Category / conferences

Dr. Catalin Brylla Leads Diversity and Inclusion Programme for Visible Evidence

conferences, Research Ethics

Dr. Catalin Brylla, Principal Lecturer in Film and TV (FMC) has been appointed Chair of the Visible Evidence Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Committee. The committee’s programme was launched at the 2025 Visible Evidence Conference at Monash University in Melbourne.

Visible Evidence (VE) is the largest and oldest documentary studies community, having produced a wealth of research by renowned scholars, such as Bill Nichols, Michael Renov, Brian Winston, Patricia Zimmerman and Kate Nash. It has a long history of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research, fostering links between the academy and the media industry, and fusing documentary research, practice and education.

The VE DEI Advisory Committee has been established by the VE Governing Council to diversify its members and expand its outreach. The committee consists of Catalin Brylla as chair, Slava Greenberg, Tory Jeffay, Patrick Kelly and Geoffrey Lokke. Brylla has drawn up a plan to reach early-career researchers, Global South scholars/practitioners and other underrepresented academic and non-academic communities. He draws on his experience as Chair of the Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image DEI Committee, founding member of the Journal of Media Practice’s Diversifying and Decentralizing Research Working Group, and Deputy Director of BU’s Centre for the Study of Conflict, Emotion and Social Justice.

 

The committee’s programme was launched at the 30th Visible Evidence Conference at Monash University, Melbourne, in December 2025. It featured a roundtable with scholars and media practitioners Dr. Shweta Kishore, Dr. Zoe Meng Jiang, Prof. Kate Nash and Prof. Pratāp Rughani, who provided their perspective of diversity and inclusion. The conference also featured the committee’s new mentorship initiative, which pairs up early-career members—including graduate students, junior faculty members and emerging filmmakers—with mid-career and senior scholars or media professionals.

Image above: Prof. Kate Nash presents data on institutional affiliations of first authors submitting to the journal Studies in Documentary Film; there is a distinct lack of submission from Global South scholars.

 

Some of the committee’s action plans include:

  • Organising a DEI-related roundtable and workshop at every VE conference, featuring scholars from the Global South
  • Organise career development ‘clinics’ for early-career researchers
  • Create a VE YouTube channel that features recorded conference presentations for people who cannot attend the conference
  • Liaise with journal editors to commission special issues from Global South scholars
  • Monitoring VE membership and conference participation regarding institutional affiliations and countries

The VE DEI Committee’s programme was launched at Monash University Melbourne, on the unceded lands of the Bunurong Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation. We pay our deepest respect to the traditional owners of this land and acknowledge their ongoing relationship with the lands and waterways. We pay our respect to all Indigenous people, and their elders past and present.

Decoding Research Conferences: Unveiling the ROI

conferences, international, Knowledge Exchange

Hello, fellow PhD researchers! 🌟

Picture this: You, a PhD student, presenting your research at your first academic conference. It’s an exhilarating experience! I just returned from the three-day Complex Networks 2024 conference in Istanbul, Turkey, where I had a chance to present poster on our published paper on spread of congestion on urban road networks. Here, I’d like to share why attending academic conferences is a valuable experience.

Building Connections

Conferences are vibrant hubs buzzing with experts in your field. They provide the perfect opportunity to network, exchange ideas, and establish relationships that could shape your career. I had the privilege of meeting researchers from leading institutes, departments, and labs focusing on Complex Networks, including the Complexity Science Hub (CSH), Vienna, and the Centre for Complexity and Complex Networks, City University of Hong Kong.

Exploring New Ideas

Attending conferences gives you access to the latest research trends and cutting-edge findings, sparking fresh ideas for your own work. I participated in fascinating sessions on road network dynamics and emerging trends in Urban Systems, Mobility & Networks, and Machine Learning & Networks. These sessions offered valuable insights and broadened my research perspective.

Meeting Academic Heroes

One of the most inspiring aspects of conferences is the chance to meet the scholars who have shaped your research journey. I was thrilled to meet my academic hero, Professor Piet Van Mieghem from Delft University of Technology. His work greatly inspired my supervisor and me to do our research on congestion spread in road networks. Meeting him in person and discussing his work was truly exciting and motivating.

Personal Growth

Conferences are about more than just academics—they’re also a chance to grow personally. Traveling to Istanbul allowed me to experience Turkish culture, delicious Turkish cuisine, and enjoy the renowned hospitality.

Pro Tip

Preparation is essential! Perfect your presentation, research the speakers, and connect with participants ahead of time to maximize your conference experience.

     
Acknowledgements

My journey to this conference was made possible by the Scholarship for Events on Complex Systems (SECS) from the Young Researchers of the Complex Systems Society. 🌐✨ Special thanks to my supervisor Dr Wei Koong Chai.

With respect,
Assemgul Kozhabek

The 16th Annual Postgraduate Research Conference – Thank You

conferences, PG research

Thank you to all of our presenters, poster exhibitors, session chairs and of course delegates who supported the 16th Annual Postgraduate Research Conference. It is always a highlight on the Doctoral College events calendar and we hope you all enjoyed the day.

We were thrilled with the energy and enthusiasm on the day, and we were delighted to see a strong turnout of PGRs and colleagues showing their support and helping to promote a positive research culture and community across BU.

 

Here is some of the feedback received:

“Always an uplifting and inspiring event. I highly recommend attending in any capacity – as a guest or contributor.”

“Loved the atmosphere”

“I enjoyed it all. I gained confidence in exhibiting my poster and enjoyed networking with others.”

 

If you attended, either as a presenter or delegate, we would love to hear your feedback via this anonymous feedback form.

Your feedback will help us improve future conferences so please let us know your thoughts, or just let us know what you liked most!

Feedback collection will close soon – 11 December 2024.

 

You can see some highlights of the day on LinkedIn #BUPGRConf24 and a video here.

 

Virtual Exhibition and Postgraduate Research Showcase

Did you miss the conference? Do not worry, you can visit our Virtual Exhibition on the BU website and in February you will be able to visit the Atrium Gallery to view a selection of the conference posters.

We will be holding a celebration event on Wednesday 5 February 2025, with more information to follow so watch this space!

 

The Conference Team

The 16th Annual Postgraduate Research Conference is approaching!

conferences, PG research

Last chance to register for the 16th Annual Postgraduate Research Conference 2024. We are so excited to welcome you on Wednesday 27 November!

This conference is a celebration of the incredible work being carried out by our postgraduate researchers, and we are proud to provide this platform for sharing knowledge, fostering collaboration and building connections. Whether you are presenting, exhibiting, or attending, this is a wonderful opportunity to network with fellow PGRs, colleagues from across the university and external visitors.

Registrations close at 10:00 Tuesday 26 November, so don’t miss your chance to book! Lunch will be provided.

This conference is open to external participants, please share this invite with companies and organisations you are cooperating with.

Register to attend

Poster and oral presenters do not need to register as their participation has already been confirmed. 

Click here to view the conference brochure

We look forward to meeting you on Wednesday 27 November. Don’t miss this opportunity to celebrate research and collaboration!

Best wishes,
The PGR Conference Team

Enrica Conrotto – Doctoral College Programme Manager
Arabella Moyse – Doctoral College Marketing & Events Coordinator
Zoe Leonard – Postgraduate Research Administrator

BU PhD Candidate Shares Transportation Expertise at Dorset COP 24

conferences, Knowledge Exchange

🌍🚗 Thrilled to Have Participated in Dorset COP 24! 🚗🌍

Today, I had the incredible opportunity to contribute to the “Future Transport System in Dorset” workshop at Dorset COP 24. As an expert speaker, I joined Dorset and BCP Council representatives, local Transport Action Groups, the General Manager of More Bus, the Lead Director of Great British Railways and engaged community members to reimagine what Dorset’s transport landscape could look like over the next decade—and how we can achieve these changes sustainably.

During the session, I presented my research on complex urban road networks and traffic congestion spread, sparking insightful conversations on innovative, eco-friendly strategies that could reshape our local transport systems. After a dynamic Q&A with experts, I was invited to share my findings with the BCP Council’s Transportation Team and the Dorchester Transport Action Group in their upcoming meetings—a fantastic opportunity to see these ideas reach even wider audiences!

I’m feeling inspired and energized by the collaboration, insights, and shared commitment to a greener future for Dorset. Thank you, Lois Betts (BU Sustainability Manager), Joseph McMullen (BU Lecturer) for the invitation and support. Let’s keep pushing for sustainable progress! 🌱

Assemgul, PhD candidate, SciTech, Computing Department. Research title: “Complex Urban Road Networks: Static Structures and Dynamic Processes.”

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

conferences, Knowledge Exchange

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

MaGMap: Mass Grave Mapping

conferences, international

Mapping projects related to mass atrocities and human rights violations are prevalent across the globe. Despite their often well-intentioned origins, there has been minimal practical research and subsequent output focused on what constitutes effective mapping. Furthermore, there is a lack of guidance on how to balance the pursuit of justice with the need to protect victims and affected communities. This raised an essential question: where, when and under what circumstances should mapping of mass graves be avoided or kept secret so that protection is not jeopardised?

 

In 2022, Professor Melanie Klinkner and Dr Ellie Smith secured Leverhulme funding to address this critical question. As of August 30th, 2024, the project’s output has been completed and is now available as an open-access resource for global use. The output is accessible both online and in a physical format, consisting of a comprehensive workbook accompanied by a set of removable tools designed to guide practitioners through the mapping process. These tools include:

 

  • Mapping Process Flowchart: The flowchart illustrates the life cycle of a mass grave, highlighting the key stages and considerations at each step, all guided by the protection of rights.

 

  • Mapping Decision Tree: Accompanying the flowchart, the decision tree highlights concerns and necessary actions that must be addressed before progressing with mapping at each stage.

 

  • Risk Register: This element assists in decision-making processes by enabling logging and evaluations of risks and subsequent mitigation strategies.

 

Upon completion of the research Dr Ellie Smith outlines that:

“Mapping mass graves in an open-source format has the potential to provide longer-term protection of the site, as well as a means of countering revisionism, but is not without risks. The aim of our MaGMap tools is to enable anyone involved in mass grave mapping to do so in a way that is safe for survivors, witnesses and the families of victims, and preserves the integrity of the site as a crime scene”.

 

For Professor Melanie Klinkner the finalisation of these resources means that:

“Theoretical, transferable foundations have been laid to inform continued research and current mapping of atrocity practices. In fact, much of what we have learned during the course of the project now guides our own approach to building a regularised global mass grave map. This is significant: it will enable us to fully appraise the scale and magnitude of mass graves across the world in a rights-compliant and safe manner”.

 

Dr Ellie Smith will be presenting the findings of MaGMap this week at the European Society of International Law Conference in Lithuania.

 

Iridescent Spider Webs: BU NCCA Undergraduate Student Success at SIGGRAPH’24

conferences, Publishing, REF Subjects, staff profile pages, Student Engagement, student research

The 51st International Conference & Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques (SIGGRAPH’24), the international annual conference for the Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM, the world’s foremost computing society) was held in Denver, Colorado in August.

Among the work showcased at the conference was the poster “O, What an Iridescent Web We Weave: Rendering Physically Inspired Spider Webs for Visual Effects” by Vaya Simeonova (Grigorova) from this year’s graduating cohort (Computer Animation Technical Arts – CATA, Level 6) of the National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA, Faculty of Media and Communication) and co-authored by Dr Eike Falk Anderson.

Poster presented at SIGGRAPH’24

The poster paper is based on Vaya’s final year Research & Development Project unit project “An Exploration of the Optical Properties of Spider Web Fibres”, which resulted in the development of a physically inspired method for rendering CG spider webs that display the iridescent properties, observable in real-world spider webs.

The method achieves this in a manner that does not require a computationally expensive and bespoke/proprietary software solution, but instead works with industry standard, off-the-shelf, visual effects (VFX) software, meaning it can effortlessly be integrated into existing VFX production pipelines. The project was also one of five submissions featured in the SIGGRAPH’24 “Posters Highlights” video.

After being accepted as one of the 70 posters presented at this year’s SIGGRAPH conference, the world’s Premier Conference & Exhibition on Computer Graphics & Interactive Techniques, Vaya’s contribution (poster 32), was invited to the first round of the prestigious ACM Student Research Competition (SRC) sponsored by Microsoft, shortlisted as a semi-finalists, and presented to a panel of experts in the SRC Final Presentation. The jury, who enjoyed Vaya’s presentation and appreciated her demonstrated knowledge of prior research, were impressed by her execution of the work and its practicality, for which they awarded Vaya the Second Place in the ACM SIGGRAPH 2024 Student Research Competition in the undergraduate category.

Vaya Simeonova, presenting her poster (2nd place SRC, undergraduate category) at SIGGRAPH'24

After Ben Knowles (with Dr Oleg Fryazinov) who was awarded second place at SIGGRAPH’15 for “Increasing realism of animated grass in real-time game environments“, Teemu Lindborg and Philip Gifford (with Dr Oleg Fryazinov) who were semi-finalists at SIGGRAPH’17 for “Interactive parameterised heterogeneous 3D modelling with signed distance fields”, Quentin Corker-Marin (with Dr Valery Adzhiev and the late Professor Alexander Pasko) who achieved second place at SIGGRAPH’17 for “Space-time cubification of artistic shapes“, Bianca Cirdei (with Dr Eike Falk Anderson) who was awarded 1st place at SIGGRAPH’18 for her exceptional project “Withering fruits: vegetable matter decay and fungus growth” and Laura Mann (with Dr Oleg Fryazinov) who won second place at SIGGRAPH’19 for “3D printing for mixed reality hands-on museum exhibit interaction“, this is the first time since the start of the COVID’19 pandemic that an NCCA undergraduate student has progressed to the final round in this prestigious competition.

Nutrition team head to Belfast for the International Nutrition Society Congress

conferences

Between the 2nd- 4th July, staff from the Nutrition team in the Department of Rehabilitation and Sport Sciences travelled to Belfast to present their research and attend the international Nutrition Society Congress.

Staff showcased and presented a wide range of nutrition and health sciences research which was exceptionally well received by the audience members across the three days in Belfast.

  • Dr Joanne Holmes, Deputy Head of Department presented work entitled Sensory appeal and acceptance of a novel food intervention programme for older adults living with dysphagia.
  • Dr Fotini Tsofliou, Principal Academic and Programme Lead MSc Nutrition and Behaviour alongside two postgraduate researchers (PGRs) James Brooks (PhD) and Lee Chester (MRes) presented three research projects (1x randomised cross-over study and 2x systematic reviews) on healthy diet patterns towards a mediterranean style diet and effects on mood and mental wellbeing in middle aged adults.
  • Dr Reena Vijayakumaran, Senior Lecturer presented work entitled Exploring Food Insecurity & Sustainable Food in Rural India: Collaborative Learning through Student Mobility Programme
  • Dr Sarah Hillier, Senior Lecturer and Programme Lead BSc Nutrition presented work entitled Women’s dietary changes before and during pregnancy: a systematic review update. A project working in collaboration with her colleague Dr Ellinor Olander from City University.
  • Prof Jane Murphy, Deputy Dean presented work entitled A co-designed food intervention to promote healthy ageing in ethnic minorities  (TANGERINE | Bournemouth University)

The Nutrition Society Congress gave the team an opportunity to collaborate and network with individuals across higher education, industry, and policy makers in the field of nutrition sciences.

The Congress was also an opportunity for staff members to engage in some team bonding, and they took the opportunity to learn about the history of Belfast, as well as sampling some of the local cuisine and beverages!

 

Bursaries available to attend the 2024 Vitae Researcher Development Conference

conferences

A number of bursaries are available to enable researchers to attend the Vitae International Researcher Development Conference 2024.

The conference takes place online from 3rd-5th September and in-person in Birmingham on 23rd and 24th September.

It is the flagship annual event of Vitae, a non-profit programme to support the professional development of researchers, and will cover topics around policy and practice in researcher development.

29 bursaries are available in total – covering attendance at both the online and in-person events or the online-only elements.

The bursaries have been sponsored by UKRI, British Academy’s Early Career Researcher Network, and Wellcome – with different criteria for each.

They are available to researchers in the following categories:

  • who are, have been, or are looking to be involved in researcher networks and staff associations or committees (UKRI bursaries)
  • part of the BA Early Career Researcher Network (British Academy bursaries)
  • with an interest in equity, diversity and inclusion within the research environment (Wellcome bursaries)

The closing date for applications is Tuesday 20th August.

For more information and to apply, please visit the Vitae Researcher Development Conference website

BU Hosted the National KTP Practitioner Conference 2024! Matt Desmier

Business Engagement, conferences, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships are an extremely useful tool for any forward-thinking institution or team of academics wanting to apply their research in real world settings.

The UK Government’s longest established business support and research funding allocation, they’re a tried and tested vehicle that consistently demonstrate how Universities can have a measurable impact on the world around them.

Earlier this summer, Bournemouth University was selected as the honourable host of the 2024 KTP Practitioners Conference, the annual gathering of knowledge exchange professionals from across the country. This was a coup for BU and an excellent opportunity to cement our place in the canon of proactive institutions embracing the potential of KTPs.

Over the course of one and a half days, Fusion Building welcomed 200 delegates, representing 79 universities alongside guests from Innovate UK Business Growth and Innovate UK Business Connect, some interested businesses and a smattering of academics too.

The convened audience enjoyed three high profile keynote talks, updates from both the KTP funders and the National Forum, as well as twelve workshops designed to equip those present with the skills they need to grow and manage their KTP portfolio.

Assisted by Bournemouth’s wonderful micro climate, the whole event was a resounding success. Much was learnt, many connections were made and the bar was set extremely high for Manchester Metropolitan University, who’re hosting the event next year.

Congratulations to Malika Felton for winning best oral presentation at the WiSEAN conference

conferences

BU Programme Lead for BSc (Hons) Sports Therapy, Dr Malika Felon was awarded the prize for Best Oral Presentation at the WiSEAN conference (Women in Sport and Exercise Science Academic Network) at University of Portsmouth in June 2024. This comes after her award of the Early Career Researcher Award at the same conference last year in Liverpool.

Malika presented on behalf of the Reproductive Health and Outdoor Swimming Group, which includes experts from across cold water physiology, exercise physiology, reproductive science, maternal health, obstetrics, neonatology, water epidemiology and representatives from the Open Water Swimming Society and an open-water swimming social enterprise (University of Plymouth, University of Portsmouth, UCL, NHS Trusts, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Bluetits Chill Swimmers).

The presentation was on the group’s work ‘Cold Water Swimming and Pregnancy: A Scoping Review and Consensus Recommendations’. The work recognises the lack of evidence-based information to answer the many questions women have about cold water swimming during pregnancy. The presentation gained a lot of interest, and the group encourage future research to provide the evidence on which accurate advice can be based, allowing women to make evidence based decisions on whether to continue cold water swimming during pregnancy.

Bournemouth University had a group of eight members of staff travel up the coast to attend the WiSEAN conference, including supporting Megan Chesters, a final year undergraduate student from BSc (Hons) Sports Therapy, present her final year Research Project as a poster presentation.

Dr Malika Felton writes “The WiSEAN conference is a fantastic supportive environment, and I am honoured to be recognised for my work at two conferences in a row.”

“As part of the award I received a signed copy of The Female Body Bible (The Well HQ), which I am very much looking forward to read and has been on my to read list since before it came out. The foreword at the start of the book is ‘For those who want to forge a better future for girls and women everywhere – in sport, in health, in life’. I’m looking forward to being a part of this future, working alongside other amazing researchers in the area of women’s health.”

 

BU Research Conference: Powerful Partnerships – Wednesday 26 June

conferences, Knowledge Exchange, Training

A lightbulb created by interlocking pieces of stringThere’s still time to book your place for the BU Research Conference, which takes place on Wednesday (26 June) in the Fusion Building.

The theme for this year’s conference is powerful partnerships, exploring how working with others can enhance your research.

Speakers include Isabella Pereira, Head of the Institute for Community Studies, and a panel of BU academics sharing their experiences of working with partners regionally, nationally and internationally.

You’ll also have chance to take part in practical workshops covering topics including building international partnerships, co-creating research, and working with business.

The conference runs from 9.30am – 1pm and will be followed by a networking lunch to spark further conversations and collaborations.

We’re hoping it will be an inspiring and informative day, and we’d love to see you there.

Find out more and book your place via Eventbrite