Category / Doctoral College

PGR Member Required – University Research Ethics Committee

A fantastic opportunity has arisen for a new PGR member of the Research Ethics Committee (REC).

REC is responsible on behalf of Senate to promote best ethical practice in relation to research and research-related activities. Additionally, REC is responsible for the over-arching university-wide research ethics policies and procedures. REC considers ethical issues related to research and research-related activities brought to its attention by the Research Ethics Panels, researchers and the wider university community. REC is also responsible for constructing and maintaining the Research Ethics Code of Practice which informs local practices and procedures across the University, you can also view the REC Terms of Reference.

We are looking for someone to bring the student voice to this committee. The member must have a substantive understanding of research ethics, a keen interest and able to feed into the conversation of the committee. The committee meets 3 times per year of which it is expected that all members are present.

Next meeting dates: Wednesday 10 November, 2 March & 6 July; 2 pm – 3.30 pm and currently online.

If this is something you would like to be part of please email Natalie Stewart at pgrskillsdevelopment@bournemouth.ac.uk a short (~100 words) expression of interest (EoI) by Friday 15 October. If I receive more than 1 EoI we will go to a student vote where your EoI will be shared.

If you have any further questions about the committee please contact Sarah Bell or Suzy Wignall at researchethics@bournemouth.ac.uk.

Visiting Postgraduate Researchers – Academic Mentor Roles and Responsibilities

Postgraduate Researchers (PGRs) visiting other Higher Education Institutions to undertake specific research as part of their research degree is a well-established practice across the sector. This is of benefit not only to the individual PGR, who is able to extend their research experience under the supervision of subject experts outside their own institution and undertake additional professional and personal development, but also helps to establish and enhance the academic links between Bournemouth University and other institutions which may lead to further collaborative research opportunities.

 

“Having a Visiting Postgraduate Researcher (VPGR) at Bournemouth University helped to further contribute to our Departments growing expertise base and cemented the Department and Faculty of Science and Technology as an internationally recognised and attractive place to study. The Visiting Postgraduate Researcher’s presence also enriched the Faculty’s current PGR community through the sharing of approaches and perspectives and helped to forge closer links between BU and colleagues from the VPGRs home institution”.

                                                              Academic, Faculty of Science and Technology

 

 All VPGRs will be allocated an individual mentor, within their specific subject discipline who will act as the key contact during their visit, encouraging the PGR to achieve their full potential, and to complete their research project within the allotted timescale. Following enrolment, the academic mentor should:

  • Play a key role in inducting the VPGR into the Faculty, including providing introductions to relevant staff and students in the department and informing the VPGRs of activities in which they might to wish to participate in (e.g. Departmental Seminar Series, Research Development Programme etc)
  • Have regular contact with the VPGR, at least on a monthly basis and record attendance on ResearchPAD. For VPGRs on a Student Route visa, academic mentors must ensure that engagement is recorded on ResearchPAD every 59 days to compile with Home Office regulations
  • Agree upon a clear set of aims and objectives for the VPGR for the period of their stay
  • Ensure that VPGRs are aware of BU regulations, specifically 8A Code of Practice for Research Degrees
  • Ensure VPGRs have completed all Bournemouth University Health and Safety Requirements.

Although the primary source of academic support will be the academic mentor, the Doctoral College and Faculty Postgraduate Research administrators are also there to support the VPGR throughout their time at BU. The Doctoral College is committed to inspiring and mentoring the postgraduate community at BU, including VPGRs, through its role in PGR Student Experience. In addition, the Doctoral College has the central role of overseeing the development, implementation and quality assurance of BU research degrees, including the provision for VPGRs. The Faculty Postgraduate Research Administrators are also an important source of administrative advice and support and will be a key contact throughout the VPGR period of study.

For further information on this scheme, please visit our page on the staff intranet. If you have a had an enquiry from a potential Visiting PGR, you can signpost them to the application page on our website.

If you have any further questions about the VPGR scheme please contact PGRadmissions@bournemouth.ac.uk for new applications or the relevant faculty postgraduate research administration team for current VPGRs:

BUBS PGR Admin: bubsresearch@bournemouth.ac.uk

FHSS PGR Admin: fhssresearch@bournemouth.ac.uk

SciTech PGR Admin: scitechresearch@bournemouth.ac.uk

FMC PGR Admin: FMCresearch@bournemouth.ac.uk

Postgraduate Research Department Reps

 

 

 

The application and election process for new PGR Department Reps for 2021-22 will start later this month. If you are a PGR and would like to find out more about being a PGR Rep why not speak to your current department rep.

Details on the application and election process will be circulated later this month, in the meantime you may wish to have a read through the information flyer.

Launched | Doctoral College Researcher Development Programme


I am delighted to share with you all that sessions as part of the 2021-22 Doctoral College Researcher Development Programme for Postgraduate Researchers are now available to book.

PGRs can book onto sessions via the Doctoral College Researcher Development Programme on Brightspace. All sessions between October-December are delivered online.

If you are a PGR or PGR Supervisor and unable to access the Researcher Development Programme on Brightspace, please let us know and we will get you added.

Email Natalie and Debbie at: pgrskillsdevelopment@bournemouth.ac.uk.

 

NIHR Research Design Service – Starting Research Workshop

Please see below for the following training opportunity:

Date: 15 September 2021
Time: 09:15-13:30
Location: Online

Funded and hosted by the NIHR Research Design Service (RDS) South Central, discover how to move from thinking about doing research to taking your first steps in the getting support, dedicated time and funding to actually do it. Sign up to the workshop on Eventbrite.

Health Research Authority Releases Question and Answers: Student Eligibility Criteria

The Health Research Authority have published some questions and answers in relation to student research – this is in relation to the recent update regarding the upcoming changes to eligibility criteria.

You can find the Q&As here.

If you have any queries please contact Suzy Wignall, Clinical Governance Advisor in Research Development & Support.

Postgraduate Researchers and Supervisors | Monthly Update for Researcher Development

Postgraduate researchers and supervisors, hopefully you have seen your monthly update for researcher development e-newsletter sent earlier this week. If you have missed it, please check your junk email or you can view it within the Researcher Development Programme on Brightspace.

The start of the month is a great time to reflect on your upcoming postgraduate researcher development needs and explore what is being delivered this month as part of the Doctoral College Researcher Development Programme and what is available via your Faculty or Department. Remember some sessions only run once per year, so don’t miss out.

Please also subscribe to your Brightspace announcement notifications for updates when they are posted.

If you have any questions about the Researcher Development Programme, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Natalie (Research Skills & Development Officer)
pgrskillsdevelopment@bournemouth.ac.uk 

Postgraduate Researchers and Supervisors | Monthly Update for Researcher Development

Postgraduate researchers and supervisors, hopefully you have seen your monthly update for researcher development e-newsletter sent last week. If you have missed it, please check your junk email or you can view it within the Researcher Development Programme on Brightspace.

The start of the month is a great time to reflect on your upcoming postgraduate researcher development needs and explore what is being delivered this month as part of the Doctoral College Researcher Development Programme and what is available via your Faculty or Department. Remember some sessions only run once per year, so don’t miss out.

Please also subscribe to your Brightspace announcement notifications for updates when they are posted.

If you have any questions about the Researcher Development Programme, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Natalie (Research Skills & Development Officer)
pgrskillsdevelopment@bournemouth.ac.uk 

Benefits of depositing your data

Depositing your data is a key activity when a research project is concluded. Key benefits to doing so are:

Long-term preservation

When archiving/ depositing your data, you are taking the first step in maintaining your data for the long-term. Data repositories will store and preserve your research data securely and that means you do not have to think about the prospect of losing your data in the foreseeable future. Repository staff are then responsible for the curation, discoverability, and accessibility of your data.

Get published, get cited

Depositing your data does not replace the process of publishing a research article. It enhances it. In fact, funders increasingly require data publication when they are providing a grant, and journals are aligning themselves with this process by asking the data to be published alongside with your article.

Citations are important to demonstrate impact and depositing your data can have a positive impact to your research profile through citations of your research data when re-used by other researchers. Sharing your data can also lead to further collaborations.

An image that describes 4 benefits of depositing research data. The benefits are, one) Improve your research profile two) better research impact three) tackling the reproduceability crisis and four) Meet funder and journal requirements

Image 1: Benefits of depositing research data

Enable further research

Datasets can complement other research efforts and generate new results when examined in new contexts. Moreover, when depositing your data, you are enabling the research community to benefit from your data, ensuring research efforts of your peers are directed into new areas. Finally, sharing your data transparently contributes to tackling the wider re-produceability crisis, whereby publishing your data you are allowing other researchers to test and verify the validity of your results.

 Where to deposit

Ideally, when your research project has been finalised, you will deposit your data to a repository that is related to your discipline.  You can identify suitable services using the Registry of Research Data Repositories (re3data). Note that there are charges associated with some repositories.

Alternatively, you can deposit your data with BU’s own data repository (BORDaR). There is no charge, and a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) will be generated which you can pass on to publishers to link any outputs to the original data.

It is helpful to consider where to deposit your data at the start of a research project, and to plan for any resources needed to prepare your data for publication. To this end, a Data Management Plan (DMP) should be completed at the start of every research project.

Further guidance can be found in the Library’s Research Data Management guide. If you have any specific questions, you can also email us at: bordar@bournemouth.ac.uk.

Doctoral College Newsletter | June 2021

The Doctoral College Newsletter provides termly information and updates to all those involved with postgraduate research at BU. The latest edition is now available to download here. Click on the web-links provided to learn more about the news, events and opportunities that may interest you.

If you would like to make a contribution to future newsletters, please contact the Doctoral College.

Doctoral College Researcher Development Programme – Annual Review

The Doctoral College Researcher Development Programme concludes for this academic year and what a year it has been!

In 2020-21 the Researcher Development Programme delivered 107 online sessions across 54 different topic areas and have received fantastic feedback throughout. Thank you to all our facilitators and of course PGRs who engaged and were ready to learn and share.

Thank you to everyone who submitted feedback on the RDP. Every piece is reviewed to directly enhance the quality, nature and direction of the programme. You can view a snapshot of the annual feedback below. If you have any questions about the Researcher Development Programme please do not hesitate to get in touch:

Natalie Stewart
Research Skills & Development Officer
nstewart@bournemouth.ac.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Women’s Academic Network Writing Retreats return!

Interrupted by the pandemic for a year and much missed, the Women’s Academic Network, are back in style to offer their popular, off campus Writing Retreats on July 5, 9.00-5.00.

Places are limited to WAN members, but the good news is that we still have places

This year we are trying out a new venue, new to WAN but not BU, this being the Captain’s Club Hotel, Wick Ferry, Christchurch (https://www.captainsclubhotel.com), where we have booked a large room and adjoining outdoor terrace.Parking, refreshments and buffet lunch included.

The programme

  • The WritingRetreat day begins at 9.00 and ends at 17.00
  • 1 hour workshop on  productive writing tips facilitated by convenors to get revved up into writing mode
  • Concentrated individual/small team writing time.
  • Lunchtime: buffet lunch, networking/socialising/riverside walk
  • Concentrated individual/small team writing time.
  • Concluding the day and feedback

Booking

To join us on this splendid day, we ask for 3 commitments from our participants:

  1. Feedback on the Writing Retreat Day for inclusion in WAN reports (anonymised)
  2. Follow-up feedback on the results and outcome of your academic writing endeavours for WAN reports to UET (anonymised).
  3. If asked, participation in future WAN research seminars based on your research and publications (definitely not anonymised!)

To book, please email Professor Sara Ashencaen Crabtree: scrabtree@bournemouth.ac.uk) to express your interest in participating.

Not yet a WAN member but want to be?

WAN is a non-corporate nexus of women academics and PGR at BU.

Email Sara (above) to express your interest for information. Once you join, WAN resources like the Retreat are available to you.

 

 

1 Week to Go | Event for Supervisors: UKCGE Route to Recognition for Supervisory Practice


Are you an established research degree supervisor?

Would you like your supervisory practice acknowledged at national level?


We are delighted to welcome Professor Stan Taylor of Durham University on behalf of the UK Council for Graduate Education (UKCGE) to BU to lead a session for established supervisors on Good Supervisory Practice Framework and the Research Supervision Recognition Programme.

Acknowledging the Complexity of Your Role: The Good Supervisory Practice Framework helps you navigate the wide-ranging, highly complex and demanding set of roles that modern research supervisors must undertake to perform the role effectively. Informed by academic research and approved by the sector, the 10 criteria of the GSPF acknowledges this complexity and sets a benchmark of good practice for all supervisors.
Identify your professional development needs: Reflecting on your own practice, compared to a benchmark of good practice, often reveals new perspectives on the challenges inherent in supervision. Identifying your strengths and weaknesses enables you to build upon the former and address the latter with targeted professional development.
Recognition of your expertise by a national body: Becoming a UKCGE Recognised Research Supervisor, you can demonstrate to your university, peers and candidates that your supervisory practice has been recognised by a national body.

The workshop will guide you through the process for gaining recognition and help you to start reflecting on your practice and drafting your application in the supplied workbook, to follow nearer to the event.

Online Workshop – Zoom
Thursday 17 June 2021, 14:00-16:00
Book your place: Register for free on Eventbrite now

Postgraduate Researchers and Supervisors | Monthly Update for Researcher Development

Postgraduate researchers and supervisors, hopefully you have seen your monthly update for researcher development e-newsletter sent earlier this week. If you have missed it, please check your junk email or you can view it within the Researcher Development Programme on Brightspace.

The start of the month is a great time to reflect on your upcoming postgraduate researcher development needs and explore what is being delivered this month as part of the Doctoral College Researcher Development Programme and what is available via your Faculty or Department. Remember some sessions only run once per year, so don’t miss out.

Please also subscribe to your Brightspace announcement notifications for updates when they are posted.

If you have any questions about the Researcher Development Programme, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Natalie (Research Skills & Development Officer)
pgrskillsdevelopment@bournemouth.ac.uk 

Event for Supervisors: UKCGE Route to Recognition for Supervisory Practice


Are you an established research degree supervisor?

Would you like your supervisory practice acknowledged at national level?


We are delighted to welcome Professor Stan Taylor of Durham University on behalf of the UK Council for Graduate Education (UKCGE) to BU to lead a session for established supervisors on Good Supervisory Practice Framework and the Research Supervision Recognition Programme.

  • Acknowledging the Complexity of Your Role: The Good Supervisory Practice Framework helps you navigate the wide-ranging, highly complex and demanding set of roles that modern research supervisors must undertake to perform the role effectively. Informed by academic research and approved by the sector, the 10 criteria of the GSPF acknowledges this complexity and sets a benchmark of good practice for all supervisors.
  • Identify your professional development needs: Reflecting on your own practice, compared to a benchmark of good practice, often reveals new perspectives on the challenges inherent in supervision. Identifying your strengths and weaknesses enables you to build upon the former and address the latter with targeted professional development.
  • Recognition of your expertise by a national body: Becoming a UKCGE Recognised Research Supervisor, you can demonstrate to your university, peers and candidates that your supervisory practice has been recognised by a national body.

The workshop will guide you through the process for gaining recognition and help you to start reflecting on your practice and drafting your application in the supplied workbook, to follow nearer to the event.

Online Workshop – Zoom

Thursday 17 June 2021, 14:00-16:00

Book your place: Register for free on Eventbrite now