunities in Horizon 2020 Energy within the Energy Efficiency Call topics. 
More >>
     
23rd October; H2020 Webinar: 2015 Calls for Proposals for Smart Cities and Communities projects    
 
This webinar will highlight the forthcoming opportunities in Horizon 2020 Energy within the Smart Cities and Communities Call topics. 
 
More >>
     
20th-21st November, London; H2020 International Proposal Exercise on Built Environment Calls (EeB and EE)
 
The aim of this event is to facilitate the creation of potential consortia and smart proposals for 2015 around the EeB calls (Industrial Leadership) and the EE (societal challenge). The event is open only to 60 delegates with a max of 40 from UK and max of 20 from Europe. Please note that your registration is subject to approval by the Knowledge Transfer Network.
 

More >>
     

For even more information, please go to the KTN website and register on _connect, Innovate UK’s information portal, to receive personal updates relevant to you.

Introducing Jo Garrad – your Funding Development Manager

BU research, Guidance

Hello!  My name is Jo Garrad and I’m the Funding Development Manager within the Research and Knowledge Exchange Office.

I am responsible for overseeing all aspects of the management of pre-award support for external research and knowledge exchange funding applications across the University. My challenge is to increase the quality and quantity of proposals to support the achievement of the University’s research and knowledge exchange KPIs, and to design and implement best practice.

I have extensive knowledge of the external funding process from both sides having previously worked at the UK research councils for over 20 years.  I find that what I’ve picked up and learnt from being involved with academics for so long is beneficial when watching University Challenge.

I have a great group of people who represent the Funding Development Team.  The team comprises of Research Facilitators (including specialism in international and EU funding), Funding Development Officers, and a Funding Development Coordinator.  We can assist with all aspects of developing your proposal to increase your chance of success as we proactively contribute to the growth and development of research activity in schools/faculty.     

We have dedicated Research Facilitators available to develop and critique your proposal.  They can help you identify research teams; write, review and critique text; ensure your proposal meets the funder’s strategic aims; suggest ideas to strengthen the content of your proposal;  help you form inter/multidisciplinary research collaborations; and facilitate internal peer review.  The Facilitators will horizon scan research funders’ strategic agendas and potential future funding opportunities to ensure that we are ready to respond to these opportunities, maximising the Universities chance of success.  Paul Lynch and Emily Cieciura specialise in international and EU funding, whilst Jenny Roddis (contact for HSC and SciTech) and Alex Pekalski (contact for Media, ST and BS) specialise in UK funding. 

We also have Funding Development Officers (FDO) who provide  the school(s)/faculty with a single point of contact for all operational aspects of the pre-award process.  This includes checking eligibility and funder guidance, advising on timescales, costing and pricing, producing pre-award contractual documentation, institutional approval and proposal submission.  So, if you have an idea about what you want to apply for, contact your FDO and we’ll kick start the process.  Ehren Milner is FDO for Business School and the School of Tourism, Jason Edwards is FDO for the School of Health and Social Care, Dianne Goodman is FDO for the Media School, and Kerri Jones and Alice Brown (joining us in December) are FDO’s for SciTech.

In addition, we are responsible for the success of the development initiatives, which includes the Grants Academy, EUADS and BRAD.  You can find out all about these on the research lifecycle pages here.  Our Funding Development Coordinator (soon to be appointed) is responsible for administering these with oversight from the Faciliators.

So, a little bit about me to show that I’m not all work, work, work.  Outside of work I have a keen interest in birds.  I’m never far away from a pair of binoculars and you can find me most weekends walking around the New Forest staring at the sky or a bush and trying not to walk into a pony as I’m not looking where I’m going.  I particularly love all corvids as I find them fascinating.  The sight of a rooks beak and fluffy panteloons brings me great joy.  When I’m not bird watching, you can often find me watching football.  In particular, Swindon Town or more recently the wonderful non-league Bashley FC (is it obvious that I’m not following a team for glory?).  I love holidaying in the UK and am a keen walker (goes hand in hand with bird watching).  I probably spend too much time at beer festivals and like to think of myself as a gin connoisseur.

That’s enough about me.  As soon as you have an idea about what it is that you want to do with research funding or if you want advice on how to kickstart research funding then get in touch with the Funding Development Team.  We’re here to help.

International History of the Radio Documentary

BU research, Research news

The first open meeting of the Centre for Media History will be this coming Monday, 13 October. The guest speaker will be Virginia Madsen, Convenor Radio at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia who will be talking about her forthcoming book on the international history of the radio documentary

 

Monday 13 October

6 – 7.30 pm

Lecture theatre KG03 in Kimmeridge House, Talbot campus Refreshments served from 5.30 pm

 

Virginia Madsen is a Senior Lecturer and Convenor Radio at Macquarie University, Sydney. Formerly a producer for Australia’s ABC, she was a founding member of the national audio arts programme, ‘The Listening Room’. She has published pioneering essays exploring the radio documentary and ‘feature’, and ‘cultural radio’ traditions. She is currently writing the first international history of ‘the documentary imagination’ in radio, examining forms and developments from the 1920s to the present renaissance. Virginia is Chair of the Management Committee of Australia’s only Centre for Media History and Chief Investigator of the ARC Project (2014): “Cultural Conversations: A History of ABC Radio National”.

 

Congratulations to BU Visiting Faculty on latest publication

BU research, Featured academics, PG research, Publishing, Uncategorized

Congratulations to Bournemouth University’s Visiting Faculty Dr. Bibha Simkhada and Prof. Padam Simkhada for the paper on financial barriers to the uptake of antenatal care in a rural community in Nepal.1   The first author (a native Nepali-speaker) conducted 50 face-to-face interviews with women and their families in rural Nepal.  These interviews were thematically analysed after transcription.

This latest paper adds to our knowledge into user costs related to maternity services in Nepal as we had already published our findings on users costs in the largest obstetric hospital in the capital. 2

 

Professor Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

 

References:

  1. Simkhada, B., van Teijlingen, E.R., Porter, M., Simkhada, P. & 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

 

  1. Simkhada, P.P., van Teijlingen, E., Sharma, G., Simkhada, B., Townend, J. (2012) User costs and informal payments for care in the largest maternity hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal, Health Science Journal 6(2): 317-334.  www.hsj.gr/volume6/issue2/6212.pdf

 

Congratulations to Dr. William Haydock

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

 

Congratulations to William Haydock, researcher in HSC, for his recently published paper in Capital & Class 38 (3): 583-600. 

The paper “‘20 tins of Stella for a fiver’: The making of class through Labour and Coalition government alcohol policy” is available from: http://cnc.sagepub.com/content/38/3/583.abstract

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

Cyber Security seminars for 2014-2015 start with a bang

BU research, Fusion

Yesterday, we held the first of this academic year’s cyber security seminars.  We hosted Dr John Lyle from Facebook, who spoke to a packed audience in the Barnes Lecture Theatre about some of the challenges fighting spam at Facebook.  After his talk, John described how impressed he was with some of the thought provoking questions raised by audience.

Our next seminar will be on Tuesday, 25th November and will be delivered by Dr Andrea Atzeni from the Computer and Network Security group at Politecnico di Torino.  Andrea will be visiting us that week as part of our Fusion funded Bournemouth European Network in Interdisciplinary Cyber Security (BENICS) project.  Watch this space for more details about  Andrea’s talk.

Our interdisciplinary seminar series on Cyber Security is a wonderful opportunity to hear interesting, thought-provoking talks on a variety of topics related to security and privacy.  Although some of these speakers will be academic, their talks will be approachable and require nothing more than a general interest in security, and an enquiring mind.  We’re also interested in ideas about possible speakers or seminar topics, so please get in touch if you have any suggestions.

Understanding the constructions of the ‘other’: co-produced knowledge and understanding of ‘terrorists’ and ‘terrorism’

BU research, Fusion, Research news, student research

Last year, I put together a small HEA individual grant to build upon our earlier research concerning terrorism and social work education, and civil unrest and welfare in Muslim countries. Unfortunately, the bid was unsuccessful but one should never let a good bid go to waste. Given that it was education focused, based around co-production and student enhancement – a ‘fusion’-based project! -I thought rather than try somewhere else for funding I would embed it into the third year undergraduate Sociology unit Terrorism, Protection & Society, where it would have sat if successful.

The project encourages active student engagement in learning, employing a methodology of co-production of knowledge in which skills to collaborate in producing critically informed and societally beneficial knowledge will be developed. Students are reading, critically, major UK newspapers, identifying and analysing those articles that mention ‘terrorists, terrorism or terror’ and associated concepts. From this they are engaged in identifying the processes by which our dominant cultural frames are constructed and can be challenged. The project findings, once 30-days worth of newspapers have been scoured for relevant articles, will be widely disseminated through the production of academic papers, a submission to eBU and through conference presentations.

Students following the Terrorism, Protection & Society module, engage in learning how the ‘other’, in this case ‘terrorist’, is constructed within popular debate and within the public media in the UK. As part of the project rooted within the unit, students will also analyse the media’s use of target terms (terrorist, terrorism, terror and so on) through a content and discourse analysis, and debate the potential consequences of this for contemporary society and for developing a deeper and more nuanced understanding that can assist in restraining social conflict, violence and the ‘othering’ of those who may be associated with core characteristics of ‘terrorists’ according to the socio-cultural master-narratives created by media representations.

Students will produce a paper with academic staff for the eBU on-line journal; most co-production of academic papers with students occurs at postgraduate level and this project has a degree of originality in promoting co-production of academic knowledge with undergraduate students, something we have done already in respect of edited books. Other academic outputs will be developed and students demonstrating interest and capacity will be invited to participate in their production.

Alongside the academic publications envisaged, this proposal meets BU’s fusion objectives in seeking also to add to the corpus of evidence of pedagogical benefits for students of knowledge co-creation and includes a focus on the student experience of the processes of learning.

Thus, as part of the teaching and learning students engage with, the project has wide reach and significance for student learning and pedagogical development by enhancing social and cultural understanding amongst students who will soon graduate, alongside producing autonomous and critically thinking individuals who can translate their learning and core skills into the employment market.

This week students energetically engaged with the preliminary data extraction and coding of those newspaper articles dealing with concepts and issues that were termed or could be termed as terror, terrorist, terrorism, extremism and so forth. The work undertaken helped to put in perspective some of the first two weeks’ lecture material and allowed the students to bring their own critical understandings to this complex and emotive area.

So far, the project has illuminated to me what an incredibly versatile and intellectually agile student body we have; people who will be an asset to the workforce of the future and a credit to our university! I am looking forward to the following weeks as the project unfurls.

 

Professor Jonathan Parker

 

Sociology students engaged in research

 

Desperate for uninterrupted quality time on your grant application? Come to the Residential Research Retreat!

BU research

The Research Design Service South West (RDS SW) is offering a unique opportunity to researchers in health and social care across the South West of England.

The Residential Research Retreat provides an opportunity for research teams to develop high quality research proposals suitable for submission to national peer-reviewed funding schemes. The aim of the Retreat is to provide the environment and support to promote rapid progress in developing proposals over a relatively short time period. The Retreat is open to health professionals and academic partners working within the South West. 

At the Retreat you will be supported by a range of academic experts while developing your research proposal. Away from the workplace, you will work intensively on your proposal, while learning how to maximise its chances for successfully securing a grant. You will learn how to develop your idea into a viable and first class research proposal and experience research project planning at a professional level.

A delegate from last year’s Retreat said, “This has been an extremely valuable exercise and has really helped build an understanding of what is expected from NIHR funded projects. In order to ensure that new researchers are able to make feasible, rigorous, well-designed bids for funding, this week is essential.”

The Retreat will be held at the Ammerdown Conference Centre, near Bath in Somerset from  31st May to 5 June 2015 inclusive. To win a place on the Retreat, applications should be submitted by 1pm on Wednesday 7th January 2015.  Applications will be reviewed competitively and places awarded to the most promising team proposals. The application and further information is available at http://www.rds-sw.nihr.ac.uk/rrr.htm.

Don’t forget, your local branch of the Research Design Service is based within the BU Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) on the 5th floor of Royal London House. Feel free to pop in and see us or send us an email.

 

BU researchers nominated for national award

BU research

Professor Peter Thomas and Dr Sarah Thomas from the Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) are part of a team nominated for a prestigious MS Society Award.

They were one of three research teams to reach the finals of the MS Research of the Year Award for their FACETS research. FACETS is a fatigue management programme for people with MS which incorporates ‘energy effectiveness techniques’ alongside cognitive behavioural strategies to teach helpful ways of thinking about fatigue.

They studied 164 people with MS and reported 40% of participants who received FACETS in addition to their routine care had a meaningful improvement in fatigue levels, compared with 19% who received routine care only. The FACETS programme is now being delivered by healthcare professionals across the UK and could help thousands of people manage fatigue.

The awards ceremony was held in London on Monday 6th October, and hosted by radio presenter Scott Mills. Other awards presented on the day included MS Employer of the Year, MS Volunteer of the Year, MS Young Person of the Year and MS Carer of the Year.

Although narrowly missing out on the award, they were extremely grateful to have their research recognised. On being nominated for the award they said, “Our research programme started 12 years ago so this has been a considerable journey.  We feel privileged to have had the opportunity to conduct this research and it’s been an extremely rewarding experience.

“Fatigue is a huge issue for people with MS and so we hope that recognition of our research will help to increase awareness of this very common MS symptom and will highlight the debilitating impact it has on people’s lives. It’s extremely important to expand and improve services and interventions available to people with MS as these can help people to negotiate the challenges of the condition and improve day-to-day quality of life.

“Our research has demonstrated that FACETS reduces people’s fatigue and increases quality of life and that these effects can last a long time. We greatly appreciate the backing of the MS Society and the support they have provided in rolling out the FACETS programme across the UK.”

For more information about the MS Society Awards visit http://www.mssociety.org.uk/about-us/ms-awards.

Introducing the BU Research Lifecycle diagram!

BU research, Research news

I am delighted to introduce you to our Research Lifecycle diagram – a jazzy new 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.

 

2015 BU PhD Studentship Competition – Call for Research Projects – now OPEN

BU research

The Graduate School is delighted to announce the launch of the 2015 BU PhD Studentship Competition. Potentially, there will be up to 50 studentships available across two parallel strands: (1) Matched Funded and (2) Fully 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 October 2015 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 19 January 2015. Funding decisions will be made in line with the Studentship Policy within 4 weeks of the deadline.

When telling tales is good!

BU research, Funding opportunities

The RCUK Digital Economy Theme ‘Telling Tales of Engagement’ Competition 2014

The RCUK Digital Economy Theme is running a competition designed to help capture and promote the impact that your digital economy research is having. Three prizes of £10,000 are available to support researchers to further tell the story of your research impact in an interesting and engaging way to a wider audience.

Key Dates

Activity Date 
Call for EoIs launched 05 September 2014
Deadline for EoIs 19 November 2014
Panel and Funding decision 06 December 2014
Award duration From January 2015

Summary
The RCUK Digital Economy Theme (DET) is running a competition designed to help capture and promote the impact that your digital economy research is having. Three prizes of £10,000 are available to support researchers to further tell the story of research impact in an interesting and engaging way to a wider audience. The competition, which has been co-developed with the National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB), is designed to produce very informative case study exemplars which can be used to help the wider research community develop understanding of the nature of a pathway to impact. It aims to encourage applicants to tell a story to describe the pathway to impact which actually occurred. This should be even more informative because understanding how impact arises is key to planning for future impact pathways. They want the stories to portray impact as including what capability has changed outside the institutions, and what benefits that exercising this capability change has then delivered. Each “Tale of Engagement” should show how the actual impact arises and the evidence of the impact itself and will thereby show clearly the link between the impact and the research. Choosing how to tell the story should reflect the nature of the story itself. The story should stimulate thinking on a more imaginative and illustrative ways to tell the tale of engagement and the resulting impact.

How to Apply
Please complete the form at the main call page (http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/calls/tellingtales2014), addressing the questions raised in “Scope of Competition” section and taking into account the “Guidance on completing proforma” notes below. Please ensure you include a single PowerPoint slide which summarises your entry in an interesting and engaging way.

DEADLINE: 12:00 (noon) on Wednesday 19 November 2014.

You can find further information here: TellingTalesOfEngagementCall

If you have any questions, then please do contact:
EPSRC
Dr John Baird 01793 444 047
Mrs Ruth Slade 01793 444 261
tellingtalesofengagement@epsrc.ac.uk

RKEO – Thank you

BU research

Image of Dr Heather HartwellI would like to publically thank, acknowledge and show my gratitude for the help and support from all those on the 4th floor of Melbury House.

We are extremely fortunate at Bournemouth in that we have a team who not only are extremely efficient at what they do but are always willing to help and as a bonus always with a good sense of humour.  Without this assistance and encouragement a wide range of activities from grant bidding, to public engagement, to publishing open access would be far more challenging.

So a big thank you to all, you are much appreciated.

Beware of rogue journals.

BU research, Guidance, Publishing, REF Subjects, Research themes, Uncategorized

Open Access: not every new journal is rogue!

Open Access publishing is the hot topic in academic publishing.  It comes from the idea that publicly funded research used to end up in expensive journals which are difficult to access and which are expensive to users.  It also made for real ivory tower research and it did not give the general public, often the funder of research through taxation or charity access to the studies which they ‘paid’ for in the first instance.   The success shows in (a) the rising Impact Factors of online Open Access journals, such as, for example BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth; (b) the requirement for the UK funding bodies that all research its funds needs to be published as Open Access by 2016; and (c) the growing number of traditional academic journals that now offer authors the option to pay for online Open Access in addition to the traditional paper-based journal publication, for example Midwifery.  Two further signs of success are:  (d) the growing popularity of Open Access Week, this month (20-26 Oct.) we celebrate for the 7th time Open Access Week ( http://www.openaccessweek.org/); and (e) the growing number of rogue journals trying to cash in on the Open Access trend.

 

The latter is the ugly face of capitalism whereby opportunists, i.e. unscrupulous publishers jump on the bandwagon cashing in on a successful service.  BU librarian Jean Harris recently shared an interesting article about Predatory Publishers (see: www.cilip.org.uk/cilip/blog/are-we-doing-enough-warn-users-about-predatory-journals?utm_source=Communicator_membership_list&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=Untitled21&utm_campaign=Weekly+News+from+CILIP%2c+18+Sept+2014).   Predatory publishers create a convincing looking scientific journal on the web, often borrowing details from other journals. They then email academics and researchers for both manuscripts and the offer to sit on the journal’s editorial board.  Submissions are then “peer reviewed” and an invoice for Open Access publishing emailed by return. No submission is rejected!  Many of us will have received such spam emails.

The message is not the fall for the scam.  Prospective authors should check the webpages of the journal (although some fake ones can be convincing).  Talk to more experienced colleagues in your field or your librarian to find out what they know about the ‘new’ journal, do they know someone on the editorial board.   Is the journal listed in reputable electronic databases such as SCOPUS?  Please, do not rely on information from Google on the journal you are trying to suss out!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

 

 

 

Successful application for Fusion Investment Funding for study leave

BU research, Fusion

After a nervous wait, I was so excited when the anticipated email from the Fusion Investment Fund Committee popped into my in-box on the 7th August. With shaky fingers I clicked on the email, was this good news or not? Had I been successful in my bid for Fusion Investment funding? I was surprised and overjoyed to find the answer was yes!
I co-lead and coordinate the undergraduate student midwife caseloading initiative, a dynamic experiential practice-based learning strategy developed and pioneered by Bournemouth University (BU) in 1996. Caseloading practice requires students (supervised by a qualified midwife) to provide continuity of care for a small group of women throughout pregnancy, birth and the early days of parenting.
Given that it is now national policy that midwifery undergraduate students engage in caseloading it’s important to have an evidence-base on which to base best practice. Whilst there is robust evidence of women’s experiences of continuity from qualified midwives, there is a paucity of information regarding students. No formal research into women’s experiences of this approach to student involvement in care appears to have been undertaken in the UK.
My doctoral study aims to hear women’s personal stories to develop an understanding of how being part of a student midwife’s caseload may have impacted on their childbearing experience. Utilising qualitative methods, the study follows women’s experiences of continuity of care provision from a student midwife to identify themes of significance to the individual women in the study, and the women as a group. I am interested to hear women’s stories of how they develop and maintain relationships with the student, how they report the care provided in relation to their holistic needs and aspects of significance as identified by the women.
Six women have been recruited to the study. Participant stories are sought on three occasions; twice during pregnancy and once in the postnatal period. Data gathered is analysed using interpretive approaches within a narrative inquiry framework to identify themes of significance to the individual women within the study, and the women as a group.
It is imperative that midwifery education prepares students for employment within the ‘real world’ of midwifery practice. My study is embedded within the industry of midwifery; practice. Service user experience is central to quality practice provision and at the heart of student education. Through the fusion of research co-constructed with service users, practice and education, timely completion of my doctoral work has the potential to benefit students, women as service users, and professional practice.
My success in securing funding for study leave to write-up my doctoral thesis, will enable early dissemination of study findings to inform a currently limited evidence-base for best practice in student midwife caseloading. Dissemination of this knowledge will build on BUs footprint of scholarly work in this field. It will also enable me to be part of REF 2020 and help build critical mass in our next REF and reputation for midwifery/health at BU. Given the currently limited body of knowledge and growing interest surrounding student midwife caseloading practice, timely completion of my PhD also provides a platform for bidding the research councils. Little is known for example, of the emotional work of caseloading for students and midwifery mentors, or how best to prepare and support practitioners for this experience. Further work around service user perspectives is also required. These strands afford opportunity for co-working and c-constructing research projects with students, practitioners and service users. There is also the potential for collaborative work across HEIs in the UK, and countries offering similar educational schemes.
Thank you Fusion Investment Fund!

Post Graduate Researchers at BU, your say!

BU research, PG research

From today, all members of the post-graduate research community are invited to complete the BU Post Graduate Researchers Experience Survey (2014-15) or the Arrivals Survey, for recent starters. This is a vitally important opportunity for you all to share your thoughts, views and opinions about working at BU. Your responses will help us to discover what is working well and what you think could be improved.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PGR_Experience_Survey_2014-15

 Post-graduates in every school and faculty play an important role in helping to improve the research profile of BU, whilst bringing many unique talents and abilities to the research environment. As such, it’s important that you feel valued and able to do your best at the University.

 The most recent PGR survey took place in 2013, being performed every two years, on the national scale. This allowed PGRs to share their views and engage on a wide range of important topics such as specialist resources, research skills, professional developments and support for teaching.  This new, annual survey has been developed by BU with our own PGR’s in mind, having been specifically tailored to your requirements, based on your feedback.

 The 2014 PGR survey will be distributed by email this week, so please take 15 minutes of your time to answer the questions and consider it as part of your normal working day. Once the results of the survey are collated towards the end of the year, we will build on this feedback, to find out how we are progressing and to help identify those areas where there is still work to be done.

 It’s also important to say that the survey is totally anonymous.

 I urge you to take the time to fill in the survey and have your say about issues that directly affect you. Your responses are essential to help us improve and grow as a workplace and as a University.

Remember the deadline for completion of the survey is the 27th of October 2014.

The SUBU Research and Information Team.

Review of CEL Grand Opening

BU research, Research news, student research

Following the launch of BU’s Centre for Excellence in Learning in April 2014, we now have a CEL room in the heart of the Talbot campus. On Tuesday 23rd September, the CEL space on the ground floor of Poole House, PG30a, was officially opened.  To mark the occasion, there were presentations from three well-renowned speakers about the ‘Importance of Learning’.  Professor Stephen Heppell, BU Professor in the Centre for Excellence in Media Practice (CEMP), began by talking on ‘The importance of the context for learning and the value of a Centre for Excellence in Learning’, followed by Professor Ron Barnett, Emeritus Professor of Higher Education at the Institute of Education in London, who spoke on the issue of ‘Flexibility in Learning; Challenges and Possibilities’ – his presentation can be viewed by clicking on the link below.  Dr Jenny Moon, BU Associate Professor in CEMP and National Teaching Fellow, concluded the presentations by sharing her thoughts on ‘Inspiring a passion for learning about learning’.

Following the presentations, invited guests gathered in the foyer outside the Centre to hear a few words from the Vice Chancellor, Professor John Vinney about the important work that CEL has initiated to date.  Before cutting the ribbon, the guest of honour, Professor Ron Barnett,  said how encouraged he felt about the prominence of CEL at BU as its central location was a clear representation of the value attributed to it.  A drinks reception followed where colleagues were able to further network and consider how best to use this very positive resource in taking forward student centred learning in future.

Flexibility – Bournemouth university