Category / Fusion

Introducing Sue Townrow, FIF Co-ordinator

Fusion, Uncategorized

Hello! I’m the co-ordinator for the Fusion Investment Fund which was designed to support Fusion by funding ‘pump-priming’ initiatives. There are two different strands for staff – Staff Mobility & Networking and Co-creation & Co-production. I also deal with two externally funded programmes – Erasmus and Santander, which both support overseas staff travel for purposes such as teaching, training and networking.

You can find out more about the Fusion Investment Fund here and do get in touch if you have any queries or want more information. The next round is likely to be opening in the Spring.

It’s a fascinating job – I’m involved in all stages of the process – it includes providing information about the funds, helping people through the application process and supporting the pre-screen and committee review processes. After the awards are made, I liaise with the PIs to set up their budgets and get their project started, I monitor the project’s progress, deal with any requests for changes to the project or its budget, carry out budget audits and ensure that each PI carries out an effective evaluation at the end of their project. We currently have around 130 live projects utilising about £1.3m of funding.

My main aim is to ensure that high quality projects obtain funding and then that the funding is used in the most effective way to obtain the best results for BU as a whole. Simples!!

I’ve been at BU since 2011, firstly in Student Administration Services and more recently in Applied Sciences (as it was then) in Programmes Admin and student support. I really enjoyed being part of a School and one of the attractions of this role for me was the continued contact with academic staff and their research.

My pre-BU experience is mostly in Finance, including ten years in Credit Management and three as a Budget Analyst. I’ve also got some experience of applying for grants in the charity sector, all of which gives me a useful background for this job.

Outside of work I enjoy crafts, especially sewing and knitting, I love cooking (and luckily my husband loves eating!) and we both enjoy walking and photography. We bought a house at the end of last year and I am presently perfecting my skills at crossing a mud slide to get to my front door – my husband is confident it will be a garden one day! I have two grown children and in fact our daughter came to university here, loved it so much she stayed and that’s how we ended up moving to Dorset four years ago.

So – if you are thinking of putting in a bid in the next round, or want to know more about how the fund might support your work, do get in touch. One opportunity would be the next RKEO coffee morning on 4th Feb – it’ll be 9.30 to 10.30 in the RKEO office on the 4th floor of Melbury House.

 

 

 

Fusion Investment Fund 2014/15: Upskilling the Engineering Workforce

Awarded & submitted bids, Fusion

We were delighted to hear that we have just received funding from the Fusion Investment Fund for a project which we hope will allow us to strengthen strategic partnerships with local/national engineering companies.  This will build on the work already carried out within the Department of Design and Engineering to develop an innovate flexible learning MEng Engineering degree for those currently in employment which has attracted over 40 students from local and national industries since its introduction.  The numbers entering the degree is expected to accelerate over the next few years with 300 engineering apprentices currently studying at Bournemouth and Poole College coming through the system.

The aim of this project is to collaborate with current BU engineering students, and engineering employers to develop, launch and establish a Professional Registration Mentoring Scheme.  The scheme will be developed to enable students who are studying on the flexible learning MEng Engineering degree to achieve professional registration (Incorporated or Chartered Engineer) status and for companies wishing to gain professional registration for a suitable group of their employees.

This scheme is timely as EngineeringUK has recently highlighted the need to double the number of annual graduate recruits into engineering by 2020 to meet demand.  The report also highlights it is estimated only 36% of engineers in the UK are registered as professional engineers.  However, professional engineers are vital for the growth of the UK economy.

A future goal, once established regionally, is to secure recognition for the scheme from an appropriate professional body.  This will then provide the credibility to expand the scheme nationally

Please do feel free to get in touch with us if you would like further information and we look forward to reporting on the outcome once the project is completed at the end of July.

Dr Philip Sewell (Principal Investigator) – Design and Engineering Framework Leader –psewell@bournemouth.ac.uk

Dr Tania Humphries-Smith – Head of Design and Engineering Department – thumphri@bournemouth.ac.uk

Transmission Symposium – Understanding visual strategies for neuro-feedback analysis

BU research, Fusion

Artists from fields as diverse as performance, music composition and dance are opening routes to create new audiovisual forms via Brain Computer Interfaces (BCIs). Transmission explores new strategies and existing avenues in the field of brainwave interpretation for arts and research. Funding from BU Fusion Fund and Centre for Digital Entertainment (CDE), the project hosts two day symposium to debate synergies, current developments and future objectives on the intersection between art and technology.

Transmission brings together artists and researchers in the field of BCI visualisation and sonification, providing the opportunity to present ongoing projects, exchange ideas and to define the cornerstones of future developments. The Transmission Symposium offers a worldwide unique forum for an emerging network between arts and science.

The two day event will be held at Bournemouth University’s Executive Business Center on the 4th of February and the 22nd of April 2015.

To know more about the project and the scheduled program for Symposium, please access the website and register for your interest www.transmission-symposium.org

WREN at BU

BU research, Fusion

Academics, researchers and professionals from the Women’s Radio in Europe Network (WREN) came together at Bournemouth University for a two day workshop, on November 14-15. There were thirteen of us, representing the Netherlands, Denmark, Britain, Turkey, Australia and Portugal.

WREN is an international academic research network investigating the history and role of women’s radio in Europe (and beyond). We were joined by Maria Williams, an award-winning radio producer, podcast-maker and media trainer – and the founder of Sound Women  (http://www.soundwomen.co.uk/). Sound Women aims to encourage, promote and support women in today’s UK radio industry, and it was generally acknowledged by all participants how important history is for the current debates around women in the media.

The first day started with short presentations where participants presented current research and interests, and ideas and thoughts for future collaborative research. In the afternoon students and staff were invited to join ‘In Conversation with WREN’, a discussion about WREN research and women’s contribution to radio. Our panel of speakers included Maria Williams (Sound Women), Caroline Mitchell (University of Sunderland), Nazan Haydari (Istanbul Bilgi University) and Carolyn Birdsall (University of Amsterdam). The second day focused on the network’s plans to secure future research funding and how to develop the work of WREN further.

This workshop was made possible through the Fusion Investment Fund (the Staff Mobility and Networking Strand) which supported this first stand-alone meeting of the network. We are delighted to report that the workshop was overall a success, and WREN has now made some concrete plans for the future, so watch this space!

Dr Kristin Skoog (PI) – Lecturer in Media (Broadcasting History) – The Media School

Dr Kate Murphy (CI) – Senior Lecturer in Radio Production – The Media School

Showcasing Undergraduate Research Excellence – SUREBU 2015: call for submissions

Fusion, Research news, student research

SUREBU is a Fusion funded project aimed at showcasing the best of BU’s undergraduate research.  Research is broadly defined and could include work towards an undergraduate essay or dissertation, work carried out as part of a volunteer or work placement, or activities for an academic society.  Not only are research skills a central part of undergraduate study and academic life, but they are also vital skills for any future career.  By encouraging undergraduate students to think critically and develop their skills, research will help to enhance their student experience and increase their employability upon graduation.

The call for submissions is now open, and all BU undergraduate students – from all schools and courses – are eligible to apply.  Examples of research could be anything from preparing for a dissertation or an essay to work carried out during a placement year to volunteering or work with academic societies.   The main criteria is that evidence of the student’s own critical thinking can be demonstrated.  As well as developing new skills, this is a good opportunity to enhance their CVs through a conference presentation, publication of abstract or even being the winner of awards and prizes.

To get involved, register on SUREBU’s website and submit an abstract.  Abstracts should be a maximum of 300 words, with a title no longer than 150 characters.  The deadline for submission is 5th January 2015.  If you know of a student or recent graduate who would be eligible to submit, do encourage them to apply!

Examination of the Newborn (EXON) Pilot Project for under-graduate student midwives: an update.

Fusion, Knowledge Transfer, student research, Training

In November last year I published a blog on the first pilot project I undertook with five under-graduate pre-registration midwifery students which was designed to enable them to qualify with the skills and competencies around examination of the newborn (EXON). The students were required to access and study the module with post-graduate midwives. Four of the students successfully completed the course in September 2014 with one student leaving early on in the project due to unforeseen family circumstances. The journey to completion was not smooth. The first hurdle was a clash of assessments. The EXON assessment (a presentation) fell in the same week as Complex Care (CC), a third year unit assessment where students are required to undergo a VIVA and manage two obstetric emergencies. It is a stressful experience and therefore three of the students requested an extension to their EXON presentation with only one choosing to present with her post-registration colleagues. As the EXON assessment took place on the Monday of that particular week and Complex Care assessments were running over three days, the student managed to negotiate to undertake her CC assessment on the Friday. The three students were re-scheduled to present later in the year with a number of other midwives who were on extensions or resits.  One of the advantages of choosing to present in January 2014 was that the student was able to choose a topic that she could use both for her learning around EXON and for her extended essay which was due to be completed somewhat later in the academic year. The student was successful in both endeavours as were all the others but at a later date.

Another hurdle students found themselves confronted with, was a lack of opportunity to undertake newborn examinations including a shortage of midwifery mentors who could support the training requirements of the project. Two of the students could not get any of the examinations done in their own trusts. Fortunately for them, the maternity unit and midwifery staff at Poole NHS Trust Hospital were extremely obliging and supported the students to work there which enabled them to complete the practical newborn checks. All four of the students have successfully qualified as midwives and have obtained midwifery posts in the local area. They remain committed EXON and have volunteered to be EXON ‘champions’ within their respective trusts. I am grateful to Jeanette Elliot, Luzie Schroter, Jenna Penhale and Bex Coleman-Moss for their hard work and dedication during the pilot and for their feedback and advice for the next intake.

Demand for places for the second pilot project remained high when the call was put out a short while ago. Unfortunately due to some of the barriers described above it was only feasible to recruit five students again and all of them based in the west. The students have commenced their studies and are enjoying the learning so far. The pilot projects are helping to inform what impact these barriers will have on the training needs for midwifery students within our local maternity units as this year we are introducing EXON theory to all midwifery students on our newly validated curriculum with the caveat that students will obtain the necessary theoretical knowledge but not all with qualify with the required skills. However by ‘fast-tracking’ students onto one of our twice yearly CPD EXON modules which has around 20+ midwives enrolled, by the time the students reach their third year there should be many more midwives qualified in EXON and in place to support our under-graduate students to gain the competencies around newborn examination.  If you require any further information please contact Luisa Cescutti-Butler on lcbutler@bournemouth.ac.uk    

 

Tomorrow is deadline day for Fusion Investment Fund applications

Funding opportunities, Fusion

If you would like to apply to either strand of the Fusion Investment Fund, please make sure you submit your application by the deadline which is 12pm tomorrow!

No exception will be made to this deadline.

For all the strand policy documents, Fund FAQs and information about applying, please visit the FIF intranet pages.

 

Please direct all initial enquiries to the Fusion Investment Fund Co-ordinator, Sue Townrow, at Fusion Fund.

The Fusion Investment Fund is managed by Samantha Leahy-Harland.