Category / BU research

The 16th Annual Postgraduate Research Conference – Call for abstracts

BU research, Doctoral College, Events, PG research, Postgraduate Research

The Doctoral College is hosting the 16th Annual Postgraduate Research Conference in November and the call for abstracts is now open. 

The conference is a great opportunity to showcase and promote your research, whether you have just started, or you are approaching the end of your journey at BU.

Attending the conference offers a fantastic chance to engage and network with the postgraduate research community and find out more about the exciting and fascinating research that is happening across BU.

Postgraduate researchers (PGRs) are invited to submit their abstracts to present their research via oral or poster presentation:

Application Form and Guidance.

Closing date for submissions: Monday 21 October 09:00.

Registration to attend will open in November. The event will be open to all BU members and external participants.

Event details

Date of conference: Wednesday 27 November (all day)

Location: Fusion Building, Talbot Campus

View posters from last year’s Postgraduate Research Conference.

For any queries, please email pgconference@bournemouth.ac.uk.

ESRC South West Doctoral Training Partnership

BU research, Doctoral College, ECR Network, ESRC, PG research, Postgraduate Research, research staff, Research Supervision, Research Training

In November last year, it was officially announced that Bournemouth University was part of the successful South West Doctoral Training Partnership (SWDTP) re-bid to the ESRC. Being part of the SWDTP provides prestigious opportunities to compete for PhD Studentships and Post-Doctoral Fellowships. There are also a number of other benefits including funding available to staff at institutions affiliated with the SWDTP and being part of a wider community of postgraduate students.

The SWDTP is made up of the Universities of Bristol, Bath, Bath Spa, Bournemouth, Exeter, Plymouth, Plymouth Marjons and UWE. The SWDTP ‘Hub’ (based at the University of Bristol) manages an annual competitive process, on behalf of the ESRC, to award up to 34 PhD studentships and 4 Post-Doctoral Fellowships. Bournemouth were invited to join the re-bid in pathways that aligned to the ESRC remit and which scored above an ESRC set threshold in the REF 2021 exercise. Aligned to UoAs 4 (Psychology), 14 (Geography & Environmental Studies), and 24 (Sport & Exercise Sciences, Leisure & Tourism), BU are eligible to apply for studentships across three of the 17 SWDTP pathways: Psychology; Climate Change, Sustainability & Society; and, Health, Well-being & Society.

Despite an exceptionally short window in November last year, we were able to run a limited and streamlined process that enabled us to compete for a limited number of studentships. We are delighted that we will have 2 new ESRC funded studentships begin in September of this year. We are now in the process of developing our first full PhD application round for students who would start in September 2025. The Post-Doctoral Fellow competition is likely to take place in March next year. With 8 institutions aligned to 17 pathways and 34 studentships available annually, these studentships are, understandably, extremely competitive. As such, we are looking to support prospective postgraduate students in the development of competitive applications.

Whilst much of our messaging is oriented toward attracting potential students and developing competitive applications, we are keen to ensure all BU staff who align to the three pathways are aware of these potential opportunities. Indeed, two of the pathways in which we are eligible to apply are interdisciplinary pathways (Climate Change, Sustainability & Society; Health, Well-being & Society). This means that applications may well be strengthened through projects that draw on a number of disciplinary approaches, provided there remains alignment to the UoAs highlighted above and satisfy the ESRC criteria for Social Science.

At this stage, and in the first instance, we just wanted to make colleagues aware of these potential opportunities and outline a few ways you may want to get involved / be visible for future candidates. We would be happy to add colleagues aligned to these pathways to our own internal webpages (see links below) and to email distribution groups. If you would like to be added, please do message the relevant pathway leads (listed below). Also, if you are aware of potential students who may be interested in applying please do feel free to get in touch with the relevant pathway lead. Further, you are able to add your own details to the SWDTP prospective supervisor database in any of the three pathways which BU are currently involved. You are able to add yourself to this database here (deadline is 26th September).

Finally, we will be running a couple of ‘lunchbite’ sessions via the Doctoral College in September / October oriented toward academic colleagues (we will run prospective student sessions in due course). These are designed to provide a little more information about the SWDTP, the pathways to which we belong, the timelines for 2025 cohort applications, and aid supervisors with supporting potential applicants. Please do look out for more information coming soon about these sessions.

BU SWDTP Pathways

Insights from the Alan Turing Institute Data Study Group

BU research, data management, Doctoral College, Postgraduate Research, research opportunities, Women's Academic Network

Stepping into the world of data science at the Alan Turing Institute (ATI) Data Study Group from September 9-13, 2024 was an exhilarating experience. As the national institute for data science, the ATI’s strong connections to academia and industry set the stage for a week of intensive collaboration and problem-solving.

Joining the Transport for London (TfL) project within the hackathon-style event, I found myself amidst an eclectic team of 11 individuals, each bringing a unique set of skills and backgrounds to the table. The project’s challenge of identifying physical assets on the London Underground from point cloud data presented a thrilling opportunity to apply our collective expertise to a real-world problem.

The task at hand was no small feat – analysing point cloud data to pinpoint key track features along the London Underground network. With collected image data, our goal was to automate the detection and classification of critical track components such as sleepers, rails, signalling equipment, and more. Our team’s approach was multifaceted, involving rigorous preprocessing, segmentation model training, and advanced data analysis techniques. By leveraging tools like U-Net and SAM 2 for image segmentation and employing post-processing methods to extract valuable insights from the predicted masks, we made strides towards achieving our objectives.

As an individual who recently completed a PhD thesis on “Complex Urban Road Networks: Static Structures and Dynamic Processes,” this opportunity to apply my research expertise in a practical setting was both challenging and rewarding. The seamless blend of academic knowledge and hands-on problem-solving during the ATI Data Study Group not only expanded my technical skills but also reinforced the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in tackling complex data challenges.

Thanks to The Alan Turing Institute,  especially TuringDSG organisers for an incredible opportunity. I would like to extend my gratitude to my PhD supervisor Dr. Wei Koong Chai for supporting my professional and personal development.

Assemgul Kozhabek (Computing Department, SciTech  )

Understand what hate crime and discriminatory abuse are and how best to respond to them

BU research, Events, hate crime, Research Centres, Research news

Over the summer, Jane Healy (Principle Academic in Criminology at Bournemouth University) led an inter-disciplinary research team at Bournemouth University and Royal Holloway which has conducted a survey to evaluate approaches to safeguarding adults who experience hate crime and discriminatory abuse. 

Responses were received from across the UK, identifying challenges and providing examples of good practice. We are keen to share these findings as widely as possible.

The team are hosting a webinar where they will outline the context of hate crime and discriminatory abuse and discuss the anonymised findings and next steps, in a free online event on Tuesday 22 October 2024, from 12pm to 13:30pm. 

Please click on this link to reserve your tickets: Exploring restorative practice approaches to safeguarding adults Tickets, Tue 22 Oct 2024 at 12:00 | Eventbrite 

Please forward to anyone who might be interested in learning more about hate crime and discriminatory abuse, and the research findings.

We look forward to seeing you all at the online event.

Jane Healy and team

Research Connect – MSI Monthly Research Seminar Series Launched

BU research, ECR Network

On 11th September 2024, department of Marketing, Strategy and Innovation (BUBS) launched the Research Connect Seminar Series, a monthly event aimed at providing a supportive space for academics and PGRs to share their research and receive constructive feedback. The series is designed to help PGRs build confidence in presenting their work while encouraging collaboration among researchers.

The one hour long seminar format includes two presentations—one by a staff member and one by a PGR—each followed by a discussion. In the first session, Tim Gale presented his research on tourism, and Mukeh Kenneth shared his study on disaster risk governance in Sierra Leone.

The series will continue in the academic year until May 2025, offering a great opportunity for MSI staff and PGRs to engage, present, and collaborate.

Making Research More Inclusive: An Invitation to Health and Social Care Researchers for a Collaborative Event on 7th October

BU research, Events

Calling all health and social care researchers! Are you seeking ways to design more inclusive research opportunities? You are invited to join us for our next stakeholder event on Monday 7th October, where we are collaborating with community groups and people who are homeless and vulnerably housed to design inclusive ways of involving people who do not typically engage in research.

Purpose: The aim of the I am more than…. project has been to create inclusive, shared spaces for people from the homeless community (people who are homeless or vulnerably housed, as well as the staff and volunteers who support them) to share with health and social care researchers and colleagues what having a voice and being involved in research means to them. This allows us to come together to understand the barriers and enablers to participation and to co-create inclusive opportunities in health and social care research.

This event will share updates on the learning so far and be used to co-design a sustainable model for researchers to harness the expertise of people with lived experience of homelessness and being vulnerably housed. Together, we will explore how to develop research collaborations with voluntary and community sector organisations.

Tickets are available via the link below.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/rend-2-research-engagement-with-people-who-have-experienced-homelessness-tickets-993657615677

Events taking place as part of UK National Postdoc Appreciation Week

BU research, Doctoral College, Events, Research communication, Research Training

Postdoc Appreciation Week logoUK Postdoc Appreciation Week (PAW) is an annual nationwide event celebrating the contribution postdocs make to research and academic life.

This year, Postdoc Appreciation Week runs from Monday 16 September to Friday 20 September with free events taking place to connect and support researchers.

The PAW flagship event this year, Into the Postdoc-verse: building relationships across dimensions, will explore how to authentically network and build long-lasting relationships across disciplines/sectors. This will include live networking sessions to practice and build connections right away as well as a keynote talk by Dr Steve Cross, founder of Bright Club.

The event takes place 10am – 12.15pm, Monday 16th September.  Register here: https://event-lab.co.uk/paw/

To celebrate the 5th anniversary of PAW,  free online 1-2-1 careers sessions are also available on Tuesday 17th September for those who do no have institutional support for careers/CV clinic. Sign up here: https://tinyurl.com/UKNPAWcareers

Find out more about UK Postdoc Appreciation Week on the PAW website. 

Paper with a difference

BU research, Featured academics, international, open access, Publishing, Uncategorized, writing

Last night ResearchGate informed us that our paper ‘Understanding health education, health promotion and public health‘ had reached 6,000 reads [1].  This reflective paper in an Open Access journal tries to bring a little more clarity in the confusion around the difference between the concepts of health education, health promotion and public health. We argue that such confusion does not limit itself to the individual terms but also to how these terms relate to each other. Some authors and public health practitioners use terms such as health education and health promotion interchangeably; others see them clearly as different concepts.

In this theoretical overview paper, we have first of all outlined our understanding of these individual terms. We suggest how the five principles of health promotion as outlined by the World Health Organization (WHO) fit into Andrew Tannahill’s model from 2009 [2] of three overlapping areas: (a) health education; (b) prevention of ill health; and (c) health protection. Our schematic overview places health education within health promotion and health promotion itself in the center of the overarching disciplines of education and public health. We hope our representation helps reduce confusion among all those interested in our discipline, including students, educators, journalists, practitioners, policymakers, politicians, and researchers.

The paper is co-authored by a primary school teacher based in Dorset, and four professors who have a combined experience in the wider public health field of over a century.

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health

 

References:

  1. van Teijlingen, K., Devkota, B., Douglas, F., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2021) Understanding health education, health promotion and public health, Journal of Health Promotion 9(1):1-7.
  2. Tannahill, A. (2009). Health promotion: The Tannahill model revisited. Public Health, 123(5),396-399. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2008.05.021

Presenting Studies on LLMs Reasoning Capabilities in Sentiment Analysis of Mass-Media texts at NLPSummit-2024

BU research, conferences, Events, Knowledge Exchange, research methods, Uncategorized

 

As a part of reseach studies in Natural Langauge Processing (NLP) field, this year I am delighted to present the most recent advances of Generative AI in it at NLPSummit-2024. The 5’th summit represents a free online conference September 24-26, hosted by JohnSnowLabs. The conference is dedicated to showcase the best practices, real-world case studies and challanges in Generative AI for Natural Language Processing.

By joining to my talk you become aware of how Large Language Models (LLMs) could be applied for retrieving implicit information from non-structured texts. Sentiment Analysis represent one of such problems, and as a task aimed at extraction of the hidden opinion of the author towards objects mentioned in text. We start by discovering reasoning capabilities of the most popular Large Language Models (ChatGPT, Mistral, Gemma, Microsoft-Phi, and more) out-of-the-box to show their limitations in retrieving authors opinion from Mass-media texts. To address the existed limitations in models reasoning capabilities 🧠 , we cover Chain-of-Thought technique and explore the way of its proper adaptiation in Sentiment Analysis. It is worth to note that the techniques, to be covered, could be distributed and adapted in the other domains that go beyond Mass-media. Such domains include but are not limited to: medical (adverse drug reaction), literature (fictional chatbot development), conversational (emotion extaction / empathy mapping).

These advances were achieved while at Centre for Applied Creative Technologies CfACTs+ by working on “Marking Medical Image Reports Automatically with Natural Language Processing (NLP-MMI)” project.

The keylinks realted to the event and presentation in particular, are as follows:

📍 Event page: https://www.nlpsummit.org/nlp-summit-2024/
⏰ When: 24-26 September 2024 (Online)
⭐ Project: https://github.com/nicolay-r/Reasoning-for-Sentiment-Analysis-Framework

Dr. Nicolay Rusnachenko
Research Fellow at Centre For Applied Creative Technologies PLUS (CFACT+)
Bournemouth University

RKEDF: Early Career Researcher Network – Introduction/New to BU

BU research, ECR Network, research staff, Research Training, RKE development framework, Training

RKEDF: Early Career Researcher Network – Introduction/New to BU

Weds 2nd Oct 14:00-15:00, Talbot Campus

 

This session is facilitated by BU Professors and ECRN conveners.  It is an open introduction to working, researching and thriving at BU where you will learn about key contacts and services, how to manage the expectations of your role, and share advice on developing your skills as an early career researcher.

It is open to all who identify as being in the early stages of their research career – whether a Postgraduate Researcher, newly-appointed academic, or returning to research.

Book your place here

If you are not already a member of the Early Career Researcher Network (ECRN) but would like to be, or if you have any questions, please contact: RKEDF@bournemouth.ac.uk.

 

Open and Engaged Conference at the British Library

BU research, open access

International Open Access week will take place this year on October 21 – 27, 2024. Open Access week is a global initiative which offers an opportunity for the academic and research community to continue to learn about the potential benefits of Open Access, to share what they’ve learned with colleagues, and to help inspire wider participation in helping to make Open Access a new norm in scholarship and research.

As part of the week, on 21 October 2024, the British Library will host a one-day conference, Open and Engaged 2024: Empowering Communities to Thrive in Open Scholarship.

This hybrid event will take place at the British Library’s Knowledge Centre in London, St. Pancras and will be streamed online for those unable to attend in-person.

More about the conference including the full programme and a link to the registration form are available at https://blogs.bl.uk/digital-scholarship/2024/08/open-engaged-2024.html

If you have any questions, please contact the British Library directly at openaccess@bl.uk.