Category / BU research

What 35 Cities’ Road Networks Teach Us About Urban Complexity?

Publishing

What do Urban Road Networks reveal about life in the World’s Densest Cities?

A newly published paper, “A Multi-scale Network-based Topological Analysis of Urban Road Networks in Highly Populated Cities”, by recent PhD graduate Dr. Assemgul Kozhabek and Dr. Wei Koong Chai, explores this question by analyzing road networks from 35 densely populated cities worldwide—including those in China, India, Brazil, and Côte d’Ivoire. Using network science, the study offers fascinating insights into the structural patterns of urban road systems and their implications for city planning.

Key Findings 

  1. Macro-scale Insights:
    Cities with robust networks—those resilient to disruptions—tend to be more efficient, meaning they offer shorter travel distances. This highlights the importance of balancing robustness and efficiency in urban planning to prevent congestion.
  2. Meso-scale Patterns:
    The study reveals that these cities tend to be polycentric, with multiple key hubs rather than a single central core. Strong community structures (distinct, well-connected neighborhoods) and low core-periphery structures emphasize this decentralized nature.
  3. Micro-scale Observations:
    Critical intersections emerge in all cities, with betweenness centrality following a power-law distribution. This indicates that a few key intersections handle most traffic, making them vital for smooth flow.

Why It Matters 

For city planners, these insights offer valuable guidance. Designing cities with multiple centers, identifying key intersections, and balancing network robustness with efficiency can improve traffic management and urban resilience. As cities grow, smart infrastructure design will be crucial for sustainable urban living.

This study reminds us that cities are more than just buildings and roads—they’re dynamic, interconnected systems. Understanding their structure can lead to smarter, more livable urban environments.

Reference: Kozhabek, A. and Chai, W.K., 2025. A Multi-scale Network-based Topological Analysis of Urban Road Networks in Highly Populated Cities. Environment and planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/239980832513180

This work was partially funded by the Bournemouth-Christchurch-Poole (BCP) Council, UK and supported by an OpenBright Award.

         

Deposit function in BRIAN unavailable 11-12th February 2025

BRIAN, Publishing, staff profile pages

Please be aware that there will be a planned upgrade to BURO taking place 11-12th February. During this time, authors will not be able to deposit outputs into BURO via BRIAN.

Please do plan your use of the outputs deposit function in BRIAN accordingly to take this period of disrupted functionality into account.

For all BURO and BRIAN related queries, please email BURO@bournemouth.ac.uk and BRIAN@bournemouth.ac.uk respectively.

BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grants June 2025 round

Funding opportunities

BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grants June 2025 round

The call for the next round of BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grants will be opening soon, expected 9th April.

We are welcoming your proposals for the upcoming BA/Leverhulme Small grants call.

The below deadlines will be in place to ensure that the pre-award team can provide all interested academics with optimal support.

 

 

 

 

26th February 2025

 

 

 

 

 

 

26th Feb – 9th April

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Guidance Session –  follow the link below- 

Join us on the in person session, book a space at :

 

 

Work on your proposal between the allotted time- things to accomplish during that time by the 9th April:

-Brainstorm idea with peers/mentors and discuss the design, methods and approach you are planning to take

-Consider if you require additional funding development support, ie Research Facilitator support, External Application Reviewers, Bid writing – speak to RDS

-Organise your team, will you have a coi or the max of two at hand, do you need any further wider team (panel).

-Start a Flexi-Grant account and start an application in the system

 

-Submit your ITB and attach your draft proposal
9th April 2025 Call Opens -expected-
 

9th April 2025

 

 

10th -25th April

 Latest date to submit your ITB   

Remember to advise your referee that you will be sending them your completed application on Flexi-Grant and that their expected statement to be submitted by the 23rd May

 

Internal Peer review taking place
25th April 2025 If you are Grade 8 or below and you wish to use the support of an External Application Reviewer (EAR), you must submit your quality approved by the Faculty draft application to RDS by this date.
23rd May 2025 Nominated referee supporting statement to be completed via Flexi-Grant
24th May 2025 Your final application must be submitted on Flexi-Grant  by this date at the latest.

Click ‘submit’ and the form will be sent to BU’s accounts for RDS checks.
24th May – 4th June 2025 Institutional checks to take place by RDS and final submissions. – submission final dates estimated currently till call opens.

 

If you have any queries, please contact Eva Papadopoulou or your Funding Development Officer. 

Upcoming webinars on children’s palliative care

Dr Duncan Randall from Nursing Sciences has been invited to contribute to three Webinars.
He has already delivered one on 14th of January for the re formed education group of Together for Short Lives. One of the main children’s palliative care organisations in the UK. Over 50 people attended to hear about Duncan’s work with Dr Sue Neilson of the University of Birmingham on education standards for the Children’s Palliative Care Education and Traning Action Group and their follow up work on advance care planning for children. Coming up are a webinar for the Association of British Paediatric Nurses on 14th February and one for the International Children’s Palliative Care Network on 20th February. These will be delivered with Dr Neilson and Professor Julia Downing Duncan’s co editors from the new Children’s Palliative Nursing Care book. Each of the webinar will discuss children’s pallaitive care and the lessons learnt from editing a textbook with 30 authors from 13 countries. Link to ABPN Webinar below
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/childrens-palliative-care-frameworks-an-interactive-workshop-for-nurses-tickets-1051966529207?aff=oddtdtcreator.

European research project exploring use of ‘virtual twins’ to better manage metabolic associated fatty liver disease

A €10 million research project is exploring how digital duplicates called ‘virtual twins’ could help in managing and treating metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD).

MAFLD is the leading cause of chronic liver disease in Europe, surpassing viral hepatitis and alcohol-related causes. It can also play a role in the development and progression of cardiovascular disease.

Bournemouth University is one of the partners on ARTEMIs, a four-year research project funded by the European Union’s Horizon programme.

The project will explore how ‘virtual twins’ – digital duplicates of the liver, heart and other organs – can be used to track the development of the disease, leading to better and more personalised diagnosis and management of the condition.

This could help enable early detection of the disease, better prediction of the disease’s progression and more effective management of MAFLD and associated conditions.

The ARTEMIs project consortium group gathered in front of a buildingThe ARTEMIs project consortium

22 institutions from across Europe and beyond – ranging from hospitals to SMEs, academic partners and a patients’ association – are working together on the project.

Experts in data science and medical imaging at Bournemouth University are developing AI-based digital tools to support the digitisation and personalisation of the virtual twins.

“Through AI, we will investigate various clinical questions such as the progression of liver disease in MASLD patients and cardiovascular complications,” said Professor Hamid Bouchachia, Professor in Data Science and Intelligent Systems, who is the principal investigator for BU

“We will also develop the machine learning and AI tools to recognise and analyse patterns in patients and related factors, using data from various sources – including clinical data, imaging, and biological molecules.

“The outcome of such investigations will be integrated in a multi-scale computational virtual twin to facilitate the diagnosis and management of patients with MALFD. Such research will undoubtedly benefit patients suffering from this prevalent disease.”

To find out more about the project, please visit: www.bournemouth.ac.uk/ARTEMIS

Dipping into pond life with Dr George McGavin and Prof Genoveva Esteban

George McGavin and a lens

Image Copyright Dorset Wildlife Trust. Dr George McGavin (President of the Dorset Wildlife Trust) during a visit to a local school.

Join Dr George McGavin https://www.georgemcgavin.com/, one of the UK’s leading entomologists and authorities on the natural world, as well as an acclaimed TV and radio presenter, along with Prof Genoveva Esteban (microbial ecologist from SciTech in Life and Environmental Sciences), at the Dorset Wildlife Trust’s Kingcombe Visitor Centre. Together, they will examine the captivating world of pond life, including microbes. Find full details about the event and location here: Dipping into Pond Life | Dorset Wildlife Trust

Date: Saturday 8th March 2025. Two drop-in sessions: 10:30am to 12:30pm; and 1:30pm to 3:30pm

The event is free. No booking required. Everyone is welcome. Children must be accompanied by a responsible adult.

We will meet at Kingcombe Visitor Centre, Kingcombe Rd, Toller Porcorum, Dorchester DT2 0EQ. Parking is available on site.

This event is organised by Prof G. Esteban in collaboration with the Dorset Wildlife Trust as part of the Dorchester Science Festival https://discoverdorchester.co.uk/dorchester-science-festival/, an exciting programme of events to celebrate British Science Week, 7 – 16 March 2025.

Centre for Wellbeing and Long-Term Health (CWLTH)

The next Centre for Wellbeing and Long-Term Health (CWLTH) Research Seminar and Centre Meeting will be 13:00-14:00 on Tuesday 25/02/2025. Dr Jonny Branney and Dr Katey Collins will be leading a discussion about the Centre’s newest work stream ‘Rehabilitation and Prevention’. All are welcome to join this meeting … click HERE to join the meeting on Teams. Contact CWLTH@bournemouth.ac.uk for more information about the Centre.

New research paper published on DIGITAL NOMADS’ work-leisure management practices, Annals Tourism Research

New research paper published on DIGITAL NOMADS

Rainoldi, M., Buhalis, D., Ladkin, A., 2025, Digital nomads’ work-leisure management practices, Annals Tourism Research, Volume 111, March 2025, 103904, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2025.103904

The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly advanced digital technology adoption, transforming the knowledge work market and mainstreaming digital nomadism. While digital nomads often enjoy autonomy in choosing when, where, and how they perform their work, they face unique challenges in managing the intersection of work and leisure. Yet, literature on the practices digital nomads use to manage the boundaries between work and leisure is limited. This study combines the sociomaterial lens within practice theory and border theory to explore digital nomads’ workleisure management practices, analyzing 224 digital diary entries and 32 semi-structured in-depth online interviews to identify 25 practices. This study offers insights into digitally mediated workleisure practices of digital nomads, highlighting key aspects and implications for the tourism sector.

 

 

Postgraduate Research Showcase & Celebration

PG research

Get ready for the Postgraduate Research Showcase and Celebration! All PGRs and Supervisors are invited! 

The Doctoral College Postgraduate Research Showcase is scheduled to take place at the Atrium Gallery from 3 to 28 February 2025. This exhibition will showcase a selection of the posters presented at the 16th Annual Postgraduate Research Conference.

To launch the showcase, we are hosting the PGR Showcase Celebration event, as part of our 3C event series (Culture, Community & Cake). PGRs and Supervisors are invited to this social gathering and this time we are swapping out the cake for cheese and wine!

Date: Wednesday 5 February

Time: 15:00-16:00

Location: Atrium Galley, Poole House, Talbot Campus

Meet fellow researchers and academics, support your PGR community and celebrate some of the amazing research that is taking place at BU!

Don’t miss out, book your place below:

Showcase Celebration – register here

Any Questions please contact pgconference@bournemouth.ac.uk

Best wishes,

The Doctoral College

Writing for The Conversation – upcoming training opportunities

Would you like to build a media profile and take your research to a global audience by writing for The Conversation?

The Conversation is a news analysis and opinion website with content written by academics, researchers and PhD candidates working with professional journalists.

Since we first partnered with The Conversation, articles by BU authors have had close to 11 million reads and been republished by news outlets across the world.

Find out more about working with The Conversation and have the chance to pitch your ideas directly to one of their editors in our upcoming training sessions:

Writing for The Conversation interactive workshop

2-4pm, Wednesday 5th March (Fusion Building, Talbot Campus) 

In this interactive session, you’ll find out more about communicating your research to the public, what The Conversation is looking for, and have the chance to discuss your research with a Conversation editor and pitch potential story ideas.

Sign up via Eventbrite

One-to-one session with an editor from The Conversation

Between 2pm – 4pm (20 minute bookable slots), Wednesday 2nd April (online)

This one-to-one session with one of The Conversation’s editors is tailored to you and your research.

You’ll have the chance to discuss potential pitches and receive personalised advice and feedback on communicating your research to a general audience and turning your expertise into articles.

Book your 20 minute one-to-one session via Eventbrite.

Places on each training session are limited so please cancel your place via Eventbrite if you are no longer able to attend.

Find out more about our partnership and the benefits of working with The Conversation

Thinking about interdisciplinary research

international, PG research, Publishing, writing

Thank you very much for all those who attended last Wednesday’s monthly online session organised by BU’s Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (CMWH).  This event featured PhD student Mr. Shafkat Hossein who spoke about his thesis research ‘Using Human-Centred Design (HCD) to develop community-led interventions to prevent drowning among children under the age of 2 in rural Bangladesh’.  His work is part of an interdisciplinary study called ‘Sonamoni’ in which BU collaborates with CIPRB (Centre for Injury Prevention and Research, Bangladesh), the University of the West of England (in Bristol), the University of Southampton, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), and Design Without Borders (DWB) in Uganda.  Sonamoni aims to design and develop interventions to reduce the number of  young children drowning in Bangladesh.

This public health project is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) through its Research and Innovation for Global Health Transformation programme. For more information, visit the NIHR website.

The second speaker at the CMWH event was Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen, who spoke about trials and tribulations of conducting, running and managing interdisciplinary studies.  His talk was largely based on three three published papers co-written with BU academic and Faculty of Health & Social Sciences Visiting Faculty members on interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary working [1-3].  There are, of course, differences between multidisciplinary, and interdisciplinary and the even more integrated level of working called transdisciplinary.  At the same time the individual member of an interdisciplinary team needs to have individual field-based expertise in their own discipline, e.g. sociology, nursing, chemistry or law to bring required knowledge and skills to that team.

 

 

References:

  1. Shanker, S., Wasti, S.P., Ireland, J., Regmi, P., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2021) The Interdisciplinary Team Not the Interdisciplinarist: Reflections on Interdisciplinary Research, Europasian Journal of Medical Sciences 3(2): 1-5. https://doi.org/10.46405/ejms.v3i2.317
  2. Wasti, S. P., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P. (2020) Public Health is truly interdisciplinary. Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences, 6(1):21-22.
  3. van Teijlingen, E., Regmi, P., Adhikary, P., Aryal, N., Simkhada, P. (2019). Interdisciplinary Research in Public Health: Not quite straightforward. Health Prospect, 18(1), 4-7. https://doi.org/10.3126/hprospect.v18i1.19337

An inspiring visit to Türkiye! Towards gender equality in research and academia

conferences

On January 20-21, 2025, the VOICES in Action: International Event on Gender Equality in Science and Research took place at Izmir University of Economics (IEU). Organised and funded by COST Action VOICES, this two-day conference brought together a group of experts and researchers from across Europe to exchange knowledge and experiences on issues related to gender equality in academia and research. The event featured a lineup of speakers, including Dr Ola Thomson from BU Business School.

Day one set the scene with topics such as implementing Gender Equality Plans (GEPs) in universities and research institutions, integrating gender perspectives in research, and exploring the global challenges faced by women in STEM careers.

Ola, who is a management committee member and co-lead of VOICES, delivered a talk focusing on the activities of her working group in promoting inclusive mentoring as a strategy to advance gender equality in academia and research. Ola shared insights from the Mentoring Mapping in Europe project, which involved identifying and analysing existing mentoring programmes to better understand their impact and gaps. Additionally, she presented the outcomes of the Inclusive Mentoring Summer Training held in Bilbao in 2024, which had utilised art-based and co-creation techniques to enable mentees, mentors and programme managers to share their experiences of mentoring and create ten guiding principles on inclusive mentoring.

Day two was an interactive and hands-on experience for attendees, featuring co-creation workshops for early-career researchers. Ola and her two VOICES colleagues Dr Jennifer Dahmen-Adkins from Germany, and Şerife Durna from Türkiye co-led a World Café session, which explored the challenges impacting early researchers’ careers. Themes included the gendered nature of institutions and the impact of systemic inequalities, addressing the tension between professional demands and societal gender roles, examining gendered access to opportunities and critiquing notions of “meritocracy” and “excellence”, and lastly, sharing personal and institutional experiences to understand the prevalence and impact of bias.

This event was a rewarding opportunity to engage with a Turkish community of researchers and academics committed to shaping the future of gender equality in science and research. It underscored the importance of collaboration across Europe and Inclusiveness Target Countries such as Türkiye, where challenging socio-political systems operate and influence gender equality efforts and outcomes.

This work links to three UN SDGs: Gender equality,  Decent work and economic growth, and Reduced inequalities within and among countries.

New book by Dr Duncan Randall, DNS

Nursing is an essential component of children’s palliative care and palliative care is an essential aspect of nursing. Yet the complex inter-disciplinary nature of palliative care brings into sharp focus the work nurses undertake with others in delivering palliative care. This is, however, a book by nurses for nurses.
This comprehensive text presents the essential knowledge and skills required by nurses providing this invaluable care to a growing number of children. The chapters are mapped to the Children’s Palliative Care Education and Training standards. These are endorsed by the International Children’s Palliative Care Network, a major partner with the World Health Organization in the push to make children’s palliative care a universal health right. In its three Parts, Children’s Palliative Nursing Care covers public and universal care, core nursing and specialist care. The chapters can be read individually or cumulatively to move from engagement in public health and public understanding of palliative care through to delivering nursing care. Topics range from managing symptoms and end-of-life care, to education, research and issues of quality and leadership.
Uniquely each chapter has been written by a team of authors who come from both high-income and low-/middle-income countries. This makes this not just a book by nurses for nurses but a global book for global nursing practice.
It is now available through the University library:
https://bournemouth.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1474642910
Dr Randall researches as part of the Centre for Wellbeing and Long-Term Health at Bournemouth University

Horizon Europe funding – Weds 12th Feb

Funding opportunities, Training

Looking to secure European funding?

Horizon Europe event – in person, Wednesday 12th Feb, Talbot Campus 13:00-14:30.  Hosted by RDS Horizon expert, Ainar Blaudums and BU’s very own successful Horizon Europe academic, Prof Hamid Bouchachia.

This session will cover:

  • Introduction to Horizon Europe
  • Where and how to find EU funding opportunities
  • Panel discussion – What are the most effective ways of building international partnerships and getting involved with peers across Europe?
  • Q&A session

For further information on this event please contact RKEDF@bournemouth.ac.uk

Book your place HERE