Category / BU research

NIHR RDS SW Residential Research Retreat application drop-in sessions 4th April 1-3pm and 6th April 11am-1pm

BU research, Events, Funding opportunities, Fusion, NHS, pre-award, Research news

 

 

 

The NIHR Research Design Service South West (RDS SW) is holding a Residential Research Retreat 13-15th September 2022 inclusive, at Dillington House in Somerset.

It offers a fantastic opportunity for research teams to develop high quality research proposals in health and social care suitable for submission to national peer-reviewed funding streams.  At the retreat there is advice on tap from a range of methodological advisers (statisticians, health economists, patient and public involvement experts, qualitative researchers etc.) and dedicated time to work on your proposal as a team.

FHSS is offering to cover the costs of  2-3 teams. Teams of up to 3 or 4 can attend the retreat, ideally with at least one member employed in an NHS, social care or public health organisation in the Southwest.  Multi-disciplinary teams with varied research experience will be considered favourably, and a mix of clinical and academic skills and experience is preferable. Teams may include service users or carers.

Places on the retreat are competitive and there is an application process. Fees may be waived for applicants from a public health or social care background, but applicants are advised to seek advice about this before submitting an application.

This is an excellent opportunity for academics who already have a proposal developed in health and social care research that is aligned with fusion and the strategic investment areas.

The deadline for applications is fast approaching: 20th April 2022.

What to do next?

You’ll need to book a slot with NIHR RDS SW Bournemouth site lead, Dr Sarah Thomas who is holding drop-in information and advice sessions to discuss potential applications.  After your slot you will be given an opportunity to apply for FHSS funding.

The sessions are from 1-3pm on Monday 4th April or 11am-1pm on Wednesday 6th April.  Please e-mail: wardl@bournemouth.ac.uk  to book your 15-minute slot.

Further details about the Residential Research Retreat, including the eligibility criteria and application process can be found here: Residential Research Retreat

Your local branch of the NIHR RDS (Research Design Service) is based within the BU Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU)

The NIHR RDS can advise on all aspects of developing a grant application and can review application drafts as well as put them to a mock funding panel (run by NIHR RDS South West) known as the Project Review Committee, which is a fantastic opportunity for researchers to obtain a critical review of a proposed grant application before this is sent to a funding body.

Contact us as early as possible to benefit fully from the advice.

Feel free to call Louise Ward on 01202 961939 or send an email bucru@bournemouth.ac.uk to make an appointment.

Research Professional – all you need to know

BU research, Funding opportunities

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 Research Professional. 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 Research Professional.

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 Research Professional. 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 Research Professional. They are holding two monthly sessions, covering everything you need to get started with Research Professional. 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 second Tuesday of every other month. You can register here for your preferred date:

10th May 2022

12th July 2022

13th September 2022

8th November 2022

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. Previous recordings can be found here if you can’t attend a session.

Have you noticed the pink box on the BU Research Blog homepage?

By clicking on this box, on the left of the Research Blog home page just under the text ‘Funding Opportunities‘, you access a Research Professional real-time search of the calls announced by the Major UK Funders. Use this feature to stay up to date with funding calls. Please note that you will have to be on campus or connecting to your desktop via our VPN to fully access this service.

The Friday Prof-ile: Richard Paul

BU research, Featured, Featured academics, Friday profile, Research communication

Welcome to The Friday Prof-ile – a chance to get to know some of our recently appointed Professors and Associate Professors a little better. Every Friday, we’ll be asking a different person the same set of questions to get an insight into their life, work and what makes them tick. 

This week, we’re chatting with Associate Professor in Bioanalytical Chemistry, Richard Paul… 

Headshot of Richard Paul

Richard Paul

What are your research interests? What made you want to study these areas?  

I’m a bioanalytical chemist and my particular focus is the study of biomarkers for forensic and medical applications. Essentially, I apply chemistry and instrumentation to solve problems. What I love most about this discipline of chemistry is the variety. I could be developing techniques for forensic casework, searching for traces of drugs in the environment, or using chemistry to contribute to the early detection of cancer – it can be very diverse!

What has been your career highlight to date?  

A couple of years ago I was asked to design and implement an analytical protocol that would be capable of detecting traces of psychoactive drug fumes in indoor air in UK prisons.

There have been increasing complaints from staff working in prisons of secondary exposure to psychoactive drug fumes, and our work is contributing to the evidence base on this issue.  The technical challenges the research presents are very significant. Drug fumes from smoking are diluted within the air of a large building, and so are at very low concentrations. There are also issues of thermal degradation, and complicated logistics of deploying the technology within prisons that have made the project exceptionally challenging.

Working with the various organisations involved on this complex, high pressure commission has been very rewarding.

What are you working on at the moment?  

I lead a project researching skin cancer metabolomics. We’ve developed a non-invasive technique to capture and identify volatile chemicals released from skin cancer sites. We’ve just completed a trial to assess the viability of the technique on cancer patients, and are now wading through the results. Developing and testing the technique was tricky, but the results are quite exciting. We’re seeing a lot of interesting biomarkers, some of which could be quite significant.

If you weren’t an academic, what would you be doing?

I’d probably be an analytical chemist working in industry, but really nothing motivates me more than the variety and opportunities of the job as an academic.

What do you do to unwind? 

I’m fairly obsessed with guitars so if I’m not playing guitar, I’m reading about guitars. Music in general is important to me.

What’s the best thing about Bournemouth? 

If we’re talking about the town, then I’d say the beach. I’m not a local, so it still feels like a holiday destination sometimes! In terms of the university itself, I’d say the culture here and my colleagues across the faculty.

If you could pick any superpower, what would it be and why?  

The ability to control time and space. Surely the most useful on the superpower wish list!

If you were stranded on a desert island, what one luxury item would you take with you? 

A 1959 Les Paul and a Marshall stack, plus some kind of everlasting power supply.

What advice would you give to your younger self? 

When opportunities present themselves, say yes.

Keep getting lost? Maybe you grew up in a city

BU research, Research news

I am absolutely delighted to be part of the amazing Sea Hero Quest team. Sea Hero Quest is a game for mobile phones in which users solve navigation tasks. With more than 4 million contributors/players it is one of the largest citizen science projects ever. We  used Sea Hero Quest to analyse navigation performance of several hundred thousand participants. In this Nature paper – which came out today – we showed that people who grew up in rural areas have better spatial navigation skills that those raised in cities.

Follow the links below for more information about the paper and Sea Hero Quest:

Elsevier-UK Institutions Agreement

BU research, data management, Impact, open access, Publishing, REF Subjects, Research communication, research integrity, writing

Elsevier and Jisc have established an agreement to enable continued reading access for UK researchers and to enable open access publishing. When publishing in eligible Elsevier journals, authors will be able to choose to publish open access at no additional cost to the author.

This agreement is effective until the end of December 2024.

This agreement supports corresponding authors affiliated with a Jisc participating institution (which BU is), regardless of the department in which they work.

Authors who publish under this agreement can:

  • Publish their peer-reviewed research open access in hybrid journals, at no charge to the author.
  • Publish their peer-reviewed research in fully gold open access journals at a discount on the list price APC.
  • Publish eligible articles in a wide variety of participating Elsevier journals across disciplines.
  • Rely on high-quality peer-review and experienced editorial support.

You can search for whether the intended journal falls under the agreement here.

Eligibility criteria

  • The author must be the submitting corresponding author affiliated with an eligible institution
  • Articles must have an acceptance date between 1.1.2022 and 31.12.2024

Instructions for corresponding authors

  • Once your article has been accepted for publication in a participating journal, you will receive an email containing a link to the “post-acceptance author journey”. Upon selecting your publishing options, your affiliation will be validated by your institution, and you will be informed if the APC will be covered by the agreement.
  • Upon publication, your final published open access article will be made freely available on ScienceDirect, the world’s largest publishing platform.

Other open access publishing options for authors

Authors can continue to choose to publish under the subscription model and self-archive their manuscript (Green Open Access) in line with Elsevier’s sharing policy.

Details of this agreement and others which BU holds with publishers such as Wiley and Springer, can be found here. Any queries, please contact openaccess@bournemouth.ac.uk

Reflections on Fieldwork in Nigeria: Celebrating World Down Syndrome Day, 21 March 2022

BU research, COVID-19, international, Postgraduate Research, Research news, writing

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, I travelled to Nigeria on 13 September 2021 for my data collection on adults (aged 18 years and above) with Down syndrome and their family members and caregivers. I had the opportunity to interact and build a long-lasting relationship with adults with Down syndrome as they are the main participants of my research. My trip was both exciting and challenging!

My research was meant to focus on South-West, Nigeria. Fortunately, I was able to cover the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria namely: South-West, South-East, South-South, North-East, North-West and North Central. I would say it was a blessing in disguise. 🙂

Interactions with adults with Down syndrome

On 28 September 2021, I visited my first recruitment centre – Down Syndrome Foundation Nigeria (DSFN), an organisation for people with Down syndrome located in Lagos State. During my visit, I was introduced to people with Down syndrome. The organisation followed global public health guidelines on COVID-19 such as wearing of face masks, washing of hands and use of hand sanitiser. There was no handshaking, they greeted me with their elbows. A male teenager aged 17 years and his classmates with Down syndrome prayed for me. It was a fascinating experience. I felt accepted by everyone and had fun all day.

Some adults with Down syndrome were friendly and willing to engage while some were shy. I observed them whilst they were learning in their classes and how they interact in the organisation. Many of them had smiles all over their faces confirming they were happy in their environment. On the same day, the DSFN President’s daughter, an adult with Down syndrome said she likes me and asked about my birthdate. I told her and she gifted me with a diary for my birthday. She was the first person to give me a gift for my birthday in 2021 which I truly cherish. She also offered me a canned drink and some cookies. She is very lovely and friendly. I went back the next day to start my data collection.

My first birthday gift in 2021 by a female adult with Down syndrome

Reports from adults with Down syndrome

My data collection was a combination of adults with Down syndrome in special schools, care homes and those living at home with their parents. For those in special schools, they go back home during the mid-term break (boarders and day students), while those living with parents did not go to school due to lack of funds. For boarders, most of them do not want to go home during mid-term break, they prefer to interact with their friends in school. The special schools and care homes have a better understanding of how to care for them. Most adults with Down syndrome reported they want to be independent, get married and have children, and have paid jobs. They reported they love singing and dancing.

Interactions with family members and caregivers

I had brief interviews with some family members and caregivers. The President & Founder of DSFN, Mrs Rose Mordi, was delighted that I am researching in this area. She added that there is low awareness of people with Down syndrome in Nigeria and some parents tend to hide their children/adults with Down syndrome as they feel ashamed, unaware of how to properly care for and support them.

I made three visits to Lady Atinuke Oyindamola Memorial Home in Badagry, Lagos State. I met with the Founder, Mrs Elsie Akerele, she welcomed me very well and was interested in my research. She pointed out that people with Down syndrome need to be respected for who they are. She added that the rights of people with Down syndrome need to be fought for, as she recalled how babies with Down syndrome can be killed by being thrown into the rivers to sacrifice to deities in Badagry and around the country. She reported she has requested the provision of a healthcare facility closer to the organisation from the Lagos State Government. The memorial home lost a child who was convulsing whilst travelling far to another location to get treatment. She indicated they urgently need an electroencephalogram (EEG) machine to check the brain conditions of people with Down syndrome in their care. She added that great attention should be placed on the dietary requirements of people with Down syndrome. Family members and caregivers reported that people with Down syndrome in Nigeria are often neglected, stigmatised and receive no financial support from the Nigerian government. Some raised concerns about who would take care of their adults with Down syndrome when they are dead as they are ageing.

Data collection and sample size

Over 90% of the data collection was done onsite and less than 10% was done online mainly for the Northern parts of Nigeria due to security issues.

It has been very difficult to collect data from adults with Down syndrome during the last year. As of 16 February 2022, I obtained self-reports from 166 adults with Down syndrome and proxy reports from 52 family members and caregivers covering the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria. Based on my visits to the recruitment centres, some caregivers (staff) informed me that COVID-19 impacted the finance of parents and were unable to provide resources for their adults with Down syndrome while some adults are locked at home. There was also confusion at times as to what I was trying to achieve, as many of the family members and caregivers are not well informed about the relevance of the survey. Despite providing information sheets and liaising with the organisations, a mother declined to participate in the survey as she said: “my child is not for an experiment.”

Engagement in my fieldwork

I was invited several times to participate in some events regarding people with Down syndrome in Nigeria such as seminars on Down syndrome awareness, a music session, and a birthday party.

I took a photo of myself during one of my visits to DSFN. As a Statistician, I am dedicated to applying robust statistical methods in advancing the quality of life of adults with Down syndrome and setting up databases on the demographics of people with Down syndrome to aid future research in Nigeria.

At DSFN, Lagos State during my data collection

Research progress

Researching adults with Down syndrome has provided me with valuable insights in several ways. First, it has made me understand who they are and how they feel. Second, they require early intervention in helping them to develop their skills particularly interpersonal and communication skills. Third, they love to learn, especially with the aid of visuals and music. Finally, they can achieve anything they want to.

I sincerely appreciate the adults with Down syndrome, family members and caregivers in Nigeria who participated in my research. Many thanks for their time, efforts, and valuable responses in ensuring this work was successful. I am grateful to my supervisors, Dr. Philip Davies, Dr. Emili Balaguer-Ballester and Dr. Jane Healy, for their guidance, consistent support and patience in my research progress. A special thanks to Dr. Vanessa Heaslip for her positive contributions to my work.

Conclusion

In conclusion, my journey in researching adults with Down syndrome has “just commenced.” I am glad I travelled to my country, Nigeria, for my research work. Based on the gaps identified in the literature and my research outcome, I am diving deeper into addressing them to improve the quality of life of adults with Down syndrome in Nigeria.

Psychology & Sociology Applied to Medicine translated into Greek

BU research, Featured academics, international, Publishing, Research news, writing

The popular medical textbook ‘Psychology & Sociology Applied to Medicine’ published by Elsevier has been translated into Greek.  This 2022 Greek addition was, published last month, was preceded by a Spanish translation last year.  Elsevier’s website call this fourth edition of the textbook, the “definitive and popular introduction to human behaviour in the context of health and illness includes three new chapters, many new contributors and a new co-editor. It is arranged in nine sections to cover the core concepts of psychology and sociology as they apply to medicine.”

Professor Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

 

Reminder: Weekly Funding Development Briefing and Spotlight on MSCA PF this Wednesday

BU research, Events, Funding opportunities, Research news

As promised earlier this month, the Funding Development Briefing on Wednesday 23 March at 12 noon will also include spotlight on Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (MSCA PF) 2022 Call. This year’s Call is expected to open on 13 April 2022, submission deadline 14 September 2022.

This session will cover:

  • Short MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships overview
  • Scope and expected outcomes
  • Basic eligibility rules
  • Award criteria
  • UKRO webinars available to BU academics
  • Internal processes

After presentation there will also be a short Q&A session available for those less familiar with the scheme.

For those unable to attend the session, slides will be shared on Brightspace.

To discuss more details about your potential EU project idea or MSCA scheme specifically, you are welcome to get in touch with RDS Research Facilitator International Ainar Blaudums.

SURE 2022 takes place on campus: Sustainability links also highlighted

BU research, Events, Research news

The 2022 version of SURE was held on campus in Fusion on March 16th and was the first face to face gathering since the pandemic.  More than 30 undergraduate students from all faculties did oral  presentations or academic posters.  Students were supported by the SURE planning committee with representatives from each faculty as well as other academics acting as chairs and assessors in parallel streams.  BU’s Doctoral College was also involved, supporting PG programmes and also Natalie Stewart as adjudicator.  Overall the event is supported by BU’s Event team as well as Rae Bell with communications.   Mini-keynote addresses were also given by new FHSS Executive Dean Professor Anand Pandyan and BUBS Sustainability researcher and academic Maria Musarskaya.  The gathering was also opened by Vice Chancellor John Vinney who also awarded the prizes to the students at the end.

Overall Prize Winners include:

Thomas Marshall (BUBS) £20 voucher – The Effect of Technology on Flexible Working Arrangements

Nathan Jacques Le Blancq (FHSS) £20 voucher – Queer Care – The identification of queer change effort victims in the pre-hospital setting

Looked at ‘gender conversion therapy’, covering the legal standing and the implications for health, physical and mental, and treatment received in the NHS as well as suggesting clear, practical opportunities to improve.

Androula Theocharous (FMC) – BCUR participation at Uni of Leeds – Creation of cultural and historical accurate character designs

Saga Oskarson KIndstrand (FMC) – Masters Fee Waiver award – Community and civic engagement in the Swedish ‘Folkhem’

This year’s edition of SURE was also aligned with a sustainability theme.  Although not a requirement of students to address it in their work, the programme was taken in by BU’s Sustainability team in Lois Betts and Eleanor Wills to review work that helps to highlight the UNSDG’s.

BU’s Sustainability Manager Lois Betts commented that. “Student research can contribute to solving world problems across the full breadth of Sustainability issues and we used the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to assess where students work has links across environmental, economic and social issues”.

The sustainability team recognised a student from each of the 4 faculties (BUBS, SciTech, HSS and FMC).  Issues ranged from understanding the impact of technology on flexible working from Thomas Marshall (BUBS) in the management school to Kira Doak’s (FMC) work on representations of feminism in Bridgerton which raised issues of race, class and gender in modern media from the faculty of media. BU’s sustainability team were impressed with Elaina Thomas’ (FST) science and technology work on magnetic bacteria in migratory species and the implications of human activity and finally from faculty of health and social science Nathan Jacques Le Blancq’s (HSS) work entitled ‘Queer Care – The identification of queer change effort victims in the pre-hospital setting’ covered a wide range of SDGs including 3 good health and wellbeing, 4 quality education, 5 gender equality, 10 reduced inequalities and 16 peace, justice and strong institutions. “Being able to identify the implications of your research on global problems and articulate them through presentations will help student research to contribute to addressing world problems. Well done to everyone involved!” Lois Betts, Sustainability Manager BU.

Below capture the assessment of the UNSDG alignment with the work that the student’s covered relating to sustainability:

BUBS

Thomas Marshall – The Effect of Technology on Flexible Working Arrangements

Showed the gender dynamics of flexible working and impacts on wellbeing and responsibility of the employer to create fulfilling and fair employment  –

Scored highly in SDG3 Good health and wellbeing, 5 Gender equality and 8 decent work and economic growth.

 

FMC

Kira Doak – Representations of intersectional feminisms in Bridgerton

Looked into gender, race and class in modern media and the impact of cultural conversation that creates.

SDGs linked 5 gender equality, 10 reduced inequalities and 4 quality education.

 

FST

(Jasmine) Elaina Thomas – Phylogenetic Associations and Proteins Integral to magnetotaxis of Host Associated Magnetotactic

Suggesting that migratory animals like birds and turtles rely on magnetic bacteria which can be influenced by human activity.

SDGs 15 life on land, 14 life below water and 9 industry, infrastructure and innovation.

 

FHSS

Nathan Jacques Le Blancq – Queer Care – The identification of queer change effort victims in the pre-hospital setting

Looked at ‘gender conversion therapy’, covering the legal standing and the implications for health, physical and mental, and treatment received in the NHS as well as suggesting clear, practical opportunities to improve.

Covered SDGS 3 good health and wellbeing, 4 quality education, 5 gender equality, 10 reduced inequalities and 16 peace, justice and strong institutions.