Latest research and knowledge exchange news at Bournemouth University
Are you attending The 11th Annual Postgraduate Research Conference?
If so I would like to encourage you to bring along your [Doctoral College] reusable water bottles and hot drinks cups for the day. There will be refreshments available including tea and coffee and many water fountains throughout the Fusion Building.
There are still some conference spaces available: register here.
This discussion forum is the second ‘spin-out’ event following the Conference ‘Deep Transformations and the Future of Organisations’ (6-7 December, in Tunis). It would be a great opportunity to share the research outcomes of BU and ITU (International Telecommunication Union, one of the specialised organisations under the UN), inviting Dr Bruce Gracie, a chairman of the Telecommunication Standardisation Advisory Group (TSAG) of ITU.
As a kick-off speech, Bruce will talk about the current requirements of the telecommunication standardisations in the global context, focusing on five key themes; AI, IoT, 5G, Big Data, and OTTs.
From BU, Dr Marios Angelopoulos (Sci-Tech) will discuss the recent his achievement in the Study Group 20 of ITU-T, focusing on the impact of ICT (ITU Recommendation) in the area of the Internet of Things (IoT). Specifically, focusing on the reference model of IoT-related crowdsourced systems for an emerging networking paradigm.
Marios’s talk will be followed by Dr Hiroko Oe (FoM) , who used to be a deputy head of the delegation of Japan to the ITU, will explain the pathway how the ITU has been contributing to the development of seamless world based on the ICT, specifically focusing on the preparation tasks towards the World Telecommunication Policy Forum (WTPF-21).
BU is an academic member of the ITU, with only five UK universities; Anglia Ruskin University, Birkbeck College University of London, CISD-SOAS, University of London, Royal Holloway, University of London, and the University of Bristol. Marios and Hiroko have been working as a team with dedicated support from Dr Angelos Stefanidis, Head of Department Computing & Informatics. The research team is aiming to contribute to the policy coordination and also cooperating with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) to develop actionable impacts for the ICT sector globally.
This Discussion Forum will be carried out by a Skype conference method. Dr Hiroko Oe will act as a facilitator for this Forum and Dr Yan Liang (FoM) will perform as a discussant for this event who liaises with her research interest in digital marketing and digital retailing.
This Discussion Forum will provide unique and interesting views from the ICT standardisation perspectives, including key topics of the UN SDGs (e.g., Goal 9 ‘Industry, innovation and infrastructure’, Goal 11 ‘Sustainable cities and communities’, and Goal 17 ‘Partnerships for the goals’). The theme of this Forum is also in line with the SIAs of ‘Animation, Simulation & Visualisation’ and ‘ Assistive Technology’.
BU ECRs and the PG students will be invited to the Forum, too.
For more details, please email to hoe@brounemouth.ac.uk
Demonstrating impact is becoming an increasingly normal part of academic life, with changes in the external environment underpinning the need to show how research is making a difference beyond academia. As well as forming a significant part of a university’s REF submission, impact pathways are often included as a routine part of funding applications.
In order to support impact development at Bournemouth University, an impact fund was established in spring 2019, overseen by the Research Impact Funding Panel.
For 2019/20, the Research Impact Fund has been split into three strands with a total of £50,000 available:
We are pleased to announce another open call for applications for strands 1 and 2.
The first call for applications for strands 1 and 2 resulted in eight successful awards, which are currently underway. The outcomes of the second call for applications for strand 3 are due to be announced soon.
Strand 1: To support the development of new research partnerships and networks, to lay the groundwork for future research projects
This strand is aimed at those who are new to research (academic staff who have not published an academic output, or received internal or external funding for research) such as Early Career Researchers (those who are within 7 years of completing their doctorate, or equivalent experience, and are not Associate Professors / Professors). The funding aims to support colleagues to engage with key stakeholders at the very beginning of the research process, to establish partnerships and networks to support the co-creation of research questions.
There is £11,000 available in total for this funding strand. From this £11,000, the panel hope to fund multiple projects and would particularly welcome applications for smaller projects up to £2,500.
Strand 2: To provide support for emerging impact from existing underpinning research
This strand is aimed at academic staff who have evidence of existing underpinning research which has the potential for impact, or is starting to result in impact. The funding aims to support the development of research impact across BU and begin to identify potential case studies for post-REF2021 exercises.
There is £5,000 available in total for this funding strand. From this £5,000 the panel hope to fund multiple projects and would particularly welcome applications for smaller projects up to £2,500.
To apply, please read the policy, application form and guidance. Applications must be submitted to researchimpact@bournemouth.ac.uk by 5pm on Thursday 12 December.
If you have any questions about your application please email either Rachel Bowen (for HSS or FM queries) or Genna del Rosa (for FMC or SciTech queries).
The Panel strongly recommends that applicants speak with their Faculty Impact Officer and/or relevant Unit of Assessment leads / impact champions prior to applying. If you are unsure who this is, please contact your Faculty Impact Officer in the first instance:
You can also seek advice from the following RDS colleagues when developing your application:
The Panel members will also be available to answer any queries and discuss ideas at a series of lunch time surgery sessions:
| Tuesday 19 November | Lansdowne Campus – B224 | 12:30 – 13:30 |
| Thursday 21 November | Talbot Campus – P402 | 12:30 – 13:30 |
| Monday 25 November | Talbot Campus – P411 | 12:00 – 13:00 |
| Wednesday 27 November | Lansdowne Campus – B202 | 12:00 – 13:00 |
| Monday 2 December | Lansdowne Campus – EB303 | 12:30 – 13:30 |
| Thursday 5 December | Talbot Campus – F206 | 12:30 – 13:30 |
| Tuesday 10 December | Talbot Campus – F304 | 12:30 – 13:30 |
| Wednesday 11 December | Lansdowne Campus – TBC | 12:00 – 13:00 |
Putting the Research Impact Fund into strategic context, under BU2025, the following funding panels operate to prioritise applications for funding and make recommendations to the Research Performance and Management Committee (RPMC).
There are eight funding panels:
Please see further announcements regarding each initiative.
These panels align with the BU2025 focus on research, including BU’s Research Principles. Specifically, but not exclusively, regarding the Research Impact Funding Panel, please refer to:
We will have a seminar session with the guest lecture, Dr Sachiyo Kwakami (Fukui University, Japan) on the 27th November. This session will be held as a Skype meeting at EB206.
Dr Kawakami is a PostDoc researcher who is specialised in the field of ’Consensus Building in communities, and she has been working on the research projects on ‘Learning and collaborative problem solving attitudes’ in Fukui area.
During this session, we will discuss ‘potential functions of a community and citizens’ collaboration’ and the impact of ‘collaborative work as the management platform’ to contribute to the local issue solving (e.g., problem recognition of high-radio active waste disposal and how to support marginal settlements in the deprived area).
This session will provide unique topics in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as ‘Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being’, ‘Goal 9: Sustainable Cities and Communities’ and ‘Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals’.
This session also aligns with BU2025 strategic investment areas (SIAs), Simulation & Visualisation and Assistive Technology.
The BU ECRs, PhD researchers, and MSc students are welcome to this session.
The session will be facilitated by Dr Hiroko Oe with a contributor, Mr. Gideon Adu-Gyamfi (MSc International Management).
*For more details, please email to hoe@brounemouth.ac.uk😇
Background call for evidence:
Life span has increased over recent decades, but health span, the period of time people live in good health, has generally not kept pace, and so older people are living longer with ill health. This increased duration of ill health, both physical and psychological, and often compounded by loneliness, can be challenging for individuals; and the increasing number of people affected is placing pressure on health services and social care, threatening to overwhelm the funding mechanisms, and failing those in need.
Increasing health span has been adopted as a policy objective by the UK Government in the Industrial Strategy’s “Ageing Society” Grand Challenge, which aims to ensure that people can enjoy at least five extra healthy, independent years of life by 2035. This House of Lords inquiry will seek to determine whether the Government’s ambition to increase health span is achievable in principle, and which approaches may be most successful in practice.
Interdisciplinary research is at the heart of our BU2025 strategic plan, and moving into a new role can offer opportunities to work with others. The call for from the House of Lords Science and Technology Healthy Ageing Committee enabled me to partner with a new colleague, and for us to both think about our disciplines in different ways. Taking the ideas we discussed for submitting written evidence, we are now in the process of applying to a charity for a funded PhD student to take the work forward.
BU policy team
Interdisciplinary written submissions to the Committee kept our BU policy advisors, Jane Forster and Sarah Carter busy! BU researchers Katherine Appleton, Samuel Nyman, Debbie Holley and Vanessa Heaslip all submitted evidence.
Dr Samuel Nyman, Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health,
A multidisciplinary approach to promote physical activity and exercise among older people
Dr Samuel Nyman is a leading researcher on preventing falls and promoting physical activity among older people. With a background in health psychology, his interests include the use of behaviour change techniques to promote exercise among older people and people with dementia. Dr Nyman was consulted for his expertise by Haringey Council in October 2016, for his input into the council’s Physical Activity for Older People Scrutiny Review. This directly led to recommendations that were agreed by the council.
This evidence is submitted in response to the government’s call, so that policy makers are aware of the need for a multidisciplinary perspective for promoting physical activity and preventing falls. This will include the use of psychological knowledge on behaviour change but also the expertise of others including urban planners to make environments more conducive for physical activity among older people.
His evidence can be read here:
Professor Katherine Appleton
Professor Katherine Appleton is a Chartered Psychologist and Registered Nutritionist. She has researched human eating behaviour since 1998, with a special interest in the older population since 2006. Much of her research focuses on the optimisation of human health and well-bring in the normal population considering nutrition, physical activity and their impact on behaviour.
Her evidence can be read here:
Professor Debbie Holley and Associate Professor Vanessa Heaslip
In our submission, we reflected on the role of technology in healthy ageing, and suggested some ‘tech’ futures areas for consideration.
Executive Summary
Technologies to provide a solution for loneliness (e.g. the virtual tea party) and virtual health care can provide efficiencies for the NHS as well as improved access for marginalised communities. However, key barriers are the spread and access to technology (especially rural communities) the skill set (and costs) necessary for the ageing population to engage with this technology, alongside the upskilling of the current NHS workforce to work virtually need careful consideration. Some barriers can be directly addressed by Government 5G and NHS workforce priorities; there is a clear role for charities; other barriers will need universities and industry to work together to engage with agile and rapid prototyping and testing. The methods of procurement need to be revisited, currently excellent SMEs are filtered out – working across with the Department of Business could provide ways of supporting innovation. Further work with experts is needed to invest in effective scaling solutions across the sector, and learning from examples/solutions/suggestions are contained in the text below. More of the same is not going enable the huge changes that demographic pressures are bringing to bear on an already stretched NHS; and work of effective data capture is needed to identify and bring the policy makers lens onto those belonging to marginalised groups.
The link to our full evidence submission here:
Join the brand new Postgraduate Researcher Development Steering Group to provide direction to postgraduate researcher development at BU.
Some of the main responsibilities include:
See the full Terms of Reference for details on the Steering Group if you are interested in becoming a member. There will be 2 meetings per academic year.
Please submit your Expression of Interest, including a half-page as to why you are interested, the knowledge, skills and experience you can bring to the group, via email to Natalie at pgrskillsdevelopment@bournemouth.ac.uk by midday, Friday 1 November.
Membership available:
– PGR Student Champion: 1 per Faculty (open to all PGRs)
– Academic Champion: 1 per Faculty (ideally an active PGR supervisor)
– Early Career Researcher: 1 representative
Expressions of Interest will be assessed by the Chair and Deputy Chair of the Steering Group, we look forward to receiving them.
Last month, approval was provided by the University’s Research Degree Committee for a brand new Postgraduate Researcher Development Steering Group to provide direction to postgraduate researcher development at BU, and I am recruiting members.
There will be 2 meetings per academic year and ad-hoc if required. Some of the main responsibilities include:
See the full Terms of Reference for details on the Steering Group if you are interested in becoming a member.
Please submit your Expression of Interest, including a half-page as to why you are interested, the knowledge, skills and experience you can bring to the group, via email to Natalie at pgrskillsdevelopment@bournemouth.ac.uk by midday, Friday 1 November.
Membership available:
– PGR Student Champion: 1 per Faculty (open to all PGRs)
– Academic Champion: 1 per Faculty (ideally an active PGR supervisor)
– Early Career Researcher: 1 representative
Expressions of Interest will be assessed by the Chair and Deputy Chair of the Steering Group, we look forward to receiving them.
With the aid of QR funding (Faculty of Management), I conducted field-research in Ubud, Indonesia in July 2019. I went into the field with two research questions, linked to poverty alleviation and sustainable community development. What is the impact of spiritual/wellness tourism on local people and communities in Ubud? What are the strategies that can help provide micro-entrepreneurship opportunities for the poor? I interviewed multiple stakeholders including a former Indonesian Minister of Tourism, a spiritual leader in Ubud, a representative of the Ubud home stay association, local yoga teachers and other private/public stakeholders. I also talked to a representative of a rural orphanage.
According to the World Bank data, out of a population of around 264 million, about 25.9 million Indonesians still live below the poverty line. Based on March 2018 data, approximately 20.19% of the entire population remains vulnerable of falling into poverty, as their income hovers marginally above the national poverty line. Although Indonesia’s poverty rate is 9.8%, in 82 villages out of Bali’s 706 villages, the poverty rate hovers above 35% (Laos, 23.2%; Myanmar, 24.8%.). In Bali, growth has often been curtailed due to natural disasters such as volcanoes and earthquakes as well as water shortages.
During my field-research, I learned from the informants that the rapid tourism growth and development have pushed out poorer locals to the margins. The poor have been losing their land due to the development of international hotels, resorts and yoga centres, which are mostly owned and managed by foreigners. The suicidal rates have gone up and the numbers of orphans have been increased. As an illiteracy rate is very high in Ubud as well as other rural villages, people in the margins do not have opportunities to benefit from the tourism boom. There is an urgent need for the local government and other organisations to alleviate poverty by developing education and training programmes.
As an ECR, I appreciate that BU’s QR funds help to facilitate and to explore important global challenges and develop local partners. Over the summer, we were able to successfully submit an external grant for further research and present our preliminary findings at the Royal Geographical Society Conference in London. In line with BU 2025 and the UN SDGs, I hope our research can help achieve SDG #1 No Poverty and #11 Sustainable Communities in rural Indonesia and beyond in real life, and make the impact that the rural poor deserve.
Last month, approval was provided by the University’s Research Degree Committee for a brand new Postgraduate Researcher Development Steering Group to provide direction to postgraduate researcher development at BU, and I am recruiting members.
There will be 2 meetings per academic year and ad-hoc if required. Some of the main responsibilities include:
See the full Terms of Reference for details on the Steering Group if you are interested in becoming a member.
Please submit your Expression of Interest, including a half-page as to why you are interested, the knowledge, skills and experience you can bring to the group, via email to Natalie at pgrskillsdevelopment@bournemouth.ac.uk by midday, Friday 1 November.
Membership available:
– PGR Student Champion: 1 per Faculty (open to all PGRs)
– Academic Champion: 1 per Faculty (ideally an active PGR supervisor)
– Early Career Researcher: 1 representative
Expressions of Interest will be assessed by the Chair and Deputy Chair of the Steering Group, we look forward to receiving them.
Last month, approval was provided by the University’s Research Degree Committee for a brand new Postgraduate Researcher Development Steering Group to provide direction to postgraduate researcher development at BU, and I am recruiting members.
There will be 2 meetings per academic year and ad-hoc if required. Some of the main responsibilities include:
See the full Terms of Reference for details on the Steering Group if you are interested in becoming a member.
Please submit your Expression of Interest, including a half-page as to why you are interested, the knowledge, skills and experience you can bring to the group, via email to Natalie at pgrskillsdevelopment@bournemouth.ac.uk by midday, Friday 1 November.
Membership available:
– PGR Student Champion: 1 per Faculty (open to all PGRs)
– Academic Champion: 1 per Faculty (ideally an active PGR supervisor)
– Early Career Researcher: 1 representative
Expressions of Interest will be assessed by the Chair and Deputy Chair of the Steering Group, we look forward to receiving them.
Dr Mili Shrivastava based on her research in Women Entrepreneurs in UK and India published an article on Indian women Entrepreneurs in The Conversation. The article outlined how women entrepreneurs are creating businesses based on environmental problems while creating opportunities for sections of society.
The article has reached far and wide across continents and was widely shared on social media.
World Economic forum reprinted the article.
The article can be found here:https://theconversation.com/how-women-entrepreneurs-are-changing-indian-society-122352
We will have a talk session with the guest lecture, Dr Fuko Nakai (Nagoya Institute of Technology, Japan) on the 9th December. This session will be held as a Skype meeting at EB602.
*For more details, please email to hoe@brounemouth.ac.uk
Last month, approval was provided by the University’s Research Degree Committee for a brand new Postgraduate Researcher Development Steering Group to provide direction to postgraduate researcher development at BU, and I am recruiting members.
There will be 2 meetings per academic year and ad-hoc if required. Some of the main responsibilities include:
See the full Terms of Reference for details on the Steering Group if you are interested in becoming a member.
Please submit your Expression of Interest, including a half-page as to why you are interested, the knowledge, skills and experience you can bring to the group, via email to Natalie at pgrskillsdevelopment@bournemouth.ac.uk by midday, Friday 1 November.
Membership available:
– PGR Student Champion: 1 per Faculty (open to all PGRs)
– Academic Champion: 1 per Faculty (ideally an active PGR supervisor)
– Early Career Researcher: 1 representative
Expressions of Interest will be assessed by the Chair and Deputy Chair of the Steering Group, we look forward to receiving them.
Invited Speaker: Dr Ema Tanaka (Meiji Unversity, Japan)
Method: Skype meeting
*For more details, please email to hoe@brounemouth.ac.uk
BU is celebrating Global Entrepreneurship Week, for the first time, on the 19th of November with not ONE but TWO Mega Events! Supporting student experience; supporting BU commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals; and providing a platform to bring together wonderful examples of the power of enterprise in changing society.
Women in Entrepreneurship: An extraordinary panel of Women from various sectors and UK and Beyond, we have a number of Famous faces on the panel as well as women who are quietly making a huge impact on society and the economy; helping break down gender barriers to entrepreneurial activities. I am immensely proud to introduce the panel and the 3 wonderful ladies from Brazil who are also going to join us (see attached pic).The Women in Entrepreneurship Panel has been possible due to the support of funding from the Women’s Academic Network (WAN); ACORN award(Public dissemination of research); and Faculty of Management (Executive Dean Dr Lois Farquharson)
Venue- KG01 Time- 1245-1630
Also, on the 19th we are bringing SOUP to BU..what’s that you ask? BH SOUP (modelled on the Detroit SOUP movement) has been running successfully in the conurbation for the last few years and this year, to celebrate GEW and to harness the energy of the newly launched BU Social Entrepreneurs Forum, BH SOUP is coming to BU with BH SOUP Loves Social Enterprises. This event too is possible due to the Faculty of Management (Dr Lois Farquharson).
Venue- Fusion Building Ground Floor space- Time 1845-2100
Please see the eventbrite links below to register (for FREE) at the event(s)
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/women-in-entrepreneurship-tickets-74693186331
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bh-soup-loves-social-enterprises-tickets-74205618001
The Panelists!
BH SOUP Loves Social Enterprises
Ana Lucia, Brazil, Founder of Vision for Good
Clarrise Seixas, from Brazil founder of MIMOS, a social impact business
Ivi Felix, From Brazil; Founder of Mantiquira Local Market
This discussion forum is a ‘spin-out’ event following the Conference ‘Deep Transformations and the Future of Organisations’ (6-7 December). It would be the very first event aiming to bridge UK-Japan researchers who are specialised in the research field of the B2B and business transformation in the globalised era.
Two presenters are invited to this colloquial from Japan, Professor Takemoto (Innovation & Management Laboratory, Fukui University) and Mr Ikematsu, (Consultant/Researcher, ex strategist for Fujitsu).
Professor Takemoto will talk about the revitalisation projects with entrepreneurial movements in Fukui area, referring to the concepts of ‘Creative destruction’ and ‘Planned Happenstance Theory’.
Mr Ikematsu will talk about his experiences from the marketing and economical points of view, presenting the ‘straggles’ to change Fujitsu from the B2B model firm to the B2C model firm. His presentation will be also a good case of innovation dilemma and network externalities.
The colloquial will be carried out via the Skype conference method. Dr Hiroko Oe will act as a facilitator for this colloquial and Dr Kaouther Kooli will perform as a supervisor for this event who liaises the outcome from the main Conference the week before.
BU ECRs and the PG students will be invited to the colloquial, too. Dr. Ediz Akcay (Lecturer in Digital Marketing) and Dr Yan Liang (Lecturer in Strategy) will be there as discussants.
This colloquial will provide unique and interesting views from the different cultural context of Japanese cases, including some key topics of the UN SDGs (e.g., Goal 9 ‘Industry, innovation and infrastructure’, Goal 11 ‘Sustainable cities and communities’, and Goal 17 ‘Partnerships for the goals’).
Mary Beth Gouthro PhD of the Faculty of Management was invited to join an expert panel for the MICE Leadership Summit 2019 this September at the May Fair Hotel (Edwardian Hotels Group) in London. Now in its second year, the one day Summit was attended by 200 agents working in the event industry and came from UK, South Africa and Israel.
The MICE (Meetings Incentives Conferencing & Exhibitions) Summit consisted of speakers, the panel and workshop content that addressed the opportunities and challenges of the industry go forward, through to 2025. The events sector is worth £39.1 billion to the UK economy in terms of direct spend by event delegates, attendees and organisers (BVEP). Nurturing talent in the workforce as well as issues related to sustainability were key themes covered on the day.
Joining Mary Beth on the panel providing insights to the future proofing for the events sector were Tracy Halliwell MBE, Director of Tourism, Conventions & Major Events for London & Partners; Jamie Vaughan, Head of European Sales for Cvent and Michael Begley, Managing Director of venuedirectory.com. The panel was chaired by Max Fellows, Director of Client Services at MCI Experience. The value and role of degree education in the field of events management was furthermore highlighted. Post-secondary education in the field underpins the economic sustainability of the International Business Events Action Plan published by DCMS alongside of the Tourism Sector Deal in summer 2019.
The next Summit is planned for September 2020 and plans to incorporate a bigger presence of HE education in event management, ie to include BU students & alumni.
Dr Huseyin Dogan and Dr Paul Whittington from the BU Human Computing Interaction Research Group, hosted the second Assistive Technology Symposium at Talbot Campus in support of the BU2025 Strategic Investment Area of Assistive Technology. The Symposium was a fusion of research domains, including digital health, education technologies and user experience.
The Symposium was opened by a keynote presentation by Steve Tyler, Assistive Technology Director at Leonard Cheshire, who discussed the current developments in Assistive Technologies and the potential challenges. Steve also described the Leonard Cheshire projects, including MySense, a Predictive Health Analytics system that non-intrusively monitors to provide a holistic view of the person.
Other presentations during the day included the current BU research projects of SmartAbility and FACETS, as well as by the BU Additional Learning Support department, who discussed learning strategies through metacognition. We also welcomed speakers from the Dorset Integrated Care System, London Grid for Learning and Diversity and Ability. The Symposium was concluded by a panel discussion with the speakers, to discuss the developments and challenges of assistive technology.
The Symposium delegates have expressed positive feedback from the event, including “a number of very useful and insightful presentations”, “the Symposium was beneficial because it was an opportunity to meet like-minded people” and “good to know what is going on at BU”.
BUHCI would like to thank all of the speakers and delegates for a successful Assistive Technology Symposium and we will host the third Symposium in 2020.
The presentations from the Symposium can be downloaded here.
BU staff can login below:
New eBook published in April
Café Scientifique Tuesday 4 June 2024 – How can we become more resilient in the face of multiple risks and hazards?
MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024
Research Information Network
Horizon Europe News – December 2023