BU Research Blog

June 14, 2015

Lightning Talks event – come and find out about the exciting research undertaken by BU staff and student researchers!

Lightning Talks: An adrenaline rush of research

On Monday 13 July, between 6-8pm, a group of BU staff and student researchers will present lightning talks of their research and its significance. They each have just five minutes to do this. The audience will vote for the best presentation at the end, followed by a drinks reception.

Come along and find out more about the research undertaken by BU researchers! Talks cover a whole range of topics, from dementia to climate change to PR.

To book a place, visit: https://microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk/festival-of-learning/events/lightning-talks-an-adrenaline-rush-of-research/. This event is part of BU’s Festival of Learning.

June 2, 2015

Did you catch the Festival of Learning On-Tour in Falklands Square last weekend?

Festival of Learning, Public engagement gibsonh

On Saturday (30^th May) the Festival of Learning On-Tour arrived in Falklands Square. The weather surprisingly held up and made for a sunny day full of activities for the public to engage with.

Some activities were focused on the younger generation, this included digging for, and then painting fossils and also soap making, which gave a hands on experience of making soap and the chance to take home the soap that had been made.

There were also activities for all ages to immerse in, hand-grip strength was tested in a competition format,there was a display of skulls to handle and the challenge of guessing the age of each one, and also various archaeological activities, which included maritime artifacts and also an archaeological quiz!

This event also saw the first distribution of the Festival of Learning brochure for this years Festival, this included give away items such as; a Festival of Learning branded water bottle, branded fridge magnets and also Festival of Learning balloons.

If you would like to be a part of this year’s Festival of Learning, you can take a look and book events through our website here.

May 18, 2015

Hot news from the Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

BU research, Business Engagement, Festival of Learning, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team, Knowledge Transfer Partnership, Public engagement jcodling

KEIT Team Blog – May 2015

Festival fever

Festival fever kicks off this latest update from KEIT (Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team, Research and Knowledge Exchange Office). The Festival of Learning website is now live! Make sure you have the dates in your diary for a hot bed of activities running from Saturday 11 – Friday 17 July. To get you in festival mood why not join us in Poole Town Centre on Saturday 30th May and Bournemouth Town Centre on Saturday 13^th June. Open to friends and family we would love to see you there! Let’s just hope the sun is shining.

Working with business

Delighted with the news that interim HEIF funding has secured an extension to the knowledge exchange roles held by Jayne Codling and Rachel Clarke (KTP) business engagement activity is also warming up for a busy summer. Listed below are just a few of the events targeted at a business audience:

Faculty of Management Business Networking Brunch

16^th June: 8.30am – 10.30am

Networking with the Creative Industry

13^th July: 6.00pm – 9.00pm

Research and Knowledge Exchange Showcase

11^th-17^th July :Various times

For more information and a full list of events why not check out the events listing on the business services website or select business audience on the Festival of Learning website. These provide a great opportunity to network as well as develop your knowledge and skills in a number of different business related areas.

Celebrating 40 years this year Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) are a national scheme and building momentum at BU. We have five KTPs awarded with three in the recruitment phase. This is a fantastic achievement from the Faculty of Science and Technology (SciTech) with more in the pipeline university wide. Please feel free to circulate these vacancies to your contacts.

TDSi – Software Test Engineer

TDSi – Firmware Development Engineer

Chantacre – IT Systems Engineer

Hot off the press

BU has received some red hot coverage resulting from the articles included within the latest Bournemouth Research Chronicle (BRC) including research by Kevin McGhee (Genetics of fruit flies) and Jane Murphy (Improving nutrition in cancer survivors) . Sarah Thomas’ MS research also featured in the Nursing Times online. Matthew Bennett’s new NERC grant about developing technology used to identify ancient footprints to use in modern day crime scenes was turned into a press release and picked up by the Bournemouth Echo, as well as Police Professional. (A trade publication.)

Is your research a hot topic? Contact Rachel Bowen for tips on how to get your voice heard particularly amongst the media and also how to use the research website.

A big thank you to all those that took part in our first research photography competition. A project started by Sam Squelch who is a BU work placement student. Sam set the challenge to BU’s academics and postgraduates earlier this year to tell the story of their research in a single image. To find out more including the winner and runners up head to the research website.

Save the date – Café Sci – Tuesday 2^nd June

April 28, 2015

Masterclass June 11th and 12th: Using Art in Health and Social Care Education and Practice

BU research, EU, Festival of Learning, Funding opportunities, Fusion, Guidance, Knowledge Exchange, PG research, Public engagement, R & KE Operations, Research news, Uncategorized rfreeman

Two day Masterclass, Thursday 11th and Friday 12th June, Executive Business Centre, Lansdowne Campus

Art has been said to be a way to express ourselves, to make sense of our experiences and to connect with ourselves, others, our world and life. The arts are beginning to gain greater recognition as a deep form of learning.

This Masterclass will provide health and social care educationalists and practitioners with the opportunity to immerse themselves in hands-on arts experience and come away with individualized working methods to adapt in their own practice and learning contexts. No previous experience of the arts is necessary.

Dr Catherine Lamont-Robinson is an artist/researcher, with a BA and MA in Fine Art and a Doctorate in Education. Catherine is passionate about creative engagement and bringing different ways of knowing into practice – drawing on the role of tacit knowledge, discourses around embodiment and whole-body intelligence. She has worked for over ten years in clinical, educational and community contexts and is a Senior Associate Lecturer at Bristol University facilitating Creative Arts and Humanities within Social and Community Medicine.

Schedule:

Each day will start at 9.30am and run until 4.15pm with regular refreshment breaks and lunch provided. The two days will include some presentations, discussions and practical sessions.

Booking Information:

BU staff £120
BU students £90

This price includes two full days with the course facilitator, all refreshments and all class materials. Accommodation and travel costs are not included.

Book your place online by 1 June 2015 at https://using-art-in-health-and-social-care.eventbrite.co.uk

For more information contact: (01202) 962184 / rfreeman@bournemouth.ac.uk

April 17, 2015

Call for public engagement activities – the Festival of Learning On-Tour 2015.

BU research, Festival of Learning, Public engagement gibsonh

Are you interested in joining the public engagement team in Poole town centre on 30^th May or alternatively Bournemouth town centre on 13^th July?

With the Festival of Learning less than three months away, our On-Tour programme is well underway. In May and June of this year we have opportunities for you to get involved in running a public engagement activity for the general public.

What are the benefits from being involved in the Festival of Learning on tour?

Running an activity as part of the on-tour programme will enable anyone who’s new to public engagement to gain confidence in communicating your research to the public, as well as providing a fresh perspective on your research from audience members with differing levels of knowledge and understanding. Most of all though… it will be great fun!

What kind of activity could I run ?

In the past we have had very successful activities which have engaged the public and created a great atmosphere when taking the Festival of Learning On-Tour. The first example is an activity run by Marine Archaeology, who brought artefacts and wrecks from their dives; this included a full size cannon (which was very popular with the younger generation). A second example is painting fossils as an activity, this had a great appeal to families as the activity provided a hands-on experience which can represented in the picture to the right. We also encourage Post Graduate students to run activities around their research, an example of this was an activity which looked into our DNA and provided a quiz to test what participants had learnt.

If you are interested in running an activity, please email Harry Gibson, who will be able to provide you with more information on what will be required for the days and help you develop your activity.

January 16, 2015

New Year’s Research Resolution #5 – do some public engagement (it’s fun!)

BU research, Festival of Learning, Public engagement Julie Northam

Happy New Year to you all and welcome back!

Each day this week we’ll be posting a New Year’s Research Resolution to help you get back into the swing of things. Today’s resolution is to do some exciting and fun public engagement!

Why do academics do public engagement? There are many reasons why academic undertake public engagement activities (such as to comply with requirements of research funders or with the Concordat for Engaging the Public with Research, or as part of the dissemination plan for a research project) however most do public engagement because it is FUN and puts the passion and excitement back into research!

There are a loads of ways to undertake public engagement, including:

Participating in festivals
Working with museums / galleries / science centres and other cultural venues
Creating opportunities for the public to inform the research questions being tackled
Researchers and public working together to inform policy
Presenting to the public (e.g. public lectures or talks)
Involving the public as researchers (e.g. web based experiments)
Engaging with young people to inspire them about research (e.g. workshops in schools)
Contributing to new media enabled discussion forums
Working with artists (read this amazing article on the Wellcome Trust’s blog – ‘Public Engagement for Researchers Working with Artists’)

And, of course, contributing to BU’s own Festival of Learning 2015! If you’re interested in contributing to the Festival and have not yet submitted your idea to the team, please contact Naomi Kay as soon as possible.

We have dedicated staff in the RKEO to support public engagement, as well as a modest budget to support activities. If you would like to discuss how to get involved then please contact Rebecca Edwards.

December 18, 2014

Festival of Learning 2015 – what could you do? A public debate?

Festival of Learning, Public engagement, Uncategorized eloring

Researchers and members of the public alike love a good, classic debate – so why not hold your event in this format?

Hosting a public debate is an excellent way of convincing others of your argument and helping to find a common ground. A public debate stimulates new intellectual ideas and could be the answer to finding a solution for a communal problem. So effectively this could help you find answers for your research? Or it could even give you new research ideas!

Café Scientifique is the perfect example for a successful public debate event. At Café Scientifique we have a 35-40 minute presentation by a guest speaker followed by a 20 minute debate – although, this usually goes on for much longer! Differences in opinions can challenge people’s perceptions. A public debate is worth doing, if you love winning!

You can see how much the public love a debate, here on our YouTube channel.

Please remember that the open call for proposals closes on 19th December at 12 noon! If you wish to put forward an idea, please contact Naomi Kay as soon as possible!

December 18, 2014

Festival of Learning on Tour and Professor Puzzles!

BU research, Festival of Learning, Public engagement ssquelch

Last Thursday and Saturday 11^th and 13^th December, Festival of Learning on Tour went to Bournemouth’s Christmas market to showcase some fantastic research activities, based on the work of BU’s academics. The response from members of the public was extremely positive and many seemed keen to attend future events at the 2015 Festival of Learning (11-17 July)

Some of the activities showcased to the members of the public included James Gavin’s Exercise Science at Home, involving a handgrip strength task which tested upper body strength and the sit and stand test which tested lower body strength. Dr Kevin McGhee senior lecturer in Health Sciences was also there with PHD student Rosa-Spencer Tansley to talk to people about the basics of DNA.

Researcher Tom Cousins and PHD student Orestes Manousos brought along some artefacts from marine archaeology dives, carried out to find artefacts of wrecks from WW1 and WW2 which included a cannon!

While these amazing research activities were a great way to engage members of the public with the Festival of Learning, there was also some time for a very special friend of ours to make an appearance, yes, wait for it………….Professor Puzzles, the Festival of Learning’s best friend made an appearance at the Christmas markets and absolutely wowed members of the public with some of his smooth dance moves and gave them photos which they will remember for a long time. We have decided to spoil you by uploading some of the photos from Professor Puzzles walk around the Christmas markets below.

With the huge success of the Christmas markets, the Festival of Learning on Tour will return again in the summer, for more details about this, email Naomi Kay on nkay@bournemouth.ac.uk

Don’t forget that the deadline to submit an event for the Festival of Learning 2015 is 12 noon on Friday 19^th December, fast approaching, so don’t miss out on the opportunity to be a part of the Festival, click here if you would like to submit an event.

Professor Puzzles at the market!

Professor Puzzles showing of some smooth moves!

December 17, 2014

Festival of learning, what could you do?

Festival of Learning, Public engagement gibsonh

With the deadline for the Festival of Learning now approaching, there is still time to get in your event to submit before the 12 noon 19^th December deadline, hurry, do not miss out!

Events come in all shapes and sizes so you may be finding it a bit challenging to choose what you want to do from all of the options available to you, so here is an idea that could turn your July into a Festival full of fun.

Have you ever thought about targeting those into sport and the effect it has on our economy?

Sport is a major contributor to our entertainment and a lot of people find it a great way to socialise with their friends by either watching or playing in their favorite sports, however, when a major sporting event is on like the World Cup or Olympics have you ever stopped to think about the effect it has on our economy?

Whilst previous hosts of the Olympic Games has seen a long term economic benefit, such as Barcelona, scholarly research has found that any gains are difficult to identify. So as there may be gains from hosting the Olympic games, there is also a lot of cost.

With interest in sport growing year by year, is this a topic that you feel you could bring to the public and change their perception on what they feel about future major sporting events?

If you can see yourself running an event at the Festival of Learning then please click here and remember that the deadline is only a matter of days away and closes on the 19^th December.

December 17, 2014

Festival of Learning 2015 – What could you do? An interactive public lecture?

Festival of Learning, Public engagement eloring

Open call is out for proposals and all members of staff and students have the opportunity to get involved in the Festival of Learning 2015. In 2013, the Festival held over 100 free to attend activities and received an estimated 4,000 visits. In the Festival evaluation, there was an average satisfaction score of 6 out of 7 (where 7 equalled excellent) and 96% of people said they would return to another event! We need to hear from you by 6^th December if you want to get involved in 2014.

There are many aims of the Festival, including enhancing regional engagement, improving ‘town and gown’ relations, demonstrating our commitment to public engagement and to provide a chance to celebrate life at BU having great fun along the way. For you personally there are also many benefits that being involved in public engagement can bring and you can learn about them here.

Until the deadline for proposals, my colleague Rebecca Edwards and I will be writing a series of blog posts to help you think about what you could do as part of the Festival.

An interactive public lecture……

Most readers will have participated in presenting lectures and talks and therefore have the experience of communicating to a bigger crowd. Some of you may have never presented to a large audience. Whether you are an expert in presentations or have had no experience, it is still important to consider how you can make your presentation exciting, especially to a non-specialist audience.

Sharing your expertise and knowledge to help people learn and grow is what makes public engagement so exciting.

Here are a few hot tips on how to keep your public lecture as enthusing and interactive as possible.

Why not use Turning point? This enables the audience to physically get involved with your presentation, and may also help with your research! Or if you don’t trust the technology, why not get people voting with your favourite props?

Practical demonstrations – for a short period of your lecture, why not lecture your audience get involved in some demonstrations or experiments?

Visual aids – Everyone has a different learning style, and there are some who are visual learners – so why not make your public lecture more ‘dashing’ by adding presentation slides catchy pictures, videos and charts to show data?

Tangible interaction – items that individuals can physically touch may enhance their experience.

Engaging tales – sharing inspiring stories and examples related to your research will engage your non-specialist audience

Allow the audience to learn something new and fascinating about them – This is something that was mentioned in the Festival of Learning 2013 feedback. Attendees said how they loved learning new things about themselves.

Debate and discussion session – this will encourage members of the public to get involved and put forth their thoughts/ideas. This would be more appropriate for those linguistic learners.

You can find some really useful tips regarding engaging presentations here and also some engagement guides here.

If you would like to get involved in the Festival of Learning 2014 and have some exciting ideas for a public lecture or anything other type of public engagement activity, please register your interest with Naomi Kay: or my colleague Harry Gibson

December 15, 2014

Deadline for Festival of Learning events 12 Noon Friday 19 December

Festival of Learning Naomi Kay

We have had a wealth of interest from the BU community submitting ideas for their Festival of Learning 2015 events and would like to encourage as many of you as possible to send us your proposals before the deadline this Friday. We have been releasing a number of “What could you do” themed blog posts to inspire you to think of some creative and innovative ways of engaging the public with your research which you can take a look at here.

To find out more about the Festival of Learning and for guidance on how to submit your proposal, take a look at the help pages on the research blog.

If you experience any issues accessing the proposal form please contact Naomi Kay on 61342 or email nkay@bournemouth.ac.uk

December 15, 2014

Festival of Learning 2015 – what could you do? Live-lab experiments?

Festival of Learning, Public engagement eloring

As part of the Festival of Learning 2015, my colleague Rebecca Edwards and I are planning on including a series of ‘live-lab’ experiments throughout the Festival. The Festival of Learning feedback in 2013, mentioned that members of the public liked to get hands-on and physically involved with the experiments and loved learning new things about themselves. Some ideas that spring to mind could be a series of psychology experiments, perception experiments or science experiments. Note: However much they love to watch the experiment, they love to do it themselves even more! Organising an event like this, is what will enhance the Festival ‘feel’ and ‘atmosphere’, so we are encouraging researchers to organise as many activities like this as possible!

Running a ‘live-lab’ session also holds many benefits for you, as a researcher. By involving the members of the general public in your experiments, you can easily collect and collate data, that might have proven tricky to get before. It will also increase your sample size, in 2013 more than 4,000 people attended events at the Festival of Learning.

BU researchers that have engaged with the public have spoken about how much fun it was!

Here are some stimulating examples:

1) Perception – Organised by the Cambridge Science Centre

Is seeing believing? Find out how illusions can fool your brain and reveal how we really perceive the world around us.

Why not organise a showcase of experiments, where people can test how easily their brain is fooled and the science behind illusions?

2) Animal Adaptions – British Science Festival 2012

How do cheetahs run so fast yet manage to turn so quickly? How do whales dive so deep? Why do marine iguanas sneeze? This is an exciting workshop where you can help scientists do wacky experiments to explore the wonderful ways that animals are adapted to their environments.

3) Why don’t we eat as we intend? The Psychology of Dietary Control – British Science Festival 2012

We all know what we should and shouldn’t eat. However, tasty high calorie foods surround us and, as a result, most of us struggle to stick to our dietary intentions. Discuss the psychology of dietary control and take part in a range of psychological tests designed to illustrate why resisting temptation is so hard.

4) Drugs and Sport – British Science Festival 2013

Drug use in sport has never been far from the headlines. In this workshop, you can explore the science behind the headlines and find out how athletes are tested for drugs by carrying out some of the tests yourself on simulated samples.

If you would like to get involved in the Festival of Learning 2015 by holding a ‘live-lab’ style session and/or have some exciting ideas for any other type of public engagement activity, please register your interest with either myself,Naomi Kay: or my colleague Harry Gibson.

. Please return this to Naomi Kay by 19th December.

December 11, 2014

Festival of Learning 2015 – what could you do? A FACT OR FICTION style event?

Festival of Learning, Public engagement eloring

Do you remember the programme ‘Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction’ or today’s ‘Fact or Fiction’?

These two very popular television programmes challenged the audiences and members of the public to identify which one was true, and which one was false. This used to be quite a thought-provoking activity, challenging people’s perceptions and beliefs.

Is your research challenging and inspiring? Will it stimulate debate and discussion on ‘what’s right?’ and ‘what’s wrong?’

A ‘Fact or Fiction’ themed event will not only be enjoyable and insightful for the event organisers, but also for the members of the public who will be a part of this exciting and educational activity. Theming your event and encouraging attendees to participate will help them to learn and remember this one-of-a-kind experience.

Here are some examples for inspiration from other Festivals (including the British Science Festival 2012 and 2013) of ‘Fact or Fiction’ styled events:

Cyber Pearl Harbour: Fact or Fiction? – Organised by Northumbria University

The picture painted by the US Defense Secretary of successful cyber attacks is one of doom and destruction. Is this a picture of cold harsh realities or political hype?

Food Addiction: Fact or Fiction? – Organised by Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Aberdeen and University of Essen, Germany

There are many complex factors which lead to people being overweight or obese, but the basic question is why do some people eat too much? Are they addicted to food? Join our international panel of psychiatrists and scientists to explore whether eating food can be so rewarding that it leads to a state of addiction similar to that seen with alcohol and drugs.

CSI: Fact or Fiction? – Organised by Robert Gordon University

Internationally renowned forensic scientist David Barclay has over 30 years’ experience and has worked on some of the highest profile cases in the UK and abroad. Discover how science played a key part in investigating these crimes and how scientific evidence is evaluated in the overall context of the investigation. Supplementary workshops at RGU will allow you to see first-hand some of the forensic techniques used.

Will you participate in the Festival of Learning: Fact or Fiction?

If you would like to get involved in the Festival of Learning 2014 by hosting an event like ‘Fact or Fiction‘ and/or have some exciting ideas for any other type of public engagement activity, please register your interest with either myself, Naomi Kay: or my colleague Harry Gibson

And do remember the proposal deadline is the 19th December

December 11, 2014

Festival of Learning 2014 not ‘finished’ yet!

BU research, Festival of Learning, Publishing, Uncategorized Edwin van Teijlingen

Whilst the call for 2015 Festival of Learning activities is already out, some of us are still busy with the 2014 one. This past year Prof. Vanora Hundley (Faculty of Health & Social Sciences) led a debate about the impact of the mass media on women’s view of childbirth. The debate was centred around The media is responsible for creating fear in childbirth.

Elizabeth Duff from the NCT and BU Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen affiliated with the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health argued in favour of the motion and Joanne Dewberry independent blogger, journalist and successful business woman and Dr. Ann Luce from BU’s Journalism and Communication Academic Group argued against.

The audience were given the opportunity to vote on the motion before and after the debate. The interesting and wide-ranging debate has been written up and it now published in MIDIRS under the title ‘Fear in childbirth: are the media responsible?’

The full reference is: Hundley, V., Duff, E., Dewberry, J., Luce, A., van Teijlingen, E. (2014) Fear in childbirth: are the media responsible? MIDIRS Midwifery Digest 24(4): 444-447.

Professors Edwin van Teijlingen & Vanora Hundley

Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health

Faculty of Health & Social Sciences

December 10, 2014

Festival of Learning 2015 – what could you do? An ‘adventure’ styled event? Or a ‘treasure’ hunt?

Festival of Learning, Public engagement eloring

It is really important to hold events at the Festival of Learning that not only satisfy and engage the adult community but also the children of our community too. Teaching, inspiring and sharing our knowledge with those of a younger age will hopefully encourage them, to also be researchers in the future.

So, why not hold an ‘adventure’ or ‘treasure hunt’ style event at the Festival of Learning? This will encourage children and families to participate and create exciting new memories.

Children and young adults are engaged by events that involves them participating in a hands-on activity where they can either create or discover something. These are just some ideas off the top of my head, but if you have research interests in ancient history, history of the World, archaeology, dinosaurs, time travel and space – an adventure or treasure hunt style event would work extremely well in sharing your research with the younger generation in an exciting and engaging way.

Here are some inspiring examples of this type of event:

The Dinosaur Museum, Dorset regularly holds an event named the Great Dinosaur Hunt. This is where children search for hints and clues in order to solve a dinosaur mystery. Those that crack the code and solve the mystery win a special certificate.

At BU, our forensic experts could run an event which would enable attendees to solve a mystery and learn how ‘mystery solving’ is done. This would appeal to both the younger and elder community. Or perhaps if you have research in ancient history, you could do an event on ‘solving the murder of … in ancient times’.

Passport to the past was an event held at the Cambridge Festival of Ideas this year. This event allowed children to attend a drop-in session where they could design their own ‘passport to the past before taking a journey round the ancient world to learn more about our casts?’ Perhaps if you have a research interest in space you could host an event similar to this like, ‘Passport to space’ or ‘Your time travel ticket’, where children could be educated on space and time travel.

….

If you would like to get involved in the Festival of Learning 2014 by hosting an event like ‘Fact or Fiction‘ and/or have some exciting ideas for any other type of public engagement activity, please register your interest with either myself, Naomi kay or my colleague Rebecca Edwards.

December 9, 2014

Festival of Learning 2015 – What could you do? Limited time but wanting to share?

Festival of Learning gibsonh

The Festival of Learning 2015 is a fantastic way to engage public audiences in your research. Sometimes it’s difficult putting together an event that lasts several hours, so how about an hour lecture on your research?

To engage your audience, could your event be interactive or spark a short debate? Could it be linked to ideologies within a film that an audience could relate to? Or perhaps a topical discussion that has had national coverage? If you have an event idea, think about the intended audience and what would appeal to them.

A lecture, seminar, interactive laboratory to name a few could all be run within an hour session, why not try it?

The next Festival of Learning will be held during 11^th – 17^th July 2015. If you would like to hold an event as part of this Festival, please complete a proposal form. The deadline for proposals is midday on Friday 19^th December.

If you have an idea for a Festival of Learning event that you would like to discuss or for general enquiries, please contact Naomi Kay on 61342.

December 9, 2014

Festival of Learning 2015 – what could you do? TV programme + Research = A new way of engaging!

Festival of Learning, Public engagement, Uncategorized eloring

Does your research have a connection to popular TV programmes? Or can you link your research to a popular TV programme? If yes, why not present your research in a way that the public will find entertaining and appealing?

A few research topics that spring to mind are: space, food, genetics/superhero, law, CSI and sport.

Organising an event in this engaging format is bound to bring the members of the public into our University! Statistics show that 97% of UK households own a television, and in 2012 the UK population was estimated at 63.7million. This shows that apart from a small 3%, all UK citizens watch the television.

Here is our own BU example:

In November, Professor Iain MacRury gave a very insightful and engaging presentation at Café Scientifique which stimulated a ‘hot’ discussion and debate. Prof. MacRury’s talk was on the Inner World of Doctor Who, which looked at the psychology behind the show’s popularity.

Whether you structure your event the same way as a television programme, for example; QI or if it is somehow related to the programme, for example; a space lecture could be related to Star-trek or Star Wars, the members of the public will always remember what they have learnt from this event because it is memorable, fun, engaging and interesting.

Please remember that the open call for proposals closes on 19th December! If you wish to put forward an idea, please contact me (Naomi Kay) as soon as possible!

December 4, 2014

Event idea for the Festival of Learning 2015- A ‘who do you think you are’ family themed event & using the game ‘Top Trumps’ to make a successful event idea

Festival of Learning gibsonh

with the deadline fast approaching for proposals to be submitted, here are a further couple of event ideas which may be food for thought for the Festival of Learning.

A ‘Who do you think you are’ themed event could use the concept of people’s ancestors and talk about how family history can have an impact on the individual choices we make today. This is often of great interest to many of us and can create a real debate in the room. This was further proven to be a successful topic at Engage 2014 in which a talk focused on how people should ‘remember their ancestors roots and way of living’ and stick to this in their everyday life.

An event idea which is of a completely different angle is that of using the popular game of ‘Top trumps’ and embedding your research around this game. Gamification is a quickly growing concept in the business world and is gaining recognition as one of the most talked about words in recent years. This is the way in which learning can be gained from games with your chosen content. For example, you could use as an example different bacterias in a top trumps style. This would involve the younger generation pitting against one another to see who had the ‘deadliest bacteria’.

For more information on the Festival of Learning 2015 please email Naomi Kay and she will be happy to help with event proposals and general inquiries.

Category / Festival of Learning

Lightning Talks event – come and find out about the exciting research undertaken by BU staff and student researchers!

Did you catch the Festival of Learning On-Tour in Falklands Square last weekend?

Hot news from the Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team

Masterclass June 11th and 12th: Using Art in Health and Social Care Education and Practice

Call for public engagement activities – the Festival of Learning On-Tour 2015.

New Year’s Research Resolution #5 – do some public engagement (it’s fun!)

Festival of Learning 2015 – what could you do? A public debate?

Festival of Learning on Tour and Professor Puzzles!

Festival of learning, what could you do?

Festival of Learning 2015 – What could you do? An interactive public lecture?

Deadline for Festival of Learning events 12 Noon Friday 19 December

Festival of Learning 2015 – what could you do? Live-lab experiments?

Festival of Learning 2015 – what could you do? A FACT OR FICTION style event?

Festival of Learning 2015 – what could you do? An ‘adventure’ styled event? Or a ‘treasure’ hunt?

Festival of Learning 2015 – What could you do? Limited time but wanting to share?

Festival of Learning 2015 – what could you do? TV programme + Research = A new way of engaging!

Event idea for the Festival of Learning 2015- A ‘who do you think you are’ family themed event & using the game ‘Top Trumps’ to make a successful event idea

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