Category / Events

May 24, 2021

How to write about impact in your funding bids

BU research, ECR Network, Events, Impact, Research Training, RKE development framework Amanda Edwards

Writing about impact in a grant application can be challenging. However, a strong description of the benefits you hope your project will have on society and the economy, and the means you will take to get there, can make all the difference between getting funded or not.

The RKEDF online training session Impact and Funding Bids on Thursday 17 June 13:00-14:00 will help you understand exactly what you need to include for the best chance of success, and look at the different ways impact may be considered within each call.

Although the UKRI removed the Pathways to Impact sections of grant applications last year, they still expect impact to be embedded within funding bids. So, how do you write about impact in grant applications? And has the removal of the Pathways made it even more challenging?

This session is aimed at researchers at all stages of their careers, but is likely to be especially useful for ECRs preparing their first funding bids. It will be facilitated by Impact Officer Amanda Edwards and Funding Development Officer Eva Papadopoulou.

Although the session will include a brief look at definitions of impact, it is advised that you watch the 10-minute introduction to impact video on Brightspace beforehand to get the most out of the training.

Booking: Please email OD@bournemouth.ac.uk with evidence of approval from your Head of Department or Deputy Head of Department. You can see all the Organisational Development and Research Knowledge Development Framework (RKEDF) events in one place on the handy calendar of events.

May 19, 2021

Café Scientifique – Tuesday 1 June: Predicting a post-COVID-19 economic future

BU research, Events, Impact, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team, Public engagement ballen

At Café Scientifique, you can explore the latest ideas in science and technology in a relaxed online setting. Enjoy listening to a short talk before engaging in debate and discussion with our guest speaker and audience.

We’ll be joined by Dr Festus Adedoyin on Tuesday 1 June, from 7.00pm until 8:30pm.

Amidst the noise and confusion of the present, new scientific tools enable us to forecast the future. Advanced machine learning algorithms are tracing what the future could look like for countries with high death rates from COVID-19 and their potential for economic recovery. Comparing the UK with other similar economies like the United States, what can we learn, and is there anything we can do differently?

Attendance is free but booking is required

May 19, 2021

Are the world’s ecosystems about to collapse? – looking back at Café Scientifique May 2021

BU research, Events, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team, Public engagement ballen

Professor Adrian Newton shares his experience of presenting at a BU Café Scientifique event on 4 May 2021.

This talk for Cafe Scientifique was designed to launch a new book that I’ve just written, called ‘Ecosystem collapse and recovery’. This is the first scientific monograph that explores these phenomena, and has just been published by Cambridge University Press. Ecosystem collapse has been in the news a lot recently, with major environmental catastrophes including the bleaching event in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, and unprecedented fires in Australia, California, Indonesia and the Amazon. Indeed, as I was writing the book, new examples of major changes in the world’s ecosystems seemed to be happening every week.

Although ecosystem collapse could clearly have major implications for human society, it has only recently become the focus of scientific attention. I became interested in the topic through my research on ecosystems near to Bournemouth, specifically the New Forest National Park and the county of Dorset. In the New Forest, we found that the ancient beech woodlands are collapsing throughout the Park, which is having a devastating effect on the wildlife associated with them. The main cause appears to be climate change, although high herbivore pressure is adding to the problem. In Dorset, we found that a number of ecosystems have been dramatically transformed over the past 80 years or so. Back in the 1930s, there were extensive areas of species-rich chalk grassland, for example, which has now largely disappeared, owing to the spread of arable agriculture. So the problem of rapid environmental change is happening everywhere, including on our own doorstep here in Dorset.

For the talk, I decided to focus on some of the most interesting stories I came across while writing the book. I learned a great deal from the writing process; I really enjoyed digging into the literature on topics I knew little about. For example, what happened to the world’s ecosystems after the asteroid strike at the end of the Cretaceous – how long did it take them to recover? And how did extinction of megafauna at the end of the last Ice Age affect the world’s ecosystems? I also came across some epic human stories, such as the colonisation of Australia by boat perhaps as long as 60,000 years ago, and the colonisation of Madagascar by a boatload of fisherfolk from what is now Indonesia, around 3000 years ago. Perhaps the most startling is the idea that the Sahara desert might largely have been created by people, after they introduced livestock to the area around 7,000 years ago, when it was still a grassland landscape with lakes and rivers.

I thought the talk went really well, and I have since received a lot of positive feedback about it. I always find it challenging to answer questions from the public, as you have to think on your feet, but I really enjoyed the discussion after the talk – the audience asked some great questions. It certainly felt a bit strange giving my talk on-line, just speaking to my laptop rather than to an audience in a room, but I really liked the way that people from all over the world were able to attend, including some old friends. Some of the comments I received were along the lines of “I never knew that anything like this was happening”, so if my talk has helped raise awareness of how rapidly the world’s ecosystems are changing right now, it will have done its job.

Professor Adrian Newton’s book ‘Ecosystem Collapse and Recovery’ can be purchased here

May 19, 2021

NIHR Grant Applications Seminar ONLINE – 6th July 2021

BU research, COVID-19, EPSRC, ESRC, Events, Funding opportunities, innovation, NHS, pre-award, Research news Louise Ward

Dear colleagues

– Do you have a great idea for research in health, social care or public health?
– Are you planning to submit a grant application to NIHR?

Our popular seminar continues online and will take place on Tuesday 6th July 2021 from 10.00am – 12.30pm.

The seminar provides an overview of NIHR funding opportunities and research programme remits, requirements and application processes. We will give you top tips for your application and answer specific questions with experienced RDS South West advisers.

We also have a limited number of 20-minute 1-to-1 appointments available after the seminar should you wish to discuss your proposed study with an RDS adviser.

Find out more and book a place.

Your local branch of the NIHR RDS (Research Design Service) is based within the BU Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU)

We can help with your application. We advise on all aspects of developing an application and can review application drafts as well as put them to a mock funding panel (run by RDS South West) known as Project Review Committee, which is a fantastic opportunity for researchers to obtain a critical review of a proposed grant application before this is sent to a funding body.

Feel free to call us on 01202 961939 or send us an email.

May 19, 2021

Funding Development Briefing – Spotlight on Horizon Europe – open calls

BU research, Events, Funding opportunities, RKE development framework Lisa Andrews

The RDS Funding Development Briefings occur weekly, on a Wednesday at 12 noon.

Each session covers the latest major funding opportunities, followed by a brief Q&A session. Some sessions also include a spotlight on a particular funding opportunity of strategic importance to BU.

Next Wednesday 26^th May, there will be a spotlight on Horizon Europe – open calls

We will cover:

HE Open calls
How to apply
Q & A

For those unable to attend, the session will be recorded and shared on Brightspace here.

Please email RKEDF@bournemouth.ac.uk to receive the Teams invite for these sessions.

May 18, 2021

RKEDF: Research Training Events Coming Soon

BU research, ECR Network, Events, Impact, Public engagement, Publishing, Research Training, RKE development framework, Training, writing Theresa

The following training events are coming up this month and next month. These are all online events.

Please book now!

Wednesday 26^th May 16:00 – 17:00

Early Career Researchers Network Meeting

The theme of this month’s network briefing is about an Academic’s Profile, and how Early Career Researchers can get theirs set up or updated using BRIAN.

Monday 14^th June – Wednesday 16^th June

Writing Academy

A three day workshop including planning and writing your research article, developing a strategy for getting your articles published, read and cited, and a writing day.

Thursday 17^th June 15:00 – 16:00

Impact and Funding Bids

How to write about impact successfully in funding applications.

Tuesday 22^nd June 13:30 – 15:00

On Writing – Improving Writing Practice

How to improve your writing practice by making more compelling knowledge claims, theories and arguments from your research and writing for your audience.

Wednesday 23^rd June 16:00 – 17:00

Early Career Researchers Network Meeting

There will be presentations from two Early Career Researchers about their respective research projects followed by Q&A.

Thursday 24^th June 11:00 – 12:30

Getting Started in Public Engagement with Research

Public engagement in the research landscape; why it is important and what it can do for researchers.

BOOKING: Unless otherwise stated, to book, please email OD@bournemouth.ac.uk.

You can see all the Organisational Development and Research Knowledge Development Framework (RKEDF) events in one place on the handy calendar of events.

If you have any queries, please get in touch!

May 17, 2021

19th EUROGRAPHICS Workshop on Graphics and Cultural Heritage (EG GCH 2021) – Call for papers

BU research, conferences, Events vhulusic

Bournemouth University will host the 19th EUROGRAPHICS Workshop on Graphics and Cultural Heritage (EG GCH 2021) from 4-6 November 2021. The workshop will engage practitioners and researchers across the world working at the interface of novel 3D digital technologies and cultural heritage. This year, circumstances depending, EG GCH will be run in a hybrid format, organised by the University of Bournemouth, UK. This will allow those who are able to attend the conference in person to do so, while those that can’t, especially if the pandemic is still raging at the time of the conference, will also not miss out on this exciting event.

The event seeks different types of contributions including:

Research papers: original and innovative research (maximum 10 pages)
Short papers: update of ongoing research activities or projects (maximum 4 pages)
Posters: overview of activities or national/international interdisciplinary projects (500 words abstract)
Panel sessions for multidisciplinary/industry-oriented projects
Special sessions on Interactive Digital Narratives

Note down these important dates:

Full papers submission deadline: 19 July 2021
Short papers submission deadline: 2 August 2021
Posters submission deadline: 30 August 2021

All accepted research and short papers will be published by the Eurographics Association and archived in the EG Digital Library.
The authors of up to five selected best papers will be invited to submit an extended version to the ACM Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage (JOCCH).

The full call for papers and key dates can be found on the workshop website. The fantastic keynotes will be announced soon.

Please consider submitting and attending the workshop.

The EG GCH 2021 organisation committee

May 14, 2021

Engaging online: getting started

BU research, Events, Impact, Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement, Research communication, Training Adam Morris

This is part of our series on using online environments and platforms in engaging public audiences with research. You can read more about how BU has adapted to online engagement over the past year in a previous post.

Using online platforms and methods to engage public groups with research has its pros and cons, challenges and opportunities, as we examined previously. As with all public engagement with research, the first two things you should consider are what you are trying to achieve with your engagement activity, and who the public audience/groups are that you are looking to engage with. Once you have those things clear, you can begin to think about whether engaging online is the right choice and, if so, how best to do so.

Thinking about public engagement in this way can be summarised as People, Purpose and Process, a framework popularised by the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE).

Right now, online engagement may seem like the only option, but it’s worth considering other methods that enable people to engage with research and each other, in person, whilst sticking to restrictions. David Owen (NCCPE associate) termed these activities ‘hyperlocal engagement’.

However, there are a number of good reasons why you might choose to engage online, even when all other options become available. It can be accessible in a different way to in-person events, cheaper and more easily scalable, allowing you to reach large but specific audiences.

In this post we’ll share resources and opportunities to support you at BU.

Useful reading

Online Engagement: A guide to creating and running virtual meetings and events – a crowdsourced resource of practical tips from the NCCPE
What Works: Engaging the public through social media – NCCPE
Public engagement in the digital environment: Opportunities and challenges for arts and humanities researchers – a working paper by Dr Anna Khlusova (KCL)
Click ‘more resources’ below to see an extensive list of resources collated by the University of Exeter

▸ More resources

Hyperlocal engagement during the time of lockdown	What does public engagement look like during a time of lockdown and social distancing? Does it all have to take place online? David Owen reflects on how public engagement is being re-imagined and invites you to share your ideas.
Communicating research during Covid-19	Paul Manners (Director, National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement) breaks down best practice in engaging the public with research during the pandemic.
CPExplores: Should we be taking our engagement projects online?	QMUL’s Centre for Public Engagement sets out to answer some of the most pressing engagement questions in relation to COVID-19 and engagement.
Learning from our virtual co-creation: accessibility and adaptability	Members of the Centre for Co-Production explore the importance of accessibility and adaptability.
Engagement in a time of social distancing	What does engagement mean in a time of social distancing? This blog creates a list of advice and tips to help researchers navigate their projects and be the support their partners need.
Digital Tools for Participation: Where to Start?	This blog post aims to give you a few pointers to help get you started. It’s based on a combination of experience, discussion with other practitioners and knowledge of good engagement principles and practice.
University of Exeter Online Engagement Resources	A note of discussions at a UoE webinar that focused on online engagement.
Guidance for Online Events	University of Exeter Communications Team share their advice on organising virtual events. Includes a risk assessment template, checklist and joining instructions.
Knowledge Sharing and Exchange in a Pandemic	The Cultural Capital Exchange has developed a crowd-sourced document as a rapid-fire means of creating a space for researchers and for the knowledge exchange community to share stories and examples of good and innovative practices at this time of unprecedented challenge as a result of Covid-19.
Coronavirus Tech Handbook	An open Google Doc with links to research-related resources. Includes sections on collaborations, remote decision making and creative tools.
Making Connections During the Coronavirus Pandemic	A guide from the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute at the University of Bristol. Covers the basics of engagement and some practical tips for engagement during the pandemic.
A map of resources for co-producing research in health and social care	A guide for researchers, professionals and public contributors to navigate the different tools and guidance that can help people produce research together. Features a section on co-production during Covid-19.
Online Engagement: A guide to creating and running virtual meetings and events	A guide on engaging publics using digital platforms.
Top tips for carrying out PPI activities during COVID-19	Top tips for researchers who are in the process of applying for grants, to consider how to ensure they can continue to collaborate with public representatives in a meaningful way.
Shared National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) commitments to public involvement, participation and engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic	The NIHR Public Involvement Senior Leadership Team has agreed new commitments for patient and public involvement, engagement and participation (PIE) during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Guide to Online Engagement	The University of Bath’s Public Engagement with Research Unit shares their top tips on moving your engagement online.
Supporting Impact through Online Public Engagement	The University of Bath’s Public Engagement with Research Unit shares a recording of an online webinar sharing ways in which to move your engagement online.
Online Communities and Communication Tools	A series of guidebooks for anyone wishing to use Slack as a collaborative workspace.
Carry on co-producing: handy hints and tips to help you out	University College London shares tips and advice for virtual co-production, listing handbooks they have found useful, some training courses to try out and information on accessibility.
25 useful free online tools for workshop planning and meeting facilitation	Are you facilitating workshops, meetings or training sessions regularly? There are plenty of online tools to make your life easier when you need to prepare for meeting facilitation and to conduct workshops.
Google Jamboard and MURAL	Two online-based collaborative working platforms. Jamboard is free, MURAL is a subscription service.
Sidewalk Science	Danna Staaf shares their experiences of engaging passing publics in their chalk-based engagement.
Writing Back 2 and 3	The project tackles loneliness and isolation using a pen pal exchange between university students in Leeds and older residents in Yorkshire.
Museum Lates	The Natural History Museum has transplanted its Museum Lates series onto a digital platform.
Southampton Science and Engineering Festival	The University of Southampton’s Science and Engineering Festival moved its annual festival online for 2020. Follow their webpage to see the programme and examples of digital engagement.

Thank you to University of Exeter for the original list (doc)

Training

The training session ‘Getting started in public engagement with research’, delivered by BU Engagement Officer Adam Morris, is available to watch at any time.

Look out on the Research Blog and intranet for news about upcoming training sessions, in the past year we have run sessions from the NCCPE on ‘Meaningful online engagement’, ‘High Quality Public Engagement’ and ‘Evaluation: developing your approach.

Learning from others

The Public Engagement with Research Network welcomes all BU staff to learn, share best practice, network and collaborate. We have a Team where you can keep up with opportunities, resources and news, as well as regular meetings.

Advice

If you’d like help on developing your ideas for public engagement, contact BU Engagement Officer Adam Morris.

Promoting your activities

If you’ve organised a public engagement activity, online or otherwise, we can help you promote it through our regular newsletter.

May 13, 2021

Once Upon a Time in Animation Exhibition at Poole Museum

BU research, Events, Featured, Featured academics, Fusion, Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement, research staff, Student Engagement, student research, Uncategorized gingricho

‘Once Upon A Time in Animation’ is an exhibition at Poole Museum that will run from the 22nd of May 2021 to the 4th of July 2021, celebrating the 30th anniversary of Bournemouth University’s National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA).

Organized by Dr Eike Falk Anderson and Dr Oliver Gingrich, and curated by Oliver Gingrich, the Arts Council England and Heritage Lottery Fund supported exhibition will feature work by students, staff and alumni of the NCCA, including outstanding graduation films (animations), many of which have been shown at the prestigious SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival, as well as award winning student research projects that took part in the ACM SIGGRAPH Student Research Competition. The exhibition launches the NCCA archive collection, which will provide a legacy of animation practices as a future learning resource and features artworks by artistic practitioners and NCCA researchers. Visitors will gain new insights into the processes involved in the production of computer animated movies, the cutting-edge technologies for animation creation being researched at the NCCA and different application areas for these technologies, such as computer gaming, health technologies or Cultural Heritage.

The exhibition is free and complemented by a programme of workshops and talks by Computer Graphics and Computer Animation researchers, artists and practitioners. For tickets, please go to

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/once-upon-a-time-in-animation-workshop-and-talks-programme-tickets-151476244525

For more information, see the Poole Museum website (http://www.poolemuseum.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/) or have a look at the virtual gallery http://www.poolemuseum.org.uk/museum-from-home/online-exhibitions/once-upon-a-time-in-animation/.

Eike Anderson & Oliver Gingrich

May 13, 2021

Engaging online: ESRC Festival of Social Science 2020

BU research, Events, humanities, Impact, Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement, Research communication Adam Morris

The ESRC Festival of Social Science is an annual celebration of the social sciences, offers a fascinating insight into some of the country’s leading social science research and how it influences our social, economic and political lives – both now and in the future. Bournemouth University is a partner of the Festival and has contributed events and activities every year since 2011. For researchers, the Festival is a fantastic opportunity for funded support towards engaging specific audiences in research and generating research impact.

The Festival of November 2020 was unlike any other. When we began preparations in April 2020, no one knew what situation we would be in by the Festival week in November. Luckily, we requested that all applicants propose online events, events with an online backup plan, or activities that could still happen within restrictions. In response, our academics proposed an impressive variety of innovative events to share their research with public audiences. We whittled applications down and worked with the event leaders to support and develop their plans as we moved through the changing world of summer and autumn 2020.

In the end, this approach paid off well, the Festival was held as a digital-first event and we held five live online events and an online exhibition, engaging a wide variety of public audiences with our varied research.

▸ See what events took place

Picturing and voicing responsible online gambling
The stereotype of the problem gambler no longer holds true – digital connectivity means we are all now exposed to online gambling and the risk of addiction.

This virtual exhibition looks behind the scenes of the online gambling industry – discover how platforms use artificial intelligence, targeted advertising and behavioural science to keep gamblers hooked – and how you can avoid falling prey to these tools. We’ll also share the diverse stories and voices of those affected by online gambling, through specially commissioned works of art.

This online exhibition was established in 2019, but 2020 saw the addition of new material commissioned from another artist.

Visit exhibition

Reading the room: how your brain judges the mood of a crowd
From speaking in front of an audience to policing a riot, the human brain has to judge the mood of a crowd in an instant. We shared what the latest research methods, including virtual reality and human electroencephalography (EEG, which measures “brain waves”), can tell us about face perception provided opportunities to test your own abilities.

Female political leadership at a time of crisis
During the recent pandemic, female political leaders have received widespread praise for their handling of this crisis. New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern has been lauded as the figurehead of empathetic leadership, Nicola Sturgeon’s measured approach to the crisis has earned her praise from the news media, and Taiwan’s leader, Tsai Ing-wen has kept deaths from Covid-19 in single figures. Female leaders have challenged stereotypes of strong leadership and how we think and feel about women in positions of authority.

This discussion focused on how women in positions of political leadership make us feel in our anxious times. With attention to intersectionality, it combined presentations from experts on the psychodynamics of female political leadership, with a reflective group discussion led by a psychotherapist, to explore how social, psychological and political factors interact to shape attitudes and feelings about gender and political leadership at times of social and political crisis.

Dorset Unlocked: Special spots of Dorset for heritage and nature
This open chat with experts in archaeology, heritage and ecology looked at why getting out into the special spots that Dorset has to offer means so much to us. Together with students, they chose a few of their favourite places.

Professional decision making in health and social care
This interactive workshop explored how social care professionals at different stages of their careers make decisions regarding people who are unable to make their own decisions – due to their mental capacity, developmental stage or substance use. These are high stakes and complex decisions often made in conditions of uncertainty where risk to an individual’s health and wellbeing is a significant concern.

Using decision-making games, simulations and experiments, the participants explored the processes of decision making.

Comics and COVID-19: Communicating Public Health and Wellbeing
From the fear of getting sick to the chaos of working at home, from the struggles of full-time parenting to the threat of economic upheaval, this brief masterclass looked at how recent data comics on COVID-19 explore the complexities and potential of presenting data in more humanising ways.

Despite having developed skills in online teaching for several months, our event organisers’ plans challenged them to new levels in hosting their online events. All of the events juggled multiple contributors and presentations, some using video and interactive engagement tools. These elements provided a lot to consider, as event organiser Dr Xun He described in a blog post;

“This was the first public event I did online. To be honest, I was a bit anxious because there could be so many potential technical glitches during the event, not to mention that it would feel so different without being able to talk face-to-face to the audience in this unusual time. There were also technical considerations to take on board to run an engaging public event.”

Paying attention to the details of how you present yourself on video can often be an afterthought, so it was impressive to see how event holders handled multiple high-quality webcams, microphones and lighting to provide to provide the clearest link between themselves and their audience as they shared their research.

Despite online events providing unique difficulties and opportunities, it is important that these do not distract from the principles of high quality public engagement with research. We supported event-holders to be clear on what they wanted to achieve with their events, the audience they wanted to engage with and the best methods for doing so. In addition, our academics evaluated how the audience engaged with their research through observation, small group discussions, polls, quizzes, surveys and note boards such as padlet.

Once again, it is difficult to know for sure what the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2021 will look like – what restrictions we may be working within and what new opportunities may be presented. Our call for proposals will launch soon (watch this blog and the Public Engagement with Research Network for updates) and I’m looking forward to seeing the innovative plans developed by BU to share our diverse and fascinating research.

May 13, 2021

Seven secrets of highly successful research students

BU research, Doctoral College, Events, Featured, PG research, Postgraduate Research, Research Training, Student Engagement, student research, Training, writing nstewart

Brand new session as part of the Doctoral College Researcher Development Programme: Seven secrets of highly successful research students

Facilitator: Hugh Kearns – Hugh is recognised internationally as a public speaker, educator and researcher.

Register Here: Monday 24 May 2021, 10:00 – 12:30

Session summary

What do research degree students do to finish on time, to overcome isolation, doubt and writer’s block, and to enjoy the process? And just as importantly what do they do in order to spend guilt-free time with their family and friends and perhaps even have holidays? If this sounds appealing, then this session will be of particular use to you.

This workshop describes the key habits that our research and experience with thousands of students shows will make a difference to how quickly and easily you complete your research degree. Just as importantly, these habits can greatly reduce the stress and increase the pleasure involved in completing a research degree.

The workshop helps postgraduate researchers to understand how to increase effectiveness and outcomes in the following key areas:

• how you deal with your supervisor

• how you structure your study time

• your attitude (or lack thereof!) in relation to your research

• dealing with writer’s block or having difficulty writing

• getting the help you need when you are stuck

• juggling multiple commitments and never having enough time

• keeping on going when the going gets tough

Register Here: Monday 24 May 2021, 10:00 – 12:30

If you have any questions about this session, please contact Natalie (Research Skills & Development Officer).

May 12, 2021

Funding Development Briefing – Spotlight on Innovate UK Smart Grants

BU research, Events, Funding opportunities, RKE development framework Lisa Andrews

The RDS Funding Development Briefings occur weekly, on a Wednesday at 12 noon.

Each session covers the latest major funding opportunities, followed by a brief Q&A session. Some sessions also include a spotlight on a particular funding opportunity of strategic importance to BU.

Next Wednesday 19^th May, there will be a spotlight on Innovate UK Smart Grants.

We will cover:

Overview of the scheme
How to apply
Q & A

For those unable to attend, the session will be recorded and shared on Brightspace here.

Please email RKEDF@bournemouth.ac.uk to receive the Teams invite for these sessions.

May 12, 2021

Engaging online: a research film premiere and Q&A

BU research, Events, Impact, Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement, Research communication Adam Morris

Below, Dr Oliver Gingrich describes running an online engagement event, the logistics and support received from BU’s Public Engagement with Research (PER) team – and most importantly, the impact of sharing research.

Oliver also spoke at a recent meeting of the BU Public Engagement with Research Network and has shared slides from the presentation.

My experience running an online event – KIMA: Noise

For me, as for many others, the new realities in the early days of the Covid-19 health crisis resulted in all new challenges in continuing research practice and dissemination. To help tackle these challenges I thought I’d share our experience developing and running an online event earlier this year, in case you find it useful.

KIMA: Noise by Analema Group. Tate Modern 2019. www.analemagroup.com Image by Sophie le Roux. www.sophielerouxdocu.com

I am a researcher and creative practitioner, and artist with the collective Analema Group, recipients of an Arts Council England project grant for the art and research project KIMA Noise; an investigation into the effect of urban noise on health and wellbeing that we conducted for over three years with one of the leading experts in the field Prof. Stephen Stansfeld (Queen Mary University of London). Over the years Prof. Stansfeld has worked on the effect of noise specifically on learning and spearheaded the European Network on Noise and Health (ENNAH) and is currently working on a RANCH study on the effect of air traffic noise across 4 different countries. The Analema Group is a collective of four people founded by my colleague, the artist Evgenia Emets, Dr. Alain Renaud (Research Fellow at Bournemouth University) and the visual developer David Negrao.

KIMA: Noise by Analema Group. Tate Modern 2019. www.analemagroup.com Image by Sophie le Roux. www.sophielerouxdocu.com

With the Analema Group, we were looking at effective strategies to communicate the known impact of noise on health to wider audiences, including local communities. Having been appointed Tate Exchange Associate, we brought this project to Tate Modern, with support of the Arts Council, resulting in several installations, talks, workshops, the publication of a monograph and ultimately a film. The success of the exhibition, talks and workshops not only transcended through the audience numbers, visitors and participants, but moreover the type of discussions we were able to have with local communities, policymakers, and other artists and activists. The art film KIMA: Noise captured this effort, but with the unprecedented challenges of Covid-19 we needed to find new ways to present this work to the public.

Thanks to Adam Morris and Brian McNulty from Bournemouth University’s world-class Knowledge Exchange & Impact Team (KEIT), we were able to communicate these research outputs to a wider public including BU’s academics: Initially being unfamiliar with the logistics of organising an online screening, I was more than grateful for the handholding and support by Adam in promoting and positioning the screening of the art film, but also for his and his team’s support in orchestrating the event. In the case of our event, online literally meant connected, as speakers from 3 countries (The UK, Portugal and Switzerland) came together.

At the screening of ‘KIMA: Noise – The Film’, we were honoured to welcome Prof. Stansfeld as one of our panelists, as well as Camilla Yavas (Film maker), Paola D’Albore (community engagement), Evgenia Emets (artist) and myself as researcher. The success of the event was highlighted through the wide networks we were able to activate including researchers at Bournemouth, interested artists, activists, and the wider BCP publics. The initial world premiere of the film via Bournemouth University was followed by a vibrant Q&A and discussion on the effect of noise on health and wellbeing that worked as well online as it would have in the space of the Tate. Thanks to the success of this world premiere, the film has since been seen by hundreds of people, with further screenings being planned nationally and internationally. The big benefit of an online event is that audiences and speakers can come together from all corners of the world, and the barrier to entry is so low, which makes it much easier to reach a critical mass. I want to express my sincere feelings of gratitude to BU’s outstanding Public Engagement team, who held our hand every step of the way, and assured the success of KIMA: Noise.

More information on the project can be found here:

https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/tate-exchange/workshop/kima-noise

https://analemagroup.com/projects/kima-noise-at-tate-exchange/

Watch the Film here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIXo5xt0_pw&t=32s

May 11, 2021

We can help promote your public engagement event or activity

BU research, Events, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team, Public engagement, Research communication ballen

At BU we promote and celebrate the work done to engage public audiences with BU research.

The public engagement with research team in Research Development and Support (RDS) can help promote your event to relevant audiences through our regular newsletter and social media channels. It also helps us to stay informed on the public engagement work being carried out by BU.

Please note: we are keen to promote BU public engagement with research activity wherever possible, but completing this form does not guarantee that we will be able to promote your event. To be considered for inclusion, your event or activity must be;

Focused on BU research, either solely or as part of a wider programme.
- Events or activities that do not involve BU research, such as marketing or recruitment events, will not be accepted.
Intended for and open to non-academic audiences, either entirely or as a portion of the audience.
Submitted, at the latest, in the first two weeks of the month preceding the event.
- For example, an event taking place in June should be submitted via the form any time before 14 May. This is due to lead times on producing and sending the newsletter.

Event descriptions may be edited for consistency in style with other content. If you have any questions about this process, please contact us.

We will re-share this form once a month.

May 11, 2021

Engaging online: Café Scientifique

BU research, Events, Impact, Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement, Research communication Adam Morris

Café Scientifique is an international event format that hosts a talk from a researcher followed by plenty of time for questions and discussion, all in an informal and friendly environment.

For several years, Café Scientifique has been held in Boscombe’s Café Boscanova, a cosy café capable of holding 20 to 40 people at a push. Holding events in this space, privately opened for the evening and offering food and drink, encourages a laid-back and conversational atmosphere.

This posed a challenge when restrictions meant that gatherings and cafes were both off-limits. Since September 2020 we have held these events online, which has demonstrated the positives and negatives of online public engagement.

We’ve kept familiarity where possible, sticking to the same schedule of events held on the evening of the first Tuesday of every month (bar August and December). The events are hosted and promoted under the banner of BU, following the same format and with our regular host Dr Sharon Docherty.

We hold these events over Zoom allowing Sharon, our guest speaker and the audience to all see each other on video, and for the speaker to be able to present slides. Using the standard meeting platform does mean enforced muting of the audience though, to minimise additional noise.

With the ability to join from anywhere, and without the audience limit of a physical space, we’ve seen much higher attendance for our online events. Despite marketing these events only within the UK, we’ve welcomed attendees from around the world to hear about BU research and pose questions to our academics.

Our speaker for December 2020, Dr Sarah Elliott, shares some thoughts on the experience;

“I recently participated in Café Scientifique which, because of the current pandemic, has moved on-line. I think this is a great opportunity to be involved in and for viewers across the country to engage in scientific research.

Academics spend a lot of time presenting their research to each other and publishing their data, but through Café Sci as a platform you are able to reach a wider audience and facilitate discussions about your research in an informal and friendly environment.

The event had a good turn out and very positive feedback, the questions asked in the discussion were all thought provoking and important points were highlighted upon which I could expand my explanations. Academics always have so much to say, and not enough time to say it, so the ample time given for discussion at a Café Sci event provides a real opportunity to focus on the aspects of the talk which the public were most interested in.”

Hosting these events online has also made them easy to record, where guest academics chose to do so, and so we are able to share past events through our YouTube channel.

Catch up on other Café Scientifique events.

Translating Café Scientifique online didn’t all go as expected, though. To begin with, we tried as much as possible to encourage the same convivial, conversational atmosphere as in-person events, inviting audience members to chat amongst themselves in the chat section and ask their questions live over video. However, we soon found that attendees were generally reluctant to talk on video in front of a large virtual audience and asked instead that questions be posted in the chat, where host Sharon could read them to our speaker.

This encapsulates the importance of challenging your assumptions about engaging online and being willing to adapt. While there are certainly advantages to be had in audience size, diversity and types of accessibility, it can be difficult to foster a sense of interpersonal connection. Whether this is a relevant factor will vary between projects.

Despite the advantages we’ve seen with holding Café Scientifique online, we plan to resume in-person events when possible, as the café atmosphere and surroundings are the essence of what makes the format special. However, the experience of holding these events online has been, and will continue to be valuable in advising on activities that thrive in an online environment.

May 10, 2021

Engaging online: a year of online public engagement with research

BU research, Events, Impact, Knowledge Exchange, Public engagement, Research communication Adam Morris

There’s no doubt that the past year has presented a huge challenge to public engagement with research, but it’s one to which the BU research community has risen brilliantly.

With an increased national awareness of the role HEIs play in research, and vice versa, comes a stronger imperative to engage public audiences in the exciting research carried out at BU. In a series of posts this week we’ll be taking a refreshed look at public engagement with research in the context of the past year, some inspirational examples of projects by BU academics and advice on how to develop public engagement work.

Engaging online

The start of restrictions on events last year saw a mass pivot to online engagement with research, adapting familiar formats for online delivery and developing new techniques too.

We’ll take a closer look at some of these examples in future posts, but here’s just a flavour of the activities carried out over the past year to engage the public in research;

Café Scientifique has been held online since September last year, drawing in record numbers from around the globe. Find out more about how we’ve delivered these events online and an academic’s experience of being involved.
Dr Oliver Gingrich; researcher, creative practitioner, and artist with the collective Analema Group, held an online research film premiere and Q&A on urban noise and wellbeing. Oliver’s experiences and advice are covered in more detail in another post.
The ESRC Festival of Social Science 2020 was held almost entirely online across the national festival. BU held five live online events, as well as an online exhibition, covering topics as diverse as online gambling, communicating public health data, visual perception, social care decisions, Dorset heritage and nature, and female political leadership. Take a closer look at these events in another post.
Dr Catalin Brylla screened his film on blindness, wellbeing and stigma in the virtual world of Second Life, where his public group have their own ‘island’.
The Ageing and Dementia Research Centre hosted informal coffee mornings to chat about their research and empower relevant audiences to feed back on ongoing and future research.
Dr Sarah Collard shared interviews, personal experience and hosted discussion on the topic of exercising with epilepsy.
The Department of Life and Environmental Sciences (LES) translated their fledgling Family Science Festival to an online format, and were invited by leading environmental science funder NERC to share their experience.
The SURE 2021 conference highlighted excellent research from over 100 undergraduates in a full day conference for audiences inside and outside of BU.

The future of online engagement

It has been really impressive to see how academics have adapted and reformulated their plans for public engagement with research. We’ve seen people use this situation as an opportunity to refresh their thinking and explore the opportunities presented by online engagement, rather than be limited by it. There are a number of advantages that mean it should remain an option to consider;

Online engagement with research is more accessible for many people and can reach entirely new audiences as a result
It is often cheaper, avoiding venue, travel and catering costs
Being open to attendees at a national or international level means your audience can be very specific, but much larger than a local event. In the right context, this can be an effective pathway to achieving research impact.

However, we can’t just move everything online and call it a success. There are potential downsides to engaging online that can vary depending on your context;

Increased accessibility for some means decreased accessibility for others; limited IT skills, confidence and equipment exclude many from joining
It is more difficult to foster a sense of interpersonal connection when engaging online, compared to in-person experiences

Looking ahead, we need to find a balanced approach, in which online engagement is just one highly effective option among many others that might work for engaging the public with research. Later this week we’ll look at what support is available at BU for developing strategies and activities to engage the public in research.

May 6, 2021

Research staff coffee breaks

BU research, Coffee Morning, ECR Network, Events, Postgraduate Research, research staff mheward

A warm ‘hello!’ from your Research Staff Association (RSA) reps. We hope that this email finds you well and that you have been managing to cope with all the changes over the last year.

We are contacting all the research staff across the university to invite you all to our virtual (for the moment) ‘Research Staff Coffee Breaks’, starting on 27th May at 10-11am and continuing throughout the summer. Due to the many challenges we have encountered over the last year and a general consensus among the members of the RSA that we would like to do more to support the research staff we represent, we are working to develop the RSA to help make BU a great place for researchers to work and progress in their careers. We want to offer peer support, accurate representation and opportunities to get to know other research staff across the university. To do this though, we need to connect with the members of the BU community who we represent (you!) and find out first-hand what the important issues, concerns and aspirations are.

As an initial means of introducing ourselves and meeting you we have set up a number of coffee breaks as an informal space to connect and take a break from work. Whilst we are still working from home these will be held on zoom. The details for the coffee breaks are included below including the zoom links and log in details. If you cannot make any of these meetings but would like to introduce yourself, raise an issue or simply ask a question please don’t hesitate to get in touch via email.

Zoom links:

Coffee Break 1 – 27th May 10-11am – https://bournemouth-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/88099877963?pwd=bzVtam5DZnlqOVQrV3BWSGZJYlZBZz09
Coffee Break 2 – 10th June 3-4pm – https://bournemouth-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/88210829448?pwd=ellFYjEvUXpPUW5WUUxnR3JnTktVQT09

Please join us for one or both of these – there’s no need to RSVP!

Unfortunately, we don’t have resources to send out coffee and cake but hopefully you can find something nice and can join us at some or all our breaks. We are looking into more formal provision of space and food and drink for when we are able to meet on campus but until then, we’re looking forward to meeting you virtually soon.

Best wishes

The Research Staff Association Team

May 6, 2021

FMC Research Process Seminars. Upcoming sessions – all staff and research students welcome

BU research, ECR Network, Events, PG research, Postgraduate Research, Research Integritiy, Research news, Uncategorized Daniel Jackson

Hi colleagues,

For the last three and a half years, we have been running regular research seminars in the Faculty of Media and Communication. These are 60 min research seminars focussed on the process of doing research – particularly research methods but also including publishing, writing, time management etc. The idea here is that the speaker takes us through the anatomy of the project focussing particularly on the data collection and method – the challenges, the successes, and the failures. For the audience, we walk away with a practical application of a method we may not be familiar with or may not have applied in this way before.

The schedule until the start of June is below, with links to each seminar. Each will be led by an external speaker, who are leading experts in these methods.

If you would like to give a talk on an aspect of method or research process, then drop us a line

Dan Jackson and Sae Oshima, FMC

11 May at 2pm

Re-designing focus groups for inclusion – by Filippo Trevisan at American University, Washington, DC

Focus groups provide important opportunities for putting participants’ voices at the center of social research. However, ensuring that every participant has a fair chance of being heard can be difficult. This seminar will discuss strategies to ensure that focus groups are as inclusive as possible, focusing in particular on the challenges faced by participants with communication disabilities and disorders, which account for over 10% of the world’s adult population. Inspired by the principles of universal design, a range of solutions will be discussed that constitutes a flexible framework to empower new voices in research.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://bournemouth-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/87139699000?pwd=TjZKWnBMRnJtc0g3bDdoTEQ2RkNKQT09

Meeting ID: 871 3969 9000

Passcode: F+3iwB@Y

18th May at 2pm

Capturing incivility in online political spaces – by Rosalynd Southern and Emily Harmer at The University of Liverpool

Abstract TBA

Join Zoom Meeting

https://bournemouth-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/89365837916?pwd=bnlua1ZnMWJxOWJwUGxaNld6eks5dz09

Meeting ID: 893 6583 7916

Passcode: Za@D3Csq

25th May at 2pm

Examining the Dirt Under Our Fingernails: Exploring the Role of Ethnographic Mixed-Methods Research in Digital Political Communication – by James Dennis (University of Portsmouth), Amy Smith (BU) and Nikki Soo (Cardiff University)

As political actors diversify into multimedia communication strategies and citizens embrace semi-public and private digital spaces for everyday political talk, research into this realm has become increasingly complex. Effective and accurate investigation into political communication processes, events, and outcomes that occur in hybrid media systems means scholars must employ methodological reflexivity. In this paper, we argue that in particular, ethnography, the close observation of the phenomenon of study, is critical for scholars seeking to connect observations of digital communication with an understanding of the motivations that drive them. Combining insights from three projects analysing MPs, parties, news media organisations, and acRPStivist organisations, we provide advice for scholars looking to draw upon this methodological toolset.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://bournemouth-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/83798048442?pwd=TU56dG82dUpNV0ZUY3IyVFF4OVk1QT09

Meeting ID: 837 9804 8442

Passcode: p6x+Lb6A

1st June at 2pm

Thinking about epistemology – by Richard Thomas at Swansea University

This sort of philosophical thinking is often bypassed as we all dive into our research. But still worth pondering, I think. We will all find some particular approaches to our work are more suitable than others, and more suited to us as people and researchers. This talk sketches out a critical realist approach as particularly suitable to journalism/media research where we find out what the media does, how it does it, but most important of all – WHY they do it that way. Suitable perhaps for researchers, teachers and students.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://bournemouth-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/89956403486?pwd=cC95YnhMV1RGQ1RGQi9zS2RBZ2Z0UT09

Meeting ID: 899 5640 3486

Passcode: 6#tSV+*y

BU Research Blog

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