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 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 each month. You can register here for your preferred date:
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.
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.
Today FHSS’s PhD student Abier Hamidi was notified that the manuscript “HIV epidemic in Libya: Identifying gaps” was accepted for publication by the editor of the Journal of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (JIAPAC) published by SAGE [1]. This literature review as part of Abier’s PhD research included 24 studies: Ten primary research studies, six online news articles, five Government reports, one letter to the editor, one manuscript, one online database. The paper concluded that despite the low-quality data, the literature suggests there is an increase in HIV infection rates in Libya. Culturally sensitive research on sexual activities, women, HIV preventative methods and attitudes of the Libyan public will assist in developing an effective National AIDS Programme, reducing stigma, supporting People Living with HIV (PLWHIV) and decreasing infection rates.
Abier’s PhD project is supervised by Dr. Pramod Regmi (Senior Lecturer in International Health) and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH).
Reference:
Hamidi, A., Regmi, P., van Teijlingen, E. HIV epidemic in Libya: Identifying gaps, Journal of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (JIAPAC) (forthcoming)
Join us at our first Lunchtime Seminar this October. Email jonesc@bournemouth.ac.uk for the online link.
Octobers Seminar – 12:00-13:00 on 27th October
Mark Berry will be presenting our first lunchtime seminar on ‘The ethics and challenges of semi-covert research with active drug dealers’
Ethnographic research with offenders has become increasingly difficult to carry out in the UK and internationally. Requirements of institutional review boards (IRB) are stringent. Research that involves fieldwork in high-risk settings is often turned down, which in effect silences the voices of vulnerable and marginalised populations within them. Furthermore, witnessing and recording crimes that are not known to the police is risky and could put the researcher in a position where they are legally obligated to give up the information. Ethnography with criminals may also require elements of covert observation in order to be successful and protect the safety of both the researcher and the researched. Covert research is especially difficult to get approved and is frowned upon for being deceptive. It can, however, benefit participants by illuminating hidden injustices, whilst leading to proposals for progressive policy change. This talk draws upon data from a 5-year semi-covert ethnography of the illicit drug trade in a city in England. It outlines the ethical and methodological challenges of conducting ethnographic research on hard-to-reach criminal groups.
Yesterday saw the publication of a new scientific paper on the health care system in Nepal. The latest BU paper ‘Health facility preparedness of maternal and neonatal health services: A survey in Jumla, Nepal’ is a collaboration between academics at the University of Huddersfield, Liverpool John Moores University and the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) at Bournemouth University [1]. This is the third paper led by Pasang Tamang, who is currently a PhD student at the University of Huddersfield [2-3].
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
References
Tamang, P., Simkhada, P., Bissell, P., van Teijlingen, E., Khatri, R., Stephenson, J., (2021) Health facility preparedness of maternal and neonatal health services: A survey in Jumla, Nepal, BMC Health Service Research 21:1023. https://rdcu.be/cyD01
Tamang, P., Mahato, P., Simkhada P., Bissell, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2021) Pregnancy, Childbirth, Breastfeeding and Coronavirus Disease: What is known so far? Journal of Midwifery Association of Nepal (JMAN) 2(1): 96-101.
‘Staying Home Connecting Care’ is a British Academy funded research project exploring care provided to people at home during the Covid-19 pandemic. As society locked down, people with age-related frailties, disabilities, and certain health conditions needed to shield at home. Many relied on the support of family carers, home care workers and volunteer-run schemes to supply them with the care, companionship and essential supplies of food and medicines to stay safe and well at home.
Over the past year we have been interviewing care workers, volunteers and carers from across Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole (BCP) and Dorset, about their experiences of providing such care and support to people in their homes during the pandemic.
We recently organised an online workshop, ‘Care and Support at home in the time of Covid’. The aim of this free event was to share the interim findings of the study with a public audience, and invite feedback, reflection and discussion.
The highlight of the event was the roundtable discussion in which six speakers took part, each with extensive experience of home care work, voluntary and community pandemic activities and/or care of vulnerable adults. The round table speakers were:
Each round table participant spoke in fascinating and poignant detail about their activities during the pandemic. They reflected on how the ‘Staying Home’ research findings resonated with their own insights and experiences, and shared their perspectives on the priorities for future research and policy.
Several themes recurred throughout the course of the round table discussion. The dynamism and resourcefulness of the voluntary and community sector response to the pandemic was evident from many of the talks, which detailed how people in communities across BCP and Dorset rapidly and creatively devised practical schemes for getting help and support to people at home. The innovative use of telephone and web-based technologies to build new infrastructures to connect people was also a key area of discussion.
Speakers highlighted important shifts over the course of the pandemic. As one remarked, it is easy to forget the public uncertainty about how coronavirus was transmitted in the early days, when an effective vaccine seemed a distant prospect. This made close-contact caring for adults vulnerable to Covid-19 acutely stressful and challenging for carers and care workers.
Over time, as needs of people at home for basic supplies of food and medicines eased from summer 2020, other needs became apparent, not least many people’s poor mental health and loneliness. The isolation and loss of services had a profound impact on (family) carers. The pandemic has stretched to breaking point the fragile support networks on which many carers continue to depend. The phase of clapping for care workers and carers is over, but for some, the challenges to daily existence posed by the pandemic are more acute than ever.
Speakers highlighted several important questions for future research and policy. How can the hugely positive innovations within the voluntary organisations and communities be best supported and transformed as society reopens? How can that project be harnessed to the transformation of the social care system to make it fairer and fit for purpose, with appropriate levels of public investment? How can the rights and needs of people who still need to shield, and their carers, be protected, as wider society reopens?
Evaluation
20-25 people attended the event, and, 15 of them anonymously completed the evaluation survey at the end of the workshop. All agreed that the presentation of interim findings was clear, accessible, interesting and informative, and that the roundtable furthered their understanding of care during Covid-19. All except one agreed that research on social care needs to take account of unwaged forms of support, such as that provided by carers and volunteers, as well as that provided by workers within social care services. One commented “This is a really important need as I don’t think people realise the scope of unpaid care that is happening”, whilst another remarked, “I feel the total focus is always around residential care, and other areas…including homecare and voluntary, get forgotten”.
Survey respondents highlighted several areas for further research.
The event was recorded and a link to it can be found here.
Dr Rosie Read, Principal Investigator
Erica Ferris, Research Assistant
Faculty of Health and Social Sciences
Bournemouth University
The funding call for the BU Matched Funded Studentship Competition 2022 will be announced shortly.
Currently, approximately one third of our postgraduate researchers are supported by BU studentships and BU is committed to continuing this support. This year’s competition will include opportunities for a limited number of matched funded PhD and MRes studentships.
While the details of the process are being finalised, it is time to:
consider potential research projects which align to the Strategic Investment Areas as identified in BU2025, or that have been identified as strategically important by Faculties
approach potential external match-funders to discuss financing and project interests
convene an interdisciplinary supervisory team which must include at least one MCR or ECR.
External match-funders would be expected to contribute approximately £26,000 – £27,000 for a three-year PhD towards the stipend and research & development costs, with BU providing 50% of the stipend and full fee waiver. The allocation of funding will be overseen by the Studentship Funding Panel.
Full details will be published on the staff intranet, with notification on the Research Blog and via email.
You may have seen the BU Research Blog two years ago congratulating Bournemouth University’s MSc Public Health graduate Hana Dinh on the acceptance of her paper ‘‘Factors influencing engagement in premarital sex among Vietnamese young adults: a qualitative study’ [1].
In April 2019 this paper was published ‘online first’ in the International Journal of Adolescent Medicine & Health. Last month, two years later, her paper finally appeared in print. Hana’s paper had originally been accepted by this journal in 2018, it was put online in 2019 and now it has been formally published. It can still be a long process for an academic paper to get into print as we have discussed elsewhere [2]. Hence the title of this blog, the question to me is ‘What is the appropriate publication date for this article on my CV?
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH (Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health)
• Individuals or teams whose educational research work has shown demonstrable public engagement or impact
• Practitioners or researchers whose work is grounded in educational research and has led to demonstrable public engagement or impact
• Those whose activities have boosted public engagement with educational research or its impact, or whose efforts have increased recognition and support for education research in public
Two awards, worth £500 each are available. One is given to an individual’s research and the other for a team of researchers. The winners will also have a featured article in BERA’s magazine.
This award is designed to support early-career researchers who show exceptional talent in both research and public engagement, emphasising and demonstrating the importance of academic research and creative thought at a time of rapid political and societal change.
The British Academy, in collaboration with the Wolfson Foundation emphasises the importance of award-holders communicating their plans and results to a broad audience. It is expected that six awards will be offered and that they will continue to participate with future cohorts building a network of outstanding researchers.
Funding
The grant maximum is £130,000 across three years. Awards can be used flexibly: at least £90,000 for time buy out, and up to £40,000 for research and travel expenses and dissemination of findings.
The funding is expected to be divided:
First, to buy out time of the academic duties of the award-holder in order to focus on their research goals.
Secondly, for travel and public engagement across the three years of the award to help with research costs and to undertake dissemination of the findings from the fellowship research locally, nationally and globally.
Eligibility
Applicants must have a full-time or part-time permanent or fixed term post that covers the length of the award (three years) at a UK university or other research institution, such as a museum or gallery, which can provide a suitable environment and support for applicants.
Applicants should have research, teaching and other related duties from which they would need to be released from in order to heighten their focus on the research and engagement supported through the fellowship.
Applicants should be within seven years of completion of their doctorate, though applications are also welcome from those researchers who have taken time out since the completion of their PhD for maternity/paternity/adoption leave, for caring responsibilities or for periods of illness.
Applications are welcome from museums and galleries, including but not necessarily limited to those with Independent Research Organisation (IRO) status.
At BU we promote and celebrate the work done to engage public audiences with BU research.
The public engagement with research team in Research Development and Support (RDS) can help promote your event to relevant audiences through our regular newsletter and social media channels. It also helps us to stay informed on the public engagement work being carried out by BU.
Please note: we are keen to promote BU public engagement with research activity wherever possible, but completing this form does not guarantee that we will be able to promote your event. To be considered for inclusion, your event or activity must be;
Focused on BU research, either solely or as part of a wider programme.
Events or activities that do not involve BU research, such as marketing or recruitment events, will not be accepted.
Intended for and open to non-academic audiences, either entirely or as a portion of the audience.
Submitted, at the latest, in the first two weeks of the month preceding the event.
For example, an event taking place in June should be submitted via the form any time before 14 May. This is due to lead times on producing and sending the newsletter.
Event descriptions may be edited for consistency in style with other content. If you have any questions about this process, please contact us.
Dr Sue Thomas shares her experience of presenting at a BU Café Scientifique event on 6 July 2021.
For my talk at Café Scientifique I took a fresh look at the topic of my 2017 book “Nature and Wellbeing in the Digital Age: How to feel better without logging off”, which has new relevance in the age of digital wellbeing during COVID-19. This continued the theme of my previous book, “Technobiophilia: Nature and Cyberspace”, which looked at the prevalence online of nature-derived metaphors and imagery, and which I discussed at Café Sci in 2013.
My talk topic – Technobiophilia
Intuitively we all know that Nature is good for us. Research has backed that up, showing that contact with nature can support emotional wellbeing and better concentration, as well as reduce stress and lower heart rate and blood pressure. Sometimes even simple psychological connectedness to nature can produce the same effects.
Biophilia is a hypothesized hidden programme which runs in the background of our lives. The term was first coined by Erich Fromm but became more popular when the eminent biologist EO Wilson described it as “the innate attraction to life and lifelike processes”. Wilson believes that biophilia may have the ability to lie dormant for periods of time until something triggers it into action again.
The notion of biophilia led to my own definition of ‘technobiophilia’ as “the innate attraction to life and lifelike processes as they appear in technology”. Technobiophilia connects our lives in nature with our lives in the digital, and this process has been very evident during the Covid-19 Lockdowns. Here are some examples:
In October 2020, the Metro newspaper declared that “Nature documentaries are ‘perfect lockdown viewing and make people happier’ in an article about the TV programme “Seven Worlds, One Planet” which highlighted the story of the last two northern white rhinoceros left alive on the planet.
On Instagram, thousands of RSPB #breakfastbirdwatch watchers shared their photos. Sussex_sara posted “Is anyone else feeling in a state of suspended animation these days? 😕 Living alone, the only tangible sense I have of days passing are the changes in nature as our lives are put on hold.”
Country Life magazine, perhaps not the most techie of periodicals, listed the best live animal webcams to get you through lockdown. Their Top 3 were: Little penguins, Phillip Island Nature Parks, Australia; Folly Farm, Pembrokeshire (sheep, goats, newborn lambs) and Edinburgh Zoo (Panda cam, Penguin Cam, Koala Cam and Lion Cam)
The BBC launched a collaboration to bring virtual soundscapes of music and nature directly to audiences with Radio 3, 6 Music, and BBC Sounds, and also embarked on The Virtual Nature Experiment with The University of Exeter, a ground-breaking study exploring how virtual experiences of nature might impact wellbeing.
Nintendo relaunched its old online game “Animal Crossing” and it was soon dubbed ‘the game of the pandemic’. Slate Magazine said “Animal Crossers new and old found comfort in exerting control over their islands’ virtual terrain as the world outside grew more and more chaotic” and the MIT Technology Review reported that “Gentle, comforting games like Nintendo’s latest hit are perfect escapist entertainment, but they’re also helping us to connect in these strange times.”
This last observation was born out by a study conducted before the pandemic and published in 2020, which reported a significant increase of feelings of connectedness to the community after watching digital nature. Interestingly, they also found that tended nature scenes elicited more social aspirations than wild nature scenes.
In 2020, Natural England surveyed the changing relationship with nature during lockdown. It reported that 41% of people said that visiting natural spaces had become even more important to them than before. Also in 2020, in a study conducted before the pandemic, the University of Exeter found that the best way of delivering virtual nature for improving mood was computer-generated virtual reality, which proved more effective than high definition TV or 360° video.
During the lockdown pause, Nature was busy regenerating. As early as April 2020, carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide fell by up to 40%. Air traffic fell 50%. UK road traffic fell 70%. And during that year, wildlife came closer – wild goats wandered the empty streets of Llandudno, coyotes walked across the Golden Gate Bridge, there were deer in Washington DC, and wild boar in Spain and Italy. Everyone heard more bird song. By April 2021, marine noise pollution had decreased so much that the seas had become measurably quieter.
So, what has lockdown taught us about digital nature and wellbeing? It seems that we have learned that we can connect with nature in many different ways, both physically and digitally. We have been reminded that we can live more of our lives outdoors, and that nature can help connect our local communities.
But individual nature connection is not enough. Covid has taught (some of us) to better connect with nature, but has that process sedated us? Distracted us? Separated us even more from what else is happening? This year, floods and fires around the world have reminded us that there are other disasters too, most of them a result of the global warming.
While we in the First World are busy self-soothing with nature, many millions of people have no access to vaccines. In January 2021, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus WHO Director-General, warned “The world is on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure – and the price of this failure will be paid with lives and livelihoods in the world’s poorest countries.”
Of course, this moral failure can be seen in the climate emergency too. In his 2020 film ‘A Life on Our Planet’ David Attenborough delivered his Witness Statement and told the story of ‘our greatest mistake’. The film begins and ends in Chernobyl which, although still devoid of humans, has seen the return of many thriving animals and plants. This allows Attenborough to make his final message one of hope. ‘We have’, he says, ‘the opportunity to become a species in balance with nature’.
When my book ‘Technobiophilia: Nature and Cyberspace’ was published in 2013, some thought the idea of using technology to connect with nature was contradictory, even harmful. But the last 18 months of the pandemic have shown the benefits of nature in the digital age, for some of us at least. But there is much more work to do. Perhaps digital nature can play a part in helping humanity to finally, to quote Attenborough, “become a species in balance with nature” – if there is time.
My Café Scientifique experience
I enjoyed my second Café Scientifique session. It went very well and was followed by a lot of positive feedback and a lively exchange of ideas, which brought the July lecture to a successful conclusion, slightly over the scheduled two hours.
The audience asked some excellent questions and we were pleasantly able to deepen our exchanges. It was interesting to hear from those providing opportunities for engaging with digital nature, especially Radio Lento https://radiolento.podbean.com/ who produce entrancing virtual nature tours in the form of weekly sound postcards from beautiful places. Find them on Twitter @RadioLento where they regularly share some wonderful sounds. There was a lively exchange of views about the relative values of visual, audio, VR and analogue nature experiences, especially when created from the same sources.
It was a great experience with people from all over the world, including old friends. My talk was recorded and is available to watch on the Café Sci YouTube channel. I hope that it inspires you to think and act on the relationship between nature, digital nature and our well-being.
Last Saturday (25th September) was national Research Administrators Day, so this week, RDS are celebrating the wonderful research administrators at BU that develop, support and enable research activity at BU. The breadth of activities that our colleagues play an important role in is extensive; from the development of funding applications (using the mind-boggling financial methodology and systems our funders require), the submission of complex returns such as the Research Excellence Framework (apparently, it’s supposed to be less bureaucratic now?) through to the day-to-day management of grants (and if you’ve ever been involved in an EU audit, you’ll understand the complexities of this).
Allied throughout the research lifecycle are our specialists with expert knowledge in myriad of essential areas including technology transfer, research ethics, public engagement, clinical governance and the development of impact case studies. To name but a few!
Why do we need research administrators?
It wasn’t so very long ago that academics were expected to understand and execute all aspects of research and knowledge exchange. However, as the research ecosystem has matured and government investment has increased, professionalisation has accelerated. But why do we need specialist staff for this? Reasons include:
Our funders require it. Many (including UKRI, the British Academy etc) require applications to be submitted through a dedicated office having completed institutional checks (normally coupled with a complex set of systems to navigate). They also require many returns to be co-ordinated at an institutional level.
In a world where information is ever more prevalent, we have a key role to play in horizon scanning for policy developments and funding opportunities that will impact the University’s research trajectory.
We figure out how to make things happen (research projects, establishing new initiatives etc), co-ordinating across departments.
We engage nationally and internationally to embed good practice within BU.
We ensure our academic community can focus their precious time on making the magic of research happen; not reading the latest 4,691 page missive on the specificities of EU post-award processes* etcetera.
This is of course just a snapshot and if you want to read more, I’d suggest taking a look at this article published in Nature, which highlights that “With research administrators doing all that work, scientists can be left to do the good work they do in the world.”
How can I get involved in celebrating BU’s Research Administrators?
Research Administration is not a career for those seeking glory or riches, in-fact, it’s probably one of the worst career choices if either of those is your primary motivation. So, what does motivate people to become research administrators? Over the years I’ve noticed that a lot of ‘Research Office’ staff (at BU and beyond) stay in the profession owing to a love of research and a desire to make a difference to society. My colleagues are also inherently helpful people who derive great professional satisfaction from solving tricky challenges to enable their colleagues and ensure the University progresses its research agenda. These unsung heros would never say it, but they so also appreciate to know that their efforts are noticed and valued by the community that they serve.
So, if you would like to celebrate our Research Administrators, please email me directly with your feedback on how important research administrators are to you, so I can share your comments (anonymously or not) with the wider team.
Personally, I would like to say a huge thank you to the wonderful team within RDS who I couldn’t be prouder to count as my colleagues. It is a diverse team that brings a breadth of expertise to the University, often working under considerable pressure with few resources. Congratulations to you all on National Research Administrators Day (week).
How and when humans first colonised North America is a question that has long puzzled researchers. A groundbreaking new study by BU academics has shed new light on patterns of migration and reveals that humans may have reached the Americas 7,000 years earlier than previously thought.
The study, written by Professor Matthew Bennett and Dr Sally Reynolds and published in Science today, reveals that human footprints discovered in New Mexico date from 23,000 and 21,000 years old. The discovery has the potential to radically change our understanding of when the continent was settled and suggests that there is much still to be discovered about migrations and earlier populations in this part of the world.
The footprints were left in soft mud on the shores of what was once a shallow lake which now forms part of Alkali Flat – a large playa (a dried desert lake) at White Sands, New Mexico with the tracks seeming to be left mainly by teenagers and younger children. Seeds found in layers of sediment above and below the footprints were radiocarbon dated by the US Geological Survey, providing the research team with very precise dates for the footprints themselves.
Professor Bennett said: “The footprints left at White Sands give a picture of what was taking place, teenagers interacting with younger children and adults. We can think of our ancestors as quite functional, hunting and surviving, but what we see here is also activity of play, and of different ages coming together. A true insight into these early people.”
The pioneering research has been featured heavily in the media this morning with front page links on BBC News, The Times, The Guardian and many other media channels.
Science is viewed as one of the most prestigious academic journals with competition to be published so intense that less than 7% of submissions are accepted. Professor Bennett and Dr Reynold’s groundbreaking article highlights their decades of hard work and expertise in paleontology, human evolution and environmental & geographical sciences.
The good news is that a lot of BU’s academics are bidding for external research funding. Our numbers of bids in preparation is up by 20% on pre-pandemic levels. This is helping BU build a healthy and sustainable pipeline to good quality research.
If you’re planning to submit a bid, you’ll need to be aware of the application timeline and the various processes involved in the submission of a bid. Please ensure you read the application timeline when considering what to apply for (in addition to RDS, the following BU teams may need to be involved: UET, Legal Services, Finance). In short, a fully completed intention to bid form must be received by RDS at least four weeks before the funder call deadline.
Unfortunately, due to the high volume being processed at present (and staff shortages), we will be unable to accommodate any bids under the notice period.
Here are a few tips on what you can do to ensure a smoother process and good quality bid:
Please read the funder guidance to ensure that you are eligible to apply, the deadline is doable, and that the funding provided will be financially acceptable to BU (the costing and pricing guide for R&KE activity will help, as will the fEC thresholds);
If partners are involved, you need to ensure you have these in place as their costings will need to be included in the bid. If they are international or industrial, due diligence may need to take place at pre-award stage and so a longer lead time will be needed (we’ve produced a Leading an external research application guide, which will be useful to you when partners are involved);
Ensure your intention to bid (ItB) form is fully completed before submitting to RDS. This saves on multiple email exchanges to finalise the form (we’ve created sample costs to help you get an idea of budget and whether what you need to complete your research is achievable with the funding on offer);
Finally, run your ideas/draft bid past your peers, research mentor, or Head of Department. Constructive criticism will help improve the quality of your bid and reduce the need for last minute changes. If you have a long lead in time, an RDS Research Facilitator may be able to help review your bid content, or one of our External Application Reviewers (EARs) may be able to critique it (please see here for more information on which bids are eligible for an EAR).
At Café Scientifique, you can explore the latest ideas in science and technology in a relaxed online setting. Enjoy listening to a short talk before engaging in debate and discussion with our guest speaker and audience.
We’ll be joined by Dr Ashok Patnaikon Tuesday 5 October from 7.00pm until 8.30pm.
The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened children’s mental health, which was already in decline. Researchers have observed increased levels of anxiety, depression and other psychological distress. However, children with poor mental health do not always receive the support they need from schools and mental health services.
Stormbreak is a new programme that combines simple, fun movements with well-being techniques such as talking therapies and mindfulness, to help children care for their mental health. Join us to discover what happened when Stormbreak was trialled in several local schools, and where it could go next.
Dr. Pramod Regmi, Senior Lecturer in International Health and Interim Global Engagement Lead in the Department of Nursing Sciences, was invited last weekend to speak at the Third Global Nepali Health Conference, London. He taught on ‘How to write a scientific paper’ with Dr. Om Kurmi from Coventry University and Dr. Bibha Simkhada from the University of Huddersfield (and Visiting Faculty at BU’s Faculty of Health & Social Sciences).
We’re kicking off the new academic year with a meeting for all Early Career Researchers on
Wednesday 22nd September from 15:30 – 16:30
This is a great opportunity to get to know other researchers across BU.
It’s a friendly, supportive environment for raising all sorts of questions, and hearing about other’s research-related experiences, and plain networking should you be interested in interdisciplinary working.
This month we will have a discussion focused on the Research Concordat, and what it means for you as a researcher, but there will also be plenty of time for a general chat. This will be a MS Teams meeting.
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.
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.
Last Saturday (25th September) was national Research Administrators Day, so this week, RDS are celebrating the wonderful research administrators at BU that develop, support and enable research activity at BU. The breadth of activities that our colleagues play an important role in is extensive; from the development of funding applications (using the mind-boggling financial methodology and systems our funders require), the submission of complex returns such as the Research Excellence Framework (apparently, it’s supposed to be less bureaucratic now?) through to the day-to-day management of grants (and if you’ve ever been involved in an EU audit, you’ll understand the complexities of this).
The good news is that a lot of BU’s academics are bidding for external research funding. Our numbers of bids in preparation is up by 20% on pre-pandemic levels. This is helping BU build a healthy and sustainable pipeline to good quality research.
We’re kicking off the new academic year with a meeting for all Early Career Researchers on
Read and sign up to BU’s Policy Influence Digest
Upcoming opportunities for PGRs – collaborate externally
BU involved in new MRF dissemination grant
New COVID-19 publication
MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024
Horizon Europe News – December 2023