BU Research Blog

February 15, 2021

Embedding UN SDGs in Teaching Entrepreneurship at BU

BU Challenges, BU research, BU2025, Business Engagement, Centre for Excellence in Learning, COVID-19, ECR Network, EU, Events, Featured, Festival of Learning, Fusion, Fusion themes, Global engagement, Impact, Industry collaboration, Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement, Women's Academic Network Sukanya Ayatakshi

A few days ago I noticed a post on the BU Staff Intranet about the Fourth Annual Global Goals Teach In, where, as educators, we can pledge to embed the UN Sustainable Development Goals in our teaching practice for 2 weeks between 22 February and 5 March 2021. It made my heart skip a beat thinking now is the time to make education more holistic! To not just arm our students with the best possible degree for their future careers but to empower them to be change makers.

Education is fundamental to shifting attitudes and make us feel we can be the change we want to see. The term ‘university entrepreneurship‘ is strongly in favour of the school of thought that enterprise development or entrepreneurial action is nurtured within the academic environment, allowing latent entrepreneurial ambitions to flourish! For the last few years I have been privileged to lead the Entrepreneurship and Business Ventures module in the final year at Bournemouth University Business School. Within the constraints of the time, curriculum and resources, we aim to run this module as a mini in-class incubation hub through ideation support; mentoring support through industry connections; guest speakers; networking events and many more. Each year, based on a personal commitment to sustainable collective action for the planet and humanity and spurred on by the encouraging global trends towards start-ups that espouse the triple bottom line (Economic, Social and Environmental), we designed a curriculum to support student entrepreneurship focusing on the economic viability centred around social/environmental sustainability. Because sustainability makes business sense, it is not merely altruism, it leads to competitive advantage, earning newer market segments and creates longevity and legacy for a business.

The UN SDGs make the task of embedding a sustainability agenda in the curriculum easier to do and also easier to understand the trajectory in which our small steps can add to the solutions of the grand problems. Often the discussions on sustainability, from a small business perspective, sounds like a costly goal to achieve and in this difficult economic times, sounds like an absurd suggestion when businesses cannot even survive the external forces. But this is where embedding sustainability within the core values of the business can actually help it weather the proverbial storm better. Sustainability, not as an appendage, but in the core of the business, within its business vision, mission, model, supply chain can ensure longevity. and once we become conscious of the power of responsible, conscious capitalism, the change we hope to see begins to take shape!

What would you do, if faced with a choice of buying a box of chocolates from one that is reliant on a supply chain riddled with historical and existing cocoa plantation slave labour (that you are aware of), and others (priced at a point higher than the former) trying to make that very difficult shift from the norm? As educators we have a huge responsibility of empowering the next generation start-up founders to open their eyes to the strength of action taken in favour of sustainability and the UN SDGs provide us with a toolkit to translate that message more effectively. For me, this journey started in the year 2014-15 with the first Social Enterprise Event day at Bournemouth University which was a networking and opportunity seeking platform for our students on this module to connect with socially focused entrepreneurs. I was not aware of the upcoming UN SDGs then and once I did, the whole action became that much more easy to plan and deliver including student-led projects, 4 Global Entrepreneurship Week events across two academic years- 2019/20 and 2020/21 (focussing on student experience and learning at BU) ; the creation of BU Social Entrepreneurs Forum and many more.

Sure, there are many other excellent frameworks we refer to and discuss including the B-Corps redefining success ( a personal favourite), Circular Economy underpinned by a transition to renewable energy ( a must have) Social Enterprises (another personal favourite), the CSR model and more but none that draw our attention so starkly to the global challenges as the UN SDGs. And recognising, that each incremental step we take, through our education practice and assessment, can add to the solutions to those grand challenges, is in itself a very sobering and empowering feeling.

And this is what I am privileged to witness in my classroom of 100+ students. Last year 2019-20 we worked with business organisations, with a core commitment to sustainable action, designing and developing business plan/business model solutions for them and this year and last, students, individually, worked on developing an original idea for a start-up underpinned by commitment to one or more UN SDGs.

How I wish I could share some of the posters, the pitches they did live/offline and the background research without infringing Intellectual Property! These ideas are needed! They are are time relevant, robustly underpinned by market research, with a clear focus on economic viability and sustainable actions and some of them, disruption of the existing industries they are entering. Some of them, whether they be an app to support Goal 5 Gender Equality; making fashion circular; empowering body image positivity through tech based solutions (Goal 3, Goal 5); sustainable home improvements; reducing food waste (Goals 1 and 2.); ideas stemming from personally recognised unmet needs yet so powerful for a global audience- the pride I feel in my students is not something I can express! Many of them have received prizes in the form of free business consultations with international entrepreneurs who were on the panel of judges listening to the business pitches, so it is only a matter of time before we see some of those ideas turning into registered businesses.

Globally, there is an increasing number of sustainable startups often attributed to the power of the millennials in demanding a change in the marketplace with the strength of future focus, technology, and digital platforms. And perhaps this is what we are seeing at a smaller scale within BU Entrepreneurship and Business Ventures, a group of bright young minds who are capable to assimilating new knowledge and adopting that as a way of life to make the world less individualistic and focus on what is truly important. For, capitalism is not the problem, it is the lack of true social responsibility that older, more archaic capitalistic institutions have shown, which has led to a world of huge chasms between the haves and the have-nots. And I am humbled by what the future will bring, and it seems that with the pandemic, social/environmental sustainability and impact of business on the society has been accelerated manifold…. every grey cloud has a silver lining? With that we say adieu to another grand semester 1 (whilst continuing supporting the ideas into real businesses through consultation) of Entrepreneurship and Business Ventures and look forward to the next cohort in September 2021. And I continue my journey, as an Enterprise Educator at BU, supporting the UN SDGs and supporting colleagues to find ways in which to embed this framework within their disciplines and student-focused initiatives. Thank you.

January 28, 2021

Student Entrepreneurship at Bournemouth University

BU2025, Business Engagement, Centre for Excellence in Learning, COVID-19, ECR Network, EU, Events, Featured academics, Festival of Learning, Fusion, Global engagement, Public engagement, Student Engagement, Uncategorized, Women's Academic Network Sukanya Ayatakshi

The nature versus nurture debate has long dominated entrepreneurship discussions in academia. But, globally, across universities and business schools, there is increased recognition of the role of university education as a springboard for entrepreneurial action. This may be in sharp contrast to many entrepreneurs’ stories of dropping out of colleges to pursue their entrepreneurial ambitions but, the role of higher education in shaping entrepreneurship cannot be discounted. Enterprise education, as a tool, can prepare students for coping with changing environments and increase their self-efficacy.

At Bournemouth University Business School, I am privileged to lead the final year Entrepreneurship and Business Ventures, a module in the Entrepreneurship Pathway, which brings in students from 7 programmes on to this pathway- Many of whom join this as they have a latent entrepreneurial ambition; some merely for the curiosity of the subject and some naturally meander into it and find their passion. The strength of this module is in shaping the entrepreneurial dreams of many through in-class incubation support and bringing in expertise from entrepreneurs and industry stalwarts.

The highlight of this year’s culmination of this module was the Annual Entrepreneurship Elevator Pitch competition where students had to present, as individuals, a well researched, well thought out, original business idea, underpinned by the UN SDGs, all in 3 minutes to a panel of external judges. Normally, this is a grand event on campus but this year was no less exciting online. Entrepreneurship is not what you know, it is more ‘Who’ you know. The role of social capital in enterprise development cannot be overstated. lack of financial capital is often cited as a key entrepreneurial barrier but to some extent, developing social capital through engaging with mentors, peers, friends can remove some of those barriers. Supported by Mark Painter, Business Development Manager at BUBS who said, “this event provides an invaluable opportunity for students to learn from a ‘live’ business audience and gain access to their contacts and networks“.

It is also imperative that we encourage entrepreneurship to be more socially and environmentally sustainable, not just focus on the single bottom line. And this is not mere altruism, this makes business sense, it leads to increased competitive advantage. And guess who is leading the way? Our millennials! It’s change in motion through power of collaboration and information sharing by a generation remarkably conscious of their wider environment. Never before has it been more important to think of collective action, as the pandemic and the climate change crises are showing. UN SDGs, as part of the core ethos of start-ups, are becoming the norm in this rapidly changing world which makes me very excited for the future.

A couple of weeks ago, in front of a live online panel of entrepreneurs, our final year Entrepreneurship Pathway students demonstrated their commitment to creating an equitable world, through the power of responsible capitalism and enterprise building, underpinned by actions to achieve the UN SDGs. This year we had Anthony Woodhouse, Executive Chairman of Hall & Woodhouse Pub and Brewery; Olly Whittle CEO of Swarm Social; Jon Thor Sigurleifsson, Content Marketer; and Kevin Whitehouse , Founder of Prime Entry Accountants.

Anthony Woodhouse, Executive Chairman Hall& Woodhouse said, “Really enjoyed the day – many inspirational ideas and great fun. I and the team at H&W look forward to working with the winners on their free day of consultancy provided by us trying to help them on their journey of turning their ideas into reality.” The participation of the panel of judges is the continuation of ‘Meet the Entrepreneurs’ series that we run through the course of this module to allow our aspiring student entrepreneurs to build meaningful networks and relationships. It is also an opportunity to “spot future business ideas“, as Olly Whittle notes.

Each year, we have huge amounts of support from entrepreneurs, business organisations and individuals in helping our students fulfil their entrepreneurial dreams and it is with great sadness we bid final adieu to our mentor, friend, a true example of a global entrepreneur, Damien Lee, who has worked with us closely over a number of years supporting student entrepreneurship at BU. Each year our students have learned greatly from his success story, a story of entrepreneurial resilience, perseverance in the face of adversity and indomitable spirit and who can forget him turning up at our 2019-20 Elevator Pitch event armed with boxes and boxes of Mr. Lee’s Noodles for all our students and guests!

Damien Lee, Founder of Mr. Lees Noodles.

We continue our success story of encouraging student entrepreneurship at Bournemouth University, recognising it as a part of the great reset post Covid, and this is aptly captured in the words of our panelist Jon Thor Sigurleifsson, ”

“Having been part of BU’s pitch event a couple of times now I’ve gotta say there must be something in the water over there! I always walk away feeling inspired and hopeful for the future when I see all the great ideas that come up from the students.

Another reason why I love taking part in this exercise is that I know how valuable it is to get real life insights into the world of startups and entrepreneurship from those who have experienced it themselves. Some of the most common pieces of feedback given are things that, if applied, can change the course of these students’ journeys forever without having to learn them the hard way. There are enough challenges out there without having to go in completely blind.

So huge shout out to everyone responsible for this at BU, you’re going above and beyond in order to give your students the best possible chance at success.I can’t wait to speak to some of this year’s students and offer up my advice and mentorship in order to help them dive into their respective ventures.”

I wish all the Entrepreneurship Pathway students success in their future endeavours and huge congratulations to all the winners.

January 27, 2021

Missing out? The Early Career Researcher Network

BU research, BU2025, ECR Network, Research Concordat, Research Integritiy, Training, Uncategorized, Vitae, Women's Academic Network Edwin van Teijlingen

I recently realised I had been missing out! Although I have worked at BU for 18 months there is so much about university life I still don’t understand. I find it hard to ask/disturb busy people and the temptation is to muddle through. Not being on campus – especially since the pandemic, makes it hard to get to know other researchers, potential collaborators, and share ideas or tips. Help is at hand though…

I have just discovered the Early Career Researcher Network. It is a relaxed, informal, safe place to ask questions and meet other researchers from across the university. (There are no demands!) Meetings are held once a month and run by two experienced academics Prof. Ann Hemingway and Dr. Sam Goodman who answer questions, discuss pertinent topics such as building your research profile, promotion and pay progression, networking, partnership and collaboration. You attend as you are able. There are no obligations, but a wealth of wisdom and support is on offer.

Dr. Rachel Arnold

Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH)

November 25, 2020

Women Entrepreneurs and Covid-19- Celebrating BU Global Entrepreneurship Week 2020

BU Challenges, BU research, BU2025, Business Engagement, Centre for Excellence in Learning, conferences, COVID-19, Delicious links, Doctoral College, ECR Network, EU, Events, Featured academics, Festival of Learning, Funding opportunities, Fusion, Fusion Investment Fund, Fusion themes, Global engagement, humanities, Impact, international, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer Partnership, Public engagement, staff profile pages, Student Engagement, Uncategorized, Women's Academic Network Sukanya Ayatakshi

Women’s representation in entrepreneurship, the barriers women face in entrepreneurship is all well documented and well researched with robust evidence from around the world. From seeking access to external finance, to engaging in those critical business networks, managing the work-family interface- We have all heard and read about the many challenges women entrepreneurs have to navigate .

Women’s entrepreneurship in developing countries is particularly at risk, as women’s anticipated vulnerability is likely to be exacerbated due to the pandemic. Not only are women-led businesses amongst the hardest hit but more than 93% of women report having struggled with finding ways to support their businesses whilst managing their work and family commitments. Even before the pandemic women were already vulnerable spending five times more in childcare and over three times more in household chores than their male counterparts, experiencing an unemployment rate twice that of men (SME Finance Forum, 2020). There is a fear that this pandemic will turn back the clocks on women’s entrepreneurship because women bear the burden of unpaid caregiving including childcare, household responsibilities and elderly care .

With a staggering number of small businesses shutting down, there are disproportionate impacts on women business owners with a 25% drop in small business activity between February to Mid-April 2020 and a 16% drop in number of business ownership for active male and women business owners (Fairlie, 2020). And there is global attention to this as well which is very encouraging.

Hosted by BU Social Entrepreneurs Forum and supported by BU Women’s Academic Network on the 17th of November we led an international event with women entrepreneurs from Brazil, The UK, Oman and Iraq to share their experiences of leading and running a business in the midst of a global pandemic.

We heard from women entrepreneurs and their struggles and pathways to resolution in the face of having to manage the work and family commitments; we discussed issues around how external support in the form of women-centric funding bodies, incubation hubs, accelerators programmes can support more representation and increased success of women in entrepreneurship. What came out, very strongly, from the conversations, was the immense collective force of empowered women who are not just trailblazers but change makers and who, relentlessly, try to empower other women to take charge of their business interests and decisions!

With three parallel discussions in the event on women entrepreneurs and the care-giving role, we heard from the founder of The Mumpreneur Collective, Erin Thomas Wong, who discussed how motherhood was a springboard for her entrepreneurial actions and ambitions and in recognition of the multiple challenges and expectations that motherhood bestows on women she set up this organisation to provide support, mentoring opportunities and peer learning for mothers wanting to fulfil their entrepreneurial ambitions.Other women entrepreneurs, namely, Sarah Ali Choudhury, Forbes’s Curry Queen ; Aira Nascimento, Founder of Josephinas Colab, a social business of female entrepreneurs from the periphery and cultural space that rescues Afro-Brazilian and Indigenous culture in Campo Grande, Brazil; Maryam Al Amri, Founder of Youth Vision, Oman and Gabriela Anastacia, CEO of Gamarc Communications and Founder of (after motherhood) the social impact movement, Papo de Empreendedora [Female Entrepreneur Chat] discussed democratising access to entrepreneurship education for women and the support needed by mother entrepreneurs in the context of the pandemic.

Ranya Bakr, Iraq; Ludmila Hastenreiter, Founder and CEO of Empoderamente Contabil, Brazil and Bia Santos, Founder of Barkus Educational, Brazil led the discussions on access to finance and impediment that creates for women entrepreneurs particularly now in the context of the pandemic and prior to it. Emphasising the importance of financial education to create a fair and just society Bia Santos also highlighted the racial inequality that affects businesses like hers in the context of Brazil.

The issues around incubation hub and accelerator support focused on the needs of women entrepreneurs were discussed in the light of the pandemic with expert entrepreneurs including Adrienne Saunders, Founder of Yes You Can Training, UK; Shaima Murtadha Al- Lawati, Oman; Beatriz Carvalho, Founder of Mulheres de Frentes (Women in Front) and Dayse Valencia, an ASHOKA Social Entrepreneur Fellow and coordinator of projects at Rio based NGO, ASPLANDE, Brazil.

It was a particularly proud moment to celebrate two BUBS students, Ranya Bakr from Iraq, a Chevening Scholar, UNDP project lead, Founder of Storey an architectural firm and her work in Iraq developing incubation hubs for women. We also had the pleasure of listening to Maryam Al Amri from Oman, another BUBS student and Founder of Youth Vision supporting youth employment issues in the Arab world through her exemplary work.

This event was co-hosted with Jiselle Steele who supports women and micro entrepreneurs through her work in enterprise development across Brazil, UK and Sri Lanka and is a Senior Project Lead at _SocialStarters, a social enterprise started by Andrea Gamson, a BU Alumna and Top 100 Women in Social Enterprise who supports enterprise development and business consultation across many countries including the UK, Brazil, Kenya and Sri Lanka.

Ranya Bakr, BU Alumna from Iraq and Founder of Storey, an architectural firm.

Bia Santos, Founder of Barkus Education, Brazil

Maryam Al Amri, BU Student and Founder of Youth Vision, Oman

Erin Thomas Wong, Founder of Mumpreneur Collective, UK

So what is the value of showcase events? Academia affords us the opportunity to create impact through education, research and external engagement. Events such as these raise the profile of the organisation, bring together international audience ( this event welcomed guests from Singapore to Latin America), become part of a global resolution of a huge challenges, support UN SDGs, further BU2025 ambitions and most definitely, lead to research outputs and enhance the student experience. So showcase events may be hard work to put together but absolutely worth every second!

It is a proud moment for us at BUSEF to be celebrating our second BU GEW 2020. Watch the space for more things to come.

November 25, 2020

Refugee Entrepreneurship And Covid-19- BU Global Entrepreneurship Week 2020

BU Challenges, BU research, BU2025, Business Engagement, Centre for Excellence in Learning, conferences, COVID-19, Doctoral College, ECR Network, EU, Events, Featured, Featured academics, Festival of Learning, Funding opportunities, Fusion, Fusion Investment Fund, Fusion themes, Global engagement, humanities, Impact, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team, Uncategorized, Women's Academic Network Sukanya Ayatakshi

Melanie Montinard, Mawon, Brazil

Camila Pinto, Migraflix, Brazil

Esther Yanya, South Sudanese Refugee Entrepreneur from Uganda

Noel Lilija, Microfinance Officer, CRESS UK, Arua, Uganda

Abdoulaye Fall, Self Funded Communities ACAF, Barcelona, Spain

Talal Al-Tinawi, Syrian Refugee Entrepreneur in Brazil

Debora Gonzaga Brassau Brazil

Sayma Ahmad, Co-Founder and Honorary Chair, Unity in Vision, Dorset UK

Globally, there are 65 million people forcibly displaced from their homes (WHO, 2019). Achieving legitimacy and acceptance and integration into the host community remains a challenge in most host countries with an increased inflow of displaced populations. What do refugees hope for? Safety, security, an ability to carve out a future for themselves and their loves ones and retaining the dignity of being a human being.

We recently concluded a study in Uganda,Brazil and Spain exploring how displaced populations seek and achieve legitimacy through the routes of entrepreneurship in collaboration with co-host Jiselle Steele. This study allowed us the opportunity to engage with displaced communities and individuals whose resilience, perseverance the the zeal to thrive, not just survive, showcases the true essence of the human spirit. Not only that, with the entrepreneurial offerings they created they are making huge community impacts to support others in the same circumstances as them- an empowerment pathway through entrepreneurship.

With the rapid developments in the pandemic sweeping our world, all the policy discussions around economic recovery has managed to not take into consideration the plight of the displaced populations engaged in business activities, mostly in the informal sectors.

This year, as part of the Global Entrepreneurship Week 2020, BU Social Entrepreneurs Forum (BUSEF), organised an event to celebrate the work of refugee entrepreneurs and support organisations that empower the displaced populations in integration and their entrepreneurial ambitions.

On the 18th of November, 2020, BUSEF brought together refugee entrepreneurs and support organisations from Uganda, Brazil, Spain and the UK. Esther Yanya, a 27- year old South Sudanese refugee, living in a displacement camp in Arua, Northern Uganda shared with us her harrowing story of walking across hundreds of miles with two very young children and arriving to no support, no food and so shelter. The work of Cress UK-led by Caroline Lamb (Founder and Chair or Trustees) and Noel Lilija, Project Lead at CRESS Arua, an aid organisation working to support refugees in medical care, education, agricultural training and microentrepreneurship- was the turning point in Esther Yanya’s life and now she not only leads a savings group based business in tailoring (She was wearing the most stunning dress similar to these Peaches Boutique white dresses for prom she crafted herself) but is also empowering other women in the displacement camp to achieve financial independence and a future for themselves.

Talal Al-Tinawi joined us from Brazil where he is a Syrian refugee and a gastronomy business owner. Having had to leave his mechanical engineering business in Damascus, Talal shared with us the role that society plays in integrating refugees like himself. The institutional barriers not withstanding, the role of social inclusion in allowing emotional security to refugees is something that is not well researched or discussed. Supported by Migraflix, Talal set up his gastronomy business, in the absence of being able to get employment.

What is quite extraordinary about both Talal and Esther is that, not withstanding their personal circumstances, they think of the community around them and how to support, how to empower. Talal has been working tirelessly to provide food to those vulnerable during this pandemic.

In addition to the refugee entrepreneurs, the event brought together Migraflix, Mawon, Brassau from Brazil and Cress UK with team from UK and Uganda, Self Funded Communities ACAF from Spain and Unity in Vision, Dorset, UK.

So what was the potential impact of an event such this? The obvious answer is of course, raising awareness and building the momentum in this conversation but also and critically, gaining increased visibility for the individuals who identify themselves and refugee entrepreneurs and the critical work that the support organisations do independent of and with very little state/institutional support.

November 18, 2020

Research seminar is on the Way! 😇How can we ensure an inclusive environment for children with disabilities? – 10th December 2020 From 10:00 –11:30 (ZOOM)

BU2025, Business Engagement, ECR Network, humanities, Public engagement Hiroko Oe

We will have a seminar session with the guest lecturer, Professor Natsuko Minamino (Toyo University, Faculty of Human Life Design, Department of Human Care and Support). This research seminar is conducted via ZOOM.

Professor Minamino will present her research topic ‘how to develop inclusive society with education/activities in early childhood to support disabled children.’ Her research focuses on the the principle of respecting human diversity in early childhood education.

This seminar is held in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as ‘Goal 4: Quality Education’, and ’Goal 5: Gender Equality’, and ‘Goal 17: Partnership for 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 and Ms Sandy Zhu, a business consultant from Canada.

*For more details, please email to hoe@brounemouth.ac.uk

November 5, 2020

Fusion event: Three Nation Consortium ‘Business strategies and decision making’ inviting PGT students, PGRs, ECRs 😇 is on the way! 16th November 2020, 9:00-11:00

BU2025, ECR Network, Fusion, Global engagement, PG research, Postgraduate Research Hiroko Oe

‘Business strategies and decision making’

This is a research seminar to share the research ideas and plans with three internaitonal universities from UK (BU), Greece, and Japan.

The presenters are PGRs and ECRs with an interdisciplinary themes in the social sciences.

Date: 16 November 9:00am (UK)/11:00am (Greece)/18:00 (Japan) (1.5-2 hours session by ZOOM)

Moderators:

Professor Takuji Takemoto (University of Fukui, Japan)

Professor Jason Papathanasiou (University of Macedonia)

Dr Hiroko Oe (Bournemouth University, UK)

Participants: Students from the universities above will make their presentations on their research projects which are followed by the discussions. All virtual participants are invited for the discussions.

Agenda

Opening remark (Dr Hiroko Oe)
Presentations and Q&A discussions

Team Japan: Three presentations will be made by the MSc students on the research ideas on the theme of regional development and the business contribution (SDGs, design thinking, and public sector-universities’ interventions).

Discussants: Dr Yamaoka (The Open University of Japan) Ms Sandy Zhu (BU)

Team UK: Two presentations will be made on their research ideas and plan. Mr. Sitsada Sartamorn (BU MSc IM) will discuss his research outline of ‘immersion marketing and emotional value’ which will be followed by Mr. Herschel Pandits (BU PGR) who will discuss the outline of his research project on ‘luxury consumption’.

Discussants: Dr Ayane Fujiwara (Nottingham Trent University) and Ms Sandy Zhu (BU)

Team Greece Three presentations will be made by three researchers in the decision-making field (Mr. George Tsaples (PGR), Ms. Panagiota Digkoglou (PGR), and Dr Anastasia Blouchoutzi (ECR)).

Discussants: Dr Hiroko Oe (BU) and Dr Ayane Fujiwara (Nottingham Trent University)

Overall discussion and Q&A
Review and comments from the Professors
Further activity planning

This session will provide an opportunity to build a network for ECRs/PGRs by sharing their research ideas and plans from an interdisciplinary perspective. This session will also discuss themes in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as ‘Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure’ and ’Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals’, and also it aligns with BU2025 strategic investment areas (SIAs), Simulation & Visualisation and Assistive Technology.

The BU ECRs, PGRs, and MSc students are welcome to this session.

*For more details, please email to hoe@brounemouth.ac.uk

November 2, 2020

Bournemouth University Social Entrepreneurs Forum Celebrates Global Entrepreneurship Week 2020

BU2025, Business Engagement, Centre for Excellence in Learning, conferences, COVID-19, Doctoral College, ECR Network, Events, Fusion, Global engagement, Impact, international, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team, Public engagement, staff profile pages, Uncategorized, Women's Academic Network Sukanya Ayatakshi

BU Social Entrepreneurs Forum BUSEF is proud to present Global Entrepreneurship Week 2020 with not one but two stellar events!

Last year we celebrated the very first Global Entrepreneurship Week at BU with two mega events on campus and although this year the world is different but what’s stopping us from celebrating and raising the bar even higher?

It is a proud moment for us to introduce this year’s events- Women Entrepreneurs in The Times of Covid-19 supported by the Women’s Academic Network at BU on the 17th of November 1400-1600 GMT (online) and Refugee Entrepreneurs and Covid-19 18 November 1400-1600 Online.

These events are aligned with the purpose of BU Social Entrepreneurs Forum in supporting the BU2025 commitment to UN SDGs and creating Fusion-led activities supporting research and student learning and experience.

BUSEF, created in partnership with the Association of Sustainability Practitioners, Dorset and The Rotary Club at Poole Bay is a collaborative, inclusive forum to support the knowledge exchange between academia and the developing landscape of socially focused businesses in the region. In the past one year BUSEF has facilitated a number of student-led projects across BU, organised a number of free skills-based workshops, showcased GEW 2019 and is continuing to support local businesses through online workshops and events.

October 27, 2020

Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Research Centre informal event

BU Challenges, BU research, BU2025, REF Subjects, Research Centres, Research news, research staff ebballester

We would like to invite you to the informal online opening event of BU’s Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Research Centre on Monday 2 November from 10am – 12pm, in Zoom.

The centre is designed to foster collaborative research in applied, translational and theoretical neuroscience within the university and with our external partners to enable us to bid for external funding. We also seek to promote education in neurosciences in graduate and post-graduate programs. The centre offers a range of experimental and theoretical expertise and we are interested in collaborating with internal and external colleagues.

During the event we will provide a very brief overview of the techniques, recording modalities and facilities that we have available. Then we would welcome discussion around potential collaborations and projects.

Add this event to your diary and join us on Zoom.

Meeting ID: 885 0146 7009
Passcode: BE@hTx^1

Thank you very much and we are looking forward to seeing you there.

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact any of us (Ellen Seiss, eseiss@bournemouth.ac.uk Emili Balaguer-Ballester eb-ballester@bournemouth.ac.uk or Peter Abaraci Hills phills@bournemouth.ac.uk).

October 14, 2020

IMIV MRI Pump-Priming Research Scheme

BU Challenges, BU research, BU2025, Events Lisa Andrews

To celebrate the launch of the Bournemouth University Institute of Medical Imaging and Visualisation, and the opening of the MRI Centre in the Bournemouth Gateway Building, we are pleased to launch an MRI pump-priming scheme to support innovative MRI research projects.

The aim of this scheme is to support projects that will lead to competitive external funding applications for MR imaging studies. Applications will therefore be required to demonstrate a clear plan for progressing preliminary studies to grant applications and larger studies.

All projects must have a Bournemouth University researcher as lead or co-lead applicant (see application form).
Up to 4 awards of up to 20 hours’ scanning time will be available. The award will not cover any additional expenses related to scanning, or other aspects of the project.
Projects must be deliverable within 12 months, including ethical approvals. Projects with ethical approvals already in place will be prioritised.
There will be online information and project development sessions with members of the IMIV team at 3.30pm on Thursday 22^nd October and Thursday 5^th November. Please email imiv@bournemouth.ac.uk to register your interest and receive the login details. You can view the virtual presentation here.

To register your interest, and receive the application form, please email imiv@bournemouth.ac.uk. The deadline for applications is 13^th December 2020.

October 13, 2020

Have you been involved with an event for the external community?

BU2025, Events, HEIF, Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement gdelrosa

Then we want to hear from you!

BU is currently compiling the data for the annual Higher Education – Business & Community Interaction (HE-BCI) survey. Data returned is used to calculate our Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) grant and feeds into our Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) submission, so it’s really important that we can provide an accurate picture.

We are asked to submit details of social, cultural and community events designed for the external community (to include both free and chargeable events) which took place between 1 August 2019 and 31 July 2020.

Event types that should be returned include, but are not limited to:

public lectures
performance arts (dance, drama, music, etc)
exhibitions
museum education
events for schools and community groups
festival activity
media engagement

We cannot return events such as open days, Student Union activity, widening participation activity, commercial conferences, talks for academic audiences etc.

All events that we ran as part of the Arts by the Sea, ESRC Festival of Social Science and Cafe Scientifique series have been collated on your behalf centrally, so there is no need to add these.

If you have been involved with any other event which could be returned, please could you visit the SharePoint site and input further details about the event. The deadline for entries is Friday 30 October.

Click here to add your events

The site contains further guidance about eligible activities and a set of FAQs. If you have any further questions, please contact Genna del Rosa.

September 29, 2020

BU Social Entrepreneurs Supporting Business in the Times of Covid-19

BU2025, Business Engagement, Centre for Excellence in Learning, COVID-19, ECR Network, Events, Fusion, Global engagement, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer, Public engagement, Student Engagement, Uncategorized, Women's Academic Network Sukanya Ayatakshi

Covid-19 has created tremendous uncertainty, to state the obvious mildly, particularly for small social businesses and social entrepreneurs where there is not much focused and specific support to go around.

A year ago we embarked on a journey, via the BU Social Entrepreneurs Forum (BUSEF), formed in collaboration with the Association of Sustainability Practitioners and the Poole Bay Rotary Club to develop the landscape of socially focused businesses in the community, to encourage knowledge transfer projects between BU and socially focused businesses and to provide a collaborative, inclusive forum to support business transition to socially sustainable yet economically viable models.

BUSEF is now offering free, focused, workshops online on the theme of ‘Coping with Covid-19’. Our very successful and well received session in August was on legal structures of social businesses and sources of funding with experts from YTKO , Jonathan Dixon, Head of Grants Programme and NatWest Community Business Funding support officers John Murray and Mairead Taylor .

Now, we have our next workshop on the 09th of October (online) where The Operations Director of Dorset Growth Hub, Nick Gregory; Director at Association of Sustainability Practitioners and lifelong environmentalist, Linda Farrow and Economic Development Officer at BCP Council, Claire Main will speak about the various types of direct support available, share experiences of business during Covid-19. And if that was not enough, we are also launching our BUSEF Clinic sessions! From this event onwards, we invite expressions of interest from local social SMEs and social entrepreneurs (via email to Sukanya at sayatakshi@bournemouth.ac.uk) to have their own particular case discussed live with an expert panel to seek a collective resolution and personalised support.

BUSEF is now in the final phases of developing its own website, in partnership with Worksity a social business founded by an ex-BU student Amin Pasandideh. Watch the space for our next exciting steps!

Register here at link

September 25, 2020

Academic Targeted Research Scheme (Sport & Sustainability): Women in Sports Leadership

BU research, BU2025 rnicholson

Back in April I started my new post as Senior Lecturer in Sport and Sustainability – one of six appointments made under BU’s Academic Targeted Research Scheme. The Scheme has been designed to attract and recruit talented individuals to conduct research in specific, targeted areas which align with BU 2025.

My research under the scheme focuses on the area of sport and social sustainability, aiming to inform the work of National Governing Bodies of Sport (NGBs) in ensuring greater diversity on their boards, and to help create environments whereby women can fully and effectively participate in sports leadership. Attracting a more diverse workforce is a key aspect of making sports governance more socially sustainable.

The historical environment of sports governance in the UK shapes contemporary sport, providing a context in which women have often not been welcomed in positions of leadership in men’s sport – and women of colour doubly so. However, an examination of women’s sport shows that up until the 1990s many women were involved in sports governance at high levels – for example, the Women’s Cricket Association (who were the NGB running women’s cricket in England & Wales until 1998) was led entirely by women for its entire lifespan between 1926 and 1998.

The 1990s, however, seems to have been a particularly problematic period for women in sports governance. A push from the Sports Council (now Sport England) towards merged governance – that is, having women’s and men’s sport run by the same NGB – saw many of the women who had successfully run women’s sport for decades forced out of their governance roles.

My research aims to examine this process in more detail, asking:

Why was a policy of merged governance introduced, and what impact has it had on women’s role and representation in the governance of sport?
How can we learn from this process, to ensure that more women are represented in sports governance going forwards?

COVID-19 has inevitably affected my research plans: I am aiming to conduct interviews with those who were involved in the merger processes which took place in the 1990s, but may have to consider doing this via Zoom, instead of face-to-face.

I am also looking to create a new network which focuses on Sports Governance & Diversity, in order to bring together researchers in this area with key stakeholders including UK Sport, Sport England, NGBs, and charities like Women in Sport. It is crucial that academic research being conducted into the underrepresentation of certain groups in sport governance reaches those who are running sport, and informs their future policy.

Anyone who is interested in getting involved in this new network should feel free to email me – I’d love to hear from you.

September 6, 2020

Faculty of Science & Technology receives an additional £60k CyberASAP funding

Awarded & submitted bids, BU research, BU2025, Research news whittingtonp

Dr Huseyin Dogan (Principle Investigator) and Co-Investigators (Dr Paul Whittington, Professor Keith Phalp, Dr Nan Jiang and Dr Benjamin Gorman) from the Faculty of Science & Technology have been awarded an additional £59,578 funding from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, in collaboration with Innovate UK and the Knowledge Transfer Network, through the Cyber Academic Startup Accelerator Programme (CyberASAP). This external funding supports BU2025 Assistive Technology Strategic Investment Area. The CyberASAP programme is designed to assist academics in UK Universities to commercialise cyber security ideas, by providing expertise knowledge and support. Lesley Hutchins (Research Commercialisation Manager, RDS) is included in our team to guide the commercialisation of Authentibility Pass through a potential BU spinout company. We also receive valued administrative support from Caroline Jarmolkiewicz, Personal Assistant to Dr Paul Whittington.

We have discovered that people with disabilities can encounter barriers due to web security and privacy technologies. This could result in them being prevented from purchasing goods or registering for services, leading to frustration and cancelling transactions. Our CyberASAP project, named Authentibility Pass, will be an innovative solution to assist people with disabilities to communicate their authentication and accessibility requirements to higher education institutions, schools, non-profit organisations, small medium enterprises and financial institutions. Authentibility Pass builds on the knowledge obtained during Dr Paul Whittington’s PhD (supervised by Dr Huseyin Dogan and Professor Keith Phalp) and postdoctoral research through the development of the SmartAbility Framework.

This funding follows our previously successful bid for Phase 1 of the programme, where we received £31,612 to develop our value proposition and to conduct market validation of our concept. We conducted market analysis and identified that there is a need for Authentibility Pass, as organisations who do not comply with accessibility regulations lose approximately £80k per annum through accessibility claims. Our market validation highlighted that people with disabilities often need to repeatedly inform organisations of their authentication and accessibility requirements. Authentibility Pass will enable customers to enter their requirements into a smartphone application, which can be stored in secure organisational databases.

During Phase 2 (which runs from September 2020 to February 2021), Vers Creative UK (CEO David Passmore) will be sub-contracted to develop the Authentibility Pass Proof of Concept, consisting of an Android application, database and web interface for managing the database. We believe that adopting Authentibility Pass will assist organisations to comply with accessibility and equality regulations, as well as facilitating awareness of the requirements of customers with disabilities when interacting with organisations. The solution will be customisable to suit specific organisations through a ‘Software as a Service’ with varying licensing options, e.g. annual subscriptions for hosting the database or one-off costs to provide an API that interfaces with existing database systems.

Our aim is to evolve Authentibility Pass into a commercial product that improves the relationship with customers, students or pupils who have reduced abilities. The CyberASAP project will culminate in a Demo Day in February 2021 at Level 39 of Canary Wharf (COVID-19 permitting), where we will present our Authentibility Pass Proof of Concept to potential investors.

September 4, 2020

New research paper published by Professor Dimitrios Buhalis in Journal of Advertising

BU research, BU2025, Business Engagement dbuhalis

New research paper published by Professor Dimitrios Buhalis in Journal of Advertising

Ali Selcuk Can, Yuksel Ekinci, Giampaolo Viglia & Dimitrios Buhalis (2020):
Stronger Together? Tourists’ Behavioral Responses to Joint Brand Advertising,
Journal of Advertising https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2020.1809574

free eprints https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/76JWSAAMIBF3ZHQXFEHT/full?target=10.1080/00913367.2020.1809574

Abstract

Drawing on collaboration theory, this research investigates the effect of joint versus single brand advertising on tourists’ behavioral responses with two experiments. Study 1 employs a field experiment to examine the effect of joint brand advertising on tourists’ actual information search behavior. Study 2 uses a laboratory experiment to investigate the effect of joint brand advertising on tourists’ intention to visit a destination and measures whether this relationship is mediated by product interest. Study 1 suggests that, compared to single brand advertising, joint brand advertising increases tourists’ search behavior. Study 2 shows that joint brand advertising stimulates product interest, which in turn increases tourists’ intention to visit. The mediating role of product interest disappears when a destination brand forms a partnership with a lesser-reputed travel intermediary brand. The research provides implications for theory development in the area of tourism advertising, while also identifying best practices for advertisers on how to optimize the effectiveness of their campaigns.

September 1, 2020

BU researcher co-authors open access article on country images, migration and populism

BRIAN, BU research, BU2025, conferences, EU, Global engagement, Grants Academy, innovation, international, open access, Publishing, Research Centres, Research communication, Research news, writing edolea

Dr. Alina Dolea, member of BU Centre for Comparative Politics and Media Research, published open access together with Prof. Diana Ingenhoff from University of Fribourg (Switzerland) and Dr. Anabella Beju from Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu (Romania) the article “Country images and identities in times of populism: Swiss media discourses on the ‘stop mass immigration’ initiative” in International Communication Gazzette: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1748048520913462

The research was carried out during Dr. Dolea’s SCIEX postdoctoral fellowship at University of Fribourg and funded through the SCIEX competitive grant “Discourses on country image promotion and identity in Western and Eastern Europe. A comparative study on Switzerland and Romania (DiCoPro)”. The Scientific Exchange Programme (Sciex-NMSch) was part of the Swiss Contribution to the New Member States (NMS) of the European Union.

The article shows country images are instrumentalized in public debates beyond strategic communication contexts and practices. The authors innovatively linked studies on country images and identities with migration and populism as communication phenomenon and ideology discursively articulated by political and media actors. They used Critical Discourse Analysis to show how media construct, re-construct and mobilize various representations and descriptors of Switzerland (as a country, as a state or as a nation) in the debates following the 2014 Swiss referendum on “stop mass immigration initiative”. Projecting fictitious scenarios, fear and uncertainty, media have ultimately constructed Switzerland’s image through a populist type of discourse, reproducing the populist ideology of dividing society into polarized categories through strategies of inclusion and exclusion.

This is a great example of multidisciplinary research carried out within the International Communication Association, as authors linked streams of critical research emerging within the Public Diplomacy Interest Group with more established research on populism within the Political Communication Division.

August 26, 2020

Deadline approaching: Call for Deputy Chair of the Research Impact Funding Panel

BU2025, Impact gdelrosa

The Research Impact Funding Panel is responsible on behalf of the Research Performance and Management Committee for providing internal funding and support to aid the development of research impact at BU. This will ensure a pipeline of case studies for REF 2021 and beyond. It is responsible for assessing and determining priority areas for impact support and investment.

We are seeking expressions of interest (EoIs) for the Deputy Chair of the Research Impact Funding Panel. Deputy Chairs should be members of the Professoriate (Associate Professors).

EoIs for the Deputy Chair role will be reviewed against selection criterion which includes knowledge and experience of research impact, experience of chairing meetings and plans for leading the impact agenda across the university.

EoIs should consist of a CV and short case (maximum length of one page) outlining suitability for the role. These should be submitted to the Research Impact panel mailbox by the deadline of 5pm on 1 September 2020.

Full details are available on the Staff Intranet: https://staffintranet.bournemouth.ac.uk/news/news/thismonth/researchimpactfundingpanelcallfordeputychair.php

August 19, 2020

Research Impact Funding Panel – call for Deputy Chair

BU2025, Impact gdelrosa

The Research Impact Funding Panel is responsible on behalf of the Research Performance and Management Committee for providing internal funding and support to aid the development of research impact at BU. This will ensure a pipeline of case studies for REF 2021 and beyond. It is responsible for assessing and determining priority areas for impact support and investment.

We are seeking expressions of interest (EoIs) for the Deputy Chair of the Research Impact Funding Panel. Deputy Chairs should be members of the Professoriate (Associate Professors).

EoIs for the Deputy Chair role will be reviewed against selection criterion which includes knowledge and experience of research impact, experience of chairing meetings and plans for leading the impact agenda across the university.

EoIs should consist of a CV and short case (maximum length of one page) outlining suitability for the role. These should be submitted to the Research Impact panel mailbox by the deadline of 5pm on 1 September 2020.

Full details are available on the Staff Intranet: https://staffintranet.bournemouth.ac.uk/news/news/thismonth/researchimpactfundingpanelcallfordeputychair.php

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BU Social Entrepreneurs Supporting Business in the Times of Covid-19

Academic Targeted Research Scheme (Sport & Sustainability): Women in Sports Leadership

Faculty of Science & Technology receives an additional £60k CyberASAP funding

New research paper published by Professor Dimitrios Buhalis in Journal of Advertising

BU researcher co-authors open access article on country images, migration and populism

Deadline approaching: Call for Deputy Chair of the Research Impact Funding Panel

Research Impact Funding Panel – call for Deputy Chair

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We will have a seminar session with the guest lecturer, Professor Natsuko Minamino (Toyo University, Faculty of Human Life Design, Department of Human Care and Support). This research seminar is conducted via ZOOM.

Professor Minamino will present her research topic ‘how to develop inclusive society with education/activities in early childhood to support disabled children.’ Her research focuses on the the principle of respecting human diversity in early childhood education.

This seminar is held in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as ‘Goal 4: Quality Education’, and ’Goal 5: Gender Equality’, and ‘Goal 17: Partnership for 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 and Ms Sandy Zhu, a business consultant from Canada.

*For more details, please email to hoe@brounemouth.ac.uk

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