BU Research Blog

Category / Fusion Investment Fund

5 August 2016

Security by Design through “Human Centered” Specification Exemplars

Fusion, Fusion Investment Fund Shamal Faily

A year ago, we received Fusion funding to build the Bournemouth-Athens Network in Critical Infrastructure Security. The aim of this project was to build collaborative links between the BU Cyber Security Research group and the Information Security & Critical Infrastructure Protection Laboratory at Athens University of Economics & Business (AUEB). We built these links by working on a joint project, which we advanced through visits and other activities.

The aim of our joint activities was to build human-centered specification exemplars of Critical Infrastructure (CI) operating environments.
We depend on infrastructure associated with things like water, gas, electricity, or transport, but the criticality of such infrastructure is usually lost on us because it fades into the background of our everyday lives. The damage or loss of such infrastructure is only felt when it becomes unavailable, and its significance can range from mild annoyance if its means the trains are late, through to civil disorder and loss of life if we are unable to access clean water for a prolonged period. Despite their importance, there are no useful models of environments that people can use when developing or evaluating technology for CI. Our work aimed to remedy this by building specification exemplars for typical CI companies. In doing so, these would capture the human nuances associated with different aspects of CI, and help people identify possible security issues associated with new ideas before, rather than after, they are deployed in the field.

Together, a team of BU and AUEB researchers carried out work to build two specification exemplars of hypothetical CI companies. One of these was a UK Water Company (ACME Water). The other was a rail company in South East Europe (Balkan Rail). BU hosted researchers from AUEB and ran a number of workshops to identify different security aspects of these companies. In return, AUEB hosted BU undergraduate research assistants as they collected data from a Greek CI company, and ran workshops to develop and evaluate different aspects of the exemplars with AUEB researchers.

The exemplars have been made publicly available, and are modelled using CAIRIS – an open-source security design tool maintained by researchers at BU. To date, several publications have so far arisen from our preliminary work building [1] and applying the ACME Water exemplar [2, 3, 4]. We’re also using the exemplars as part of our teaching to provide case studies for Forensic & Computer Security lab exercises and seminars. Although the studies provided are hypothetical, they are grounded in real world data, and make visible to students the root causes of a variety of cybersecurity risks.

Looking forward, our work has gained the interest of a number of UK and international collaborators, and we’re looking for opportunities to build a library of human-cantered specification exemplars for many other, non-CI, environments. Such environments might include homes, and different types of ‘soft target’. Our long term aim is to make sure people don’t design security as an afterthought. Our work on BANCIS has made a small, but significant, step towards achieving this goal.

References

[1] S. Faily, G. Lykou, A. Partridge, D. Gritzalis, A. Mylonas, and V. Katos, “Human-Centered Specification Exemplars for Critical Infrastructure Environments,” in Proceedings of the 30th British HCI Group Annual Conference on People and Computers, 2016.

[2] S. Faily, C. Iacob, and S. Field, “Ethical Hazards and Safeguards in Penetration Testing,” in Proceedings of the 30th British HCI Group Annual Conference on People and Computers: Fusion, 2016.

[3] D. Ki-Aries, S. Faily, and K. Beckers, “Persona-Driven Information Security Awareness,” in Proceedings of the 30th British HCI Group Annual Conference on People and Computers: Fusion, 2016.

[4] A. Partridge and S. Faily, “The application of useless japanese inventions for requirements elicitation in information security,” in Proceedings of the 30th British HCI Group Annual Conference on People and Computers: Fusion, 2016.

4 July 2016

BU’s LEAP staff & SERT placement students featured in local Indonesian news regarding human elephant conflict in Northern Sumatra

Fusion Investment Fund, Public engagement akorstjens

In June, Dr Amanda Korstjens, 10 UG and 1 PGT student together with MRes student Emma Hankinson and PhD student Chris Marsh from the Life and Environmental Sciences and the Archaeology, Anthropology and Forensic Sciences Departments took part in a field trip to Indonesia run by Dr. Amanda Korstjens to investigate human wildlife conflict and ecotourism in Indonesia. The placements fall within the SERT scheme and the research forms part of LEAP: Landscape Ecology and Primatology http://go-leap.wix.com/home.

HEC_Jun16_Tezar&Rudi_FKL_Langsa_SRT_4501

One of our activities involved a visit to Langsa. In Langsa, in the Aceh province of northern Sumatra, the group met up with Rudi Putra of HAkA and FKL (Forest, Nature, Enviroment of Aceh & Leuser Conservation Forum) and winner of the 2014  Goldman Environmental Prize http://www.goldmanprize.org/recipient/rudi-putra to discuss the problems faced in preserving the Leuser ecosystem and wildlife in Indonesia.

The group of staff and students first visited the CRU Conservation response unit in Serbajadi Aceh Timur where they met with Tezar Pahlevie, the regional manager of HAkA and FKL, Dedek Makam, the CRU coordinator of the region, and Ilham Fonna, Wildlife Protection Team supervisor for FKL to learn about the problems the wild elephants are facing, including human wildlife conflict, poaching and deforestation. The group were able to meet the captive elephants that are used in protecting and patrolling against poaching and other illegal activities in the area and to chase away marauding wild elephants from plantations.

HEC_Jun16_Tezar&Ilham_CRU_Lokop_SRT_4501

Staff and students then visited a local palm-oil plantation with Tezar Pahlevie to investigate the undergoing human elephant conflict and regular destruction of palm oil plantations in the area. Whilst travelling to the plantation, local journalists, Said Moulana SH from TVRI and Luth Pi from Net TV joined the university group and began filming the events of the day for local Indonesian news https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WoaPLDs43g and news articles were also published regarding the events of the day http://pelita8.com/mahasiswa-inggris-kunjungi-kawasan-yang-di-rusak-gajahliar-di-aceh-timur (more can be found below). Once at the plantation, the group explored the impacts that wild elephants are having on surrounding local businesses and communities, including an interview with the plantation manager, Usman Hanapiah and visits to the areas most badly affected by the wild elephants. All of the students were involved in the interview and explored the impacts, attempted resolves and the potential future solutions regarding the human elephant conflict, and the overall future of the plantation and the wild elephants.

HEC_Jun16_BUTeam_Plantation_Langsa_SRT_4501

Many students received funds for the trip from the Departmental International Travel Grant, Global Horizons, or the Project & Placement fund of the Alumni. The Life and Environmental Sciences Department International Travel Grant funded Dr Korstjens’s expenses and those for co-leader Emma Hankinson (MRes student) and Chris Marsh (PhD student), who are currently conducting their field research in Indonesia. The work forms part of LEAP’s elephant project: http://go-leap.wix.com/home#!elephants/c578 which is funded by the International Elephant Foundation M. Phil Kahl fellowship (2016) and Rufford Small Grants (2016) and People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES, 2016)

Written by Nicola Collins who is supporting LEAP as a BU-funded Undergraduate Research Assistant Placement student.

For more information visit:

LEAP: Landscape ecology and Primatology: http://go-leap.wix.com/home

HAkAR: http://www.haka.or.id

FKL: https://www.facebook.com/Forum-Konservasi-Leuser-FKL-219705561560977/

More Indonesian news articles published regarding the palm oil plantation visit:

http://www.tribunnews.com/regional/2016/06/20/mahasiswa-inggris-telitikonflik-antara-gajah-dengan-manusia-di-aceh-timur

http://aceh.tribunnews.com/2016/06/19/mahasiswa-asal-inggris-teliti-konflikgajah-manusia-di-aceh-timur

http://www.kanalaceh.com/2016/06/19/mahasiswa-inggris-teliti-konflikgajah-manusia-di-aceh-timur/

http://www.acehtraffic.com/2016/01/aceh-timur-miliki-cru-serbajadi.html

1 July 2016

Taking Tear Gas on Tour

Fusion, Fusion Investment Fund, Knowledge Exchange, Post-award afeigenbaum

Our French samples of CS gas would leave our audience feeling sick, so for now we stick to power points when our tear gas research hits the road. Since the new year, members of Bournemouth University’s Civic Media team have had the opportunity to travel all around the country giving talks and workshops at UK Universities. Our Tear Gas project brings together academics, NGOs and digital designers to respond to the need for more publicly accessible information regarding tear gases’ effects on human life, animals and environments. We also consult and advise with organisation’s like Amnesty International on the policies and practices associated with the tear gas trade to help support human rights work around the world.

In February project lead Dr. Feigenbaum was invited to talk at the University of York as part of their Social and Political Sciences speaker series. Then it was over to the University of Sussex in early March, sharing two of our Fusion Funded BU Datalabs projects on Mapping Tear Gas and RiotIDs. Later in March, Dr. Feigenbaum headed into London for an invited talk on ‘Tear Gas and Other Media‘ at the University of Westminster. Then the whole team went up North in April for a RiotID workshop hosted by the University of Sheffield‘s Crick Centre as part of an ESRC Seminar Series. Postgraduate students and Senior Research Assistants Oz Demirkol and Daniel Weissmann, as well as URA Laura McKenna helped deliver a co-creation workshop alongside industry graphic design partner Minute Works and our NGO partner Omega Research Foundation.

To explore the innovative methodology our project employs, combining investigative and data journalism practices, in early May we teamed up with Kings College London‘s new Centre for Digital Culture to host a two-day investigative research workshop, bringing together academics, NGOs and journalist from around Europe. The event was co-sponsored by both MeCCSA Social Movement Network and the Political Science Association, as well as by our research groups at BU. Later that month we were back on the train headed for Keele University’s Media Environments workshop in May. Dr. Feigenbaum and Minute Works co-designed an interactive workshop using our Fusion model for how to turn research into information visualisations for making impact.

Then it was back to London in June for a double header of events on security and arms control at the University College London. First up was a paper presentation on the Wellcome Trust funded part of our research looking at the Communication of Medical Knowledge in Tear Gas History. This two day interdisciplinary and international event was hosted aat UCL’s Global Governance Institute. A symposium directly followed on History, Security and Arms Control that marked the end of Professor Brian Balmer’s AHRC project on the Biological Weapons Convention. Speaking to an audience of 50 academics, policy-makers and NGOs, Dr. Feigenbaum presented on ‘Communication Approaches to the History of Tear Gas’, highlighting how policy-based research can engage with new digital technologies, information design and digital storytelling to make meaningful interventions in arms control.

Up next, in July Dr. Feigenbaum and summer URA Lauren Weeks are heading to the International Association of Media and Communication‘s annual conference to present their paper on the project’s use of social media in addressing issues of policing and human rights. Then it’s time for a holiday!

Our Tear Gas project has brought Bournemouth University’s Fusion vision to universities around the country. This work grew out of two fusion-funded grant projects. It has benefited from Fusion’s cross-faculty collaborations, partner networking opportunities, and working with four URA students over the course of its three years. The fruits of this collaborative labour can be seen in the steady stream of invitations we receive to take our cross-partner, co-creation project on tour–sharing and inspiring about issues that matter.

8 June 2016

Assessing Undergraduate Research Assistants’ Learning through Participatory Methods

Centre for Excellence in Learning, Fusion Investment Fund, student research Jacqueline Priego

This blog post reports on the progress of the CEL-Fusion Funded project Assessing Undergraduate Research Assistants’ Learning through Participatory Methods (AURAL).

The Undergraduate Research Assistantship (URA) is an institutional programme run by BU’s Research and Knowledge Exchange Office (RKEO), which furnishes academics with the financial means to hire a part-time (spring cohort) or full-time (summer cohort) research assistant who works between 75 and 225 hours on the academics’ research projects. This scheme runs twice a year and this year alone attracted 95 applications from academics with the most diverse projects.

Student researchers plan their diaries’ content over pizza and snacks.

Interventions that use a ‘students-as-researchers’ pedagogy, where undergraduate students are involved in research-intensive projects, are increasing in the UK (Walkington, 2015) and internationally (Healey, 2014). BU’s URA programme is an apposite case study given its arrangements of paid research placements, which position the scheme as both research-based and work-based learning. This research contributes to the burgeoning literature on students-as-researchers through its employment of a dialogical participatory research design whereby students actively self-monitor their evolving learning when working on a research project. Through the use of reflective diaries and participatory sessions, students engaged in the process of evaluating the impact of this university-wide scheme.

In this endeavour, RKEO and CEL worked closely to embed the research into the scheme. We matched a participatory planning session for those students taking part in the research with the induction for the entire cohort of URA, so that the timing would be convenient for the majority of them. In addition, the research was run in parallel with their URA placements, and the necessary adjustments were made when students continued working beyond their URA contracts.

The preliminary results of AURAL were reported during CELebrate, through a session that provided a link with other colleagues interested in fostering research-based learning and its university-wide implementation. Twelve students from the spring cohort agreed to take part in the research, but only 7 wrote at least one diary entry and 3 made it to the closing session. All students who agreed to take part are being invited for an in-depth interview, while 17 new participants have been recruited from the summer cohort.

For a flavour of the passages coded under ‘research skills’ gained by participants, see the quotes below:

I learnt how to successfully collect various forms of offline data in order to provide some background data for a study. I have also learnt that the collection process is not a scary as first thought, and confidence and professionalism is key to the collection of good data and a happy participant. The participant feel safe and confident and more willing to participate if you actually look like you know what you’re doing and happy to be doing so (Participant 3, Diary entry 5)

I understood Thematic Analysis a lot better and felt more comfortable doing it now knowing what I was doing (Participant 4, Diary entry 2)

The full results of this scheme will be ready by the end of the summer. Watch this space!

References

Healey, M. (2014). Integrating Undergraduate Research into the Curriculum: International Perspectives on Capstone and Final-year Projects. CUR Quarterly, 34(4), 26-32.
Walkington, H. (2015). Students as researchers: Supporting undergraduate research in the disciplines in higher education. York: Higher Education Academy.

Note: Earlier versions of this text were submitted as part of a number of internal and external applications and presented at CELebrate. The blog post was first published at the CEL Blog, and is reposted here with permission.

23 May 2016

Scenarios, Murder, Mingling and Twitter

Awarded & submitted bids, conferences, Fusion, Fusion Investment Fund nferdinand

Dr Nicole Ferdinand, Senior Academic in Events Management, recently returned from a week-long Erasmus mobility teaching exchange to BU Erasmus Partner, Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences in Porvoo, Finland. She had the opportunity to share some of her department’s cutting edge research and teaching practice. She led a series of workshops on scenario planning, inter-cultural communication and event evaluation using social media. Two of the sessions were based on research she had conducted whilst at BU. The approach used in the scenario planning workshop was based on Carnival Futures: Notting Hill Carnival 2020, a stakeholder-based approach to scenario planning which was funded by the King’s Cultural Institute. The methodology demonstrated in the event evaluation workshop was based on the Festival Impact Monitor (FestIM), which was funded by BU’s Fusion Fund. Nicole was joined for this workshop by her colleague, Dr Nigel Williams, FestIM’s Principal Investigator. As an added bonus, during her exchange she was allowed free entry to the Meeting Professionals International (MPI) Spring Mingle, which was being hosted at Haaga-Helia that week.

Haaga-Helia Events Management students joined by their lectuer, Monika Birkle for the Porvoo Events in 2050 workshop

Haaga-Helia Events Management students joined by their lecturer, Monika Birkle for the Porvoo Events in 2050 workshop

Nicole’s week started with a scenario planning workshop entitled, Porvoo Events in 2050, in which students considered the future of events in Porvoo, given the uncertainties of the event and destination marketing skills of the industry and the yet to be formulated event development policy. Her second workshop, Improving Your Communication Skills by Killing the Russian Mafia, proved especially popular and was requested by three of Haaga-Helia’s lecturers for their student groups. Inter-cultural communication was a key skill that many Finnish students found especially challenging to acquire.

Students participating in the inter-cultural communications skills workshop

Students improving their communication skills by “Killing the Mafia”

Nicole was joined by her colleague Dr. Nigel Williams on the fourth day of her visit for the MPI Spring Mingle. Nigel was the event’s keynote speaker. Prior to the MPI event, Nicole and Nigel hosted a workshop for Haaga-Helia’s students who wanted to learn how to use social media data to undertake business and marketing research for events. Nicole also spent some of her remaining time promoting BU as an Erasmus destination and talking to staff and students planning Erasmus visits to BU next year.

Nicole and colleague Nigel meet Haaga-Helia staff and students and participate in the MPI Spring Mingle

Staff or students wishing to find out about going to Haaga-Helia for an Erasmus visit, please feel free to contact Nicole – nferdinand@bournemouth.ac.uk. She is happy to chat with you and has some helpful advice on preparing for a visit to Finland.

20 May 2016

FIF Erasmus Mobility for professional support staff from BU to University of Bremen’s “International Staff Week”

Fusion, Fusion Investment Fund, Knowledge Exchange, Training Rachel Bowen

I have just returned from a 2 week Erasmus professional staff mobility to Bremen University’s “International Staff Week” and special admin training with the local coordinator of the Erasmus Mundus Fusion Project which we host at Bournemouth and where I work as a Project Administrator. It was an enjoyable and successful experience. It was an unusual type of mobility, which has been supported by the FIF Erasmus Fund throughout.

University of Bremen is similar to BU. It is a new University, but unlike Bournemouth University, it was built from scratch in the 1970s with a number of faculties and departments not unlike those at Bournemouth University today. Together with the newly built academic facilities a center for Technology and Innovation was established. Through this center a number of German and international industrial, tech and high tech companies and start-ups set up business which have grown over the decades.

Today this industrial environment provides practicums, placements and acts as source of third party funding and in research collaborations of which many involve international research guests. Bremen is a small university, thus needs to use its expertise as one of the most success German universities to finance their work via third party funding and international collaborations.

: Research Hall of Log Dynamics at University of Bremen, models and research arrangements

: Research Hall of Log Dynamics at University of Bremen, models and research arrangements

: Research Hall of Log Dynamics at University of Bremen, models and research arrangements

With 20 000 students (slightly more than BU) and an equivalent percentage of science and international students as Bournemouth University, Bremen follows a strategy of internationalisation and globalization not dissimilar to BU 2020. Administrating new collaborations are at the heart of many administrative arrangements and skill developments at university level. The International Office follows a “special care” professional development program annually, “The International Staff Week” for Erasmus and International services staff organised by Barbara Hasenmüller, its Deputy Director and Coordinator for EU-Higher Education Programs.

The International Staff week is also open for colleagues and guests from Erasmus partner Universities across Europe. Language issues were not a problem. Whenever a challenge occurred, a colleague who spoke the language was called and assisted in the generally warm and interesting exchange of practice and discussions of job related issues. This enabled a comfortable atmosphere for all participants.

I was invited to join this year’s ‘International Staff Week’ by Dr Ingrid Rügge who is the local coordinator of the Erasmus Mundus Fusion project which BU hosts at the University of Bremen. I benefited greatly from many work shadowing sessions, presentations, meetings, structured discussions with other involved colleagues and best practice exchange relevant to my role, which among others included:

financial administration and grant provision,
application and admission processes for international students from all projects spectrum,
accreditation procedures and arrangements, ECTs, Certificates,
status of guest students and researchers for incoming guests and students,
provision and services for outgoing Erasmus+ and Erasmus Mundus students and staff intending to go abroad,
an outlook into admin, legal and procedure changes of Erasmus+ to Erasmus 2020 transition processes were also part of discussions and a presentation by colleagues.

During this time and the intensive Fusion project week that followed I was based at Dr. Ingrid Rügge’s office and provided with a desk to work for my job as project admin at BU.

Ingrid and a Technician fitting the Bhutanese souvenir of “The four friends” which has similar symbolic valors like Bremen’s Town Musicians

She had just completed a staff mobility of the Erasmus Mundus Fusion Project herself to Bhutan’s Royal University, also a Fusion consortium partner. (For information about Dr. Rügge at her Research Cluster “Log Dynamics” please click for an overview of their activities http://www.logdynamics.de).

The multidisciplinary research cluster of 4 Applied Science departments host the Erasmus Mundus Fusion projects at University of Bremen and are active in collaborative projects with a number of Universities from the projects I am involved in.

Every day meetings were arranged with colleagues I was familiar with from email contact. There were also colleagues in wider EM Fusion activities and the directors’ office who indicated their interest in further cooperation with BU.

In “Log Dynamics” I finally met four of the current Erasmus Mundus grantees in person, who I only knew from data during the application process and who are now studying computer sciences, electronics and KTI projects during their mobility. We discussed features of their student experience, how they think they will benefit and what they would like to modify or suggestions they had in preparation of a wider project evaluation effort.

Dr. Rügge suggested an ongoing link strengthen the work of both Erasmus Mundus Fusion project partners in Bremen and Bournemouth and for the benefit of the involved project consortium.

Photo credit: Rehling, DH

As previously indicated the entire mobility was financed by FIF Erasmus and Internationals fund for which I would like to thank the colleagues who supported me during the application process.

Enquries to Karin Ermert kermert@bournemouth.ac.uk

19 May 2016

Fusion Investment Funding project – Enhancing research collaboration and networking with University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

Awarded & submitted bids, Fusion Investment Fund vfilimonau

I have recently returned from a BU Fusion Fund sponsored visit to Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) where I attended a series of meetings with tourism, events and transportation science academics working within the Transportation Engineering Program (PET) at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). The purpose of the visit was to enhance existing and establish new contacts with Brazilian researchers whose interests rest within the remits of sustainable urban development, tourism and mega-events.

As part of my visit, I delivered a series of guest lectures to the student and broader academic / research communities at UFRJ. The student lectures focussed on the topic of environmental management as applied in the tourism and hospitality context and featured a number of seminal studies developed by colleagues from the Faculty of Management at Bournemouth University. The academic / research community orientated lecture presented the outcome of my recent research project on the carbon footprint of the World Football Cup 2014 in Brazil. Given the geographical proximity of the topic and its relevance to the issue of urban transportation and sustainable tourism development in Rio de Janeiro, the lecture was well perceived by the audience which had found reflection in the substantial number of questions posed and comments made. Due to the identified mutual research interest in improving sustainability of the Olympic Games 2016, Brazilian colleagues took me on an exclusive study trip which provided access to the primary venues of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, including the legendary Maracanã Stadium.

The key outcome of my visit is enhanced collaborative opportunities with Brazilian academics who I am now writing a joint research paper with on the environmental implications of the Olympic Games 2016. It is envisaged that the established contacts will be maintained and harnessed via joint applications for research funding and student exchange projects.

For more information about this project, please contact Dr Viachaslau Filimonau

10 May 2016

Social justice, engaged ethnography and the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia

conferences, Fusion Investment Fund, Women's Academic Network Jonathan Parker

Professor Jonathan Parker and Professor Sara Ashencaen Crabtree were honoured to be invited to the Universidad de Málaga to present their work with the Orang Asli (first peoples) of West Malaysia, undertaken in 2014 with the assistance of a Fusion Investment Fund grant from BU and honorarium from the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

The honour was manifold, not only because of our on-going partnership in research, scholarship and education with colleagues in Málaga, in particular Prof Mária Luisa Gomez Jimenez, but also because it expressly allowed us to tell the story of the systemic disadvantages experienced by and deliberate marginalisation of the Orang Asli living in the Tasik (lake) Chini region in the state of Pahang, Malaysia.

When undertaking our ethnography, a study that sought to capture the culture, thoughts, feelings and anger of the people, we were struck by our seeming voyeuristic impotence as researchers, especially as researchers from a high income Western country. We questioned what we could do to assist the people in challenging their disadvantage and marginalisation and being engaged with the communities we asked them, explaining clearly that we could not directly change government policy, the social stigma resulting from commonly assumed myths and perceptions of the Orang Asli. The people, with one voice, entreated us to tell their stories across the world.

We have attempted to stay true to this request since our research ended. Alongside various blogs and academic papers, our book The Death of the Dragon God Lake is now with the printers. Academic outputs can often, however, gather dust and remain unread outside academia. However, having signed with an activist publisher in Malaysia and secured distribution rights for Europe and the US through a British publishing house it is more likely that this will promoted as a social critique.

The best way, having said this, to ensure the socio-economic and environmental plight of the Orang Asli is to speak with faculty, students and members of the general public around the world, to raise awareness, to discuss power relations and to offer critique of global neoliberalism, acknowledging, of course, our own positions in respect of our work. The invitation to Málaga, with a specific request to talk about social justice, allowed us to promote the cause of the Orang Asli, to fulfil our promise and to bring these often hidden issues into the open. We were fortunate in this open lecture in Málaga to be speaking to a broad international audience including Spanish, German, Costa Rican, Canadian and Romanian participants, ensuring the messages would be spread wide.

Ethnographic research can no longer simply illuminate some perceived exotic ‘other’ but must engage directly with the life-worlds of disadvantaged and marginalised peoples, telling their stories and challenging oppressive socio-political and economic structures through research and scholarship.

Jonathan Parker and Sara Ashencaen Crabtree

6 May 2016

BU research on Citizen Science featured on Countryfile

Fusion, Fusion Investment Fund, PG research, Public engagement, student research adiaz

A recently screened and still available episode of the BBC programme Countryfile http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b079ywf9/countryfile-conservation-compilation features BU PhD student Gitte Kragh’s research on what motivates members of the public and students to volunteer as Citizen Scientists for wildlife conservation. The programme showcases the National Trust’s Cyril Diver project, a nationally important project that has measured how the stunning wildlife of Studland, South Haven Peninsula on Purbeck has changed since it was recorded in detail by Cyril Diver in the 1930’s Gitte’s work has shown that the main motivation for people to participate in projects like the Cyril Diver is that they want to do something they feel is worthwhile, in this case help to protect the environment to ensure it is there for future generations. Another important aspect that draws volunteers to the Cyril Diver project is the opportunity for volunteers to learn more about nature, both through specialist workshops and through training in the field with expert naturalists.

Bournemouth University has been a close partner on the Cyril Diver project resulting in the co-creation of research by three BU PhD students, three MSc students, a dozen UG students and over 40 Student Environment Research Team (SERT) students. This work is informing future wildlife conservation management planning for Studland. BU and the NT are building on the success of the FIF-funded SERT co-creation work to develop our partnership model into a long term project for co-creating research of impact for wildlife conservation management that intergrates student and general public citizen scientists. For more information please contact Dr Anita Diaz adiaz@bournemouth.ac.uk

22 April 2016

FBU Workshop Overview

Awarded & submitted bids, Fusion, Fusion Investment Fund, international, Post-award ebolat

Better later than never. Finally, I found some time to write about our incredible time in Moscow.

Supported by Santander FIF fund, Dr Parisa Gilani and Dr Elvira Bolat (me) travelled to beautiful sunny Moscow (10 March -13 March) to run the “Digital momentum for SMEs” workshop. The workshop took place in Faculty of Management, Financial University (Moscow, Russia) and was well attended by students across different levels. In total 30 students were selected to engage with two master-classes, which aimed to promote academic strengths of Bournemouth University in the fields of digital marketing, leadership and SMEs management and marketing.

Two interactive master-classes covered the following topics:

“Digital marketing for SMEs” (delivered in Russian by Dr Elvira Bolat)

2. “Leadership in the context of SMEs” (delivered in English by Dr Parisa Gilani).

Following workshops, both BU academics have met Faculty of Management (Financial University) Executive Team to discuss joint research projects, prioritising EU research funding, joint publications and public engagement opportunities.

Source: international.fa.ru

Financial University is first formal partner of BU in the Russian Federation. Moreover Financial University is part of Santander Universities network. FBU workshop was a fantastic opportunity to strengthen BU and Financial University partnership resulting in increased visibility of BU in Russia, promotion of BU portfolio of undergraduate and postgraduate courses among our Russian partner’s students and, most importantly, increasing awareness of BU’s academic and professional expertise in the fields of digital marketing and leadership.

We are definitely looking forward to working further with Financial University and expecting their academic staff and group of students to visit BU in September/October 2016.

Source: chilingarov.viperson.ru

Second part of the visit involved meeting with well-established Professor of Law Marina Telukina whose academic expertise covers bankruptcy and commercial law. At the moment Professor Telukina is working across various Higher Education Institutions in the Russian Federation but is a full-time member of staff in the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA).

Professor Telukina is willing to strengthen her academic ties with BU (sharing her knowledge and practice of Russian Law) and work on collaborative projects between Faculty of Management (BU) and Graduate School of Management and Innovation in Lomonosov Moscow State University – something our team is really excited about. Professor Telukina has now planned visit to the UK in August 2016 and we are planning to meet in Bournemouth in order to discuss details of joint research projects.

That is all from me. Hope, you are now more open to expanding your academic networks. Santander Fusion Investment Fund is best option to support you in this. Full list of global Santander Universities partners can be found here: http://www.santander.com/csgs/Satellite?appID=santander.wc.CFWCSancomQP01&c=GSInformacion&canal=CSCORP&cid=1278679137354&empr=CFWCSancomQP01&leng=en_GB&pagename=CFWCSancomQP01%2FGSInformacion%2FCFQP01_GSInformacionDetalleSimple_PT08

Elvira Bolat

18 April 2016

Seminar, Prof Edwin van Teijlingen, ‘Maternal Mortality in Nepal’, Wed 20th April, Royal London House, R303, 13:00-13:50.

BU Challenges, Centre for Excellence in Learning, conferences, Fusion, Fusion Investment Fund, international, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer, REF Subjects, Research assessment, Research Ethics, Research Integritiy, Research themes Mastoureh Fathi

Maternal Mortality in Nepal
Abstract: The session links various social and political factors that affect maternal mortality. Women dying in pregnancy and childbirth is very much a problem of and in low-income countries. This talk focuses on Nepal, one of the poorer countries of the world, to highlight a range of maternal health issues and wider influencing factors including globalisation and the influence of global organisations such as the World Health Organisation.

For further information regarding the Social Science seminar series, get in touch with Dr Mastoureh Fathi (mfathi@boutnemouth.ac.uk).

7 April 2016

Hello Haaga Helia

Awarded & submitted bids, Fusion, Fusion Investment Fund, Public engagement nferdinand

Following her successful Erasmus Fusion Investment Fund bid, Dr Nicole Ferdinand, Senior Academic in Events Management will be visiting the Haaga Helia University of Applied Sciences in Finland from May 9^th – 13^th 2016. During her visit Nicole with be showcasing BU’s excellence in research and teaching.

Nicole with Haaga Helia’s Mari Austin, International Coordinator and Kaija Lindroth, Director, Tourism Degree Programmes during a visit to Bournemouth University in November 2015

Professor Buhalis and Dr Inversini (pictured 2nd and 3rd from left) receiving the Second Place Best Journal Paper award from IFITT

Her activities will include demonstrating a new event evaluation methodology to Haaga Helia’s staff and students, as well as, members of the event association, Meeting Professionals International (MPI), who will be hosting its Spring Mingle at Haaga Helia on May 12^th. The research methodology which utilizes social media data was featured in an article Nicole co-authored with BU colleagues, Dr Nigel Williams, Dr Alessandro Inversini and Professor Dimitrios Buhalis, which recently received a best journal paper award from the International Federation for IT and Travel and Tourism (IFITT).

Haaga Helia’s staff and students will also be introduced to BU’s technology enhanced learning. Nicole will be using Xerte learning objects, which were featured in BU’s recently launched Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) Toolkit video.

Xerte learning objects developed for Events Management teaching featured in BU’s TEL Toolkit video

Nicole will be hosted by Mrs. Kaija Lindroth, Director of Degree Programmes in Tourism at Haaga Helia’s Porvoo Campus.

4 April 2016

The British Conference of Undergraduate Research (BCUR) is coming to BU!

Centre for Excellence in Learning, conferences, Fusion Investment Fund, student research lesteves

On 25-26 Apr 2017, BU will be hosting the highly valued and increasingly popular BCUR (http://www.bcur.org/). Almost 400 UG students from across the country attended BCUR 2016 at Manchester Metropolitan University. Hosting BCUR will be hard work, but also a great opportunity to promote BU’s excellent facilities and postgraduate opportunities. Undergraduates of all levels are invited to submit an abstract to BCUR, abstracts are peer-reviewed and works accepted can be presented in a variety of formats (oral presentations, posters, art displays, workshops and performances).

Prof Gail Thomas (Head of CEL), Dr Luciana Esteves (SciTech) and Dr Mary Beth Gouthro (Faculty of Management) are co-chairing BCUR 2017 and are currently setting up the organising committee. If you are interested in helping organising the event, please contact one of the chairs. Representatives from all Faculties, SUBU and central services are welcome.

You can also help by stimulating your students to submit their abstracts to BCUR – your incentive is the most important factor influencing students’ decisions in taking part of extra-curricular activities. Submissions are likely to be open between Oct-Dec – so watch this space!

BU’s application to host BCUR was one of the successful outcomes of the Fusion-funded SURE project (Showcasing Undergraduate Research Excellence). The project has delivered two SURE conferences (March 2015 and 2016), an extra-curricular opportunity open to all BU UG students (across all levels and programmes). You can find a brief summary of the two conferences in this CEL blog.

BU students taking part in the SURE conferences not only gain valuable transferable skills and experience, they can win fantastic awards and prizes (see below) and be selected to present their work in the Posters in Parliament event. You can read about this year’s BU research showcased in Parliament here.

SURE Conference award winners:

Research Excellence (MSc or MRes fee waiver): Jozef Kulik, Psychology (2015); Rosie Lumley, Nutrition (2016)

Best oral presentation (funds to present at an external conference): Ben Hayes, Physiotherapy (2015); Charlotte Fodor, English (2016)

Best poster (iPad): Emma Packer, Biological Sciences (2015); Christopher Dwen, Forensic Science (2016)

24 March 2016

Conference report – “Embedding Citizen Science into Wildlife Conservation Management”

conferences, Fusion, Fusion Investment Fund, Knowledge Transfer, Public engagement, student research adiaz

This conference was co-hosted by BU and the National Trust (NT) on the 21st March and attended by over 150 delegates including conservation practitioners, citizen scientist members of the public, researchers and BU students.

Scroll down for pictures from the day

In the morning we heard from 16 speakers from a wide range of wildlife organisations including Natural England, the RSPB, Bioblitz, Field Studies Council and Dorset Wildlife Trust. We also presented our BU-NT collaborative FIF funded Purbeck Heath SERT (Student Environment Research Team) project.

In the afternoon we brain stormed ideas in energetic workshops that explored challenges and solutions to achieving impact of citizen science in wildlife conservation management. The outputs from the workshops will be posted soon after Easter here – Wessex Conservation Forum and video recordings of the morning talks will be available too later.

For more information please email – Anita Diaz adiaz@bournemouth.ac.uk

Thanks very much to inspiring speakers, a wonderfully warm and engaged audience and super support from the National Trust and BU students and staff. We are particularly grateful for the support from the Wessex Conservation Forum and the British Ecological Society and for excellent help from the following BU student volunteers: Adam Pickles, Kimberley Tickner, Melissa Howell and Melissa Stephens.

Conference Scientific Organising Committee – David Brown (National Trust), Michelle Brown (National Trust), Gitte Kragh (BU) & Anita Diaz (BU).

Here are some moments from the day! Also you can take a look here for more #CitSci4Wildlife

Some of the morning lectures

Networking and relaxing over coffee and lunch

Workshop participants identifying and theming challenges on postit-notes

Making it happen – some of the staff and student organisers

Some Tweets on tweets on #citsci4wildlife

tweets on #citsci4wildlife

23 March 2016

Awarded Summer-based Undergraduate Research Assistantship Project

Awarded & submitted bids, Fusion Investment Fund Rachel

Following on from the academic applications of the Undergraduate Research Assistantship (URA), the application review panel have selected the following projects to recruit a student to.

All student job vacancies are live on MyCareerHub, all BU staff and students have access to this system. These vacancies are currently in the recruitment stage to recruit a student.

Alison McConnell – Cardiorespiratory Physiology Research Assistant

Amanda Korstjens – Researcher and assistant on the LEAP (Landscape Ecology and Primatology) conservation project

Ann Luce – Research Assistant: Research on the impact that the media can have on intervention in early childbirth and labour

Anna Feigenbaum – Research Assistant: Social Media, Policing and Human Rights

Caroline Jackson – Creativity & Events Undergraduate Research Assistant

Carrie Hodges – ‘Using Participatory Methods to Empower Disabled Young People’ UG Research Assistant

Christos Gatzidis – Game Developer (Programming / Art)

Constantine Panourgia – A pilot effectiveness study of the Incredible Years Parent Programme. UndergraduateResearch Assistant

Daniel Jackson – EU Referendum Analysis: media, voters and the campaign

David John – 3D developer: Reconstruction of Roman Farmhouse Undergraduate Research Assistant

Feng Tian – Creating a Virtual and Interactive Environment for the Event Planning

Ian Stephenson – Web Developer

Isabella Rega – A Study on Informal Learning and Slum Tourism in India using User Generated Contents

James Gavin – Gait, Balance and Mobility Throughout the Lifespan: The ORI Biomechanics Database

Katherine Appleton – Testing a novel mobile phone app for increasing fruit and vegetable consumption

Mark Readman – Digital Outreach Research Assistant

Michael O’Regan – Chinese Tourists Abroad and the CNTA Etiquette Guide Book

Miguel Moital – Undergraduate Research Assistant: Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) in events as a marketing tool

Nicola Gregory – Social cognition in autism and borderline personality disorder

Shamal Faily – CAIRIS Research Assistant

Viachaslau Filimonau – Food waste management in the UK grocery retail sector

Please do share any relevant URA positions to your students where applicable.

Pending further funding, the URA scheme is set to continue into 2016/17. Should funding be awarded, the next call for academic applications will be in Autumn 2016. Please do look out for further communications on this on the BU research blog.

Further information on the URA scheme can be found here. If you have any questions, please contact Rachel Clarke, KE Adviser (KTP) on 01202 961347 or email clarker@bournemouth.ac.uk or urap@bournemouth.ac.uk

21 March 2016

Who are the World’s Heaviest Tear Gas Users?

Fusion, Fusion Investment Fund, Public engagement afeigenbaum

Check out the interactive maps on our BU Civic Media Hub website to find out!

Everyday tear gas is used around the world, from Brazil to Bahrain, from Thailand to the Occupied Territories of Palestine. Yet, while journalists file news stories of tear gas deployments, there is no national or international data recorded on its use or its effects.

Researchers and campaign groups work hard to raise awareness of the true effects of tear gas, yet its health effects remain undetermined and its death toll ill-defined. Data on tear gas is dispersed across nations, suppressed by governments, and spun by corporate manufacturers with a vested interest in keeping sales figures high. Largely unregulated and unmonitored, the for-profit transnational trade in tear gas continues to raise legal questions, as people around the world face its repressive and often violent effects.

Our 2015 Mapping the Media project sought to aggregate news reports on tear gassing in efforts to make public the frequency and motivations for its use. The maps form part of a larger research project led by Dr. Anna Feigenbaum, Senior Lecturer in Digital Storytelling at Bournemouth University. The 2015 mapping was done by Dr. Feigenbaum and her Undergraduate Research Assistant (URA) Laura McKenna with support from Dr. Pippa Gillingham and the BU Datalabs Team that came together through CCCP Fusion Grant in 2014.

Find out more about digital storytelling for impact from Dr. Feigenbaum’s blog post on the topic.

10 March 2016

‘Voices of the Secret State’: Seminar presentation by Dr Hyun Joo Lim, 16th March, Studeland House, Room S206, 13:00-13:50

Awarded & submitted bids, BRIAN, BU Challenges, Centre for Excellence in Learning, Coffee Morning, conferences, Funding opportunities, Fusion, Fusion Investment Fund, Grants Academy, Knowledge Transfer, Publishing, R & KE Operations, Research assessment, Research Ethics, Research Integritiy, Research themes, Women's Academic Network Mastoureh Fathi

All staff and students welcome. Please feel free to bring your lunch.

Voices of the Secret State: Human Rights Activism among North Korean

Defectors in the UK

Abstract: My paper aims to highlight the lived experiences and identity formation of North Korean defectors settled in the UK who are involved in human rights activism. Whilst violations of human rights in North Korea are well documented, human rights activism by its defectors is less well known. Since 2004, approximately 600 North Koreans have settled in the UK. Free NK, a human rights organisation born out of this settlement, has been active in illuminating the reality of North Korea whilst also working towards subverting the regime by informing its fellow remainders about the outside world through the distribution of newspapers. This paper is drawn from ongoing research on North Korean defectors living in the UK. The data is collected using life history interviews to capture their lived experiences and to identify a range of factors which have influenced their involvement in the activism whilst also seeking to find better ways of improving the wellbeing and quality of life for those activists. The presentation will focus on the in-depth story of a North Korean defector who has founded Free NK. Themes that will be addressed in this story include the reason why he has fled North Korea; the processes of getting to the UK; challenges he has faced in his human rights activism.
Dr Hyun-Joo Lim is a lecturer in Sociology and the programme leader for BA Sociology and Social Policy at BU. She is originally from South Korea and has been engaged in various research projects that explore issues around migration, ‘race’/ethnicity, gender and identity. Her previous research examined East Asian mothers in Britain.

For more information about Social Science seminar series please get in touch with Dr Mastoureh Fathi (mfathi@bournemouth.ac.uk).

19 February 2016

URA Academic Applications – FINAL CALL

Funding opportunities, Fusion Investment Fund, Knowledge Transfer Rachel

The deadline for the Undergraduate Research Assistantship (URA) programme is Sunday 21st February.

The application form to apply for funding to recruit a student to work on your research full time for six weeks during the summer can be found here.

The programme is funded by the Fusion Investment Fund and aims to support undergraduates to undertake paid work under the guidance of an experienced academic in a research position that is directly related to their career path and/or academic discipline.

The summer programme is for students to work full-time (37.5 hours per week) for six weeks over the summer. This programme will have the capacity for approximately 20 placements.

If you have any questions relating to the programme, please contact Rachel Clarke, KE Adviser (KTP) on 01202 961347 or email clarker@bournemouth.ac.uk

Category / Fusion Investment Fund

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BU’s LEAP staff & SERT placement students featured in local Indonesian news regarding human elephant conflict in Northern Sumatra

Taking Tear Gas on Tour

Assessing Undergraduate Research Assistants’ Learning through Participatory Methods

Scenarios, Murder, Mingling and Twitter

FIF Erasmus Mobility for professional support staff from BU to University of Bremen’s “International Staff Week”

Fusion Investment Funding project – Enhancing research collaboration and networking with University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

BU research on Citizen Science featured on Countryfile

FBU Workshop Overview

Hello Haaga Helia

The British Conference of Undergraduate Research (BCUR) is coming to BU!

Conference report – “Embedding Citizen Science into Wildlife Conservation Management”

Awarded Summer-based Undergraduate Research Assistantship Project

Who are the World’s Heaviest Tear Gas Users?

URA Academic Applications – FINAL CALL

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