Category / Events

An annual event to celebrate women in STEM

Events, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

events

The WISE Awards is an annual event, a special opportunity to recognise inspiring organisations and individuals actively addressing the core concerns of WISE: promoting science, technology, engineering and mathematics to girls and women.

For the past few years we have been delighted that the WISE Awards were presented by Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal.

The daytime conference includes presentations, panel discussions and workshops is the perfect event to compliment the WISE Awards ceremony held the same evening.

Click here for more information.

EU AniM Workshop – Still time to register.

BU research, EU, Events, Featured academics, PG research, Research communication

Team Photos 2

Professor Jian Jun Zhang, Dr Jian Chang and Hui Liang are pleased to announce the EU AniM Workshop.

Please click here to register.

The “AniM” www.euanim.org is an EU FP7 Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship funded project, which aims to improve the status quo by developing the “next generation computer animation techniques” and to answer challenges in handling computer animation data in an intelligent way to facilitate creativity and to encourage interaction among users through knowledge transfer and development.

project

The workshop is an intensive research meeting, aiming to provide new insights, approaches and methods of the next generation computer animation techniques and the intelligent animation data management to facilitate the growth of the computer animation industry.

Over 70 researchers based at UK universities and industry companies, will be invited for this workshop , which will be structured around the themes of “Enhanced Computer Animation technology” and “Intelligent Data Management for Computer Animation”.

You are invited to join us at the Executive Business Centre, Bournemouth University, on 2nd September 2016.  Registration will be open from 09.45 and the workshop will commence at 10.30.

Professor Jian Jun Zhang of the NCCA, Bournemouth University will chair the event, which will include an introduction to the research within the project EU AniM and a panel discussion.  Professor Nigel W John from the University of Chester, is confirmed to deliver a keynote on “Real Time Computer Graphics for Surgery Simulation”.  A buffet lunch and refreshments will be provided.

We look forward to seeing you in September, in the meantime if you have any questions regarding this event, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Celebrating personal development – Postgraduate Development Award (PGDA)

Events, Research Training, Training

In a blink of the eye the academic year has evaporated into the fabric of time. As we look back on a hectic year we saw the conclusion of the Postgraduate Development Award (PGDA) with the ceremony being held in the Student Centre on the 19 July 2016 to celebrate the 70 Master’s students who committed over a whopping 1400 hours to the award.

11 awards were also given out for exemplary performance on the award. These awards were given to those students who showed relentless attention to detail regarding the presentation of their development portfolios, outstanding time management, and vigorous reflective writing to strongly evidence personal and professional development.

Xiaohua Zheng, MSc International Risk Management and Finance student and Gold Award winnner, shared “This was one of the best ceremonies I have attended and I was very excited to receive my award. Completing the Postgraduate Development Award programme and all the activities has been a brilliant and unforgettable experience, and this was a great way to celebrate reaching our goal!”.

The PGDA offers students on postgraduate taught courses a range of activities which focus on research skills training, career management and transferable skills. There are also social opportunities encouraging students from all subject background to interact. At the start of the award, all students undertake a skills audit to identify their strengths and areas for development which is then used to focus their work and activities undertaken for the award to enhance their employability.

For further information about the PGDA please email Jay

Best wishes

The Graduate School team

 

PGDA Ceremony mix 2

ColLab Festival – Showcasing digital innovation, growth and collaboration across the UK

Events, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

 

ColLab Festival (19-23 September) is a jam-packed week of events , aiming to explore the current landscape of the UK’s digital economy.

During the week, you’ll get the chance to discuss where global tech investment lies, understand virtual reality opportunities, learn how you can work with the Catapult family and much more.

Click the link  below to see all  the  ColLab Festival events. Hurry – places will go fast for these sessions, so book now to avoid disappointment.

Click here for more information.

 

 

Events for innovators, entrepreneurs and investors

Business Engagement, Events, Info Days, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

events

Innovate UK supports many events that bring together innovators, successful entrepreneurs and investors. At the events information and advice  is available highlighting the type of support and funding that is currently available. Find and more and register for upcoming events:

Venturefest Manchester – Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, M2 3WS
Date: 21 September 2016
View speaker line up
Find out more & register >>

Venturefest Wales – SSE SWALEC, Cardiff, CF11 9XR
Date: 28 September 2016
View the full programme
Find out more & register >>

Venturefest Scotland – Glasgow Science Centre, Glasgow, G51 1EA
Date: 1 September 2016
View the agenda
Find out more & register >>

New Scientist Live – ExCeL London, E16 1XL
Date: 22 – 25 September 2016
We will be attending the New Scientist Live event where our Chief Executive, Dr Ruth McKernan MBE, will be talking about Therapies of the Future on Friday 23rd September.
See what’s on
Find out more & register >>

Low Carbon Vehicle Event 2016 – Millbrook, Bedford, MK45 2JQ
Date: 14 – 15 September 2016
Our stand will showcase some of our many successful LCV projects and be an opportunity to meet the Innovate UK and KTN team.
View the Seminar Programme
Find out more & register >>

Innovate 2016  – Manchester Central
Date: 2 – 3 November 2016.
Innovate 2016 is  Innovate UK’s  flagship event showcasing the very best of innovation talent and global opportunities for businesses.
Find out more & register >>

Why not update  Innovate UK with your location so you can receive relevant communications including events in your area Update my location>>

 

Innovate 2016 – Spotlight on innovation event

Events, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

events

Hosted by UKTI and Innovate UK, Innovate 2016 is a two day event showcasing the very best of innovation talent and global opportunities for businesses. The event includes:

  • an exhibition of the most cutting edge innovations
  • inspirational keynotes from some of the most respected industry thought leaders
  • discussions with international buyer and investors
  • fantastic networking opportunities
  • in-depth seminars on key market trends
  • a business Support Zone highlighting the breadth of Government support for innovation

The event will be held 2-3 November in Manchester.

Click here to find out more.

Digital Economy – Emerging and Enabling Technologies Workshop

Business Engagement, Events, Info Days, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

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As part of its strategy development for Emerging and Enabling Technologies, Innovate UK are in the process of re-thinking its strategy for the Creative Economy.

The strategy will show the opportunities for UK companies, the barriers to realising those opportunities and the intervention that Innovate UK and its partners will take to help UK companies to achieve success.

There are two worksops being run in London on 17 August.  In this workshop, Innovate UK will share its early, straw-man thoughts , see input, and together design a strategy which describes a future of working together to achieve complementarity, joined up working and great successes for UK innovation.

This workshop is necessary for Innovate UK to launch its strategy at Innovate 2016 on the 2 November.

To register click the links below:

Morning workshop

Afternoon workshop

Making the Most of Writing Week Part 7: BUCRU – not just for Writing Week!

BU research, data management, Events, Guidance, Research communication, Research Training, writing

We’re coming to the end of Writing Week in the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences and by now you will have made a good start or have put the finishing touches to your academic writing projects. Over the last week, we have given you some tips on writing grant applications and highlighted some of the expertise within BUCRU. If you didn’t get the chance to pop in and see us we thought it would be useful to remind you what we’re about and how we can help.

Bournemouth University Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) supports researchers in improving the quality, quantity and efficiency of research across the University and local National Health Service (NHS) Trusts. We do this by:

  • Helping researchers develop high quality applications for external research funding (including small grants)
  • Ongoing involvement in funded research projects
  • A “pay-as-you-go” consultation service for other work.

How can we help?

BUCRU can provide help in the following areas:

  • Study design
  • Quantitative and qualitative research methods
  • Statistics, data management and data analysis
  • Patient and public involvement in research
  • Trial management
  • Ethics, governance and other regulatory issues
  • Linking University and NHS researchers

Our support is available to Bournemouth University staff and people working locally in the NHS, and depending on the support you require, is mostly free of charge. There are no general restrictions on topic area or professional background of the researcher.

If you would like support in developing your research please get in touch through bucru@bournemouth.ac.uk or by calling us on 01202 961939. Please see our website for further information, details of our current and previous projects and a link to our recent newsletter.

Nominations for the 2016 John Maddox Prize and London Media Workshop

BU research, Events, Research news

2016 John Maddox Prize for Standing up for Science
Nominations for the 2016 John Maddox Prize close on Monday, 1st August. 

Now in its fifth year, the prize recognises the work of an individual anywhere in the world who promotes sound science and evidence on a matter of public interest, facing difficulty or hostility in doing so. Details on how to nominate are online here: bit.ly/Maddox2016

The prize is a joint initiative of Nature, where Sir John was editor for 22 years; the Kohn Foundation, whose founder Sir Ralph Kohn was a personal friend of Sir John’s, particularly through their Fellowship of the Royal Society; and Sense About Science, where Sir John served as a trustee until his death in 2009. A passionate and tireless communicator and defender of science, Maddox engaged with difficult debates, inspiring others to do the same. As a writer and editor, he changed attitudes and perceptions, and strove for better understanding and appreciation of science throughout his long working life.

London media workshop

I also wanted to send a reminder that applications for the next Standing up for Science media workshop are now open. The workshop will be at the Francis Crick Institute, central London on Friday 16th September. This full day event is free and for early career researchers and scientists in all sciences, engineering and medicine (PhD students, post-docs or equivalent in first job). Here is the flyer and application form. 

 

Making the Most of Writing Week Part 6: What to do with your data

BU research, data management, Events, Research communication, Research Training, writing

You don’t have to spend Writing Week working on grant applications. You may already have a dataset and now you finally have some time to do something with it. But where to start? It’s often a good idea to go back to your original research questions/aims/objectives. As we said yesterday, a well thought out research question can help shape your analysis strategy.
Hopefully you will have a record of which variables you were measuring and how data were coded. Were any calculations performed using the raw data to create new variables? How were these done? This is all part of good data management. To find out more visit the information pages created by the Library and Learning Support Team.
Once you are reacquainted with your data, it’s often a good idea (in the case of quantitative data) to start plotting graphs to find out more. Always keep in mind the original aims of the study, it’s easy to wander down a path of distraction. If you are feeling confused by all of this or, have got yourself lost down a data track, the BUCRU team are at hand to help.
Peter Thomas is available on Tuesday and Wednesday while Sharon Docherty is available Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week. Why not drop us an email or pop by to see us in R505?

Making the Most of Writing Week Part 5: Designing your study

BU research, Events, writing

So you have formed a strong team, chosen a funder and involved some service users to help develop a research idea with impact. What’s next?
Step 5 is designing your study. The heart of a good piece of research is a strong research question with clear aims and achievable objectives. Sounds easy, right? This is often one of the most difficult aspects of any research project. If you then add having to align your ideas with the priorities of your chosen funder, this task becomes a bit more difficult. However, it is worth the effort. Spending time putting together well constructed research questions will make designing the rest of the study much easier and will even help you formulate your data analysis strategy.
If all of this sounds a bit daunting, never fear because BUCRU are at hand to help. Did you know that some of the members of BUCRU form the Bournemouth branch of NIHR Research Design Service (RDS)? The RDS is here to advise and provide practical support for anyone developing a research grant application to a national, peer reviewed funding competition in the fields of applied health or social care. You can find the Bournemouth team in Royal London House.
If you need help with the design of your study (particularly if it is quantitative) Peter Thomas is available on Tuesday and Wednesday while Sharon Docherty is available Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week. Why not drop us an email or pop by to see us in R505?

Making the Most of Writing Week Part 4: Research grant applications – not THAT PPI

BU research, Events, Guidance, writing

With the start of FHSS writing week, we are continuing our series of blogs providing you with some (hopefully) useful advice on how to make the best of this dedicated time. Remember, there are members of the BUCRU team available during this week to help you (i.e. anyone interested in health research) along the way.

Once you have decided on a funder, an important (but sometimes overlooked) aspect of working up a grant application is the planning and documenting of the involvement of service users/patients/relevant groups or organisations (Public Patient Involvement or PPI) ie the people most likely to have a vested interest in the research you are intending to do. Indeed, many major national funders, including the NIHR, require detailed evidence of how service users have been involved. But do you know who to approach? When? How? What can service users be involved with? What can they add? Sometimes it’s relatively straightforward to identify appropriate individuals and organisations. Other occasions can call for more creativity. Hot tip: everything takes longer to arrange than you might think. Allow a minimum of 6 weeks to plan, consult service users and feedback from the PPI consultation to your colleagues.

If you’d like some advice about planning PPI and conducting service user consultations for a project Helen Allen (helena@bournemouth.ac.uk) will be pleased to advise you. Helen is available on Tuesday 26th.

Defence Academic Pathways – Validation and verification of intelligent systems

Business Engagement, Events, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

events
PraxisUnico is working with the Defence Academic Pathways (DAP) group on this free event for the research community to explore research needs in the validation and verification of intelligent systems.

Intelligent systems may offer great benefits in being able to adapt to a changing environment and offer complex, rapid decision making made beyond human reach. Research into intelligent systems is needed to enable and improve confidence in their safe and secure employment in the public space. There is a clear need to ensure that intelligent systems will operate as expected, exhibit desirable behaviours and deliver the required outcomes in rapidly changing environments.

This workshop hopes to identify those future research themes required for the correct validation and verification of intelligent systems whilst ensuring that potentially autonomous behaviour remains under human control, and will employ a number of scenarios where the use of an intelligent system or groups of intelligent systems would provide value. Breakout groups will explore each scenario to determine the evidence required to sufficiently validate and verify safe and secure intelligent systems.

The workshop aims and objectives are;

  • To understand the validation and verification challenges raised by each scenario.
  • To determine the research themes required to meet these validation and verification challenges.
  • To inform legislative bodies on any necessary verification and validation solutions to ensure safe and secure employment of intelligent systems.
  • To provide a forum that can be used to strengthen research applications submitted to the EPSRC via the Standard Mode.

DAP is a partnership directed by Dstl and includes major industrial partners BAE Systems, GE, MBDA, Leonardo UK, NPL, QinetiQ and Thales, together with representatives from EPSRC, Innovate UK and a University liaison advisor.

The DAP partnership represents a significant number of the 15 most frequently cited companies from the Research Excellence Framework (REF) impact case study analysis and the data on collaborative projects compiled by the Dowling Review. The companies represented by DAP have a proven track record for effective university-business collaboration; DAP was created to facilitate this process through e.g. assigning IP rights arising from collaborations to the university partner as standard.

This event, supported by DAP, is free of charge, and will feature workshops to explore research needs in the validation and verification of intelligent systems. The event will take place at the UK’s technology and innovation centre for intelligent mobility, the Transport Systems Catapult (Milton Keynes)on Thursday 8 September 2016.

Who should attend and why:

The workshop should be attended by research professionals involved with intelligent systems, machine learning, robotics, or the validation and verification of software systems. The intention of this workshop is to scrutinise potential exploitation paths to support the definition of future research themes. For further information please contact DAP@mail.dstl.gov.uk

About PraxisUnico

supports KEC in the UK, and works with key stakeholders and partners to promote best practice in the sector

Successful Knowledge Exchange and Commercialisation (KEC) is essential to the economic growth of the UK.

PraxisUnico develops knowledge exchange and technology transfer professionals with our world-leading training, connect members and stakeholders at our events and promote best practice for our sector. We facilitate interactions between the public sector research base, business and government; bringing together key stakeholders to debate, educate and inform.

 

Public engagement opportunity for conservation researchers

BU research, Events, Research communication

Public engagement opportunity for academics and PGRS!

On September 14th we are running a lecture day in the EBC with a conservation theme, open to the public and members of the U3a (University of the 3rd Age). We are looking for speakers to present an hour long lecture. It’s a brilliant opportunity to share your research/area of expertise to the public and can open some thought provoking discussion.

If you’re interested in being a part of the lecture day, please contact Katie Breadmore: kbreadmore@bournemouth.ac.uk/61356

Call For Contributions: Engage 2016

BU research, Events, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team, Research communication, Uncategorized

Engage is the NCCPE’s annual conference, held in Bristol each year and providing an opportunity for all those interested in HEI public engagement to come together, to be inspired, challenged and refreshed.

Engage 2016 will be taking place on the 29th & 30th November, and they are now inviting expressions of interest from anyone who would like to make a contribution to the programme.

Featuring the finalists for this year’s Engage competition, the conference will celebrate the diversity of engaged practice across the UK. The conference will provide an opportunity both to take stock and to move forwards with our engagement work. Encouraging new ways of thinking about engagement and how to support it, the conference will provide stimulation and challenge, inspiring us to develop quality practice. What are the opportunities and challenges going forward? How can we draw on expertise inside and outside the sector to inform our thinking and our approach?

The NCCPE are looking for workshops, interactive experiences, dialogue events, performances, and conversations that catalyse new ways of thinking.

Contributions can be formatted as either a 1 hour workshop or a 10 minute interactive contribution, and must contribute to one or more of the following themes:

  • Culture change: creating a culture where engagement is valued and supported
  • Effective practice: sharing insights into high quality engagement practice
  • Engaged research: creating impactful research
  • Engaged students: the role of engagement within teaching and learning
  • New ideas: taking our thinking forward about the role of engagement within higher education

For more details, and to submit a session proposal, please see their website. The deadline for submissions is 13th September.

For more information, please contact Naomi Kay – nkay@bournemouth.ac.uk

Making the Most of Writing Week Part 3: Research grant applications – choosing a funder

BU research, Events, Guidance, writing

Since next week (25-29 July) is Writing Week in the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences (but anyone interested in health research can come and see us), we’ll be giving you some tips on ways to make the most of the dedicated writing time as well as letting you know which members of the BU Clinical Research Unit team can help you and when they are available (see table below).

availability

In yesterday’s post we covered how we can help you build a research team. Step 3 focuses on choosing a suitable funder for your research project. You may be an established researcher with several grants already under your belt and a fair idea about the funders that are appropriate for your area of research. Whatever stage you’re at it’s important to target the right funder. Ensure your research idea fits with the funder’s strategic aims and priorities. Do they fund solely quantitative research, or do they prefer a mixed-methods approach? Do they have open investigator-led calls or commissioned calls only? Although it’s not all about the money, ensure the funder has a sufficient funding limit for your project – an under-costed project will be obvious to a funder and is unlikely to be successful.

If you’re not sure where to start Lisa Gale-Andrews (lgaleandrews@bournemouth.ac.uk) can help identify suitable health research funders for your project. She will be available all day Monday-Thursday during Writing Week if you’d like to pop in (R506).

There’s more to come on grant applications over the next few days including research design, and the importance of patient and public involvement (PPI).