Bournemouth University collaboration with in the field of ageing research in Qatar is going from strength to strength. BU staff have been working with academics and clinicians at Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Department of Geriatrics and Long-Term Care. HMC has been appointed as a WHO (World Health Organization) Collaborating Centre for Healthy Ageing and Dementia, under auspices of Ministry of Publich Health in Qatar. Hamad Medical Corporation is n0t-for profit organisation. Tomorrow morning (7.00 AM UK time) FHSS will be contributing to an International Survey Research Workshop, together with BU’s Faculty of Health & Social Sciences Visiting Faculty Dr. Brijesh Sathian (based at HMC), and Prof. Padam Simhada, based at the University of Huddersfield.
Category / Global engagement
Successful human-centred design workshop at Safety 2024 in India
Last week colleagues from our Sonamoni project co-hosted a workshop with TGI Australia (The George Institute for Global Health) at the 15th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion (Safety 2024) which was held in New Delhi (India). Focusing on the strengths of the Human-Centred Design (HCD) approach, this workshop first introduced the design principles to participants and demonstrated how they can be employed to reduce risks and prevent accidents. These design principles have been applied for many years in designing consumer products and, more recently, in the fields of health and social systems.
In this well-attended workshop researchers presented case studies from Bangladesh (including the Sonamoni project) and Tanzania to illustrate how the process is employed with communities to co-develop interventions aimed at reducing the risk of drowning among fishing folk and vulnerable children. The team proposed a framework which integrates HCD methodology and traditional research methodologies, creating a more user-centred and multidimensional approach to intervention design. Outputs of the process included user risk journeys, stakeholder mapping and systems diagrams that can be used with communities and wider stakeholders to visualise the problem and bring to life the environment in which interventions are to be designed. These outputs can also be support advocacy and donor engagement.
The proposed framework provides a mechanism for closer collaboration between researchers, practitioners, and communities to work together to co-design context-specific solutions that are culturally and environmentally appropriate. Workshop participants were asked for their expert opinion on the proposed framework, to help us refine the framework and inform future practice.
Our Sonamoni project recently had its own video recording on YouTube. Sonamoni is a public health project is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) through its Research and Innovation for Global Health Transformation programme. For more information, visit the NIHR website. Sonamoni is coordinated by Bournemouth University in collaboration with Centre for Injury Prevention and Research, Bangladesh (CIPRB), the University of the West of England, Bristol, the University of Southampton, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), and design Without Borders (DWB) Africa.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health
Migration and mental health meeting in Kathmandu
Yesterday (29th December) Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen attended a workshop on ‘Current situation of migration and its impact on Mental health’ in a hotel in Kathmandu, Nepal. This workshop was organised by the Transcultural Psychosocial Organization Nepal (TPO Nepal) and funded by a Finnish aid organisation. Two of BU’s current collaborators were members of the workshop panel. One of the panel members was FHSS Visiting Faculty Prof. Padam Simkhada, who is Professor of Global Health at the University of Huddersfield. He spoke about the limited amount of research into mental health in general in Nepal and in migrant workers in particular. The chair was Mrs. Manju Gurung from the organisation POURAKHI Nepal, who collaborates with BU in the recently started project on health and migration funded by the USA State Department. Unsurprisingly, several speakers at the workshop referred to studies conducted in the field of migrant workers’ health by BU academics, particularly the work published by Dr. Pramod Regmi and Dr. Nirmal Aryal.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health
BU Economics Professor appreciated by researchers at Baltic’s Doctoral Summer School 2023 as civil war broke out
Professor Jens Hölscher (BUBS AFE) travelled with his classic iconic book and prepared paper on ‘The Successes and Failures of Economic Transition’ to Estonia’s Doctoral Conference (27-29 June 2023).
Professor Jens Hölscher had received an invitation to be an international advisor, including a guest lecture and workshop. He provided specialist feedback critique guidance for thirty early researchers and PhD researchers, designed to enhance research project skills. Estonia, a developing country had stated its goals: learning from important connection opportunities for academic contacts with well-known leading international researchers. Professor Jens Hölscher, has over 140 economics finance business publications – journals and multimedia sources – listed on ResearchGate alone and is co-editor of Palgrave’s (Macmillan’s Global Publishing) book series “Studies in Economic Transition”.
Professor Jens Hölscher’s 2023 lecture highlights are: “taking stock of the experiences of over 30 years of economic transition and attempts to identify successes and failures with regards to both, theory, and policy. The motivation is driven by the prospect that lessons might be learned for the future not only for transition countries but for emerging markets in general. This lecture proceeds by looking at concepts of transition with the benefit of hindsight. As there is widespread agreement now that the original concept of the ‘Washington Consensus’ has failed to fulfil expectations of growth and development, the state of the art seems to be confusion. The role of the state in a market economy appears to experience a renaissance.”
The Doctoral School in Economics and Innovation states that it is a partnership between University of Tartu, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn University, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Estonian Business School and Bank of Estonia in Eastern Europe. It is financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the institutional package measure for R&D institutions and higher education institutions (ASTRA). To put it into perspective, this Doctoral School is situated on the edge of the eastern flank of Eastern Europe, with Estonia recently rising to be an emerging economy with increasing high European firm productivity (a population of 1.3 million, global size rank 156) with lessons for the developed West.
Professor Jens Hölscher’s experiences included: driving from BU to Berlin then Kiel, sailing twenty hours to Klaipeda/Lithuania, driving beyond the Riga bridges/Latvia then onwards to the remote rural lakes south of peaceful Tallinn/Estonia (a round trip of 4000 km) to make a difference to researchers. His choice to sail, circum-navigated midway a sudden outbreak of civil Russian war near the borders, with an increased land and air military presence, coinciding with nearby preparations of the thirty-one members of NATO, and the EU, for the nearby Vilnius Summit, Lithuania, on 11–12 July 2023.
An Independent report follow-up post conference report by Fiona ‘Stewart’ Vidler MBA MSc MLIBF BUBS on her BUBS AFE Advisor’s topical relevant latest contributions to research on economic transition, emerging market economies, trade, institutions, firm productivity, SMEs and access to finance in 2023.
Two papers based on ERASMUS+ exchange
In the latest issue of the Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences appeared two articles focusing on the ERASMUS+ programme. This new issue of the journal was published earlier this month, it is an Open Access journal hence its articles can be read free of charged. Unfortunately, due the UK leaving the European Union (EU), ERASMUS+ has just come to an end this summer for universities in the UK.
The first article is an editorial that outlines the benefits of the staff and student exchange between Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS) in Nepal and Bournemouth University [1]. The paper concludes that the world is rapidly becoming a smaller place with globalisation occurring everywhere. The process of internationalising higher education institutions through partnerships like ours, brings benefits to both MMIHS and BU and to both staff and students. For the latter, it offers new ideas, alternative ways of thinking, insights in the other people’s value systems and cultures, etc. It equips students and staff with knowledge, skills and dispositions to work in culturally diverse and international contexts, providing them with a wider diversity of knowledge and greater understanding of global issues and challenges. In short, the partnership offers many opportunities to gain new experiences, explore new sources and perspectives, and improve their cross-cultural capabilities and, ultimately, their employability.
Secondly, there is an article co-authored by the seven MMIHS students, who came to BU in late 2022-early 2023, highlighting what they had learnt from one of the modules they attended [2]. This paper has as it central feature involving patients and the general public in all aspects of research, which was very much a new idea for these seven MSc students from Nepal.
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (CMWH)
References:
- Marahatta, S., Regmi, P., Knight, A., Kuncova, J., Asbridge, E., Khanal, D., van Teijlingen, E. (2023) Staff-Student Exchange between MMIHS and Bournemouth University (UK). Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences, 8(1): 1–5. https://doi.org/10.3126/jmmihs.v8i1.57265
- Khatiwada, S., Gautam, P., Koju, A., Niraula, B., Khanal, G., Sitaula, A., Lamichhane, J., Regmi, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2023) Patient and Public Engagement in Health Research: Learning from UK Ideas. Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences, 8(1): 28–35. https://doi.org/10.3126/jmmihs.v8i1.57268
BU team meets with Green Tara Nepal in Kathmandu
The BU Erasmus+ visitors included FHSS academics Prof. Steve Ersser, Dr. Michele Board and Dr. Pramod Regmi, as well as the Head of BU International Partnerships Dr. Alistair Morrison and Global Engagement Officer Elaine Hakes, and from the department of Psychology Dr. Shanti Shanker, and last, but not least, FHSS Ph.D. student Yagya Adhikari.
I would personally like to say thank you very much for all the support I have received from GTN over the past two decades!
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (CMWH)
Tales of the Unexpected: Traps and Pitfalls in Academic Integrity – an unexpected global success! (and, why did we wait so long?)
As the 2022/23 Academic Year started to unfold, and a review of our experiences with students, lost and confused about referencing systems, poor academic practices, and academic misconduct, Dr Steph Allen, Dr Ed Bickle, and Dr Marian Mayer from the FMC Learning Development Team (FMCLDT) identified a need to bring to life some of the unexpected tales and truths of academic integrity misconducts – intended or otherwise – to a wider community of scholars.
Seeking truths and perspectives, alongside narratives and numbers from the BU Academic Integrity Working Group, led by Dr Steph Allen, the LD team brought together a stellar set of speakers from the global academic integrity field for a series of 12 webinars. Planned in early 2022, what started as a ‘couple of sessions’ here and there soon cascaded into a successful ‘first of its kind’ series webinars that caught the imagination of scholars, students, and commercial organisations internationally.
Through an original and imaginative collaboration between the BU FMC LDT, AldinHE, Turnitin, FLIE, and renowned thought-leaders in the field of academic integrity and emerging artificial intelligence, Tales of the Unexpected brought together perspectives and concerns which were elevated and exposed, and ways forward were examined (and questions, so many questions!).
One particular webinar on Artificial Intelligence and academic integrity: Insights for Teaching and Learning arranged in October 2022 confirmed our prescience, as the world learnt in late November 2022, in what would turn out to be revolutionary – both in discussion but also hurriedly both behind the scenes, and then, slowly, in practice: the release and experimentation with a series of ChatGPT software tools, just one application brand in a suite of several that were known, but lesser discussed (even more questions!).
Whilst we took a risk in leading, creating, organising, and running the webinars, the innovative and timely nature of the series resulted in a comprehensive resource that attracted academics, professional staff, students, and industry sectors from 21 countries, with over 2700 registrants, attendees, and viewers – and has garnered appreciative feedback and demands for future webinars. It has also resulted in invitations to conferences, guest talks, workshops, high-value networking events, journal reviewing, conference organisation, and expert referrals (This was unexpected, and encouraging, yet we are mindful of workload).
As the first of its kind in UK Higher Education, this series quickly positioned BU at the forefront of advancing knowledge on matters around and pertinent to academia and research, as well as staff integrity, attracting widely recognised authoritative international speakers, educators, and thought pioneers, and setting a new standard for worldwide educators and students alike. It has showcased the BU brand and commitment to academic (and research) integrity (of which we are proud).
Recognising that academic integrity is a fundamental philosophy within the HE sector, since the series started, other institutions recognised the need to build on this ground-breaking series and have since followed suit.
Tales of the Unexpected: Traps and Pitfalls in Academic Integrity webinar series is available on FLIE and can be found here:
https://microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk/flie/2023/06/05/academic-integrity-webinar-series-2022-2023-catalogue/
1. Plagiarism in the Disrupted HE Landscape
Dr Sarah Elaine Eaton (University of Calgary)
2. Contract Cheating: Solutions for Prevention and Identification
Dr Thomas Lancaster (Imperial College, London)
3. Murky Waters of File Sharing
Dr Brenda M Stoesz (University of Winnipeg)
4. Psychological Perspectives on Academic Misconduct
Dr Guy Curtis (University of Western Australia)
5. Threats to Academic Integrity & How to Address Them
Dr Irene Glendinning (Coventry University)
6. Artificial Intelligence & Academic Integrity
Dr S E Eaton, Dr R W Brennan, Dr J Wiens, Dr B McDermott (University of Calgary)
7. Over-Represented Students in Academic Misconduct
Dr Mary Davis (Oxford Brookes)
8. Slow & Steady: Establishing an Institutional Culture of Academic Integrity
Lynn Cliplef, Mitchell Hengen, Caitlin Mumm, Josh Seeland (Assiniboine Community College, Manitoba)
9. Foundational Literacies & Academic Integrity Skills: Ideas for Supporting Students in an Artificial Intelligence Era
Beatriz Moya, Leeanne Morrow (University of Calgary)
10. Towards a Continuum of Academic Misconduct
Professor Bruce Macfarlane (University of Hong Kong)
11. The Student View of Contract Cheating
Deborah Horrocks (Turnitin)
12. A Ghostwriter in the Machine: Academic Integrity Implications of Machine Translation and Generative AI Klaus Mundt, Mike Groves (University of Nottingham and Lingnan University, Hong Kong)
Last but not least, somewhere in the middle of the webinar series, Dr Steph Allen invited the President of the Law Society for England and Wales for An Evening with Lubna Shuja. An in-person event hosted by Department of Humanities & Law, the intimate evening event brought together the professions and students and was very much part of the Tales of the Unexpected: Academic Integrity Speaker Series and well received by the attendees.
Again, our thanks go to FLIE colleagues: Tracey Webb, Oliver Moore-Oats, David Hunt and all the FLIE team involved,
as well as our speakers, and attendees!
BU contribution to development of Nepali academics
Yesterday we had the pleasure of running an Academic Writing Workshop for academics and postgraduate students in the Department of Health & Physical Education based at the Sanothimi campus of Tribhuvan University. Tribhuvan University is the oldest and largest university of Nepal. We base these training session on our various publications on academic publishing, [1-14] and we used the opportunity to advertise our forthcoming textbook on the matter [15].
Prof. Padam Simkhada, Professor of Global Health and Associate Dean International at the School of Human and Health Sciences at the University of Huddersfield and FHSS Visiting Professor.
&
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen, Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH)
References
- Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen E., Hundley, V., Simkhada, BD. (2013) Writing an Abstract for a Scientific Conference, Kathmandu Univ Med J 11(3): 262-65. http://www.kumj.com.np/issue/43/262-265.pdf
- van Teijlingen, E, Hundley, V. (2002) Getting your paper to the right journal: a case study of an academic paper, J Advanced Nurs 37(6): 506-11.
- Pitchforth, E, Porter M, Teijlingen van E, Keenan Forrest, K. (2005) Writing up & presenting qualitative research in family planning & reproductive health care, J Fam Plann Reprod Health Care 31(2): 132-135.
- van Teijlingen, E, Simkhada, PP, Rizyal A (2012) Submitting a paper to an academic peer-reviewed journal, where to start? (Guest Editorial) Health Renaissance 10(1): 1-4.
- van Teijlingen, E, Simkhada. PP, Simkhada, B, Ireland J. (2012) The long & winding road to publication, Nepal J Epidemiol 2(4): 213-215 http://nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/7093/6388
- Hundley, V, van Teijlingen, E, SimkhadP (2013) Academic authorship: who, why and in what order? Health Renaissance 11(2):98-101 www.healthrenaissance.org.np/uploads/Download/vol-11-2/Page_99_101_Editorial.pdf
- Simkhada P, van Teijlingen E, Hundley V. (2013) Writing an academic paper for publication, Health Renaissance 11(1):1-5. www.healthrenaissance.org.np/uploads/Pp_1_5_Guest_Editorial.pdf
- van Teijlingen, E., Ireland, J., Hundley, V., Simkhada, P., Sathian, B. (2014) Finding the right title for your article: Advice for academic authors, Nepal J Epidemiol 4(1): 344-347.
- van Teijlingen E., Hundley, V., Bick, D. (2014) Who should be an author on your academic paper? Midwifery 30: 385-386.
- Hall, J., Hundley, V., van Teijlingen, E. (2015) The journal editor: friend or foe? Women & Birth 28(2): e26-e29.
- Sathian, B., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Roy, B, Banerjee, I. (2016) Grant writing for innovative medical research: Time to rethink. Med Sci 4(3):332-33.
- Adhikari, S. D., van Teijlingen, E. R., Regmi, P. R., Mahato, P., Simkhada, B., & Simkhada, P. P. (2020). The Presentation of Academic Self in The Digital Age: The Role of Electronic Databases. International J Soc Sci Management, 7(1), 38-41. https://doi.org/10.3126/ijssm.v7i1.27405
- Pradhan, AK, van Teijlingen, ER. (2017) Predatory publishing: a great concern for authors, Med Sci 5(4): 43.
- van Teijlingen, E (2004), Why I can’t get any academic writing done, Medical Sociol News 30(3): 62-63. britsoc.co.uk/media/26334/MSN_Nov_2004.pd
- Wasti, S.P., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Hundley, V. with Shreesh, K. Writing and Publishing Academic Work, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books
BU collaborating with Chinese universities on Strategic Investment Areas
Over the last few months, the Global Engagement Hub has organized a series of online research workshops with two priority SIA institutions in China, Northeastern University and Zhejiang University. BU has a longstanding relationship with both institutions.
In 2019, Bournemouth University launched a joint research centre of advanced materials with Northeastern University (NEU) in Shenyang China. The research centre focuses on creating new materials with large-scale applications in industrial manufacturing and healthcare. The research centre has four unique research themes; energy materials, healthcare, 2D materials technology and materials for sustainable applications that closely align to two strategic investment areas: Sustainability, Low Carbon Technology and Material Science, and Medical Science. The research centre is home to a number of ongoing research collaborations, including the work of a number of PhD students. The centre has received funding from the Chinese government for NEU PhD students to spend time at BU.
BU academics collaborated with colleagues from NEU in a three-day virtual workshop in December 2020 that focussed on the Sustainability and Low Carbon Technology and Medical Science SIAs. This workshop was a chance for early career researchers as well as established researchers to develop important networks with colleagues in China. The three-day event included presentations from researchers and PhD students at both universities. Following on from the event, the Global Engagement Hub together with Dr Amor Abdelkader, the lead academic of the partnership, are currently organising smaller meetings for workshop attendees to facilitate collaboration in the areas of materials science, medical imaging and environmental science.
In January 2021, BU hosted another virtual workshop, this time in collaboration with Zhejiang University (ZJU) to explore research and expertise aligned with BU’s strategic investment areas Animation, Simulation and Visualisation and its application to Medical Science. The two organisations have a long-standing history of research collaboration through the National Centre for Computer Animation, NCCA. Colleagues from BU and ZJU have published a range of papers together and collaborated on funding bid submissions.
Another link that BU has with ZJU is through the UK-China Health and Economy Partnership, which is a novel knowledge transfer partnership promoting long-term collaboration between leading academic institutions in China including ZJU and the United Kingdom. The aim of this project is to generate new expertise and techniques in health economics.
Professor Dimitrios Buhalis and Dr Daisy Fan in the BU Business School also have long-standing collaboration with Dr Jiaying Lu at the ZJU School of Management in the area of senior living and senior travel experience as well as work on social and economic sustainability in tourism.
If you have any links to these strategic partner universities or would like to collaborate with colleagues at these institutions, please email GlobalBU@bournemouth.ac.uk.
BU working with top European universities on Strategic Investment Areas
The Global Engagement Hub has been working with the Faculties and Strategic Investment Area (SIA) Steering groups on developing new relationships and partnerships with a range of institutions worldwide.
The University of Copenhagen and the University of Helsinki both feature on BU’s international priority partner institutions list. The expertise of these institutions spans across all strategic investment areas:
- Animation, Simulation and Visualisation
- Assistive Technology
- Medical Science
- Sustainability and Low Carbon Technology
The University of Copenhagen is ranked # 84 in the 2021 Times Higher Education World University Rankings and the University of Helsinki is ranked # 98.
An analysis of Scival data has shown that both institutions are in the top 10 European Universities with which BU collaborates. There are 47 co-authored publications between BU academics and academics at the University of Copenhagen and 33 co-authored publications between BU academics and academics at the University of Helsinki between 2017-2020.
Below are some of the research activity between BU and these institutions:
Professor Ann Hemingway, Professor Katherine Appleton and Professor Heather Hartwell collaborated with Professor Federico Perez-Cueto at the University of Copenhagen on the EU-funded research project VeggiEAT. Building on the successful collaboration, with the Department of Food Science at the University of Copenhagen, Professor Hartwell was successful in securing further EU-funding for the project FoodSMART. This project also involved Professor Katherine Appleton, Professor Lorraine Brown, Dr Jeff Bray, Dr Gernot Liebchen, Dr Nan Jiang, Professor Vasilis Katos and Dr Sarah Price. Both of these projects have been successfully completed.
Associate Professor Tom Wainwright from the Orthopaedic Research Institute (ORI) is collaborating with Professor Henrik Kehlet from the University of Copenhagen on the adoption to Enhanced Recovery Surgery pathways, leading to joint publications.
RESONATE -RESilient fOrest value chains – enhancing resilience through NATural and socio-Economic responses is a current EU-funded project between Dr Elena Cantarello and academics at the University of Copenhagen and the University of Helsinki. This research project has started in 2021 and is due to be completed in 2025.
A further project that FHSS currently have with the University of Helsinki is CO-LAB: Improving collaborative practice between correctional and mental health services. This research aims to improve collaborations between criminal justice and welfare services. Dr Sarah Hean, Professor Jonathan Parker, Professor Sara Ashencaen Crabtree, Dr Jaqui Hewitt-Taylor, Dr Vanessa Heaslip and Dr Angela Turner-Wilson are collaborating with colleagues at the University of Helsinki. The project is due to be completed this year.
In terms of recent publications, Professor Edwin van Teijlingen has a published a chapter: Birth Systems across the World: Variations in maternity policy and services across countries in the renowned series of books: FIGO Continuous Textbook of Women’s Medicine. This chapter was co-authored with Prof Sipra Wrede and Doctoral Researcher Johanna Sarlio-Nieminen from the University of Helsinki and Dr Anastasia Novkunskaya from the European University at St. Petersburg.
The Institute for the Modelling of Socio-Environmental Transitions (IMSET) has expressed interest in collaborating with colleagues at the University of Helsinki and the Global Engagement Hub have facilitated introductions to academics at the University of Helsinki.
We are currently in the process of developing a partnership with the University of Copenhagen for Erasmus+ staff mobility. This will allow BU staff to undertake a teaching or training mobility at the University of Copenhagen, funded through Erasmus+. The Global Engagement Hub have funds to support staff mobility through Erasmus+ until May 2023. This partnership would also allow staff from the University of Copenhagen to come to BU for teaching once travel is possible and the relevant restrictions lifted.
If you have any links to these strategic partner universities or would like to collaborate with colleagues at these institutions, please email GlobalBU@bournemouth.ac.uk.
BU academic launches institutional collaboration to advance Public Diplomacy in COVID-19 times
Dr. Alina Dolea launched officially the institutional collaboration between the International Communication Association’s (ICA) Public Diplomacy Interest Group and International Studies Association’s (ISA) International Communication Section (ICOMM) during the ICA virtual conference in May 2020: in the inaugural ICA & ISA roundtable, public diplomacy scholars across the world had a chance to discuss not only the linkages between different theories and institutions, but also to reflect on innovative practices to continue academic conversations with the reality of COVID-19 influencing nearly every aspect of our lives.
A video recording of the roundtable on Public Diplomacy and “what is next after COVID-19” is now available here. Co-chaired by Alina and Efe Sevin of Towson University, Maryland, USA (ISA ICOMM Section Chair 2019-2020), the roundtable gathered Caitlin Byrne (Griffith University, Australia), Constance Duncombe (Monash University, Australia), Natalia Grincheva (Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia) and Steve Pike (Syracuse University, USA). Among the topics discussed were soft power in Australia and Asia Pacific region, ZOOM diplomacy, social media and a need for ‘slower thinking’ in PD, museum soft power mapping, competing discourses in PD, or US PD; a detailed summary of interventions can be read here.
Serving as elected chair of the ICA PD IG, Alina has worked closely with the leadership teams of both organizations, since 2019, and discussed how the gap in between the disciplines of Communications and International Relations can be bridged to advance the field of public diplomacy. The idea of joint panels at the main ICA and ISA annual conferences was agreed, but the pandemics led to the last minute cancelling of the ISA2020 convention; therefore, the launch of the institutional collaboration happened virtually, during this roundtable. Future plans include the organization of similar virtual sessions and events throughout 2020 and 2021, open to doctoral, early career researchers, mid-career and senior scholars from all over the world, as well as joint editorial projects and publications, such as this.
Alina is a founding member of the ICA Interest Group established officially in 2016, following a collective effort of raising signatures that she co-ordinated as a volunteer. The Group has grown fast to over 100 members worldwide and brings together scholars investigating topics related to public diplomacy, nation branding, country image and reputation, public relations for and of nations, as well as political, global and cultural communication influencing international relations. She organized the 2018 doctoral and postdoctoral Public Diplomacy preconference in Prague and the 2019 Washington “Public Diplomacy in the 2020s”, including a panel hosted by the US Department of State.
ICA is the premier international academic association for scholars in communication research, gathering more than 4,500 members from 80 countries; ISA is one of the oldest interdisciplinary associations dedicated to understanding international, transnational and global affairs, founded in 1959, with more than 7,000 members (academics, practitioners, policy experts, private sector workers and independent researchers).
COVID-19 online session in Nepal
This morning (UK time, as it was afternoon in Kathmandu) Bournemouth University’s Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen and Faculty of Health & Social Sciences Visiting Professor Padam Simkhada presented a webinar on COVID-19 to staff and students at Nobel College in Nepal. Both academics have Visiting Professor at Nobel College, which is affiliated with Pokhara University, for over a decade. Today’s session of close to two hours was attended by 286 people online. The presenters have published several blogs and articles about COVID-19 over the past few months [1-4]. The blog on the Healthy Newborn Network has been translated in Nepali [2]. The COVID-19 pandemic has not only changed teaching in the UK it has also opened opportunities to link online with colleagues in low-income countries without having to travel.
- Asim, M., Sathian, B., van Teijlingen, E.R., Mekkodathil, A., Subramanya, S.H., Simkhada, P. (2020) COVID-19 Pandemic: Public Health Implications in Nepal, Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 10 (1): 817-820. https://www.nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/28269
- Tamang, P., Mahato, P., van Teijlingen E, Simkhada, P. (2020) Pregnancy and COVID-19: Lessons so far, Healthy Newborn Network [14 April] healthynewbornnetwork.org/blog/pregnancy-and-covid-19-lessons-so-far/
- Sathian, B., Asim, M., Mekkodathil, A., van Teijlingen, E., Subramanya, S.H., Simkhada, S.,Marahatta, S.B., Shrestha, U.M. (2020) Impact of COVID-19 on community health: A systematic review of a population of 82 million, Journal of Advanced Internal Medicine (accepted).
- Alloh, F.T., Regmi, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2020) Is ethnicity linked to incidence or outcomes of Covid-19? (Rapid Response) BMJ (14 May) 369:m1548
BU Writing & Publishing Workshops in Kathmandu
This past week Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen from the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) presented several workshops on academic writing and scientific publishing to BU’s partners in Nepal. He presented at Nepal’s oldest and largest university Tribhuvan University (TU) on Wednesday. The Faculty of Education had made the effort to produce a personalised banner for Edwin. Prof. Bhimsen Devkota, who invited him to run this workshop, was his PhD student many years ago at the University of Aberdeen
The next day he visited Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS) which has a Memorandum of Agreement with BU, which was signed by Prof. Tee in early 2018 (see BU Research Blog). At MMIHS the audience that day consisted mostly of Master of Public Health students. Edwin recently celebrated his ten-years of being Visiting Professor at MMIHS.
Yesterday he had the honour of running a workshop at BNMT (Birat Nepal Medical Trust), affiliated with the Britain Nepal Medical Trust which started working in Nepal more than fifty years ago in 1967. The audience at BNMT was smaller and this allowed for loads of fruitful discussions.
These workshops are part of BU capacity building approach for health workers, development workers, health students and researchers in Nepal. Writing with colleagues in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences, and various UK universities, including with Visiting Faculty based at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) and University of Exeter Medical School (UEMS) as well as Visiting Faculty at NHS Poole Foundation Hospital and Hamad General Hospital (Qatar) the BU team as published 12 papers on aspects of academic writing and/or publishing [1-12].
References
- van Teijlingen, E, Hundley, V. (2002) Getting your paper to the right journal: a case study of an academic paper, J Advanced Nurs 37(6): 506-11.
- Pitchforth, E, Porter M, Teijlingen van E, Keenan Forrest, K. (2005) Writing up & presenting qualitative research in family planning & reproductive health care, J Fam Plann Reprod Health Care 31(2): 132-135.
- van Teijlingen, E, Simkhada, PP, Rizyal A (2012) Submitting a paper to an academic peer-reviewed journal, where to start? (Guest Editorial) Health Renaissance 10(1): 1-4.
- van Teijlingen, E, Simkhada. PP, Simkhada, B, Ireland J. (2012) The long & winding road to publication, Nepal J Epidemiol 2(4): 213-215 http://nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/7093/6388
- Hundley, V, van Teijlingen, E, Simkhada, P (2013) Academic authorship: who, why and in what order? Health Renaissance 11(2):98-101 www.healthrenaissance.org.np/uploads/Download/vol-11-2/Page_99_101_Editorial.pdf
- Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen E., Hundley, V., Simkhada, BD. (2013) Writing an Abstract for a Scientific Conference, Kathmandu Univ Med J 11(3): 262-65. http://www.kumj.com.np/issue/43/262-265.pdf
- Simkhada P, van Teijlingen E, Hundley V. (2013) Writing an academic paper for publication, Health Renaissance 11(1):1-5. www.healthrenaissance.org.np/uploads/Pp_1_5_Guest_Editorial.pdf
- van Teijlingen, E., Ireland, J., Hundley, V., Simkhada, P., Sathian, B. (2014) Finding the right title for your article: Advice for academic authors, Nepal J Epidemiol 4(1): 344-347.
- van Teijlingen E., Hundley, V., Bick, D. (2014) Who should be an author on your academic paper? Midwifery 30: 385-386.
- Hall, J., Hundley, V., van Teijlingen, E. (2015) The journal editor: friend or foe? Women & Birth 28(2): e26-e29.
- Sathian, B., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Roy, B, Banerjee, I. (2016) Grant writing for innovative medical research: Time to rethink. Med Sci 4(3):332-33.
- Pradhan, AK, van Teijlingen, ER. (2017) Predatory publishing: a great concern for authors, Med Sci 5(4): 43.
Newton Fund Institutional Links
Institutional Links provides grants for the development of research and innovation collaborations between the UK and partner countries. The British Council runs Institutional Links in partnership with research and higher education institutions globally.
We also deliver Institutional Links under the Newton Fund. Under the Newton Fund, Institutional Links grants facilitate research that tackles local development challenges such as extreme weather conditions, access to affordable health care, food and energy security.
These grants are funded under the Newton Fund, a UK Government initiative funded by the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), together with partner funders from around the world. The Fund aims to promote the economic development and welfare of either the partner countries or, through working with the partner country, to address the problems of low-income and vulnerable populations.
- Priority areas: Partner countries may specify priority areas and will only accept applications within these. Priority areas are listed in the guidelines document.
- ODA requirement: All applications must meet the required relevance to economic development or social welfare.
Partner Countries
Brazil
Egypt
Indonesia
Thailand
Coming Soon
Colombia
Mexico
Philippines
Turkey
Eligibility Criteria
- Leading or Established Researchers can apply to be Principal Applicants (as defined by the EC – download information here ).
- Each proposal must have one Principal Applicant from the UK, as well as a Principal Applicant from the partner countries listed above.
- Please download and view the list of eligible UK research institutions .
Other eligibility criteria apply – please see the applicant guidelines document.
Deadline
9 August 2019, 16:00 UK time
Contact
If you have any questions, please contact Alexandra Pekalski (apekalski@bournemouth.ac.uk)
Call for Early Career Researchers to attend a workshop in Brazil on Ecosystem-based management of estuaries and coasts to support coastal adaptation
A call is open for Early Career Researchers (researchers within 10 years of completing their PhDs) with an interest in the sustainable management of coasts and estuaries to attend a workshop in Brazil aiming to promote research collaborations between the UK and Brazil. The workshop is coordinated by Dr Luciana Esteves in collaboration with Dr Alex Bastos from the Universidade Federal do Espirito Santo and will be held in Vitoria, 25-28 June 2019. All travel and accommodation expenses will be covered by the Newton Researcher Links programme. More details and the application form can be accessed here. The completed application form should be submitted before the deadline on 14th April 2019. The successful applicants will be notified by the end of April 2019.
Coastal and estuarine ecosystems worldwide are under pressure from population growth, environmental degradation and climate change impacts. It is now widely known that a healthy natural environment is crucial to social welfare and the world’s economy. Ecosystem-based management (EBM) has emerged as an integrated approach for the sustainable management of the trade-offs between socioeconomic development and nature conservation. EBM requires a transdisciplinary understanding of the natural system, nature-human interactions, and how they change through time. Academic research can help gaining this knowledge, which is crucial to inform policies and practical applications. The workshop will bring together researchers from Brazil and the UK from the social and natural sciences and practitioners to create the required combination of expertise to co-construct, advance and share knowledge to support estuarine and coastal EBM. Through inclusive and participatory activities and a field visit, the workshop will promote an in-depth discussion of how EBM can help reduce habitat loss, environmental degradation and depletion of natural resources; thus enabling social and economic development.
Activities will include a mix of scientific and technical discussions to stimulate capacity building opportunities through mentorship and sharing of experiences and knowledge. The workshop will focus on: identifying skills and knowledge required to enable research on EBM; the dissemination of good practice for the development of collaborative research (including equity and diversity in multicultural teams); and sharing information concerning funding opportunities. A key objective is to create long-lasting cross-sector (government-research) and UK-Brazil collaboration that facilitates research impact on policy and decision-making (i.e. to improve environmental health in estuaries and coasts and related economy). It is envisaged that participants, mentors and coordinators will identify opportunities for visiting fellowships, co-supervision and mobility of postgraduate students and stimulate the creation of research collaborations.
This workshop is supported by a Researcher Links grant [ID 2018-RLWK10-10723], under the Newton-CONFAP partnership. The grant is funded by the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and FAPES (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Espírito Santo) and delivered by the British Council.
Coordinating a Newton Funds Researcher Links Workshop in South Africa was one of the most rewarding experiences
Securing funds from British Council to organise a Newton Funds Researcher Links workshop required good effort and persistence. Careful consideration of the feedback from an unsuccessful submission helped identifying where improvements were needed – we were successful in our second attempt. I believe the most important factors contributing to the success of the application were: the theme is topical and relevant for both countries (UK and South Africa), including active world-recognised researchers as mentors, having trach record of work and good connections in the host country (South Africa in this case). I have already being to South Africa delivering workshops to public sector practitioners on a similar subject funded by the South African National Research Foundation.
The workshop focused on ‘Research capacity for sustainable ecosystem-based management of estuaries and coasts’ and it was held on 19-21 June 2018 at the uShaka Marine World in Durban. There were 42 participants, 23 from South Africa and 19 from the UK, including early-career researchers from natural and social sciences backgrounds, established researchers and government practitioners involved in policy-making or implementing policy related to management of coasts and estuaries. I coordinated the workshop in collaboration with Professor Trevor Hill from University of KwaZulu-Natal and had a great support from Bronwyn Goble from SAAMBR/ Oceanographic Research Institute and Katie Smyth (University of Hull). The contribution from Mike Elliott (Hull), Andrew Cooper (Ulster), Ursula Scharler (UKZN) and Alan Whitfield (SAIAB) as mentors was greatly appreciated for the support and inspiration given to the early career participants.
I can only say that the experience of engaging with such talented and vibrant group of early career researchers and stimulating open discussions about career directions and prospects, focusing particularly on the importance of international collaboration and closing the research-practice gaps was truly rewarding. It was uplifting to see the connections building between UK and South African researchers and how links with government and NGO practitioners were providing a new direction to the career of some participants. From day 1 participants were talking to each other as old colleagues and engrossed in the activities proposed. No wonder some came out with clear plans on how they will work together, from designing teaching material to collaborating in research proposals and papers, consolidated the links created during the workshop. These links are evident in the action plans participants were asked to produce at the end of the workshop.
Very important was the participation of government practitioners, acting at the national level designing policy and at the province level implementing policy. It was clear the interest for improving research-policy links and some examples of good practices in the UK and South Africa and new ideas were shared and discussed. For example, secondments of staff, co-funding of research posts/projects, ways of stimulating policy-driven research calls. In general terms, the workshop discussions highlighted two evident differences:
- in South Africa, the integration between social and natural sciences in research projects seems to be less common than currently in the UK – perhaps in South Africa, trans/interdisciplinarity have not had the push from funders as it has been observed in the UK and the EU in recent years.
- perhaps for the same reason, participants based in South Africa were not highlighting the relevance to practice and policy of their research projects, as it is now generally expected in the UK
First meeting Dorset Global Health Network great success!
This week’s inaugural meeting of the Dorset Global Health Network was a great success. It was sold out on ‘Eventbrite’ long before day of the event (25th of April). The inaugural meeting held at Bournemouth University (BU) focused on Nepal. The evening was opened by Dr. Emer Forde who is GP Programme Director, Health Education Wessex (Dorset) and member of BU’s Centre for General Practice. She spoke of her and her son’s recent experience in her presentation ‘Voluntourism in Nepal : A lesson in the grey areas of global health.’
The second short presentation was by Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen for BU’s Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perintal Health (CMMPH). His presentation with the title ‘The challenge of perinatal mental health in Nepal’ covered issues around maternal mental health, auxiliary nurse-midwives and stigma and culture in southern Nepal. The project brought together academics, midwives, nurses, and other health workers in Nepal and the UK to help in the training of auxiliary nurse midwives in Nawalparasi on key aspects of mental health and mental health promotion. The project led by Bournemouth University was funded under the Health Partnership Scheme (HPS) which is managed by a London-based organisation called THET (Tropical Health & Education Trust).
The third speaker and final speaker Dr Ollie Ross, Consultant Anaesthetist at Southampton General Hospital, introduced the film ‘Hospital’. The film provides a portrait of a state-run hospital in one of the most remote and poor districts of Nepal and how individuals can make a difference to people’s lives. Dr Ross is also a consultant to the Nick Simons Foundation working in Nepal. According to The Nepali Times Nepal’s most accomplished documentary maker, Kesang Tseten, has a knack of bringing out in his films the best in people. He looks for the flower that grows amidst the squalour, and tries to spread a message of hope. His film, Hospital, returns to rural Nepal to portray a hospital in Kalikot where ordinary health workers accomplish extraordinary things.
The event was organised by the Dorset Primary Care Workforce Centre in collaboration with Bournemouth University and the Wessex Global Health Network.
The Conversation article reproduced by Indian media
Last week Sacha Gardener reported on this BU Research Blog on the publication of our most recent article ‘Why suicide rates among pregnant women in Nepal are rising’ in The Conversation. Since then we have been informed that this piece was reproduced in two Indian independent online newspapers, last week in The Wire and today in Scroll.in (India’s leading independent source of news, analysis and culture). Scroll.in used the heading ‘A project is training midwives in Nepal to stem rising suicides of pregnant women’, whilst The Wire used the title ‘Why Suicide Rates Among Pregnant Women in Nepal Are on the Rise’. Suicide in pregnant women and soon after birth is an important issue in both Nepal and India. Just for completeness the original article, written by BU’s Visiting Faculty Dr. Bibha Simkhada and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen based in BU’s Centre for Midwifery, Maternal and Perinatal health (CMMPH), can be found here!